Voddie Baucham: The Rescuer

let me say what a privilege it is for me to be here and I mean that most sincerely all of us know what it is like to have your life influenced by those men whom God uses so tremendously to listen to them on the radio to read their books and so on but there is little that can compare to getting a call on behalf of one of those men saying will you come and participate in the conference that I'm putting on and when that happened dr. scroll I have to tell you my first inclination was to say absolutely not there's no way that I'll do that I'm not gonna no I'm not going to do that that's RC sprawl no but it is an honor and it is indeed a privilege for me to be here and I'm grateful for having this opportunity to be I'm grateful to you for the ministry that you have had in my life and I want you to know how much it is meant to me and how much it continues to mean to me and how much you have taught me over the years I'm grateful for this ministry for the ministry of Ligonier and for all of you who participate in that ministry in various ways and the investment and contributions that you have made I'm grateful for this conference and for the privilege of being able to participate in this small way in this conference and so what I will do is say my piece and allow the rest of the conference to continue on as I say my piece my responsibilities here in dealing with the autobiography of God is to address the issue of God as rescuer and particularly God's work in the person of Christ in rescuing his people now this central theme of the Bible is God himself God as the sovereign creator and Lord of the universe however that manifests itself very particularly in the way that God rescues and redeems his creation we find in Genesis chapter 1 God creating the world we find in Genesis chapter 2 that more focused picture of God making man and then right after that in Genesis chapter 3 we find the fall of man so things go awry rather quickly and then in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 we have the thesis statement of the whole Bible we heard it earlier God speaks to the serpent I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed you will bruise him on the heel he will bruise you on the head and the rest of the Bible is the outworking of that redemptive plan as we look forward to the coming of the person and work of Jesus Christ we see his cross work and then we see the anticipation of the consummation of all things in him at his second Advent for which we wait anxiously and yet we have come to a place where we treat the Bible as though this redemption is only a minor theme or as though this redemption is something that we see only in the New Testament and as a result of that there are a couple of things and I would like to address in the time that I have been given and one of those things I'd like to address is this there is an argument over the very nature of the rescue that God performs on behalf of his elect Steve chalkie speaking about the doctrine of penal substitution area tone mmit says that it amounts to cosmic child abuse the Reverend Jeffrey Johns says that it is an insane and cruel doctrine emergent church leader Brian McLaren says that the doctrine of rescue that we see in the doctrine of penal substitution Airi atonement makes God out to be a butcher and so somehow there is this picture of God's rescue that changes from what we see in the scripture and you cannot change the nature of the rescuer without changing the nature of the rescue itself a for example if we are talking about rescue imagine if you will I think of myself I'm sleeping in my bed at night in my home and and I awaken to the smell of smoke and I see flames I need rescue my family needs rescue I turned to my wife and I say call the fire department and then I go and try to attend to the fire myself and try to attend to my family and get us out but what we need is the fire department because the nature of our rescue calls for a fireman however if I awakened in the middle of the night and hear a burglar coming into my house I don't call the fire department that's a different kind of rescue you don't call the same rescuer you must change the nature of the rescuer because of the nature of the rescue if I wake up at night and I hear a burglar coming into my house I don't turn to my wife and say call the fire department I turned to my wife and say call the no call the ambulance you get your gun I get mine you go left I go right make sure you don't shoot me but when you change the nature of the rescue you inevitably change the nature of the rescuer but you also change your understanding of the need of the one rescued what what what do we ultimately mean if I don't need penal substitution area toment what do I need and there are various commentaries offered there are those who argue that what I need more than anything else is to be at peace with myself I need therapy I need to learn how to deal with the world and be at peace there are those who would argue that what I really need is social justice I need for the scales to be balanced and somehow that will make everything all right others would argue that what I really need is to be educated by that what they need is I need information and certification because after all that's the key to answering all of my greatest problems see when we determined that man's greatest need is something other than the rescue that he finds in the person and work of Christ it changes the way we look at God and it changes the way we look at man it changes the way we look at the Scriptures now all of a sudden when we look at the Bible we are looking through another lens that is not a lens that says God is the rescuer who brings about this rescue that he pronounces through bringing the promised seed and crushing the head of the serpent but somehow now God is the rescuer who makes us more informed more at peace with ourselves or just more just dealings with one another nowhere is this seen more profoundly than in the way that we read the Old Testament and if you listen to the way that we teach the Old Testament what you hear time and time again is the idea that man needs something other than the rescue that comes from the redemption we find in Christ because Christ and his redeeming work if you listen to the way we teach the Old Testament is not the central theme found therein but that's not the way Jesus looked at the Old Testament in Luke chapter 24 on the road to Emmaus for example when Jesus is finally revealing himself to these men on the road to Emmaus I love this encounter on the road to Emmaus because one of the most profound questions and all of the Bible is asked there on the road to Emmaus they're talking to Jesus about what's been going on and they look at him and they say are you the only man in Jerusalem who doesn't understand what's been going on here these last few days and he doesn't say it but what he could have said was no I'm actually the only one who does understand what's been going on here he makes a statement there in verse 25 and he said to them old foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken Jesus does not say you should have understood my redemptive work on the cross because of what I've been telling you all this time he says you should have understood it because you have the Old Testament in John chapter five what do we have recorded there in John chapter five at the end of John chapter five listen to these words beginning in verse 45 do not think that I will accuse you to the father there is one who you Moses on whom you have set your hope for if you believed Moses you would believe me for he wrote of me but if you do not believe his writings how will you believe my words Moses wrote of you what are you talking about Jesus do you mean that we can go to the Pentateuch and find you and your redemptive work do you mean that when we go to the Old Testament we don't have to read it like Aesop's fables it's precisely what he means this Redemption is not something that is a second thought or an afterthought it is something that we find in the pages of the Bible from beginning to end so here's what I want to do I want us to turn to a very familiar Old Testament passage and I want us to see Jesus and all his glory now as we do this we must be careful here's what we don't do we don't go to the Bible and allegorize it so that every little thing that we find there has to somehow symbolize some aspect of Christ so we have to be careful there but the other thing that we do is we don't go to the Old Testament and somehow read it as though Christ's redemptive work is insignificant so what I want to do is go to a familiar passage in the Old Testament so that we can do a number of things number one I wants to examine the way that we're used to looking at Old Testament scripture and repent she can't say man you ought to say Alice all right that's what I want us to do too III really want to go to familiar passage of Scripture because I want us to refocus our lens I want this to be striking three I want us to see Christ in all of his redemptive glory and then finally I want us to have a pattern and a hope as it relates to the way that we deal with the Old Testament in general all of that yes in that amount of time Genesis chapter 41 in Genesis chapter 41 we find the story of Joseph and not just the story of Joseph we find what is considered to be the apex in the Joseph's story in Genesis chapter 41 Joseph has already been in the pit he has already been with Potiphar and now he's been in prison and he find his way finds his way to the palace all of that has already happened and it is this moment at which he stands before Pharaoh and Pharaoh announces his approval of Joseph Joseph has interpreted three pairs of Dreams in order to get to this point all the way that's very important the first pair of Dreams gets him into the pit by the way as to Genesis chapter 37 there's two dreams and the first dream he comes to his brothers who already hate him and as though it was a good idea he tells them about his dream that basically foretells them bowing down to him that didn't go well he had another dream and now not only does he tell his brother but he tells his father that goes even worse it is after this that we see him in the pit after being in the pit eventually we see him in the prison in prison there's another pair of dreams the Baker in the cupbearer one ins marvelously the other not so much it is that pair of dreams that leads to his eventual release although still two years later and now he stands before Pharaoh who asked for the interpretation of a pair of dreams he interprets this pair of dreams there are the ears of corn the helping ears and the sick ears and the seven six years gobbled up the seven healthy ears there are the seven healthy cows and the seven sick cows and the seven sick cows gobble up the seven healthy cows and he looks at Pharaoh and says there are going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine store up during the years of plenty so that you have food to eat during the years of famine and it is at this moment that we see what for the most part is considered the payoff in Joseph's life and so in Sunday school here's how it goes Joseph was hated by his brothers have you ever been hated by anybody and because they hated him they mistreated him and after they mistreated him he went through some bad circumstances have you ever experienced bad circumstances and years but because he endured the bad circumstances he held on and God was with him and as a result of that God elevates him to the second highest position in all of Egypt the moral of the story is if you will but trust God even when people despise you God will eventually reward you and elevate you to a position of prominence just like Joseph really that's why Genesis 41 is in the Bible I beg to differ in fact here's what I would argue if you are reading Genesis for the first time and you come to Genesis chapter 41 if you are an honest reader who's been paying attention when you get to Genesis chapter 41 you don't stand up and cheer for Joseph you fall on your face and pray for him because this could be the most perilous moment of all of the moments that he is experienced I know that look that's the look that says really yeah really let me explain Genesis chapter 41 beginning in verse 37 let's see this here and we have to see this in its grammatical historical biblical context in order to understand where Christ and His redemptive work fits here because we're not just going to allegorize so look here beginning in verse 37 this proposal please Pharaoh and all his servants and Pharaoh said to his servants can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God Pharaoh was not just converted folks what he needs there is that this is this is revelation that comes from somewhere beyond the human Pharaohs not saying the Spirit of God in the same way that you and I understand the Spirit of God Pharaoh thought himself to be a god but when he is acknowledging here is that there is something divine about what this young man just did then Pharaoh said to Joseph since God has shown you all this there is none so discerning and why as you are you shall be over my house and all my people shall order themselves as you command only as regards to the throne will I be greater than you and Pharaoh said to Joseph see I have set you over all the land of Egypt and stop now all of a sudden he's gone from the pit to Potiphar to prison and now to power in the palace before Pharaoh and we say this is the payoff moment I don't think so he's part of the covenant community God has made a covenant with his great-grandfather Abraham and the covenant that he made with his great-grandfather Abraham is not that your descendants will serve pagan kings but that's precisely what's happening right now with Pharaoh Joseph is second in command to a pagan king whose very existence is blasphemous before a holy God this blasphemous King who thinks that he is a god says to a covenant child of the Most High God you are now my servants to prop up my kingdom where I am God really that's what we want for our children mamas come crying to their pastors when this happens to their sons I don't know what's wrong we raised him right and now he's this big powerful muckety-muck serving the pagans giving his life to those individuals no longer committed it seems to the covenant people of God it's not scriptural but it's true Lord Acton was right power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and now here he is in power Jesus warns about power does he not about those who lord it over others and about those who would be great being servants not being in power certainly not having pagan power but there's more then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments and fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck and he made him ride in his second chair and they called out before him bow the knee thus he set him over all the land of Egypt by the way make no mistake about it there is an intentional reference here to bowing the knee that goes back to the first pair of dreams that Joseph has interpreted Joseph interprets this dream his brothers are going to bow the knee before him rather than bow the knee before him his brothers would rather kill him we see in Genesis chapter 37 and we know that they don't just mean that figuratively because they've proven that they are murderers do you remember the Shechem ice your family didn't accept you the covenant community didn't accept you but that's okay the pagans will bother knee but not just that he's got the signet ring he's got the look at clothing and he's riding in a Bentley - what else would you compare Pharaoh's second chariot now not only does he have pagan power but he has pagan wealth it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and now not only does Joseph have power but he has great wealth and again in the Sunday School lesson this is why you hold on you hold on because if you hold on when people mistreat you ultimately God will elevate you and give you great power and great wealth and after all that's what life is all about is it not we continue morover Pharaoh said to Joseph I am Pharaoh and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all of Egypt and Pharaoh called Joseph's name zaphenath-paneah not only has a pagan name a pagan identity are you beginning to see this here's what's ironic to me we get to Genesis chapter 41 and we say this is the payoff moment really this is the payoff moment yes of course this is a payoff moment all I've seen so far is that this man is serving a pagan king he has pagan wealth and all the accoutrements that goes on with being in power in a pagan culture and now he's been given a pagan identity why is it that in Genesis chapter 41 we praise this but in daniel 1 we decry it they get their names changed they get a pagan identity they're serving a pagan King and we say woe to them this guy gets the exact same thing and in fact it's his story that would have given Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah the courage to continue on in Babylon why because they want pagan wealth and that's what Genesis 41 is all about no the exact opposite there's a final piece of the puzzle and he gave him in marriage a Sanath the daughter of Potiphar a priest of own so Joseph went out over the land of Egypt now he's got a pagan wife let's recap God makes a covenant with his people this covenant with his people has to do with the promised seed that is going to come and continue on it has to do with a place this promised land and it has to do with blessing from them to the nation's now Joseph who is beginning to experience the firstfruits of the Covenant people of God living in the land of promise is taken away from his father away from the covenant community away from the land of promise into a pagan land where he has pagan power pagan wealth a pagan identity and a pagan wife and we say hold on children you can have that too if this is the way we interpret Genesis chapter 41 why did we get angry if a young man grows up leaves the church marries an unbeliever and then gives his entire life to a corporation living in order to attain material wealth and completely ignoring the spiritual side of his life because if you challenge him on it all he has to do is go back to his Sunday School lesson on Genesis 41 and say why are you angry shouldn't you instead be telling your friends look at what happened to my boy because he endured hardship there's another reason why this cannot be the apex and what Genesis chapter 41 is all about look at the second reason the second reason you find beginning in verse 50 before the year famine came two sons were born to Joseph Asuna the daughter of Potiphar a priest of own bore them to him he's got two sons who were born by the way born by whom astín that the daughter of Potiphar a priest of one of the two most powerful pagan priesthoods in all of Egypt she's the one who bore them to him so now he's having children now watch what happens here in the naming of his sons and you will discover that Joseph doesn't think that Genesis chapter 41 is the payoff moment Joseph called the name of his firstborn Manasseh for he said God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house the name of the second he called Ephraim for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction three things number one he gave his boys Hebrew names he did not give them Egyptian names he says to everyone who is paying attention I do not consider myself an Egyptian I'm a Hebrew I'm a member of the Covenant people of God I am not one of these people this is not my payoff moment this is not as good as it gets secondly the name of his firstborn boy I've forgotten all my hardship and all my father's house very difficult to translate this from the Hebrew but that name Manasseh does not mean I have forgotten that I belong to my father's house it can't mean that because he gives them a Hebrew name what does it mean it means that I have forgotten all of that hardship in our father's house that led me to this place can I give you my own translation of what the name Manasa means the name Manasa means I let that stuff go that's what Manasa means I do not choose to define myself by the difficulties that have encountered me up to this point in my journey with God how Joseph's embrace Egypt Egypt embraces you and your family didn't I let that stuff go hah Joseph embrace Egypt your brothers did not want to bow these people do I let that stuff go Joseph embrace Egypt it was because of your brothers that you spent years as a slave I let that stuff go embrace Egypt it was because of your brothers that you ended up in prison I let that stuff go I do not define myself by those things instead I look to the promise of God the name of a second-born Ephraim God has prospered me in the land of my affliction did you catch that Joseph says Egypt is the land of his affliction not the land of pay-off Egypt is the land of his affliction yeah but you're rich here it's the land of my affliction yeah but they love you here it's the land of my affliction why because this is not what I was living for I'm a child of the Covenant I'm a child of the one true God I'm a servant of the king of heaven I don't exist to serve the king of Egypt so number one this is not the payoff moment because if you just look at the narrative these are not the things that we look forward to but secondly if you look at the naming of his sons Joseph didn't even see this as his payoff moment so here's the question why genesis chapter 41 I'm so glad you asked Joseph himself answers this question when his brothers show up he finally reveals himself to his brothers he cannot control himself anymore and when he reveals himself to his brothers here's what doesn't happen Joseph does not look to his brothers and say I'm Joseph I'm the one you sent into slavery I'm the one that you wanted to murder I'm the one that you did not want to bow before but you've been bowing before me ever since you came to Egypt I'm the one that you didn't think much of but now God has made much of me I am the one that you thought God gave too much favor from his father now I'm the one that God has favoured before the most powerful man in the world see that's what you would have said how do I know that because that's what I would have said but what does joseph say to his brothers I'm your brother Joseph when you sold into slavery and just when they could feel the noose around their necks he says do not be angry with yourselves cuz God sent me here to save you what Joseph does not say God sent me here to give me all the things that Egypt had to offer Joseph says God sent me here because God is a rescuer God sent me here to rescue you in spite of you you didn't like my dreams but newsflash do you know that we were a wealthy family because God spoke to our Father through dreams and when I began to dream why did you not realize that God was again speaking to our family through dreams God was showing me through a dream this very moment when he would rescue you and when God brought his word through me that said he would rescue you your answer was to kill the rescuer familiar but I'm not mad cuz I let that stuff go and this is not my home better Genesis 41 wasn't about Joseph who's it about actually briefly let me explain God makes a promise in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen this promise involves the promised seed he pronounces this promise in a curse against the serpent the serpent believes exactly what God says which is why in Genesis chapter 4 we have the first murder what is the first murder the seed of the serpent Cain kills the seed of the woman Abel what happens after that in Chapter four at the end of it on in Chapter five we get the announcement of the coming of Seth and the restoration of the godly seed then in Chapter five we get a genealogy and so there are ten generations from Adam to Noah through the godly line of Seth God wipes out the world in the flood and he preserves Noah Shem ham Japheth and their wives why is this important because you've got to have husbands and wives in order to have seed the seed that was promised still had not come to fruition eventually you come to a man named Tara who has an offspring by the name of Abraham God makes a promise to that man named Abraham and this promise involves among other things seed but this promise is rather significant because he and his wife particularly his wife too old for seed so how do you get promised seed if the seed bearing woman is too old for seed the answer is God must intervene no the answer is we got to find somebody else Hagar wrong answer God didn't say a seed he said the seed Ishmael was a sea but not the seed Isaac is the seed Isaac then goes on and they have twins which one is it going to be certainly it's going to be the older no this is not about birth order this is about election the older will serve the younger so it's not Esau it's Jacob Jacob goes forth and if seed is going to come certainly jacob's got to find a wife he goes to lay and he meets Levens daughter and falls in love and thinks he's found the one one one what seven years he works and he gets married and wakes up next to the other one one one and you thought it was a love story but it was not a love story it was an election story the one whom he loves cannot bear children told way later in the story when she gives birth to a son named Joseph and then one named Benjamin and then she dies joseph is loved above all of his brothers because he was the beloved son of the beloved wife but he was not the promised seed the woman that he didn't even want when her sister couldn't have children she did and she proceeded to give birth to Reuben Simeon Levi the father of the priesthood and Judah and as we come to this story Genesis chapter 37 we are introduced to Joseph in Genesis chapter 38 there seems to be a chapter that's out of place because now we read about Judah and Tamar the worst moment in Judah's life why is that they're in the midst of the story about Joseph because it's not about Joseph it's about Judah well why show Judah at his lowest point because God has to redeem Judah for him to take his place as the head of the family and to be identified as the promised seed because of the electing work of God and so God redeems Judah and in what moment do we see Judas Redemption when Judas says to his father Jacob send me with the boy Benjamin I know you love him and if anything happens to him I will be his substitute Joseph tries him and he takes Benjamin and says I'm keeping this one Jacob says it'll kill my daddy take me instead of my brother as his substitute and put his Schmidt upon me in order that my father may be pleased by his Redemption does that sound familiar the shooter goes on to have a son it's a great-great-great-great grandson and his name is David David just like his father Judah shows up on the scene like this great-great-great-great grandfather of his and what does he do when he shows up on the scene when he's finally identified and the promised seed brings forth his presence with authority he walks down into a valley where there's been a giant who made this proposition send me a man to fight with me if he defeats me we will serve you if I defeat him you will serve me David goes down fights the Giant as they representative substitute for God's people wins victory over the Giant thereby winning victory on behalf of all of God's people as a covenant made with him and that covenant promises throne and the king and great King David descendant of Judah eventually has a greater son who is a greater king who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah the New Testament opens up with a genealogy and basically that genealogy screams the God who made a promise in Genesis chapter 3 has fulfilled that promise these are the lie of the promised seed who will crush the head of the snake and what does great Kings David King David's greater son Jesus do his forebearers david and judah he stands as a substitute on behalf of God's elect lays down his life accepts the wrath of God poured out upon him that he might win victory on behalf of God's people that all of those who are found in him might be rescued why is Genesis chapter 41 important because God rescues Joseph in order to rescue Judah in order to rescue Israel in order to rescue me this is not about material wealth this is about rescue and redemption this is about God in His Providence orchestrating all of history in order to bring about that which we need more than anything else and that is to be rescued from God the first Adam eight and we all died in him the last Adam died and as a result we shall all feast with him this is why not only Genesis 41 but the whole Old Testament matters and makes sense because it points to God's redeeming rescuing work and the person of Christ therefore regardless of where your story ends up you must find its significance and the ultimate portrait of God's work of redemption and rescue if you don't you are settling for something far less significant and you have completely missed your greatest need let's pray God you are good your mercy is overwhelming your grace all sufficient forgive us Lord for thinking so much of ourselves that we actually believe that Redemption and rescue is not our true and greatest need but that somehow we actually believe are standing before you is such that we can move on to something else may it never be may we be ever mindful of the fact that our greatest need is the redemption that is only found in the person and work of Christ and that as we read preach teach this unfolding story of your Redemption we must make much of Christ and his work our greatest need is not to be vindicated when people hate us our greatest need is to be vindicated because you hate us in our sin our greatest need is not to be delivered from the pit our greatest need is to be delivered from the penalty of hell our greatest need is not to be freed as slaves our greatest need is to be freed from the slavery of sin our greatest need is not to get out of prison our greatest need is to be made righteous that we are indeed guilty our greatest need is not the material wealth that this world has to offer our greatest need is to realize that we are poor and Richard wretched and miserable and naked and blind our greatest need is not to have favor with men our greatest need is to have favor with God our greatest need is not a Bible that points us to our best life now our greatest need is a Bible that points us to her best hope ever Christ is that hope he is that life he is that rescue and it is him whom we love and adore and it is in his name that we pray amen you

Channel: Reformation Bible College

Views: 375,038

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Keywords: the rescuer, voddie baucham, reformation bible college, rbc, conference, 2011 rbc conference, christian conference, voddie, baucham, voddie baucham sermons, rescue, savior, captive to sin, jesus as our redeemer, jesus, christ, god the father, god the son, the ministry of christ, The Autobiography of God, ligonier, ligonier ministries

Id: 1Azlmin_EyQ

Length: 48min 53sec (2933 seconds)

Published: Fri May 22 2015