We were obviously in Genesis 44 last week and it was on the back of, if you remember,
returning with Benjamin for more corn, that the brothers were sent off after the feast with Joseph
last week, but he had got his steward to sneak a silver cup into Benjamin's bag, if you remember,
and it seemed to me that the whole purpose had been to get Benjamin there, Joseph's
full younger brother, he was his full brother wasn't he, who incidentally hadn't sold him into
slavery like the rest of that wicked bunch, so he obviously had a bit more time for Benjamin,
and remember he had sent them off to bring Benjamin back and now he was framing them and falsely
accusing Benjamin of stealing from him so he would have him there stay in Egypt, okay, that seemed to
be the goal there, and then in response Judah really seemed to step up didn't he,
and we looked at that and standing by his word to be a surety for Benjamin like he promised,
offering his life for Benjamin's basically, his behaviour, what was in contrast if you remember,
we looked at that to Joseph's deceptive, false accusing, his pretty puffed up behaviour
that we were seeing in that chapter, and then it provoked a good response from Joseph didn't it,
so Joseph then was provoked into what we then see as we go into this chapter.
Genesis 44 finished in verse 30 with this, from verse 30,
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 sith that
the lad is not with us, that he will die, and thy servant shall bring down the grey hairs of
thy servant, our father with sorrow to the grave, so this is Judah obviously speaking here to Joseph,
for thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, if I bring him not unto
thee then I shall bear the blame to my father forever. Now therefore I pray thee, let thy servant
abide instead of the lad a-bombing to my lord, and let the lad go out with his brethren,
for how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me, lest peradventure I see the evil
that shall come on my father. And in Genesis 45 we see it starting verse one with then,
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried,
cause every man to go out for me, and there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself
known unto his brethren. I'd like to pray and then we're going to get started with this
chapter. Father thank you for your word, thank you for just just the talking points I'm going
to go into on this chapter, Lord, that we thank you that we're able to preach these sorts of
things, and we're able to preach from your word, you know, and get these clear principles
that I'm going to preach tonight, Lord, and help everyone to just really listen, to have
attentive ears, film with your spirit please, Lord, and help me to just preach accurately and
boldly and clearly, in Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen. So it said then Joseph could not refrain
himself, and like I said last week, it was in response to Judah's speech that Joseph went from
wanting to to keep just Benjamin, remember that's that was what was going on, he was saying
you guys go, I'm keeping Benjamin because I found the silver cup on him, which he had planted
incidentally, to then come in clean here, and that's what we see. He's just, it said he
couldn't refrain himself for all them that stood by, and he cried, cause every man to go out for me,
and there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And can you
imagine how confused his brothers must have been now, I mean imagine this, this guy's been putting
on a voice, I mean they've got no idea, okay, there's not one, but no, there's no inclination that
they have any idea, and suddenly he's about to reveal to them that it's actually the brother
that, you know, however many years earlier, 20 odd years earlier, 20 something years earlier now,
probably 22 years earlier, they'd sold into slavery. It says in verse 2, and he wept aloud,
and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard, so it sounds like some pretty loud crying,
or perhaps news travelled fast, I don't know, one of the two there, but probably both. Now,
although it's a 20 odd year reunion, I believe that this is a moment when he's forgiving them,
okay, so yes, it's like this is a long time that he's kind of, you know, made himself,
obviously, that they've been able to recognise him, but I think this is a forgiving thing here.
He had called them spies, don't forget, he'd imprisoned them, he'd kept Simeon in prison,
and that's kind of glossed over, it's easy to gloss over that, so when you read through it,
Simeon was in prison for a long time, because he got to the point where they just had no more
food, and they thought we're gonna have to go again after Jacob had said I don't want to send
you again. Simeon was in prison, he had buttered them up a bit before setting them up to
basically arrest them, which is what we just saw in a couple of chapters ago,
sorry, one chapter ago, and then bring them back and hold on to Benjamin.
It's as if now that he's finally letting go of the revenge on the 10 brothers at least,
and I believe that's part of the reason for such emotion, that's what I think, that's why
he's crying out, he's crying out loud, such a loud cry that people are hearing as well,
because it can result in an emotional response when you finally forgive someone. I don't know if
you've ever noticed that before, when you've got some deep-rooted, maybe something for, you know,
some sort of bitterness towards someone, something that you're not letting go of, when you finally
do it, it's a very freeing moment, isn't it? It's a very emotional moment as well,
it's like a release of so much pent-up emotion. It said, and Joseph said unto his
brethren, in verse three, I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not
answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. So they're struck dumb, and troubled here is
in fear, okay, and understandably, so you could be troubled by something in terms of it's a fearful
response to it, and you know, you can imagine, okay, it's not only that this guy
had seemed a bit unpredictable at the least, okay, he was a bit of a kind of
strange character to deal with, but it turns out it's their brother that they sold him to slavery.
You can imagine they're probably, it's not just that they're like, oh I just can't work this out,
they're in fear, they're struck dumb by fear, they're like, what on earth? Not only is this guy
who's obviously, you know, when they're pulled back, like I said before, it's not just the steward,
I'm sure there were some men with him, you know, there's nothing they can do here, and
suddenly it turns out that this steward is a brother that they were about to kill and
instead sold into slavery. And for me, it also seems that he's been doubting everything that they've
said over the last few chapters, you know, where maybe where Jacob was pretty old by now,
maybe didn't expect him to be alive, because he's, remember they've been talking about his father for
the last few chapters, and then the first thing he says, does my father yet live? Maybe he didn't
expect that, hence the focus on just getting Benjamin there as well, because he'd been just
focusing on Benjamin not so much his father. Verse 4 says, 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. So this and the following few verses
are the sorts of verses that Calvinists will run away with, and some of you might have heard
or seen or, you know, been aware of that, or just read it, you could probably get a fair idea why
if you know what I'm talking about with a Calvinist, the idea for them that God is a
puppet master, that no one has any say over their lives, and that's what basically Calvinists
believe. They try and go, well I'm not a hyper-Calvinist, oh well I'm only a three point, or whatever
point, it's like, look, whatever way you dress it up, okay, basically they believe that you don't
really have free will, okay, that's what they believe, and this isn't restricted to the Calvinists,
okay, so many religious folk believe that God controls everything. Islam is one example of that,
a lot of Muslims believe that basically that God just controls everything, and ultimately they
have this false God who is the author therefore of sin, and then they'll come out with these, like,
sort of get outs, like, well, you know, who can know the mind of the Lord or something like this, or
who are we to question, it's like, well, we question that bizarre interpretation because we
have the word of God which doesn't say that, okay, so they try and get out of it and
everything else, but Islam, Lutherans, or others, and there's others, okay, turn to Joshua chapter 24.
You would have to reject so much of the Bible to hold to that viewpoint though, that basically God's
just pulling strings and no one has a say over anything, and he's just playing this game with
everyone in the world, and we think that we get to choose, but God is actually just making
you choose and not, and just everything is his puppet master God. Joshua 24, and we're going to
look from verse 15, which is in our memory verses, being one of hundreds of verses which
show that we have choice in life, one of hundreds, okay, and Joshua 24, 15 says this, and it's a famous
verse, and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose, notice that word there, choose,
you get a choice, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your father
serve that are on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell,
but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord, that's based on a choice, you have
choice in all areas of life, if God's will was always done, then wouldn't all of Israel have
chosen him instead of false gods? Anyone think that God just wanted Israel to choose, well,
it's just, it's complete nonsense. Calvinism is nonsense dressed up to sound intellectual,
and they really like to think they're really clever, they try and use all these
very theological sounding words and the doctrines of grace, and it all sounds so nice, but it's not,
it's complete nonsense, okay, it's nonsense that only an unsaved moron can really come up with,
because you can't, you know, if you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit, you read through the Bible,
you don't go, yeah, God's just, I don't have any choice at all, because you're just seeing
it time and time again, choose, choose, choose. Turn to Deuteronomy 30 for another famous verse,
and I just want to hit this quickly because of the fact that we're in a passage where people
will try and use this to claim that we don't have any choice. In Deuteronomy 30, God is giving
his children a choice to make, and most of the Bible doesn't make sense, okay, if we don't have
free will to make choice in life. What's the Bible, it's just full of trying to encourage us,
guide us, encourage us to make the right choice, encourage us to not sin in this way or that way.
God hates sin, he hates it, so if he was controlling absolutely everything and we didn't
have any free will, no one would be sinning. It's such nonsense, but we are given free will,
God didn't create a load of robots. There's lots of commands just to make the
right choice of any areas, and I know you're turning to Deuteronomy 30, but Proverbs 3 31,
Proverbs 3 31 says, envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways.
And there's commands like that all over the Bible. Don't choose this, don't choose that,
don't choose the ways of the oppressor because we have the ability to choose.
And in Deuteronomy 30 and verse 19, this is a big choice in life, Deuteronomy 30 and verse 19
says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose, you get a choice, choose life that both thou
and thy seed may live. Now we can choose physical life and we can also choose spiritual life.
We have a choice, everyone has a choice, the devil presents an option through many
false religions, we all have the choice. And you don't have to turn it, but Revelation 22 17
says, and the spirit and the bride say come, and let him that hearers say come, and let him
that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Whosoever will.
That's the choice we're given. Calvinism is a load of nonsense, complete nonsense. All five doctrines
are absurd. I mean, but usually when I preach them, I do mock them because they need mocking,
because they're so ridiculous. And people, you know, you can't get your head turned by that, it's like,
can we somehow, you know, appease a Calvinist as well? Because we want to just believe there's
more people saved than there are. We want to, oh well, hopefully they're not just, you know,
maybe they still believe. You ask any Calvinist, what are they trusting? Perseverance of the saints,
their life, the outward showing of their so-called faith. How often will a Calvinist say,
I'm saved because I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's always, Lord, Lord, look at those
wonderful works, that's what Calvinists are like, anyone I've ever come across or listened to or seen.
So how do we explain verses like here back in Genesis 45 then? So go back to Genesis 45 and
verse 5 said, Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither,
for God did send me before you to preserve life. Now the way we, the nice way of
understanding is if you go and cross-reference in chapter 50. Chapter 50, we're going to go
to in Genesis, to help make sense of it, where Jacob has died and the brothers are worried that
Joseph is going to start payback time. So they think, right, now our father's gone, now he's going
to start whipping us and now we're going to get it. Okay, it says in verse 18,
His brethren also went and fell down before his face and they said, Behold we be thy servants
and Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you,
ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day,
to save much people alive. So yes, they thought evil, not God thought evil against him,
they thought the evil, however God used that evil of theirs to do good. And God can do that.
I mean it's amazing sometimes, you see how things work out, you're like, how did even that work, right?
God used their thoughts of evil to bring good. And I'm sure those Midianites merchantmen who just
happened to come past at the right time was no coincidence. I don't think that was a coincidence,
the timing that they happened to come past while he was in that pit and I think God knowing that
they would probably all like the chance of making a few quid on the side, you know, probably Judah
at that point in time was probably the most likely to be like, actually let's make a bit of money,
look there's a merchantman, you know, things like that, right? The timing for Potiphar to be the one
buying Joseph was surely orchestrated by God knowing what sort of woman his wicked wife was
and probably knowing also, knowing that Joseph was a pretty righteous guy and probably wouldn't
succumb to that, you know, and God knows the beginning from the end. I don't know exactly how
he orchestrates it all again, that's impossible to know, it's just amazing isn't it? So many situations,
so many things, not just in the Word of God that we see in our lives are amazing, but he is able to
use our choices to fulfil his will. That's the point. Verse 20 said, but as for you where you
are in Genesis 50, ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it
is this day to save much people alive. They thought the evil, that was their choice, but God
meant it unto good. Now if you turn to Proverbs chapter three, the trick as believers, this is the
trick in the Christian life, is to use your free will to choose God's will in your life.
That's what we ultimately want to do, don't we? Use our free will to choose God's will.
How do you do that? What about the tricky decisions? Because there's some tough decisions
sometimes in life, aren't there? They're not so obvious things in many areas. You can think of
loads of times where you're like, I'm just not sure what to do here. I don't really know, should I
do this? Should I do that? What should I do? Well, Proverbs 3 says it like this in
verse 5. Proverbs 3, 5, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. So you acknowledge
him in all those obvious things. The obvious things, and there are many obvious things, right, but
you acknowledge him in your church attendance. You acknowledge him, and these are the obvious,
and I know you'll hear me say these things a lot, but these are just the clear tick boxes,
aren't they? You acknowledge God in making sure you set aside time to sow in. You acknowledge
God by getting up and reading your Bible every day and you read it at night, because we're told
to meditate on thy word day and night. You acknowledge God in making sure that you're
praying to him regularly every day. You acknowledge God in those obvious areas. You acknowledge God
financially with the first fruits of all thine increase. You acknowledge God in all these ways
and he directs your paths. Your choices become a lot simpler. So many people ask, well what is
God's will in my life? God's will is that you do those obvious things, and when you do those
things where you know what his will is, so many of the other things you just get directed into.
You acknowledge him in the obvious things he should direct your paths. And back in verse 5,
Joseph, who acknowledged God in all his ways, at least in his younger life,
he said it like this. He said in verse 5, now therefore be not grieved nor angry with
yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life.
And isn't that the case, for example, when we go soul winning? That we are sent to
preserve life, aren't we? That's what we're sent to do. He said in Mark 16 15, go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. And doesn't he orchestrate timing when you do
that? I'm sure everyone here who's a soul winner will have experiences, and many probably,
to the point where you lose track of them and you forget, don't you, when things work out,
when someone literally walks down the street at just the right time, just that right moment.
I mean, I've read it where I've literally pulled up to parks, couldn't find any parking,
driven down the road, pulled up, got out the car and gone, oh hi, yeah, we're just from here.
He's like, I've just been thinking about how to get saved. I don't even know how that worked.
I don't know how that worked out. How many times have you knocked on the door
and someone's just said to you, I was literally just saying, I just want to know the truth, God.
And you've knocked on their door and you preach them the truth. And God orchestrates it because
you're acknowledging him, you're going out and doing what he tells you to do, you've gone,
you've been sent before to preserve life, right? The door is knocked at just the right time.
You've been thinking about having all those things. We hear it all, don't we? Many of you will
have your own stories on that. It's amazing. And also sometimes it's just maybe you were just the
right person for them to listen to. Think about that sometimes as well. And we were talking about
it earlier that a lot of the time, you know, the reality of it is, it's just life,
that the ladies, a lot of the time, will not get the same numbers with the soul winning, okay?
That's just a fact of life. Why? I'll tell you why. Because a lot of men, majority of men, don't
really want to be taught something by a woman. Really, okay? That's a lot of the time. They
disdain a little bit, they don't want to hear it, their pride's too high for that.
And then you've got, on the flip side, with men, usually most women have not too against
that. Now there are some that don't. There are some women that actually would only want a woman
to preach, which is why the women are still going out soul winning. And it's not just
women that get saved. Sometimes you get men who get saved as well. But the point being that
there's always someone, there's always someone that you're the right person for.
If you have the Word of God, you've got the Holy Spirit, and you're willing to
go and boldly preach the Gospel, there'll be someone that needs to listen to you that's more
likely to hear it from you. But it's just the way it is. However, you know, what a great thing
as well, because like, think about how solid the women are in this church who are still going out,
still preaching the Gospel. They don't always get the results in there, and men like that sometimes
well, just for whatever reason. Maybe there's someone that you're, you know, maybe you're not going to be
a success with certain people, but you are with others. There's always someone, and that like, that
strengthens you even more really, because you're persevering, you're persevering, you're persevering.
Not just going out and getting sort of Dorian style 10 salvations every time or something, you know.
You know, the doctor when you're on your deathbed and stuff like that. Anyway, okay, so
God didn't force you out soul winning though, did he? He didn't force you out. Anyone get dragged
out by God at any point? He doesn't force you. He commands you to go, and you make that
choice as to whether or not you'll be used by him, don't you? You make that choice. You make
that choice every time you go soul winning, and every time you don't go soul winning, and you
could have maybe gone soul winning, you're making that choice as to whether or not God's going to
use you. It's your choice, but he commands you, and as Joseph was in God's will, really in the same
way, diligently working for Potiphar, rejecting his wicked wife, wasn't he? He was in God's will,
relaying the dreams in prison. However unpopular one interpretation was for the baker,
he still just relayed it. He was in God's will. He was doing what he was meant to be doing. He
was making that choice to be in God's will and to be used by God, and yeah, God needs to convict
him a bit at the end with Judah, admittedly. I believe that's what happened there, but it all
worked out for the best in the end, didn't it? Verse six said, for these two years have the
famine been in the land, and yet there are five years, in Genesis 45, 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 a great deliverance. So even with their wickedness, God was still
willing to save their lives and their posterity, which is their descendants or ancestors.
Why? Because he had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and even their wickedness with
the young Joseph wasn't enough for God to break his promise, which is the same with salvation.
It's the same with salvation.
We are now, according to Galatians 3 29, Abraham's seed, aren't we? Galatians 3 29 says,
and if you be Christ's, if you're Christ's, if you be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise, and if you're Christ's, then whatever you do, whatever you do isn't enough
to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Whatever you do, nothing can
separate you. If you're saved, you're saved. Like the children of Israel here with their physical
lives, okay, our spiritual lives are preserved despite our sinfulness. Just like they, he
fulfilled that promise, he still brought them into the land, he still basically gave them this great
deliverance in this time of famine, exactly the same with us. Whatever happens, whatever we do,
he's made a promise to you if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you're saved.
He said, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, and neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. Verse 8 said, 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. So God had had a hand in it the whole time to then preserve his people
on the back of what happened to Joseph. Now turn to Romans 8. Joseph couldn't have imagined
when he was in that pit that he would eventually be ruler of Egypt, could he? Can you imagine
when he was about to be killed, he got cast into a pit by his brothers. Do you think Joseph
was going one day... Now I know he'd had the dreams, okay, but I don't think at that point in
his life he was thinking, yeah it's all going to work out. I think at that point in his life, as we
know, they saw the anguish of his soul. He was in a rough time. When he was chained up and on
the way to being sold in Egypt, I bet he wasn't thinking about one day he's going to be the
top man in the land of Egypt. When he was imprisoned after the false accusations from Potiphar's
wife, I'm sure he wasn't languishing in prison thinking one day I'm going to rule the land.
When he was languishing years after telling the butler to remember him,
remember he'd interpreted the dreams and then it's two years later and he's still just sitting
in prison, I bet he wasn't thinking I'm getting out any minute. But Romans 8.28 says, and we know
Romans 8.28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. And that's something to remember when you're going
through the hard times, through the trials and tribulations of life, that all things work
together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose.
Because that's what we see in Joseph's life, it all works together for good in the end,
and it's a good reminder isn't it? Because often you just, it's hard when you're in the middle
of a hard trial, a hard tribulation, some hard affliction in one way or another, it's hard to remember
that things are going to work together for good. There's some great, I remember hearing a great
analogy of this by Pastor Jack Hals, and he basically, he gave this example, I think it was
a prayer that a guy made, who was giving like these single ingredients and he's going,
you know, baking powder, I hate it. Then he's like, whatever it is, like sour milk,
I hate it, you know. This ingredient, I hate it. This one, I hate it. And then he's like, but put it all
together, and you've got some lovely cookies. And sometimes that's like our lives isn't it?
Like when you're going through it, you're not really enjoying it. You can't see the
beginning from the end like God can, thinking, why do I have to deal with this? Why am I
going through this? Why do I have to deal with that? But then when it all works out in the end,
you're like, okay, I get it now, you know. And there's something to remember, and we see that.
What a great example of that verse in Joseph's life, right? And all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Now, back in Genesis 45 and verse 8, it seems to be a young pharaoh, didn't it, we saw there.
Genesis 45, back in verse 8, because it talks about him being a father to him, which
adds to my thoughts that it was a new pharaoh to the one that imprisoned the butler and baker.
I remember talking about that before. But do you think perhaps that this pharaoh was now saved as well?
And I say that because Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4 verses 14 to 15,
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you, for though you have
ten thousand structures in Christ, yet have you not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have
begotten you through the gospel. When you get someone saved, you're a spiritual father, or you
can say mother to them as well, you're a lady getting someone saved. And he talked about here
in verse 8 of Genesis 45, it says, but God and, sorry, it says, so now it was not you that
sent me here, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, a lord of all his house,
of all throughout all the land of Egypt. And as we go on, and you're going to see,
there's, for me, there are some more examples of, at least, Pharaoh seems to be very pro,
not just Joseph, but also Israel and the children of Israel and everything else. But again, could
be the case, and hence, you know, him describing him like a father to him as well.
But this pharaoh goes on to welcome Israel, and into Egypt, he wants to provide for God's
people, we're going to see that, and it says in verse 9, 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, thy children's children, thy flocks and thy herds, and all that thou hast. And there
will I nourish thee, for there, yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household
and all that thou hast come to poverty. So he's just told his brothers, okay, and wants
them to relay it to Jacob, but that there's still five years more famine. Now that's a good reason to
come and get sustained by him in Egypt, isn't it? Okay, so you know, I think he's probably
confident they're going to come back with that. He said in verse 12, and behold your eyes see in
the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. So it's not just the
dodgy older brothers, but Benjamin too, that I assume he's probably thinking he can persuade
Jacob that it's all true. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all
that ye have seen, and ye 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. So it was after this point
that his brothers finally talked. Now remember verse three. Verse three said, and Joseph said unto
his brethren, I am Joseph, that my father yet live, and his brethren could not answer him,
for they were troubled at his presence. So they were scared, but it wasn't Joseph telling them not
to be grieved or angry with themselves, for God used it for good, that made them talk.
Okay, there's been quite a passage here and they haven't talked yet. It wasn't because of
that, because that's what he said early on. It wasn't Joseph telling them that God sent him
ahead to provide for them all, to save their lives, that made them talk. It wasn't Joseph
relaying the message to give to Jacob that he was going to bring them all there to sustain them,
that made them talk. Verse 15 said, Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them, and
after that his brethren talked with him. It was after his outward display of emotion,
his affection toward them, that they then talked with him. Having been in fear, having been
dumbstruck, basically refusing to talk. It was his outward display of emotion, it was his
affection that gave them the confidence, that calmed their nerves enough, that encouraged them
to speak. And it was after that his brethren talked with him. And this makes me think of
something I was thinking about after a conversation recently. I was talking to a brother about the
ministry, something I've been thinking about a bit. Turn to Titus chapter 1, how we as pastors and
with bigger churches, deacons, evangelists, leading church plants like we had previously here,
similar sorts of ministries, how we need to remember to be personable with people.
It's something we have to remember to be approachable, to get to know people,
and with that there are risks. So there are those looking for fault, doing a diligent search for
flaws, for anything that could be used in some way against you, okay, that's just sort of part
of the life, not just in the ministry, just part of the Christian life, you get that in other areas as
well. However, we don't want to then react by being unapproachable, in all of us. You don't want
to be, oh well what if someone's just trying to find fault in me, I better just kind of just
distance myself. Because you can look at pastors around the world and all you see,
and especially nowadays because we have YouTube and have done for a while now, you see
three sermons a week on YouTube, a pastor, you name them, boldly preaching the Word of God.
Yeah, so you see that and in people's minds maybe, some people can maybe think that that's all
they do, you know, maybe they just kind of, that's kind of, you just think that's what a
pastor does, they just preach sermons, right, and for some maybe they think they
probably imagine them just preaching to everyone in conversation, because I think people are sometimes
shocked when they've met pastors that maybe they've kind of hero-worshipped a bit and they've
gone and met them and it's like they're just a regular person, you know, and kind of in their
mind they're going to be like, say the Lord when they talk to you or something, you know,
and it's not like that, is it? But the reality is that that is only part of the job,
isn't it? So the preaching is only part, so much of it, and it's not just the organisation
stuff like that, so much of the job is interacting with people, it's council, it's problem-solving
with people, trying to help people in life, trying to get them to open up so you can help
them with their problems, and when you get to know people, they get to know you more, that's
just life, isn't it? It's a two-way thing, and when they see the whites of your eyes daily,
sometimes that respect can wane a little bit, and this is the same around the world,
so the people that attend churches of people that, you know, maybe there's all these fanboys
online, and half the time they're not saved anyway, but regardless, who are like, you know,
they're just like, wow, in awe and everything else, once they're actually at the church, they get
it and they get to know them, a lot of the time the respect does wane a little bit, and that's
just life, you know, because there is a sort of, there is that sort of, kind of almost, you know,
sort of celebrity type status, even though you're just on a, you know, on a sort of YouTube
stream with not really that many people really in the grand scheme of things watching it, you know,
but people can feel like that a bit, can't they? And that shouldn't stop us being personal, though.
It shouldn't make us go, well, I'd better somehow pull that back somehow. It shouldn't stop us being
approachable, given to hospitality. Look at Titus there, chapter 1 and verse 7, it says,
for a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, a bishop is interchangeable with the
elder, or we use the word pastor, not self-willed. Okay, so they need to be thinking about
others, and I'm going to show you how you do that in a minute, not soon angry, not given to
wine, no strike, and not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, holy, temperate. So the TV preacher coming in on the zip line,
I'm sure there's someone out there, if anyone knows, if anyone tells me afterwards, it does, yeah,
and probably, yeah, we've got a hand up there, okay, tell me afterwards, okay, coming in on the zip line, coming
back out on the zip line, okay, that's not what a pastor is here for. Now, you know, because for some
it's like, yeah, well, he's just there to preach, you know, and let everyone, you know, just deal with
that, you know, but, and of course the challenge is, as a church grows big, to have them
there for deacons, assistants, who can give that care, and get to know people too, because you can
imagine, if you're running 300, 400, 500, 600, you can't really do that yourself, can you?
And even 100, it starts to get hard, and obviously you need, but what you're looking for is
you're trying to find people that can be personable, and get to know people, and as well, right,
because that's needed, that's what people need, it's pastoring, it's not commanding an army,
you know, the whole point is to be able to, is to give people care and stuff as well,
and this, this is the same in all areas of leadership, so in case you think, well, what's that
got to do with most of us here? If you want to know how to lead people in the right way, you
need to get to know them. That's the reality, isn't it? If you want to know how to lead someone,
you need to know them, because different people need different types of leadership, don't they?
And people won't relax around you, and if you don't relax somewhat around them,
they won't relax around you, and that's something we have to remember, and our kids,
you know, let's put it this way, are our kids going to come to us with problems
if they spend their lives in abject fear of us? Is that, is that, now don't get me wrong,
they should fear punishment, you know, punishment needs to be enough for them to not want it,
but if they're just in constant fear of you, are they really going to come to you,
are you going to get to know them well enough to be able to lead them in the right way?
Are our employees going to share their thoughts and observations
if they can't talk to you normally, if they feel too scared to be able to share that,
and too scared to be able to come to you and go, look, this isn't working for me, or,
you know, do you think maybe this, or, you know, just be able to share how they feel, right?
There is, of course, a line, okay, like I preached a few weeks ago, it doesn't mean that
we have to share our whole life story with everyone, because there is that issue where people
just spill out everything, and then it just gets used against them, and talked about that
a few chaps ago. We have to obviously be wary of the weird interrogators, I talked about that
before you come out of a conversation, I just got interrogated, and he said, hi, how are you,
and suddenly they've got everything, they don't know what colour underwear I'm wearing,
but we don't want to go too far the other way and emotionally withdraw from those that
we're called to lead, and like I said, in all areas of life, so it's getting that balance,
right, and like I said, because I think you can look at, and think that this person's just
slamming pulpits and ruling with a rod of iron and everything else, but that's not the reality
of what the job of a pastor is, right. Verse 15 says, moreover he kissed all his brethren
and wept upon them, and after that his brethren talked with him, and the fame, and point being
there is, it was after they saw that, this is the leader of Egypt, yeah, he was in charge,
but it was after that they were in fear, but they were able to, it was after that they actually
talked with him and they actually communicated with him, because he showed his human side,
his personable side, his emotions, and the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house saying
Joseph's brethren have come, and it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants, so this Pharaoh, unlike
the later ones, sees Joseph as a father figure like we saw, and I believe could be saved, look at
what he now does for God's people, it pleased Pharaoh well, and it says, and Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, say unto thy brethren this do ye, laid your beasts and go, get you onto 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, you shall eat the fat of the land, so it's him that's pulling them there, right,
now thou art commanded, this do ye, take ye wagons out of the land of Egypt for your
little ones, 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, bear in mind they're in the middle of a famine,
that's a lot of people and a lot of stuff that they're bringing over, okay, we end up seeing
it's sort of 66 of them, I think we see in later chapters, plus the extras that are born there
being Joseph's children as well, but I think 66 of them come with the children, and then on
top of that all the animals and everything else, but anyway, so Pharaoh is definitely going above
and beyond, okay, that's a pretty normal response for other children of God, if he is saved like a
thing, right, that should be a pretty normal response, whoever knocked on someone's door, in fact
we had one just earlier today because it always makes me chuckle, who's actually, who's, who's,
who's, and so we didn't get this, this is what we didn't get today, when you knock on someone's
door who's actually saved, whoever knocked on someone's door, they're actually saved and they just
want to bless you, they want to pray for you, they're like good on you, you know, and everything else,
and, and that's amazing, you get it now and again, don't you, you know, you get someone, you knock on
their door, you ask them, you know, do you know for sure you're going to heaven, they're like, yeah,
you, 100%, you go, okay, what's that based on, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is there any way you can
lose your salvation, no, and you're like, amen, how'd you get saved, or what happened, and they
tell you, and they're like, oh God bless you, you know, I've had people that want to pray with us
before we then go off to the next door, and they're like, let me pray for you, your soul, you know,
you're going out, you preach your gospel, good on you, whatever their parlance is, whatever,
but it's the same sort of stuff, and it isn't, that should be normal, shouldn't it,
sometimes they're offering you stuff, sometimes they're like, you know, can I give your kids
something, sometimes like, would you like a drink of water or something before you go,
you get that, right, that should be normal, and it's even more damning to those ones who
say we're Christian, like we got earlier, and then basically, like, slam the door in your face
and give your flyer back, because they're not, they're never saved, are they, really,
I mean, maybe, maybe once in Blue Moon they are, I just don't know, but isn't it weird
that these people who claim to be, claim to be Christian, of Christ, yeah, to claim to have
some form of faith, salvation, something, who would have that much hatred for someone knocking on
their door trying to preach the gospel to them and their next-door neighbours, and what about
the ones that say they're Christian and go don't knock on my neighbour's door, it's nuts, but
yeah, that's, because of normal responses, like we're seeing with Pharaoh here, he's just like,
yeah, bring him here, let me look after him, everything else, I think perhaps he could be saved,
he's going above and beyond, verse 21 says, the children of Israel did so, and Joseph
gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way,
so it was his commandment, Pharaoh's commandment, with the wagons and the provision, 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, so he still got that soft spot for Benjamin, of course,
and bear in mind this was before Chinese sweatshops and synthetic fibres, so if you're looking at
that going, why is he even talking about the change of raiment, because raiment's worth,
was worth a lot, you know, proper clothing was worth good money, and he's given a
change of clothing for everyone, but then Benjamin's got five lots, okay, and that's obviously
of some value, okay, hence they, you know, they, when they're casting lots for Jesus's,
you know, his raiment, his vesture, and it's, and really because it's worth money, okay,
because you'd think, oh, it's a bit strange, because it's something that someone's been whipped
and scourged and everything else, but it's worth good money, okay, so said in verse 23,
and to his father he sent after this man ten asses laid in with the good things of Egypt,
and ten shiasses laid with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way, so Jacob being old,
and a journey back for him, probably taking much longer than the 10 and 11 brothers journeys there,
okay, bear in mind that they're also going to, were to bring their flocks, their little children too,
so there was going to be a long journey back, hence the provision for that,
so he sent his brethren away, it says, and they departed, and he said unto them,
see that you fall not out by the way, he said, I've given you everything you need,
I've given you provision, I've given you clothing, you've got a job to do, to go, bring Jacob,
come back, see that you fall not out by the way, you say, why would they fall out by the way,
thinking like, how long is this journey, why would they fall out by the way,
well why do we fall out by the way, why do so many believers fall out by the way,
we've been given what we need to do our job, so what is it that we've been given,
you don't have to turn the first Timothy 6, 8 says, exactly the same, having food and raiment,
let us be there with content, you've got food and raiment, you're able to do a job,
if you're saved, you have food and raiment, you obviously have the word of God,
you're able to do a job, aren't you, because that's all we really need to do a job,
what else do you need to go out to people and ask them if they want to hear the gospel,
what else do you need, our job is that we're ambassadors for Christ,
we've been given the ministry of reconciliation, if you're saved, you've got a job,
yet how many fall out by the way, most fall out by the way,
how many drop out of the race, stop preaching the gospel, all over the place,
maybe those brothers here could have got distracted on the way,
maybe by some Canaanitish women, maybe that's what would have happened,
maybe that's how they would have fallen off, fallen out, sorry, fallen out by the way,
and how many believers fall out by the way because of either a woman or a man,
just destroying their spiritual life, and they choose that instead of the things of God,
and what a waste, they've lost, they're basically given up, hung up their boots,
given up their job because of Canaanitish women type thing, how many,
maybe the boys here, maybe the lads here could have fallen out by the way
because of some offers of riches elsewhere, maybe on the way there, on the way back,
someone could have come along and started, oh no, no, no, if you come over here,
you go far away from where you're meant to be and what you're meant to be doing,
and come this way, you can have more money, we've got a job for you over there,
we've got some better stuff over there for you, and again, how many believers do the same,
how many believers are not in a house of God because of money,
how many believers are not doing anything for God because of more money, more wealth,
more riches, if they sit where they are, they go somewhere else, if they go far away,
whatever it is, it's about money, so often that is a big one for so many,
because that's truthfully the reality for so many people that even listen to preaching like this
and others from the US, not just in this country but all over the world,
who are not doing a thing really for God, or very little,
and it ultimately comes down to financial reasons.
Maybe these guys could have just chosen another direction, maybe Syria,
where they weren't going to have to face up to their sin,
where they weren't going to have to face up to what happened many years before,
where they weren't going to have to face up to what they've done to that Joseph who's now leading,
maybe it would have been easier for them to have got back to Canaan and gone north instead.
And again, how many believers will do that instead of coming to a place where they're
going to hear their sins preached on, instead of coming to a place where they have to face down
their sin, they go to liberal Baptist, ear tickle Baptist church, where they just tickle
your ears and tell you how lovely you are and how great you are every week,
because it's easier and it's a safer bet than having to face up to their sin.
Maybe the head turners would have come in and slandered Egypt, maybe that, maybe he's worried
that, or he's just warning them, you might go back there, and then suddenly some people in
Canaan are going to come in and start going, you don't want to go back to Egypt, you don't
want to go there, it's like a cult there, the way Joseph's leading them, they probably don't know it's
Joseph, you know, maybe he's worried about the head turners trying to put them off.
Maybe those Midianite merchantmen could have tried to entice them with the booze, with the drugs,
or whatever else it is that people end up sadly pulling away from the things of God and going
into some sort of alcohol or drug-induced pit, and the reality of it is there are many reasons
why all of us could fall out by the way, that's the reality isn't it, they're just, they were
just some off the top of my head, and you could think of all sorts, I'm sure every single
person here has individual reasons and things that could make them fall out by the way,
the answer is, see that you fall not out by the way, put effort into it, really, you've got to
put effort into not falling out by the way, you've got to avoid the pitfalls, and you know what
your pitfalls might be, you need to take those seriously, you really do, because somebody don't,
and as 1 Corinthians 10 12 says, wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall,
and fall out the race to just waste your life, where you could have been doing so much for God,
that one chance you had to have done so much, you have lived for God, to observe God,
to have got so many salvations and so many other things, you could have grown so much,
you could have done so much, been on the front lines for God, and instead
they're thinking they're standing, and they're not taking heed, they're not making sure,
they're not seeing that they fall not out by the way, and that's something we all have to
be aware of, right, be aware of the risks that you might have, and give them a wide berth,
right, there are sins in the Bible where he says to flee, run the other way, flee fornication,
flee idolatry, in, for example, in 1 Timothy 6, wherefore thou man and God flee these things,
talking about covetousness, they're things that we just need to run the other way from,
because they're such a risk, they're such a danger, it can happen to anyone here, it's our
responsibility to do what we can to avoid falling, to avoid just wasting that life, and
looking back in eternity, looking back, I could have done more, what a waste, what a waste.
Verse 24 said, so he sent his brethren away and they depart, and he said unto them,
see that you fall not out by the way, and they went up out of Egypt and came into the
land of Canaan unto 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.
So these guys were, at least previously, at least previously a dishonest bunch, okay, and that's one
of the repercussions, isn't it? When you're just, because these guys, you know, as we know, and they'd
lied obviously the whole way about Joseph and stuff as well, and all those things, and I'm sure
that that wasn't a one-off, they were a dishonest bunch. I remember sending
Joseph to bring a report on them because he already knew that they were pretty dodgy, and
one of the repercussions of that is when you're clearly dishonest, and when people start to
think, yeah, I don't trust that, oh, that's a lie, and look, just bear in mind, you know, a lot of
people, they think they're so clever with their lies, okay, and it winds me up, that stuff, just
because you're not pulling them up on it, just because you're not going to get in this battle
where you can't prove someone's lying or not, doesn't mean that you don't know they're lying,
and the thing is, a lot of people are dishonest, you get a flavour for it, and then what happens? You just
stop trusting what they say, and here, he's not trusting, he's saying here,
he's saying, it says, and Jacob's heart is fainting for he believed them not, he didn't believe them,
and they told him all the words of Joseph which he'd said unto them, and when he saw the wagons
which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father who arrived,
and Israel said, it is enough, Joseph, my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die, it was
the wagons that did it, okay, didn't matter that that his sons, 11 sons, were telling him about
all this stuff, no, it was the wagons, okay, and that for me is a repercussion of their
previous dishonesty, okay, then just to finish off, okay, over the last few verses we've seen
pictures of the tribulation, okay, and I think it's pretty clear with Joseph
picturing the Antichrist, and only at times, it's not, again, just to remind you because people can
get confused with stuff, that doesn't mean that everything we're seeing in every single verse
has to sum our picture of tribulation, they're pictures, little glimpses, little pictures, little
things to show us that we're seeing pictures of that, with Joseph picturing the Antichrist,
the coming One World leader, okay, coming to power during famine, through his policies, and there
are still a couple more continuations of the pictures before we get to, for me, just the clear
kind of, you know, where it just confirms it all with the Cassius Society in
chapter 47, which incidentally seems to, when you look at it all, seems to be around about,
as it all starts to kick in the halfway point in the famine as well, okay, but just a couple of
things here that I thought of, Genesis 45 and verse 1 said, then Joseph could not refrain himself
before all them that stood by him, and he cried, cause every man to go out for me, and there stood
no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren, and for me, this for me, is the
rest of the world not seeing it, that's what I think, it's just the brothers, remember Matthew 24,
24 says, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall show great signs
and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect, but it's not
possible is it, okay, and for me that's just a picture of their seeing it, he's revealing to him,
to them, but not to the whole world at that point, it's the elect, it's God's people that are the
ones that won't be fooled, and then also verse 7, for me, I like this verse where it says,
and God sent me before you to preserve your posterity in the earth and to save your lives
by a great deliverance, and isn't that the order of things if you believe what the Bible says,
isn't that the order, the Antichrist goes forth to conquer, and then God's people are saved by
great deliverance, aren't they, and he goes first, and then God's people are saved, Matthew 24, verse
29 says, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be dark, and the moon
shall not give a light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven
shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man come in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.
That will be a great deliverance, won't it? That will be a great deliverance, and that's to come.
And that was Genesis 45. I hope that you've got something out of that, and on that we're
going to finish in a word of prayer. Well thank you for your word, thank you for the lessons
that we've got out of that chapter, Lord, and I pray that you just help everyone to dwell on
those as they continue to the end of this week and onwards, Lord, and things which people need
to hear there, things which maybe, you know, that you've wanted certain people in this room to
hear, Lord, that they'll apply it to their lives. We'll just continue to keep striving to be
better, to keep striving to serve you in a better way, Lord, and in a more full way, help us to
just to resist those temptations, to sin, and also to take heed, Lord, and take heed that
not thinking that we stand, you know, that we're always going to stand to take heed lest we fall,
Lord, help us to be wise with that. Help us to, you know, finish the week with you
at the centre of it, Lord, help us to make, if those that are able to make the Thursday
soul winning to make that, for everyone to be able to make it on Sunday for people to recover
from illness, from sickness, from other issues, to be able to be here to celebrate Easter.
Help us to have a great day on Sunday, in Jesus' name, and for all this. Amen.