Alistair Begg - 'All Things For Good: In the Family of Joseph' (Genesis 50:20)

I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 50 and I'm going to read from the 15 thirst when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said it may be that Joseph's will hate us and pay as Bank for all the evil that we did to him so they sent a message to Joseph saying your father gave this command before he died say to Joseph please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you and now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the god of your father Joseph wept when they spoke to him his brothers also came and fell down before him and said Behold we are your servants but Joseph said to them do not fear for am I in the place of God as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today so do not fear I will provide for you and your little ones thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them a brief prayer father as we turn now to the Bible we pray for the help of the Holy Spirit both to speak and to listen to understand to believe and to obey and we humbly pray in Christ's name Amen as a native Scot there are questions that are not uncommon here in America addressed to me that rightly or wrongly I find them a little uncomfortable one of them for example is what does God put on your heart today and another is tell me what God is doing in your life in answering the first question I'm tempted to say you really don't know you really don't want to know about what is on my heart today it's so sinful or I say well what is on my heart is something I learned in my Bible reading this morning in terms of the second question I have to say I don't know I mean I could speak ultimately because of what the Bible says but in specific terms and in immediate terms how can one answer because after all the Providence of God as John Murray put it is often a dark and impenetrable abyss not to us or to us but not to God and the fact is that the events of life we seek to add our interpretation to simply on the way in which they appear but as we read the Bible we discover that God sees them in terms of their consequences and that he is working all things according to their appointed end in the verse in Romans 8 in all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose now it's distinctly possible for us and right for us to be able to affirm that and yet still have questions about what is happening and when it is happening and how and why it is happening the Sammis describes God's leading of his people in this way your way was through the sea your path through the great waters yet your footprints were unseen and of course that is the picture that is captured in CalPERS him God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform he plants his footsteps in the sea and he rides upon the storm his footsteps are untraceable now this matter is to be framed in this address in relationship to the story of Joseph I wonder have you ever wondered how Joseph would have answered the second of those questions if someone had said to him at some point in time tell me Joseph what is God doing in your life at what point along the journey of his life did Joseph begin to rest his head we might put it on the soft pillow of God's providence doted on by his father and hated by his brothers when he came down for breakfast after those amazing dreams and began to speak of them what happened was it simply added fuel to their jealous animosity if we had said to him what is God doing with your life I think he would be hard-pressed to answer similarly when he was stripped of his very expensive and beautiful role when he was dumped into the pit I find it difficult to imagine that we would have caught him singing it is well with my soul and indeed we know that that is true because later on in this story we read the words of his brothers when they reflecting on that incident say to one another we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen so in other words there he was in that predicament and he had questions what is happening why is this happening similarly if we had met him when he was running down the road absent as it where his killed fleeing from the seductive advances of Potiphar's wife he could certainly have told us why it was he had resisted her invitations remember he said how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God but he would be hard pressed I think to answer the question what is God doing with you I'm not sure that he would have been able to say he certainly knew the presence of the Lord but he would have been unsure as to his immediate purpose for him when we find him in jail he were told that the Lord was with Joseph and as a result of that he became successful it was also as a result of that that he was given favor in the sight of the keeper of Prison and in that context confronted by the questions of two of the other people in jail he fulfills the role of interpreter but he does so in the awareness of the fact that the interpretations belong to God but again if we had caught up with him in that framework and we said to him Joseph what does God put on your heart today I think he would have said getting out getting out of here after all he'd asked the cupbearer to take care of this for him and we read the record but the cupbearer did not remember Joseph but he forgot him now as we go through the story and clearly we can go through the entire story it seems clear that it is seldom possible to figure out God's providence by looking at these individual incidents if you like piece by piece it would be akin to coming on two or three pieces of a jigsaw puzzle whether I would ever knowing what the big picture was what the picture was on the front of the box it's only when we see something of the big picture that we can then begin to see why it is and how it is that the pieces fit together how God and maybe using circumstances events disappointments delays elevations encouragement success how do all these pieces fit together how do they work to God's appointed end for example if Joseph had been a strange little fellow with large pointed ears and an unfortunate gait it's highly unlikely that he would have been the object of the seductive eyes of his boss's wife you see the Providence of God extends to these very elements to the issues of our birth flavo comment this observed somewhat humorously there is a world of cost bestowed upon your very body you might have been cast into another mold and created a worm or a toad that puts things in perspective in a quite dramatic way those of us who wish we were taller or fitter or bright or whatever it might be the Providence of God framing the ends of our lives beginning all the way through to the end it reminds me of how Gladys Aylward when she presented herself to a missionary society in London in the hopes that she might be able to go and serve God overseas she was turned down as being too small too frail to uneducated and along with that we were told that she'd been warned the fact that there were other people that she would see on the streets ladies girls whose hair was long and blonde and beautiful and yet she regarded hers as somewhat unattractive how little did she realize until she finally put her feet down on the soil of mainland China and realized that her dark hair and her tiny size had equipped her in a peculiar way for a ministry that had lasting benefit amongst the Chinese children so it is in relationship to these things that we see God's hand and Providence unfold if Joseph hadn't ended up in jail he would not have met the cupbearer who in turn would not have had occasion at just the right time to commend Joseph to Pharaoh who in turn sets Joseph over all of his affairs in Egypt and brings him from the pit to the pinnacle and what we discover that is essentially in many and in various ways Joseph is beginning to I think to recognize that God has been providentially overruling the events of his life for good after all in reading this story we are left to wonder just how it is that he has managed to get through all of these ups and downs without succumbing to resentment or to self-pity or to bitterness I think it is probably because he is learning the fact that if he simply asks of the events of his life why is this happening to me first of all his attempts to interpret these events are almost inevitably flawed and secondly because what is happening to him may not actually be so much about God's dealing with him as in dealing with others whether it is those who are around him in Egypt eventually or as we will see with his father whose favoritism oven had led to much of this chaos and certainly with his brothers to whom he's ultimately reconciled there's no question that he's aware of God's hand upon him for good and this comes across very clearly in the naming of his sons and you can read a VAT in chapter 41 he names his sons in such a way as to remind him that it is God who has done at least two things one he is enabled to enabled him to forget much of the hardship and the pain that had marked his early life and that in itself is quite remarkable and at the same time it is God's goodness to him that has made it possible for him to become fruitful so much so that when he finally discloses himself to his brothers we learn the extent to which he has grasped God's dealings in this way the wonder of it all is that although their intentions were so clearly evil even in that God had plans for good genesis 45 and Joseph said to his brothers come near to me please and they came near and he said I'm your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt how that must have stung and should sting and now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life you sold me God sent me now the way in which God sweeps into his unfolding plan all of these varied elements of life the things that seem so crooked and wrong and and are in many cases wrong is the mystery of his Providence is this if you like impenetrable oblivious it was the jealousy of their hearts that had given rise to their cruel actions in attempting to secure his death they were unwittingly contributing to the salvation of many people and as we read through these events and finally come to if you're like Joseph's Romans 8:28 verse in chapter 50 we grass something of how it must have struck them as their brother spoke to them in this way there's a lot of Tears in this there's a fair amount of hugging there are conversations in fact there's just a wonderful verse that contains a great deal a sentence they are back in chapter 45 we're in this encounter and as the brothers understand what's going on it says that Joseph took the initiative and he kissed his brothers and he wept upon them and now comes this amazing sentence after that his brothers talked with him if you remember the beginning of this story it says that when he conveyed to them his dreams and when he wore that robe that his father probably unwisely had given to him when he did that the writer tells us that they were absolutely jealous and they couldn't find it in themselves to have a decent conversation with him and now in this moment with his initiative with his overwhelming kindness after this his brothers talked with him what a conversation that must have been has backed down through the corridors of time Joseph is able to go and begin to interpret in retrospect the things that had unfolded for him things that he would never have been able to give the answer to in the immediacy of it all you meant it as evil he says to them here in verse 20 but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive now our FINA years has elapsed since if you're like that breakfast in the morning after those dreams because back then Joseph were told was only 17 years of age but by this time you will notice in verse 22 that it says that Joseph remained in Egypt he and his father's house and he lived a hundred and ten years so there is a tremendous amount of time that is elapsed in the unfolding story of his life all of these individual pieces joining up together if you like as links in a chain and enabling him now to look back down through the corridor of time and reflect in terms of God's goodness it is one thing for us to be able to navigate the challenges and the uncertainties and the difficulties and the successes it's quite another simply to stand the test of time and as this story ends as Genesis ends that's really the picture we have the picture of an individual who has now been able to reflect on the events of life and realize God's providential care okay I don't think anyone at a banner conference has probably ever quoted the carpenters nor should they but here goes there is a song that the carpenter sang which was I guess a love song and the the individuals are speaking to one another and it goes something like this let's take a lifetime to say I knew you well let's take a lifetime to say I knew you well and the story of Joseph is really the story of a lifetime that has enabled Joseph to say that concerning God to say that concerning God's covenant purposes and his keeping power Joseph remained in Egypt he remained in Egypt and not only did he have grandchildren but great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren from this perspective now he is enabled to sing what probably he would have been unable to give voice to in his very early days of this journey unnumbered comforts to my soul thy tender care bestowed before my infant heart conceived from whom those comforts flowed that's the hymn that begins through all the changing scenes of life in sorrow and in joy the praises of my heart shall still my God shall still my heart and tong employ by the time we get to the 50th chapter famine is in the distant past it's possible for him and for the others to begin to grow accustomed to it all and so he is actually focusing his family pointing them forward the writer to the Hebrews says of this period in his life that by faith as he was nearing the end of his life he spoke of the exodus and he gave instructions about his bones not because he had a morbid interest in bones but as we shall see because the very reality of the future was tied up in his discovery of God's goodness in the past Joseph bore an Egyptian title Joseph married an Egyptian wife Joseph enjoyed an Egyptian lifestyle but he joins the company of those again described in Hebrews 11 that company who were still living by faith when they died I don't think there's any doubt that if we could have got a hold of a couple of the great-grandchildren and they would have said you know a great grandpa Joseph he he just sings the same songs all the time one of his favorites is he he likes to he likes to say you know we're we're on our way to Canaan and we shall not be moved and we've often asked him just what's involved in this and he tells us because you see the providential care of God has not only enabled him to stand the test of time as it will eyes but also has made it possible for him to face the final curtain to face the final curtain and Joseph said to his brothers I am about to die but God will bring you up death of course is the last enemy to be destroyed death is a fearful thing the bravado of the songwriter of the 20th century is actually silenced before the reality of that which it anticipates you remember those defiant words and now the end is near and so I face the final curtain and you know III can speak of myself and what I've done and so on and so forth with an almost total disregard for the God who has ordered all things according to the purpose of his will and what he does is he reminds those who are coming after him of God's care he reminds them if you like that God has made promises he has made promises to Abraham and he will fulfill them and so he is able to speak with great confidence to say to them verse 25 God will surely visit you God will surely visit you he will come to your aid again Richard Baxter I wonder if he had this in mind is able to write in light of the reality of death the hymn which begins Lord it belongs not to my care whether I live or die and then that wonderful verse my knowledge of that life is small the eye of faith is dim it is enough that Christ knows all and I shall be with him you see when this takes hold our life when the reality of God's grace in that way breaks in ultimately in Jesus then even people who have been religious in their past or certainly those who have been irreligious find the they can look at the events of life in a way that wasn't possible before they can begin to affirm the fact that in all things God works for the good of those who love him I have a letter here that goes all the way back to the seventh of July 1995 and I remember this young lady well she was from a Roman Catholic background she was unique in her family in her understanding of the grace and goodness and in time the Providence of God she had an incurable disease which eventually was obvious was going to take her life and she died as a young lady and in prospect of her death she had written to her mom and to her dad and to her family and friends outlining her desire for a service to be conducted in a simple and Christ honoring way and she says to them it is difficult expressing all that this life and my future eternal life mean to me but this verse she says expresses a little of my feelings and my gratitude to God for the life the family and the friends he has given me and then she quotes from job chapter 10 and verse 12 you gave me life and showed kindness and in your providence watched over my spirit if you had met her and you saw the encroachments of the disease upon her if you'd been bold enough to say and what is God doing with you today if she'd been kind enough to answer she would have said in his Providence he is watching over me and quite fascinatingly she concludes with just a sentence or two it is strange she says yet appropriate that I am writing this to you on Independence Day for I am anticipating the day when I will truly be free in the Lord now what she was actually anticipating is essentially what Joseph now at the end of it all was anticipating God will take you up he says but made sure that you take me up and he leaves instruction for his bones and for this coffin this coffin that was to be carried with them out of Egypt in turn and it was to be a testimony of the fact that when they looked at it and doubtless people would have said why do we keep carrying that box and people would have said well we keep it because Joseph's bones are in there and he did not want himself to be buried in any elaborate way such as had happened with his father who had been carried off and back to his homeland but rather he wanted to come up with us he wanted to come and his coffin there is a testimony to the fact that we are able to say Egypt is not my home I'm just passing through and in some strange way that coffin there was to testify to the Providence of God in the life of Joseph so that those who looked upon it when they were buffeted by the circumstances of life as some of us are today when perhaps they were tempted to be driven even to despair or if they were even thinking why don't I just settle down and throw in the towel and quit somebody will assume oh don't forget don't forget why that box is there God will surely come to our aid and of course come to their aid he did in Moses and then all the way through in the judges and in the kings and then in anticipation of that ultimate and great salvation which is foreshadowed in the speaking of the Exodus Jesus comes in the strangest of ways and yet unmistakeably so by the time Paul writes Romans 5 he says and just at the right time when we had no way of escape when we were still lost and and in our sins Christ came and died for us so the story of Joseph the Genesis 50:20 equivalent of Romans 8:28 is a story of a long life lived with an increasing discovery of God's providence a life lived in faith giving expression of that in a not in a quite remarkable forgiveness facing the end of life with a hope because he believed that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to his purpose that of course is vital for each of us to lay hold of none of us know what a day holds we look back over the ups and downs and in the nights of life we have navigated sometimes deep sadnesses we've been confronted by our own in capacities and weakness and sins and yet through it all through it all in ways that if we were arrested in a moment in time and confronted by this question we would have difficulty in answering what is God doing today in your life it's vital for us and it's vital for us too in our exercise of pastoral care the letters of Samuel Rutherford are full of wonderful insights and I have kept in my files this little note on Providence for a long time now this is him writing to lady ken Muir and this is what he says to her madam when you are come to the other side of the water and have set down your food on the shore of glorious eternity and look back again to the waters and to your wearisome journey and shall see in that clear glass of endless glory nearer to the bottom of God's wisdom then you will be forced to say if God had done otherwise with me than he had done I would never have come to the enjoying of this crown of glory God holds the key of all unknown and I am glad if other hands should hold the key or if he offered it to me I might be sad and I guess so would you so back to that question what does God put on your heart today I guess now I can say he's put on my heart an awareness of the wonder of his unfailing love of his ability to take that which was evil and intended for unjustifiable ends and bring it to bear in such a way so that as men came and took up his dearly beloved son and motivated entirely by spite and evil and jealousy bringing about the death of the one they were actually in the Providence of God setting forward his great plan of redemption so that many many would discover life in Christ and would live to his praise and so what is God doing with you today well again I don't really know in terms of specifics but together we can say this that after Romans 8:28 comes Romans 8:29 and that those he predestined he he determined that we should be conformed to the image of his son so that what he is doing what he has planned to do is to make us like Jesus when Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians he says and that is the ongoing work of God in our lives that we are being transformed into his likeness and ultimately one day that which he has purposed will be perfected for when we see him we will be like him and so a Joseph in both his living and in his dying helps us to grasp a little more of what it means that in all things God works for the good of those who love him father thank you that we may rest securely in your promises that our lives hid with Christ in God our unassailable for that which you have begun in us you will bring to completion at the day of Jesus Christ forgive us Lord our grumbling and complaining forgive us our fearfulness and our fretful anxieties thank you that Jesus recognizing that his immediate followers knew what this was said to them why would you worry look at how God clothes the grass of the field and fields the birds of the air will he not also take care of you even though you are little in your faith help us gracious God to this and to trust in Jesus to rest in your word and to look forward in hope for we humbly pray in Christ's name Amen you

Channel: Banner of Truth

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Keywords: all things for good, banner of truth, alistair begg

Id: BF5V5ngiUNE

Length: 36min 1sec (2161 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 26 2020