This morning I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 45. Genesis 45 as we continue our consideration of God with Joseph. This morning as we consider that portion of Scripture which many of us love dearly, Joseph's revelation of himself. The text being verses 1 through 15 of Genesis 45. We'll back up to verse 33 of chapter 44. Again, you recall the story of the silver cup, the cup that was planted in Benjamin's sack, the cup that was then found, and then also the heartfelt confession of the brothers through Judah. We pick it up at verse 33 of chapter 44. Hear now the Word of God. Now then, and this is Judah speaking, Please let your servant remain here as my Lord's slave in place of the boy. And let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No, do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father. Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants. And he cried out, have everyone leave my presence. So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still living? But his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come close to me. When they had done so, he said, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, this is what your son Joseph says. God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me. You, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds and all you have. I will provide for you there because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise, you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute. You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen, and bring my father down here quickly. Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept. And Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward, his brothers talked with him. Beloved in Christ the Lord, it was just a silver cup. Just a cup. Of course, we know that it had special significance. It was important when it came to the Egyptian system of religion. We know that it was an important personal item. But still, it was just a cup. A silver cup. But this ruler of Egypt was acting like the whole world revolved around or depended on this cup. His whole personality changed. He had been so tough, so austere, but he was losing control. He sent out the servants. He was weeping. He was weeping so loudly. News of it reached Pharaoh. And we can almost imagine the brothers standing there with their eyes wide open and their jaws completely dropped. little did they know that this cup proved to Joseph that they were changed men that they were no longer selfish but selfless whereas before they had no concern for the broken heart of their father now they were ready to pay any price at all to prevent the grief that the aged father would experience if Benjamin was to be lost it was now time as we consider God with Joseph, revealing Joseph's identity. If you're like me, you read this passage, and every time you read this passage, you always somewhat find yourself in that room. You were there on that day when Joseph said, it was brothers, it's me. What was it like? It had been 22 years at least or so since the brothers had seen Joseph. They hadn't heard from him in all that time. Why would they, of course? They didn't even know if he was alive. Possibly they assumed that he was not alive. Maybe they had bought into their own lie that they had fed to Jacob. Yet we can also hear the excitement in Joseph's voice as he says, Brothers, it's me! It's me. This passage grips us. As we think about this reunion, we can almost imagine a long-lost loved one found, reunited with his family. But we can also see the terror on the brothers' faces as if to say, how can this be? They did not know at first whether to be happy or sad, whether to be thrilled or worried. But for you and me, beloved, at the outset here this morning as we consider this text, we must understand that Joseph's revelation to his brothers of himself is a picture of the great personal climax of human life. When Jesus Christ reveals Himself in a saving way to a person. Oh, majesty. Joseph's revelation of himself brings a reminder of the brother's sin. It gives proof of God's plan. And it offers comfort of the family's salvation. First of all, it brings a reminder of the brother's sin. It brings a reminder, first of all, by the very sound of his name. I am Joseph. Notice before when they referred to him in the previous chapters, it was our brother or your son to Jacob. But now I am Joseph. That very name which before had sparked rage and anger and envy in their hearts. I am Joseph. And the text says that they were terrified at his presence. Now remember, no doubt they were already scared. He had treated them in a bit of a rough manner, right? He had made demands of them. He had also threatened them with certain punishments, as it were, if they did not acquiesce to his demands, for example, to bring Benjamin. And now, in a sense, they were on trial for stealing the silver cup. And Benjamin was in danger of becoming the servant of Pharaoh. They were standing before an angry foreign ruler. They were already scared with all of this. And now, I am Joseph. How could this be? in a moment they remember through that name they remember their hatred for him they remember their sin against him but we know that they had acknowledged their sin against him and their guilt in chapter 42 verse 21 they said to one another surely we are being punished because of our brother we saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life but we would not listen that's why this this distress has come upon us and we read a little bit further that that Joseph had to turn at that time. He couldn't control himself, contain himself, because he understood their every word. And then in chapter 44, when they come back to Egypt with the silver cup, Judas says, What can we say to my Lord? Verse 16. What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servant's guilt. They had already acknowledged their sin against Him and their guilt. And now the very one against whom they sin stands before them. It's like seeing a ghost. But this ghost was no ghost. He was real. They realize in an instant, well, we know what we did. But He also knows what we did. What will He do to us now? They think back to all their conversations with Him and the incidents with Him up until this point, and it all starts to click. Will this now be the final blow? will this be the crown of all their troubles they are reminded of their sin by the sound of his very name but also they are reminded of their sin by his convicting words I am your brother your brother a reminder of the one they hated the one in the family they desired to get rid of but you know maybe this is a hoax you see maybe somehow he understood the words they spoke in chapter 42 and now he understood their guilt and now he's going to use that against them and pretend he's their brother. But then he goes on, the one you sold into Egypt. That was the icing on the cake. That was the final nail in their coffin, as we might say, because no one else, not even Benjamin, knew that detail. It was proof that this man had to be who he said he was. And then he says a little more. He says, is my father still living? My father. Their father. The one who had suffered all those years with a broken heart for Joseph and who would also suffer even more with a broken heart for Benjamin. A vivid reminder to them of their sin. And then one more. Come close to me. Come close with tenderness and love. This one they hated. This One they wanted to go as far away from them as possible wants them near Him. We too are convicted at times, aren't we, when we have rejected one, when we have hurt someone in some way, and they respond to our rejection and our hurt with forgiveness and love toward us. We almost can't stand that because our guilt burns in the pit of our stomach. But Joseph's revelation of himself also brings a reminder of the brother's sin by the familiar sight of his face. Joseph says in verse 12, You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. In other words, study me. Come close. Look at my face. Look at the details. I'm a little older, but it's me. You can see. You will recognize me. Boys and girls, maybe sometimes you have a bad dream and in that bad dream, there's a horrible sight. Something is replayed in your dream of a horrible sight that you have seen. Maybe a picture you've seen. Maybe something you saw in a movie or on TV. A horrible sight is reproduced in your dream. I'm not saying Joseph's face was a horrible sight. That's not what I'm saying. But you see, the last time the brothers saw Joseph, he was young. He was afraid. He was being carried away. he was looking back at them, maybe even holding out his arms for them, pleading for his life. And even before that, as he sat in the pit crying out for mercy, they ignored him as they ate their lunch. That was the last picture of his face that they had in mind, but now that same face weeping with love and joy at seeing them, those who had wanted him dead. But even as they look at that face, they cannot forget the face of 20-some years before. Thus, a reminder of their wickedness against Him. The brothers, beloved, were brought to see and understand that this ruler knew them. He knew them very well. He knew all about their sin all along. Sin which they had committed against Him, though they did not know it was Him. And again, no doubt their minds are rewinding like crazy to go back and think about all that had been said and done. And indeed, it all is starting to make sense. God, the one against whom the world and we too have sinned grievously, sent His Son into a world that did not know Him, that did not recognize Him, that did not want Him. In John chapter 1, John says, He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. And He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. His own rejected Him. But all along, God knew the world. The world that the Bible says He loved. The world that He had made. And God knew us. In Psalm 139, it says He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. All of our days were ordained by Him before one of them came to pass. And that means too, beloved, that He knew our need for His saving grace so long ago. Even as He makes clear in the Garden of Eden when He promises the seed of the woman. He sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, not in spite of our sin, but because of our sin. And Jesus Christ reminds us of our sin. His very name, Jesus, reminds us of our sin, as the angel said to Joseph, for He will save His people from their sins. His words remind us of our sins. Come to Me, you who are weary and burdened. Why? Because of sin, your sin, and the effects of sin, and I will give you rest. His words, I have come that they may have life, those who were dead in sin. He said the truth will set you free, those who are bound by the lie. He said repent of your sins. Believe, and you will be saved. Jesus reminds us of our sins as we see by faith. His purity, His holiness, His death, His cross. All of it reminds us of our sin against and our rejection of God. Yet it was not Joseph's intention, the brothers didn't know it yet, but it was not Joseph's intention to rub their face in their sin as if to say, you know, I've been setting you up all along. I've been bringing you forward to this very moment and now I'm going to get you. It's payback time. It was not Joseph's intention to rub their face in it, but weeping and with tender words he gave proof of his love for them even when they did not love him. He would not count their sin against them. But he was satisfied that indeed they were changed men. And as was his habit of heart, as we've said over and over again, he points to God. This time his brothers. He points his brothers to God. His focus was on God. Not on their sin, but on God. As this revelation of Joseph's identity also in the second place gives proof of God's plan. You sold me, but God sent me. That's a classic statement of God's providential control. Three times he says God sent, God sent, God sent. And God made, God made, God made. He gives proof of God's plan and that plan included evil and suffering against Joseph. You see, nowhere in all of these episodes in the story of Joseph do we see that Joseph is watering down the facts. He is not in any way treating their evil lightly as something of no effect. He says it to their face. You sold me. He did suffer. He suffered their hatred and their wicked treatment, which resulted, of course, in the temptations that he suffered from Potiphar's wife. And when trying to stand up for what is right and for the Lord and for Potiphar himself, he suffered Potiphar's unjust treatment. As he's cast into prison, he suffers there. He suffers also the cupbearer's neglect and forgetfulness. And above all, he suffered the loss of his father, the loss of his family. All of it happened. Every bit of it happened. And none of it was pleasant. But God was always with him. Slowly helping Joseph to see God's plan, how his dreams fit into that plan, and now it became even more clear to him as with regard to his family. As God's plan also included directing that evil and that suffering for good. For the good of Joseph. Verse 8, So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt, a father, an advisor, a confidant to Pharaoh. Lord, master of the household of Pharaoh. What power, what prestige! But even more, ruler with power and authority and control over the entire land. And again, we can't help but to miss the fulfillment of his dreams. He was the representative of God to carry out God's plan on earth at that time. His focus was not on what the brothers had done, but on what God has done and is doing. But God's plan, believe it or not, also included good for the brothers. That their evil and Joseph's suffering would be for their good. Verse 7, But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. God was at work to keep His promise alive, His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of a great nation and ultimately His promise of the seed, the Messiah. But even closer to home at that point, it included their good as Joseph was sent ahead of them to save their physical lives. There were still five years of famine left, and apart from Joseph and his care by the hand of God, there would be certain death and destruction for the family. All in all, Joseph teaches them that the brothers' salvation was planned long before they knew that they even needed it. For there is also good for the nations. Verse 5, And now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. To save lives, physically speaking, to provide for the surrounding countries. In chapter 41, it's very clear that the famine was throughout all the earth and all the countries surrounding Egypt were suffering too and they all came to Joseph, verse 57 says, to buy food. Beloved, God's plan was not overcome by evil, by the brother's evil. Instead, He turns it for the good of His people. And that's the comfort that you and I live with each and every day. Tomorrow marks the five-year anniversary of you-know-what, 9-11. The Twin Towers come crashing down, terrorism. And so many are still struggling with that. And indeed, we struggle with that to a certain extent, but they struggle with that as if there's no hope, as if that's the kind of thing that governs our lives. But you see, our confession of our comfort in Lord's Day 1 question and answer 1 includes this statement, all things must work together for our salvation. Even things that are difficult. Even things that hurt us physically and emotionally and in every which way. Even things that aren't to our advantage. All things must work together for our salvation. We pray daily, don't we? We pray, Thy will be done. but we must confess that at times we quickly add, under our breath, at least in our mind, well, as long as your will, O God, matches my will, then yes, thy will be done. But praise God that His will is done, His way, always for His glory and for the good of His people and His kingdom. Even as Joseph's revelation of himself gives proof of God's plan, It also points to God's plan in Christ Jesus. God gave His Son. John 3.16, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. He gave His Son so that His people would not perish but that in effect His Son would perish. He gave His Son in order to suffer. He gave His Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus says as much in His betrayal in the Garden of Eden when Peter cut off the ear of Malchus. Jesus says, Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given to me? The cup that He has planned for me? The cup of suffering which included being betrayed, beaten, crucified, forsaken, even by His Father, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? As He suffered the torment of hell and He died. God gave Him for you and me to suffer for a planned salvation. Paul says in Ephesians 1 that God chose us from the foundation of the world. He chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless. To be adopted as His sons. To be redeemed. to be saved. And all this, as Paul says in Romans 5, while we were still sinners, while we didn't even know we needed Him, while we didn't even want Him, God planned it all. For whom? For the elect from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, even as the nations came to Joseph to buy grain. Jesus in John 6.51 says, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Joseph makes it clear that God's will, God's plan, was the controlling reality in the events of his life. Not the sinful will of human beings. Not the sinful deeds of his brother. So many today think that it's fate that is the controlling reality or Murphy's Law, and they react to bad things in that way. And they can't climb out of that pit of despair. Indeed, God uses those things. We know that, but it's God's plan, God's will that is the controlling reality in your life and my life. And that is to comfort us, even as it comforted Joseph. And that's the reason why he could, in the third place, offer comfort of the family's salvation. He spoke of that salvation as he spoke of God's plan, but also he gave proof of it in this text by his words and through his actions. No doubt when they first came to realize that it was Joseph standing before them, the one that they had sinned against, the one who could rightly accuse them and now had the power to do something about it. No doubt their first instinct, as would have been yours and mine, would be to turn and run as fast as they could. But Joseph says, come. He says, come. He gives comfort of undeserved forgiveness and undeserved favor and grace. He does so with his words, comforting words of forgiveness. Humanly speaking, the brothers did not deserve the forgiveness to be forgiven for what they did. The only thing they had to show to Joseph after all of His kindness to them was their sin. That sounds familiar, doesn't it? The only thing we have to show to our God and our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ after all that our God has done for us through our Savior is our sin. Our need to be saved. That's all we have to offer. Joseph says these words may not sound like comforting words of forgiveness, but I believe it is. Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here. These were words of comfort that Joseph would not hold their evil against them. He was convinced of their penitent hearts. And if that was the case, he knew they were forgiven by God. How could he not forgive them? Only one who is truly, truly, truly sorry for their sins, truly penitent, will then become angry at themselves for their sins. How could I do that? How could I sin against God in that way? How could I hurt that brother or sister? But Joseph says, do not be angry with yourselves. He's not dismissing their sins again, as I said a moment ago, as he has proved throughout this whole ordeal. He makes it very clear that they must be aware of their sin. They must acknowledge their sin. We must be conscious of our sin and our offense against God. And we must be conscious of our hurt against others. We are called to confess it. Repent of it. But you see, beloved, when we have been given by our God the great comfort of His forgiving grace, we are no longer to be angry with ourselves. Do you know why? Because God is no longer angry with us. How can we be angry with ourselves for something that God is no longer angry at us for? It doesn't mean that we forget our sin. David says, My sin is ever before me, and we know that we are to remember our forgiven sins so that we might not sin against God in that way again. But we are no longer to be angry with ourselves. But there is a danger here. You see, knowing that God uses evil and even our own sin and uses it for the good of His people, that must not make us think more lightly of our sin. Well, okay, I sinned, but it's not a big deal because I know God is going to use it anyway. It's not to make us think more highly of ourselves. Well, yes, I sinned, but you know, God is using me. It's all for a good purpose. We are not to sin boldly that grace might abound or so that God might possibly do some great thing because of our sin. Not at all. No doubt the brothers had great relief from years of guilt. But they were also brought to a sense of fear and sadness of the hurt that they had caused. hurt that could have been avoided by righteousness and obedience. And that's the same that's true for you and me. By our sin against others, we cause such great hurt. Hurt that could be avoided by righteousness and obedience. They were brought to a sense of fear and sadness of what might have happened. You see, they maliciously sold Joseph to Egypt hoping to put an end to his dreams, but if they had been successful, it wasn't God's plan that they would be, but they come to realize that if they had been successful, not only would they have destroyed Him, but they would have destroyed themselves, their family line. Praise God for the things in our lives. I have them, maybe you do too, where we know that we deserved this, but God spared us and turned it for our good. But God used their evil to use it to provide their very salvation at this time from famine. Our sin, beloved, is destructive. It's eternally destructive. But God has used our sin against Himself and sent a Savior and turned it for our good. Another detail, though, that we cannot miss, Joseph was able to forgive because he too knew that he was a recipient of God's grace. He was a recipient of God's grace himself. He understood that God was at work here. He understood that their sin was ultimately against God and that the brothers needed God's forgiveness more than His forgiveness. He was not in the place of God. He also speaks words of comfort, words of favor and grace comforting them. Beyond forgiveness, but of their very physical life. There were still five years of famine to come and he says, God has sent you. He sent me ahead of you. And now He has sent you that through Me He might save you with a great deliverance. Joseph sees clearly God's plan to preserve them and give them that great deliverance. And Joseph therefore pours out generosity upon them. Bring my Father. He had an earnest desire. Did you notice that in this text? He had an earnest desire to see and be reunited with his Father. Is my Father still living? Tell Him about all that the Lord has blessed me with. Bring Him to me. Bring my Father. But also generosity on them and their families. Bring your families. A little bit further, a few verses later, in verse 20, He says, Never worry about your belongings. There's nothing that you have that can't be replaced here. Just come. Come quickly to me. He would provide for their every need. Goshen was a land much like the land of Cain and fertile for grazing their flocks and their herds and they would then also be close that Joseph could have contact with them and years later for Moses that he might be able to easily negotiate with the Pharaoh that he would face at that time. Beloved, God says to us, leave your sinful baggage behind. You have nothing I need. I have everything for you. Joseph saw that God's favor had been planned so long ago, long before even the years of plenty, God began to provide for the needs of Jacob's family, needs that would arise in the years of famine through Joseph as He removed Joseph from the family. John Calvin says God willed that Joseph be as one dead for a time in order that He might suddenly bring him forth from the grave as the preserver of life. It was all a part of God's plan as well for victory over the seed of the serpent when our Lord Jesus Christ rose again as the preserver of life. Joseph's comfort of the family of salvation is also demonstrated through his actions. Verses 14 and 15. Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping, and he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward, his brothers talked with him. We too, we give comfort to one another husbands to wives, wives to husbands, parents to children, friend to friend, with hugs and kisses and embraces as a demonstration of warmth and forgiveness and fellowship and compassion. We demonstrate comfort with conversation, showing interest in the lives of each other. God comforts us, beloved, with the comfort of His grace of forgiveness and salvation through His Word. He tells us. And also by bringing us to see with the eyes of faith what He has done for us in Christ Jesus, He shows us. And when we first realize our sin and misery against a holy and a righteous God, like the brothers, we can't help but to be terrified. Like Isaiah, we can't help but to cry out, Woe to me, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty, the Holy and the Righteous One. We cannot help but to cry out, how can He ever forgive one like me? But God points you and me to the cross. And He says, look. Look what I did for you. Oh, it's foolishness to the world. They don't get it. But it's my power unto salvation for all who believe because of the cross Jesus has come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest he says trust me he says to Thomas put your fingers in my nail holes put your hand in my side where the spear was thrust through and see that it's me trust me that it's finished trust me that your salvation is complete trust me that if you have seen me you have seen my father and no one comes to the Father except through me, trust me that I bring you to the Father. Listen to my voice and I promise you no one will ever snatch you out of my hand. Christ's comfort to you and me, beloved, is that for those who believe, if we believe on Him, we will be saved. We are saved. Those who confess their sins, we are cleansed and purified even if we don't always feel like it. And even if we don't always demonstrate it. In Christ, we have peace with God. peace that passes understanding that the world simply cannot understand. He gives us a contentment, a strange contentment with our lot in life, happy or sad, good or bad, easy or difficult. He gives us comfort in the face of death and difficulty. And of course, beloved, we know that all of this leads to a transformed life for you and me. We don't live in fear. When the bad things around us happen, we don't curl up in a ball in a corner under our bed somewhere and just wait for it all to pass over. Indeed, we are to fight for righteousness and justice and to live in obedience, to fight in the army of our God. But we do not fear because God is our refuge and strength. But it leads to a transformed life in this way too. Those who live in the joy of God's forgiving care. Those who understand the blessedness of God's forgiveness as we considered last week are called to and are able to forgive those as we might think are unforgivable and to love those whom we think are unlovable. You know, that's a mirror of Christ with us. And when we understand that, that in essence we, as far as we can see, we're unforgivable and unlovable. When we understand that, and when we understand that God controls all things, that He uses evil, even our sin, and the sin committed against us, that He uses it in some way for our salvation and turns it for His glory, then we can't help but instead of getting revenge to desire God's forgiving grace for those who sin against us. People of God, there would be no lasting offense on Joseph's part against his brothers. He would not hold their sin against them. And so with Jesus Christ, when He comes again, He will not look at you and me and say, You hurt me. You sinned against me. And you owe me for what I did for you. Instead, for those who have trusted in Him, there will be nothing but a joyful, joyful reunion. If you have not yet confessed and repented of your sins, but instead are still fighting against God, Stop. Stop. Humble yourself before Him. Hear His voice say to you, It's me. I died so that you might have life and have it abundantly. There's no greater joy than to come face to face with the loving face of the Savior and hear Him say, I have redeemed you. You are forgiven. You are mine. The brothers were terrified in Joseph's presence, But Joseph became their greatest joy. He became their salvation. Jesus Christ has removed and destroyed the terror of sin for His people. He has become our salvation. And He promises that those who rejoice in Him will be reunited with His Father. Beloved, may we rejoice in the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation. Let's pray together. Father, what more can we say than bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Your benefits to us, Father, are amazing. When we consider, Lord, that You knew us and knew all about us and knew everything that we had done against You, Long ago, yet still, because You have loved us with an undying love, You have chosen to save us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, again we take great comfort that You are our sovereign God, that there is none like You, that nothing on this earth, nothing even in the heavens beside You can overthrow You, that You are King forever and ever. And Father, may we live in the joy of that comfort too and ever live to sing, Our God, how great Thou art. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.