Dealing with Sin.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Amen. All right, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your [0:04] first time here, my name’s Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, [0:09] I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have your Bibles, [0:12] go ahead and open them up to Genesis chapter 42. We’re going to be covering a lot of ground [0:17] this morning, so I’m going to be moving pretty fast. This is the 17th week in our [0:24] series going through the book of Genesis. Between all three parts of the book of Genesis that we’ve

[0:32] done, we’ve spent about 36 weeks going through the book of Genesis. That’s not too bad. We’ve been [0:39] moving pretty fast. What we’ve been covering, though, for the past few weeks is the life of [0:44] Joseph. He is the great-grandson of Abraham. He’s the son of Jacob, and he is a guy that has lived [0:52] a tragic life as the son of promise. So, Joseph, nothing that really happens in Joseph’s life is [1:01] exactly the way that Joseph probably would have pictured his life, nor is it what we would probably [1:06] picture someone who is referred to as the son of promise. We wouldn’t expect them to live this type

[1:13] of life. So, what I’m hoping to do this week and next week, and then really moving into the Christmas [1:19] season, is that we will, and it’s hard to believe we’re already there, isn’t it? Man, we’re like a [1:26] week away. Christmas is next week, kids, so parents should have all their shopping done. But if [1:34] we do not move from this place where we know things about God, so we know the Word, we have [1:43] academic knowledge of the Word to a place where it is actually changing our life, to a place that [1:49] it is actually affecting the way that we live. We’ve missed everything, and that’s not to the

[1:56] detriment of knowledge, because there’s a lot of people like, we just don’t need smarter sinners. [2:00] What else, what’s the other alternative? Being a stupid sinner? No, we need smarter sinners. That’s [2:13] the only thing you need to make your life about, because without knowledge of the Word of God, [2:18] you have no hope of following God. It’s like being married to someone you don’t know. [2:24] That never works. So, what we have to do then, is take this knowledge, if we are biblically [2:33] literate, and have it transform the way that we live. Because if you look at the life that Joseph

[2:40] lived, it wasn’t just his knowledge that endured him. It was his knowledge plus an application [2:48] of faith to trust God, to deliver on his promises, that dictated the life that Joseph lived. [2:56] And so, if you do not begin, because here’s where we are struggling within Christianity right now, [3:01] if you do not stop this nonsense of forming a vision for your life, and then as you go through [3:09] doing what you want, pretending that your knowledge of the Bible excuses the fact that you’re not [3:18] applying faith to your life in a repentant manner, where you repent of your vision,

[3:23] grab God’s vision, and then follow him, then your life is meaningless and you’re not following Jesus. [3:30] That’s what I’m saying. You’re following you, and then using this academic knowledge of God [3:38] to excuse your sin. That wouldn’t have endured Joseph through the tragedy of his life. [3:46] It would have left him despairing exactly the same way we despair when things don’t go our way. [3:54] I mean, it takes about an hour or two of you being in an uncomfortable spot where you’re like, [4:00] does God really love me? I mean, look at this nonsense. My car broke down. Oh my goodness,

[4:07] does God love me? Oh, and that’s the tragedy of Christianity in our culture, [4:15] is that Joseph goes for at this point where we’re going to pick up is 16 to 18 years after he was [4:22] sold into slavery, where he’s been faithful, he’s repented, he’s looked to God in the face of [4:28] temptation, he’s looked to God in the face of suffering, and endured every moment of the way [4:35] saying, I will trust God to deliver on his promises. It is a faith that goes from your [4:43] head to your hands and feet that actually do that. But we’re too busy sitting at home

[4:49] to have that type of life. And so what we need is a type of faith that will actually move us out of [4:55] our comfort, which will actually move us out of our addiction to leisure, which will actually move [5:00] us out of our addiction to the status quo to actually begin to risk what we have on the promises [5:08] of God to live in light of what God has told us to do. That is what we need to do. And in order [5:15] to do that, we have to have a fully formed vision of how God deals with us in our life, [5:23] both sins that we do and sins that are done to us. And so a lot of times we’ll look at Genesis

[5:30] chapter 42 through 46, and we’ll just say, oh man, it’s this amazing reunion story. It’s this amazing way [5:36] where we see God do these awesome works and actually brings the brothers back into the life [5:41] of Joseph, and then Joseph does some squirrely things that we don’t understand. But then after [5:45] he’s done with all that squirrely nonsense, they kind of reunite and everybody’s happy and everybody [5:50] gets saved. But that’s not the entire story. That’s not the entire narrative. In this narrative, we [5:59] have so much dealing with sin that we cannot move past that before we deal with that. And so we’re

[6:07] going to cover five chapters today, probably in a way, in a part of the story that you may not have [6:14] really focused in on before. First, I want to take a look at the story through the lens of the brothers who have [6:21] sinned against Joseph. And then I want to take a look at it through the lens of Joseph dealing with [6:26] his brothers. And then I want to take a look at it through the lens of how God’s vision comes about [6:32] when we finally actually deal with sin in a real way. And so look at Genesis chapter 41, starting in [6:41] verse 56. So Joseph spent his time in prison. God put him in charge over the land of Egypt. He’s second

[6:51] command of Pharaoh now. And then the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams come true. More on that [6:56] on the podcast. So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses [7:03] and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the [7:10] earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain because the famine was so severe over all of the earth. [7:19] And then chapter 42, verse 1, when Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, [7:25] he said to his sons, why do you look at one another? And he said, behold, I have heard that

[7:31] there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us that we may live and not die. [7:38] Because that’s an interesting part of the story is, is that Jacob goes to his sons and he basically [7:42] looks at them and says, you idiots. All right, so if you’re wondering what he’s saying when he says, [7:46] why do you basically stand around staring at each other? It’s like the foreman of the job goes to [7:52] the job site. No work’s been done. Everybody’s in a circle smoking cigarettes. And the foreman says, [7:56] why are you standing around looking at each other? That’s basically what’s going on right there.

[8:02] Because his sons are worthless. And so he looks at him and he says, guys, I heard that there’s grain [8:08] for sale where? In Egypt. Who’s in Egypt? Joseph. Who’s the second most powerful man in the world [8:16] at that point? Joseph. And so he tells his sons, he says, go to Egypt and buy grain. Verse four. [8:26] But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might [8:35] happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy from the others who came for the famine was great [8:43] in the land of Canaan. Pray with me. Father, you are good. And because of that, we are thankful.

[8:54] Lord, my prayer today is that you would aid us to understand your word, that you would [8:59] illuminate your word to us, Holy Spirit, and that we would through it build our faith and that we [9:06] would learn what it is to repent of our sin. And we would, because of your word, become more [9:13] repentant in our lives. Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. [9:20] Do you know, number one, this morning that the longer that you wait, the harder it is to deal [9:25] with sin. The longer you wait, the harder it is to deal with sin. We find Jacob in an interesting

[9:34] position and we see through a few different lenses the fact that the sin that was done [9:41] somewhere 16 to 18 years before this has never been dealt with. We see first that [9:49] the brothers are still morons. When you deal with your sin, you stop being as big of an idiot as [9:54] you used to be. You can quote me on that. But then secondly, the way that Jacob is dealing with [10:01] the sin, as Benjamin shows us, that he does not know the truth of what happened previously [10:06] because Benjamin isn’t allowed to go out of the house. Jacob kind of forms a pen around him and

[10:13] he doesn’t let Benjamin out of his sight. And the reason that Benjamin is so special to Jacob [10:18] is because the love of his life was his wife, Rachel. He loved her with a love that did not [10:24] match any of the love he had for his other wives and she bore him two sons. She bore him Joseph [10:31] and then and the text tells us that it was either during childbirth or directly after childbirth

[10:37] Rachel died with the birth of Benjamin. And so those were the two sons. And so these two boys [10:43] are basically the encapsulation of all of his love and all of his hopes and dreams that he had with [10:50] his wife Rachel. And so when Joseph quote unquote died, he didn’t die, he was sold into slavery, [10:58] but his brothers, they took the pimp jacket that he was wearing, dipped it in animal blood, [11:03] took it back to Jacob and said, Joseph’s dead. And so from that day forward, Benjamin now has [11:09] all of his affection. And so we know that this hasn’t been dealt with because Jacob still thinks

[11:16] that the greatest danger to Benjamin is outside of his house versus where the real danger of [11:21] Benjamin actually is. And that’s in Jacob’s house because his brothers were the real danger. [11:27] And so he wouldn’t be so quick to have him around his brothers if he knew the truth. [11:33] And so we see that this sin that’s been affecting this family is still affecting the family, it’s [11:40] still not dealt with because the further that you get from your sin, time speaking, it doesn’t get [11:50] easier to deal with. It gets harder to deal with because most of us, we think, well, if I can just

[11:54] get far enough removed from this sin, it won’t be a problem anymore. That’s not the way it works. [11:59] But also the further you get into your sin, the more difficult it’s going to be to repent of your [12:06] sin as well. Either the old adage goes that sin will take you further than you wanted to go, [12:12] leave you there longer than you wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever thought you would [12:16] need to pay. And the longer that I’ve lived, the more I’ve realized that adage is absolutely true [12:24] because the longer you stay in your folly, the more rooted down and defensive of your folly you

[12:30] will get. The further you go into your sin, you’re going to stay in that sin longer and it’s going [12:38] to be more difficult to repent, it’s going to be more difficult to reconcile, it’s going to be more [12:43] difficult to deal with that sin. And so how can you avoid that reality? How can you avoid it? Well, [12:50] I tell you, time does not heal all wounds. That’s a lie that time heals all wounds. [12:57] I mean even science will show us that time, if a wound left unchecked, well it’ll get gangrenous [13:02] and you may lose a limb or even your own life. This is a dumb analogy all around. Oh, I cut

[13:08] myself. Let me give it a couple of days. Just see what happens. I don’t need to deal with it right [13:13] now. No, the length of time removed from the hurt does not necessarily mean the hurt is even less. [13:22] It does not necessarily mean that the hurt is going to go away. What it means is that now you’re [13:28] going to probably have a perpetual cycle that when the memory returns, that when the person is seen, [13:35] when the action is repeated, the wound just gets deeper and deeper and deeper. The hurt goes further [13:41] and further and further. And now we see that this family hasn’t dealt with the sin, but now we also

[13:50] see the brothers have to go and they’re going to be confronted with their sin even if they don’t [13:55] want to. And so the ten brothers have to go to Egypt. And I’m going to summarize part of it. [14:01] We’re not going to read all five chapters today. I know some of you are like, oh man, but so I’m [14:06] going to summarize it where now the brothers go to Egypt. They leave Benjamin and Jacob at the house [14:11] and they go into Egypt. And who is it that they come in front of? Well, they come in front of [14:16] Joseph himself. And the Word of God actually tells us that the brothers had to bow before Joseph.

[14:24] Do you remember the dream that Joseph had when he was 17 years old that his brothers would be [14:30] bowing before him? Well, here in Egypt is where that vision actually comes true. But do you think [14:37] that is what Joseph thought it was going to take for that to come true? See, the thing that some of [14:43] you need to understand in dealing with sin and in dealing with turmoil and in dealing with tragic [14:47] situations is that God is going to take you through some pain to get you where you need to be. And you [14:53] wouldn’t be there without the pain. And that’s the story of Joseph. Joseph wouldn’t have chosen to

[14:59] take this route, but this is the route that the Lord took him on. And so they come before Joseph. [15:06] And Joseph deals with them. Joseph uses his wits to deal with the situation. And he actually wants [15:13] a little bit of time to think about what he’s going to do with his brothers. And so he uses [15:18] his power. He accuses them of being spies and imprisons them for three days. And notice the [15:25] brothers’ reaction. It is the reaction of someone who hasn’t dealt with their sin in a long, long [15:31] time. In verses 21 through 24, the brothers look to themselves in that prison cell and they say,

[15:38] I know why this is happening. This is because of what we did to Joseph. It’s finally being returned [15:47] to us. You see, what’s interesting to deal with in this passage is that when you are caught in your [15:56] sin, it’s very easy to look and say, oh, I’ve been caught. But what’s difficult is actually to then [16:06] deal with the sin because the brothers aren’t sorry for the sin. The brothers are sorry they got caught. [16:11] Because sometimes you’re going to be sorry that you got caught. And the way that you deal with [16:15] being caught is going to make it worse than if you had just been upfront and you had just been honest.

[16:22] If you want to know if you’re truly repentant for your sin, you will be honest when you are [16:29] confronted with your sin and you won’t continue to kick the can down the road. Because never does [16:35] it say the brothers actually repented of it. They just said, oh man, we’ve been caught. [16:43] Because time only accomplishes one thing and makes sin harder to deal with.

[16:50] If you would deal with your sin quickly,

[16:57] then your sin would be easier to deal with. But some of you are dealing with generational sin. [17:04] It’s not just affecting you anymore. It’s affecting the next generation and then it’s [17:07] going to affect the next generation. Because you refuse to deal with who you have become. [17:14] You refuse to deal with who you are. Because here’s the deal as a pastor. What I deal with [17:20] is that the longer that you are a Christian, and I’m talking specifically to those of you that are [17:25] followers of Jesus or think you’re followers of Jesus, I’ll play along for a moment with some of

[17:30] you, is that you’re going to have two realities coming in your life when it comes to dealing with [17:35] sin. You either, if you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you either deal with your sin with more [17:41] anger or you get calloused to your sin. And that second one is tough. And it happens more often [17:50] than most would like. And I’m pastoring people for many years through this. And the church, [17:56] what happens is, is that I want to deal with people who have been in the church longer for [18:02] this because you are more susceptible to becoming a calloused person and you will repent less.

[18:09] And you will think you have less sin. And you will think you are not affected by sin. [18:15] And then when you are caught in your sin, you will deny before you will deal.

[18:23] And then you’ll actually reason with yourself and you’ll be like, but I’ve been a Christian [18:27] for a long time and this has never been a problem before, so I don’t see why it’s a problem now. [18:31] Well, I’ve been a Christian for a long time. And you see, my sin isn’t as bad as somebody else [18:35] doing the exact same thing that I’m doing right now. The way that I’m offending God in this way, [18:40] it’s not that offensive because I’ve worked it off through doing these other things. And so [18:44] you’ll become calloused. And so that scar tissue will begin to form and you’ll just be getting

[18:50] uglier and uglier and uglier and you don’t realize that your faith is dwindling. And if [18:55] you continue in that position, it’s going to be bad for you because the word of God warns us about [19:01] this. In first John one eight, it says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves [19:07] and the truth is not in us. Do you see the warning there? It says if in your tenure [19:19] in the Christian faith or your tenure, just being at church rather than being in the church, [19:27] you become calloused like this. It actually serves as a reality check for you that you

[19:34] do not actually have Christ in your life at all. Friend, I want to tell you, you have sin. [19:42] You will always have sin. This is a present reality for you. And so if you want to know [19:49] if you’re getting more calloused, I just want to ask you one question. And this is the test. [19:53] What have you been repenting of lately?

[19:58] And I’m not talking about that sin where you’re like, Lord, I know I’m a sinner. [20:01] Forgive me. You know, you before you lay your head down at night because you’re afraid if [20:06] you die in your sleep without saying that you go to hell. And that’s not what I’m talking about. [20:12] That’s not repentance. I’m talking about going before the Lord and actually having something [20:19] be revealed to you, whether it be an attitude, whether it be pride, whether it be an action, [20:25] whether it be a lack of action, because that’s the greatest sin that I actually see in most

[20:31] Christians lives right now is you think you’ve got your morality in check. You’re not doing these [20:36] immoral actions, but you’re not actually living the life of faith. And so you’re guilty of the [20:41] sin of commission rather than the sin of commission.

[20:47] And so what have you specifically noticed in your life recently that you’ve been repenting [20:55] of? If nothing, then you are lying to yourself about sin.

[21:03] The mark of a Christian is repentance. You see, first John chapter three, six and seven tells [21:09] that no one who abides in Jesus keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him [21:16] or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous [21:22] as he is righteous. And what does righteousness look like? Friend, I tell you, righteousness looks [21:28] like repentance. It doesn’t look like grandstanding. It doesn’t look like, well, the older I get, [21:34] that’s the way it’s supposed to go. No, your callousness towards realizing you have sin can be a deadly

[21:41] fruit. Hebrews chapter 10 warns that if you go too long, then you may not even have real faith.

[21:53] And it uses harsh language specifically to warn us. I tell you, friends, your tenure [22:00] in the faith doesn’t necessarily mean you actually have faith. Your tenure in the faith doesn’t mean [22:09] you actually have faith. Well, I’ve been in the church for 20 years. So what? Do you have a [22:14] relationship with Jesus Christ? Well, I grew up in the church. So what? Are you actually growing closer [22:22] to Christ? See, friends, time can be deadly if it isn’t making you more sensitive to the work of God.

[22:34] See, it’s about being mature in your faith. What does that look like? Well, mature Christians tend [22:41] to realize more of their own sin as time goes by, not less. The thing that I’ve seen is that the [22:49] closer people tend to get to Christ, the closer they get to a real vision of the cross, the larger [22:55] the cross looms in their life, not the smaller. And the larger the cross of Jesus Christ looms [23:01] in your life, the more of your sin you will see, not less. See, a lot of you like the cross to be a [23:07] spotlight for the sins of others for you to see, and it’s not meant to do that. It’s meant to be a

[23:20] So what should you do? Well, first I would say keep short accounts in the fight against sin. [23:27] Keep short accounts in the fight against sin. And that means daily ask God to give you inventory [23:33] of your sins so that you can confess them to him and seek to repent wherever needed. Every day, [23:40] I pray, Holy Spirit, examine me and show me my sin, because that’s the knowledge of my sin that I need. [23:50] Then make use of the means which God affords. A theologian and pastor from a few hundred years [23:58] ago, John Owen, I don’t ever have original ideas. They’re hundreds of years old.

[24:04] Actually, my third son, my third child is named after this theologian, for those of you that cared [24:10] and all of you that didn’t, now you know. He tells us that we need to make use of the means [24:18] God has afforded us. First, he says, realize that the activity afforded in the local church [24:25] is for your fight against sin. And he says, then the consumption of Scripture is meant [24:32] for your fight against sin. And then he tells us that being given over to repetitive prayer [24:40] is for your fight against sin. And then he tells us, he says, living the great commission,

[24:46] or what we call the mission of Jesus, is a tool to be seen in light of battling [24:52] sin in your life. And many of you don’t see it that way, and that’s part of the problem. [24:59] Is that you need to understand that when you are living for other people to see what faith in Jesus [25:04] Christ is, that is a battle against sin. Friend, I tell you, you will fight against sin until you go [25:15] to heaven. And that’s why John Owen tells us, he says, and when you have exhausted these and you [25:23] still see no comfort in the fight against sin, you need to realize that the greatest means that God

[25:29] has provided to us is to constantly remember the endless supplies of grace that God has through the [25:37] cross of Jesus Christ. You see, you will fight sin until you go to heaven, and because of that, [25:43] you need to realize that the fight is not meaningless. God has enough forgiveness for [25:51] every time we fail. God has enough grace to supply in every moment of sin, but that grace [25:57] will not convince us to go deeper into sin, but rather it will inspire us to cling to Christ in [26:05] obedience. Then he asks, he says, is the duty of following Jesus a drudgery set aside in favor of

[26:15] personal desires or a personal vision rather than God’s vision? And here Owen gives another helpful [26:21] goad to us by reminding us that when you first came to faith, dealing with sin is easier because [26:29] the springs of passion for Christ seem to be bursting in your soul. Many of us can remember [26:38] when we came to faith in Jesus Christ or moments when Christ has been more precious to us than in [26:44] previous moments. And he says, in those moment of passions for Christ, it seems that it’s bursting [26:50] forth in you this fight against sin. But as time goes by, if those springs aren’t maintained

[26:58] with fresh reminders and disciplines of worship, you will grow callous to your own sin.

[27:08] Friend, I tell you, you need to have a fresh, vigorous sense of the mercy of God. [27:13] You need to constantly put the gospel in front of your own eyes and understand that the gospel [27:19] is not first for others as you may become calloused to think. The gospel is primarily for you. [27:28] Personally. And only then can you use it to aid others.

[27:35] Secondly, this morning, wisdom requires grace and discernment. Wisdom requires grace and [27:43] discernment. You say, I thought we were talking about dealing with sin. We are. We talked about [27:47] viewing it through the brothers’ eyes, which are these unrepentant men. But now I want to take a [27:53] look at it through the eyes of Joseph. Now I want to take a look at what it looked like to deal with [27:58] sin in the lens of Joseph, because, man, when they come before Joseph, there’s this amazing [28:03] moment. And imagine being Joseph, all right? You, I mean, these guys sold you into slavery. They

[28:07] beat you up pretty bad. They took your pimp coat. All right. Nobody takes your pimp coat and gets [28:12] away with it. All right. And so they took Joseph’s, you know, peacock coat. He’s a peacock. God let [28:18] him fly. And he hasn’t been allowed to fly in that coat. And they dipped it in blood. And his [28:23] brothers come before him. And he’s like, guys. And they’re like, you. And he’s like, all right, [28:32] hug it out. And then Genesis ends. No, that’s not what goes on. That’s not what goes on at all. [28:41] He throws his brothers in prison, as you would have thrown them in prison. You know, it’s just

[28:45] like retribution. No, that’s not what happens either. And so I want to take a lot of time this [28:51] morning talking about why Joseph handled the situation the way that he handled it, because in [28:57] our view of sin, this can be a little bit confusing because he throws them in prison twice, accuses [29:02] them of stealing from him, then plants incriminating evidence on them and throws them in prison again. [29:08] It’s like, man, you’re not very forgiving, Joseph. And I would say, yes, he actually is because [29:13] Joseph is very wise. He’s gracious and he’s discerning. And those two things put together

[29:21] equal wisdom. They equal wisdom. You see, what you need to understand is that it isn’t gracious [29:27] to let people do whatever they want and pretend everything is okay. It is not gracious to let [29:33] people do whatever they want and pretend everything is okay. You know, because sometimes we live by [29:39] the philosophy, forgive and forget, am I right? You know, just forgive and forget and everything [29:44] works out in the end. Let’s just sweep that sin under the rug until it’s got a giant lump that [29:48] you’re tripping over. I mean, that’s kind of the way that we deal with it. And that’s not gracious.

[29:53] That’s not the way that God deals with sin. I want to look at this in the lens of what Joseph does [29:59] because in chapter 42 verses six through nine, when it tells us that Joseph, excuse me, recognized [30:06] his brothers and they did not recognize him. Now, we don’t know why they didn’t recognize Joseph. [30:12] You know, it could have been that the Egyptians wore a certain type of costume that covered his [30:17] face. It could have been that he wore some kind of makeup because, you know, if you remember the [30:21] movie, The Ten Commandments, completely historically accurate, they had on makeup. So maybe, you know,

[30:26] I’m just kidding. It’s not at all. Charlton Heston, you know, not Moses. And so it could have been [30:35] some kind of makeup or we’ve seen the Lord do this before. It could have just been that the Lord [30:40] blinded Joseph’s identity to his brothers. But regardless of that, when they ask for food, [30:46] it says Joseph recognizes them and then he looks at them and he does not give them food, but instead [30:53] accuses them of being spies and then throws them into prison. Takes some time to actually think [31:01] about what’s going on. See, because I think it would have been a mistake if Joseph had just said,

[31:08] hey guys, it’s me. I forgive you. Go get dad. Bring him here. Because I think sometimes your [31:14] repentance needs to be tested. And sometimes you need to be discerning. You see, forgiveness [31:20] does not mean that you open the door for more abuse. God calls sinners to repentance. He doesn’t [31:27] call them to cheap grace. God calls sinners to change. And that’s one of the things that I think [31:32] most people have missed out on. Years ago, when I was first learning of Christianity, that was one [31:37] of the hardest things that I had to understand about grace. I couldn’t quite grasp how it actually

[31:43] dealt with sin. And as a young man, that always confused me because I was just like, are we just [31:47] supposed to let people continue in sin? And of course, in Romans, Paul says no. You see, [31:54] Jesus deals with sin, doesn’t he? See, because sometimes we look at the cross and we don’t see [31:58] the discernment of the cross. We see the grace of the cross. We don’t see the discernment of the [32:01] cross. See, the grace is this wonderful thing that Jesus earns for me complete forgiveness. Jesus [32:06] earns for me complete reconciliation with God. And he does. And those are amazing things. But what

[32:11] we often neglect to do in our own lives is see at what great cost Jesus earned us forgiveness. At [32:17] great cost, Jesus earned us reconciliation with God. He suffered a real physical death. [32:24] He suffered a real emotional pain. He suffered spiritually under the red hot wrath of God the [32:32] father for my sin. Jesus shows the seriousness of how God views sin. And I think Joseph is also [32:42] exampling for us in this Old Testament narrative the seriousness of dealing with sin. See, you have [32:48] to be discerning to deal with your sin and the sin of others. Because many would cheapen grace

[32:56] by simply sweeping it under the rug so that we could people please. You see, verse 25, when [33:03] Joseph fills their sacks with food, when he puts their money back in their sacks and sends them [33:09] it shows that Joseph does love his brothers. You see, sometimes you need to care for people [33:15] without them even knowing that you are caring for them. You see, that’s not passive aggressive [33:21] because you are simply doing good for people with their best interest at heart. Being passive [33:28] aggressive means you’re trying to hurt somebody. That’s not what Joseph is doing. You have to use

[33:34] your discernment with how you give out grace so that you can do the best you can to make sure [33:41] you are helping someone rather than hurting someone. You see, Joseph sent his brothers home [33:47] with a lot of food after their brief imprisonment for three days. Those guys were just glad to get [33:53] out of there. But Joseph, very smart, knowing the vision of God that this family would go on for [34:00] three years, he looks to his brothers and he says, you said you had a younger brother, yeah? [34:07] And they say, yeah. He says, hey, if you ever come back here for food and you don’t bring him,

[34:14] it’s going to be bad. What you just went through will be dreamland. You’ll experience a nightmare [34:21] if you come back without Benjamin. And that is where the test was. The scripture is not clear [34:29] on this, but I think that God has given us the ability to look at a narrative and compare it [34:35] with other parts of scripture to actually see what’s going on. And I think Joseph is testing [34:40] his brothers because I think Joseph wants them to prove to him that they did not do the same [34:45] thing to Benjamin that they did to him. I think Joseph actually wants to say, are you guys the

[34:52] same abusive, wicked, evil men that you were when you hurt me? How deep has the hurt that you’ve put [34:59] on this family actually gone? Joseph is looking for the truth of what’s going on with Benjamin [35:04] and Jacob. That’s what Joseph is looking for. So he sends them home. But here’s the other side [35:13] of when we see Joseph actually caring. See, you can also try to be discerning with no grace, [35:20] and that’s not Christ-like. See, if you’re clever but ungracious, it isn’t wise and it doesn’t honor [35:27] God. You see, Matthew 10-16 tells us, behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves,

[35:34] so be wise as serpent and innocent as doves. You see, in a sinful world, people will abuse you. [35:42] They will seek to abuse you again and again. And he says, be wise as serpents when that happens. [35:49] But then note how he says, be innocent as doves. Why does he say be innocent as doves? Because if [35:53] you are not gracious, if you do not have the innocence of doves, you will become just like the [35:59] wolves. So you need that grace so that you do not become so overwhelmed with hurt. And don’t pretend [36:08] it’s not real. The hurt of sin is real. That you will erect walls around your life, and you will

[36:16] say, I’ve just got to protect myself from pain. You will say things like, I can’t let anybody get [36:22] too close because if I let somebody get too close, they’re going to hurt. Or I’ve got to get them [36:27] before they get me. Do you see what’s happening in that? You’re using discernment, and probably [36:33] even by the rules of this world, you’re being really smart. But what have you forgotten? [36:41] You’ve forgotten grace. And you can forget grace to the point where you forget something else, [36:47] the source of grace, the love of God. You see in Ephesians 432, it tells us something so

[36:54] vital to our lives. It says, be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another. [37:00] But then it doesn’t say, because that’s the right thing to do. That’s not how that text ends. It [37:07] says, be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ [37:16] Jesus has done what? Forgiven you. Never become so discerning, never become so protective [37:28] that you forget the love of God. And that is a dangerous thing because grace and discernment, [37:37] there is a tension that we have to keep. I tell you, it’s tough. But you cannot go too far to

[37:44] either side. But my fear for many of us, because the longer your life lasts, the more people are [37:49] going to hurt you. We live in a sinful world, friends. And because of that, we sometimes will [37:56] try to be more discerning than we are gracious. And that can lead to you becoming the wolf that [38:02] causes other people pain. Because sometimes the abused become abusers. You see, friends, [38:09] sometimes being sinned against can harden you. Literally, being sinned against and being hurt, [38:15] you know what I think it is? It dehydrates your soul. It just sucks all the life out of it,

[38:23] sucks all of the sustenance out, and it can make you a very dry person. But in that moment, [38:31] you have to remember the cross of Jesus Christ, because that is the only continuous ethic that [38:37] will both heal your pain and help you to heal the pain of others. You see, Joseph loved his [38:43] brothers. You see, the brothers go back home and they run out of food. And Jacob’s like, [38:50] hey, guys, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but we’re out of food again and the plants still [38:53] aren’t producing. We’re still in famine. Can you go back to that guy in Egypt and get some more

[38:58] food from him? And they’re like, yeah, just one thing. Remember last time when you wouldn’t let [39:05] Benjamin go with us? Well, old Benny better saddle up because we can’t go back to Egypt without [39:11] Benjamin. And the dad’s like, no, I can’t send Benjamin. And the brothers are like, look, [39:17] you got to send Benjamin. If we don’t bring him home, you can, one of them actually says, [39:21] you can kill my sons. And so Jacob relents. When you’re starving to death, you’ll do things you [39:27] never thought you’d do before. And so he sends the boys on. Benjamin goes with his brothers. But then

[39:34] the love of Joseph is seen. When he sees Benjamin, he has to recuse himself. And in the text says, [39:40] he weeps. And his brothers come. And he doesn’t throw them in prison this time. No, this time when [39:46] he sees that Benjamin’s okay, he actually invites them to the feast room. And he makes them an [39:52] un-fitting feast for people who are very hungry. And so they eat. And Joseph is so emotionally torn [40:00] and he’s in so much pain because he loves Benjamin so much. They actually eat in another chamber.

[40:08] Then Joseph, he says, okay, let me give you another test. And he gives them food. And they [40:14] give him money. And he puts it back in their knapsacks or carriage bags, whatever it was. [40:20] And then actually he looks at Benjamin’s and he says, hey, can you do me a favor? He has all these [40:26] servants. And they do whatever he says. Can you put my silver cup? Now this is the cup of royalty [40:31] for Joseph. He says, put it in Benjamin’s bag. And so they leave. And they’re headed back home. And [40:39] they’re like, all right, we’re going to take Benjamin home. This is good. And so then Joseph

[40:43] instructs the guards. He says, now go stop them. Search their things. And when you find that cup, [40:48] inform them that they’re in serious trouble. And so they find the cup. I think this is another test. [40:54] I think Benjamin is kind of the source of all of these tests because Joseph wants to see what [40:59] they’re like now. And so he tests them again. And I think he’s testing them this time to see if they [41:04] will throw Benjamin under the bus, to see if they will forsake him for their own hides.

[41:13] And then in verses 18 through 20, we see the brothers explaining the situation. [41:20] And in chapter 44 verses 18 through 20, they don’t sell Benjamin out. Instead, they plead with Joseph.

[41:29] You see, this section shows Joseph’s need for discernment, but it also shows great grace [41:35] because the brothers say, please don’t hurt Benjamin. And then verse 20, they say,

[41:43] because his brother’s dead. Imagine being Joseph in that moment. You’re like, well, no, he’s not. [41:52] But he’s also like, oh, still perpetuating that lie. I see.

[42:02] You see, in this moment, the one who has sinned against is overly gracious, and the one who’s in [42:07] is still beating the dead horse of his own sin. And then in Genesis 45, with great discernment, [42:16] Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. He says, guys, I’m not going to kill Benjamin, [42:22] and I’m not going to kill any of you. I can’t do this anymore. Your brother is alive. And in [42:28] Genesis 45 verse 3, it says something very interesting. When Joseph says, your brother isn’t dead,

[42:39] in verse 3, what happens? Are they excited to see him? No, it says they were dismayed at his presence. [42:47] It’s kind of like one of those moments where you’re like, uh-oh.

[42:53] I mean, he’s really going to execute us now. You know, it’s one of those moments where it’s like, [42:57] my sin has come home to roost. It’s just like, I’m going to have to pay my comeuppance in this moment.

[43:09] You see, the difference between Joseph and his brothers, and the reason that Joseph’s weeping [43:14] for joy in the moment of seeing Benjamin, the reason that Joseph is like, guys, it’s me. I love [43:21] you. It’s why? Because Joseph has led a life of experiencing the grace of God.

[43:28] His brothers have lived a life destroying the grace of God, demeaning the grace of God, [43:36] lying about their own sin, and never experiencing the grace of God. See, [43:43] for the ones who understand that when you experience God, the only reaction is to be a [43:48] person of grace because God is so gracious, and that is the story of Joseph.

[43:55] Thirdly, this morning, I want you to understand that you have to buy into God’s vision to see [43:59] God’s reward. You have to buy into God’s vision to see God’s reward. See, the end of this narrative [44:05] in chapters 45 and 46, we see the vision of God come complete for this family. We see Joseph say, [44:13] hey, guys, you go back to Goshen, you go back to Bethel, you get dad, you get everything. [44:19] Bring them here. You will not starve anymore. You will experience the sustenance that God has [44:26] provided in Egypt. But here’s what I want you to understand about that part is that, you know,

[44:32] Joseph never got to go home. Joseph never returned to Bethel. You know, for somewhere, [44:41] between 16 and 18 years, I bet the only thing that kept Joseph going some nights was, I want [44:46] to go home. I want to see dad, but I want to go home. I want to return to my homeland. I want [44:52] to tend sheep in the fields again. But you know, that wasn’t God’s vision for Jacob, excuse me, [45:00] for Joseph. It wasn’t God’s vision for Joseph. God’s vision for Joseph was in Egypt. God’s [45:10] vision for Joseph was in the life in Egypt, saving his family. See, sometimes when we hear

[45:17] God’s promises, we tend to fill in the blank with whatever we want. You can’t do that. It doesn’t [45:27] work that way. You have to obey God regardless of where that obedience takes you. You have to [45:34] trust God regardless of where that trust takes you. When God reveals the reward of living his [45:41] vision in your life, trust that it will be the best possible outcome because God works everything [45:47] for his good. But be sure to understand though that it is his good. It’s not always what you [45:56] would define as good. The problem many of you have is that you aren’t following God’s wisdom.

[46:03] You are following your own and then getting upset when the reward isn’t satisfying. Friends, [46:10] if you do not follow God’s wisdom, then the reward that God gives you will not satisfy you [46:16] because it will sometimes and oftentimes conflict with your vision. But be sure that God rewards [46:23] your faithfulness every single time. It takes a lifetime of endurance. It takes a lifetime of [46:33] softening your heart and sharpening your discernment through God’s ways. But in the end, [46:38] the reward is great because the reward is God. You see, Jesus shows that the path is tough.

[46:47] I mean, Jesus had to endure a real cross. Jesus had to endure real pain. But on the other side [46:53] that Hebrews 12.1 says, it wasn’t joyful to go through the cross. The joy was what came on the [46:59] other side of the cross because God promises through the pain and turmoil that may destroy [47:06] your vision for what the good life looks like. Understand that through that pain, through that [47:14] turmoil, through that tragedy, God can bring resurrection from the dead. God can pour life [47:21] back into a dehydrated soul. God can give you his vision. And when he does, if you are obedient,

[47:30] if you are faithful, you will see it as a reward. But the question is, what reward are you seeking?

[47:39] So you can see the rewards you are seeking by looking at your life. [47:44] But I tell you, friend, your actions show what you are actually after. Your desires reveal it.

[47:55] And so we can ask a few questions to diagnose it.

[48:00] How do you deal with sin? I’m talking about your sin. How do you deal with it? Are you slow to [48:07] repent to a point of callousness? See, if that’s true, then you’re self-absorbed. [48:14] And if you’re self-absorbed, you’re not chasing after God’s reward. You’re chasing after your own [48:19] wisdom. How do you deal with the sin of others? Are you so quick to sweep the sin of others [48:27] under the rug without helping them to repent? See, if that’s you, then you’re a people pleaser. [48:34] And the reward you’re after is that you want people to like you. You don’t want anybody to

[48:38] have anything against you. Good luck. Are you slow to forgive even when true discipleship [48:45] is taking place? Well, if that’s you, then you are hard-hearted.

[48:53] You see, friend, we need to seek the reward of God rather than the reward of our own choosing. [48:58] You need to focus on Him. You see, life won’t be easy, but the end will see the reaping of [49:06] God’s harvest through Jesus. See, as the band comes up, sin is the hardest thing you will [49:15] deal with in your life. I tell you that with great honesty and great experience, your own [49:22] sin is the hardest thing you will deal with. You see, every Sunday we have communion, the Lord’s [49:39] Supper. On the plate is the bread, which represents the broken body of Jesus. And the cup

[49:44] is the juice, which represents the shed blood of Christ. And when we eat and when we drink, [49:51] what that represents is our yes, our agreement that sin is terrible. Sin is life taken. Sin [50:01] is painful. And it’s so painful that it cost God the Son His very life.

[50:11] If you’re a follower of Jesus today, this morning, what I want you to do is before you run up [50:18] to the table, maybe just take a few seconds, not too many. Say, Lord, examine me.

[50:29] Is there sin in my life that I haven’t repented of? Is there sin that I haven’t confessed? Is [50:37] there something that’s been done to me that’s causing sins of omission, where I’m not following [50:42] you like I should? And then when you come forward, when you eat and drink, when you say yes, the [50:48] cross is for me, I want you to also in that moment say, yes, Lord, I have sinned, but thank you so [50:54] much for the cross because I am forgiven. And then walk out of that door and whatever repentance [50:59] looks like, that’s what you do when we’re done today. You repent in your life. But if you’re in

[51:06] here and you’re saying, I’ve never experienced forgiveness, or man, I’m so calloused, I don’t [51:13] know if I’m a Christian, I have good news for you. And that is that Jesus Christ gave his life [51:21] paying the penalty for your sin. And if you will turn from your sin and you will trust in the cross [51:27] of Jesus Christ, he will save you right now. He will save you forever. He will be the friend that [51:33] sticks closer than a brother. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will take you [51:38] through every moment of turmoil, every moment you feel abandoned by everyone else, Jesus will be

[51:44] there and when this life is over, he will look to you and say, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, [51:50] come into the kingdom of God where there is peace and rest forevermore. If that’s you, I’m going to [51:56] ask you while others are eating and drinking of the Lord’s table, I’m going to ask you just to [52:01] slip out in the foyer so that somebody can pray with you, so that somebody can answer any questions [52:06] you might have. But friends, when you’re ready to testify to the cross of Christ, [52:14] come celebrate the death of our King.