Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10156 - Brought To Your Knees - Genesis 43

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#10156 - Brought To Your Knees - Genesis 43 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 43 as we start a new
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chapter, Genesis chapter 43, and I've entitled our Bible study
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brought to your knees. Anybody among us ever been
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brought to their knees? You know, it's a painful,
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usually very painful situation that brings us to our knees.
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Those of us that are parents, I heard someone say recently,
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actually within the last year that I thought was so, so
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profound that, you know, it's to parents in general, some brother
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shared that then families, there's almost always one child
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that will bring you to your knees and we've certainly
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experienced that in our own life and it doesn't always have to be
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like a prodigal, although I know.
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This last weekend, through the ministry of Pastor Josh and the
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teaching that that that resurfaced the pain of prodigal
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living among kids or among parents or grandparents.
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Very sorry. It's a very hard Rd. but the
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Lord is going to get you through it.
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He's going to establish strengthen you.
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Being brought to our knees is painful, and sometimes it's
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external, sometimes it's our own doing.
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In our last study together, we learned of the spiritual truth.
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That your sin will find you out. That'll certainly bring you to
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your knees That our sin would find us out.
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It's not that God is chasing you, no, but sin and its
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consequences will not stay hidden forever.
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We were reminded of numbers in Numbers, chapter 32 and verse
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23. The Bible says.
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But if you do not do so, then take note you have sinned
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against the Lord and be sure that your sin.
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Will find you out. There is no such thing as a
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secret sin. Everything the Bible says is
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naked and revealed before him with whom we have to do the old
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King James. Well, it's true.
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You might be able to hide it from someone for a while.
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You might be able to cover it up from those that are close to
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you. But it's not really hidden.
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It will come to light. You can't hide it from God, and
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eventually he'll bring it to pass Moses.
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He's speaking out of personal experience.
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He had sinned in killing the Egyptian here in numbers and
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tried to bury the evidence, but he was caught.
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It's an example for us to be sure that our sins will find you
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out. It'll bring you to your knees.
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Listen. Today, here in the 21st century,
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the Lord would have us to know that your sin will find you out.
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My hands will be clean, as it has in many other studies.
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But for those today, my hands are clean before you that I have
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faithfully warned you that your sin will find you out.
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And for some that's very specific, that that is a word
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from the Lord today, In this moment you won't not be able to
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get away with it. Sin has a way of burying deep
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pain and consequences in your conscience, and it stays there.
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Sin will find you out in your conscience because your
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conscience just won't let it go. You've planted something there
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that can't be erased. Sin will find you out in your
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face. In your face You go, Pastor.
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What do you mean by that? Well, purity marks a person's
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face, and so does impurity. It's evidence.
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It's seen. Emptiness and hardships mark a
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person's face. And you can see how sin has
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affected people's lives by just looking at their countenance.
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God can give special discernment as someone carrying around
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something where you just see it in their face.
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It causes you to ask, are you OK?
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And then that typical response. I'm fine.
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I'm fine. You can be sure that your sin
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will find you out. I can be sure that my sin would
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find me out if I chose to somehow hide it, play games with
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it. In time, it'll show all over
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your face. The Bible even speaks about a
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forward countenance, a forward face, a recognizable even though
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using old King James language, it really just means to be
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recognized and seen. Ultimately, sin will find you
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out, if not now, later, because when you stand before God, there
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will be no hiding of anything you've done.
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In Revelation chapter 20 and verse 12 I saw the dead small
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and great standing before God and the books were opened.
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And another book was opened, which is the book of life.
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And the dead were judged according to their works by the
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things which were written in the books.
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An accurate account is being kept of your life, everything
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you've done. And I thank God that there is a
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beautiful blotter that can blot out everything that's in that
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book. It's the precious blood of Jesus
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Christ. He can forgive you of all of
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your sins and cleanse a woman and cleanse a man of all sin, so
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that when the books are open. I find my name in the book of
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life because of what Jesus has done for me.
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Not because I've tried to take things into my own, Not because
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I think I'm smarter than God, not because I thought I got away
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with it, but because I came clean before the Lord and live a
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life that's in the light. Let me show you a scripture
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that's so important. Would you turn over to 1st John?
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First John, it's a beautiful scripture of agape relationship
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and for there's it's just kind of in the beginning of first
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John there in chapter one. It's so beautiful and so
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wonderful. In first John in chapter one and
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verse seven first John is way back in the back the the apostle
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of love. He says that if we walk, notice
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if we walk in the light as he is in the light.
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We have fellowship with one another and notice the blood of
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Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
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Isn't that so good? If you just walk in the light,
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be an honest person, tell the truth we were saying earlier,
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Keep your commitments. Don't try to hide anything.
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Don't live a life. That's hypocritical.
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Wanting someone to think something about you, when in
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reality you're very different. Yield yourself in an abiding
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relationship. Walk in the light you go, Ed.
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What is walk in the light? Walk is a word in the New
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Testament in the Bible that speaks of a manner of your life,
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what you're known for. The idea of walking implies
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moving forward. So we're using this, this
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description of walking moving forward as making progress in
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the progress of your life. Progress in the light.
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Well, notice what he says in in the script, in the verse just
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before it. He says in verse six.
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If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in
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darkness, we lie and don't practice the truth there.
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There's the choice that's laid before us.
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Walk in the light. And receive the forgiveness and
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fellowship that's ours. We get to fellowship with one
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another and receive the cleansing of our lives.
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And we don't have to have a guilty conscience worry about
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being found out, but rather just walk in the light.
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And just like there's nothing we can do to undo the past, the ACT
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is done, The difficulty's been done.
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The best thing to do is to come clean in repentance and
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humility, and it's going to be hard.
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There's going to be consequences.
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But I've learned over the years, and perhaps some of you can
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agree, that I'd much rather experience the consequences of
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obedience than the consequences of disobedience.
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Walk in the light. Don't walk in the darkness.
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Walk humbly in repentance, and notice not only that, but notice
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in verse nine of chapter one in First John.
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It's just so filled with treasure here.
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It's as if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just.
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To forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
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unrighteousness. Can you just give God glory and
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praise for the forgiveness of your sins?
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Isn't it just awesome? It's so good.
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Let's try it again and be a little louder.
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Can't you give God some glory and praise for the forgiveness
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of your sins to walk in the light?
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Why? Because your sin will find you
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out and it's such a disastrous event.
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It always comes at the worst moment.
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It always comes in the most destructive way.
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I don't want you to mistake that God is chasing you down and
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trying to to make life miserable for you.
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That's not true. He's made every provision for
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you to come out from under that sin that has been setting, been
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besetting you or overcoming you just to come clean, to know that
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you can walk in a way that God gives you the victory.
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That you can trust him with your life.
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I know the past is going to be condemning.
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It's going to try to condemn you.
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But remember, we learn in Romans, chapter one and chapter
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8 and verse one, that there is therefore now no condemnation to
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those there in Christ. You know, as we're driving to
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church today or driving to work today or driving, you know there
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that you were in a car, I was in a car or truck.
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And it's always real good reminder to remember the ratio
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between the windshield and the rearview mirror.
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Your windshield is big because your cars are intended to be
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driven forward and you need a good frame of reference.
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The rearview mirror is small because it's just to be glanced
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at. You don't want to ignore what's
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around you or what's behind you, but you don't live on what's
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behind you. You move forward.
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That's how life is. You want to learn to have a big
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windshield of life so you can move forward.
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I know we have a past. We all do.
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And occasionally we have to look up at it, or occasionally we're
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reminded of it, or occasionally it comes, And then the enemy
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would want to use that against you.
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But there's no condemnation. You want to be able to keep
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things clean before the Lord. You want to honour him with your
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life and live in the thankfulness that he has washed
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me. And he's cleansed my record and
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he's cleansed my past. Maybe the world won't cleanse my
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past, but the Lord does. And are there consequences from
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my past? Yes, there are.
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You know, you can sit down and you go like, man, this is the
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way it is. This is what happens.
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This is the price you pay. And I'm like, OK, if God wants
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to be gracious and merciful, great.
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If he doesn't, then I understand.
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I'm going to learn to trust him in this area of my life.
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But I'm not going to live there. And I don't want you to either.
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Because today, with that introduction in Genesis 43,
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Joseph's brother's sin is found out.
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Joseph's brother's sin is found out.
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He knows. And soon their dad will know
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too. Notice verse one of chapter 43.
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Now the famine marked This word was severe, means it's getting
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worse in the land. And it came to pass when they
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had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, that
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their father said to them go back and buy us a little food.
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But Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us,
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saying, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with
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you. If you send our brother with us,
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we'll go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we
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will not go down. For the man said to us, you
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shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
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And Israel said verse six, Why did you deal so wrongfully with
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me as to tell the man whether you had another brother?
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But they said, the man asked us pointedly about ourselves and
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about our kindred, saying, Is your father still alive?
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Have you another brother? And we told him according to
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these words, could we possibly have known what he would say?
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Bring your brother down. So, Jacob, you know, as we're
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looking back, you want to harden your heart.
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You want to resist and then allow the famine to become worse
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and more challenging. I'm going to let your grain
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disappear. Why?
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So that God might draw his attention to him again.
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What is it about us? Certainly we share this among us
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as believers, as as human beings.
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But what is it about us when we have grain and we have resources
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and we seem to have some semblance of control that we
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don't trust God? Like when things are lining up,
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I mean, let's say we have 10 things, but eight of them seem
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to be going the way we want. We just don't really seem to
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trust God. In a deep level, we've been
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lulled into sleep. By the things that we think we
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control. And So what does God do
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sometimes in our lives? He well, he lets things become
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verse one, severe. He allows things to become
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severe. And in verse two, he allows
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things where the grain is gone and it's eaten up.
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He takes away church. He takes away the things that we
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were trusting in. In just a moment of time, all
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our money's gone. It's just gone.
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Or our job overnight. When we're left work on Friday
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and Monday. Things have changed.
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Or it removes our health. What will?
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Routine. What is routine appointments.
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Routine appointments. That last appointment not so
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routine. Or even removes a person from
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our life. Maybe a relationship broken or a
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unfortunate sad. Lost to death and our immediate
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response is resistance. No, no, no, no, No.
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This can't happen. What's going on here?
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No. And yet, over time, you learn,
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if you haven't learned already, the nose become less and less,
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and we find ourselves drawing closer to the Lord, trusting
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him. Our hands have to be empty,
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though. We can't be clean to all these
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things that are giving us a false comfort.
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There's another Kingdom coming. You see.
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You and I, we want to walk in the light as he is in the light.
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We have to remember that we're living for another Kingdom.
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There's a Kingdom that is to come, and yet we're living in
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the Kingdom. Now that that we are living
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under the authority of Christ, we need to remember that God is
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drawing us through those significant severe losses in
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your life right now. Things were better when you had
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grain. And things were better when
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there was ready food and things were good when it seemed like.
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But then all of a sudden and I was reminded of Psalm 69 and
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verse 18, it says draw near to my soul and redeem it.
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Deliver me because of my enemies, I mean.
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But Jacob's still trying to control, he says in verse six.
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Why'd you tell them you had another brother?
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If you just if you wouldn't have told him you had another
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brother, then we have to be worrying about this.
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Those are just words of control. By the way, Jacob doesn't come
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out and say I'm trying to control this situation.
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Neither do you. Neither do I.
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That's what's happening here, you know.
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If it was my way, things would be better.
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I wouldn't be so sad. I wouldn't be so depressed.
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I wouldn't be so fearful. I wouldn't be so anxious if I
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just had it my way. That's not true.
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The solution to anxiety and distress and contentment is
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abiding in Christ. It all comes from him
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remembering that it's his life now, not mine.
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For some of us, we have a testimony, don't we?
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When we had control of our lives.
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How'd that work for you? It brought you to Christ.
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That's what it did through a lot of pain and suffering.
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It brought you to Christ. It brought you to the end of
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yourself and, you know, over time.
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Those comfort, those comforts and ease and things that are
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under our control. They come back again.
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And what does God do? Brings us to the end of
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ourselves. Jacob goes down fighting, though
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certainly you do too. I do from time to time.
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He's brought to the point of helplessness.
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He has no other choice. He has to respond in faith.
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This isn't necessarily great faith in God.
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But he's going to have to trust the process.
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I want great faith in God. I don't always have great faith
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in God, but sometimes God uses that little faith to bring me to
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great faith. I just like, got to take the
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next step or I got to keep my commitments.
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I says I don't know how it's going to work out, but however
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it's going to work out, God is going to be faithful.
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And that's where Jacob's all being worked out.
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Notice with me in verse 8. It says then Judah said to
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Israel his father, Send the lad with me and we'll rise and go,
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that we may live and not die. Both we and you and also our
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little ones. Judah, you know his name means
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praise. Not an innocent man, but a
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beautiful name. He's just encouraging his dad.
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He's God's going to take care of us.
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I'll take care of it. Verse nine.
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I myself will be surety for him. And from my hand you can require
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him if I don't bring him back to you.
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And set him before you. Then let me bear that blame
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forever. For if we had not lingered,
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surely by now we would have returned this second time.
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And the father Israel. And you notice, remember I
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pointed out earlier in our studies in Genesis, you see
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Jacob and Israel being interchanged.
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And many times, not every time, but many times.
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That interchange of his name is referring to the characteristic
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of how he's acting. Jacob, his name means heel
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catcher, manipulator, conniver. And Jacob, you see many times
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when he's referred to, that's exactly what he's doing.
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But now Judah, he appeals to Israel.
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Remember Israel means governed by God, yielded to God.
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You could say obedient. He's, he's, he's appealing to
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dad in a way, encouraging him like it's going to be OK God is
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with us. So Israel, when he responds in
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verse 11. If it be so, then do this.
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Take some of the best fruits of the land and your vessels.
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Carry down a present for the man.
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A little bomb, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio
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notes, nuts and almonds. Take double money in your hand.
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Take back the money and take back in your hand the money that
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was returned in the mouth of your sacks.
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Perhaps. Perhaps it was an oversight.
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So Judah steps in. He he takes the leadership calms
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and comforts his dad. You can I'll take responsibility
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and we're always grateful for those that will take
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responsibility We'll step into a difficult situation and then he
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Israel's kind of wrestling. He says well take some things
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for him man. Take take the best that we have.
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Take the best that we have and double the money just in case
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and take back the money that was put in the sacks and.
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I think that Jacob and Israel, his response here is very
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similar how we would respond. I want my kids, I want to eat, I
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want peace. But Jacob's not there yet with.
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I want God. I want the Lord.
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I want him. I want him like it was when I
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wrestled with him. I want it.
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He's not there yet. He'll get there.
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It's going to be a painful process.
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Verse 13. Take your brother also and arise
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and go back to the man and listen.
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Listen now things are changing and May God Almighty, this is
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the covenant name of God. May God Almighty give you mercy
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before the man that he may release your other brother and
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Benjamin. If I'm bereaved, I am bereaved.
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I believe this sense of commitment's been on my heart
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because of this passage, because of the prayer requests, some of
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the scriptures that I shared with you, this sense of
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commitment, because this is the place of commitment.
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Jacob comes to. He has this is it.
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God has brought him to a place of commitment.
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He's brought him to the fork in a road, and he's got a choice.
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Walk in the light. Walk in darkness.
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Trust or fear? Why?
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Because desperate times require desperate measures.
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This was a this was a matter of life and death.
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Not just Jacob's life, but his whole family and everybody that
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was with him. It was worth the risk.
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If we don't do this, we're going to die.
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You see, if the famine wouldn't have gotten worse, then probably
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they wouldn't have gone, ever gone back.
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And So what if Simeon's in jail? Don't forget where Simeon is.
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So what? We've got other kids we've
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already lost, like, that's part of the package.
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But God has a plan because it's more you see, what God's working
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out in our lives right now is more than a full stomach.
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God has plans for the nation to bring forth Messiah.
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They don't know that. They knew even if they were
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told. You know how desperate times
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are. I'm not interested in Messiah.
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I'm not interested in Jesus returning.
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I just got a problem today, but no.
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The Lord wants you to be interested in Jesus returning.
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Jesus wants you to look for His soon return.
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It brings purity and holiness in your life, and Jesus wants your
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stomach full too, but in the right order.
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You see God's working these things out in us, as we'll see
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in this coming weekend, we got all this stuff going on in the
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world. The epicenter, pastor, Pastor
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Ed, for sure, has been sharing with you and sharing with you
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for 24 years. Keep your eyes on Jerusalem.
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Keep your eyes on Israel. That's where it's all going to
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go down. And then when things go down,
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people freak out. Like what's happening?
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What's Well, it's happening exactly what the Bible said,
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exactly what the Bible said. And what is the church's
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response? The church's response is to be
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salt and light. It's to be looking for the times
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and the seasons and understanding the pain and the
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suffering that comes because of other people send and to step
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into it. He wants us to understand
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prophecy, but not more than we understand Him.
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He wants us to know the insurance and outs to you know,
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to some degree to study the word of God.
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But but he never wants you to abandon the God of the Word
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because quite frankly, it's easier, isn't it?
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It's easier to have a full stomach than it is to call on
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the God Almighty and put it all in the line.
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Take my son. Go ahead.
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It's much easier. It's much easier to be Bible
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students than to walk across the street and love your neighbour.
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Oh, love your neighbour. I know that scripture I love.
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And so when's the last time you loved your neighbour?
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No, no, I don't love neighbours. I just read it in the Bible.
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I watch some YouTube video and I'm going to love you and my
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neighbour. But what neighbour have you
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loved? Church.
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Who have you shown mercy to? And compassion.
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Who have you given your life to? Who have you helped in Jesus
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name in tumultuous times? Who have you pointed to the hope
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of the cross of Jesus Christ in a time where the world is upside
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down? Oh, it's so much easier to be
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students of the Word of God instead of submitted to the God
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of the Word. And God is calling us more to
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full than full. Stomach's church.
24:30
He's calling us to himself, to a place of commitment, to a place
24:34
of full commitment, to lay it on the line in our own lives, to
24:37
see what God has for us. I remember you can jot it down
24:41
in Esther chapter. Let's look at it.
24:42
Turn over to Esther chapter 4, Esther chapter 4.
24:47
It's such a great time in Esther's life.
24:50
Oh, that we might be encouraged. There are many, many, many,
24:55
many, many many encouraging men I and women of the Bible.
25:02
Esther, it's such an encouragement turn over with me
25:07
if you would just to allow the Holy Spirit to encourage your
25:11
life through this beautiful picture of Esther.
25:16
She is so encouraging to us and she laid her life on the line.
25:20
She got came to a place of you know it doesn't matter.
25:23
It doesn't matter. This is what God has called me
25:25
to notice in Esther chapter 4. When you get there, would you
25:29
draw your attention to verse 10, Esther 4, verse 10?
25:37
It's a short book, you can read it later for context, but
25:39
Esther's been brought to this place where notice it says
25:42
Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a command for Mordecai.
25:47
And this is what she said. All the King's servants and the
25:49
people of the King's provinces know that any man or woman that
25:53
goes into the inner court, to the king who has not been
25:57
called, he has but one law put all to death, the one except the
26:04
one to whom the king holds out the golden sceptre that he may
26:08
live. Yet I myself have not been
26:10
called to go in to the king these 30 days.
26:13
So they told Mordecai Esther's words.
26:15
Then Mordecai told them to answer.
26:17
Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape in
26:22
the King's palace any more than all the other Jews.
26:25
For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and
26:30
deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you
26:35
and your father's house will perish.
26:39
Yet who knows whether you have come to the King Kingdom for
26:46
such a time as this? And you say thank God for the
26:49
Mordecai's. Check this out verse 15.
26:51
Then Esther told him and returned this answer to
26:53
Mordecai. Go gather all the Jews that are
26:55
present in Shushan fast for me neither eat or drink for three
27:00
days, night or day. My maids will fast likewise and
27:04
so I will. Those are words of commitment.
27:06
So I will go in to the king which is against the law.
27:11
And if I perish, I perish, man. If I perish, what does Jacob say
27:22
back in Genesis 43, what does Jacob say?
27:25
I am bereaved. I am bereaved.
27:31
This great words of Esther brings her to a place to step
27:35
into a very dangerous situation. And the same, the same step of
27:40
faith in Jacob's life. If I'm bereaved, I'm bereaved.
27:44
I'm going to step out and I'm going to take the consequences,
27:50
Jacob. If I'm bereaved, I'm bereaved.
27:52
I'm just going to have to commit it to the hands of the Lord.
27:56
I can't do anything about it. It's out of my control in
28:00
church. It's important for us to come to
28:01
that commitment where we rest in the providential care of God.
28:06
God has been faithful, God is faithful, and God will be
28:11
faithful in the things that concern your life and mine.
28:16
Notice verse 15 So the men that took that so the men took that
28:23
present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand,
28:26
and rose and went down to Egypt. And they stood before Joseph.
28:30
And then Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and he said to the
28:32
steward of the house, Take these men to my home, slaughter an
28:35
animal, and make ready, for these men will dine with me at
28:39
noon. And the men did as Joseph
28:42
ordered. And the men brought the men in
28:43
Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because
28:47
they were brought into Joseph's house.
28:49
And they said it's because of the money which was returned in
28:51
our sacks the first time we were brought in.
28:54
So they may seek an occasion against us and fall upon us to
28:57
take us as slaves with our donkeys, optimists, pessimists,
29:07
realists, and men dealing with the guilty conscience.
29:13
They can't see something good as anything other than bad.
29:18
I mean, this is something that although the dynamic of
29:21
everything is very challenging, the king of the known world, or
29:26
or the 2nd in command of the whole known world, has invited
29:29
them to a party in his house and his palace.
29:33
I mean that that is an occasion for celebration.
29:36
But they're afraid. They're not thinking of Joseph
29:40
here, of course, and they're not thinking of the past.
29:43
This is the cumulative difficulty that comes through
29:46
years of trying to hide their sin.
29:50
They have seemingly successively hid it from their dad
29:55
temporarily, temporarily, here being me, just a mere years, you
29:59
know, almost a dozen 13 years. But they haven't hid it from
30:02
themselves, and they haven't hid him from God.
30:06
So even here's something so good, this should be such an
30:08
occasion. They think about they're going
30:10
to, they're going to lose their donkeys.
30:12
And that's that's where they're at.
30:14
Let's go to a party. No, no, it's not a party.
30:16
There's something here going to lose.
30:17
No, no, no, no, no, there's not something here.
30:20
You're the manipulators. You're the manipulators.
30:26
Well, notice in verse 19, he says when they drew near to the
30:31
steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at the door of
30:33
the house and said, oh Sir, we indeed came down the first time
30:36
to buy food. And it happened when we came in
30:39
the encampment that we opened our sacks and and there each
30:42
man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full
30:44
weight. So we had brought it back in our
30:46
hand and we brought down other money in our hands to buy food.
30:49
And we don't know who put our money in our sacks.
30:54
But he said, peace be to you. Do not be afraid.
30:58
Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in
31:01
your sacks. I had your money.
31:04
And then he brought Simeon out to them.
31:07
So the men brought the men. So the man brought the men into
31:10
Joseph's house, gave them water, and they washed their feet and
31:13
gave their donkeys feed. This isn't his great words.
31:19
Peace I give. Just don't freak out, guys.
31:23
This is a good thing. I know.
31:25
I know. I know this leader.
31:26
I know him. This is good.
31:30
Don't be afraid. I mean, and notice this, if you
31:33
see it in the new King James, it says in verse 23 that the
31:38
steward there, your God and the God of your father, and they see
31:41
the capital letters. I mean, he's talking about the
31:43
one true God. He's talking about the almighty
31:45
God that Jacob just mentioned. Here's this steward in Pharaoh's
31:50
court telling the covenant children of God about their God.
31:59
And isn't it just such a embarrassment at times where if
32:03
you've ever, if it's never happened to you, I'm grateful
32:05
for that. But it's happened to me on more
32:07
than one occasion where I'm rebuked by the behaviour or the
32:10
words of an unbeliever. At times it seems in my life
32:15
I've noticed that I've seen those that don't even believe in
32:18
God have more confidence in a situation than I demonstrated in
32:22
that moment. It really happened a lot at
32:24
work, with all the stress and things I faced when I was in the
32:26
world, like man. And it's just that the Lord just
32:29
wanting to reveal to me, like look at the faith in this guy,
32:32
but he doesn't even know me. You do.
32:35
And it's a it's a mild rebuke here, which also tells me
32:39
something about Joseph in the midst of his trial.
32:44
It gives us insights and even a more deep, careful study.
32:47
If we took forever, like a whole year to study the life of
32:50
Joseph, what people have, or a few years will give us a little
32:53
bit insight that Joseph used his time in Egypt to talk about his
32:57
God. This is the Joseph that went
33:00
through everything you know. We went through, sold out by his
33:04
brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape, thrown
33:08
into prison, forgotten in prison.
33:10
Remember that Joseph Church? That's the Joseph that while
33:14
he's in in second in command and given authority over everything
33:18
with the exception of few things, his steward is talking
33:22
about his God And whether Joseph told him specifically as we
33:27
would refer in the new Covenant. You know, in the New Testament
33:30
he witnessed in him or shared the gospel with him.
33:32
Whether he did something like that or we lived out his faith
33:34
And and the steward heard him pray and the steward watched him
33:38
live and the steward seen him how he responded to things and
33:42
knew like whatever happened. Joseph was a witness in the
33:48
palace, and here's the steward pointing these Hebrews to their
33:51
own God that they have forgotten.
33:55
And there are those situations in our lives that we think we're
33:58
just that are just miserable. We're like these, like the the
34:04
sons here, they come into a party and they think the worst.
34:09
They're just miserable. This is it.
34:11
It's over. He's inviting us to the house.
34:14
He's going to take our donkeys and make us slaves.
34:17
It's just the best of situation. But because of the condition of
34:21
their heart and their attitude and they they see it as the
34:23
worst situation and they see it as miserable.
34:29
And yet other people around us can see the same exact thing and
34:36
just see all the good in it. Like, you don't understand how
34:40
good you have it. You just don't understand how
34:42
good you have it. You know, Christians, we, they
34:44
have a tendency and a kind of a reputation to to complain and
34:47
and to be faithless and fearless.
34:49
And whether it's true or not, it doesn't really matter.
34:51
Our reputation sticks. And yet there are those that
34:54
just look at our situations. Like, man, you have it so good.
34:57
Look at your life and they don't even know the depth of it, of
35:02
how good you have it in the spiritual realm, living without
35:05
guilt and shame. You have it so good, and yet
35:09
there you are, grumbling about it.
35:11
So much so that the Bible instructs us not to complain and
35:14
murmur and grumble about our situations.
35:17
But we do, and it's not a sin that's confessed as often as it
35:22
should be. It's not a sin that gets a lot
35:26
of attention as often as it should be.
35:29
Here we are with our eternity secure experience in intimacy
35:34
and relationship with the Almighty God, the Creator of the
35:37
universe. And we're grumbling.
35:41
I bought a flat tire. Or an old phone.
35:47
Or an Android phone. That's good grumbling.
35:49
That's fine. No, I'm just kidding.
35:53
It's a sin that needs to be repented of church.
35:56
It could very well be holding you back from another step of
35:59
faith in your life. You're grumbling about your
36:01
current situation. You're complaining about where
36:04
you are or where you're not. You're complaining about your
36:08
situation and yet the Lord's calling you just to leave it
36:13
here tonight. Just leave it here.
36:17
Just give it to the Lord. Just cast your care upon him
36:20
tonight and make a commitment, not a not some legalistic thing.
36:25
I'm not asking you to make a commitment like you're just
36:27
going to hold on to it and be like so like, but make a
36:30
commitment to trust the Lord in that situation.
36:34
Ask him to remind you of his faithfulness in the past, to
36:39
encourage you in your present situation so you bring you out
36:43
into fruitfulness in the future. Ask him to take away a grumbling
36:48
and complaining spirit. Like like just an atmosphere and
36:53
an attitude where it's just never enough and it's never good
36:56
enough and it's just never this and never that.
37:00
I mean, if you think about this, you think about the situation
37:03
even if it is miserable and even if it is hard and even if it is
37:06
just challenging. Do you really think right now,
37:08
do you really think that God has plans to make your life
37:11
miserable? Do you really believe He has
37:15
schemes in His eternal decrees and and His sovereignty and His
37:22
Providence, like like the New Testament, teaches the exact
37:25
opposite? God is not thinking about how to
37:29
make your life miserable. He He's thinking about how much
37:33
He loves you, how much He cares for you, how much he wants to
37:37
see your marriage restored, how much He wants to heal you from
37:40
your divorce, how much He wants to see your prodigals come home.
37:43
His ways and His thoughts for you are good, not evil.
37:54
Jesus died so that we might enjoy peace and freedom and
37:57
tremendous, abundant life. So like these guys, they can
38:02
enjoy a party in the palace, man, because they're sitting
38:05
there going, we don't deserve this.
38:07
We're horrible rotting people and we just want to eat.
38:11
Oh, you want to eat? You want grain?
38:13
Yes, we just want grain. Oh, you want you want grain?
38:15
Well, I'm going to give you more than you can eat.
38:19
Oh, and Simeon, come on out. I want you to see.
38:21
He's just fine. He's been eating pretty well.
38:25
We've been well taken care of. Put your eyes on the Lord
38:29
tonight. Take them off yourself.
38:32
Get your eyes off the circumstances and fix them on
38:35
Jesus. Because the ultimate commitment
38:39
to make isn't it is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His
38:43
righteousness. And all these things will be
38:46
added unto you. We'll notice in verse 24 brought
38:52
him into their house, gave him water, washed their feet.
38:56
Verse 25. Then they made the present ready
38:58
for Joseph's coming at noon. For they had heard that they
39:01
would eat bread there. And Joseph came home.
39:03
They brought him the present, which was in their hand to the
39:05
house, and bowed down before him to the earth.
39:09
Then he asked them about their well-being, and he said, and
39:11
said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke, is he
39:14
still alive? And they answered, Your servant,
39:17
our father, is in good health. He is still alive.
39:20
And they bowed their heads down and prostated themselves and and
39:23
this is interesting too, we don't have time to develop it.
39:25
But it's interesting, the thing that Jacob was so concerned
39:29
about, the sons ask, answering all of the questions, they're
39:33
still doing. They're still, they're still so
39:35
nervous. They're not thinking about dad
39:37
right now. They're just nervous in the
39:39
situation and they're still answering personal questions.
39:42
They're still giving information, and I I don't blame
39:45
them. It's just interesting that Jacob
39:47
was so concerned. It had to be an emotional.
39:49
We're reading the Bible right now.
39:51
But but man, you have to put yourself.
39:52
It had to be an emotional moment.
39:54
I I don't want to lose any more kids.
39:56
I've already lost Joseph. I don't have.
39:58
I don't want to lose binge. Like, what are you guys doing?
40:00
What's your problem? You would think they would go.
40:04
I don't think we should answer any questions about our personal
40:06
life anymore, but they just go along.
40:08
Is your dad alive? Oh, he's alive.
40:10
He's great. And everything's fine.
40:13
And they're probably very nervous, very afraid, of course.
40:17
And then notice as they prospiled their heads, it says
40:22
in verse 28. And prostrated before them.
40:24
He lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's
40:27
son, and said, is this your younger brother of whom you
40:29
spoke to me? He said, God be gracious to you,
40:32
my son. Can't you hear those words?
40:34
God be that. God be gracious to you, brother,
40:42
and his heart yearned for his brother.
40:45
And so Jason Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep,
40:49
and he went into his chamber and wept there.
40:52
Then he washed his face and came out, and he restrained himself
40:55
and said, serve the bread. So they set him a place by
40:59
himself, and them by themselves. And the Egyptians who ate with
41:02
them by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food
41:05
with the Hebrews. That's an abomination to the
41:07
Egyptians. And then check this out in verse
41:09
33. And he sat before him, the first
41:12
born according to his birthright and the youngest according to
41:14
his youth. And the men looked in
41:16
astonishment at one another. Someone did the odds on this for
41:21
someone that we didn't know them and to put them in order like
41:24
this and it would be one in 39,907,000 chance of this
41:32
happening perfectly. So it it is one with 39, almost
41:36
40 million zeros after it for this to line up perfectly for
41:39
and. And here's Joseph doing it.
41:41
Why? Because he knows him.
41:43
They don't know that. But Joseph knows that.
41:47
And he took servings to them before them.
41:49
But Benjamin serving was five times as much as any of theirs.
41:54
And they drank and were merry with him.
41:56
A few thoughts before we head out.
41:58
Their nerves are a little calmer now.
42:01
They prepare to bless Joseph with the gifts and gives the
42:03
present and gives information about their dad.
42:06
But they're not even quite accurate about their dad.
42:09
He's not young, strong and healthy.
42:11
He's old, fearful and terribly shaken by this whole situation.
42:15
They're not even giving the full story.
42:17
Dad is not as good as they presume him to be or present him
42:20
to be. They bow down.
42:23
Which, by the way, again, it's been some time since we've been
42:26
in our study in Genesis, but it's going back to the
42:29
beginning. When they bow down to him, It
42:31
sounds like a fulfilment of the dreams that got him in trouble
42:36
to begin with. It's all coming to pass.
42:39
Why? Because God's Word will come to
42:40
pass. And here they are, sheaves,
42:46
bowing down to Joseph. He sees Benjamin, asks who he
42:51
is, and God bless you and overcome emotionally.
42:54
He had to get alone. And I can.
42:56
I can imagine it was just overwhelming how this is all
43:01
coming to pass. I pray sometimes.
43:04
It's hard, but I pray sometimes to feel the weight of the
43:07
emotion in the text, because this has just got to be
43:10
unbelievable, so overwhelmingly challenging.
43:17
And Joseph, as he sets them up, he puts them in order.
43:19
Again, we listen to the odds of this happening if you didn't
43:24
know the people, putting them all in order.
43:26
But what really stands out to me is that Benjamin gets a serving
43:30
five times as much. Why?
43:35
Well, if some suggested, and I tend to agree, that it could be
43:38
that Joseph was testing them as a type of Christ.
43:44
Not tempting them, but testing them, just revealing, allowing
43:46
the hearts to be revealed. Looking to see if there's still
43:49
any kind of jealousy or bitterness among them.
43:52
With Benjamin this could have been sort of a test, to see if
43:57
they were still the old guys. They used to be bitterly jealous
44:00
of the younger brother who was obviously favoured by the
44:03
father. We don't know exactly what's
44:05
happening here, but I can see that as being definitely a part
44:09
of this. Just like lining them up to see
44:11
a revelation of their heart. Because the purposes of God we
44:16
challenging to be fulfilled through them as they are.
44:19
If they have a semblance of that old bitterness and that jealousy
44:23
and obviously at this point it's not there.
44:25
They seem to have passed the test.
44:27
They drank and were merry with him.
44:33
And it's a beautiful thing to watch how God will take these
44:36
situations out of our lives. I mean the the men that we see
44:40
here are just some of the most challenging sinful men in the
44:46
Bible. These would be men that wouldn't
44:52
fulfil the ministry qualifications of First Timothy
44:56
3. So much of their life was
44:59
disqualifying and yet God is going to use them despite them.
45:06
Don't misunderstand, He doesn't bless sin and he doesn't bless
45:09
mediocrity and he doesn't bless a disqualified life.
45:12
But not everybody has a clean, perfect life.
45:17
And today it's important that you're reminded, no matter what
45:20
you've been through and what you brought here today.
45:22
What? How you're listening to me on
45:23
the radio right now, that your life is pressable, precious,
45:27
valuable, and usable in God's hands.
45:32
You might be struggling with feelings of being inadequate or
45:35
unusable. Or maybe if I'm not around,
45:38
nobody will notice. Maybe you think there's this one
45:41
thing holding you back and you'll never get over it.
45:44
Or you'll never stop struggling. Or you'll like you've got all
45:47
these nevers in your life, but there's not one perfect woman or
45:52
man in this room. Did you know that?
45:55
God, he uses the imperfect? That's all He has to work with
45:59
God tied to take the imperfect and mold us into workable
46:03
vessels for his honor. Listen, tie it all up with the
46:05
introduction. Ready.
46:07
You may be trying to hide your sin today because you believe
46:11
that that's the way to be used by God.
46:14
And I would say you are deceived.
46:17
Can you come back with me to 1st John Chapter one?
46:20
Come back with me. If that is your view today where
46:25
you think well, you know it's just something that doesn't.
46:28
It's over. It's in the past.
46:29
It doesn't need to be dealt with.
46:30
I can hide it. You are lying to yourself.
46:34
You have bought a lie. Notice again it says verse 5.
46:45
This is the message which we heard from him and declared to
46:48
you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
46:51
If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
46:55
we lie and do not practice the truth.
46:58
But if we walk in the light, as He is a light, we have
47:00
fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his
47:05
Son cleanses us from all sin. And we skip this verse,
47:10
remember, because we went right to verse 9.
47:12
But I want to bring you back and tie it all up in verse 8.
47:15
If we say that we have no sin, the context of this is the root.
47:22
If we say we are, we don't have a sin nature.
47:24
If we say we are sinless, we deceive ourselves and the truth
47:30
is not in US. However, there's an application
47:33
here I want to share with you, and it's this.
47:37
If we say toward a particular sin in our lives that we did not
47:42
sin, we hide, try to hide it. We've deceived ourselves because
47:51
our sin will find us out. We don't want that in our lives.
47:57
So much damage comes through the handling of the situation, even
48:02
more than the situation itself. So just come clean before the
48:07
Lord today. Allow Him to do a fresh work
48:10
within you in these last days so that we can fulfil what God has
48:14
called us to to have fellowship with one another, walking in the
48:18
light, demonstrating His agape love.
48:21
Don't be just students of the Word of God.
48:25
Enjoy your relationship with the God of the Word.
48:28
So father away. I know that these, you know
48:31
Joseph's everything's coming to to light and and it's coming,
48:35
coming soon. Where as they're brought to
48:37
their knees, they're also brought to a place of worship so
48:40
quickly They're celebrating and partying and eating the best of
48:44
the best. Why?
48:46
Because of your great grace, not because of anything we've done.
48:52
And I pray for the many ways that you spoke to your church
48:55
tonight, reminding us of your love for us and your gracious
49:00
patience toward us, even those that just are under the
49:05
heavyweight of condemnation. It just seems to have derailed
49:09
their lives. Lord, you're calling them back
49:11
to a place of simple surrender to you, the place of full
49:17
commitment. You've removed the grain.
49:19
It's gone. The money, the job, the health,
49:24
the person. So as in that you would allow
49:29
that situation to draw us nearer.
49:32
Your word says, if we humble ourselves before us, you will
49:35
lift us up. So we just pray for that.
49:38
A fresh anointing Lord, a fresh outpouring, a fresh gift of
49:44
humility and humble humility. Like just to that place where
49:48
we, you know, we yield to you. We declare our love to you.
49:56
Even as we sing those songs. Lord, there's songs of love.
49:59
It's all they are. How much we love you.
50:02
How much we relish in glory, in your love.
50:06
How how important you are to us. Even if, Lord, it's been like a
50:13
season where you haven't been so important.
50:15
Lord, we just come back to you today.
50:18
We come back. We don't have to go the hard
50:21
way. Go the easy way.
50:24
And even if we have gone the hard way, Lord, it can end right
50:27
now. I pray for the complaining or
50:30
the grumbling that might just looking at our situations like
50:33
just like, oh, look at this, look at this.
50:34
And yet you bring somebody and go, man, you got us so good and
50:39
know what they see. Lord, it's because of your
50:43
blessing, your care and concern for your kids.
50:51
So God, we we receive that outpouring right now.
50:53
We receive that affirmation tonight with Lord, we receive
50:58
your forgiveness as we turn to you and even churches, without
51:04
calling for any kind of response or anything.
51:06
I just If you need to repent before the Lord, just do it
51:08
right right now during the song. Just pour your heart out to him.
51:13
Open yourself up to the emotion of the reality of your
51:17
situation. That it's not just mechanical
51:21
like Joseph. You just got to get away and
51:23
just weep. You just got to what's going on.
51:27
I can't believe. And you know for Joseph, he's
51:31
just weeping. I can't believe I see my
51:33
brother. This is like this.
51:34
This is unbelievable how good you are to me.
51:36
Lord, I can't even remember the prison.
51:39
I can't even remember the pit. I can't even remember that I I
51:43
don't even that they aren't even in my.
51:45
They're not up front anymore. They're.
51:47
They're they're wiped away. And I'm just here with my
51:51
family. My dad's still alive.
51:53
I'm going to see my dad. And I don't know what God's
51:57
working out in your life. It's not Joseph's life.
51:59
You're not living Joseph's life. You're living your life.
52:03
And God is ready. He's ready to reveal himself in
52:07
a new way. So those of you, you know,
52:10
Christians, you guys, part of the body of Christ here, in the
52:12
family here. You guys listening, you just
52:14
repent during the song. Repent right now.
52:16
Don't even wait. But there are some that need to
52:18
repent of your sins for the first time and come to Jesus and
52:24
surrender for the forgiveness of your sins like that.
52:27
Like that's where relationship begins, where you acknowledge
52:30
who God is and you come to him. And I want to give you, I want
52:34
to give that response. I want to give you a chance to
52:36
respond to the imitation of Jesus Christ.
52:38
He says Come to me all you are weary and heavy laden.
52:41
I'll give you rest and the only hope for your life is not a new
52:45
government, not the elections. It's not more money in the bank.
52:49
The only hope in your life is the blood of Jesus Christ.
52:53
And he's ready to wash away your sins today.
52:56
He's ready to bring you into relationship.
52:59
And you are too. And for those that are ready,
53:02
you'd say, pastor, I want to follow Jesus with my life today.
53:05
Would you just stand at your feet?
53:06
I want to pray with you. I want you to respond to the
53:10
work of God in this room today. The desire of God's heart is to
53:15
bring you into relationship. And even I know relationship can
53:19
scare you because there's been a lot of broken relationships with
53:21
people. But it's not like that God is
53:26
the initiator. He is the commitment maker.
53:33
Like I know saying today, like I've used the word commitment a
53:35
lot, and you just kind of have a history of breaking all your
53:38
commitments. But in the Lord, he's the
53:41
commitment maker. It's not you.
53:45
You just respond. And so is there anyone among us
53:49
today who'd say, Ed, I need my sins forgiven?
53:52
I want to follow Jesus. I want to give you that chance
53:55
because that's why we gather. We gather for the sake of
54:01
response, knowing that how much God loves you.
54:07
And for you guys out online or on listening on the radio Guy,
54:09
we don't miss you either. Or you might be downstairs.
54:12
We may not be able to see you, but we are firm and we know that
54:16
God sees you. We know it.
54:19
You're not alone. You're not forgotten, You're not
54:22
neglected or avoided. But listen, you come to Jesus
54:28
today. You can't stay separate.
54:33
You need to be a part of a local, healthy church.
54:35
Beginning tonight. You need to find a church,
54:40
preferably because of the family of churches we're part of.
54:43
Find a Calvary Chapel in your neighborhood.
54:45
But if there's not one close, there's really good Baptist
54:48
churches, really good. Four square churches, really
54:50
good. All you know, Assembly of God
54:52
churches are great churches. You need to be in one to be a
54:55
part of the body of Christ, one that teaches the word of God.
55:01
And so you could pray with me, listening in from afar or even
55:05
in the room here. You can pray with me.
55:06
You can say God. I ask you to forgive me of all
55:09
of my sins, and I believe you sent Jesus Christ to die for me.
55:17
And I commit my life to following him.
55:20
I believe He's alive and I turn away.
55:24
I repent of my sins, and I'm asking God for your help to live
55:32
a life in you and for you. And look, if you truly believe
55:41
that God has forgiven you of your sins through Jesus Christ,
55:44
you are born again. That's what the Bible says.
55:46
You come to him, you repent of your sins.
55:48
It's going to manifest. It's going to show by your
55:52
changed life and we want to help you.
55:57
So if you prayed in the room here, just come up after the
55:59
service, the pastors will be up Here you have a little packet
56:02
that we want to give you and connect with you.
56:04
If you're online, you know it's up on the website.
56:06
How to know God, if you're on the app.
56:09
Or you can just text us and we'll connect with you
56:12
720-336-0897. But read ahead for our study
56:18
next time. It won't be next week, church
56:21
because we have our baptism next week.
56:24
It's unbelievable. We have almost, I remember were
56:26
you guys out at the reservoir, how many people got baptized?
56:29
We have another 50 people that want to be baptized and we still
56:31
got another week of signups. It's unbelievable.
56:34
The commitment level of what God is doing is so beautiful.
56:38
So I think the number was 40 this morning.
56:40
So we'll we'll see way more coming this week.
56:43
And so just be praying it'll be right here in the sanctuary and
56:46
the heat will be turned on. We won't put too many ice cubes
56:51
in the water. You'll be fine to just be a
56:54
glorious time of new life. And let's stand together.
56:58
We'll sing this final song. And I know that baptism services
57:01
are a little different. There's not a Bible study or
57:03
anything. But look, you're here to
57:04
encourage people. You're here to minister to
57:07
people you're here to like. Every time you see somebody
57:09
baptized, you are seeing the gospel all over again.
57:12
And you don't know God's just going to encourage you.
57:14
I can't believe it. I remember when I was baptized,
57:16
remember how bad it was. I remember the turning point.
57:18
I remember the Spirit poured out on me.
57:20
I remember the vision that God gave me.
57:22
Like you. You want to be an encouragement
57:24
to others, but also you'll be encouraged.
57:27
And so we'll have it all set up here.
57:29
And the brothers, OK And Pastor Sean will be sharing a
57:31
devotional with you and giving the gospel to those that are
57:34
here. So it's a great opportunity to
57:36
invite your family and friends to see you get water baptized or
57:40
watch a water baptism. It's just confounding to the
57:44
world, you know? They just don't understand it.
57:46
It's like, what are you guys doing?
57:47
And you could say we are identifying with Jesus Christ.
57:52
Why do you do it? Because he told us to.
57:55
That's our whole life. I do it because Jesus said go
57:58
into all the world, preach the gospel, baptizing them in the
58:01
name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
58:05
So that's next Wednesday. And then we'll pick up again
58:07
back in Genesis next time, unless the Rapture takes place.
58:14
I know I'm over, but I've been gone so long as I have a lot of
58:16
time to make up for. I do want to speak.
58:20
You guys get it? First, we've got some
58:22
connections in Israel right now. The one I'm working on right now
58:25
is with our tour guide shraga. Our church is going to be
58:28
purchasing bulletproof vests for kids in the reserves, and I
58:36
don't have all the details yet, so I'll try to get them by this
58:39
weekend. But these kids, they have to buy
58:41
their own stuff. And so some of them are going in
58:43
without this equipment. And so I'll get more information
58:46
this week. I'm working on it.
58:47
We're going to be working with some Messianic congregations and
58:50
sending relief and support to make sure that families are
58:53
taken care of and and understand that the the reality of the
58:58
situation is the care and concern for all of all of the
59:01
above. You know there are Palestinian
59:04
believers. You know that.
59:05
You know, this is an opportunity for the gospel, and our heart is
59:10
for Israel, God's chosen people. But our heart is also for anyone
59:14
that's living and breathing. And so as our as we as a church,
59:18
we're going to be involved in relief and support to those that
59:22
need the mercy and compassion and care the most.
59:25
So I'll be working on that this week.
59:27
Of course we have our relationships in Israel, so
59:29
we're a lot of our support is going to go through that.
59:32
But I imagine Calvary of Albuquerque, he's going to be
59:34
doing some stuff through Reload Love.
59:36
And so we have a big relationship with them.
59:38
So just be in prayer. I'll have some more information
59:42
this weekend, hopefully, And just know your church is already
59:46
involved, even though it didn't get announced.
59:48
You just know the Lord's taking care of it, and if there's extra
59:52
opportunities to give or a fund or anything, I'll let you know.
59:55
OK, so God bless you guys. Have a great weekend, the Lord.
59:59
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
1:00:01
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
1:00:05
For prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
1:00:09
That's 877. 304-7223 To listen to this message in its entirety
1:00:16
or to join us for our live stream services, visit us online
1:00:20
at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary Church
1:00:25
app, Be Blessed as You Worship Jesus this week.