WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:23.440 Father, it's the joy of our hearts to sing of the power of the name of Jesus. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:28.000 And yet it's an even deeper, greater joy to experience it. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:39.759 And so, God, I pray in this moment, Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit, the only power that can make this possible, Lord, would you truly cause us to experience the power, the beauty, and the wonder of the name of Jesus Christ? 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.520 Lord, that's all we want. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.880 God, cut out the fluff, cut out the distraction. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:46.719 God, give us Jesus. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:53.439 Trusting, Lord, that when we see Him in the fullness of His blazing glory, our lives will be changed forever. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:06.959 And so, God, I pray in this place you would find hearts that are humbled in your presence, ready to hear from you, ready to experience the life change that happens when we meet you where you are in your presence, Lord. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:08.079 Thank you for this time. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:09.280 Bless it we pray, Lord. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:10.799 We pray this in the name of your Son. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:11.680 Amen. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.200 Amen. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:14.400 You guys can take a seat. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.799 Thank you, John, for leading us in such a wonderful time of worship. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:27.280 If you have your copy of God's word, and I hope that you do, you can open it up to Genesis chapter 40 44. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:47.760 We're gonna be working through Genesis 44 and 45, and you're gonna look around, you're gonna see a lot of people with their uh Word of God open, and that's because we believe that this truly is God's word, that God has written a book, God has spoken, and if we are able to hear what he has to say in his word, we're able to really like it's it's like having a conversation with God Himself. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:54.640 And I don't know about you, but if I were to show up to this church and to see this random guy preaching, I would want to know that he's giving me God's word. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:59.840 I don't care what he has to say, if he has God's word, and so we always preach from God's word. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:03.920 And this morning we find ourselves in Genesis chapter 44. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:18.240 And over the last several weeks, as we've walked through Genesis and specifically seen the life of Joseph, what we've seen is God in relentless pursuit of his people. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.560 That's who God is. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:26.960 God as a God is a God who is relentlessly in pursuit of you. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:33.360 If you are his chosen child, he will not stop until he has you. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:37.840 And we've seen that happening in the chosen family of God. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:52.960 We've seen it with Joseph, where God revealed to Joseph that he would be the one through whom the blessings that God had planned to pour through Abraham, it would be Joseph that those blessings would pour through. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:03:04.000 And despite Joseph being sold into slavery, despite Joseph being imprisoned, what we've seen is God delivered Joseph to himself, that all that time God was walking with Joseph. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:12.479 And yet in saving Joseph and redeeming Joseph's life, God was not finished because God was after the hearts of Joseph's brothers. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.479 And so God sent a worldwide famine. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:28.240 And as suffering often does in our lives, this famine squeezed the brothers of Joseph and pressured them to look for life, to look for salvation, to go back to Egypt. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:36.159 And last week we read of the brothers running into Joseph, not knowing that this was the very brother that they had sold into slavery years ago. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:43.039 And what we're gonna read of this morning as we walk through these two chapters together is really a story of restoration. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:44.960 Where this family is reunited. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.439 This family finds reconciliation. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:52.560 It's beautiful gospel-dripping reconciliation. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:07.120 And what we're gonna see this morning is that this restoration that happens in this family, this reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, and ultimately between the brothers of Joseph and God, it's a reconciliation that comes through repentance. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:11.439 It comes through the repentance of Judah and his brothers. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:13.520 Now, this is really important for you. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:16.399 It's really important for you and I. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:51.040 He would say that his ministry was to come to call sinners to repentance. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:06:01.279 Because Jesus understood this, that when God's people practice repentance, they're ushered into the very presence of God. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:02.959 Get this this morning. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.560 If you fall asleep after this sentence, you don't get any more of the message this morning. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:07.360 That's okay. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.240 As long as you download this sentence into your mind. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:10.959 Are you ready? 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.639 Repentance is a short-term sorrow that leads to everlasting joy. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:20.879 It's a short-term sorrow that leads to everlasting joy. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.399 Have you ever heard the phrase, no pain, no gain? 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:25.680 It's true, isn't it? 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:34.959 There are things in life that it's worth to it's worth it to embrace the short-term pain in order that you also may embrace the long-term gain. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.399 And I want you to, I want to show you what is that that is most true of it. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:39.920 It is most true of repentance. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.279 Repentance is a short-term sorrow, it leads to everlasting joy. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:47.199 Listen. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.879 Listen, that's what's available to you this morning. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.480 That's what's available to you every day because of what Jesus Christ has done. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.600 Repentance that leads to everlasting joy. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:06:59.120 You know what the problem is? 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:04.079 The problem is that repentance is unnatural to us in every way. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.000 We shudder from repentance. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:09.680 It's unnatural to us. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:11.600 It's unnatural to us in many ways. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:12.800 It's unnatural to our world. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.120 Isn't that true that the message, the doctrine of repentance is unnatural to our world? 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:28.319 Just the other day, I was uh we I went to Toronto Island and I was walking with my wife, and uh there's people that were biking behind us, and you know, whenever someone's biking and they're having a conversation, it's natural for humans to eavesdrop, right? 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:28.959 You guys do that? 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:30.240 Put up your hand, you eavesdrop. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.759 I don't know, I was for sure. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:56.480 And in the short snippet, I caught an amazing story of the the uh uh they must have been friends, and and one of the friends was talking about a relationship they were in, and they were saying, you know, whenever this person got angry, they and I would confront them on it, the person would just say, Hey, you need to let me give me room to allow my emotions to vent. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:03.839 And so here you have the situation, you know, that happens so much in the world where someone's confronting someone, calling them to change, hey, your anger's not okay. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:12.639 And what the world's view of anger is is no, it's actually just a natural uh kind of venting of emotion that you don't want to stifle because if you stifle that, it's gonna be unhealthy. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:18.879 But then this person was also saying, but then whenever I got angry, it's like this person was all of a sudden upset with me. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:21.120 Which is funny how that works, isn't it? 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.040 See, repentance is unnatural in the world. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.839 The world tells you that guilt is misplaced, the world tells you that the very thing you need to do is not repent. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.559 Instead, you need to find comfort in the things that are wrong. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:37.440 Well, repentance isn't just unnatural to the world, it's unnatural to the church, isn't it? 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:55.919 We live in a day and an age where the gospel surrounding sin and the talk of sin and the talk of repentance is offensive, so that there are even theologians who are who are really doing work to take out the gospel of re or the doctrine of repentance from the gospel. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:04.720 And we live in a day and age where the so-called church growth experts say that in order to grow the church, the thing you need to do is not talk about sin. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:08.960 Talk about the benefits, talk about the blessings, but never talk about sin. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:17.120 And if it's not enough that repentance is unnatural in the world, that it's unnatural in the church, repentance is unnatural to us. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.720 What does what does John say about the light coming into the world? 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.799 It says, The light came into the world and the people loved the darkness. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:25.600 Do you understand this? 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:29.840 That apart from the power of the Holy Spirit right now, you can never hear these words. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:35.840 Apart from the Holy Spirit working in you, you will never be convicted this morning that repentance is the path to life. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.960 You will leave this place completely unchanged. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.080 Because the Spirit needs to work. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:49.039 And yet, if you find repentance this morning, if even in this moment you were to pray this prayer, God, beg God, show me. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:10:00.240 God, soften the heart, the soil of my heart that I might hear this word, and then what you find is that repentance is the path to re restoration, to reconciliation. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:01.440 Isn't that interesting? 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.320 Repentance is the path to reconciliation. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:05.600 Our world says condemnation. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.519 World says, don't talk about repentance. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.480 It's too hard, too much sorrow, too much condemnation. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:12.480 The gospel says liberation. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:16.000 The gospel says reconciliation. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.559 Well then, before we talk about repentance, it's probably good to define it. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.759 What is repentance? 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:27.200 Well, the easiest way that you could define repentance is that it's a turning from sin. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:34.879 Repentance is when you're walking one direction and you're confronted with something that you are doing wrong before the Lord. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.519 This is what Jesus is talking about when he says repent, right? 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.320 He says, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:55.039 And so here you are walking, I'm walking in the kingdom of miles, walking in the kingdom of earth, I'm walking my own way, and all of a sudden I hit a wall where I realize I am doing something that is counter to the kingdom of heaven. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:08.000 And repentance is that action of acknowledging that, experiencing the sorrow of the way that you've been walking for so long, and then turning and walking the other way. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:12.080 That's why Jesus says, repent, the kingdom of his of heaven is at hand. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:21.840 What he's saying is instead of walking according to the kingdom of earth, instead of walking according to the kingdom of your own life, repent and walk in the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:23.360 This is what repentance is. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:29.600 Very simply, repentance is turning from sin to God, it's experiencing gospel-driven change. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:39.919 And so then this morning in Genesis 44 and 45, I want to talk to you about the motivation of repentance, the work of repentance, and the reward of repentance. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.600 Let's start with the motivation of repentance. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.080 Now remember the context of Genesis 44. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:53.679 Joseph's and his brothers and his father, the whole house of Jacob, has been experiencing famine. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:01.360 It was a famine that Joseph actually was revealed to by God, a famine that would come on the whole world. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:07.759 And his brothers are experiencing this famine and they're hungry, and they go to Egypt because they hear that there's food in Egypt. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:13.679 And what they actually they don't discover is when they get to Egypt, it is Joseph who is responsible for having the food. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:24.559 And so they meet Joseph, they make two trips to Egypt, but they do not know that this man that they are speaking to that is being so gracious with them is their very own brother. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:37.840 And now after their second meeting in Egypt, after having a feast with Joseph, his brothers are going back home, and look what it says in verses 1 to 5 of chapter 44. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:38.559 Read along with me. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.320 If you know a copy of God's word, maybe share with someone beside you or pull it out on your phone. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:42.879 It says this. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:53.840 Now, this is a very gracious thing to do. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:00.720 What Joseph is doing is saying, in the middle of this famine, let's give them as much food as we can, and let's not even make them pay for it. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.159 Now look at verse 2. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:10.559 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest with his money for the grain. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.759 And he did as Joseph told him. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:18.320 See, what Joseph's doing here is setting up his brothers. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.200 Joseph is setting up his brothers. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:24.320 Joseph's already had them in a sort of a test. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:37.039 And the test with Joseph's brothers is this: if they're put in the same scenario where they could sell one of their brothers for profitable gain, like they did for Joseph so many years ago, would they do that again? 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:42.399 The question here is, have Joseph's brother really experienced change? 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:47.600 Have they really repented of the thing, of the evil wicked that they did to Joseph? 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:57.440 Not only Joseph, but God is ultimately putting them through this test in order that they might turn to him in repentance. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.399 And we look at that and we say, well, this is kind of odd, isn't it? 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:04.480 Like is Joseph trying to frame his brothers? 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:08.720 It seems like the wrong person in the wrong here is ultimately Joseph. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:20.399 And yet what we recognize is that God is using, God is using Joseph's action by putting the cup in the bag of Benjamin, God is using that action to test this. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.360 Have they changed? 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.399 In fact, if you flip forward, we're gonna get here in a moment. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:32.320 But in Genesis 45, verse 7, when Joseph reflects on this, he actually attributes all of these things to God. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.000 In verse 5, he says, For God sent me here before you to preserve life. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.639 In verse 7, he says, And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant on the earth. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:47.519 All throughout Joseph's life, we've seen that his ear has been close to God's mouth, and Joseph has only been doing what God has commanded him to do. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:51.679 And so what we find here is a test for Joseph's brothers. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.559 It's a test to bring about their repentance. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:15:00.960 And I want you to just take a break from the story for a moment, just to recognize this amazing gospel truth for your life. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:08.240 The motivation for repentance for us is the fact that God has given us the option to repent. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.039 That's astounding. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:22.799 The only reason that we can spend all this time talking about repentance is because God, in His grace, this morning, is pursuing your repentance. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.440 That should blow our minds because that's gospel truth. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:35.519 We've sinned, and if if life were fair, if life were just, we would pay the penalty for that sin. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:44.320 And yet God, like we read this morning in Psalm 103, He's full of steadfast love. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:47.279 And he's slow to anger. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:54.480 And he's so willing to forgive the iniquities of his children that he calls them to repentance. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:16:03.039 Do you do you know this that the number one fan of your repentance, the number one fan of your life change is God Himself. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:07.679 No one is more excited about you changing your life. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:12.240 No one is more excited about you walking for God than God Himself. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:13.919 He's your number one fan. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.000 And yet, you know what often happens in us? 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:23.679 We often kind of have this feeling that like we'd never say it, but we have this feeling that like God's like begrudgingly accepting us when we turn to him in repentance. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:29.120 Like we turn to God in repentance, we recognize the wrong we've done, and God's like, here you are again. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:31.679 I knew you'd be here. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:39.440 No, instead, what we see when we read scripture is this God's the number one fan of our repentance. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:44.879 Repentance is only possible because God is extending his arms of forgiveness to us. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.000 You think about the prodigal son. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.720 How does the father accept the prodigal son? 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:59.519 You remember that story of the wayward son who took the father's riches and splurged it all on partying and drinking and was a great dishonor to his father? 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:01.519 And what happens when he returns home? 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:05.359 Well, the father he hikes up his robe and he runs through the market. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.960 It's an embarrassment to himself. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.480 And he hugs his son, embraces him, he makes a feast for his son. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:17.039 No one supports this son more than the father, and so it is with you. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.279 No one is more supportive of your repentance than God himself. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.079 And so my question is this why do why do we believe that we're on our own in the in the journey of repentance? 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.119 It's as though God doesn't really care about helping us, like he's not really gonna change us. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.880 God longs for our repentance, that's why he offers it. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.160 You ever met a parent who of I mean maybe this has been your experience? 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.799 They have a wayward son or daughter? 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.519 Like this this son or daughter has just gone off the rails. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:51.440 Their life is a complete mess. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:18:03.920 Maybe that this is a Christian family and they've abandoned the faith, and this person's not following the Lord and living a horrible life, and and what what is the desire of that parent? 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.200 Isn't the desire that that child would turn back to them, that they would come back home? 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:17.440 That the prodigal would return, that the wayward son would come back to the familiarity of home. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:19.039 So much more is it with God. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.640 He desires our repentance, he makes it impossible. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:33.519 Well, in verse four, then we read the servant then confronting the brothers. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:39.039 And so the brothers leave in verse three, and it says they had only gone in verse four, it says they had only gone a short distance from the city. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:46.880 Now Joseph said to his steward, Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good? 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:51.200 Is it not from this that my Lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.079 You've done evil in doing this. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:00.079 And in verse six we read this that he overtook them and he spoke to them these words. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.880 Now what the servant is gonna say to Joseph is really interesting. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:15.680 He's gonna find them, and he's gonna search for their bags, and he's gonna, sorry, what the servant's gonna say to the brothers, he's gonna open the bags, find the cup, and then he's gonna accuse them of stealing. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:17.440 He's gonna accuse them of the sin. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:19.039 Look what he's gonna say in verse 4. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.440 Why have you repaid evil for good? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:33.839 Now, something really, uh really interesting question should kind of be uh growing in us right now, and the question is this like, should Joseph's brothers be worthy of condemnation because of this cup? 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.599 Are they really guilty? 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.799 And the answer on the surface level is no. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:42.960 At a surface level, they are not guilty of this sin. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:53.119 But the purpose of this particular action isn't to frame them, it's not to peg, you know, something on Judah that Judah never did, or something on Benjamin that Benjamin never did. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:00.079 The purpose of this is to bring about the repentance of the actions that they actually did to Joseph. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:16.400 See, the conviction that God wants to bring about when the servant asked the brothers, why have you repaid evil for good, is not so much about the cup as it is about the sin they have committed in selling Joseph into slavery. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:26.480 The question is this when God has been so good to you, why have you repaid him with evil? 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.319 We know what that's like, don't we? 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.319 Don't you know what it's like to like you pour out your charity on someone? 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.599 You give them all the good that that you can give them. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:40.640 And it's like figuratively they just turn around and spit in your face. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.240 Parenting feels a lot like that sometimes, doesn't it? 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:49.279 Like you're getting a kid a bowl of cereal and they throw it back at you, and you're like, hey, listen, I'm just trying to help here, okay? 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:50.160 I'm just trying to help. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:57.279 And that's what God is looking at, these brothers, and saying, Listen, all I've done is been good to you. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:02.000 I promise you that all the blessings of Abraham would flow through your family. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.559 I've given you life, I've given you blessing. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:11.599 And what you did is you took this blessing and you repaid me with evil. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.279 You spit in the face of God's goodness. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.319 And you see here, this is the second motivation for repentance. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:25.519 See, one hand we repent because it's possible, but on the other hand, the motivation for repentance is really the goodness of God. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:36.880 We forget this so often that the thing that will motivate repentance most is an understanding of how good God is. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:45.119 One pastor says it like this he says, true repentance starts with the recognition of the holiness of God. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:56.000 He says this we we cannot rightly perceive the greatness of his goodness without apprehending the puniness of our own. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.680 Such a realization causes us to fall down. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.400 In humility before God. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.839 And you know the reason that so many of us have had so much false repentance in our life? 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.440 So many of us have tried to turn away from sin, but we haven't really been able to? 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:16.480 It's because so many of us don't have the goodness of God deeply rooted into our hearts. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:20.000 We just don't really believe that God is all that great. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:26.799 When we do believe that God is good, then to sin against him brings us great sorrow. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:27.920 Isn't that true in life? 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:35.839 Like when you know someone who is just so pure and tenderhearted, to let them down is like a really big deal. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:42.799 And in light of this, I want to tell you about a lady that was in my life in Bible college called her name was Myrtle. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:48.319 Myrtle was a Jamaican lady, and she was the cafeteria cook. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:54.799 I went to a small Bible college and seminary, and so there was only one cook, and she was the sweetest old lady. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.079 She would make all the food. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.680 Like it was way too much for her to do. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:02.880 She'd do lunch and dinner every day for all of these students, and it was way too much work for her to do. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:11.039 Now, I wouldn't use the cafeteria, but I'd constantly run into Myrtle because I survived on peanut butter and jam sandwiches in Bible college. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:25.599 In fact, one time I saw a meme, and the meme was like making fun of a person who was in front of the row of whoever made this meme, and it was saying, This person makes a peanut butter jam sandwich in the middle of class every week, and it had been upvoted, everyone was laughing, and I was like, that's literally that's me. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:26.559 That's what I do every day. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:34.160 I'd go to school with a bag of bread and a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jam, and that's how I survived breakfast, lunch, and dinner, peanut butter and jam. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:38.640 At the time I worked at Korra's and you got free toast, and so I'd make peanut butter and jam there. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:40.640 It's just how I survived. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.680 Now that has nothing to do with the story, and I don't know why I talked so much about peanut butter and jam, but here we are with Myrtle. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:48.880 I would go into the kitchen and make my amazing peanut butter and jam sandwich. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.079 If you want any tips on the best way to make it, there are better ways and worse ways. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:53.759 I can give you those after the service. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.920 I would make my peanut butter and jam sandwich. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.359 I was not eating any of Myrtle's food, but there was something that happened. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:07.440 When you walked into Myrtle's room, if she had a giant bowl of unpeeled potatoes, no matter who you were, you were peeling those potatoes. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.599 You would come in and she would ask for your help. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:15.440 She's got way too much food to cook for way too many people, and so you'd ask for your help, and I wasn't even gonna like partake in this food. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:19.039 I wasn't even gonna get to eat it, but Myrtle was too kind. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:28.799 She's too good of a lady for me to say no, and so I'd finally constantly find myself there peeling other students' potatoes because of Myrtle's goodness. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:30.400 I just couldn't say no to her. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:38.240 And the more you believe in the goodness of someone, the more it breaks your heart when you let them down. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:40.799 And how much more is that true of God? 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:48.480 If God has been eternally kind to you in Jesus Christ, how much more should it break our hearts when we sin against him? 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:56.799 That's why Paul says in Romans chapter 2, verse 4, he says it's kindness, it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:12.480 You know, the more mature you are in the faith, the more like Christ you are, the more repentance will be a part of your life. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:13.920 You understand that? 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:33.200 Because if maturity is growing this love for God, you're growing this awe of God's goodness and the amazing nature of the gospel and what he's done for you and how kind he's been to you, then even the smallest sins are gonna bear such a heavy weight on you because you know how good God is. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.680 And we tend to think like repentance, it's it's that's like the first step of faith. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:43.519 But really, what the Bible shows us is that is that repentance is a daily, step-by-step work. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.440 We live a, Martin Luther called it a life of repentance. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:55.279 And the closer you are to God, the deeper the repentance goes because you see God's goodness in greater and greater light. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:09.519 And this is what God is trying to convict Joseph's brothers of, Judah and his brothers, that God has been good to them, Joseph has been good to them, and here they are sinning against him. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:26.880 And so in 7 to 8, look what it happens when the servant confronts, sorry, when Judah speaks to the servant after being spoken these words, the brothers they say, Why does my Lord speak such words as these? 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:30.079 Far be it from your servants to do such a thing. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:34.799 Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.839 How then could we steal gold or silver from your Lord's house? 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.079 And look at how they respond in verse 9. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:41.039 It's very intense. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.720 Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:49.359 And we also will be my Lord's servants. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:27:00.240 Judah and his brothers, they they look at this accusation and they say, hey, if that's me, listen, you'll you can kill me. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:02.079 I'll put my life on the line. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:06.160 Like if I've committed that sin, then my life is over. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:11.440 We look at that and we say, well, well, that's really intense. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:21.680 It's also a bit of a foolish thing to say, given the fact that this is not the first time in the last few chapters that something has been snuck into their bags. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:25.200 It was just last chapter that Joseph also snuck the money back into their bags. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:26.400 It happens quite frequently. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:30.160 And so it's kind of foolish for them to look at the servant and say, that would never happen. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:34.640 Well, it did just happen, and it's about to happen again. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:36.960 And yet, look at their reaction. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:46.240 Like if I've sinned against God in this way, they say, then I deserve the punishment of death. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.720 And remember, this isn't about the cup. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:50.880 This is about what they've already done to Joseph. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:54.880 And what they're doing here is they're they are pouring condemnation on themselves. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:57.680 They are laying out their own penalty. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:09.200 They're looking at Joseph's servant and they're saying, if I've done something even less than that, like taking a cup, let alone selling my own brother for slavery, then give me death. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:16.319 And what Judah understands here, and his brothers, they understand here the seriousness of sin, don't they? 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:20.400 They understand that the penalty for sin is death. 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:28.559 They've been gripped with an understanding of the sinfulness of sin. 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:33.200 And Judah had already given his life to Jacob as a pledge. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:38.160 And here they're confronted with the sinfulness of sin. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:40.000 This is necessary for us. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.960 See, it's not just God's goodness that drives us to repentance. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.519 It's also an understanding of just exactly what sin is. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:56.240 When your heart is gripped with the seriousness of sin, the sinfulness of sin, then you will turn to God. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.440 You recognize how wicked the thing is that you're doing. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:04.559 And the reality is that as believers, we have a seriously deficient view of sin, don't we? 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:07.279 We minimize sin. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:16.480 In fact, as some of us think about sin, you know what we think about, like our theology of sin is that that sin, the problem with sin is that it robs us of joy. 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:21.200 Or we might say that the problem with sin is that sin hurts other people. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.759 Or we think, well, the problem with sin is that that sin lets down God. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:39.680 I want you to hear this this morning, that the greatest problem with your sin is that if you are not saved, your sin is leading you to eternal damnation. 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:41.839 Like all those things are true of sin. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:52.720 Sin will rob joy from you, sin will hurt others, sin will let God down, but the ultimate wrong of sin, the ultimate condemnation of sin is that it's leading to your eternal punishment. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:55.359 And so who cares about all those other things? 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.759 Because of your sin, you deserve eternal death. 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:08.799 And when we have a proper understanding of sin, we understand that eternal condemnation, it's not like God's overreacting to small sins. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:15.039 We understand that any sin against an infinite God is worthy of infinite punishment. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.599 This is why when Jesus preaches about sin, you know what he says? 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:21.119 He says, if your hand and your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:23.440 Take it seriously. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:34.240 He says it's better to go into eternal life, maimed, than to be thrown with two hands or two feet into eternal fire. 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.039 This is the seriousness of sin. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:47.200 And the reason why repentance is so lacking in so many of our lives is because the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted us about just how serious sin is. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:50.240 Well, that's what motivates us to repentance. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:52.720 That's what causes us to look for repentance in our lives. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.480 But I want you to see, secondly, what we learn about in the story, and that's the work of repentance. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:58.240 What does repentance take? 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:00.240 What work do I have to do? 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.960 And from here on, we see Judah really lead his brothers in the work of repentance. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:11.039 And the first thing I want you to recognize is that if we're going to participate in the work of repentance, we need to admit our own doing. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:12.880 There's some substructure under this point, okay? 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:18.480 And so we're talking about the work of repentance, but I want you to understand that the first work is that you admit your wrongdoing. 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:25.200 And so in verses 12 to 13, the servant searches the cups, the bags, and he finds the cup in Benjamin's sack. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:27.680 And so look at verse 14 how Judah responds. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:34.000 It says, When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there, they fell before him to the ground. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:36.480 And look at verse 16. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:40.160 And Judah said, What shall we say to my Lord? 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:42.000 What shall we speak? 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:44.400 Or how can we clear ourselves? 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:45.920 And listen to what he says next. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:46.799 This is really important. 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:51.039 God has found out the guilt of your servants. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:56.640 And it's significant that he's not talking about the cup here. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:01.359 You know that the guilt that Judah has isn't concerning the cup, because look what he says after that. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:08.880 He says, Behold, we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found. 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:12.319 What Judah is saying is, we're all guilty. 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:14.400 Well, in reality, none of them are guilty. 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:19.039 But on a maybe a lesser reality, like Benjamin at least is guilty, he had the cup. 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:21.680 But Judah's looking at it and saying, Listen, we're all guilty. 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:22.160 You know why? 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.200 Because Judah in his mind is not thinking about the cup. 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:30.720 Judah in his mind is thinking about the moment that he sold Joseph into slavery. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:34.720 Judah's not acknowledging his guilt for something he hasn't done. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.279 Judah's acknowledging his guilt for something he has done. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.079 We already saw this in Genesis 42, verse 21. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:41.599 If you turn back there, it says this. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:51.039 Then they said to one another, the brothers, in truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, and we did not listen. 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:54.079 This is why distress has come upon us. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:33:04.480 See, Judah recognizes his guilt, and he recognizes before God the thing that is happening is the punishment for his wrongdoing. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:08.880 And I want you to understand that repentance in our lives, it begins here. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:13.519 It begins with admitting our wrongdoing, it doesn't end there. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:20.480 So some of us have this idea of like repentance is that all I gotta do is just say, okay, God, I'm sorry, and then move on. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:22.400 And that's not repentance. 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:24.960 But repentance certainly begins there. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:31.519 There cannot be any repentance if you do not see your wrongdoing and admit that it is wrongdoing. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:38.079 But I want you to recognize the heart of this wrongdoing. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:42.000 See, it's not just that, what Judah recognizes here is not just that he's done wrong. 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:43.680 It's not like, okay, well, those are wrong actions. 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.839 What Judah recognizes is that like this this wrongdoing is before God. 00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:52.640 It's before God. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.200 I mean, it's really interesting in verse 16, what Judah says, right? 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:59.519 He says, God has found out the guilt of your servants. 00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:00.880 Well, in this scenario, it's not God. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:03.119 It's very much Joseph and his servant, isn't it? 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:08.159 Like if this is all about the cup, it's Joseph who's exposed the guilt of Judah and his brothers. 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:10.800 But Judah understands this on a much deeper level. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:12.719 It's God who is exposing him. 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:17.519 The person that Judah has ultimately sinned against is not even just Joseph. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:20.239 The person that he sinned against is God. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:26.400 And so the first thing you need to do is admit your wrongdoing, but the second thing you need to do is recognize your offense. 00:34:27.599 --> 00:34:31.039 We admit our wrongdoing, and then we recognize our offense. 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:36.639 Listen, this is how you know in your life that repentance is genuine. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:42.320 You think about why you're so sorrowful over the thing that you've done. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:48.800 You know, there's a lot of false repentance in the world, but there's also a lot of false repentance in our lives. 00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:54.480 The thief, don't they bear sorrow when they're found out? 00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:57.679 And the sorrow there has nothing to do with the wrong that they've done. 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:01.920 It has everything to do with the fact that they can't on can't keep doing wrong. 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:10.400 And the way that you know that repentance is genuine is that you ultimately see it as an offense to God. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:12.239 You remember in David's life? 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:22.639 This is what happens in David's life when David sleeps with Bathsheba, murders Uriah, he lives with that for years. 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:24.639 There's no guilt for him. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.159 Until one day, he's confronted. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:34.800 And when he admits his wrongdoing, we read in Psalm 51, he says, Against you and you only have I sinned. 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:35.760 Well, is that true? 00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:36.800 No, not really. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:38.400 He just murdered a man. 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:41.280 Not really, like Bathsheba's life is ruined too. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:42.159 It's also against them. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:51.599 But but what David understands is that in comparison to who's been wronged, he has wronged God infinitely more than he has wronged any man. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:56.800 And so that he says, against you and you only have I sinned. 00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:00.079 Heath Lambert writes this. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:00.960