And I'm named member of the congregation says of herself, I thought, and I thought, and I thought, and I still made the wrong decision. Have you ever had that happen to you, where you have considered something and considered something and considered it yet again? But at the end of the day, when you go to act, you realize that you have made the wrong decision. Now, that decision could have been wrongly made for any number of reasons. This morning, we're going to look at decisions that are not factored in with faith. But we continually must make decisions, and yet we know just how many times we arrive at the wrong conclusion when we try and string together what we would call the logic of the facts. We try and get a handle on a particular situation, and then make a responsible decision based upon whatever the reality is that we have concluded the facts warrant. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we don't. And there are times when we need what I would call reality therapy. We need someone to come to us and say, I know you may be intended to think your way through this situation, but for whatever reason, the reality that you constructed does not conform to the reality that is, and it wasn't a good decision. Now, as we turn to the text this morning, it's fascinating to see the literary structure that Moses uses. There's a literary architecture, so to speak, that is employed in the design of this passage. For call with me the two major movements within it, they are in parallelism to one another. All of us as readers of this passage know all the inside information about Joseph. We know that Joseph is not dead. We know that Joseph is very much alive that he is the prime minister of Egypt, and it is Joseph, the brother of these ten who stands before them in this encounter. We know that is the reader. Joseph, of course, knows that he is Joseph, and that he is acting as one of the brothers of the twelve. But the brothers don't know that information. They are not privy to the fact that this man, the lord of the land, standing before them, is their brother. They consider him to be an Egyptian, the prime minister. He is using an interpreter so as to continue the disguise for some time longer. If he had broken out into Hebrew, I'm sure that the brothers would have had a different logic of the facts. They would have concluded something different. But the man spoke in Egyptian to them through an interpreter. And so we, the readers, know something. Joseph knows the same thing, but the brothers are clueless to what is really going on. They don't have the inside scoop. And so therefore, when they begin to determine the logic of the facts, what they do is they make a fundamental mistake. They do not factor in faith. They do not have a God-centered worldview and would do it in a redemptive purpose in and through this encounter. They only see with the eyes of their natural sight and they make a fundamental mistake. Granted, they were not privy to everything. They were not faltered for that. But what they did know did not have faith in attendance. We dropped down to the end of the story. Again, we, as readers, know what is going on in the story when the brothers return home and tell of this incident to Jacob, their father. We have the inside scoop. God knows all the inside scoop, obviously. But Jacob doesn't. Jacob is not privy to all the information that we as readers or that God has regarding this situation. Unfortunately. Jacob makes the same blunder that the brothers did when they were lacking all the information. Again, Jacob is not to be faltered for not having access to all the information. What Jacob is faltered for in this passage is not believing that by faith, God was at work in the situation to produce a redemptive result. So in each case, what was lacking was some information that faith was conspicuously absent. They who should have seen things not just with their natural eyes, but with the eyes of faith didn't do so. The Redeemer God was not included, and so the brothers and Jacob each needed a dose of reality therapy, spiritual reality therapy. They were walking by sight and not by faith. They neglected the witness of redemptive history, did it factor in all those marvelous things that God had been doing to their patriarchal lineage, to Abraham and Isaac and through Jacob. They ignored the promises of God and they did not resort to the character of God to see how a faithful God would faithfully preserve them in this present difficulty. It did not occur to them that God might have a wiser purpose, some plan, some outcome of these events that would move forward his redemption. Now, let's turn to the text and see what Jacob's decision-making process was. How did Jacob string together the logic of the facts? First of all, Jacob was wrong in his analysis of the facts pertaining to Joseph. His sons, 21 years earlier, had deceived him, coming back with the multi-colored robe stained with some animal blood, indicating to him that his favorite son, Joseph, had been torn apart by wild beasts and this ragged, bloody cloth is all that remained. And so, for Jacob to conclude the wrong thing about Joseph is warranted. No one holds him accountable for that. This is what we would call invincible ignorance. It was invincible. There's no way for him to overcome the deception of 21 years by his sons. So Jacob cannot be faulted for his analysis of Joseph. Jacob cannot be faulted in his thinking about Cygnian either. The brothers came back and said, as a matter of fact, Cygnian is in prison. There is no doubt about that. They had watched Joseph bind him and take him away immediately prior to their release and their homeward trip. You can only imagine what a father must think when he has the true and accurate report that his son has been bound and retained in prison in a foreign land and you can just imagine the thoughts that would go through his head. He would think that this is the absolute worst condition that could ever prevail for Cygnian. Again, this is invincible ignorance. Jacob had no way of knowing that when Cygnian was taken away bound by Joseph, that he was being put into protective custody. That Cygnian probably was from that point on going to receive extraordinary care. That Joseph would guarantee no harm before him and I'm sure his prison rations were different than those of the other prisoners in cells down the block. Jacob had no way of knowing that it was Joseph who was carrying probably in a tender way for his brother, though he was in prison. Thirdly, Jacob can be faulted, however, regarding Benjamin. When the plan is unfolded, that Benjamin must be taken back to Egypt in order to secure the release of Cygnian. The immediate conclusion that is drawn by Jacob is if he goes on this trip, he will surely die. That is a totally unwarranted conclusion. It was about a week's journey from where they were staying to where Cygnian was in prison. There is nothing to suggest that Benjamin's life was an imminent peril the moment he began that journey accompanied by all of his brothers. They had encountered no difficulty on their way down and back and it would have been a negative projection into the future that Benjamin would necessarily die and rot, that he would never come back again and that Jacob would lose him even as he believed Joseph was lost. This was nothing more than muddled-headed thinking on the part of Jacob. It was purely a naturalistic impression. It was generated from self-pity, it was generated from a despair, it was generated by a conclusion that did not factor in faith. Fourthly, Jacob can also be faulted for his comments regarding his own life, the likelihood of his own death should Benjamin not survive. Once again, the facts clearly do not warrant that if Benjamin were to die, Jacob would immediately perish. Now, we can understand that because of Jacob's favoritism of the two boys, Benjamin and Joseph, that he would have an unusual grief when the second of them perish. We can understand that his favoritism would provoke a jealousy in the other ten. We could understand that the family dynamics would not be at all healthy, but there is no conclusion warranted that if Benjamin died, he would immediately die as well. Yet this is what he says in an exaggerated testimony of the future, so that conclusion brought about by Jacob also lacked any element of faith or faithfulness. Regarding the story about that, Joseph, for Jacob again, draws a wrong conclusion. Being their father, Jacob has always had suspicions about these sons. In fact, his early suspicions about them led to that faithful day when he sent Joseph to look after their well-being 21 or more years previous to this. Jacob wasn't sure what his sons were doing on that one day, and so he sent Joseph to investigate. He was suspicious of them 21 years ago. And even when they came back with that ragged, tattered cloak, stained with animal blood, there may well have been some suspicion in his heart that Joseph didn't meet his death at the hands of a wild beast, but perhaps at the hands of his brother. There has been suspicion on the part of Jacob about these ten sons, and so when they come back and they say, oh my gosh, our money is in these sacks. I wonder how it got there. Jacob draws the conclusion that somehow these boys had finegled the money back, and that these boys had left Egypt not having paid for their drain. And when the Lord of that country discovered that he had been swindled by these ten, how warm a welcome will they receive when they return with Benjamin in order to get Simeon? He has already accused them of being a spy. He has already accused them of lying. And now if they go back and they say, we have no idea how this money got in our sacks. Jacob is sure that they will all be put in prison and perhaps meet their death. Again, Jacob can't, but he draws this conclusion based on the character of the sons that he has known throughout. Finally, Jacob makes one more negative, wrong, and very bleak assessment. God had promised to send the Redeemer through the chosen lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God had not yet revealed to Jacob which one of the twelve sons would be that lineage through whom the Redeemer would come. For Abraham, it was a very easy thing to know that it was Isaac through whom the Messiah would come. For Isaac, it was an easy decision between Jacob and Esau to know through whom God was working. But now that Jacob has twelve sons, he has no foreknowledge as to which one of them will be the Messianic line. The mistake that he has made all along is this. Because of his favoritism of one son, Joseph, he wrongly has concluded all through his life that Joseph was the lineage of the Messiah and hence his unnatural and exaggerated grief at the death, the apparent death of his son, because he had probably put his hopes that it would be Joseph who would bear the Messianic lineage. And so all of these years, that has been something that has just ached in his heart, failing Joseph, his next favorite son was Benjamin. And I'm sure that in his mind he's thinking, if Joseph is no more, then it must be Benjamin who will continue the Messianic line. And then he begins to make this series of unwarranted and assumptions. But if I let him go, he will perish and root and there will go all hopes of the Messianic line. Because these ten sons over here, I haven't trusted them from day one, I've been suspicious of them throughout. These ten sons certainly know one of them could continue the Messianic line. He made the fundamental mistake of showing favoritism to two and then concluding that God must concur with his favoritism, that it must either be Joseph or Benjamin, it could not be one of the ten. Well God didn't disclose which son would bear the Messianic line until seven chapters later in Genesis 49 when Jacob blesses and prophesies over each of the twelve. Surprisingly folks, it is not Joseph, surprisingly it is not Benjamin, surprisingly it is Judah who will bear the Messiah, even Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Judah, Judah who had so shamed the family, Judah who had engaged in this adulterous relationship with Tamar, Judah who had squandered so much, Judah who had shamed the family, Judah is the one that God himself chooses to continue the Messianic line. But here seven chapters before Jacob knows that or any of the twelve sons know that, Jacob clearly thought that the Messiah was supposed to have come through Joseph failing that Benjamin, he was clearly a wrong assumption for Jacob to think this. God was not bound to Jacob's favoritism and that is something that is going to become increasing. Calvin writes this about Jacob at that time, Jacob seems to be bringing up devils at home from whom a blessing was no more to be expected than life from death. Apart from Benjamin, how could the salvation of the world proceed from such a vicious offspring as from any of the remaining ten sons? That summarizes Jacob's thinking. But there was yet another drastically wrong assumption made by Jacob. In one grand sweep, Jacob had eliminated all the options on the table left for God. That is, he had swept all the remaining ten sons away, assuming Benjamin is already as good as that. And then in verse 36, Jacob concludes with this. He says, Jacob, their fathers said to them, you have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more and now you would take Benjamin, all this has come against me. In verse 36, Jacob now draws a line. It is as though he has been doing a math problem. He has been adding two plus two plus two plus two. All the logic of the facts descending down to the place where he now draws a line as though we are a math problem and he was going to add up the sum total and see what the bottom line analysis is. And his bottom line analysis is all is against me, everything is against me. With the same easy dispatch that he dismissed all of his ten sons as being unficked to continue the Messianic line, he now pits everything in his life, everything in his world, everything in the future against him could only surmise as to whether he would have included God as having been against him as well. As we think that only Jacob made such outlandish claims, consider Elijah the prophet after stunning defeat of all the prophets of Bale on Mount Carmel, where he as one man stood against an entire nation, where he stood against King and Queen, Ahab and Jezebel, when he stood against 450 prophets of Bale. And they are entered into a contest only to discover that the God who is Yahweh in fact does answer by fire. The contest is one, the prophets of Bale are slain, the heart of the nation is turned back to God and at that moment the rain comes and Elijah flees. And what does he do when he flees? In the moment of profound spiritual victory, Elijah goes off into the wilderness and there he complains, I only I am light. And he then proceeds to ask God to take his life. In the moment of victory, he cries out, I only I am left. The conclusion is, I can't go on, the odds are too great, Lord just take me out of here. Once this was an exaggerated wrong headed faithless assumption. For you see right there in the same text, God had already told him, Elijah, I have a hundred prophets hidden away in caves, they are being provided for daily. You are not the only one left. Elijah, into a 7,000 more who will not bow the knee to Bale. Elijah, you are so fearful of this king Ahab, peace be unto you. Ahab is as good as dead, I want you to anoint Jahu as the next king, there will be a transition. And you are not the only prophet left, Elijah, rather you have just commissioned Elisha to continue your ministry after you. There are a hundred in caves, 7,000 more promised Ahab and Jezebel are as good as dead, Jahu is the new king, Elisha is prepared to pick up where you leave off, how can you conclude? I only I am left. Elijah is exaggerated claim, and his lack of faith was as wrong as Jacob's. But it was the exaggerated claim. It was the need for reality therapy of his own situation. It was the need for someone to sit down with him and say, Elijah, did God not all ready just tell you something completely contrary to this that would be an indicator of his redemptive purposes and provoke within you a response of faith. Shame on Elijah, shame on Jacob, shame on you and shame on me. As we are not able to look at this as objective observers and say, I have never done that. I have never drawn unwarranted conclusions. I have never made exaggerated claims negatively about my reality. I have never forgotten to factor God into my decision making purposes. Those no doubt some things are against us, some things. The world is against the devil is against us. But surely not all things are against us. Only a faithful faithless analysis could conclude that. How prone we are to rewrite the little song Jesus loves me this I know into these words. No one loves me this I know. My misfortunes tell me so. Little things do need to press without faith there is only stress. How many times have you been lost in thought while driving your car someplace where you are reviewing the events of the day and in your calculus you are adding up to some total drawing a line and saying, everything is against me. I have mulled this over all day. I do not see a way out of this situation everything is against me. How many times in meetings have we concluded? It is just a choice between bad and worse. How many times have we entered a faithless assumption like that? How many times have you teenagers given up on a relationship, given up on a teacher or a school subject like math or English or science and concluded, I quit. Forget her, forget him, there is no redemption here, I am over this, everything is against me. My teachers, my parents, my friends, my school subjects, I quit. How many times has teenagers have we entered a faithless plea such as that? How many times in counseling have we said, you want to know the bottom line? Here is the bottom line. The bottom line is, this isn't working. The bottom line is, it is not going to get better. The bottom line is, I am done. Can't tell you how many times. Words such as those have been uttered. Sure, things might be in a desperate condition, but man's extremity is always God's opportunity. The bottom line is never rightly concluded only by what our eyes see. Too frequently God is not added to the equation and at times God is positively discounted even in the midst of counseling. Now folks, what is the great good news of the gospel say to Jacob, to Elijah, to you and to me? Jacob says, all things are against me. The gospel says, he who spared not his only begotten son, will he not give us all the things? Jacob says, all things, everything is against me. Paul says, all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. God is for us in all things. Jacob says, all things, everything is against me. Jesus said, yes, in this world you will have tribulation, but you need a good cheer for I have overcome the world. Friends, the gospel must be believed. Not just on paper, not just in our teaching, not just heard in preaching, but rather the gospel must be believed in real life when the chips are down, when the enemy is real, the pain the defeat is crushing and the doctor's assessment is that it's terminal. When the business is lost and when the family has been fractured by divorce, that's where the infusion of faith must be added. That's where the gospel must be believed. That's where faith must evidence itself in our lives. That's where trust in the saving mercy of God either makes a difference or it doesn't. In those crushing circumstances where some hard things are against us, faith must be exercised. It is at those times when we must cry out to Jesus to grant us more faith. When we cry out to Christ, nurture our faith. When we cry out to the Holy Spirit to embolden our faith. When we cry out to the three members of the Trinity to remove fear, doubt and unbelief. That is when by faith we apprehend Jesus. In that faith he comes by the power of the Holy Spirit to see us through to whatever conclusion he has appointed for that circumstance. That appointed end just might be a very severe mercy. At times this will be so hard, it will take us through the dark night of the soul. There are times when the appointed ends for us where faith must be present, it will take us through the valley of the shadow of death. It may well push you to the outer limits of what you believe your response by faith that could ever possibly be. God will never push you beyond that limit. God will never abandon you to fear and to unbelief and despair. It may well be that we will not even survive the ordeal. Some don't. That faith is still warranted until the dying breath. Now under no circumstances should we conclude that the life of faith results in a polyanna faith. We simply don't believe that. Faith guarantees no rose garden, no safe passage, no uninterrupted experience of blessing and prosperity and health. To be sure laughter and joy attend our way and there are the lights that none but believers may experience even in and through these most difficult times. The joy in knowing that Christ is real and that the joy of the Christian life does help to balance the very difficult severe mercies is a truism. We must know that. I must say that this morning that the reality therapy of our text is echoed in Christ's own words that in this world we will have tribulation. Count on it. As his words are written ironically as a promise, it is as though Jesus said, I promise you you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, the counterbalancing effect, I have overcome the world. In fact, you may not be the least bit happy with the eventual outcome of these trials and tribulations, these severe mercies. Even if you have valiantly struggled by faith and not just by sight, your struggles might be compounded for a long time into the future. But know this. God is at work in everything because the all things are in his hand. The all things are not against you, but they are in his hand and he is actively working them together for good. God is building his church. God is advancing his kingdom. God is making his name known. He is putting his glory on display. He is fulfilling his promises. He is transforming lives. He is reconciled and to one another, all of this he did in Jacob's family. We don't have time this morning to look at the measure of reconciliation that has taken place because of all of this, even though they engaged in it, largely without faith, God who is constantly transforming by his grace is transforming these brothers, is transforming the dynamics of this family. And God who is pleased to do that for them is pleased to do that for us. Friends, there is no doubt that things in our lives can get really rough. The pleas don't exaggerate your situation like Jacob and Elijah. Please don't disregard God and name him as one who is possibly even against you. And so doing you distort reality. You leave no room for the saving purposes of God and when faith in God, when faith in what God is doing now and in the future is obscured, then all possibility of hope is abandoned. Now in one qualified sense, there is only one person who ever could have said everything is against me. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. When those hours when he was hanging on the cross, bearing the full weight of the wrath of God as it was poured out upon him for the sin of all of God's elect, when God had turned his face in full fury upon his son, Jesus Christ could have said at that moment, I am the person, not Jacob, not Elijah, not you, not Bob, I am the person, the only one who can ever rightly, in any sense, say everything is against me. And yet even in that moment the Lord Jesus Christ died in faith. Was that a severe mercy? Excusiating death to die, yes it was, but Jesus Christ endured by faith. And that was not discarded in his situation. And so this morning my friends I would call upon you to believe that God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity has loved you with an everlasting love. The Lord of hosts is arrayed in heaven. There are unnumbered myriads of spiritual hosts arrayed there on our behalf. God has marshaled all the spiritual resources of heaven invisible to us, but he has put them there as Elijah later found out. The church is endowed with all of the means of grace necessary to help us walk through the valley of the shadow of death and the dark night of the soul. And so when you come into those situations where you believe that all of these things are against you, my friends, do not exaggerate reality, all things are never against you. Some are and some will be severely attesting you by faith, but I would encourage you this morning, that when you are in those and some of you are in the midst of them right now, that you would understand what reality therapy is, do not exaggerate your situation, bring it before the Lord Jesus Christ, look for the logic of the facts and by all means factor in faith. God is at work in you to prosper his redemptive purposes and though you cannot see it today yet it will surely come and all these things eventually will work out for God's four-hour good. It did in the life of Jacob and it will in ours as well. Let's pray together. Oh God our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning and we ask that you would stir up faith in us. We come weak, we come as people who are more prone to doubt, but we do come and we ask that as we now come before this, your sacrament, that in a special way you would stir up faith in us that we might believe those things we have already confessed this day and that we would see Jesus in the breaking of the bread, will Father continue to pour out your affection upon us, safeguard us from making the mistakes of those who have walked prior to us, cause us to walk in righteousness, lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit, this we pray in Christ's name, Amen.