We continue tonight with our consideration of the Joseph stories, turning to Genesis chapter 44, Genesis 44, as we read together this chapter, this chapter also being our text for this evening. Genesis 44, hear now the Word of God. Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house. Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's silver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack. along with the silver for his grain. And he did as Joseph said. As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to the steward, Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done. When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. But they said to him, why does my Lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that. We even brought back to you from the land of Cain and the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my Lord's slaves. Very well then, he said, let it be as you say, Whoever is found to have it will become my slave. The rest of you will be free from blame. Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. At this they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city. Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination? What can we say to my Lord? Judah replied, What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servant's guilt. We are now, my Lord, slaves. We ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup. But Joseph said, Far be it from me to do such a thing. Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you go back to your father in peace. Then Judah went up to him and said, Please, my Lord, let your servant speak a word to my Lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. My Lord asked his servants, Do you have a father or a brother? And we answered, We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him. Then you said to your servants, bring him down to me so I can see him for myself. And we said to my Lord, the boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father will die. But you told your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again. When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him what my Lord had said. Then our father said, go back and buy a little more food. But we said, we cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us. Your servant, my father, said to us, you know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me and I said, he has surely been torn to pieces and I have not seen him since. If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery. So now if the boy is not with us, when I go back to your servant, my father, if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, if I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my Father, all my life. Now then, 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. If you're like me, you don't want to stop reading. But therein, tonight, ends the reading of God's most holy Word. May He add His blessing to it. Beloved in Christ the Lord, things could not have been better. At least that's the way it seemed. They had been wined and dined by, and they hobnobbed with the prince of Egypt. And now they were heading home with Simeon, with as much food as they could carry, and, don't forget, and with Benjamin. This trip, which had began with anxiety and some reservation and much fear and trepidation, ended with success. They were on top of the world then. That world came crashing down because of the silver cup. Maybe sometime in your life you think your world has come crashing down because of some situation, some life-taking disease, some accident of whatever sort, or maybe a financial crisis that caused you a sudden change in fortune. Whatever the case may be, your world came crashing down. You see, for the brothers, this was more than simply a no good, very bad day. This seemed like the end of life as they knew it. Everything turned upside down. Benjamin was going to be lost. And Jacob's worst fears were going to come true. Yet, of course, we know, don't we, that this would lead to the greatest joy, a joy that they never, ever could have imagined. But you see, it had to happen this way. It had to happen this way. Tonight, as we consider Genesis chapter 44, we see, once again, God with Joseph, this time uncovering the brother's guilt. First of all, by Joseph's plan. See, one last test was still needed. Joseph heard his brothers say these words in chapter 42, beginning of verse 22, Reuben replied, didn't I tell you not to sin? I'm sorry, 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 distress has come upon us. Reuben replied, didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen. Now we must give an accounting for His blood. They did not realize that Joseph could understand them since he was using an interpreter. Joseph heard them say those words to each other. They confessed their sin to each other, but they still had not openly confessed their guilt. They still needed to prove that they were truly changed men because if the brothers were willing to commit this sin again, this time with Benjamin, And that would show that it was not true. It was not thorough repentance. And of course, we know that Joseph's plan included planting the cup. Planting the cup in Benjamin's supplies. Joseph knew that it would be hard for Benjamin or the brothers to prove their innocence, but it had to be in Benjamin's sack. It had to be found in Benjamin's possession. Joseph did not know about the conversations at home, the struggle between Jacob and his sons over whether to let Benjamin go or not, but in God's plan, what took place at home and what would take place here would work together to uncover the brothers' guilt and to provide the most unmistakable, unavoidable test of the truth of their hearts. It had to be Rachel's other son. Well, the steward we know, according to Joseph's command, He chases down the brothers and he comes with Joseph's very own words, his instructions, and he accuses them. Why have you repaid good with evil? He's speaking on behalf of Joseph and in effect says, I never took your money. I gave you more food than you deserved. I kept my word to you. I returned Simeon to you. I treated you as my special guests. I never did anything but watch out for your good. And you have taken it for granted. You have wronged me. How many of us can God say that about? I have considered nothing but your good. But you have wronged me. The steward says you have repaid good with evil. Now those words may have very well struck a chord with the brothers. Those words may have haunted the brothers, reminding them of the evil that they had done to someone good. Their world came crashing down. That silver cup was a special possession, not that Joseph himself actually practiced divination. There's no evidence that he himself did that. He was undercover, you know, at this time. But we know that in the Egyptian view of things, it was an important piece. They would use that cup for a different assortment of water rights and those kinds of things. For example, maybe pouring oil in the water, drops of oil, and whatever shapes that oil made would be studied. And then those who were able, so to speak, then would foretell the future by the shapes of that oil in the water. Divination of sorts. There's no evidence that Joseph himself, we know that he feared God, But it was an important piece in their Egyptian religion. Plus, it was personal. It was Joseph's personal silver cup. All of this, you see, stressed the seriousness of the offense. They did a wicked thing against the ruler himself. And of course, the brothers protest. We would have. Never would we do that. They protest their innocence. They try to prove their innocence, first of all, by word. Why does my Lord say such things? It's a denial, you see. And then they'll go on and in effect give an oath. Far be it from your servants to do anything like that. And when that didn't seem to have an effect, they went a little bit further and they tried to prove their innocence by their past behavior. We prove to you that we are honest men. We brought the money back. We didn't try to pay for the second grain with the money from the first grain. We brought the first money back and we brought more money. And they went a step further yet by making a rash declaration, which people often do when they find themselves in a tight spot. A rash declaration. They were so confident, so confident of their innocence that they self-impose a death penalty on the guilty party as well as servitude on all the accessories to the crime. And maybe you noticed this, but they pronounced the same punishment on themselves. as they had given to innocent Joseph many years before. In a sense, we might say they are given a taste of their own medicine. The steward acknowledges their self-imposed punishment, yet notice, I don't know if they notice, but he changes it. Yes, he says, only the guilty one will be my slave. The rest of you can go home free. Did you catch it? Did the brothers catch it? Once again, they are given the opportunity to make one of them a scapegoat. But the evidence was convicting. The search takes place. Once again, notice, just as when they were sitting around Joseph's table and they were lined up, oldest to youngest, once again, we see that format, oldest to youngest. The steward knows where the cup is. He's going to make these guys wait it out. He starts with the oldest, with Reuben. It's not there. Simeon. Not guilty. Levi. Judah. On down the line. By the time he got to brother number six or seven or eight, who knows, the pressure may have been lifting off the brothers. Their confidence was building. See, he's not finding it. Then finally, Benjamin. And the cup was right where the steward knew it would be. Well, what about the brother's reaction? You see, it didn't matter how the cup got there. The fact is, it was there. How would the brothers react? What would they do? Now that the cup was found in Benjamin's possession, would they reconsider this opportunity that they had been given to go free? Providence obviously was on their side. There was no need to identify themselves with Benjamin. They had their food. They had Simeon. They were on their way home. Once again, they were allowed to have freedom at the brothers' expense. The condition was ripe for another betrayal, only this time for a better price. Their freedom. Their liberty. How would they react? You remember years before, years before, they sat down and heartlessly ate a meal while Joseph was tormented in the pit crying for his very life as they debated whether he would live or die. They had no conscience at that time. But now the Bible says they tore their clothes. Evidence, demonstration of extreme sorrow and grief. Evidence of changed hearts. Once again, the brothers began to feel the weight of the guilt as they faced their worst nightmares. But their guilt was uncovered even further in the second place through Benjamin's punishment. They went back and as they faced Joseph, no doubt Joseph, we're not told, but no doubt Joseph was inspired to see not just Benjamin, the guilty party, return, but to see all the brothers with him to support him, but as well to speak for Him, to plead for Him. Yet He reminds them who it is they are dealing with in verse 15. What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination? He's still undercover. Don't you know how powerful I am? Don't you know what I have at my disposal? Don't you know that I can put you to death at this very moment if I want to? Their bowing before Him demonstrates that they understood exactly the seriousness of the situation. And they knew, too, that all of their honesty and all of their good deeds before now could not prove their innocence, could not pay for their past sin. They needed to prove that they had had a heart change. That was Joseph's interest. Their bowing before him for mercy showed their dependence upon him. Nothing in their hands could they bring to him. And as Judah represents the brothers and particularly Benjamin, there's no indication that the brothers even thought about letting Benjamin take the fall. In verse 16, what can we say to my Lord? What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servant's guilt. We are now my Lord's slaves. We ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup. Isn't that interesting? We ourselves. And Benjamin. He says, we the brothers, we are your slaves. We deserve it. And Benjamin. He puts the brothers before Benjamin. But his words are amazing here anyway. As you think back to chapter 37, verses 26 and 27, it was Judah who came up with a bright idea to sell Joseph. Yeah, if we kill him, he's out of our hair. But, you know, what if we sell him? We can gain a little money. He's worth more to us if we sell him. And we also saw in chapter 38 how Judah mistreated his daughter-in-law Tamar. We saw his wickedness. But now we are presented with a transformed man. He speaks of their innocence and their guilt. How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servant's guilt. Indeed, they were innocent of this crime. Yet God uncovered, God laid wide open their guilt of a far greater crime. We are your servants. But Joseph would not be unjust. He would keep only the guilty party, yet one more opportunity to rethink the situation. Hmm, you know, maybe that's not a bad idea if we go home. I mean, our father does need us, you see. We need to work for him. Maybe it's not so bad if we leave one behind. One more opportunity. But praise God, the brothers see in the present justice before Joseph, they see a higher justice at work. They see the justice of God. They were learning and experiencing firsthand that vengeance belongs only to God. In their minds, Joseph could never get back at them. He could never repay them for the wrong that they had done to him. But they saw the hand of God. And they were totally humbled before Joseph. They were at the complete mercy of this Egyptian ruler. Through Joseph, the brothers were brought to realize that you cannot hide anything from God. Yet why do we often try? We hide things from each other. We hide things from the eyes of men. We hide our sin, but we cannot hide it from God. The Bible says in Psalm 139, He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. He knows our path. We cannot hide our sin from God. And when we try, it only makes life miserable. Notice a further fulfillment of Joseph's dreams. In chapter 37, verse 8, after Joseph told his brother the dreams, they responded this way, Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And now what do they say? We are now my Lord's slaves. Well, they didn't know it was Joseph. We know that. But we are now under your command. They would not leave Benjamin in this undeserved bondage when they knew that they were the real cause. We know, beloved, that Joseph's aim was not personal revenge, but his goal, his desire was to bring the brothers to acknowledge their guilt openly. He needed to know that their hearts had been changed. He was exercising what we considered this morning, the communion of saints. And he accomplished his purpose, which is seen in their public profession of guilt through Judah and their acceptance of the verdict, we are my Lord's slaves, that showed their repentance. But their true heart change was further revealed and the confession of their guilt was further expressed in Judah's plea in the third place. Now, many say that this is one of the most powerful pleas in all of written literature. This speech of Judah contains three parts. First of all, he reviews the past. He respectfully reminds Joseph of everything Joseph had asked them, everything they told him, everything Joseph demanded, everything they did. And then he also tells them in the second part of that speech what the consequence would be of losing Benjamin, his father. In effect, your father will die. And in the third part, Judah pleads to be the substitute. And in that speech, there is so much revelation. So much is revealed about the brothers and of course to Joseph. It's revealed that the brothers now acknowledge Joseph and Benjamin's mother, Rachel, as Jacob's beloved wife. Our father's wife had two sons. They don't even talk about their own mothers. It's revealed that the brothers understood the bond that Jacob has with Benjamin and that he had with Joseph. Jacob will die of a broken heart if Benjamin is not returned. It's revealed that the brothers' hearts truly had been changed. Jacob's love for Joseph had earlier caused their hatred and their envy and their terrible actions. And now Jacob's love for Benjamin was the ground upon which they plead for mercy. And this change is seen especially with Judah. Before, he engineered the selling of Joseph into slavery. Now he offers himself as a slave so Rachel's other son can go free. Before, he stood silently side by side with his brothers and watched as the bloody robes sent their father Jacob into extreme anguish. And now he is willing to sacrifice himself to save Benjamin and spare his father, spare Jacob from suffering that way again. Before, he was completely selfish. But now he looks completely outside of himself to the welfare of his father and his brother. And notice Judah doesn't plead for mercy or for pardon for himself, but he simply asks permission to take Benjamin's place. All of that about the brothers is revealed to Joseph And even more, he also comes to learn how the Lord used Joseph's treatment of the brothers to force a candid conversation back in Canaan about all that happened in the family, even Joseph, to a point. He learned that his father thought he was dead, but he learned that he had not been forgotten. He was remembered, and Jacob was still in anguish over him. He learned of the brothers' real concern for their father and Benjamin, proof of a true confession of guilt and a true repentant attitude. And he learned that there was a new bond of love in the family. And Joseph was convinced. We know what happens next. We've got to save that for another time. But Joseph was convinced. Beloved, the Bible speaks of the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God. Judah points to the truth of the promised seed of the woman, the true substitute, Jesus Christ, who came from the family line of Judah. The bond between God and His elect children was so great that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ offered himself as the perfect substitute. Judah wasn't the perfect substitute for Benjamin. Moses offered himself to God in place of the people when God was angry with the Israelites. He wasn't the perfect substitute. Paul offered himself in the book of Romans for the Jews. He wasn't the perfect substitute. Jesus Christ is the perfect substitute. He gave himself to release his brothers from slavery to sin and Satan to save us from the suffering and the anguish of eternal death. Why? Because our sin, beloved, is no setup. Not like the silver cup. We are truly guilty. Not like Benjamin. He wasn't guilty of the silver cup. The accusation against us is completely correct. Paul in Romans 3 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous. No, not one. And in 1 John 1, we read that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And the Bible makes it clear that we are slaves. We were slaves to sin and Satan. But Jesus released us. In John 8, to the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. They answered Him, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, I tell you the truth. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. And in Hebrews chapter 2, the writer writes that Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. And he goes on, Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death and sin. We are slaves to the devil. But Jesus Christ gave Himself. He substituted Himself. So the bonds, the chains, the shackles have fallen off of you and me as believers. It's been accomplished in Christ Jesus. He interceded for us and the Father heard Him. He offered Himself in our place and His substitution has been accepted and it is perfect. The full debt has been paid. And there's no expiration date on His work. His work is eternally effective even now as He continues to plead our cause. And beloved, because of the substitution of Jesus Christ, we are restored to the family of God. You see, that was our greatest need. In sin, we are enemies of God. We are at enmity with Him. We have no peace. But in Christ Jesus, we are justified. We have peace with God. And Christ's work is mine by faith. But that means, though, that I needed to be broken down. That means that my pride needed to be removed. My guilt had to be uncovered. I needed to acknowledge my sin because Christ's work is meaningless to me unless I understand my sin and misery. I must be defeated. I must be broken down completely. And the Holy Spirit does this by revealing to me that I have sinned against Thy grace and provoked Thee to Thy face. So that nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling. Beloved, we are restored to the family of God. Yet we must be honest that sometimes, like the brothers, we want to boast a little bit in ourselves. We want to prove our innocence a little bit in us. Because of us. A little bit. I attend church faithfully. I read the Bible each and every day. I pray constantly. I do all these good deeds for others. But beloved, if we trust in these things, if we trust in anything other than the righteousness of Christ, if we trust in our wealth, if we trust in our situation, if we trust in our goodness, we have no hope. If you are trusting in anything other than the righteousness of Christ, I sincerely pray the Lord will remove it from you for your good, to draw you closer to Him. Our only trust is to be in the righteousness of Christ. Our true hope, beloved, is to throw ourselves at the mercy of the One who gave Himself for us. Jesus Christ, in effect, said, I am willing to be sent to hell for these sinful, these rebellious, these unbelieving people. And, beloved, only when God fully and completely ungovers our guilt to see that there's no place to look except outside of ourselves to Jesus Christ, only then do we enjoy true healing and restoration with Him. And that restoration to God, to the family of God, results in such blessings, the blessings of changed lives for the benefit of the family of God that we still enjoy in this life. Those who are restored to the family of God are also then restored in the family of God. Those restored to God, to peace with God, are to find peace and a haven of rest in the family of God. We are to find a home here among each other. We are called to live in a certain way with each other. We consider this this morning. But we are called to imitate our Lord who gave Himself for us. How? Humility, for one thing. Humility. Having the mind of Christ. considering each other before considering ourselves. Sacrifice, giving ourselves for others. Judah beautifully pictures the words of Jesus, greater love has no man than this, but to lay down his life for a friend. But we also know that on this side of glory, that peace might not always be there, even in the midst of a congregation of God's people, and therefore we are called to seek peace. We are called to deal with conflict in a God-honoring and a God-prescribed way among brothers and sisters when it comes up. Let's be honest. Sometimes there's envy and there's hatred and there's jealousy among us as brothers and sisters in Christ. And even as the brothers of Joseph need to be reconciled properly, the conflict had to be dealt with properly, we are called to deal with our conflict properly, to confess it, to repent of it, to forgive it, and to forget it. and to replace it with love for one another, with Christ-like love. Beloved, here in the congregation of believers, we are to enjoy the overflowing blessing of being restored to fellowship with God. That fellowship with God is to be evidenced in our fellowship and our communion with one another. And that fellowship is only true, we know, because of Jesus Christ, who substituted Himself for us, That we might have peace with God and each other. Again, if you trust in anything other than Jesus Christ, if you trust at all in yourself, in any way, in your goodness, in your strength, in your intelligence, in your wealth, you are without hope. And you are without a home. But for those who have been broken down and brought to confess and to recognize and confess their sin and guilt and shame and whose eyes have been lifted to the perfect substitute, Jesus Christ. In their defeat, you find victory in Jesus. You have an eternal home, not as a slave, but as sons and daughters of the Most High God for Jesus' sake. Beloved, amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my Lord, would die for me? Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we do thank You and praise Your name that You bring us to see our sin and misery. Well, that kind of thanks for something like that may be something that the world simply cannot understand. But You have brought us to see the importance of understanding our sin. Because only then will we understand such a great salvation in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Father, we praise You that Jesus Christ paid the full penalty. It's paid in full. Our debt has been paid. He gave His life that we might have life and have it to the full. We thank You, Father, for freeing us from the bonds of sin and Satan and giving us freedom in You to live as You have called us to live. We pray too, Father, that we would demonstrate fellowship with You each and every day of life that You give to us as we enjoy that fellowship with one another. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.