Testing, Testing

through this story. Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt and Jacob said to his sons, I love this, why are you staring at one another? I have heard that there's grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from that place so that we may live and not die. The ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt, but Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers. For he said, I am afraid that harm may befall him. Verse 7, when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, and he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. He said to them, where have you come from? From the land of Canaan to buy food, but Joseph had recognized his brothers, though they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them and said to them, you are spies. You have come to look at the undefended parts of our land. Verse 15, Joseph said, this will be the test. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Verse 17, so he put them all together in prison for three days. Joseph said to them on the third day, do this and live for I fear God. If you are honest men, one of your brothers be confined in the prison, but as for the rest of you, go carry grain for the famine of your household and bring your youngest brother to me so your words may be verified and you will not die. And they did so. And they said to one another, truly we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us. And Rubin said, did I not tell you do not sin against the boy? And you would not listen. Now comes the reckoning for his blood. They did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter. And he turned away from them and wept chapter 43. Now the famine was severe in the land and it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, go back by us a little food. And Judas spoke to him, however, saying, the man warned us, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. Verse 18 Judas said to his father, send the lad with me and we will arise and go that we may live and not die we as well as you and our little ones. I myself will be assured for him. You may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever. Verse 16. And then went back to Egypt that says when Joseph saw Benjamin with them he said to his house steward, bring the men into the house and slam an animal and make ready for the men are to die in with me at noon. Verse 26. When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him. He asked them about their welfare. He said, is your old father well? Is he still alive? And they said, your servant, our father is well. He is still alive and they bowed down in homage. As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, Joseph said, is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me? And he said, may God be gracious to you, my son. And Joseph hurried out for he was deeply stirred over his brother and he sought a place to weak and he entered his chamber and wept there and then he washed his face and came out and controlled himself and said, serve the meas. So they served Joseph by himself and then by themselves in the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews. That loathsome to the Egyptians. And they were seated before him the first born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth and the men looked at one another in astonishment and he took portions to them from his own table but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of there. So they feasted and drank freely with him and then he commanded his house towards saying, fill their sacks with food as much as they can carry and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack and put my cup to silver cup in the mouth of the sack of the youngest and his money for the grain. And he did as Joseph had told him and as soon as it was life the brothers were sent away, they were with their donkeys. They had just gone out of the city and were not far off when Joseph said to his steward, follow the men and when you overtake them, say to them, why have you repaid evil for good? Verse 9. Here's the deal. When he catches them and he accuses them of fevery, they defend themselves and say, may whomever of your servants this silver cup is found, let that one die and we will be my Lord's slave. 11, they hurried, each man lowering his sack to the ground and opening his sack and the steward's search beginning with the oldest ending with the youngest and the silver cup was found in Benjamin's sack. The brothers tore their clothes and when each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city then Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house and they fell to the ground before him. Verse 16, Judah said, what can we say to you my Lord? What can we speak and how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. We are my Lord's slaves, both we and the one whose possession the cup has been found. Judah makes a grand plea for Benjamin ending in verse 32, for your servant became surety for the lads of my fathers saying, if I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever. Now therefore please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my Lord and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest I see the evil that would overtake my father? Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him and he cried, have everyone go out for me and there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, I'm Joseph, is my father alive? His brothers couldn't answer they were dismayed at his presence. Joseph said, come closer, I'm your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourself because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life. The famine has been in land these two years and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now therefore it was not you who sent me here but God and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, a Lord and Lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt, come down to me don't the right and you shall live in the land of Goshen and you shall be near me you and your children your children's children's flocks and herds and all you have. I will provide for you for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household are impoverished and behold your eyes see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt and all that you have seen hurry bring my father down then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept and Benjamin wept on his neck and he kissed all his brothers and he wept on them. Amen and may God bless this stirring account of powerful reconciliation you may be seated. You think about it life is a series of tests isn't it really hard test I mean from the moment you're born in that call an apgar test they give the I mean right from that right from the get go they start to test you in life and a great deal these tests are hard to pass scholastic tests for some of us there are six kids in my family five are in the national honor society one wasn't he stands before you scholastic tests were hard for me to pass and an athletic test you remember the presidential physical fitness I thought it was a pretty good little athlete but I never won that because of the pull up pull up the work was I could never do the pull ups I could never do enough tests are you know their test for aptitude you know a vocational test I was me sent me the story of the CIA conducting a test for potential assassins they got down to the final three candidates they brought them in and the first man came in and they said here's a gun your wife's in that room in there you've got to go in and kill her we need to know that our assassins will obey our commands without question take this gun going until your wife he said I'm not going to kill my wife okay that's what we need to know go home you're not all we're looking for they brought the second candidate and the man he came in they said your wife's in there take this gun go ahead and kill it deep breath he went in the room and his quiet in five minutes past or so and finally he walked back out in the hand of the gun and said I couldn't do it if it good take your wife kid go home you don't qualify the third candidate was a woman your husband's in the room they handed her the gun she went in the room they heard bam bam bam bam bam bam bam crash slam the terrible fight ensues the brawls are shaking they're smashing going on finally she emerges from the room ten minutes later sweat pouring off her brow and she said this gun was loaded with blanks I had to kill him with the chair there's tests that you have to have a certain aptitude for there's you know there's there's test are hard to pass medical test when they give me that triglycerides test I don't do very well on that one because you have to change your diet to do well on that one but you know these are the hardest tests the hardest tests are tests like Jesus in a rich young ruler go sell everything you have and give it to the poor or regard one another as more important than yourself or I guess a test that was pretty hard was one that said all the trees of the garden you may you may eat but this one tree you may not eat so you look for the most part these spiritual tests in particular well look at the ten commandments thou shalt not thou shalt not and yet we do the opposite of every one we fail every test so what happens when you open the Bible to Genesis chapter 42 and following and you find the people in there successfully completing the test that's a little suspicious isn't it is like this athlete I was just reading about this great athlete that every college wanted him and when he took the SAT for the first time to try to qualify for college you know he got like a 600 or something and then with a little tutoring he took it again and he was like in the 900s and guess what they threw it out it said nobody can improve like that nobody it's a fraud we can tell so you know we we turn to Genesis 42 and we see the tests that are falling on Jacob's sons and on Joseph and on Judah and they're passing these tests you know we ought to get a little suspicious that they're not doing this on their own so I want you to know as we talk about tests the Bible is not a book of virtuous characters who can keep the law of God and so we should follow them and keep those commands of God too who is this family we're talking about they're the most dysfunctional bunch that could possibly imagine this family of Jacob they haven't done anything up to this point in the story so if this family is virtuous then what do we know

it has a preacher used to say if you find a turtle on a fence post what do you know it didn't get there on its own if you find Jacob and his family or bane God then what do you know God is deeply involved and this passage ought to give us the greatest of hope that God's transformation and the power of the gospel works in the most scourulous of characters that means it might just work in you but I want to ask you to pray a prayer try your heads and pray would you the prayer of the psalmist that says search me O Lord and know my heart try me see if there be any anxious way in me search me know me Lord try me will you pray that for a test me Lord show me the corruption of my heart and then lead me in the way ever lasting lead me to the great savior who can make me new and this is our prayer in Jesus name and then take your sermon outline here's the first challenge the test of Jacob's sons is the test of contrition are they going to own up to what they did they sold their brother into slavery are they going to are they going to have soft hearts are they going to be sorrowful are they going to accept responsibility are they going to be contrite now listen I want to tell you if these guys are contrite then the turtles on the post if these guys are contrite then something fishy somebody's helping them god is it work these are hard men these are one of these sons one of these brothers slept with his father's concubine a couple of them are mass murderers they've slaughtered the Shekhamite um they um one of them um slept with his daughter in law and when he discovered that she was pregnant attempted to have her a burned for committing it over they all sold their brother in the slavery this is the kind of characters we're dealing with here what's going to change what's going to soften the hearts and the come what's going to make them contrite where we know that god's got a lot of our tools in his toolbox and so there's great famine the hardship of famine falls on the land and and their father sends them to Egypt to get a grain there's nothing like deprivation and physical hardship that makes them become needy right they become the beggars they become those who have to go and bow down and get on their knees isn't it fascinating you see Joseph's dream that his family would come and bow down before him what what brings these brothers to the point of getting on their knees but they're hunger and their need but it's not only famine but we also see something else god uses he uses the harsh treatment of of Joseph what happens when they go to Egypt that they don't recognize Joseph but Joseph recognizes them and Joseph treats them harshly for a purpose he accuses them of being what spy you've come to spy out you're you're come from another nation you're seeking military information he accuses them of being spied and he throws them in prison why did he do that because 13 years earlier Joseph's father sent him out in the wilderness to do what on his brother do you remember you remember we study that one of the reasons the brothers despised Joseph was because he was always ratting them out and so the father sends Joseph out in the wilderness to find out what the brothers are doing to spy on the brothers and you know that when they saw him coming from a distance they said what here comes that here comes that spy here comes that rat and so they arrested him and they threw him in the pit and so Joseph takes his brothers and he accuses them of being spies and he throws them in the pit and he lets them taste the same experience here's the work of god and that wasn't even yet test and off the greater test comes you know the passage tells us that they they ultimately have to leave their brother go back and Joseph says if you want your brother back you're going to have to bring your little brother and Jacob's not going to part with Benjamin you know why Jacob's not going to part with Benjamin why doesn't Jacob send Benjamin in the first place because Benjamin is now his favorite son Benjamin is the only son he has left as far as he knows from his beloved wife Rachel Benjamin is probably just like by his brothers as well and and and and Jacob knows in his heart what happened to Joseph and he's not about to trust Benjamin to his son but finally they're hungry again a couple of years go by and they're out of food and the grandchildren out of food and the whole family needs food and Judah goes to his father and says don't send us back there don't tell us to go back to Egypt get off our dops and go back to Egypt because we're going to be in hot water if we don't show up with Benjamin okay so they bring Benjamin back with him and and Joseph is overwhelmed when he sees his his full brother his only full brother and and they have a special feast and Joseph pays what attention to Benjamin special attention Benjamin gets a special place Benjamin gets special food at the what's Joseph trying to provoke the jealousy of his brothers the jealousy that he experienced he's trying to see if it's still there and then he sets it up so that when they leave and their sacks are filled with grain the Benjamin gets framed and when when they're leaving and heading home Joseph sends their his serving out to catch them and search through their sacks and they sure that none of them was a thief they say if you can if you find your silver and anybody sacks then then you can execute them and of course they search and they find the silver and Benjamin said here's the great test when you see who the brothers have the opportunity again don't they they can ditch the beloved brother in Egypt again and they can save their own skin it's all they have to do it's the great test but the Bible tells us that God's working in their hearts you know the Bible tells us in chapter 42 in the first visit when when Joseph throws them in prison and keeps their brother if you look at verses them 21 and following you know what you see for the first time the first time when they're thrown in prison they say truly we are guilty concerning our brother Joseph if the first time we ever read them acknowledging their guilt this is happening to us because Joseph is paying the first life and we ignored his pleas and then you get over there this time and they say the same thing again when Judah appears before Joseph and Benjamin has been arrested and they are in deep weed Judah says God has found out the iniquity of us this is a just and a righteous thing brothers and sisters here's the test for us isn't it the test of contrition will I be soft-hearted toward God these brothers pass the test they go back with Benjamin they offer up their own lives for Benjamin they don't abandon Benjamin in one accord you can tell that they demonstrate the genuineness of their sorrow for betraying Joseph and the way they respond in this circumstance these men have been changed but will you see these guys pass the test you know what God is at work transforming the most unredeemable people imaginable and so the question before us is how about us will we be a people because we are hard-hearted we are blind we are self-righteous and defensive question is will we be able to see our sin or will we blindly defend ourselves and our record

what's the truth gonna be about us how will we fare in this test of contrition will we be broken and contrite of heart so on TV a playboy centerfold was being interviewed and she was talking about her marriage she had been a hooters waitress and then she'd been in playboy magazine and and she had attracted the attention of a rock star and they got married and the marriage dissolved in three months and then they were interviewing her about the perils of being married to these these rock stars and she said this what you said on TV it was terrible she said you would not believe that women would come up to my husband it groupies would come up to my husband even when I'd have to go there and they would just expose themselves to my husband and you should have seen the work of absolute disgust on her face I myself she doesn't get it she exposed herself to millions of husbands that's how she got married to this guy in the first place she could see the sin of others but she couldn't see that she was the big center I don't tell you something she's not the only one with that problem issue or we are so blind to our sin to who we are to our need that's the test of contrition you know God puts before us test every day than me I remember driving to a ballgame last fall with my kids and when I drive to a ballgame it's a very competitive thing and I have this disease about getting there getting the good parking spot and getting parts of the car spacing outward and thinking when the game is over how I'm gonna get out of a lot so I don't get trapped in and how I'm gonna get out into the traffic and where the right ramp is on the expressway because I can get out of there the fastest I mean I'm thinking like let's leave in the middle of the second quarter of the football game let's beat the traffic you know I totally lose sight of the whole deal and so we're going to watch the universe and Miami play and it's a big sellout and it's a night game and I'm fighting the traffic and I'm winning I mean I'm finding these back roads I'm flying and everybody else is held up I am the conqueror and we get we get about two blocks from the stadium it's an hour and 15 minutes before the game we're two blocks from the stadium and traffic stops it and I am so frustration and somebody backs out of the road come on come on don't let them in don't let them in and I'm working around them and finally my my college age son is sitting in the seat of the car next to me and he looks at me and he says dad what is wrong with you what the heck is wrong with you dad you run right there with two blocks the game's not gonna start for 90 minutes it is right I am driven in the most ridiculous way constant the god shows us you know you know what god showed me this weekend the pressure I felt having my sister in a lot here you may not understand but I have this deep idolatry in my heart to want to work good and somebody who really knows the Bible really good is is here in my family she's gonna hear me preach I'm so relieved you left I thought what if this sermon isn't like gracious enough she's like the guru of grace and I tell her I am so afraid I'm so afraid it's a sickness it's a sickness it's deep within and god give us the grace to open our eyes to see in also many ways that we are big sinners that we might have contrite hearts my I think that the young girl who I had an abortion she was sitting with a counselor ten years later and she said to the counselor I can't believe I did that I can't believe I did that I grew up in the church I knew it was wrong I would never do anything like that I can't believe I did that the counselor just heard that one too many times and she lifted this young woman and she said that wasn't your first murder you know where do you get off saying you can't believe you killed your own child you killed the son of god who do you think you are that you can't believe you did that you're a murderer do you know that you're a murderer do you know in your heart of hearts that you're a murderer do you know that if god exposed themselves to you you and I would kill him we know that because we did Jacob's sons aren't the only one to reject their brother are they now that's in our hearts too and our brother our brother Jesus the only one who who deserves all honor all pray that everyone would bow down to him oh my god give us the grace to see that we are big sinners need a big savior that's the test of contrition and let me tell you something if you do what god says if you come before god and do wash me and make me clean or fall right to the fountain fly wash me savior or I die if those words come out of your mouth what do you know god is it work only god will cause our heart to say that we can't pass that test without him second thing I want you to see in this passage not just a test of contrition but for Judas test is the test of self-denial the challenge of self-denial here's the question is life about us or is there a is there a richer calling are we supposed to die on the grenade you know for our comrades came said can ask the question right the question for all time am I my brothers keeper and I supposed to care about somebody other than me

and came to answer was I know but Judas answer is yes and when we see Judah go to his father and say make me a surety for my brother Benjamin so that if Benjamin doesn't come back you can take my life in his place as a substitute then you ought to know something he didn't get there himself you ought to see the turtle gods at work because Judah the guy who wanted to kill his daughter in law right I told you that wanted to burn her the Judah the guy who thought up the idea of selling Joseph in the first place if we see coming out of Judah put me last well then you know that somebody's helping him pass this test let me tell you something Jacob saw that in his son Judah he saw the transformation so much and we get at the book of Genesis we see that who does Jacob name the leader of the whole family Judah and out of Judah's family would come one called the lion of the tribe of Judah the one who had ultimately put his brother first the one who would suffer vicariously in our place here's the test can I be so confident in my father's care for me that I can abandon caring for myself as my primary calling here's a test deny yourself try it try it between now in the end of today try it just get out of the parking lot I bet you'll fail I bet you couldn't get off this property deny yourself take up your cross and follow me and tell you something if that ever comes out of us what do we know God's doing that God's at work setting us free my sister talk this morning about being an orphan you know it's probably the orphans orphans only have one channel on their TV set the me channel it's all there is the only place they tune the only place they can because they're afraid can I be so confident in my father's care for me that I can abandon caring for myself as my primary calling and I can become my brothers keeper I love capital stewardship campaigns because the first that question they'll say can I be set free to love Jesus more than more than house more than birth more than myself more than vacations more than the lifestyle 104 can I you know well let's face it isn't it a daily test deny yourself deny yourself help your child with homework when you're tired scratch your husband's back stay after the 1030 service and put away chairs listen I know why you guys come on Saturday night and I'm not running or something precious

I met a man this week he used to live in Montana North Carolina Montana Dan told me 50 years ago he was in the same church with Sam Miller the founder of this church and he said the federal government had come in and made this damn and all these people lost their homes and they sort of resettled them up in the mountains and they all distrusted anybody these people had been resettled the only one they would trust was Sam Miller the government gave him a jeep so he could go up in the middle of the mountains up these hollers and across these creeks to get to the 80 people and so this pastor I talked to him the other day he said I am I am fast Sam sometime let me go with you on one of those calls to Sam called him the next week at two in the morning they got him a jeep they rode up into the mountains where they found a man all eaten up with cancer and stomach cancer and Sam had to put some tube in and drain fluid off this guy stomach and it took a long time and give him some drugs and help him with his pain and when he got all done the man said so what do I owe you and Sam said not a thing this pastor this is 1953 that happened this pastor told me he was in Fontana North Carolina last year and they're still telling that story 50 years later they can't get over the doctor who loved them see that turtle it didn't get there by itself you see that kind of welcome out of people you know that God did work the last test the test of contrition the test is self denial the last test is the test of forgiveness that we spoke in our already tonight all the test of forgiveness it's been called the most unnatural act to forgive so as you need to say it's what separates us from animals it's not our ability to think it's our ability to repent and forgive one secular novel has said what I admire most about Christianity is forgiveness because I have no one to forgive me if anybody had a grudge if anybody had a right to be bitter is it not Joseph his brothers bully him his brothers despise him and finally they dispatch him and he spent the best years of his life in a dungeon if anybody had the right to nurse agreement it was Joseph so how does he respond when his brothers are forced to come before him weak and vulnerable and needy how would we respond and Joseph instead of striking back in revenge gives them tenderness and forgiveness and reconciliation and grace let me tell you something when you see that you know what he didn't pass that test himself nobody can forgive like that except for God when you see that you know that God has worked at work and that's exactly what it says in chapter 45 Joseph says again and again and again when he reveals himself to his brothers God did this God did this God did this God did this God was at work and his unswerving goodness was made known to me so that I could trust him even in this adversity our test is will we forgive or will we nurture our grievance when we feel wrong we can contrive scores of reasons why we shouldn't forgive you've heard these you've uttered these I'm not going to forgive he needs to learn a lesson I don't want to encourage your responsible behavior I'll let her steal a while it'll be good for her she needs to learn actions have consequences I was wrong it's not up to me to make the first move how can I forgive he's not even sorry why open myself up to more hurt it's not what God would want is forgiveness what God wants right in your sermon outline mark 11 25 and whenever you stand praying forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions but about the reading our praise seemed good the big hearted king who forgives much and then his servant won't forgive even just a little bit infuriate the king God wants to forgive how many times do we have to forgive there was a group of Polish Christians gathering 10 years after World War II in their meeting the word came that there were German Christians that wanted to come and meet with them Germany the worst of the death camps as you must know was was in Poland Poland suffered more than anywhere else and these are Polish Christians that we cannot meet to receive their forgiveness we will not every stone of Warsaw is soaked in Polish blood we would defame these people if we had that meeting they continued their time together but before they went they they knelt together and they recited the words prayer together in the midst of the prayer forgive us our sins they prayed as we forgive those who have sinned against us the prayer stopped and the man who was the most adamant about the refusing this offer of forgiveness said we must allow them to come I hate them I don't want to forgive them I cannot find it in myself to forgive them but God can and God can work in me we must allow them to come somewhere in this room perhaps in many places our folk who are locked in a prison a prison of your own making do you know who's blessed most by forgiveness not the forgiven but the it's the forgiver it's the one who holds the grudge it's the one who nurses the bitterness that's locked in a prison of their own making you may not be able to be reconciled to someone because they may not be willing to confess what they've done they may not be softhearted you may not be able to be reconciled that involves two people but forgiveness only involves you the pastor I can't do it duh no you can't do it so I want to say it tonight if you're struggling to forgive somebody and you need to forgive somebody and you know that the arrows of this preaching is aimed right at you now stop trying to forgive them and go soak your heart in the warm bath of the forgiving love of your father until your heart becomes tenderized by his forgiveness of you and you find forgiveness start to flow out of you I'm praying that tonight that happened I prayed before I came I've been praying while I'm preaching because I longed for some of you to be set free in the burden of bitterness that you bear it's it's killing you it affects your relationships it affects your life it affects your joy

you can't forgive but when you do we'll know what somebody help you we'll know that God's at work