Restoration of Joseph's Brethren

I return to the forty-fifth of Genesis, Genesis chapter forty-five. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, Cause every man to go out from me.

And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud. And the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.

And they came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land. Yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earning nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord to all of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Hast ye to 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 my children, and my children's children, and my flocks, and my herds, and all that thou hast. And there will I nourish thee.

For yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and my household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen.

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.

I'll read for just now. Well, we didn't mention the other night that Joseph received a Gentile bride, which we believe is a picture of the Lord Jesus, today gathering out of the people, a people for himself, that will be his bride, his church, for whom he died, to whom he gave himself in wondrous love. And here we have in the 44th chapter, before we look at this 45th chapter, a very, very sad account that God has given us of these brethren in the presence of Joseph.

Oh, how wonderful it is to see in Joseph a picture of the Lord Jesus, the one who was sold, the one who was put down to the pit, and the one who was brought up, as it were, in resurrection. And now he is the head of all Egypt. He is the Lord of all Egypt.

Now, we know that Egypt in the Bible is a picture of this world, a type of the world, and the Lord Jesus is going to reign over this world. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one who was insulted and crucified, is going to reign over this earth. As we mentioned last night, there's nobody can stop it.

There's no nation, no power on earth that can stop that time that's soon coming when you and I are going to reign with Christ over this earth. Now we find in this 44th chapter that these brethren come into this place of humiliation themselves and deep repentance. If you read the chapter carefully, you'll see how Judah, he even offered himself, he offered to stay behind himself in order that Benjamin, the youngest brother, might return to his father.

What a wonderful picture. And as Joseph sat there and heard this man, Judah, explain the details of how his father's heart would be crushed and erupted to the grave if Benjamin was kept back, why Joseph could no longer refrain himself. And everybody went out of the room, and Joseph was left alone with his brother.

And what a moment that must have been when those men, those 11 men stood there around Joseph, and he said to them, in the second verse, he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph.

What a moment that must have been when those brothers' eyes opened and they saw their Joseph, the very one that they hated, the one that they sold, the one they put down into the pit and then sold. And here he was standing in front of them, the ruler of all Egypt. What a wonderful moment this must have been, a thrilling moment for the heart of Joseph.

And what a moment it will be, beloved, when the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man, comes out of heaven and Israel sees the one that they crucified and they see that the one that they nailed to the cross is the very one that's now the Lord of life and glory. What a moment that will be. And I believe, and I'm sure you do, that the Lord's heart will rejoice as he sees there his people after he deals with them, brings them into a place of repentance, and then he has his people gathered in Palestine, and we know later the tribes will come back.

And what a wonderful future awaits those people, the people of God. And you and I, beloved, will be reigning with Christ over this scene. And we'll be just like Christ.

Isn't that wonderful? How wonderful is that? As the old sister once said to me in the hospital at Smith Falls, she said, as you meet me on the street of glory, you will say, why, you're just like Christ. And I will reply, and so are you. We'll be like Christ physically and morally.

Isn't that wonderful? We'll have a glorified body just like his. How wonderful we'll be like Christ and with Christ. Mr. Hale used to often say that God will never rest till every one of his redeemed children are just like Christ.

And so here we have Joseph announcing, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. The margin says they were terrified at his presence.

Here was the very one that they hated. What a wonderful picture this is of the Lord Jesus. And we're just mentioning tonight at supper time how this wonderful book of Genesis brings before us in seed every truth that's found in the whole Bible.

I don't think you can hardly mention anything in the Bible that's not found in seed in the book of Genesis. And how God must have delighted as he brings before us picture after picture of his beloved son in the book of Genesis. But then the fourth verse, Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.

And here was an invitation, come near to me. Come near to me, I pray you. Well, I suppose you and I as Christians, we can enjoy this for ourselves tonight.

The Lord would say to you and to me, come near to me, I pray you. Now there's young people here tonight, young Christians. And I suppose these boys and girls and younger ladies and younger boys have all received the Lord Jesus.

How nice that each one of us can come near to the Lord. Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near.

Do we do this? These brothers, when they got the invitation, come near to me, I pray you, they came near. You and I come near to the Lord. Do we realize that we're accepted before God in Christ? Accepted in the Beloved.

And we're able to draw into the very presence of God through that rent veil, through the blood of Jesus, we're able to draw near into the very presence of God. Do we believe this? Or do we say like so many say, well, this doesn't refer to me, you know, this refers to other Christians. Every born again believer has the same privilege of drawing near to the Lord Jesus Christ.

To draw near to him. And so these brothers do. They drew near to him.

And notice what Joseph said in the fourth verse. I am Joseph, your brother. This is the second time he mentions this.

In verse 3 and verse 4, So I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Surely this would touch their conscience. He reminds them now what they had done, whom ye have sold into Egypt.

But in the seventh verse, he tells them what he has done. And God sent me before you to preserve you of prosperity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. What a contrast.

What they had done, ye sold me into Egypt. What I have done, I have saved your lives by a great deliverance. Well, I suppose that in the glory land, while God will never remember our sins, I'm sure that we will never forget the great victory that the Lord Jesus won for us on the cross of Calvary.

We will never forget what Christ has suffered for our sakes. As eternity rolls on and on and on, as believers with Christ in the glory, we will never forget that it was through the cross, through his suffering, through his death, that we are there in the glory land. Now in the fifth verse he says, Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life.

You see, he brings God in. He acknowledges it was God that did it. We noticed this the other night too, didn't we? That Joseph always turns to God.

Now brethren, do we do that? This is a day when man boasts. We don't read in the paper at least I've never read that the man who went to the moon ever got up and said, it was God who brought us here. It was God who gave us the wisdom.

It was God who gave the nation wisdom to make this equipment to take us up to the moon. I don't remember reading anything that God was acknowledged. How nice it is for you and for me to always acknowledge God.

A few children do well at school and the teacher says, while you're a clever student, do you think it's God that made me clever? It's God that gave me my brains. It's God that gave me my ability. And when the boss comes to you and says, I'm going to give you an increase in salary, do you say it's the Lord who did this? The Lord has done this.

Have you preached the gospel or given exhortation and somebody comes and says, that was a nice word you gave today, do you say it was the Lord who gave me that word? It wasn't me. It was the Lord who gave me that word. This is what we learn here, I believe, in Joseph.

He turns back to God and then in the 7th verse again he says, and God sent me before you. And then in the 8th verse, so now it was not you that sent me, Heather, 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.

Three things he mentions and he gives God the glory. Isn't that nice, brethren? To give God the glory. Oh, that it was God who had done this.

Oh, there's so much a man in this world. Even among Christians we have men talking about great men, or great men, great preachers. Actually, there are no great men in this world.

I like to think, I like to say, there's only one great man. Only one. There's never going to be another one.

And that great man is the man, the Lord Jesus. He's the great man. He's the only great man.

All others are frail. We sometimes have said, the more you study man's life, the more you uncover his life, his history, the more disgusted we become, especially with ourselves. But the more you uncover Christ, the more wonderful he becomes, the more beautiful he becomes, the more perfect he becomes, and the more you desire to worship him.

And at the end you say, he is altogether lovely. That's the man. The only man.

And now I've noticed the ninth verse. Haste ye, and go up to my Father. Doesn't that remind us, again, of the gospel message? Haste ye.

There's no time to waste. Haste ye, and go up to my Father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph. Well, that's nice, isn't it? He was sending a message back to his father, a message of haste, and he had authority for the message.

Oh, beloved Christians, how nice it is that you and I are told by God, with a haste as it were, go you into all the world and preach the gospel. Haste ye. Then we have the authority, the only authority there is, and that's the word of God.

Thus saith thy son Joseph. Who was this son Joseph? He was the exalted one. He was the one who was glorified now over the land of Egypt, and he had a message, a definite message for his father, the glorified one.

And our Lord Jesus is glorified. How do we believe that? I remember when I first came to the meetings in Montreal, why, I didn't know anything about the Bible. Didn't know anything.

Didn't even know what John 3, 16 was. But I knew the Lord. I knew the Lord Jesus.

And I longed to see him. I don't say this to boast, beloved, but many a night I remember kneeling down by my bed with all my heart, not just much in these words, with all my heart, saying, Lord Jesus, come. I longed to see your face.

I longed to see your face. Oh, it was real, beloved. It was real in those early days, that first love that we have for Christ.

And how nice it is to have, look back, and to think that the Lord never forgets that first love. How our love changes and grows cold. But his love has never changed.

His love is still the same. He loves us. He loves us with an everlasting love.

And with loving kindness, he has drawn us to it, to himself. You know, the devil succeeds many times in discouraging Christians, especially young Christians. We find, we make our mistakes, we do things that are wrong, we say things that are wrong, and the devil immediately says, look it, now you've spoiled everything.

Now you've lost the Lord's favor. All the Lord knew about you and me long before we were born, before he made us, before he created us, he knew us, everything about us. The Lord is never surprised.

Now I believe he's grieved, we know he is, but he's never surprised. People say, I'm surprised to hear that. But the Lord is never surprised.

He knew all about you and all about me long before the foundation of the world. And he chose us in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? So that all the glory goes to God, doesn't it? All the glory goes to him, not to us.

What did we have to do with our salvation? Only one thing, our sins. That's the only thing we had to do with our salvation, was our sins, nothing else. Everything else was done by him.

Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Notice, not Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the one who said, this man will be the head of all Egypt, only I will be ahead of him.

But Joseph again gives the praise to God. God, he said, hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me.

Harry not noticed. He didn't ask him to come down to Egypt, but he said, come down unto me. Isn't that nice? We talk about heaven.

We say, where is heaven? Well, we know the Lord Jesus, our son, he went up, didn't he? He went up to heaven. And he disappeared out of their sight. A cloud received him out of their sight.

So we believe that heaven is up. The Lord Jesus said when he was here in John 6, many times he said, for I came down from heaven. So we believe heaven is up there.

But what is heaven? Heaven is where Jesus is. Come down unto me. Isn't that nice? God would never put heaven as an object for you or me.

Never. God never makes heaven an object for his people. But Christ is the object.

Come down, he says, unto me, tarry not. Then in the 10th verse, And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. Well, that's a nice thing, isn't it, to think of? We're going to be in a separated place in the land of Goshen.

There was going to be Joseph's brethren in the land of Goshen. This is a place of separation. Well, as Christians, you and I are separated unto a rejected Christ.

We are separated, taken out, called out of the world. People will say, well, why don't you go along with the world? Why don't you enter in to all the world's things that the world offers you? Well, we're separated. The cross of Christ has separated us from the world, has it not? It has separated us to a rejected Christ.

Oh, beloved, not to a popular Christ, but to a rejected Christ. David himself went down to the cave of Adullam. All those who were in distress, those who were in debt and so on, went down to that cave with David.

We have nothing to do with the world, have we? We can't make it a better place. No, we've been called out of the world as a war unto this place, into this land of Goshen and type. Here we have these people in the land of Goshen.

And thou shalt be, notice, near unto me. Not only did he say, come down unto me, but now he says something else. Thou shalt be near unto me.

Now, this is what heaven is going to be like, beloved. This is what heaven is going to be like. We're going to be near unto Jesus.

Isn't this wonderful? This is what heaven is going to be. Near unto me, come and thou shalt be near unto me. Now notice, thou and thy children and thy children's children.

Why, it reminds us of the 16th of Acts, doesn't it? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. For God will bring the house into unto me. Not just the father and mother, but he's bringing all the family.

And so he says here, thy children and thy children's, the grandchildren. Now there's grandchildren in this room tonight. How nice it is that each one of these children can, by the Spirit of God and through the truth of the Bible, they too can be brought into a place of nearness to Jesus.

To Jesus. Oh, dear parents, make Christ the object of your children. Don't make religion.

Don't tell your children, now be good, because, you know, Mr. So and So wants to see your children good, but put Christ before your children. Mr. Hale used to often tell us, in Montreal, make Christ the object of your heart and seek to make Christ the object of your children's heart. Isn't that nice? All these legality things and the do this and do that and don't do this and don't do that only discourage our children.

And they say, my father and mother have a lot of do's and don'ts. But how nice it is to put a person before them, put Christ before the children. There's many children, when they get older, why, they go off into the world because they have a head knowledge, but it's never got down to their hearts.

They never have found Christ an object for their heart. And so, as they get older, they wander off into the world. Why? Because they've got nothing to hold them.

But if we make Christ the object of our children's hearts, the fact that he wants them to be near to him isn't it nice to see that? Now, the rest of the 10th verse, And thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast. Not only were they to bring their children and their grandchildren, but now their business too was to be linked with Joseph. Isn't that nice? Linked with Joseph.

There was a man in the office where I worked who was an infidel. This is a sad story. He told me this personally.

He said, Do you know why I became an infidel? He said, Because I worked on a farm for a Christian. And this Christian, he said, every morning he got his Bible out and he read us a few verses and we knelt down around the table and we prayed. And he said, this went on day after day.

And one day he said, I went down to the barn and he said, there was the old farmer and he was pumping water into the milk to make more milk. He said he was a robber. And right there I gave the whole thing up, he said.

I gave the whole thing up. There was a Christian who had his Bible and his prayer, but he left his business out. He didn't bring his business near to Jesus.

And so here, he mentions the flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast. Everything was now to be brought into relationship with Joseph, the risen one, as it were, and the glorified one, and the exalted one. Everything was to come under the power of Joseph.

Isn't that nice? Isn't that nice, beloved? Oh, how the world finds fault with Christians because they find us. I remember one time, you'll pardon the personal reference, there was a crime on the West Coast where a man and a woman killed a little boy. Well, when you like children, those things don't make you feel very happy when you suddenly find it came through the Canadian press that they had found this little boy's body buried in the backyard.

And when I read that and all these men in the office standing by all reading over one of the men's shoulders, I said, I hope they catch them. I hope they put them on the electric chair and don't even give them a trial. Well, there was a Roman Catholic standing by and he said, That's not what your master would say.

That's not what the Lord would say. And I was ashamed. I was really ashamed.

You see, I had showed that really I wasn't living near the Lord Jesus, didn't I? And I went to this Catholic man and I said, You'll have to forgive me. I have beloved children and this did burn me up. But he said, I know.

I understand that. But he said, That's not what the Lord would say. He said, Forgive them.

Forgive them. But you said, Judge them. Judge them.

Well, I never forgot that. And isn't it nice that everything in our lives now is linked up with the risen Christ, with the Lord Jesus. Now in the 11th verse, And there will I nourish thee.

There will I nourish thee. Now, we know this is Joseph speaking about his brothers and his father, but really it must apply to us too. Where can we be nourished? Now I speak especially to young Christians.

Where can you and I be nourished? Well, we know we can be nourished by the Word of God. That's true. And being in the Lord's presence.

But I believe in the assembly. In the assembly of God, there we get nourished. Oh, never say.

Never, never say. Oh, well, you know, you go to the meeting, but you don't get very much at that meeting. You don't get very much.

Never say that. The Lord is there. You can enjoy his presence.

You can sit in the presence of the Lord and be near to him. What will warm your heart more than to be in the presence of Jesus? Remember that the good Samaritan, there was a double care for that man he picked up. Why? He said he took care, and that is the Samaritan, the picture of Christ.

He took care of the man. Then he said to the host, take care of him. The host is the picture of the Spirit of God.

There was a double care, and I believe in the assembly of God there's a double care. The Lord takes care of us, and the Spirit of God takes care of us because he nourishes us in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the assembly of God, he will nourish us.

You know, I remember hearing about a dear Christian. There was nobody in the meeting. Maybe there was only one went.

But this Christian went and just sat there. Just imagine, didn't that take faith and courage? And one day, somebody spoke to this Christian about this, and he said, I think it was a man, a brother, he said, well, I just sit in the presence of Jesus. I just sit in the presence of Jesus.

Wasn't that nice? And so, he says, and there will I nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine. What about this land in which we live? What about this country? What about the nations today? Isn't there a famine? Isn't there a famine all around us? Who would ever think that there'd be men standing up in a so-called pulpit with a Bible on it and saying to the people, it's not true. This is not true.

Who would have ever dreamed such a thing? That men would say, Christ is not risen. He's not risen. And yet they're paid to do this.

Well, there's a famine all around us, beloved. Oh, I say again, as I said last night, do we value the truth that's been gathered to the Lord's name? Why are we going to go someplace else where we won't get the food? We won't get the truth. We won't be nourished, beloved.

We will not be nourished. How many Christians have left and they had to come back again like Naomi and they say, is this Naomi? Is this the person who used to be happy and gathered to the Lord's name? Oh, how much they've lost by going away from the truth of God where the Lord can nourish us and feed us. And then he says, there are yet five years of famine lest thou and thy host and all that thou hast come to poverty.

Notice he says, thou and thy host. That is to say, the father, the head of the house, has got the responsibility. Thou and thy host come to poverty.

I know I'm positive I'm telling the truth. There's many Christians in my short life who have been gathered to the Lord's name have come to poverty. Why, they've been dissatisfied.

I can mention their names. The brothers who came to me and said, I'm not going to go anymore to that meeting. Not going to go anymore and they've gone someplace else.

What has happened to them? Why, they've come to poverty. They've come, there's been a famine in their lives because they didn't stay near to the true Joseph, the Lord Jesus. And then he says, in the twelfth verse, and behold your eyes see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

Isn't that nice? It's my mouth. And always we read this book. Isn't it nice to be able to say it's God's mouth? It's the Lord's mouth that's speaking to me.

As I read this book, it's the Lord's mouth that's speaking to my soul. It is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt.

Isn't that beautiful? Tell my father of all my glory. Oh, he's been glorified. And he's going to be glorified furthermore.

Isn't it wonderful to think of Joseph brought into this place of glory? 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 notice this 14th verse.

And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck. And this is very beautiful to see Joseph and Benjamin brought together weeping.

Oh, I'd like again to link Benjamin in with Joseph. It really warms our heart to find, at least my heart warms, to think of Benjamin, the son of the right hand, and Joseph, the son of soul, the humiliation of being exalted. And here they are in each other's arms.

Oh, how lovely to think that the Lord Jesus, who died on the cross of Calvary. Think of it, brethren. Insulted.

Insulted. As no man was ever insulted. Spit upon.

Spit in his face. Beat him. And nailed his hands to the cross of Calvary.

And now he's exalted. He's the son of the right hand of God. How good it is to see these two brothers in each other's arms weeping together while our time is going on.

Let us notice what happens. Because Joseph, Pharaoh comes in here and speaks to Joseph about his brethren. And then in the 21st verse, And the children of Israel did so.

And Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provisions for the way. You see, Joseph gave it. And the Lord Jesus has given us provisions for the way, beloved.

He's given us his word, the Bible. I don't suppose we really, any of us, and I speak for myself, really appreciate the Bible as we should. If tomorrow morning the newspapers and radios announce that every Bible in the United States of America must be burned in 24 hours' time, we would say, what a treasure.

What a treasure we've got in the Bible. And now we've got to lose the whole thing. Let us value our Bibles while we have them.

Joseph gave provision. And the Lord Jesus, our God, and our Father has supplied us with provision for the way and the precious word of God. And notice what else he did.

In the 22nd verse, To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment. But to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. While these men were going to go out of the land of Egypt, they were going to be dressed.

They were going to be prepared to go forth. And you and I, beloved, have got a change of raiment, haven't we? We still have that old nature, but now we have a new life. We have the very life of God.

We're different, aren't we? We're changed. And so these men left the land of Egypt and they had on the very clothes that were provided by Joseph. And you and I are now dressed in the best robe of heaven.

God has provided us new raiment, a new standing in Christ. How blessed and glorious that is. Well, now in the 24th verse, notice, So he sent his brethren away, and they departed.

And he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. Isn't it nice to go on together as brethren. See that ye fall not out by the way.

There's all kinds of dangers we have to face. We may fall out by the way. And so we have to be careful, don't we? We have to be very, very careful as we travel through this world on the way to glory and be with Christ to see that we fall not out by the way.

How many are falling out by the way? You only have to get your eyes on a man and you'll fall out by the way. You'll follow the wrong man or follow the right man. There was a sister who came to the meeting in Smith Falls, and the speaker was speaking on John's two disciples, John the Baptist, and they left John and they followed Jesus.

She had only come back to the meeting and been gathered to the Lord's name again after many years away. And after the meeting, she went up to the preacher and she said this. She said, I acknowledge that I followed the wrong man, but thank God I'm back again.

Thank God I'm back again. Oh, let us not fall out by the way. By following some man, no matter who he is, he may be the greatest man so called in the world.

He may be a very outstanding man, but there's only one man. And God would have you and God would have me following that man and that man only. Where does he lead? That man.

Isn't it nice to know that he's our blessed Lord Jesus? Well, it tells us here now, here they come in verse 25, And I 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. Now when the message came back in chapter 37, that Jacob's coat of many colors was brought back, covered with blood, why, Jacob said, Joseph is surely rent in pieces.

And that wasn't true, was it? Joseph was alive. But now when they get the truth, when they give him the truth, Joseph is yet alive, and he doesn't believe. He believes the lie, but he doesn't believe the truth.

Now, brethren, we have to be careful that we don't do this too, don't we? Because the devil will tell us anything if he makes us give up the truth. Satan is trying and trying and trying to lead, especially, I believe, the Lord's gathered saints away from the truth by bringing lies, bringing the things that are not true. And Jacob believed the lie in the beginning, but at the end here, when he got the truth, he didn't believe it.

How nice it is to believe the truth. Oh, brethren, don't go by numbers. Never go by numbers.

We sometimes say the majority is always wrong. The majority in the things of God are always wrong, are they not? In the days of Noah, the majority were outside the ark. They were wrong.

I believe in the land of Egypt, the great crowd didn't have blood on their door. They were wrong. And today, it's a poor and afflicted little number of people who follow Christ.

The great majority of the world don't believe this. The large percentage of humanity do not believe what we believe by the grace of God. But the crowd is always wrong.

And Mr. Darby said, I remember reading this, he said, we'll always be a small number, for I fear large numbers. Because small numbers make us depend on the Lord. But large numbers are inclined to puff us up and make us think we're sufficient for ourselves.

So, it's important to believe the truth of the word of God, the Bible. Now, let's look, our time is nearly up, just in the 46th chapter, And God spake unto Israel, verse 2, in the visions of the night, And he said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father.

Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eye.

Isn't it nice to see God's I will? I will. I believe it's at least three times in this verse, these third and fourth verses. I will.

Notice the beginning of the fourth verse. I will go down with thee. He was going to have the very presence of God with him.

I will. And the blessed Lord says in the 13th of Hebrews, verse 5, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The Lord is always with us.

Isn't that nice to be able to say the Lord is traveling with me across these desert sands. Now let's look over to the 47th chapter. I'd just like to read one verse in the 46th chapter, verse 30, where Isaac, Israel rather, speaks to Joseph.

And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. Well, this reminds me of Simeon in the 2nd chapter of Luke when the Lord Jesus was brought in and that old man, he takes the young child into his arms and he says, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And here this old man, Jacob, he sees Joseph.

I have seen thy face. Oh, beloved, we're going to see the face of Jesus someday. What a wonderful moment that will be if we're caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and you and I will for the first time see the face of Jesus.

What a moment that will be. I suppose for eternal ages we'll never forget that first glance at the face of Jesus. That'll be the face we're going to see.

You know, people say, well, when I get to heaven I'll look for you. But I believe that the only object we'll have as we go up is to look at the face of Jesus. As we hear the shout, you may hear it tonight, and we rise up, the first one we'll want to see is Jesus, his face.

Revelation 22, verse 4, And they shall see his face. Isn't that nice, to think of seeing the face of the Lord Jesus. Now in the 47th verse, this chapter, and verse 7, I mentioned this the other night, but I'll read it to you now.

Verse 7, And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. I like to repeat what we said the other night, because we're, and I think for myself, we're so occupied sometimes with wealthy people. We see these great homes, and all the money that's around, and all these wealthy millionaires, and some people might get discouraged and say, I haven't got very much of this world's goods, but we have Christ, haven't we? And you know, as Jacob stood there, and looked probably at the throne, and saw Pharaoh sitting there, what a great man Pharaoh was in the eyes of this world.

But here's what I like, and I can repeat it again. As Jacob stood there before Pharaoh, he said to himself, I've got the best place. Why, God is with me.

God told me he's going to come down with me. I've got the presence of God with me. I'm greater than Pharaoh.

I've got a better place than Pharaoh. And tonight, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, God has blessed each one of us a little bit in a material way. We have our meals.

We have our nice, comfortable homes. And there's other men who've got millions of dollars, great men of the world. But each one of us, as the children of God, have got a far better place, haven't we? We're in the best place because of that blessed one.

Now, our time is almost up. I'd like to bring this before you in closing, the end of the book, the 50th chapter, where Joseph, after Jacob dies, we know that Joseph's brethren really feared Joseph again. They really didn't seem to grasp that truth, that Joseph really was for them, that he loved them, he had forgiven them, and brought them into blessing.

And how it must have pained Joseph's heart to think that after his father died, that he heard his brothers say, now he's going to seek revenge on us. But I want to skip all that by now because our time is nearly up. Notice the 25th verse.

And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Now, the book that opens, the book of Genesis, with these wonderful words, in the beginning, God, closes with a coffin in Egypt.

Isn't that sad? A coffin in Egypt because of man's sin, and man's rebellion against God. But now let's look at Exodus 13, in connection with Joseph's bones, and just say a few things in this connection before we close. Exodus 13, verse 19, And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

And just one more verse, in Joshua 24, the last chapter of Joshua, verse 32. Joshua 24, verse 32, And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob brought, so on. Now as they went through the wilderness, they had the bones of Joseph with them.

What does that tell us? Wherever they went, beloved, they always had, through their wilderness journey, they had the bones of Joseph with them. I like to link this with the remembrance of the Lord in death. As we go through this wilderness world, every Lord's Day morning, are we not reminded of the death of Christ? Doesn't the breaking of that bread and the drinking of that cup remind us of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God? And as the children of Israel carried the bones of Joseph across the wilderness with them, they always could see, no doubt that coffin, they could see, carried with them, wherever it was in a box, wherever it was, the bones of Joseph were carried with them.

And all the time they could remember the story they no doubt knew well, the children of Israel knew very well the story of Joseph. The one who was humbled, the one who was exalted, the one who was glorified, and they carried his bones across the wilderness with them. And as Joseph had asked them to do, they buried his bones when they arrived across the Jordan, as we read in Joshua 24.

And so, beloved, we do not actually carry the bones of our blessed Lord, for he is risen, the precious body of Christ, was raised from the dead, he came out of his grave, a risen man, and now he, by the grace of God, travels over the wilderness desert with us. But as we break bread on the Lord's day, we remember our Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. Well, we haven't said very much about Joseph, and beloved, but I just trust and pray that what we have said may give each one of us to look up and see our blessed Lord, that our eyes may be turned upon Jesus, look full on his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

May the Lord exalt Christ. May the Lord exalt Christ. May God magnify Christ before your soul and mine, and may, as brethren, we go on together remembering the words of our precious Savior, these things I command you.

Notice, not these things I request you, but these things I command you that you love one another. And may the world around us, by the grace of God, take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. Let us pray.