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Voddie Baucham - Have You Been Changed · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: As we come to the end of Genesis chapter 42,
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  Speaker 1: we come to a very interesting passage of Scripture as
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  Speaker 1: it relates to preaching and teaching. Because in this passage
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  Speaker 1: of Scripture, we have Joseph testing God. His brothers. The
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  Speaker 1: question is, how does Joseph's testing of his brothers apply
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  Speaker 1: or relate to me? To which I would respond, just wait.
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  Speaker 1: Because it absolutely does. Because all of us need to
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  Speaker 1: answer the question that Joseph is basically asking of his brothers.
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  Speaker 1: And that question is this. Have you been changed? That's
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  Speaker 1: what he's trying to figure out. Have you been changed?
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  Speaker 1: Or are you the same men that you were who
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  Speaker 1: sent me to this place? That's a very interesting and
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  Speaker 1: challenging question for us. Have you been changed? Because you
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  Speaker 1: can take that question to an extreme and completely misunderstand
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  Speaker 1: and misapply the gospel. If you ask some people, how
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  Speaker 1: do you know if somebody's a Christian, they will answer you.
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  Speaker 1: You ask them questions and see if they believe the
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  Speaker 1: right things. However, others would argue, if you want to
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  Speaker 1: know if somebody's a Christian, you watch their lives and
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  Speaker 1: see if you live the right way. Well, which one
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  Speaker 1: of those is right? The answer? Yes. Yes. Christians believe
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  Speaker 1: the right things and behave the right way, but they
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  Speaker 1: behave in accordance with what they believe. And oftentimes, if
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  Speaker 1: we're not careful, we will fall into the ditch on
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  Speaker 1: either side of this road. We will fall into the
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  Speaker 1: antinomian ditch that says it doesn't matter how you live
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  Speaker 1: as long as the information to which you give mental
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  Speaker 1: assent is the right information. And then you can fall
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  Speaker 1: on the legalism side of the ditch that says, well,
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  Speaker 1: all that information is just information. What matters is that
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  Speaker 1: we do the right things. But as we look at
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  Speaker 1: Joseph and these seven tests that he gives his brothers,
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  Speaker 1: I believe they correspond to some tests that we ought
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  Speaker 1: to give ourselves. And if you will remember, we'll make
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  Speaker 1: several references to it this morning, but if you will remember,
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  Speaker 1: when we were in 1 John, 1 John is a
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  Speaker 1: book filled with a number of tests, three main tests
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  Speaker 1: in particular. And so when we read in 1 John 5.13,
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  Speaker 1: that famous verse says, Everybody knows 1 John 5, 13.
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  Speaker 1: I write these things to you who believe on the
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  Speaker 1: name of the Son of God so that you may
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  Speaker 1: know that you have eternal life. Well, you get there
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  Speaker 1: and that sounds really good. Until you ask a question.
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  Speaker 1: What are these things? And that's the question we tried
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  Speaker 1: to answer when we read through 1 John. John says,
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  Speaker 1: I write these things to you who believe on the
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  Speaker 1: name of the Son of God so that you may
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  Speaker 1: know that you have eternal life. What are these things? Well,
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  Speaker 1: a couple of them we'll look at here. But when
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  Speaker 1: we went through 1 John, we saw that John is
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  Speaker 1: basically making the argument that right belief will lead to
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  Speaker 1: right behavior and that we need to examine ourselves based
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  Speaker 1: upon what is being produced in our lives. Difficult to
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  Speaker 1: juxtapose those things at times, but today we will try
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  Speaker 1: to do so. Look with me if you will. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 42, beginning at verse 12. And there are seven tests.
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  Speaker 1: Test number one, verses 12 to 16. That test is,
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  Speaker 1: is Benjamin still alive? Look at verse 12. And you
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  Speaker 1: have to back up and remember at verse 11. That
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  Speaker 1: very profound statement that they made in verse 11. We
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  Speaker 1: are all sons of one man. We are honest men.
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  Speaker 1: Your servants have never been spies. And again, they've never
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  Speaker 1: been spies. However, they've been murderers and slave traders. Spies,
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  Speaker 1: not a tough leap. Amen? Amen. So he asks them
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  Speaker 1: a few questions, since they have made an assertion about
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  Speaker 1: their character. Look at verses 12 through 16. He said
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  Speaker 1: to them, No, it is the nakedness of the land
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  Speaker 1: that you have come to see. And they said, We,
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  Speaker 1: your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is
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  Speaker 1: this day with our father, and one is no more.
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  Speaker 1: That's interesting. There's actually twelve of us, okay? We're good guys.
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  Speaker 1: We really are good guys. And there's actually twelve of us.
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  Speaker 1: Except the one that our daddy wouldn't let us bring
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  Speaker 1: because of the other one that we kind of got
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  Speaker 1: rid of. But other than that, you can trust us.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 14. But Joseph said to them, it is as
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  Speaker 1: I said to you, you are spies. By this you
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  Speaker 1: shall be tested. Tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you
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  Speaker 1: shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother
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  Speaker 1: comes here. Send one of you and let him bring
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  Speaker 1: your brother while you remain confined, that your words may
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  Speaker 1: be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else,
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  Speaker 1: by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. So
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  Speaker 1: there's the first test. Test number one. Is Benjamin still alive?
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  Speaker 1: Joseph doesn't know the answer to this question. He has
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  Speaker 1: no idea if the men who stand before him are older,
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  Speaker 1: more vicious versions of the scoundrels who sent him on
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  Speaker 1: his journey, or if they had actually been changed, if
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  Speaker 1: they could actually be trusted. Now, let me say here
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  Speaker 1: that this is not going to the question of whether
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  Speaker 1: or not Joseph forgives his brothers. Joseph has already, I
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  Speaker 1: would argue, forgiven his brothers. Since forgiveness essentially goes to
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  Speaker 1: the heart of retribution and withholding that retribution from another.
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  Speaker 1: If he hasn't forgiven his brothers, the minute he realizes
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  Speaker 1: that it's them, they get what they have coming to them.
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  Speaker 1: But the fact that they don't get what they have
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  Speaker 1: coming to them immediately is evidence, I would argue, of
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  Speaker 1: Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers. But there's a difference between
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  Speaker 1: forgiving somebody and trusting them. And he's testing them. And
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  Speaker 1: the first test is, is Benjamin still alive? Go get
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  Speaker 1: my baby brother Benjamin and bring him back. They don't
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  Speaker 1: know who Joseph is. Joseph is not saying these things outright.
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  Speaker 1: They don't know what kind of tests he has given
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  Speaker 1: to them. But he has said twice here that they're
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  Speaker 1: being tested. Test number one is, is Benjamin still alive?
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  Speaker 1: Test number two, will someone volunteer to go? Verses 16
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  Speaker 1: and 17. We already saw in verse 16. Send one
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  Speaker 1: of you and let him bring your brother. While you
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  Speaker 1: remain confined, that your words may be tested. Whether there
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  Speaker 1: is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh,
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  Speaker 1: surely you are spies. Verse 17. And he put them
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  Speaker 1: all together in custody for three days. There's a question.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, is Benjamin alive? The second test is actually
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  Speaker 1: related to the first test. If Benjamin's not alive... Nobody's
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  Speaker 1: going to volunteer to go get it. If Benjamin's not
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  Speaker 1: alive and these men haven't changed, one might volunteer to
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  Speaker 1: go get Benjamin to get away from them, but they
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  Speaker 1: won't allow him to volunteer because they know they'll be left.
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  Speaker 1: So test number two is, will someone volunteer to go?
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  Speaker 1: There's a third test, verses 18 to 20. And that
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  Speaker 1: test is, will someone volunteer to stay? Look at verse 18.
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  Speaker 1: On the third day, Joseph said to them, Do this
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  Speaker 1: and you will live, for I fear God. If you
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  Speaker 1: are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined
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  Speaker 1: where you are in custody, and let the rest go
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  Speaker 1: and carry grain for the famine of your households. And
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  Speaker 1: bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will
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  Speaker 1: be verified and you shall not die. And they did so.
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  Speaker 1: There's the second test. Will somebody volunteer to go? Or
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  Speaker 1: the third test, rather. Will somebody volunteer to stay? Or actually,
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  Speaker 1: that was the third test. Will somebody volunteer to stay?
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  Speaker 1: Will somebody volunteer to go? Nobody did. Secondly, will somebody
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  Speaker 1: volunteer to stay? Is Benjamin alive? We don't know. Will
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  Speaker 1: somebody volunteer to go get Benjamin? Not so much. Will
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  Speaker 1: somebody volunteer to stay here while the rest go and
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  Speaker 1: get Benjamin? Well, there's a fourth test. If you look
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  Speaker 1: at me beginning in verse 24, or just verse 24,
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  Speaker 1: it gives us that test. Then he turned away from
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  Speaker 1: them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke
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  Speaker 1: to them, and he took Simeon from them and bound
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  Speaker 1: him before their eyes. Here's the fourth test. Will they
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  Speaker 1: abandon another brother? If these are the same guys that
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  Speaker 1: I know, then what's going to happen to Simeon? Again,
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  Speaker 1: Joseph hasn't seen his brothers in over 20 years. But
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  Speaker 1: if they are the same men that they were the
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  Speaker 1: last time he saw them, Simeon will be abandoned in Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: But if they're not the same, if God has wrought
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  Speaker 1: a change in their hearts, they are not going to
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  Speaker 1: abandon another brother in Egypt. The fifth test, 24 to 28.
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  Speaker 1: That test quite simply is, will they steal the money?
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  Speaker 1: Look at verse 24. Turned away and wept. He comes
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  Speaker 1: back and he gets Simeon. Verse 25. Joseph gave orders
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  Speaker 1: to fill their bags with grain and to replace every
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  Speaker 1: man's money in his sack and to give them provisions
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  Speaker 1: for the journey. This was done for them. Verse 26.
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  Speaker 1: Then they loaded their donkeys and their grain and departed.
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  Speaker 1: And as one of them opened his sack to give
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  Speaker 1: his donkey fodder, At the lodging place, he saw his
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  Speaker 1: money in the mouth of the sack. He said to
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  Speaker 1: his brothers, my money has been put back. Here it
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  Speaker 1: is in the mouth of my sack. At this, their
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  Speaker 1: hearts failed them. And they turned, trembling to one another, saying,
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  Speaker 1: what is this that God has done to us? What
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  Speaker 1: is this that God has done to us? Will they
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  Speaker 1: return the money? Again, if you don't know the way
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  Speaker 1: this thing ends, that's the question you're left with right now.
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  Speaker 1: Is Benjamin alive? Don't know. Will somebody volunteer to go
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  Speaker 1: get him? Don't know. Will somebody volunteer to stay? How
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  Speaker 1: about if I just take Simeon? Will they come back
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  Speaker 1: and get Simeon? Fifthly, if their money is put back
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  Speaker 1: in their sacks, will they be honest about it? Or
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  Speaker 1: will they take the money and leave their brother? Again,
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  Speaker 1: the question is simple. Have they been changed? Two last questions.
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  Speaker 1: Beginning in verse 35. Back in 29, just to bring
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  Speaker 1: us up to speed. When they came to Jacob, their father,
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan, they told him all that
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  Speaker 1: had happened to them, saying, The man, the Lord of
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  Speaker 1: the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to
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  Speaker 1: be spies in the land. But we said to him,
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  Speaker 1: We are honest men. We have never been spies. We
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  Speaker 1: are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more,
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  Speaker 1: and the youngest is this day with our father in
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  Speaker 1: the land of Canaan. Then The man, the Lord of
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  Speaker 1: the land, said to us, By this I shall know
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  Speaker 1: that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers
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  Speaker 1: with me and take grain for the famine of your
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  Speaker 1: households and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me.
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  Speaker 1: Then I shall know that you are not spies, but
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  Speaker 1: honest men. And I will deliver your brother to you
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  Speaker 1: and you shall trade in the land. Verse 35. Here's
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  Speaker 1: the last two tests. By the way, these are tests
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  Speaker 1: that Joseph gives indirectly. And they are these. Does their
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  Speaker 1: father trust them? Does my daddy trust these boys? That's
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  Speaker 1: an indirect test that Joseph is giving. Okay. If these
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  Speaker 1: boys have been changed, my father Jacob will trust them,
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  Speaker 1: and he will send my brother Benjamin with them. If
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  Speaker 1: their hearts have not been changed, if there has not
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  Speaker 1: been a transformation in these ten men, and they are
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  Speaker 1: the same untrustworthy men, as I suspect, since Benjamin is
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  Speaker 1: not with them, then Jacob, my father, will not be
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  Speaker 1: able to trust them with my brother. Test number seven.
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  Speaker 1: Will Benjamin trust them? Will Benjamin trust them? Will my
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  Speaker 1: baby brother Benjamin be willing to go with these men?
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  Speaker 1: Because remember, there's sibling rivalry. They don't like Joseph. Joseph's
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  Speaker 1: the favorite son. Why? Because he is the son of
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  Speaker 1: the favorite wife who was not able to bear children.
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  Speaker 1: And if you remember, this favorite wife who was not
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  Speaker 1: able to bear children bore Joseph and another boy. That
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  Speaker 1: boy was Benjamin. So if all Jacob has to remind
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  Speaker 1: him of the favorite wife, the one he wanted in
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  Speaker 1: the first place, was Benjamin, And Joseph is now gone.
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  Speaker 1: They'd have to be changed men in order for him
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  Speaker 1: to trust them. Is the sibling rivalry still there? Do
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  Speaker 1: these men still hate the offspring of my mother simply
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  Speaker 1: because we were the offspring of my mother? Verse 35.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 35. As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's
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  Speaker 1: bundle of money was in his sack. And when they
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  Speaker 1: and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
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  Speaker 1: And Jacob, their father, said to them, You have bereaved
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  Speaker 1: me of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon
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  Speaker 1: is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All
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  Speaker 1: this has come against me. Then Reuben said to his father,
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  Speaker 1: kill my two sons. Isn't that just valiant of him?
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  Speaker 1: Not me. Kill my two sons if I do not
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  Speaker 1: bring him back to you. Put him in my hands
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  Speaker 1: and I will bring him back to you. But he said,
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  Speaker 1: my son shall not go down with you for his
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  Speaker 1: brother is dead and he is the only one left.
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  Speaker 1: If harm should happen to him on the journey that
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  Speaker 1: you are to make, You would bring down my gray
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  Speaker 1: hairs with sorrow to Sheol. I want you to hear
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  Speaker 1: what you just learned about Jacob. He hasn't been changed.
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  Speaker 1: The root of the problem with his boys is favoritism.
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  Speaker 1: And what does he say? No, you can't have Benjamin.
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  Speaker 1: Because the other one that I loved more than I
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  Speaker 1: love you, you took him away from me. He's gone.
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  Speaker 1: Now the only one left, he's got 11 sons. He's
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  Speaker 1: got 12. One he doesn't know he still has. But
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  Speaker 1: he's got 11 sons and the words out of his
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  Speaker 1: mouth are the only one left is Benjamin. Still holding
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  Speaker 1: on to the favorite wife. Here's the other thing. He says,
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  Speaker 1: Simeon's dead. How about that? So much for no man
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  Speaker 1: left behind. Amen? Simeon's dead. He doesn't say, you know what? Everybody.
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  Speaker 1: All of us. You boys get your things. You boys
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  Speaker 1: get that money. Benjamin, come on, you ride with me.
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  Speaker 1: We are all going back to Egypt because I'm not
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  Speaker 1: losing another son. No, Jacob says... I got two boys
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  Speaker 1: gone now. Because Simeon's a write-off. And if what's required
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  Speaker 1: to get him back is to risk losing Benjamin, then
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  Speaker 1: it's done. See, chapter 42 doesn't hold out a lot
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  Speaker 1: of hope for us. The end of chapter 42. I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad that Genesis doesn't end at chapter 42. Amen? Anybody
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  Speaker 1: else glad that Genesis doesn't end at chapter 42? But
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 42, if we just take it in and
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  Speaker 1: of itself, it does not leave us with a great
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  Speaker 1: deal of hope. The brothers have been tested. Here's one
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  Speaker 1: that we know. There's seven tests. And there's one of
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  Speaker 1: them that we get an affirmative answer to. And that's
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  Speaker 1: test number one. Is Benjamin alive? Well, we got the
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  Speaker 1: answer to that when we get to the end of
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  Speaker 1: chapter 42. Yes, Benjamin is alive. Very good. How about
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  Speaker 1: number two? Somebody going to volunteer to go get him? No.
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  Speaker 1: How about number three? Somebody going to volunteer to stay? No.
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  Speaker 1: How about number four? Are they going to come back
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  Speaker 1: and get Simeon? So far, the answer is no. Number five.
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  Speaker 1: Are they going to return the money? So far, the
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  Speaker 1: answer is no. Number six, does Jacob trust them? The answer, no.
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  Speaker 1: Number seven, does Benjamin trust them? We have to assume
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  Speaker 1: that the answer to that is also no. So as
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  Speaker 1: late as chapter 42, there is still a need. for
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  Speaker 1: the intervention of Almighty God in this family. As late
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  Speaker 1: as chapter 42, we are still seeing all of those
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  Speaker 1: things that have brought us to this place of great peril.
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  Speaker 1: As late as chapter 42, you still can't answer these
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  Speaker 1: very necessary questions in the affirmative. As late as chapter 42,
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  Speaker 1: and as late in these men's lives, as their 50s
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  Speaker 1: and 60s for the older boys, you still can't answer
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  Speaker 1: the question in the affirmative. Why is that important? Here's
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  Speaker 1: why that's important. We need to recognize that this doctrine
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  Speaker 1: that we've talked about, this great doctrine of election that
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  Speaker 1: we've talked about, has to be understood in its entirety.
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  Speaker 1: We have to understand... that Jacob and his sons, though
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  Speaker 1: they have been called out by God, carved out by God,
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  Speaker 1: elect by God, that God's electing work ultimately brings about
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  Speaker 1: a change in those whom He saves. And we haven't
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  Speaker 1: seen that yet. They don't just need to have someone
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  Speaker 1: in their past history who had an encounter with God,
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  Speaker 1: where God made a covenant for us to be able
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  Speaker 1: to look at chapter 42 and say, Oh, that's okay.
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  Speaker 1: They're all right. No, they're not okay. They are not
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  Speaker 1: yet transformed. They're not okay. It's not enough that they
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  Speaker 1: belong to the right family. It's not enough that they're
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  Speaker 1: part of the right lineage. The question is, have they
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  Speaker 1: been changed? And that's the same question for you. Have
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  Speaker 1: you been changed? Or are you one of those countless
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  Speaker 1: numbers of people in our greater culture at large who
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  Speaker 1: answer the question, are you a Christian, in the affirmative
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  Speaker 1: and base it on the fact that, number one, process
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  Speaker 1: of elimination Christians. Are you a Christian? Well, let me see.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not a Muslim. I'm not a Buddhist. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: a Mormon. Yes, I'm a Christian. Process of elimination Christians.
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  Speaker 1: Or secondly, that other group of Christians, that are those
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  Speaker 1: Christians by inheritance. Are you a Christian? Yes. My mother
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  Speaker 1: was a Christian. My grandmother was a Christian. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: I am a Christian. How about those others? Those individuals
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  Speaker 1: who argue that because I had an experience one time,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a Christian. I can remember the day. I can
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  Speaker 1: remember the hour. I can remember the moment. I can
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  Speaker 1: remember the tears that were streaming down my face. I
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  Speaker 1: can tell you with certainty that because of that experience
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  Speaker 1: in that moment in time, yes, I am a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: But we don't ask the other question. Is there evidence
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  Speaker 1: of that in your life? Have you been changed? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: but I prayed a prayer and I asked Jesus into
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  Speaker 1: my heart, Have you been changed? Didn't you hear me?
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  Speaker 1: I said I cried. Yes, I know. But have you
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  Speaker 1: been changed? And if you press that point, With the
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  Speaker 1: average person in these United States of America who says
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  Speaker 1: that they're a Christian, ultimately, here's the response you will get.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Who are you to judge me? Joseph's asking these questions
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of his brother. And I'm going to argue that we
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: need to ask these questions of ourselves. Now, in order
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: for us to do this, there has to be some
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: groundwork laid. So let me do a couple of things.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Number one, I want to read you from the Scriptures
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: several passages that allude to some of the same tests
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: that Joseph was giving to his brothers directly and indirectly.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: And I also want to explain this in the context
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: of our understanding of the doctrine of salvation. Specifically, in
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: our understanding of the doctrine of sanctification. Because we've got
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: to understand this. Let me give you this. First of all,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 7, verses 15 through 20. Matthew chapter 7,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: verses 15 through 20. I won't have you turn to
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: all of these, but at the end of the Sermon
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: on the Mount, we just finished up a few months ago.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Here's where we were. Beware of false prophets who come
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: you will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. And you say, well,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that's great, but he's talking about prophets. Yes, he is.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Very next verse, verse 21 says, Not everyone who says
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: But he who does the will of my Father who
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: is in heaven. As many who are going to come
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: to Jesus on that day. Lord, Lord, did we not
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: prophesy in your name? And in your name perform many
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: miracles and cast out many demons. And I'll say to them,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: depart from me. I never knew you, you worker of iniquity.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: The question, have you been changed? Changed. Just like Joseph
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: is asking his brothers. He doesn't know. He didn't sit
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: his brothers down and say, Hey, brothers, I'm Joseph. Can
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: you guys tell me whether or not I can trust you?
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: He tested them. By the way, it's not an unbiblical concept.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: The Bible says you should test yourself. 2 Corinthians chapter 13,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: verse 5. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the faith. Test yourselves, or do you not realize... This
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: you fail to meet the test. Test yourself. Again, in
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: our culture, the extent of the test is, I remember
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: a moment where I was very sincere. Insufficient evidence. Insufficient evidence.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Insufficient evidence. The question is, have you been changed? 1
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: John 2, verse 29. If you know that He is righteous,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: been born of Him. Have you been changed? Listen to
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: this from Lorraine Bettner in his classic work, The Reformed
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Doctrine of Predestination. Listen to this. I want to read
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: this and I want you to hear this carefully. Bettner writes,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: and this is in his answering objections section. Because one
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: of the objections to the doctrine of election, one of
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: the objections to the doctrines of grace is, One of
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the objections is, well, if you believe in election and predestination,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: then don't you believe that people can just live any
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: way they want to live? So Bettner takes that objection
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: head on, and here is his response. The objection is
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: sometimes made that this system encourages men to be careless
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: and indifferent about their moral conduct and their growth in
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: grace on the ground that their eternal welfare has already
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: been secured. This objection is primarily directed against the Again,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: if you believe in the doctrine of election and the
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which some people
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: falsely believe, give this title, this one saved, always saved,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: which is translated as, once you walk down the aisle
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: and pray a prayer, no matter what happens after that,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: you're automatically going to heaven by virtue of you having
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: walked an aisle and prayed a prayer. So people usually mean,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: when they say once saved, always saved, they're not talking
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: about this same doctrine. So that's the argument. Listen to
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Bettner as he responds. This objection, however, like the one
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: to the effect that this system discourages all motives to exertion,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: he's talking there about evangelism. That's the argument. Well, if
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: you believe in the doctrine of election and predestination, why
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: are you going to go do evangelism? The answer to
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: that question is twofold. One, because God told me to.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: And two, because the doctrine of election and predestination is
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: the only thing that guarantees my success in evangelism. We
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: will be successful in evangelism because of the doctrine of
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: election and predestination. is completely answered by the great principle
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: which we hold and teach, namely, that the means as
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: well as the ends are foreordained. Don't miss this. God's
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: decree that the earth should be fruitful did not exclude
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: but included the sunlight, the showers, the tillage of the husbandmen, etc.,
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: If God has foreordained a man to have a crop
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: of corn, he also foreordained him to plow and plant
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and cultivate and to do all other necessary things to
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: secure the crop. Just as a purpose to build includes
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: the hewing of stone, the squaring of timbers, and the
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: preparation of all other materials which enter into the structure and...
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: As a declaration of war implies arms, ammunition, ships, and
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: all other necessary equipment, so the election of some to
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the eternal enjoyment of heaven includes their election to holiness here.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: It is not the individual as such, but the individual
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: as holy and virtuous that is predestined to eternal life.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: You can't separate the two. You can't separate the two.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: God does not just elect certain individuals to have a
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: certain eternal destiny. But the life that is produced in
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: them is consistent with His election of them. So I
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: ask again, have you been changed? That's the question that
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: Joseph's brothers eventually have to answer in the affirmative. And
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: you and I have to answer that question as well.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Have you been changed? Or are you depending upon a
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: long ago and far away experience that has not been
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: followed up by evidence that it meant anything? Have you
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: been changed? Here are the universal elements of those tests.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: There are four. Seven tests. Four of them are universal.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: And we need to ask ourselves these questions right here,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: right now, today. Question number one. Do the sins of
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: your past continue to characterize your present? Do the sins
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: of your past continue to characterize your present? What is that?
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: That's test number one. Is Benjamin still alive? That's what
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: he's asking. He's asking, do the sins of your past
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: continue to characterize your present? We can also say this
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: about the test with Simeon. Simeon's abandoned here in Egypt.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Do the sins of your past continue to characterize your present? Now,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: here's what I didn't ask you. What I didn't ask
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: you was, have you on occasion in your life, Struggle
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: with something that you struggled with before in the past.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: That's not what I asked you. I asked you, do
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: the sins of your past continue to characterize your present?
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Are you still that same person? Is that who you are?
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Is that what characterizes you? Is that the way you walk?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Listen to 1 John 3.15. Everyone who hates his brother
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: eternal life abiding in him. That goes straight to the
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: heart of the question that he's asking them. Have you
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: been changed? Or are you different? Listen to this from
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 through 11. Or do
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: kingdom of God? Notice he didn't say, do you not
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: know that those who haven't prayed a prayer will not
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: inherit the kingdom of God? He didn't say, do you
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: not know that those who haven't walked an aisle will
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: not inherit the kingdom of God? He says, do you
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: of God? When God saves you, he makes you righteous.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: He continues. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: the kingdom of God. And if your sin was not
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: listed there, it's only because he ran out of room. Amen.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: So if you're sitting there going, whew, glad I don't
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: struggle with any one of those, trust me, you're in
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: the list. Next line. And such were some of you.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: the Spirit of our God. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Such were some of you. Can God save a man
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: from the most wretched of sins? Yes, God can. And
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: he saves a man and he rescues a man and
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: there is a change. A man is changed when he's saved.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: But what does this mean? Again, we have to be
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: very careful. Let's drill down a little further here. Listen
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: to our confession of faith on the question of sanctification.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: Because this does raise questions. Chapter 13 of sanctification in
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: our confession of faith. There are three paragraphs here. And
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: I want to read all three of these paragraphs here.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: They're short paragraphs. But I want to read these because
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: you've got to see this overall picture of sanctification in
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: order to deal with this properly. Because whenever, in the
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: midst of our culture, you start talking about righteousness and
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: the way that we live, immediately people want to fold
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: their arms, turn up their nose, and call you a legalist. Immediately. No, no,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: we're saved by grace alone. Amen. Amen. Grace alone, through
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: faith alone, in Christ alone, through the glory of God alone. Amen.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: You get absolutely no disagreement whatsoever. But that salvation produces something.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Listen to our confession. Chapter 13 on sanctification. Number one.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: They who are united to Christ, effectually called and regenerated,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: having a new heart and a new spirit created in them,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection... are also
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: further sanctified really and personally through the same virtue by
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: His Word and Spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: graces to the practice of all true holiness, without which
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: no man shall see the Lord. Sin is broken in you.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: And you're made righteous. Holiness increases in your life. And
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: without that holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Are
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: you saved by that? No, you're not saved by that.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: But you are most assuredly saved to that and saved
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: for that. Have you been changed? Paragraph 2. This sanctification
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: There abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part,
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: whence arise a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. There's
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: the answer to the other question. Are you saying I've
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: got to be perfect? No. The doctrine of sanctification does
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: not teach that you have to be perfect. Amen. Amen.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: But it is a process and we make progress. And
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the other thing is we war. We war. Are you
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: battling that sin? Or have you excused it? Are you
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: warring against that sin? Or do you have a reasonable
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: justification for your practice thereof? Are you fighting with everything
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: that God has planted within you? Or have you given
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: up the fight because you found a group of people
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: who will give you a pass? You know, one of
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the greatest evidence that a person either doesn't understand this
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: doctrine or is not born again is that all too
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: familiar phrase, well, nobody's perfect. If that's your response, be afraid.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Be very, very afraid. Because that's not the way the
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: believer responds to sin. The believer responds to sin with hatred.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: The believer responds to sin in repentance. The believer does
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: not respond to sin or those who bring his sin
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: to him with, well, nobody's perfect. The believer recognizes that
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: this is a battle, that this is a war, and
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: the believer is always ready to engage in that battle
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: and engage in that war and never, ever, ever to
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: give it up. In which war, although the remaining corruption
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: regenerate part doth overcome. And so the saints grow in grace,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after a
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: as head and king in His Word, hath prescribed to them. Amen.
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: We gain victory. We gain ground. God changes us. By
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: the way, in the Scriptures, that's borne out. Listen to this,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: 1 John 1, 5-10. If we say we have fellowship
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: do not practice the truth. But if we walk in
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: the light as He is in the light, we have
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, His Son,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: in us. There's no perfection here. If we confess our sins,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: His Word is not in us. There's the picture. That
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: first test. Do the sins of your past continue to
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: characterize your present? Or do you bear evidence of the
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: work of sanctification being wrought in your life by the
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: power of the Holy Spirit? Yeah, but you don't know
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: my sin. No, I really don't. And I don't have to.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Here's what I know. I've said it before and I've
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: said it again. It's not bigger than a dead Jesus.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: Whatever your sin is, it's not bigger than a dead Jesus.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: And if the power of God, the Spirit of God
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: can raise Christ from the dead, what is it that
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: you think He can't do in your life? Have you
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: been changed? The second of these areas, have you learned
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: to love your brothers? First, do the sins of your
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: past continue to characterize your present? Secondly, have you learned
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: to love your brothers? Test two, three, and four. Test two,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: will someone volunteer to go and get Benjamin? Test three,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: will someone volunteer to stay while the other brothers go
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: and get Benjamin? Test four, will someone come back for Simeon?
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: All of these tests point to the same question. Have
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: you learned to love the brothers? That's a question that
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: Joseph is asking his brothers, and that's a question that
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: is asked of every New Testament saint. John 13, 34
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: and 35, a new commandment I give to you, that
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: you love one another just as I have loved you.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: You also are to love one another. By this, all
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: people will know that you are my disciples. If you
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: have walked an aisle and prayed a prayer, No, if
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: you have love for one another. That is why the
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: doctrine of adoption is so important in the order salutis
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: or the order of salvation. We've missed that. We've completely
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: lost that doctrine of adoption. And we understand, you know,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: election and we understand justification and sanctification and glorification. And
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: we get that, but we forget that adoption is a
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: part of that. God adopts us into his family. And
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: as being adopted into the family of God. There's two
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: evidences that we ought to look for. Number one, do
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: we begin to look like and conform to the family
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: into which we have been adopted? And number two, do
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: we love that family as our own? Do you love
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: the brothers? Do you love the brothers? Do you recognize
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: the church of the living God? The most real family
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: that you will ever have Do you see that do
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: you do you get that Do you recognize that? Or
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: do you somehow believe that there is a unity in
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: a bond that is stronger than the unity and the bond?
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: between God and those who he saves and those who
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: are part of the family of the elect and Have
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: you gotten that yet? Have you realized yet that ultimately
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: we are going to spend eternity not necessarily with those
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: who share our blood and our veins, but with those
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: who have been washed by the blood of Christ? Have
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: you come to that realization yet that even those in
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: your blood family, that even in your blood family there
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: are people in your blood family to whom you are close,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: but there are others who are your brothers and sisters
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: for real? Do you follow me? Are you like me?
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Do you have those in your blood family? That you
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: wish would become part of your real family? I do.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: I have members of my blood family that I beg
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: God for. That they would become members of my real family.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Have you been changed? Do you love the brothers? Do
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: you love the church? Do you love to gather together
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: with the saints? Do you look forward to the Lord's day?
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: Do you look forward with anxious anticipation to those moments
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: where we come together in this place and lift our
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: voices to our Heavenly Father and unite our hearts as
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters redeemed by God and set apart for
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ? Do you love the brothers? Listen to this,
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: 1 John 5, 1 through 5. Everyone who believes that
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Everyone
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: By this we know that we love the children of God,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: when we love God and obey His commandments. For this
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: And His commandments are not burdensome. But everyone who has
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: been born of God overcomes the world. And this is
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: is it that overcomes the world except the one who
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Have you
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: been changed? And finally, Philippians 2, 3-4. Do nothing for
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: his own interest, but also to the interest of others.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: Have you been changed? Do you love the brothers? Or
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: is this some place you gather so you can tick
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: off a box? Is the worship of the Lord and
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: the fellowship of the saints as vital to you as
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: anything else in this world? Or is it merely your
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: duty that you're afraid not to do because you're trying
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: to please God? Have you been changed? The third of
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: these four. Do you exhibit godly character when nobody's looking?
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: Do you exhibit godly character when nobody's looking? This is
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: test number five. Test number five is, will they steal
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: the money? Will they steal the money? What's the question?
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: The greater question that's being asked is, do you exhibit
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: godly character when nobody is looking? That's the question. That's
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: the one you have to answer. Because the fact of
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: the matter is we can all learn to go along
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: and get along. We can all be socialized into the
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: community of the church. We can all have our behavior
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: modified because of our exposure to one another. We all
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: have just enough desire for other people to like us,
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: for us to do the things that are necessary for
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: that to take place. But that is not the test
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: of authentic Christianity. The test is, is that who you
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: have become when nobody is watching you? Ephesians chapter 5,
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: verses 7 through 14. Therefore do not become partners with them.
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  Speaker 1: For at one time you were darkness, but now you
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: are light in the Lord. We walk as children of light,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: for the fruit of the light is found in all
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: that is good and right and true. And try to
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: For it is shameful even to speak of the things
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: by the light, it becomes visible. And anything that becomes
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: visible is light. Therefore, it says, Awake, O sleeper, and
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: Is that you? Fourth and final test. Have those closest
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: to you seen a change in your walk as well
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: as your talk? Have those closest to you seen a
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: change in your walk as well as your talk? This
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: is test six and seven. Does Jacob, your father, trust you?
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: Because if you've been changed, Jacob, your father, will have
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: seen that change and Jacob, your father, will trust you.
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: If you haven't, there's no way you're coming back here
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: with Benjamin. Does Benjamin trust you? Or does my baby
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: brother know what you did to me and still see
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: it in your eyes and in your heart? Have those
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: closest to you seen a change in your walk as
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: well as your talk? Those who know you, those who
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: live with you, those who walk with you, have they
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: seen it? I'm not asking if you have been able
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: to satisfy the critics. Newsflash. You will never be able
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: to satisfy the critics. You know what I mean by
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: this question. If your life has been changed, those closest
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: to you will see it and they will know it.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: Matthew 5. Well, the first Proverbs 23, 24, listen to this,
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: directly applied to this particular test that Joseph gives his brother.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice. He who
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Amen.
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: Joseph's basically asking, are you that son? Have you become
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: that son to Jacob? Matthew 5, 14 to 16. You
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: are the light of the world. A city on a
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: and put it under a basket, but on a stand.
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: And it gives light to all in the house. In
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: the same way, let your light shine before others, so
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: that they may see your good works and give glory
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: to your Father who is in heaven. Have you been changed? Finally,
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: 2 Corinthians 5, 17 and 18. Therefore, if anyone is
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: passed away. Behold, the new has come. Have you been changed?
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: Or do the sins of your past continue to characterize
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: your present? Have you learned to love the brothers? Has
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: God created in you A desire to love the brothers.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: A unity with the brothers. An identity with the brothers.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: Do you exhibit godly character where nobody's looking? Have you
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: seen the change? Have you recognized a difference in the
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: man in the mirror? And finally, have those closest to
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: you seen a change in your talk as well as
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: your walk? Now, let me be careful here. Here's what
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: I'm not asking. What I'm not asking is, are you willing?
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: To redouble your efforts and be better at outward adherence
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: to these things? That's not the question I'm asking. I'm
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: asking you, has God done this in you as evidence
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: that the work of Christ has been applied to your heart?
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: As evidence that you have been converted? evidence that you
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: are genuinely and authentically born again and a child of
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: God I'm not asking you what you can produce I'm
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: asking you what's been produced in you by God have
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: you been changed do you delight in these things do
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: you yearn for these things Do you war for these
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: things by the power and presence of the Spirit of
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: God in your life? Or have you just become accustomed
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: to making the excuses? We've got an excuse around every
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: corner if you want one. Do you use them? Or
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: do you deny them? For some, it's the excuse of
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: your heritage. Isn't it amazing how just about every heritage
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: there is has an excuse for some form of sinfulness? Amen?
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: Whether it's my Irish heritage and my drunkenness. Whether it's
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: my red hair and my temper. Whether it is my
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: Latin blood and my short fuse. Whether it is my
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: background as a black person and the oppression against which
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: I get to rage. In other words, we all can
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: point to something to excuse our sin. Do you? Do you?
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: Some of you may not have it in your heritage.
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: You may have it in the form of a diagnosis.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: There's sin in your life that hasn't been overcome. Well,
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: you know, the people who don't believe the Bible have
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: told me that there's an excuse for this thing that
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: the Bible calls sin that they don't. They got a
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: name for it. Do you use that? How about your
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: past life? Someone hurt you. Someone abandoned you. Someone scarred you.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: Someone mistreated you. Someone brutalized you. Someone stole from you.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: And because of whatever it is, fill in the blank,
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: because of whatever it is, God just needs to understand
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: that That with everyone else, it's sin. But because of
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: what you've been through, it's different. We could go on,
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: but I don't think we have to. Everyone in the
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: sound of my voice knows exactly what we're talking about
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: and exactly what's at stake. And the question still remains,
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: have you been changed? What if the answer is no?
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: If the answer is no, be very careful and precise here.
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: If the answer is no, then your response is not
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: to come before God again and say, Oh God, I'm
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: so sorry that last time I promised you to do
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: better and I really didn't do better, but this time...
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: I mean it more than I've ever meant it before. Newsflash,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: you're a liar. And secondly, you're an idolater. I'm not
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: an idolater. I'm praying to God. Yes, you're praying to God,
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: the only one who can overcome your sin and promising
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: him that you are going to do what only He
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: can do. That's idolatry. No, your answer is to run
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: to the cross. To run to Christ. That's your answer.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: Your answer is to believe what the Bible says about Him.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: Your answer is to turn from your sin and make
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: a beeline for the cross. Your answer is to trust
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: in Him and His finished work and nothing else. Your
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: answer is, by His grace, to be bathed in His forgiveness.
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: And as a result of that, to be strengthened in
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: your inner man. To both will and to work for
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: His good pleasure. That is your answer. It is Christ
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: and Him alone. Because the question is not, have you changed?
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: The question is, have you been changed? If the answer
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: is no, then flee to the Redeemer, Savior, and Changer
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: of souls. Let's pray. Father, as we bow, We confess
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: our great need of You. Our great need of the
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: work that You have accomplished and completed on the cross.
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Of our great need of the application of that work
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: to our lives. As we come to You, Abandoning all
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: else and clinging through repentance and faith to Christ as
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: our only hope. Father, I pray that as we place
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: the mirror up against our lives, you would rescue us
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: from works righteousness. That You would guard us from the
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: enemy's desire to misconstrue and misinterpret anything that I've said.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: Guard us from partial hearing. Grant that Your truth might
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: be heard and heeded. Rescue us. from all of those
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: things upon which we have a tendency to depend. And
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: grant by your mercy that those perhaps even in this
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: room who've been deceived by the father of lies to
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: find grace would be made whole would come to Christ
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: would be redeemed grant that we might examine ourselves and
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: that in doing so find nothing in which we might
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: boast but much for which we give thanks. This is
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: our prayer, the earnest desire of our souls, and we
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: ask it in Christ's name and for His sake. Amen.