1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,920 Good morning, everyone. We’re returning today to our series on Joseph, 2 00:00:04,640 –> 00:00:11,600 Snapshots of a Godly Life. This is really a story in two parts, and we covered the first part of 3 00:00:11,600 –> 00:00:17,520 this story in January and February of this year, the story all about Joseph, who is the loved and 4 00:00:17,520 –> 00:00:22,559 favored son. Now as we’re coming to Part Two this month and next month, 5 00:00:22,559 –> 00:00:28,879 the story focuses around the brothers who are the Chosen Family. So just think about this 6 00:00:28,879 –> 00:00:36,000 and get the frame of the story set in your mind. Part one is about the dearly loved son who was 7 00:00:36,000 –> 00:00:41,520 humiliated and then was exalted. Now we followed the story of how Joseph comes to his brothers, 8 00:00:41,520 –> 00:00:47,599 they hate him, because he is the loved and favored son. They sell him to traders who take him to 9 00:00:47,599 –> 00:00:53,919 Egypt and he’s taken to the lowest point, but then he’s exalted and ends up being the governor at the 10 00:00:53,919 –> 00:00:59,919 right hand of Pharaoh with authority over the entire land of Egypt. What we saw throughout 11 00:00:59,919 –> 00:01:06,800 the two months at the beginning of this year was, Joseph really is very like Jesus. His story 12 00:01:06,800 –> 00:01:14,400 obviously shines a light on Jesus, the dearly loved, highly favored son of God, who comes into 13 00:01:14,400 –> 00:01:18,800 the world to seek his brothers, is hated and rejected, despised, goes to the lowest point, 14 00:01:18,800 –> 00:01:25,760 is exalted to the highest place, and at the right hand of the Father reigns, as our Prince and as 15 00:01:25,760 –> 00:01:35,919 our savior. Joseph is very, very much like Jesus. Now the brothers are very, very much like us, 16 00:01:37,199 –> 00:01:43,279 so while part one of the story points to the journey of Jesus, his humiliation and his 17 00:01:43,360 –> 00:01:50,800 exaltation, part two of the story is really the story of how God redeems sinners like us. 18 00:01:51,519 –> 00:01:57,199 Part one is about the Redeemer, part two is about the Redeemed. 19 00:01:57,839 –> 00:02:03,279 And keeping this framework for the story in your mind will help you to know where we are as we go 20 00:02:03,279 –> 00:02:10,639 forward. Part one is about God’s great purpose for his own Son, part two is about God’s gracious plan 21 00:02:11,199 –> 00:02:20,080 for his own people. And so what we’re going to see here is that God works through his loved 22 00:02:20,080 –> 00:02:27,279 and favoured Son to bring about the redemption, the blessing of these brothers with whom, 23 00:02:27,279 –> 00:02:34,559 in so many ways, we will be able to identify ourselves. To understand the story in part 24 00:02:34,559 –> 00:02:40,160 two we really need to get an orientation towards these brothers, get a picture in your mind 25 00:02:40,160 –> 00:02:45,520 of who they were and how they had lived. And the headline here is that these brothers 26 00:02:45,520 –> 00:02:53,199 were not like Joseph. Joseph is very like Jesus, but the brothers are not at all like 27 00:02:53,199 –> 00:02:59,919 Joseph. In fact, they lived the opposite of a godly life. And you can see that in at 28 00:02:59,919 –> 00:03:04,080 least four snapshots that are given to us in the Bible. I’ll just run through them 29 00:03:04,279 –> 00:03:12,479 briefly here. The first is the story of Simeon and Levi. You have it in Genesis 34. The story 30 00:03:12,479 –> 00:03:19,380 here is that Joseph’s brothers had made a deal with a clan called the Shechemites. That 31 00:03:19,380 –> 00:03:24,380 is the clan of a man called Shechem. And this man, Shechem, had fallen in love with and 32 00:03:24,380 –> 00:03:32,220 had slept with their sister Dina. The brothers were outraged about this, but then they made 33 00:03:32,220 –> 00:03:38,160 a deal with Shechem and his clan, and said that the two families would blend and they 34 00:03:38,160 –> 00:03:42,279 would intermarry and that the brothers would be at peace with him despite what he had done 35 00:03:42,279 –> 00:03:49,380 if – and this was the one condition – all of their men were circumcised. So the men 36 00:03:49,380 –> 00:03:56,940 of Shechem agreed to this deal. They went ahead, and while they were still recovering 37 00:03:56,940 –> 00:04:02,139 and clearly therefore were in no position either to fight or to defend themselves, the 38 00:04:02,139 –> 00:04:07,960 sons of Jacob launched a raid – it was almost like a terrorist attack – on the Shechemite 39 00:04:07,960 –> 00:04:14,619 city. Destroyed all the men, destroyed the city. It was an outrage and it was an atrocity. 40 00:04:14,619 –> 00:04:21,519 So that in Genesis 34 verse thirty Jacob says, the father says of Simeon and Levi, you have 41 00:04:21,519 –> 00:04:29,760 brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land – you’ve taken 42 00:04:29,779 –> 00:04:38,660 my name, the father says, and you have dragged it into the dirt by this atrocity of violence 43 00:04:38,660 –> 00:04:44,119 that you have perpetrated against these men to whom you had given your word – that’s 44 00:04:44,119 –> 00:04:49,619 Simeon and Levi. Second snapshot. The story of Reuben. This 45 00:04:49,619 –> 00:05:00,540 is Genesis 35, verse 22, while Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, 46 00:05:00,540 –> 00:05:10,519 his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now Reuben was the firstborn son and 47 00:05:10,519 –> 00:05:16,980 this scandalous sin that everybody heard about, became widely known, that brought disgrace 48 00:05:16,980 –> 00:05:24,899 upon the family was the reason that Jacob chose to take the rights that would normally 49 00:05:24,899 –> 00:05:30,459 have been given to Reuben as the first born and in the light of Reuben’s outrageous 50 00:05:30,459 –> 00:05:35,100 sin, he gave these rights to Joseph and that’s the significance of the coat of many colours 51 00:05:35,100 –> 00:05:40,799 that’s so famous in this story. When Jacob put the robe on Joseph he was really saying 52 00:05:41,559 –> 00:05:48,220 one. My oldest son Reuben has forfeited the rights that go with being the firstborn and 53 00:05:48,220 –> 00:05:54,399 I’m draping this privilege now on Joseph and that’s why the brothers hated him. They didn’t 54 00:05:54,399 –> 00:06:00,739 like that one bit. That was Reuben. Third snapshot. The story 55 00:06:00,739 –> 00:06:09,579 of Judah in Genesis 38. By the way, these chapters of Genesis read them if you’re feeling 56 00:06:09,899 –> 00:06:16,899 way too happy and you just need to be brought down to earth, you know? They are hard reading 57 00:06:17,459 –> 00:06:24,459 just because of the sheer pain and dysfunction that is going on in this family. I’ll be very 58 00:06:24,679 –> 00:06:31,679 brief here, but Genesis 38, tragic account of Judah and Tamar and suffice it to say this 59 00:06:32,000 –> 00:06:37,440 is another story that shows another of the brothers to be sexually promiscuous. Judah 60 00:06:37,459 –> 00:06:44,459 is a man without sexual boundaries, and behind him he leaves a trail of broken hearts, of 61 00:06:44,540 –> 00:06:51,540 wounded lives as he sends his way further and further and further away from God. 62 00:06:51,880 –> 00:06:57,720 Then the fourth snapshot is the story that we’ve already looked at earlier this year, 63 00:06:57,720 –> 00:07:04,140 how the brothers treated Joseph. And you remember how Joseph came to his brothers and they said 64 00:07:04,239 –> 00:07:11,239 Genesis 37 and Verse 18 they conspired against him to kill him. So here are men who would 65 00:07:11,880 –> 00:07:18,880 actually kill their own brother for jealousy. And mercifully Reuben was the one who intervened 66 00:07:18,880 –> 00:07:24,320 and said, let’s not shed blood here, let’s throw him in the pit, and so they did that 67 00:07:24,320 –> 00:07:29,179 and then you remember the Ishmaelite traders came and they sold their brother, for twenty 68 00:07:29,239 –> 00:07:36,239 pieces of silver and off Joseph was taken to Egypt. And as if that had not brought enough 69 00:07:36,279 –> 00:07:42,959 pain and sorrow, as if that were not bad enough, the brothers then went back to the father 70 00:07:42,959 –> 00:07:49,440 and told him that his own dearly loved son was dead. They killed an animal, they dipped 71 00:07:49,440 –> 00:07:54,880 Joseph’s robe in the blood of the animal They brought the robe back, imagine this, and they 72 00:07:54,920 –> 00:08:00,600 say to the old man, we found this out in the field, can you identify this robe? And of 73 00:08:00,600 –> 00:08:06,100 course Jacob takes the robe, he says this is Joseph’s, and he says well surely a wild 74 00:08:06,100 –> 00:08:15,100 animal must have torn him to pieces. And on the basis of that lie and that deception, 75 00:08:15,100 –> 00:08:22,899 Jacob went into mourning and he said I’m gonna take this sadness with me to my grave. 76 00:08:22,899 –> 00:08:30,540 Every day was a day of mourning for the old man and every day was a day of mourning for 77 00:08:30,540 –> 00:08:38,440 the old man because the 10 brothers perpetrated the lie and caused him to continue to believe 78 00:08:38,440 –> 00:08:46,700 what they knew was not true that his dearly loved son had been killed by being torn to 79 00:08:46,700 –> 00:08:48,900 pieces by a wild animal. 80 00:08:49,039 –> 00:08:51,559 Now, have you got the picture? 81 00:08:51,559 –> 00:09:00,900 These are men whose word could not be trusted, they are men who were prone to violence, they 82 00:09:00,900 –> 00:09:09,359 were sexually out of control, they were capable of lying even to someone who loved them in 83 00:09:09,359 –> 00:09:14,419 order to cover up their own sin. 84 00:09:14,559 –> 00:09:20,820 Now, here’s the question at the heart of this story. 85 00:09:20,820 –> 00:09:25,979 How can men like this enter the blessing of God? 86 00:09:25,979 –> 00:09:28,099 That’s the question. 87 00:09:28,099 –> 00:09:32,140 When you know the ten brothers who’ve come to learn what the Bible story so far has told 88 00:09:32,140 –> 00:09:41,119 us about them, how in the world can men like this enter the blessing of God? 89 00:09:41,140 –> 00:09:47,020 How can a person who has broken promises, betrayed trust, lied, deceived, even to loved 90 00:09:47,020 –> 00:09:55,679 ones, how can such a person man or woman enter into the blessing of God? 91 00:09:55,679 –> 00:10:01,099 And remember the big picture of the Bible story, God comes to Abraham and he says, I 92 00:10:01,099 –> 00:10:05,619 will bless you and through you all of the nations of the earth will be blessed. 93 00:10:05,619 –> 00:10:09,320 Your offspring is going to be the line that will be blessed and will be a means of bringing 94 00:10:09,320 –> 00:10:11,320 blessing into the world. 95 00:10:11,320 –> 00:10:15,919 So we had Abraham, and then there was Isaac, and then there was Jochebed, and now we have 96 00:10:15,919 –> 00:10:17,239 these ten brothers. 97 00:10:17,239 –> 00:10:25,559 So these brothers are the great grandchildren of Abraham, and they are about as far away 98 00:10:25,559 –> 00:10:31,200 from the blessing of God as it is possible for a man to be. 99 00:10:31,200 –> 00:10:35,520 And the great question as we take up this story in Genesis chapter 42 therefore obviously 100 00:10:35,520 –> 00:10:39,580 is, how can men like this share in the blessing of God? 101 00:10:39,580 –> 00:10:43,179 Is that even possible? 102 00:10:43,179 –> 00:10:47,619 So I want you to see that over these next two months what lies ahead of us now is a 103 00:10:47,619 –> 00:10:51,780 marvelous story of redemption. 104 00:10:51,780 –> 00:10:56,739 We are going to see how God can transform the most broken of lives. 105 00:10:56,739 –> 00:11:01,260 It is therefore a story of marvelous hope. 106 00:11:01,320 –> 00:11:07,059 And over these next weeks I want to draw out from the story seven major themes that will 107 00:11:07,059 –> 00:11:15,039 show us a kind of model of how Jesus Christ, the loved and favored son, works to bring 108 00:11:15,039 –> 00:11:21,719 change in broken lives and what He is able to accomplish in our lives and in the lives 109 00:11:21,719 –> 00:11:25,039 of people we love and pray for even today. 110 00:11:25,039 –> 00:11:29,099 Now the first of these seven themes, this is where it begins. 111 00:11:29,099 –> 00:11:33,020 Where does transformation begin in a human life? 112 00:11:33,020 –> 00:11:39,780 The first theme is the theme of the awakening of conscience. 113 00:11:39,780 –> 00:11:43,580 Now the timeline in the story here is important. 114 00:11:43,580 –> 00:11:48,539 Joseph we know from the Bible was 17 years old when he was sold as a slave and taken 115 00:11:48,539 –> 00:11:50,359 to Egypt. 116 00:11:50,359 –> 00:11:55,940 He was 30 years old when he was exalted to the position of being governor at the right 117 00:11:55,940 –> 00:11:57,479 hand of Pharaoh. 118 00:11:57,479 –> 00:12:02,419 1730 so 13 years have passed there. 119 00:12:02,419 –> 00:12:08,179 And then we know that there were 7 years of bumper harvests before the years of famine 120 00:12:08,179 –> 00:12:09,419 kicked in. 121 00:12:09,419 –> 00:12:17,020 So 13 years plus 7 years at least 20 years have past between the time when the brothers 122 00:12:17,020 –> 00:12:23,940 sold Joseph into Egypt and where we are now in the story in chapter 42 where the famine 123 00:12:23,960 –> 00:12:27,619 is beginning to bite in the land of Canaan. 124 00:12:27,619 –> 00:12:32,940 More than 20 years have passed. 125 00:12:32,940 –> 00:12:38,840 And I want to suggest to you today that during these 20 or more years the brothers has slipped 126 00:12:38,840 –> 00:12:44,679 into what I’m going to describe as the worst of all spiritual positions. 127 00:12:44,679 –> 00:12:51,880 And that is that their sins were forgotten but not forgiven. 128 00:12:51,900 –> 00:12:55,679 Now no doubt they would have remembered from time to time what they had done and perhaps 129 00:12:55,679 –> 00:13:01,080 especially in the early years it would have been in their minds. 130 00:13:01,080 –> 00:13:06,400 But we know that their sins had never been dealt with for this reason. 131 00:13:06,400 –> 00:13:10,340 There was never a time when they came. 132 00:13:10,340 –> 00:13:16,000 Never in 20 years, never a time when they came to their father and said, dad we lied 133 00:13:16,000 –> 00:13:18,000 to you. 134 00:13:18,000 –> 00:13:22,440 Never a time when they said, you know your son was not killed by wild animals, the truth 135 00:13:22,440 –> 00:13:27,119 is we sold him for 20 shekels and he was taken to Egypt. 136 00:13:27,119 –> 00:13:28,599 Never a time when they came out with the truth. 137 00:13:28,599 –> 00:13:32,320 There was never confession. 138 00:13:32,320 –> 00:13:35,799 And therefore never repentance. 139 00:13:35,799 –> 00:13:40,919 For 20 years the brothers simply moved on. 140 00:13:40,919 –> 00:13:44,440 As so often happens today in our culture. 141 00:13:45,320 –> 00:13:53,159 You move on from one church to another, from one situation where there is wreckages left 142 00:13:53,159 –> 00:13:56,000 behind to another. 143 00:13:56,000 –> 00:14:03,760 No confession, no dealing with sin and placing it under the blood of Christ, no repentance, 144 00:14:03,760 –> 00:14:07,979 no real change, just move on. 145 00:14:07,979 –> 00:14:10,359 The next chapter. 146 00:14:10,359 –> 00:14:13,320 The next thing. 147 00:14:13,320 –> 00:14:16,460 and for 20 years these brothers had been working for the father. 148 00:14:16,460 –> 00:14:17,739 So think about what that means. 149 00:14:17,739 –> 00:14:21,799 They’re working for the father, they’re in the homestead, for 20 years, they had 150 00:14:21,799 –> 00:14:29,320 been lying to the father, perpetuating the lie that his dearly-loved son had been killed 151 00:14:29,320 –> 00:14:32,159 by wild animals. 152 00:14:32,159 –> 00:14:40,479 For 20 years, every day, deceiving their father, perpetuating the lie. 153 00:14:41,000 –> 00:14:44,119 And, you may have seen this, I have certainly seen this, 154 00:14:44,119 –> 00:14:50,359 it is an extraordinary phenomenon, that when a lie is repeated often enough, the person 155 00:14:50,359 –> 00:14:54,400 who repeats it can end up actually believing it themselves even though it knew at the beginning 156 00:14:54,400 –> 00:14:57,400 it was not true. 157 00:14:57,400 –> 00:15:03,799 And you imagine over 20 years every time a visitor comes to the tents of Jacob, and, 158 00:15:03,799 –> 00:15:08,679 oh now tell me about your family, and out comes the story, oh yes, you know we had another 159 00:15:08,840 –> 00:15:11,080 brother, it was a very tragic thing that happened. 160 00:15:11,099 –> 00:15:15,200 You know, he was torn to pieces by wild animals and that’s been repeated and repeated and 161 00:15:15,200 –> 00:15:17,960 repeated for 20 years! 162 00:15:17,960 –> 00:15:27,299 And it would not surprise me at all if they had come to actually think it were true itself. 163 00:15:27,299 –> 00:15:32,840 If your sins are forgotten but not forgiven, never confessed, never dealt with, never placed 164 00:15:32,840 –> 00:15:36,140 under the blood of Christ, you are in the best of all spiritual positions. 165 00:15:36,140 –> 00:15:38,380 You’ve just moved on. 166 00:15:39,159 –> 00:15:44,940 I know that some people have trouble with remembering, at times, past sins that have 167 00:15:44,940 –> 00:15:49,580 been confessed and repented and placed under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and I simply 168 00:15:49,580 –> 00:15:56,780 want to say for your encouragement it is better by far that your sins are forgiven, even if 169 00:15:56,780 –> 00:15:57,940 they’re not forgotten. 170 00:15:57,940 –> 00:16:03,179 Even if it times they come back to your memory, better by far that they’re forgiven and not 171 00:16:03,179 –> 00:16:06,440 forgotten, than that they would be forgotten and not forgiven. 172 00:16:07,000 –> 00:16:11,479 That they still stand against you in the very presence of God himself. 173 00:16:11,500 –> 00:16:16,059 That is the worst position of all, to be at peace with yourself when your sins are not 174 00:16:16,059 –> 00:16:25,320 dealt with and it’s been like that for these brothers for 20 years and what we’re going 175 00:16:25,320 –> 00:16:30,260 to see today is that life change really begins when God breaks it up, steps in and says no 176 00:16:30,260 –> 00:16:33,719 more, no more. 177 00:16:33,760 –> 00:16:35,559 Now how does God awaken conscience? 178 00:16:36,400 –> 00:16:41,320 He does it in four ways that we see in this story and as we identify them you will very 179 00:16:41,320 –> 00:16:47,479 probably be able to see how God has worked in this pattern in your own life and you’ll 180 00:16:47,479 –> 00:16:52,119 be able to recognize it and thank him for it when this happens. 181 00:16:52,119 –> 00:16:58,080 Four ways, then, in which God begins this great redemptive work in a person’s life. 182 00:16:58,099 –> 00:17:05,380 He awakens conscience first by disturbing peace, by disturbing peace. 183 00:17:05,380 –> 00:17:10,119 God breaks into the lives of the brothers here by an unexpected event that was entirely 184 00:17:10,119 –> 00:17:11,119 beyond their control. 185 00:17:11,119 –> 00:17:13,760 In this case it was a famine. 186 00:17:13,760 –> 00:17:15,319 And you will find that this often happens. 187 00:17:15,319 –> 00:17:19,099 You’re going along in the regular rhythm of life and then something happens and God 188 00:17:19,099 –> 00:17:24,099 is breaking in through this and he is getting your attention. 189 00:17:24,099 –> 00:17:27,939 The famine was severe, we’re told, in the last verse of chapter 41. 190 00:17:27,939 –> 00:17:30,760 So severe that it covered all of the earth. 191 00:17:30,760 –> 00:17:35,079 And Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, and so the brothers go down 192 00:17:35,079 –> 00:17:37,479 to buy grain there. 193 00:17:37,479 –> 00:17:39,459 So we follow the story that was read for us. 194 00:17:39,459 –> 00:17:44,540 We’re told when they arrive in Egypt, Joseph recognizes the brothers, but the brothers 195 00:17:44,540 –> 00:17:46,839 don’t recognize him. 196 00:17:46,839 –> 00:17:48,739 Of course. 197 00:17:48,739 –> 00:17:52,119 He recognized them, because they weren’t any different. 198 00:17:52,119 –> 00:17:53,800 Just 20 years older. 199 00:17:53,800 –> 00:17:57,300 As soon as he saw them, he thought…there’s the brothers. 200 00:17:57,300 –> 00:18:04,079 They did not recognize him, because, of course, after 20 years, in the position he now occupied, 201 00:18:04,079 –> 00:18:10,500 Joseph looked entirely different, and sounded entirely different from anything they would 202 00:18:10,500 –> 00:18:13,780 have remembered from 20 years before. 203 00:18:13,780 –> 00:18:20,680 One writer says, Joseph’s head would have been shaved, his scalp oiled, his face and 204 00:18:20,900 –> 00:18:27,500 eyebrows painted with cosmetics as befitted his status as an Egyptian aristocrat. 205 00:18:27,500 –> 00:18:34,500 A picture of that from these early days, the ways in which the Egyptian aristocracy appeared. 206 00:18:36,359 –> 00:18:41,420 And he would have been in a long, flowing robe of the Egyptian aristocracy, quite unfamiliar 207 00:18:41,420 –> 00:18:43,060 to these brothers. 208 00:18:43,060 –> 00:18:46,800 And remember, that he’s even speaking in what, to the brothers, was an unknown language. 209 00:18:46,800 –> 00:18:50,520 He’d learned the language of the Egyptians when he arrived in the country. 210 00:18:50,599 –> 00:18:54,000 We saw that in the first part of the story. 211 00:18:54,000 –> 00:18:57,060 And so now here, he’s speaking in a language they don’t understand. 212 00:18:57,060 –> 00:19:02,439 So even voice recognition is masked because the very sounds of the language that he’s 213 00:19:02,439 –> 00:19:05,439 speaking are different with everything that is familiar to them. 214 00:19:05,439 –> 00:19:09,680 They don’t recognize him at all, they can’t. 215 00:19:09,680 –> 00:19:16,040 Now, some writers are critical of Joseph for the way in which he deals with his brothers. 216 00:19:16,079 –> 00:19:24,500 But what I want us to see today, and through these weeks, is that God uses the way in which 217 00:19:24,500 –> 00:19:31,479 Joseph deals with his brothers to bring about a remarkable change. 218 00:19:31,479 –> 00:19:34,640 And one of the reasons that this story is in the Bible, one of the ways in which we 219 00:19:34,640 –> 00:19:41,020 learn from this story is that it shines a light on how Jesus Christ, the loved and favored 220 00:19:41,500 –> 00:19:48,939 son of God, the one and only son of God, how he deals in our lives to bring about change. 221 00:19:48,939 –> 00:19:53,900 And that’s the story that we’re going to follow, and it begins here, with the disturbing 222 00:19:53,900 –> 00:19:55,660 of the peace. 223 00:19:55,660 –> 00:19:56,719 The famine. 224 00:19:56,719 –> 00:20:04,020 And then verse 17, Joseph put them all in custody for three days. 225 00:20:04,020 –> 00:20:06,760 And so, here they are now in the prison. 226 00:20:06,760 –> 00:20:09,780 They’re thinking, what happened to our lives? 227 00:20:09,780 –> 00:20:12,479 Here we are in another place. 228 00:20:12,479 –> 00:20:16,180 Here we are in circumstances we never imagined we’d find ourselves in. 229 00:20:16,180 –> 00:20:23,979 And having gone along comfortably for 20 years, God is stepping in, and he disturbs the peace. 230 00:20:23,979 –> 00:20:26,239 Now, this may happen to you in one of many ways. 231 00:20:26,239 –> 00:20:28,599 It may be a financial crisis. 232 00:20:28,599 –> 00:20:31,319 It may be a sudden break in your health. 233 00:20:31,319 –> 00:20:33,920 You say, I never imagined I would be in this position. 234 00:20:33,920 –> 00:20:34,920 But, here I am. 235 00:20:34,920 –> 00:20:39,000 I’m flat on my back, and whoever could have imagined this? 236 00:20:39,079 –> 00:20:42,000 It may be that a secret is revealed. 237 00:20:42,000 –> 00:20:46,119 Trouble comes to the family, a circumstance completely beyond your control. 238 00:20:46,119 –> 00:20:49,900 And the way in which you’ve been going on, suddenly God is intercepting and he’s 239 00:20:49,900 –> 00:20:51,180 got your attention. 240 00:20:51,180 –> 00:20:54,939 He’s disturbing your peace, and why is he doing that? 241 00:20:54,939 –> 00:20:58,020 Because in his great love and in his mercy he’s saying to these brothers, you’ve 242 00:20:58,020 –> 00:21:03,479 gone on like this for 20 years, and it has to stop here. 243 00:21:03,479 –> 00:21:04,479 Something has to change. 244 00:21:04,479 –> 00:21:06,239 Otherwise you’re going to end up in complete disaster. 245 00:21:06,239 –> 00:21:07,579 You will never know my blessing. 246 00:21:09,300 –> 00:21:16,280 Second way in which God awakens the conscience is that he arouses the memory. 247 00:21:16,280 –> 00:21:20,260 And this we see especially in verse 21 and 22. 248 00:21:20,260 –> 00:21:25,000 But I think that the awakening of memory actually may have begun as early as verse 1. 249 00:21:25,000 –> 00:21:26,500 See what you think. 250 00:21:26,500 –> 00:21:35,140 When Jacob, verse 1, learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, 251 00:21:35,140 –> 00:21:38,479 why do you look at one another? 252 00:21:38,479 –> 00:21:41,459 Now that’s fascinating. 253 00:21:41,459 –> 00:21:45,060 Why were they looking at one another? 254 00:21:45,060 –> 00:21:49,060 See I think after what had happened, the brothers selling him to the traders who they knew were 255 00:21:49,060 –> 00:21:55,939 taking him to Egypt, I think Egypt became the unspoken word in that family. 256 00:21:55,939 –> 00:21:58,219 Don’t ever say the word Egypt, ok. 257 00:21:58,219 –> 00:22:02,239 That is just between us 10, right? 258 00:22:02,319 –> 00:22:07,599 And it would not surprise me if it were the case that the word Egypt had never been spoken 259 00:22:07,599 –> 00:22:11,300 in 20 years in that family. 260 00:22:11,300 –> 00:22:15,479 And then suddenly, here’s the old man comes out and says we don’t have any food, but I’ve 261 00:22:15,479 –> 00:22:21,500 heard some good news boys, there is actually grain for sale and it’s in Egypt. 262 00:22:21,500 –> 00:22:29,219 And they’re kind of looking at each other, did he say Egypt? 263 00:22:29,260 –> 00:22:33,939 And that he wants us to go to Egypt. 264 00:22:34,020 –> 00:22:38,819 Jacob says why’re you looking at each other. 265 00:22:38,819 –> 00:22:41,500 Memories just being aroused, just the beginning of it here. 266 00:22:41,500 –> 00:22:45,239 And that must have continued, you see, as they took the journey to Egypt, and it must 267 00:22:45,239 –> 00:22:51,939 have been in their minds surely at that point that this is where we sent our brother. 268 00:22:51,939 –> 00:22:53,760 Looking at all these slaves and thinking. 269 00:22:53,760 –> 00:22:58,900 Surely, he couldn’t still be alive, could one of them be him. 270 00:22:59,219 –> 00:23:07,219 Then verse 21 they’re thrown into prison, verse 17 they’re thrown into prison. 271 00:23:07,219 –> 00:23:12,119 And now memory is really aroused because you see the parallel. 272 00:23:12,119 –> 00:23:13,119 What did they do? 273 00:23:13,119 –> 00:23:16,839 For no good reason they throw their brother into the pit. 274 00:23:16,839 –> 00:23:22,119 Now they arrive in Egypt and for no good reason they have been thrown into the prison. 275 00:23:22,119 –> 00:23:24,420 They can’t fail to see the parallel. 276 00:23:24,439 –> 00:23:29,540 And now, the memory is alive after 20 years it’s brought up and their consciousness, 277 00:23:29,540 –> 00:23:33,780 what has been suppressed is brought into the open and they said to one another in 278 00:23:33,780 –> 00:23:39,900 truth, we are guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the distress of his soul and 279 00:23:39,900 –> 00:23:45,619 when he begged us and we did not listen, and that is why this distress has come upon us. 280 00:23:45,619 –> 00:23:47,239 You see how vivid that verse is? 281 00:23:47,239 –> 00:23:50,699 It’s all coming back to them now. 282 00:23:50,859 –> 00:23:55,900 In their memory, now aroused they can hear his voice crying out to them from the pit. 283 00:23:55,900 –> 00:24:00,660 They said, we saw his distress, they must have come to the edge of the pit, looked over 284 00:24:00,660 –> 00:24:06,380 and seen the distress in his face, and then just walked away, and they pushed that away 285 00:24:06,380 –> 00:24:07,380 for 20 years. 286 00:24:07,380 –> 00:24:10,680 They have not been thinking about it, but now it all comes back to them, and their own 287 00:24:10,680 –> 00:24:17,180 sin and the guilt of it, it’s real, it’s alive, it’s fresh, it’s present, it is on them. 288 00:24:17,180 –> 00:24:18,180 Why? 289 00:24:18,420 –> 00:24:19,420 Why? 290 00:24:19,420 –> 00:24:21,140 Because God himself has stirred it up. 291 00:24:21,140 –> 00:24:22,140 Why? 292 00:24:22,140 –> 00:24:26,900 Because if they go on simply forgetting and never dealing with this, it’s going to bring 293 00:24:26,900 –> 00:24:29,459 them to the most terrible end. 294 00:24:29,459 –> 00:24:36,079 And so, verse 22, you have Reuben saying, didn’t I tell you not to sin against the 295 00:24:36,079 –> 00:24:46,040 boy, but you did not listen, and so now there comes a reckoning for his blood. 296 00:24:46,619 –> 00:24:50,199 Now, you see how God is intervening in their lives? 297 00:24:50,199 –> 00:24:55,439 The awakening of conscience, disturbing peace, arousing memory through all these circumstances. 298 00:24:55,439 –> 00:24:59,839 All coming back to them now, and they can’t push it away any longer. 299 00:24:59,839 –> 00:25:07,660 We’re guilty, and there are real consequences for real sins. 300 00:25:07,660 –> 00:25:14,520 Third way in which God awakens the conscience, he does it by speaking harshly. 301 00:25:15,520 –> 00:25:16,640 Now this was a surprise to me. 302 00:25:16,640 –> 00:25:22,520 I hadn’t expected this in the story, but it’s there not only once, but twice, and surely 303 00:25:22,520 –> 00:25:23,599 has significance. 304 00:25:23,599 –> 00:25:34,560 Verse 7, Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers, 305 00:25:34,560 –> 00:25:37,380 and spoke roughly to them. 306 00:25:37,380 –> 00:25:42,640 Now, as we follow the story, there’ll come a great moment where Joseph reveals himself 307 00:25:42,640 –> 00:25:43,640 to the brothers. 308 00:25:43,680 –> 00:25:45,719 It’s beautiful when that happens. 309 00:25:45,719 –> 00:25:48,160 But it doesn’t happen straight away. 310 00:25:48,160 –> 00:25:53,400 The story is not that the brothers come, and they see Joseph, and Joseph recognizes them, 311 00:25:53,400 –> 00:25:58,560 and he sort of, you know, immediately says to them, hey, it’s me, good news, everything’s 312 00:25:58,560 –> 00:25:59,560 fine. 313 00:25:59,560 –> 00:26:01,780 No, that’s not what happens. 314 00:26:01,780 –> 00:26:03,000 That was not their experience. 315 00:26:03,000 –> 00:26:12,880 Their first experience was that he was a stranger to them, and he spoke roughly to them. 316 00:26:12,920 –> 00:26:16,959 And so that you know that that’s not, you know, just picking on one word here. 317 00:26:16,959 –> 00:26:21,640 This was the thing that so impressed itself on the brothers that they report it to the 318 00:26:21,640 –> 00:26:24,199 Father when they get back home in verse 30. 319 00:26:24,199 –> 00:26:32,359 They say, the man, the Lord of the land, that’s Joseph of course, spoke roughly to us, and 320 00:26:32,359 –> 00:26:36,479 took us to be spies of the land. 321 00:26:36,479 –> 00:26:41,859 Now there’s something very important here and I want you to grasp it. 322 00:26:41,939 –> 00:26:48,239 I wonder if you have ever noticed how often in the Gospels, the first words that Jesus 323 00:26:48,239 –> 00:26:54,800 speaks to a person are words that might easily have turned them away. 324 00:26:54,800 –> 00:26:57,180 If you’ve never notice this, just watch for it, you’ll find. 325 00:26:57,180 –> 00:27:03,099 It’s not always the case, but you will find it is often the case that Jesus speaks words 326 00:27:03,099 –> 00:27:10,359 in a conversation with someone in the Gospel early on that might easily turn them away. 327 00:27:10,359 –> 00:27:11,359 Let me give you just one example. 328 00:27:11,859 –> 00:27:17,859 I could give you many, but in Matthew chapter 15, there’s a Canaanite woman who comes to 329 00:27:17,859 –> 00:27:22,640 Jesus in great distress, and she begs Jesus for help. 330 00:27:22,640 –> 00:27:25,599 She is a Canaanite woman. 331 00:27:25,599 –> 00:27:35,819 Jesus says to her when she begs for help, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. 332 00:27:35,819 –> 00:27:39,640 How encouraging is that for a Canaanite woman? 333 00:27:39,920 –> 00:27:44,920 Well, she’s made of stern stuff, and she’s not going to be easily put off, and so 334 00:27:44,920 –> 00:27:45,839 she comes back. 335 00:27:45,839 –> 00:27:47,479 She says, Lord, help me. 336 00:27:47,479 –> 00:27:51,920 You may have come for the lost sheep of Israel, but help me. 337 00:27:51,920 –> 00:27:58,780 Jesus says to her, think about this, it is not right to take the children’s bread and 338 00:27:58,780 –> 00:28:01,579 throw it to dogs. 339 00:28:01,579 –> 00:28:07,880 At that point I’m thinking if this woman goes and says, I am so outta here. 340 00:28:07,880 –> 00:28:09,180 Did you say dog? 341 00:28:09,560 –> 00:28:12,579 Nobody speaks to me like that. 342 00:28:12,579 –> 00:28:20,819 I’m not surprised if this woman is off, but not this woman, quick as a flash she’s back 343 00:28:20,819 –> 00:28:28,660 to Jesus and she says, yes, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s 344 00:28:28,660 –> 00:28:29,660 table. 345 00:28:29,660 –> 00:28:38,319 And Jesus says, oh woman you have great faith according to your desire be it done unto you. 346 00:28:38,380 –> 00:28:46,439 Now let me try and explain where you might experience something similar. 347 00:28:46,439 –> 00:28:55,459 You come to church, where we all try to place ourselves under the Word of God, and what 348 00:28:55,459 –> 00:29:01,280 you hear as the Word of God comes into your life and it lands in your heart. 349 00:29:01,280 –> 00:29:05,060 What you hear is not comfortable for you. 350 00:29:05,060 –> 00:29:08,119 It’s actually disturbing to you. 351 00:29:08,119 –> 00:29:13,119 It brings to your mind things that you would rather forget. 352 00:29:13,119 –> 00:29:16,180 You feel uncomfortable. 353 00:29:16,180 –> 00:29:21,459 And of course, living in a society where we’re being told all the time that every experience 354 00:29:21,459 –> 00:29:26,680 of life must be calculated to make you feel good about yourself and say, well, here you 355 00:29:26,680 –> 00:29:33,160 come to church, the Word of God lands in your life and what you feel is disturbed. 356 00:29:33,239 –> 00:29:38,099 So there’s a certain shallow kind of person who very, very quickly say, I’m out of here. 357 00:29:38,099 –> 00:29:41,640 I’ll go somewhere that’s not going to be my experience. 358 00:29:41,640 –> 00:29:47,300 Dear Pastor, you make me feel guilty. 359 00:29:47,300 –> 00:29:49,619 Yours angrily. 360 00:29:49,619 –> 00:29:51,459 Out of here. 361 00:29:51,459 –> 00:29:54,020 You think that doesn’t happen? 362 00:29:54,020 –> 00:29:58,359 A woman came up to me last night after my service and said thank you so much for that 363 00:29:58,359 –> 00:29:59,380 part of the service. 364 00:29:59,599 –> 00:30:05,819 She says, my son, and he was there last night. 365 00:30:05,819 –> 00:30:11,160 My son says to me he doesn’t like coming to church because he doesn’t like the way it 366 00:30:11,160 –> 00:30:14,920 makes him feel. 367 00:30:14,920 –> 00:30:24,859 And she said, I know that he is under conviction of sin and today what you said explains what 368 00:30:24,859 –> 00:30:27,140 he is experiencing. 369 00:30:27,819 –> 00:30:32,579 I prayed with that woman, and I thank God that a spiritually discerning mother can actually 370 00:30:32,579 –> 00:30:34,800 understand what’s going on in her child. 371 00:30:34,800 –> 00:30:37,459 A less discerning mother can say, oh he’s feeling uncomfortable. 372 00:30:37,459 –> 00:30:41,300 Let’s find another place that’s gonna make him more comfortable. 373 00:30:41,300 –> 00:30:42,300 And then what happens? 374 00:30:42,300 –> 00:30:43,300 We’re all comfortable. 375 00:30:43,300 –> 00:30:47,040 We all go home saying, oh God loves us, we can live happy lives, and we never actually 376 00:30:47,040 –> 00:30:48,040 change. 377 00:30:48,040 –> 00:30:53,400 20 years later, the kid’s grown up, and the work of redeeming grace has never happened 378 00:30:53,400 –> 00:30:55,459 it his soul. 379 00:30:56,459 –> 00:31:00,780 As the mother and the father were too scared at the thought that God might actually shine 380 00:31:00,780 –> 00:31:05,339 the light into the sins in the heart of their own son and daughter. 381 00:31:05,339 –> 00:31:14,660 God delivered us from churches that make the center of the agenda for the people of God 382 00:31:14,660 –> 00:31:16,540 to feel good about themselves. 383 00:31:16,540 –> 00:31:23,660 No transformation can ever come about through that, just become older and older versions 384 00:31:23,660 –> 00:31:25,219 of what we were before. 385 00:31:25,979 –> 00:31:31,420 But real change, in men like the tent brothers, begins here. 386 00:31:31,420 –> 00:31:34,579 Begins when God disturbs the peace. 387 00:31:34,579 –> 00:31:39,619 Begins when God arouses the memory, begins even when God speaks words that are uncomfortable 388 00:31:39,619 –> 00:31:42,500 for them to hear. 389 00:31:42,500 –> 00:31:47,859 That’s why it says in Romans chapter 7, Paul explains this, he said now look the law is 390 00:31:47,859 –> 00:31:48,859 good… 391 00:31:48,859 –> 00:31:54,400 Now the whole Bible is law and gospel and you have people who say, just tell us the 392 00:31:54,540 –> 00:31:55,540 good stuff. 393 00:31:55,540 –> 00:31:58,439 Just tell us good news, just tell us what’s gonna make us feel really good. 394 00:31:58,439 –> 00:32:02,040 Forget all the law stuff, forget anything that’s about a call to holiness, forget anything 395 00:32:02,040 –> 00:32:07,339 that relates to conviction of sin! 396 00:32:07,339 –> 00:32:09,280 Why do we have to have this law stuff? 397 00:32:09,280 –> 00:32:12,180 Paul says, the law is good. 398 00:32:12,180 –> 00:32:13,180 Why? 399 00:32:13,180 –> 00:32:18,920 Because it is through the law that we come to discover our sins. 400 00:32:18,920 –> 00:32:19,920 That’s what we need! 401 00:32:19,920 –> 00:32:20,920 Why? 402 00:32:21,119 –> 00:32:28,920 Only when you feel the weight of the law will you come to see your need of the gospel. 403 00:32:28,920 –> 00:32:33,920 That’s why the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and we should thankHim for it, and welcome 404 00:32:33,920 –> 00:32:35,920 it, when it happens in our lives. 405 00:32:35,920 –> 00:32:39,839 That’s why you have this experience, and when I place myself under the Word of God 406 00:32:39,839 –> 00:32:46,119 too, I have this experience, week after week of feeling searched, and sifted, and put through 407 00:32:46,119 –> 00:32:49,479 the mangle. 408 00:32:49,479 –> 00:32:55,359 The light of God shining into the soul, and he’s saying, here’s what you need to deal 409 00:32:55,359 –> 00:32:56,579 with. 410 00:32:56,579 –> 00:33:03,900 If you feel convicted of sin today, any day, every day, thank God for it, because the worst 411 00:33:03,900 –> 00:33:08,900 of all spiritual positions is to be at peace with yourself when your sins are not dealt 412 00:33:08,900 –> 00:33:09,900 with. 413 00:33:09,900 –> 00:33:13,300 I mean, any good parent knows this, surely. 414 00:33:13,300 –> 00:33:17,560 That there are times when you will, because you love your child, be prepared to speak 415 00:33:17,560 –> 00:33:18,939 harshly. 416 00:33:18,939 –> 00:33:19,939 You see a pattern. 417 00:33:19,939 –> 00:33:22,979 They’ve not been listening when you’ve been speaking gently, and so you have to speak 418 00:33:22,979 –> 00:33:24,420 harshly. 419 00:33:24,420 –> 00:33:29,420 You speak harshly because of love, because you see, if you keep on down this road, this 420 00:33:29,420 –> 00:33:37,219 is going to be destructive, and I love you too much to quietly let you go there. 421 00:33:37,219 –> 00:33:42,300 The great irony, of course, is that the one who is speaking harshly to these brothers 422 00:33:42,300 –> 00:33:48,060 is actually the brother who loves them, and whose undeserved favor, which they will soon 423 00:33:48,420 –> 00:33:51,880 to discover, is going to save them. 424 00:33:51,880 –> 00:33:55,199 So here’s what I want to say to you, to the young person, to the older person who says, 425 00:33:55,199 –> 00:33:56,199 you know, I come to church. 426 00:33:56,199 –> 00:33:57,199 I don’t feel comfortable. 427 00:33:57,199 –> 00:34:02,359 What you’re experiencing you feel as if God is actually against you. 428 00:34:02,359 –> 00:34:07,280 But I am telling you that this God is speaking into your life, and sifting the stuff that’s 429 00:34:07,280 –> 00:34:13,239 hidden and pressed down in there, because He loves you, because He is for you, and when 430 00:34:13,300 –> 00:34:19,860 you come to know who He is, you will have a completely different perspective on all 431 00:34:19,860 –> 00:34:22,659 that He says and all that He does. 432 00:34:22,659 –> 00:34:28,820 Because you will see that all along He has been working for your good. 433 00:34:28,820 –> 00:34:33,300 So how does God awaken conscience? 434 00:34:33,300 –> 00:34:35,260 He does it by disturbing peace. 435 00:34:35,260 –> 00:34:36,840 He does it by arousing memory. 436 00:34:36,840 –> 00:34:38,639 He does it by speaking harshly. 437 00:34:38,639 –> 00:34:42,540 That’s the point of the law in the Bible. 438 00:34:42,760 –> 00:34:43,760 And one more way. 439 00:34:43,760 –> 00:34:47,800 He awakens the conscience by showing kindness. 440 00:34:47,800 –> 00:34:53,540 Joseph spoke harshly to the brothers, but he could not restrain his own love for them. 441 00:34:53,540 –> 00:34:55,060 Do you see verse 24? 442 00:34:55,060 –> 00:34:56,060 Emotion overcomes him. 443 00:34:56,060 –> 00:34:57,060 He has to leave the room. 444 00:34:57,060 –> 00:35:01,100 He turns away from them, and he weeps. 445 00:35:01,100 –> 00:35:07,260 This is just an act of undeserved kindness, bountiful giving. 446 00:35:07,739 –> 00:35:14,360 We’re told verse 25, that is, Joseph gave orders to fill the bags of the brothers with 447 00:35:14,360 –> 00:35:22,600 grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for 448 00:35:22,600 –> 00:35:23,600 the journey. 449 00:35:23,600 –> 00:35:27,520 Do you see what Joseph’s saying, and he says it privately to his servants? 450 00:35:27,520 –> 00:35:31,760 He says, fill their sacks and give them back their money. 451 00:35:31,760 –> 00:35:33,040 I don’t want their money. 452 00:35:33,040 –> 00:35:35,780 I want to give it to them freely. 453 00:35:35,780 –> 00:35:40,739 I want to bless them with this as a free gift. 454 00:35:40,739 –> 00:35:48,739 And it’s just boundless free favor, generosity, sheer kindness that comes out of the heart 455 00:35:48,739 –> 00:35:54,139 of Joseph, who though he has spoken harshly to them for very good reasons, because they 456 00:35:54,139 –> 00:35:58,139 needed it and God used it. 457 00:35:58,139 –> 00:36:03,459 Yet, in his heart there is this great love for them. 458 00:36:03,760 –> 00:36:08,780 Now, as you think about the sheer act of kindness in the story, it reminds me of this, that 459 00:36:08,780 –> 00:36:15,860 in the New Testament we’re told this, that the kindness of God is meant to lead us to 460 00:36:15,860 –> 00:36:16,879 repentance. 461 00:36:16,879 –> 00:36:19,939 That’s Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. 462 00:36:19,939 –> 00:36:26,800 The kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance. 463 00:36:26,800 –> 00:36:31,620 And you think about all the kindness of God, that’s been showered into your life, all the 464 00:36:31,699 –> 00:36:41,919 privileges, all of the blessings, and supremely the great gift of His own Son, the undeserved 465 00:36:41,919 –> 00:36:49,020 favor, kindness, mercy, grace of God is intended to lead us to repentance. 466 00:36:49,020 –> 00:36:53,379 Robert Murray McCheyne has this comment that I really love and treasure. 467 00:36:53,379 –> 00:36:58,840 He says it is commonly thought that preaching the holy law is the most awakening truth in 468 00:36:58,879 –> 00:37:04,379 the Bible, that by it the mouth is stopped, and all the world becomes guilty before God. 469 00:37:04,379 –> 00:37:09,580 Indeed, says McCheyne, I believe that this is the ordinary way that God makes use of. 470 00:37:09,580 –> 00:37:14,979 He says, yes, ordinarily what God does is, He brings us to conviction of sin through 471 00:37:14,979 –> 00:37:17,280 His holy law as He speaks harshly. 472 00:37:17,280 –> 00:37:21,840 The thundering from Mount Sinai, the call to holiness that we all fall so short of. 473 00:37:21,840 –> 00:37:24,800 We hear it, we feel crushed by it, God does that. 474 00:37:24,979 –> 00:37:33,139 And then McCheyne says this, and yet to me there is something even more awakening in 475 00:37:33,139 –> 00:37:42,100 the sight of a divine Savior freely offering Himself to everyone of the human race. 476 00:37:42,120 –> 00:37:49,320 Boy if the self-giving of Christ, if His undeserved mercy and favor doesn’t awaken you and convict 477 00:37:50,179 –> 00:37:55,219 else in the world would to be loved with this kind of love. 478 00:37:55,219 –> 00:38:01,139 What’s really interesting to me is that the brothers are not yet able even to understand 479 00:38:01,139 –> 00:38:02,340 this kind of love. 480 00:38:02,340 –> 00:38:07,500 They don’t know what to do with this kindness, they completely misinterpret it. 481 00:38:07,500 –> 00:38:10,939 One of the brothers finds the money in his bag and he says, my money is right here in 482 00:38:10,939 –> 00:38:12,739 the mouth of my sack. 483 00:38:12,739 –> 00:38:17,419 And notice verse 28, they don’t say, we’ve been shown an abundant act of kindness. 484 00:38:17,459 –> 00:38:24,179 So what they say is, at this their hearts failed them and they turned trembling to one 485 00:38:24,179 –> 00:38:31,239 another saying, what is this that God has done to us? 486 00:38:31,239 –> 00:38:35,260 And, you know what? 487 00:38:35,260 –> 00:38:40,419 This is the first time in the entire story, going back to Genesis chapter 37, the first 488 00:38:40,419 –> 00:38:47,060 time in the entire story that the great grandchildren of Abraham have even used the name of God. 489 00:38:47,060 –> 00:38:49,860 First time they even refer to God. 490 00:38:49,860 –> 00:38:56,060 God hasn’t been on their radar screen until chapter 42 in verse 28 but now he is, why? 491 00:38:56,060 –> 00:38:59,699 Because conscience is awakened. 492 00:38:59,699 –> 00:39:01,320 And how is conscience awakened? 493 00:39:01,320 –> 00:39:04,739 Because God has disturbed their peace, He’s aroused their memory, He’s spoken to them 494 00:39:04,739 –> 00:39:10,419 harshly and now he’s showing them an undeserved kindness and favor that right now they cannot 495 00:39:10,419 –> 00:39:11,419 understand. 496 00:39:11,419 –> 00:39:12,620 Though one day they will. 497 00:39:12,620 –> 00:39:15,219 But at least they’re awake. 498 00:39:15,379 –> 00:39:20,300 Now here’s my question in closing. 499 00:39:20,300 –> 00:39:23,600 Has anything like this ever happened to you? 500 00:39:23,600 –> 00:39:29,300 Has anything like this ever happened to you? 501 00:39:29,300 –> 00:39:36,639 I’ve had many conversations with folks in the congregation in which folks have said 502 00:39:36,639 –> 00:39:37,639 to me. 503 00:39:37,639 –> 00:39:39,300 I said now tell me about how you became a Christian. 504 00:39:39,300 –> 00:39:42,179 And the answer is, oh, I’ve always been a Christian. 505 00:39:42,780 –> 00:39:45,540 I’ve always been a Christian. 506 00:39:45,540 –> 00:39:50,179 So I think I understand what a person means when they say that, but here’s the question 507 00:39:50,179 –> 00:39:54,419 I want to bring back to you. 508 00:39:54,419 –> 00:40:02,139 Have you ever then been awakened and convicted of your own sin? 509 00:40:02,139 –> 00:40:06,139 Have you ever been convicted about your own sin? 510 00:40:06,139 –> 00:40:08,659 Because that’s the first mark of a Christian. 511 00:40:08,659 –> 00:40:10,260 You say you’ve always been a Christian? 512 00:40:10,699 –> 00:40:13,959 Well, where is the first mark of a Christian in your experience? 513 00:40:13,959 –> 00:40:16,860 Is this something that has happened to you? 514 00:40:16,860 –> 00:40:20,540 Now, of course, I know that this happens in different ways. 515 00:40:20,540 –> 00:40:25,780 It happens at different times, and it happens in different degrees of intensity with different 516 00:40:25,780 –> 00:40:26,780 people. 517 00:40:26,780 –> 00:40:29,340 And so you might reasonably when I ask you that question, you might reasonably say, Well, 518 00:40:29,340 –> 00:40:31,899 how would I know? 519 00:40:31,899 –> 00:40:34,600 And here’s the answer. 520 00:40:34,600 –> 00:40:39,620 You will know that you have been awakened and convicted of your own sin when you come 521 00:40:39,659 –> 00:40:46,659 to the clear conclusion that you have sinned enough already in your life to fully deserve 522 00:40:48,040 –> 00:40:51,620 the eternal condemnation of God. 523 00:40:51,620 –> 00:40:55,459 And I’m saying to you, do you believe that about yourself? 524 00:40:55,459 –> 00:40:58,659 Do you believe that about yourself, really? 525 00:40:58,659 –> 00:41:02,459 Have you come to the conclusion, because you were awakened and because you’re convicted, 526 00:41:02,540 –> 00:41:07,959 have you come to the conclusion as you look back on your life that I have sinned enough 527 00:41:07,959 –> 00:41:14,959 already to fully deserve the eternal condemnation of God? 528 00:41:18,659 –> 00:41:21,899 Because that’s the first thing that happens when a person becomes a real Christian. 529 00:41:21,899 –> 00:41:27,120 You say, I’ve always been a Christian and I just want to know this has happened to you? 530 00:41:27,159 –> 00:41:34,159 You see, when you do come to this conclusion about yourself, all the pride and all the 531 00:41:34,379 –> 00:41:41,379 swagger and all the self-righteousness and all the pretence will all be gone. And when 532 00:41:43,080 –> 00:41:50,060 you come to this conclusion about yourself you will see yourself as someone whose only 533 00:41:50,060 –> 00:41:57,060 hope is in Jesus Christ. And when you come there hope will have begun. 534 00:41:57,679 –> 00:42:02,280 begun for you. Let’s pray together. 535 00:42:02,280 –> 00:42:08,860 Father we thank you that you truly love us so much that you would not let us go year 536 00:42:08,860 –> 00:42:13,719 after year uninterrupted sinning our way further from your grace. 537 00:42:13,719 –> 00:42:20,719 We’re so grateful for this gift of the conviction of sin and however you bring it about in our 538 00:42:20,939 –> 00:42:27,699 lives. We pray that we may welcome it that we may respond to it that we may be truly 539 00:42:27,699 –> 00:42:34,540 humbled by it that you will cut the root of self-righteous swaggering pretense that lurks 540 00:42:34,540 –> 00:42:40,500 within our hearts and that you will make us those who see that our place is at the foot 541 00:42:40,500 –> 00:42:47,500 of the cross of the Lord Jesus. Where alone we find mercy that sinners like us stand always 542 00:42:48,500 –> 00:42:55,500 in desperate need of even at our best. So we pray that over these weeks you will enable 543 00:42:56,820 –> 00:43:03,820 us to track with the great redeeming work you did in these Ten Brothers and that it 544 00:43:03,979 –> 00:43:10,479 will begin for each of us right here that we may deal with that which is not been placed 545 00:43:10,479 –> 00:43:14,699 under the blood that there may be confession that there may be repentance that there may 546 00:43:14,739 –> 00:43:21,739 be genuine turning at a very deep level that begins today as you lead us in this great 547 00:43:25,000 –> 00:43:30,139 redeeming work that you are able to do for all of your children and these things we ask 548 00:43:30,139 –> 00:43:32,100 in Jesus’s name, amen.