For those of you that don't know me, I am Pastor
Nathan and if you are joining us here in our
sanctuary for the first time today or if you're
watching online for the first time, we just want
to say welcome to all of you. We're so glad you're
here to worship with us at Hosanna. This morning
we're going to be talking about those moments
where God wakes us up. You know, I'm sure that
all of us have had moments in life where You
know, on the surface, everything looks great,
right? Life is progressing, things are well,
things are kind of in place, but underneath the
surface, there's something that's deeply unsettled.
Maybe, you know, you're in a busy time of life,
maybe you're being real productive, maybe you're
like even in a very successful season, yet there's
a quiet place in your soul that... flinches a
bit when certain words are said or certain memories
come back to the surface. Maybe you find yourself
avoiding certain situations, not because they're
dangerous situations, but because they remind
you of something. They expose something in you
that you're trying to not think about. Now, biblically,
we should know very clearly that none of us have
ever needed to be taught how to sin. We were
born that way. Nobody ever teaches a kid how
to hide the candy behind their back. It just
comes with life. But we do need to be taught
how to deal with sin that we've buried, that
we've tried to put behind us and forget about.
In Genesis chapter 42, which is where we're going
to be today, is that lesson. This is about when
God refuses to let sin stay buried. As we've
been studying through the life of Joseph here,
22 years have passed for Joseph's brothers since
the day that they got mad and threw him into
the cistern and then sold him into slavery. It's
been 22 years. Joseph's brothers have families
now. Life has moved on. They've built lives,
shepherding, doing all the stuff that they would
do there. And they've learned how to live with
what they did to their brother. Now we remember
that when they sold him into slavery, they dipped
the robe, the coat of many colors that they despised
into blood and lied to their father that he was
dead. And so Jacob believes Joseph is dead. Now
for 22 years from the outside, it looks like
Joseph's brothers got away with murder, so to
speak. That things just moved on after. But we
have to understand that guilt doesn't die. It
sleeps. Sometimes it hibernates for a while.
But when God is ready to redeem that sin, to
bring us to face it for repentance and healing,
he will awaken. Now, repentance isn't something
God does to us. It's something he draws. He awakens
a sleeping conscience. Not to crush somebody,
not to punish them, but to bring healing. To
bring healing through those things. So if you've
ever wondered in your life why God allows certain
things to happen, difficult things that remind
you of things that you thought long forgotten,
long buried. Or maybe you've ever felt unsettled
by the concept of grace instead of comforted
by it because you have a sense within you that
you don't deserve such and such because of things
you've done. Or if you've ever sensed that God
seems to be bringing old things back to the surface
that have been long buried and you wonder why,
this chapter is for you. But before we get into
that, we want to worship our Lord and sing praises
to him because he is glorious. He is amazing
and almighty. This next year coming up, not today,
but we're going to be starting in the new year,
is expanding our time of worship here on Sunday
mornings. We'll be doing some more music as a
part of the service because praising God is just
wonderful. It's glorious. It's such a neat thing
to do. To do that, not just to get ready for
study and all that stuff, but to do that because
let's forget about everything and just say, God,
you're so awesome. is such a critical part of
our walk in our faith, and so we're going to
be doing more of that. But today, we're going
to open with that as we normally do, and so I
just encourage you to praise him. Forget about
whatever you walked in here with. God's going
to bring all that up during the study. But just
right now, reflect on who he is and what he's
done in your life, the gift that he is to you,
the salvation. that you've received through him.
And if you're here this morning, you do not know
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Well, I'm
going to lovingly and boldly pray that you are
radically uncomfortable today as you hear the
gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of who he
is and the reality of how much he desperately
loves you and how much he wants to see your soul
saved and redeemed. Let's pray. Father, we love
you. We thank you, God, for who you are and what
you've done. God, we're so grateful for just
everything of you. You're almighty, you're loving,
you're light. God, just to reflect on all those
things, Lord, just should humble us greatly.
And yet, God, you've chosen to love us. You want
a relationship with us. You want to know us,
God. And above all of that, Lord, you want to
save us from the power of sin and death. And
God, as people who live and grow in this world,
we all have things we've done, wrongs we've committed,
people we've hurt. And Lord, sometimes, probably
most of the times, we try to bury those things,
God, so that we can deal. So that instead of
facing guilt, we kind of push it away so we don't
have to think about it. And yet, Lord, you are
faithful to bring those things back out when
we... are in that place when we're ready for
redemption, Lord, and you're the one that knows
that calendar date. And for some, that may be
today. But God, we know that you bring these
things out not to chastise us and to make us
feel bad. You bring these things out, Lord, so
that we would take responsibility, acknowledge
the gravity, and really, Lord, turn to you for
what you offer, and that is grace and mercy and
forgiveness. So speak to us today, Lord. I pray
for everyone in this room, everybody watching
now and that would be watching this later. May
your spirit just work powerfully among your people.
May your spirit draw those to you that don't
yet know you. God, we thank you. We love you.
We worship you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. Today we are in Genesis chapter 42. As
we continue our study through Genesis, finished
Genesis in 2026, so we'll see. Yeah, I know,
right? That's like, there's more books in the
Bible? Yes, there are. And so, but. Here in Genesis
42, we have come to one of the most emotionally
charged sections in Joseph's life. We have followed
him from the land of Canaan to Egypt, sold by
his brothers. We've looked at how he was purchased
by Potiphar, and he was a slave in Potiphar's
house. How the Lord blessed him there, and he
was risen up to be in charge of the whole household.
Then we read how Potiphar's wife tried to seduce
him, and he resisted all of that, as godly people
should do, but unfortunately caused him to fall
under false accusations and to be thrown into
prison. And then in prison, he was raised up
again to be a man of authority because he just
had a godly character and a godly work ethic.
And yet there, when the opportunity came for
him to get released from this unjust imprisonment,
he was forgotten for two more years. And then,
finally, it came in God's timing where he was
released and raised up to... power, incredible
power, to be number two in the entire Egyptian
empire, second only to Pharaoh himself, and pretty
amazing story of what God has done there. But,
you know, sometimes you might see in comic books
or movies, we have that frame that comes up and
goes, meanwhile, and we go back to the land of
Canaan. Now, meanwhile, Joseph's brothers have
lived in the land of Canaan, in their father's
house, Jacob's house, for over two decades. And
they've been living for over two decades with
a buried crime. A crime that they thought had
been long gone. A crime that maybe they thought
they got away with. I mean, their lives have
moved on. Joseph was gone. Their dad. believed
the lie that Joseph was dead and had been grieving.
But even though the deed was done and long gone,
and even though 22 years have passed, the guilt
wasn't gone. Because guilt doesn't leave, it
sleeps. It simply goes into hibernation, and
the Holy Spirit's about to show us something
here in this chapter that we all need to know
and to learn and to understand, and that's how
God wakes up a sleeping conscience. You see,
we have all prayed for people, prayed with people,
friends, family, spouses, children, whoever it
may be that don't know the Lord. And we have
prayed and we've shared with them. And sometimes
it seems like we share this life -changing truth
and it just goes boing and bounces right off
of them. There's no concept. There's no understanding
or there's no concern. They're like, oh yeah,
okay, well, God and good and evil and heaven
and hell. Okay, sweet, cool. And then they go
about their life, right? And you're like, aren't
you moved? Don't you feel anything? And they
seemingly don't. But then those very people,
we all have the same stories, where one day,
suddenly they were awake. Suddenly they were
feeling bad about stuff. You know, in my story,
and I may have shared this before, and I don't
share this to glorify any of it, but right before
I got saved, God was stirring my heart on different
things, but I was in an inappropriate relationship
with a married woman. And I didn't care. And
my brother, who was in church at the time, would
say, dude, that's just so wrong. And I'm like,
why? It's not my problem. It's her husband's
problem. And he'd be like, oh my gosh. No conscience.
Dead conscience to the whole thing. And then
one day, all of a sudden, it mattered. We got
together to go hang out and I remember climbed
into her minivan and she had this picture of
her kids on the thing and I got in and I looked
at her kids and all of a sudden I was just like,
oh my gosh, what am I doing? And I'm confused
because I'm like, this isn't the first time we're
hanging out. I've never cared before and all
of a sudden. The gravity, the weight, the pressure,
the evil, the wickedness of this just landed
on me. And I remember telling her, I'm like,
hey, we can't hang out. And she's like, why?
And I'm like, I don't know. It's just wrong.
I said, you're married. And she's like, I've
been married the whole time. And I was like,
I can't explain it. A couple weeks later, I got
saved, but what I learned is that particular
day or right around that day, my brother had
been praying, and his prayer was, God, can you
please make my brother feel how wrong it is,
what he's doing? And he'd been praying that for
some time. Well, that prayer got answered, and
it wrecked me in a very, very good way. and it
led to my repentance and my salvation. Now, God
does that in people's lives, and it's in his
timing he does that. And there is a process through
which God does to bring people to repentance,
to bring people to a recognition and an understanding
of the gravity and the weight and the wickedness
and the evil of their sin and the things they've
done. Now, Both saved and unsaved can kind of
go through this process because even saved people
can commit sins and do things and then kind of
bury them in the past, right? And let's just
not talk about it. Let's just walk away. Let's
pretend. Let's move on with our lives and just
never bring it up. And yet, those buried seeds
of sin have a way of poisoning our soul because
we carry the guilt with us even though we think,
oh, we're good. And that is a tool God uses to
bring us to repentance. And so that's what we're
gonna be looking at here, that these brothers,
22 years of moving on with their lives, they
may have thought they got away with it. They
may have thought everything was good. They may
have thought they were fine. But God wakes up
their sleeping conscience. And when he does that,
it can be both a severe thing and a grace. At
the same time, and it's an important lesson,
because sometimes the most merciful thing God
can do in our lives is to refuse to let us stay
comfortable with the things we've buried. That's
a mercy of God, and so we're going to be talking
about that. So here in Genesis 42, the famine.
that Joseph had predicted has come to pass. It
has spread across the whole world. It is terrible.
It is severe. And everybody's hungry. Everybody's
starving, right? And that's what brings us to
verse one of Genesis 42. It says, when Jacob
learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said
to his sons, why do you keep looking at each
other? Listen, he went on, I have heard there
is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some
for us so that we will live and not die. Now,
it's like, this is kind of weird. What's up with
the why do you keep looking at each other? What's
the point of all that? Well, you figure in all
the stuff that's going on in the hunger and the
famine and everything, Jacob learns there's grain,
and news came somehow, but there's grain in Egypt.
And for these brothers, their dad was saying,
Egypt is the solution. For the brothers, Egypt
was sin. Egypt was a reminder of what they had
done 22 years earlier. Egypt was a place they
didn't want to go. And I can imagine in their
minds, dad's like, there's grain in Egypt. Go
there and get some. And they're just kind of
all going. Why are you guys standing there looking
at each other? Because what's going through their
mind is Egypt. What if we go down there and we
see Joseph? What if we go down there and he's
in some slave gang or getting beat or whipped
and he sees us? No, that's old news. That's buried.
And yet he's like, look, this is what you're
gonna do. You're gonna go. And you know, their
silence, it wasn't because they're hungry and
weak. Their silence was because their conscience
had been awakened right here. God had... pulled
the scab off that old wound, if you will, and
now it was like, oh no, suddenly fresh, suddenly
in front of them again. We can deal with guilt
in our lives by trying to ignore it, trying to
just move on, trying to distract ourselves from
it, but time doesn't erase guilt. Certain words,
places, seasons might remind us of it, right?
Reawaken that forgotten sin. I mean, think about
it. Ask yourself, is there certain topics you
avoid in conversation because they bring up something
that you want to forget? Are there certain places
you avoid going to because they remind you of
a buried sin that you've never dealt with? The
silence in your soul right now might not be confusion.
It simply might be conviction. Because, well,
if I don't say it, it's not real. But you feel
it. You feel the guilt. And when God starts stirring
uncomfortable memories in our lives, he may be
inviting repentance. He may be starting a process
of drawing you to him, to drawing repentance
out of you so that you can be healed and move
on from that. And for the brothers, dad tells
him to go. What it really is is God sending them
straight to the place that exposes their hearts
and exposes their secret sin. And so if God has
been calling you to something you've been avoiding,
listen, act. Because what's on the other side
of that is healing and hope and good things.
Guilt dealt with. Stop standing still and praying
for relief when God is going, move, go. No, I
can't go talk to that person. But Lord, please,
please deal with this guilt in my heart. And
God's going, I will if you go do what I tell
you to do. You don't heal by standing still when
God is saying to take action. So, verse 3. 10
of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from
Egypt, but Jacob did not send Joseph's brother
Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought something
might happen to him. Why not Benjamin? Because
Benjamin was the second child of his favorite
wife, Rachel. One of the sins that Jacob struggled
with was showing favoritism. Joseph was the first
son of Rachel. Benjamin was the second. Those
were his favorite kids because she was his favorite
wife. All the other brothers were kind of treated
as second class, if you will. And so when Joseph
died, as far as dad is concerned, guess who became
the favorite? Benjamin, naturally. And all the
brothers knew this. And so dad is thinking, I've
already lost one son, my first favorite son.
I am not going to risk my second one. And this
may be speculative or reading into a little bit,
but I think there's a possibility dad has had
been harboring maybe a little seed of doubt about
the story of Joseph all of these years, right?
I mean, the reality is, is he saw the blood on
the jacket, and he's like, he's dead, but he
knew his sons, especially Simeon and Levi, who
went and slaughtered all the people in Shechem.
He knew his sons. Parents tend to know their
kids pretty well and their personalities, and
maybe there was this little bit of like, yeah,
last time Joseph was with you guys, he disappeared.
He died. I'm not sending Benjamin with you. Maybe
someone else, but not with you guys. So you go,
Benjamin's gonna stay here. And if that was the
case, if there was some distrust from dad, I'm
sure the boys felt that, right? So just another
way for the guilt to be brought up. Egypt, oh
my goodness. Benjamin ain't going with you, oh
wow. Well, we know why, because of what we did
to Joseph. Verse five, the sons of Israel were
among those who came to buy grain, for the famine
was in the land of Canaan. Now, just quick aside
here on this, you know, just notice the promised
land wasn't spared from the famine. God's people
are not immune from hardship. We're not. People
who say, hey, you need to give your life to the
Lord because everything will be great after that
are lying to you. How many of you, when you gave
your life to the Lord, things got quite a bit
worse for a while? Yeah. Why? Because the devil
is mad. He lost one. And so now if he couldn't
keep you from getting saved, he's going to do
everything you can to either drive you away from
it or keep you from bothering to grow in it.
But God's people aren't immune. Sometimes a famine
is not punishment. Like sometimes the things
we experience, the hardships, are because of
our poor decisions, their consequences. But sometimes
a famine is preparation. Sometimes it's a situation
God is orchestrating to drive you to a place
that he's leading you to go for the purpose of
repentance and healing. And just because we're
God's kids doesn't mean he won't discipline us.
He disciplines us to refine us and to position
us and to prepare us for the redemption moment.
And so, verse six, Joseph was in charge of the
country. He sold grain to all its people. His
brothers came and bowed down before him with
their faces. to the ground. And when Joseph saw
his brothers, he recognized them. Oh man, can
you imagine this moment for Joseph? 22 years
ago, he had a dream. 17 -year -old young man
went to his brothers, guys, I had this really
cool dream. Essentially, in the dream, you all
bow down to me. Isn't that cool? And they're
like, we hate you. He has another dream. Well,
maybe they'll like me if I tell them this dream.
Hey, guys, it's not just you. It's mom and dad
and the whole family. Let's go tell dad. Dad's
like, what? Brother's like, see, we hate him.
And now here we are 22 years later. Joseph is
standing there. He sees his brothers, and they're
bowing down. What an amazing moment of faith
building, right? Joseph has had these experiences
through his life where God spoke to him and then
things happened, right? That confirms I did hear
from the Lord. God was speaking to me and then
here is this long running one, 22 years until
the fruition happens. And so his 10 bearded brothers
are in front of him, older now, still recognizable
to him. you know, this dream, the fulfillment
of this dream, the dream they mocked. They had
no idea it was being fulfilled. They just thought
they were standing before someone very powerful,
someone who had what they needed to live. And
for Joseph, it's just this reminder, you know,
God's promises aren't canceled because we suffer.
God's promises aren't canceled because of delay.
We often think that, right? God made a promise
to me and we're like, It's been five minutes.
What's going on, Lord? I know you're busy with
like, you know, eternity in the universe, but
five minutes. And then it's a whole day. I mean,
right? I'm done. God isn't real. A whole day
has gone by in his promises. But we've read so
many stories through Genesis of years and years
and years and years. And yet God's promises are
always fulfilled. in his timing. For Joseph,
man, yeah, a reminder, God's word never fails.
It never fails, although it may wait. And when
I say wait, that's from our perspective, right?
Because God's not waiting. It's gonna be fulfilled
exactly when he determined it would be. But for
us, we need to be patient. So Joseph saw his
brothers. He recognized them, but he treated
them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.
Where do you come from, he asked. From the land
of Canaan to buy food, they replied. Although
Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not
recognize him. So he has the advantage here,
obviously, right? They're 22 years older, but
he still recognizes who they are, but they don't
recognize him, and why would they? Right, Joseph
is like, he's in full Egyptian cosplay right
now. He's a part of the culture, not his character.
He's a godly man, but he's wearing the Egyptian
clothing and the robes and the gold collar around
his neck. He probably has the eyeliner on that
all the Egyptians wore, right? He looks Egyptian,
no beard, because the Egyptians were clean -shaven.
And then verse 23 tells us that he's speaking
to them through a translator. So he's not even
speaking Hebrew, he's speaking Egyptian. Why
would they recognize him? And sometimes that's
where we find ourselves when God is reawakening
our conscience. And we stand before the very
means of our salvation. And we don't realize
it's him. We just think, I need what I need.
And he speaks to them like strangers, it says,
and harsh. It means unkind. He was kind of mean
to them. He was kind of like treating them like
the other foreigners. Who are you? Why are you
here? You know, you're not Egyptian. And it was
probably how they expected to be treated, to
be quite honest. But when you look at it, you
go, why is Joseph being mean? And we can't forget
that even though Joseph is a Christ figure, he's
not Christ. Joseph is still human. And so there's
possible motivations behind this where Joseph
is possibly, struggling and wrestling with, oh
my gosh, they're here. They're at my power. They're
under, I can do whatever I want to them. That's
speculative, but I'll tell you why I think some
of that might be there in a little bit. But what
God is doing here is bringing them through this
process of revealing their sin to have them face
it. accept responsibility for it so that they
could lead to or get to redemption. It's their
character being revealed here. They're going
through this process that is very intentional.
You see, in Hebrews chapter 12, verse five and
seven, it says, and have you forgotten the exhortation
that addresses you as sons? My son, do not take
the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when
you are reproved by him for the Lord disciplines
the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.
Endure suffering as discipline. God is dealing
with you as sons. For what son is there that
a father does not discipline? We go through bad
stuff. It's easy for us to go, God's mad at me.
If God was mad at me, things wouldn't be difficult.
The Bible kind of says that's wrong. Well, if
God was happy with me, everything would be good.
If I do things God's way 100 % of the time, he'll
bless me 100 % of the time. Not true. God's ways
do lead to blessing, yes. God's ways are always
the right way. But does that mean that you're
gonna find yourself in a situation where there's
no suffering, no difficulty, if you're doing
what God wants you to do? No, he'll take you
through things as he is molding you and shaping
you to be the person he wants you to be. For
these guys right now, they are God's people,
right? They are God's chosen. And they are being
disciplined here, in a sense, for the things
they've done. They are being faced with what
they have done. And it says, endure suffering
as discipline. When God is disciplining you,
it's because he loves you. He loves you. I'm
going to go out on a limb here and say something.
I think the most unloving thing a parent can
do for a child is not discipline them. Oh, but
we don't tell our kids no. Now, I'm not saying
how you discipline. Every parent has their different
way to discipline. But the Bible is very clear
that discipline comes from love. Now, I'm not
talking about abuse. Abuse is criminal and wrong.
But in some ways, in many ways, our culture has
said discipline equals abuse. And that's not
true. Proverbs tells us things like, you know,
spare the rod, spoil the child. I think if there
was more spankings, there might be less issues
in society today. But again, not abuse. Not beatings.
That's wrong. But it's like society has thrown
out the baby with the bathwater on that. Don't
say no. You have to say no or your kid's going
to kill themselves. I was sitting with James
once and I sit in the morning, I make coffee
and then we sit down and we watch cartoons and
it's great fun and I love it. And then I was
sitting there and I went, I need to get up and
get some coffee. And James like, Jumps out of
the seat and runs over there and reaches up on
the counter to start pulling the coffee pot off.
No! Papa want coffee. Papa will get coffee himself.
Now, we've got to say the no's and we've got
to discipline and it's a biblical thing here
and it tells us right there in Hebrews that the
Lord disciplines the one he loves. Because he
knows what's right for us and he knows what's
wrong for us. And when we're doing the thing
that's gonna be wrong for us and hurt us, he
steps in. So this situation with the brothers
here, they're being treated unkind, being treated
harshly by Joseph. We'll get to that. But God
is allowing this situation because he needs to
get them to a place where they're gonna think,
where they're gonna listen, where they're gonna
realize, where they're gonna start to contemplate
right, wrong, guilt, innocence, consequence.
So verse nine. Joseph remembered his dreams about
them and said to them, you are spies. You have
come to see the weakness of the land. No, my
lord. Your servants have come to buy food, they
said. We are all sons of one man. We are honest.
Your servants are not spies. No, he said to them.
You have come to see the weakness of the land.
But they replied, we, your servants, were 12
brothers. The sons of one man in the land of
Canaan. The youngest is now with our father and
one is no longer living. And then Joseph said
to them, I have spoken, you are spies. You like
the voice? I don't know if that's his voice,
but it sounds authoritative. So sometimes grace
wears the disguise of severity. It feels severe.
Grace. Grace is defined as receiving something
you don't deserve. But sometimes receiving the
thing you don't deserve can feel severe. It can
feel difficult, right? They come before him.
He recognizes them. He says, you are spies. Now,
to jump into that a little bit, this is speculative
as well, but a lot of commentators think that
this whole process of you are spies. No, we're
not. Yes, you are. No, we're not. Yes, you are.
is duplicating what Joseph experienced when he
was sent by his father to go check on his brothers.
You remember when the brothers were like, we
hate Joseph, we hate that stupid jacket he has.
We're gonna take all the sheep and go 60 miles
north to graze the sheep. And dad's like, hey
Joseph, you told me the truth about what they
were doing before. Can you go check on your brothers
for me? So some commentators think that that
whole situation, even though it's not detailed
this way in scripture, went down in a very similar
way. Hi guys. What are you here to spy on us?
You're a spy for dad. No, I'm not. I just, I
just, dad sent me to check on you. And so, no,
you're a spy. Honest, guys. Honest. I just, I
mean, I'm just trying to do what dad wants and
why are you guys so mad at me? Nope, you're a
spy for dad. Commentators think it might have
went down that way. Doesn't say that specifically,
but interesting thing to talk about. But regardless,
Joseph is turning their accusations back on them,
right? The accusers are now the accused, and
so they're being put in the position that kind
of they put Joseph in 22 years ago. Now, when
they say one is no longer living, I can imagine
that probably stung a little bit, right? He's
like, I'm right here. But what they said was
indeed true, right? It was honest. And what's
happening here? I think God is using reciprocal
experience to further wake up their conscience.
See, sadly, one of the best ways we learn the
effect of our sins and actions is when we suffer
the effect of that sin and that action. We lie
to someone and it devastates them and it devastates
our friendship. And we're like, what's the big
deal? It was just a lie. But then someone lies
to you. and it devastates you, and it hurts your
heart, and it breaks that friendship, feels different,
doesn't it? It's not such a big deal anymore.
Have you ever had that happen? That moment where
you realize what you did to someone else because
someone did it to you, and you're like, ouch,
that hurts. That doesn't feel good at all. Is
that what it felt like for that person who all
these years I've been like, it wasn't a big deal?
and yet it was a big deal to them, and you've
never reconciled, and you just buried that sin?
One of my favorite things to share with people
in counseling when they're like, so -and -so
did this to me, and I can't, and I'm struggling
with it, and I'm like, have you ever done that
to God? Well, yeah. They lied to me. Have you
ever lied to God? Well, yeah. How did he respond?
Is he holding a grudge? Well, no. Is he mad at
you? No. Is he holding it against you? Is he
going to get vengeance? No. He kind of died on
the cross for that sin and welcomed me back with
open arms and said, I forgive you. Well, what
am I supposed to do? What do you think you're
supposed to do? It's right there. It's right
there. And so, you know, pain can be a wonderful
mirror. A truth can often be revealed when we're
on the receiving end of something. And so, God,
I think lets things happen this way often. We
wrong someone, we suppress it, we move on, then
life turns it around on us, right? Puts us on
the receiving end of something very similar,
and suddenly our conscious wakes up. Oh my gosh.
That thing I've always considered as, ah, not
a big deal, suddenly I'm starting to recognize
the gravity of what I've done. I'm starting to
recognize that it was wrong. You know, the old
law of sowing and reaping, it's not just about
external things. It's internal as well. It causes
us to remember seeds of sin that we buried long
ago and forgotten about. And God does that on
purpose. So, verse 15. This is how you will be
tested. As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will
not leave this place unless your youngest brother
comes here. So send one from among you to get
your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned
so that your words can be tested to see if they
are true. If they are not, then as surely as
Pharaoh lives, you are spies. So Joseph imprisoned
them together for three days. Now for the brothers,
maybe this was a glimmer of hope. Like, we're
telling you the truth, sir. You're spies, come
on. And then he goes, okay, this is how we're
gonna find out. It's just funny, right? Things
are being turned around on them. They were the
accusers of Joseph. Now they're the ones being
accused by Joseph. They're the ones that threw
Joseph into the cistern. Now Joseph is the one
throwing them into prison. But three days in
prison for them is nowhere near long enough to
satisfy the 22 years of guilt that they have,
right? They've been carrying guilt for a long
time of this. They thought it was buried. God's
bringing it back up and shoving it in their face.
They're having to face it. They're having to
deal with it. But this isn't about, you know,
tit for tat and payback and all that. God is
allowing this because he's giving them time to
sit and think and ponder and reflect on all that
is taking place. Three days to connect sin and
consequence. Three days to start talking about,
gosh, man, Egypt, Joseph, dad, Benjamin. Maybe
they hadn't even brought it up for 22 years.
Because we could be really good about not talking
about our secret sins, right? Maybe somebody,
and we're going to see that they finally do go,
guys, I think I know why this is all happening.
You know, silence is something God uses to form
repentance in our hearts. It's not rushed very
often. We want to rush people to repentance.
You know, we have a friend or family member,
somebody, and they finally start asking questions
about God, and we're like, get saved right now!
They're not there yet. They're not there yet.
It's a process. And this process that they're
going through here is this process of being alone
with their thoughts. And they're in their head
and they're rolling things over and chewing on
it and all of that. And when that happens to
us, it's God letting us come to the conclusions.
It's God letting us through the influence of
the Holy Spirit to realize. Especially when we're
hurt. I mean, imagine them sitting in prison.
We didn't do anything wrong. Why are we in prison?
All we did was come to get food and we have money
and what's going on? Oh. You guys remember, Joseph
didn't deserve to be thrown in that cistern.
And yet we did it anyways. It's that silence
where it just brews. Sometimes we're sharing
with people and everything. We're giving them
the Lord, and we get frustrated, honestly. A
lot of us get frustrated. I've been inviting
them to church, and they won't come. What's wrong
with them? So we start to get mad and frustrated
with people. You need Jesus. Maybe we started
out kind, but we get a little more agitated as
they push back and they're not interested. We're
like, ugh. We cannot change anybody's heart.
But guess who can? God. And when they're going
to bed and it's all silent and it's dark and
they're in their head, guess who can speak to
them? God. Now, in your head is the safest place
to talk about things you're uncomfortable with
because nobody can hear your voice. There's a
fly. I'll try not to be distracted. In your head
is where you can contemplate things that you
wouldn't admit to anybody. And in someone's head
is where the Spirit of God speaks. When they
start to go, was that thing I did wrong? And
they start to go, yeah, I think it was. We can't
go in there. And so on the outside, I always
encourage people, I'm like, continue to share
truth, but be kind. Try not to get frustrated.
Try not to get mad at them because they're not
hearing you. Did you get saved the very first
time you ever heard anything about the Lord?
The second time, the tenth time? Most of us not.
But it's here in this prison that God is allowing
them to start to talk about what they had done.
to start to connect their present circumstances
to the past. And so verse 18, on the third day,
Joseph said to them, I fear God. Do this and
you will live. If you are honest, let one of
you be confined to the guardhouse and the rest
of you will go and take grain to relieve the
hunger of your households. Bring your youngest
brother to me so that your words can be confirmed
and then you won't die. And they consented to
this. There's all kinds of confusion going on
for them right now. You're spies. No, we're not.
You're spies. We're honest. You're spies. This
is how we're gonna find out. One of you's gonna
go home and get your brother. We can't get Benjamin.
Dad's not gonna let that happen. But that's what
you're gonna do. All right, so one of you's gonna
go and the rest of you are gonna stay here. And
then boom, they're all thrown into the prison.
Well, if we're all in prison, how's one of us
supposed to go get Benjamin? Which we can't do
anyways. Man, this is a really difficult situation.
Three days go by. Joseph, second most powerful
man in the land, opens the door, and what's the
first thing out of his mouth? I fear God. What
is God doing in the process here? I'm sorry,
but he's like right in my face, so. What did
this Egyptian just say? Did you hear what he
just said? You see, to understand this, we've
got to jump into a little Hebrew here, okay?
When Pharaoh said to Joseph, when Joseph came
out and interpreted the dream, Pharaoh said,
since God has made this known to you, da -da
-da -da -da, and rose him up. The word God there
in the Hebrew is Elohim. It's a word that means
mighty one. It's not a word that refers to God
Almighty, the God, Yahweh as the Hebrews knew
him. It just refers to a mighty one. Sometimes
when you're talking to people about the Lord
and stuff and you're saying, no, there's one
God, they'll quote verses like, well, there's
places in the Bible where it says council of
gods. And aren't you a council of gods and blah,
blah, blah? You know, this is the answer to that,
right? Council of gods, plural. It's the word
Elohim, plural. Elohim means mighty ones. It
doesn't only refer to supernatural gods. In the
Old Testament, the judges, the people that were
in control of things, they were referred to as
gods because they had power over everything.
Elohim. Make sense? Okay. Joseph here, when he
says, I fear God, he doesn't just say Elohim.
He says, et ha Elohim. In the grammatical structure
in Hebrew, what he said to them is, I fear the
God. That was his way in his Egyptian garb, in
his Egyptian language, to tell them, I'm talking
about God. Your God. I fear the God. The one
true God. It's pretty amazing that he said it
that way. You can imagine their shock, right?
Number two guy in Egypt, wait, you're talking
about Yahweh? You're talking about our God? You're
not talking about Horus or all those? And, you
know, in this process, sometimes God will speak
through unexpected people to get your attention.
In my story of coming to know the Lord, when
I was 19, 18, I was working at Target. Didn't
know the Lord, partying, living in the world.
I was at work one day and I went up to help this
old lady that was looking at the VCRs. And, you
know, my job was just go help, right? You guys
remember VCRs, right? Some of you are like, what
is that? I was helping this lady make fire, okay?
So, and... She's looking at it and she was just
a sweet old lady and I could tell she's reading
the boxes and she doesn't get it. And so I walk
up to her and I'm like, excuse me, ma 'am, can
I help you? Now, this is exactly how it went
down. I'm gonna turn sideways because you are
all me in this story. She's looking at the VCRs.
Ma 'am, can I help you with anything? And she
goes, where is your relationship with God? And
I'm like, what? No lie, this is then what happens.
She kind of blinks. What's the difference between
a forehead and a two -head VCR? And I'm, what?
Spooky. Got my attention. Scared me a little.
I didn't bring it up. I'm not going to bring
up, you know, Crypt Keeper lady going to talk
to me like, oh, speaker, ghost. A few years later,
I'm working at a different job. Now I'm working
with the guy who's the guy who actually led me
to Christ. He was backslidden in his own life,
but he believed in the Lord and just had issues,
but he would always talk to me about God every
day at work, and we would go to stores and stock
shelves and drive to another store and stock
shelves. And one day, I'm at a pavilion's there
to stock our company's product. And, you know,
we were told that, you know, just be helpful
while you're at work. And so, same thing. I'm
going through. I cut through the toilet paper
and paper towel aisle. And there's this older
lady there. And she's just kind of looking and
stuff. And so, I just stop. And, excuse me, ma
'am, do you need help with anything? Different
lady. Same exact thing happens. She turns and
looks at me. Where's your relationship with God?
And I'm like, whoa. And then blink, blink, turns
back and goes, which one of these are on sale?
So guess what I told my friend who had been witnessing
to me for about a year and a half at that point?
Bro, you're not going to believe what happened
today. Now, I didn't get saved on the spot, but
unlikely people to speak. It may be someone you
would never expect to even say anything about
God, and they're gonna speak something to you.
They're gonna say something to you. It gets your
attention. I think moral clarity is restored
by a renewed fear of God. I had a fear of God
in both of those moments. It probably wasn't
the right fear of God, but wow, it got my attention.
Now, you know, forgiveness is always grace. Forgiveness
is not something we earn, but But it's through
repentance. This process of coming to repentance
often includes really enough time for people
to actually face what they did and grieve it.
God will get your attention. God will say something,
right? This is what he's done with them. Egypt,
oh, we're facing our sin. We're facing exactly
what we did to our brother. And now God enters
back into the picture. I fear God. Wait, is he
talking about Yahweh? And now we're going to
get to these next verses where they finally start
to acknowledge what they've done. But he tells
them, bring your younger brother to me. I think
this is where Joseph may have still been wrestling
a little bit with his stuff. This is how I'm
going to know the truth. Go get Benjamin. It's
possible that this first thing was like, I don't
trust you guys. You guys are bad people. I'm
trying to save my little brother. Hey, go bring
him to me. And maybe Joseph's intent was to keep
Benjamin and get out of here. That's speculation,
but the idea is he tells them to do this, and
are they going to abandon Joseph? Are they going
to give him up to save their own skins just like
they did to me? There's all this possibility
here, but I want you to notice that the task
Joseph gives them after the three days is different
than the task before he threw him in prison.
Before he threw him in prison, he said, send
one of you to go get your brother. The rest of
you I'm going to throw in jail. And then he throws
them all in jail. And then three days later,
he comes back and he says, okay, this is how
we're gonna know if you're telling the truth.
Nine of you go back and one of you stays. What
changed between those two moments? I fear God.
That's what changed. Perhaps Joseph was being
harsher on them than the Lord had intended. Perhaps
there was a little bit of his own just like,
mm. I want to be forgiving, but I kind of want
to get them for what they did to me. Perhaps,
speculatively. But after three days, God influenced
Joseph in some way. Something happened. It doesn't
tell us whether it was a dream or this or that,
but something happened to where Joseph comes
back now, and the first thing out of his mouth
with his brothers is like, I fear God. Maybe
during those three days, God came to him in a
dream and says, do you really fear me? then why
are you treating them like this? I get it. I
understand your frustrations. If I was in your
place, maybe, but I'm not in your place and I'm
God and I want you to do what I want you to do.
Again, we don't know. But then after three days,
he comes back with the same task, but now the
task is altered. It's no longer send one of you
to go bring the brother back to me. It's like
he remembered the whole purpose they came. We're
starving. Our family's starving. And Joseph kind
of went from vengeance to compassion. Okay. Go
back with nine of you. I'm going to load you
up with green. I'm going to load you up with
food. Take all this back to the family. I'll
just keep one of you here. But still, you bring
Benjamin back to me. That's how we're going to
know you're telling the truth. Verse 21. Then
they said to each other, obviously we are being
punished for what we did to our brother. The
moment of confession has arrived. We saw his
deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we
would not listen. That is why this trouble has
come to us. But Reuben replied, didn't I tell
you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn't listen.
Now we must account for his blood. They did not
realize that Joseph understood them since there
was an interpreter between them. He turned away
from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke
to them, he took Simeon from them and had him
bound before their eyes. Joseph then gave orders
to fill their containers with grain, return each
man's silver to his sack, and give them provisions
for their journey. This order was carried out.
They loaded the grain on the donkeys and left
there. So all that God has done so far has led
to the point where the brothers finally, maybe
for the first time in 22 years, we don't know,
but the brothers amongst themselves are finally
saying, what we did was wrong. No excuses, no
deflection, no justification. This is godly guilt.
This is godly guilt and that is a grace from
God. Confession is the doorway to healing. That's
why God tells us in 1 John, confess your sin
that you may be healed. It's the pathway to dealing
with guilt because you can't heal what you refuse
to name. God, heal me from this thing that I'm
pretending doesn't exist. How about we talk about
it? How about we name it? Grace begins where
excuses end, and it's an honest confession that
God's mercy is invited in, right? God's mercy.
Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. It's
the opposite of grace. How is this God's mercy?
When we come to a place finally where old sins
have been brought to our face and we realize
and we've kind of experienced it and going, wow,
that really did hurt. I was so wrong. And we
finally come to the place of going, you know
what? I fully acknowledge that was wrong. It
was evil. It was wicked. I deserve punishment.
I deserve judgment for what I've done. God's
mercy is when he comes in and he goes, yep. but
I'm not going to. That's mercy. Not getting what
you do deserve. Now Joseph here, he's listening
and he's learning some things that I think are
necessary for the healing of his own soul. Wait
a second, Reuben, at least one of my brothers
didn't want to do this to me? Oh my gosh, for
22 years I thought they all just hated me to
the point of wanting to kill me. And now I'm
hearing that at least one of them was like, don't
do this? Oh my gosh, I mean imagine the healing
to his soul. He ties up Simeon. I think personally
that's because Simeon was the cruelest of all
the brothers. You remember back in Shechem when
Simeon and Levi went and slaughtered all the
guys? I think between Simeon and Levi, Simeon
was the most ruthless, the most wicked, the most
cruel. That's just a personal opinion, but he's
the one that gets tied up and held back. Verse
27, at the place where they lodged for the night,
one of them opened his sack to get feed for his
donkey and he saw the silver there at the top
of his bag. He said to his brothers, my silver
has been returned. It's here in my bag and their
hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another
and said, what has God done to us? Why are they
trembling? We gave the money to buy the food.
The money that we gave to buy the food is in
our sack. They're going to think we stole it.
They're going to think, oh my gosh, what happens?
We're so scared. But I believe also what's going
on here is we don't deserve that. They've been
faced with everything they've done. They've been
given a mercy. They've been given a grace. We're
going to let you go home with grain. And now
they find all their money there. It freaks them
out. It scares them. They don't deserve the money.
They just, they don't even deserve the food.
I mean, I think they're coming to this place
of understanding we deserve nothing after what
we have done. This is part of the process. We're
faced with our hidden and buried sin. Our conscious
awakens. We experience something that is the
same or similar ourselves. We realize the gravity
of the wrong we have done. And then something
happens that is unearned, unexpected, undeserved.
Somebody tells us there is a God in heaven who
knows every wrong you've ever committed and understands
how deep it is, and you understand how deep it
is now, and he loves you so much he wants to
forgive you. No way, I don't deserve that. I'm
unlovable. God can't love me. You've come to
the place of recognizing you're wrong. That's
a good place to be, but you're not done. And
they get something here they weren't expecting.
And, you know, for those who realize the depth
of their sin and are expecting judgment, grace
feels very unsafe. Grace is, oh, this doesn't
feel right. Because we understand justice. We
understand you do something wrong, there's a
penalty that you have to pay. But this isn't
a trap, it's an invitation. And so, for the first
time in the story, the brothers name God. What
has he done to us? Now they're in this frame
of mind that God is controlling things. And yet
their response is negative. You know, what has
he done to us? But this grace that has been given
upon and this kindness, it's awakened a godly
fear in them. Right, when you realize that there's
a God who loves you that is gonna judge sin,
but he's willing to forgive you and grant you
something you don't deserve, that creates a godly
fear. There's a clarity of morality, as I mentioned
earlier, that's like, who is this guy? Godly
fear is the beginning of wisdom. Grace trains
us to fear properly, not to despair. Grace is
what teaches us I deserve nothing. But God gave
it to me, and that means everything. It's not
that, oh my gosh, he's this big scary guy who's
waiting to throw a lightning bolt down on my
head. No, he's this great, infinitely loving
God who loved me so much that although I deserve
death and punishment, I deserve hell forever.
He's gonna not only sustain me and give me spiritual
food to eat, but then he's gonna bless me on
top of that. I can't deal with that kind of grace.
It's too much. But this undeserved kindness fostered
a fear in their souls, and it's kindness that
leads us to repentance, as Romans says. Verse
29. When they reached their father Jacob in the
land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened
to them. The man who is the Lord of the country
spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying
on the country. But we told him, we're honest
and not spies. We were 12 brothers, sons of the
same father. One is no longer living and the
youngest is now with our father in the land of
Canaan. The man who is Lord of the country said
to us, this is how I will know if you were honest.
Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve
the hunger of your households and go. Bring back
your youngest brother to me and I will know that
you are not spies but honest men. I will then
give your brother back to you and you could trade
in our country. So the grace of receiving their
money back, the repercussions of all of that,
both, oh my gosh, what if we get caught and then
the, why would they do this? All of that, having
to now fulfill a task that Noah's possible, dad's
not gonna let Benjamin go. They're in the process
of coming to terms with the gravity of what they've
done, the consequences of what they've done,
the fact that there's this thing out there that
is above and beyond justice and the penalty for
their due, that there's grace out there somehow,
and yet it's all bringing them to this place
of facing. The reality in realizing there is
nothing they can do to fix it. But it's really
cool that God doesn't abandon us in the process,
right? He finishes what he starts. And so we
have to be careful not to rush what God's doing,
but they're coming to the place of saying, we
realize we've done wrong, but Benjamin, there's
nothing we can do to fix this. Nothing. Verse
35, as they began emptying their sacks, there
in each man's sack was his bag of silver. Great!
How much grace can be lavished upon us? It's
too much. When they and their father saw the
bags of silver, they were afraid. Same reason.
What does this mean? Are we gonna get caught?
It doesn't feel safe. Their father Jacob said
to them, it's me that you make childless. Joseph
is gone and now Simeon is gone and now you wanna
take Benjamin? Everything happens to me. Then
Reuben said to his father, look, you can kill
my two sons if I don't bring them back to you.
Put them in my care and I will return them to
you. But Jacob answered, my son will not go down
with you for his brother is dead and he alone
is left. If anything happens to him on your journey,
you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in
sorrow. So Jacob is in full poor me mode. Understandable.
I've lost Joseph. Simeon's now in Egypt, and
now you want me to let you take Benjamin? You
guys are crazy. No way. You're nuts. Reuben,
finally acting as the leader he should have been
the whole time, steps up. And, you know, I believe
Reuben's own guilt over what he allowed, what
he participated in, his own guilt now is driving
him to make this really just dramatic pledge.
Dad, if you lose two sons, you can take my two
sons. That shows an incredible understanding
of what he has caused to his father, the pain
that he has caused his father. I'm willing to
go through that same pain because I get it, Dad.
I get how much I've sinned against you. But Jacob's
fear, based on incomplete information, it just
causes him to despair, to refuse, and if he only
knew. His beloved son was alive in that other
country, feeding nations, ruling. I mean, how
many times have we been there, right? God, everything's
against me. God, it's just everything's going
wrong, and this is just impossible, and I'm not
even going to try anymore. Nope. You can't have
that which is most precious to me, God. And the
Lord's just going, if you only knew what I was
arranging. If you would just let me finish the
chapter, we'll get there. But with their awakened
conscience, their dad's despair, their dad's
response, I believe, just drove that dagger of
guilt even deeper into their hearts, right? Now,
the chapter ends unresolved, and we'll pick up
the rest next time. But it ends here, and we're
ending here, because their story is still unfolding.
They haven't yet reached the point. And we just
have to understand, God doesn't rush redemption.
We want to rush redemption, but God doesn't rush
it. It took me 12 years from the point I was
introduced to the concept of God to the point
where I gave my life to him. 12 years. My mom,
it took 10 years before she fully embraced Christ.
Those were our journeys. Some of you, the first
time you heard about them, you're like, oh, it
makes sense, I'm saved. Great, hallelujah, that's
awesome. But most of us, it was a process, right?
It was a string of things God did to you. bring
our sin nature to the forefront and to bring
us to a place where it was now, oh, I've done
some things wrong, but here's my excuses and
everything. No, we got to the point where we
just finally went, yeah, I'm wicked. I've done
wrong, evil things. And then we gotta come to
the place of accepting that there's a God who
loves us. Because no, you can't love me, I'm
too bad. But finally we get there. God draws
us to that place and we go, God. I believe you'd
save me. Will you? And then you're redeemed.
And then you're redeemed. Everyone has a conscience.
It can be suppressed and ignored and seared,
but God can reawaken it. That's what he does.
And when he does, yeah, it can be painful, it
can be difficult, but that's grace and that's
mercy. And, you know, because the awareness of
our sin and the guilt and the sorrow and the
fear, all of that stuff, it's grace that leads
us to the place of repentance. You know, 2 Corinthians
7 .10 says, for godly grief produces a repentance
that leads to salvation without regret. God doesn't
bring these things up in our lives to condemn
us. There's a big difference between condemnation
and conviction. Condemnation drives you away
from God. Condemnation says you're done, you're
worthless, run as far as you can, he can't love
you, he'll never love you, you're unlovable.
And that's incidentally what the devil does,
condemns. But conviction says you sinned, you
did, it was bad. You're a sinner. You deserve
judgment. I know. I deserve bad judgment. Yeah.
There's nothing you could do about it. Benjamin's
not going to be released. You're done. But then
conviction says, but you can come home. It says
you can confess, you can repent, you can receive
grace. You don't have to be afraid of grace.
You could run from it. You could be saved. That's
what conviction does. Satan loves to use guilt
to defeat us. And every time Satan's whispering
those accusations into our ears, if we're honest,
most of them are true. You did this. I did. You
said this. I did. How dare you? You're right.
How dare me? God will never love you. Hold up
there, sir. God does love me. The Holy Spirit
uses guilt differently. He convicts us so that
we'll come to him desperate, saying, God, there's
nothing I could do to pay for my own sins. There's
no good I could do. I need you. It's only you.
And he goes, awesome. I'm glad you're home. Now,
if you have a long -buried, possibly forgotten
sin that maybe God has stirred up today, or maybe
he's been stirring it up recently, I believe
God's calling you home. I really believe that.
I believe God has reawakened your conscience
about that long buried sin so that you could
finally deal with it. Now, if it's a picture
of you've never come to the Lord, yeah, God is
going, look, be honest about who you are. Be
honest about what you've done. You're a sinner.
You've sinned. And that means punishment needs
to be meted out. You're guilty. That's why all
that's coming up. If you're a Christian today
and God's stirring all that up, you're saved.
But there's a poison in your life God wants to
get out so you can move past it and move on and
heal. God has awakened your consciousness today
not to condemn you, but to redeem you, to save
you, to lavish you with grace and mercy and forgiveness.
And so, yeah, today may be the day of your salvation
if God is speaking to you, if you're aware. If
you know, listen. Respond. Receive grace. Be
forgiven, saved, and redeemed forever. Let's
pray. Father, we do thank you, Lord, for your
word and everything that you are, everything
that you've done, everything that you example
for us. Lord, your word tells us that you so
loved The entire world. That's every single one
of us, God. That you gave your only begotten
son. So that out of that everyone, whoever would
choose to believe in you, to believe that you
were God come to this earth, that you died on
the cross to pay for us breaking your holy law,
to take the death penalty that was due to us
upon yourself. That if we would believe that
you then rose from the dead, breaking the power
of sin and death forever, that if we would believe
in you, if we would confess that with our mouths
and believe in our heart, we would be saved.
And so God, I don't know who is here today that
needed to hear this message, but I know they
needed to hear it. And I know, God, you've been
speaking to them through this whole study. And,
Lord, I know you've been drawing them. And so,
God, I pray that they're listening. If you're
here in this room this morning and you've never
committed your life to Jesus Christ, while we're
praying, just head bowed, this is between you
and God right now. If God has been speaking to
you, if you've been going through that process
of having these old things like stirred back
up and brought in front of your mind, and that
has led you a place of feeling guilty because
you know it's wrong, you know it's bad, and there's
that emptiness, that yearning to, I deserve punishment,
but I want to be forgiven. I want to be set free
from this guilt. If that is you this morning,
God is here to forgive you. God is here to save
you, but you have to receive the gift he offers
you. He doesn't force it upon you. You have to
say, yes, God, I believe in you, and please forgive
me. And he will. So if that's you sitting here
right now while our heads bowed and eyes are
closed, I just want you to raise your hand where
you're seated. You don't need to stand up or
anything like that. Just raise your hand and
say, yes, I want to be saved today. I want to
be forgiven. God bless you. I want that guilt
to be dealt with and gone because I get it. I've
sinned. I get it. It's bad. And it's tearing
me up. If you want to receive Jesus today, just
raise your hand. Let me see it. And I'll pray
with you this morning. God bless you. If there's
any of you in this room this morning and you're
a Christian already, you've confessed, you believe
in God, you've received him. But maybe this morning
God has been going, hey, remember that thing?
Remember that that you buried a year ago, 10
years ago, 40 years ago? Remember that sin that
you've just tried to forget and maybe you thought
you got away with? You didn't. I know it's there.
And the guilt inhibits what I want to do in your
life and I want to free you from that. If that's
you this morning, I want you to raise your hand
and let me pray with you this morning. God bless
you. Anybody else? God bless you in the back
and all over the room. God bless you guys. Because
this is the moment, this is the place where that
healing begins. Anybody else? God has pointed
it out to you. You know it and you want to unbury
it finally and get rid of it finally. Raise your
hand and let me pray with you this morning. In
the back, I see you. On the side as well, I see
you right here in the middle. In the front, I
see you as well. God, you are here. God, you
see every hand that has been raised. You see
the heart. Lord, because you've already been
doing the work. God, for those that don't know
you, Lord, they've never had that relationship
and they've confessed today that they know they
need salvation. They want to be free from the
penalty and the guilt and all that is. They want
to be able to leave that stuff with you. I pray,
Lord, that as in their own hearts, as they say,
God, please forgive me. Save my soul. Please
cleanse me of guilt. Please take condemnation
away from me. Thank you for loving me, and thank
you for saving me. Lord, for those that are believers
here today, God, you don't abandon us, God, and
we're still sinners, and you're still working,
and God, for all who have raised their hand today,
Lord, that you've maybe revealed a secret sin,
a buried sin, something long left that you have
now today brought to the forefront and just kind
of hitting them with it over and over so that
there's no possibility of forgetting again, Lord.
You've done this that you may be able to extend
the grace and the mercy and repentance. And so,
Lord, I pray that those that have done that,
God, as we pray together and say, God, I've sinned.
I am a sinner. I'm so grateful for the salvation
you've given me. I am so grateful for the areas
of my life you have changed me. But, God, this
thing, I've kept it buried too long. I've tried
to ignore it. I've tried to pretend it doesn't
exist or it's not as bad as it really is. And
God, I just, I don't want to live in guilt. I
believe your word that says I'm free from these
things. And so God, I choose to not live that
way anymore. God, tell me what you want to do
to resolve this long -buried sin. Give me wisdom,
whether it's I have to talk to somebody, I have
to go somewhere, I have to lay something down,
I have to resolve a situation, whatever it may
be, God. Show me. And through the power of the
Holy Spirit, lead me. to deal with and resolve
this sin I've held on to. And I trust you, and
I trust your word that you will set me free,
that I will be healed. You've done that in other
areas of my life already, Lord. I know you'll
do it in this one. Thank you for loving me so
much that you would be so patient with me. waiting
for me to come to this moment. But I'm here.
Let's get to work. Let's deal with what we need
to deal with. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Well, guys, I pray that God would just bless
you. Those of you that got stuff to deal with,
it's going to be hard. It's going to be scary.
It's going to be uncomfortable. If taking a brother
or sister with you and dealing with it is going
to provide you support, do that. You have people
who love you around you who are right with you
to say, I'm here. I want to see you free too.
That's what we are as the family of Christ. If
it's something you have to deal with privately,
God is with you and you're not alone. But don't
wait. You've waited too long already. Freedom
is right before you. We have a whole new year.
Let's do things different. Let's do things better.
Let's yield ourselves to him better. Let's shine
brighter for him and maybe this is the first
step in dealing with some of those dark things.
Get rid of him. Let him do his work. We're gonna
close in worship. I pray that we all, every single
one of us, praise God. Praise God for the one
that, he's the one that delivers us. He's the
one that sets us free. He's the one that does
what we can't. And praise God for what your year
is going to be like as you're free from the hidden
sins. Amen? God bless you guys.