The End of the plan
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Enjoying the drive in Service
Enjoying the drive in Service
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Introduction
Introduction
Great to have you back out this morning.
We are going to be in the book of Genesis this morning, chapter 50.
We are on our third and final installment of our series “Recalculating: When God changes plans”
Over the last two weeks we saw our need to accept God’s will and glorify Him during what He has for us and we saw that we can’t do it alone. We can’t go through life without Christ and we definitely can’t go through a crisis without Christ.
Today I want us to explore the end fo the plan and see what we should expect from God.
It’s not wrong to have expectations, especially when you are told what will be or what will happen.
For instance, it’s not wrong to expect your husband to grab milk from the store when he tells you he will. It’s wrong to expect him to also know that he should grab bread, cheese, cereal, and soda when you didn’t ask him to and he didn’t tell you.
In the Bible we can find many different areas of scripture where we are either directly told what to expect from God or we see through His character and relationship with individuals or the nation of Israel who he is and how He interacts with us.
For instance I can say with confidence I expect God to never lie
Titus 1:2
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
I can expect that if I trust in Jesus as my savior, I will be saved
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 10:13
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
I can also expect that, if I love God and am saved, then all things will work out for good.
Rom 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Our text today comes at the end of the life of Jacob who is also known as Israel, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. Of His 12 sons there was one named Joseph.
If your familiar with the story of Joseph then you know that his life was full of crisis and changes of plans.
For those that may not be, let me give you a quick recap.
Joseph was the 11th of 12 siblings and was His father’s favorite. He was given a coat of many colors and shared a dream with his family that they would one day bow down to him.
His brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. From there he worked in a house where the woman of the home tried to have her way with him and when he refused she accused of forcing himself on her.
He was thrown into prison where after 10 years he was called into the presence of pharoah to interpret a dream. He did so, it came true, and resulted in him now being #2 in Egypt. Everyone was beneath him except for Pharoah.
His brothers came to Egypt because of a famine in the land. Long story short, Joseph forgave them, they brought their dad Israel down, and he lived is last days there.
We pick up in Genesis immediately following the death of Jacob.
Follow along with me as I read
Gen 50:15-21
15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
PRAY
Notice first with me that the brothers were now filled with Fear
I. Filled with Fear
I. Filled with Fear
The father had just died and now they are afraid Joseph is going to turn on them.
This fear is completely unfounded because when Joseph revealed himself to them earlier on and we can see the forgiveness offered through his actions.
Gen 45:1-8
1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
These brothers in a moment of crisis had forgotten the words of Joseph and delivered to him a sad message
A. A Sad Misunderstanding
A. A Sad Misunderstanding
I’d like for to take a moment and put yourself in the shoes of the brothers. Here they are after the death of their father, a time of crisis if you will, and are uncertain of their future.
The first thing they do is being to talk amongst themselves of what COULD happen.
May I counsel you for a moment. Please don’t spend your time thinking about what COULD happen without a biblical perspective. That’s what they did. They looked at their circumstances and immediately went to the worst possible scenario.
“Joseph will get his revenge”
What if they had remembered the words and actions of their brother from years before? What if they had faith in their brother based on what he had said and what he had done?
Do you think they would have come to the same conclusion? I don’t.
Instead though, they decided to rely upon their own understanding.
This is the state we will find ourselves in when we neglect the Word of God and all that He has said and done.
We will see ourselves in the worst of scenarios.
however none of us are finding ourselves in as dire straits as the Apostle Paul when He wrote
Phil 4:11
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
The book of Philippians is known as a prison epistle. Paul was in a Roman prison when he wrote this statement. The entire book of Philippians is known as a book about joy.
Where did that joy come from? His circumstances? nope. His good health? Nope. Paul had an affliction of the flesh that is believed to be something with his eyes.
So where did the joy come from? Where did the ability to rejoice and praise God come from during these trials?
It came from faith in God and a remembrance of all that He had said and done.
You to can find that contentment and joy that Paul had and wrote about by remembering the words of God and what He has done.
Remembering that He loves you. Remembering that He desires good things for you. Remembering that He sent Jesus to die for you. Remembering that He wants you to have an abundant life.
We become like these brothers though when we forget these things and look only to ourselves or our circumstances for our joy.
It leads us to begin spreading a Sad message.
B. A Sad Message
B. A Sad Message
Now the brothers are taking some action on their misunderstanding. They send a messenger to Joseph regarding their circumstances.
The message is one based on their own foolishness though and not their faith in their brother.
Joseph is a type of Christ in the Old Testament. That means we see traits of Jesus in his life.
So it’s not wrong for us to make the connection here between the words of Joseph to His brothers and the words of God to us.
So when we go to God in prayer let’s seek to have the right persepctive. If you believe you don’t have a good perspective, who should you ask to enlighten you on the situation? The same one you need to go to about it.
Practically speaking I believe having the right perspective helps us go from “God why?” “God, I don’t know why, but I know you’ve got this. Help me to see your will and live it out.”
The brothers didn’t just go to Joseph with this sad message…they got someone else involved.
When they got this messenger involved and he heard it, what do you think that did to the messengers idea of Jospeh?
Now, I’m not telling you not to share prayer requests with others, I am telling you not have a woe is me mentality regarding your situation.
These brothers had lost their faith in Joseph and believed now the worst would happen to them because of it.
Was that the truth though? No. Why not? Because unlike the brothers that were filled with fear, Joseph was filled with faith.
II. Filled with Faith
II. Filled with Faith
Follow along in verses 19-21
Gen 50:19-21
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Joseph has a completely different response than these brothers expected.
The brothers looked at Joseph as if he was like them but he was completely different.
He had endured hardship. He had lived a life filled with unexpected turns and circumstances. During all of it though, he remained faithful.
Not once did he curse God. Not once do we find him complaining of his situation.
The brothers were living without faith but Joseph was living a life of faith.
The difference is apparent in our text today as to what the result of the two ways of living is.
The brothers had fear, Joseph had faith. The faith that he had resulting in him understanding grace. Which is why when his brothers came to him in this manner he was able to bestow a forgiving grace.
B. Forgiving Grace
B. Forgiving Grace
What is grace? The grace of God is His unmerited favor. It is something you don’t deserve but He is giving to you anyway.
We would say with our humanistic thinking that Joseph had every right to be angry with his brothers and cast them into a pit or into jail. They had “ruined” his life.
No…They tried to ruin his life. Jospeh understood then what Paul taught in
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
God’s got this. Trust in Him and it will work out.
But you know what…it may not work out how you thought it would.
It may not be glamorous, it may not be without pain, it may not be without heartache, it may not be without physical ailments.
No matter what it looks like while your going through it, we know what it looks like in the end.
Quick question for you…have you noticed that every stage of life is filled with problems?
I was listening to an audio book by John Maxwell recently and he said something or wrote something however you want to look at that, that I believe is vital for us as Christians to understand, accept, and move forward with.
He said,, and forgive me if its not a direct quote, “When we understand that life always has problems we will stop trying to get rid of the problems and start trying to solve the ones we have.”
Let me help you see that in light of scripture.
When you understand and accept that God promises trials and tribulations, you will stop focusing on getting rid of them and start trying to please God with the circumstances you are given at this time.”
What does that look like practically? It’s not complaining to everyone around you or on social media about your circumstances. It’s glorifying God through your tribulations.
I have a friend named Kevin that will hopefully be out here this August to speak for our church on parenting.
In his mid 30s with 3 kids from 5-11 and one on the way was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. Throughout that process I never heard him complain. I saw pain. I saw a well built and physically fit Marine wither down to almost nothing. I saw sadness in his eyes as he spoke of the uncertainty of his future and his families.
I also got to see faith. I got to see what real faith looks like. I got to see a man give glory to God through it all. I got to see a man witness to other Military members at the wounded warrior regiment and lead them to the Lord.
Kevin is now retired from the Marine Corps with 5 kids, a couple businesses, and is serving in the role of deacon at his church in California.
He doesn’t know if the Melanoma will come back…he doesn’t know if he’s promised tomorrow…but he has faith that the end of the journey will work out for good.
Joseph had forgiving grace that came from a life of faith.
He also showed restoring grace.
B. Restoring Grace
B. Restoring Grace
Joseph said to his brothers…I’m not God, I’m not here to judge your actions. You thought evil against me but God worked it out for good. Now as he took care of me, I’m going to take care of you and your children.
Joseph took these men who had done evil, who had lost their faith, and restored them to their positions as brothers.
That’s what Jesus does for us.
He takes us from where we are and when we out our faith in Him for salvation, He redeems us from sin and we become adopted into the family of God.
When we have lost our way…when we have lost faith…when we have forgotten His Words and His deeds towards us....He is there with grace that abounds and that is sufficient for us.
He is that with the grace to forgive and restore us if we will just yield oursselves to Him.
The journey may not be what you expect. The plan you had may not play out as you imagined it would. You may have to perform some recalculations.
Just remember: Accept God’s will because it is good and will work out, Don’t do it alone you need Jesus, and at the end of the plan know that the grace of God is sufficient for you. Seek Jesus and the grace will follow.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are you here this morning and don’t know Jesus? Are you here today and unsure that God loves you?
Your unsure of tomorrow. Your faith has been in yourself or in some religious system. Have you seen how empty that type of life is? That leads to fear…but a life of faith leads to grace.
TIME OF RESPONSE
Are you hear today and don’t know Jesus at all? You’ve never heard some of the things I spoke about this morning. You’ve been unclear as to what it meant to “be saved.”
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.The gospel is the death burial and resurrection of Christ.Christ came so that you could be saved. Because as you can’t go through a crisis alone, you can’t go to Heaven on your own.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Rom 10:9, 13
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Christians, are you living by faith this morning? Do you find yourself content no matter what your state? Choose to give glory to God daily and you’ll be living out your faith rather than your fear.
If your here this morning and want to trust Jesus as your savior I want you to know that’s very easy. If you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead, then you are saved.
If you just made the decision to trust Jesus as your Savior I want you to help you confirm that with a prayer. The words of the prayer mean nothing but what you believe in your heart means everything.“Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, I believe you came to die on the cross and rose from the dead. I put my faith right now in you and ask you to come into my life and change me from the inside out. Amen.”
PRAY
If you made that decision this morning I want you to make sure you fill out that form on lbcbristol.org/drivein or send us an email at info@lbcbristol.org. I have a gift I want to send you. I want to rejoice in your decision with you. I want to pray for you. I want to talk to you about the next step of faith you can take to deepen your relationship with Jesus.At this time I want to thank you again for coming out. Our worship team is making their way back out to play and sing a closing chorus and while they sing I’d like to ask you to give your attention to the parking team that has vests on for direction to leave.