Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
Speaker: If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now, take your copy of God's timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Speaker: Welcome to Growing in Grace. Hey, you know what? I think Growing in Grace helps us to finish well. The Apostle Paul finished his race well, as he declared in 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 through 8, where he said, I have fought the good fight.
Speaker: I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Wow. But you know, not everyone in Scripture finished well. As a matter of fact, Robert Clinton wrote a book about 100 prominent figures in the Bible from among the 2,300 people mentioned in the scriptures.
Speaker: He claimed in his work, listen up leaders, that only 11 of the 100 he did a deep dive, deep study, you know, actually finished well. Only 11 out of 100.
Speaker: You know, based upon what I read in the text we're about to look at today, Genesis chapter 50, the very last chapter of the book of Genesis, I would maintain that Joseph...
Speaker: also finished well. I think he finished well like others, like Enoch, Joshua, Caleb, Job, Simeon, Anna, John, oh, and most importantly, Jesus.
Speaker: What does it mean that someone finished their life with excellence? Can you think of something that you would say? Well, allow me to summarize my observations of Joseph as described in this final chapter of Genesis. So I'm bringing our series to a close here. So I'm praying that God would help me to finish well today. So let me read some of the verses and get started.
Speaker: You know, one of the first things that I noticed that Joseph did well was he had an authentic farewell for his father.
Speaker: you know, you could probably interview psychologists and counselors and so forth. And a lot of times, people who do not have a good relationship with their dad, it carries over in their life. But I want you to see how Joseph finished when his dad breathed his last.
Speaker: Genesis chapter 50, verses 1 through 3. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father.
Speaker: So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days." you know, it's amazing how he expressed his love for his dad and dealt with his grief after he had breathed his last.
Speaker: You know, when I see here in verse one, all of this way that he had like an emotional closure with his father, he said it says he hugged his father.
Speaker: He wept over his father and he kissed his father. I think that finishing well would have to include somehow having a smooth ending with the relationships where we started our lives. But let's go to verses 4 through 13, because we actually have many things we want to cover in this chapter.
Speaker: I think secondly, in addition to authentic in his farewell to his father, I think you'll see that he was also responsible regarding the funeral arrangements. Here's what it says in verses 4 through 13.
Speaker: And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, I'm about to die. In my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.
Speaker: Now, therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return. And Pharaoh answered, go up and bury your father as he had made you swear.
Speaker: So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh. the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household.
Speaker: Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen.
Speaker: It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation.
Speaker: "'And he made a mourning for his father seven days. "'When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, "'saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, "'they said, "'This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.'" Therefore, the place was named Abel Mizraim.
Speaker: It is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron, the Hittite, to possess as a burying place." Did you notice how responsible Joseph was regarding the funeral arrangements?
Speaker: He made the contacts. He honored his father's request for burial. He set up the processional. And when it came time to weep, he wept. He wept alongside of his family, alongside of the community. I thought it was really...
Speaker: Just um so heroic, but also so responsible of how he finished well in his relationship with his dad. So let's move on to verse 14.
Speaker: And there's something here that I don't want you to miss. Here's what it says in verse 14 of Genesis 50. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who'd gone up with him to bury his father.
Speaker: who You know, this was Joseph's first time back in his homeland of Canaan in 39 years. It would have perhaps been tempting to just stay home. He's back in the homeland in Canaan.
Speaker: Why go back to Egypt where the idols and the false gods were prevalent? Why would he do that? Well, that's exactly what he said, and he was a man of his word.
Speaker: He gave Pharaoh his promise, I will go and I will come back. But I noticed also that it says in here that he and his brothers went, but the children didn't go.
Speaker: So I think he also was being responsible in terms of making sure that he helped his children to get to the next place in each of their lives.
Speaker: But then verse 15 tells us something additional about Joseph and his character and his relationships, especially with his brothers. Now, if you're not familiar with the story of Joseph, let me just review something here.
Speaker: You know, his father Jacob had 12 sons. And out of the 12 sons, he really ah honored Joseph. He wasn't the oldest. And so this was really sort of ah an upsetting thing for some of those other brothers of Joseph.
Speaker: And so the other sons felt jealous. And so they didn't like him. And his dad gave him a special jacket, special coat of many colors. And so whenever they saw all of this special treatment, they began to hate him.
Speaker: So one day the the dad asked Joseph, would you go check on your brothers out there? See how they're doing? He said, sure. So he obeyed his father.
Speaker: He went out there to his brothers. But you know what they did? They beat him. They ripped the jacket off of him. And then they threw him down into a pit. And then one of them said, you know, this is really not the best thing. Let's sell him to the Ishmaelite traders. Because right at that moment, this big processional comes through. These Ishmaelite traders were on their way down to Egypt.
Speaker: And so they sold their brother for silver. Would you sell your brother? Man, I love my brother. I wouldn't sell him. This is terrible. But anyway, they did.
Speaker: And so what's amazing is how God sent Joseph down there and it was a hard thing. I mean, everything didn't go well when Joseph got down there, but still it's just amazing how you know his brothers had treated him, but then this great famine comes and Joseph is exalted into Pharaoh's court. He begins to have this important position. And so he says, okay, we're going have seven years of good harvest, seven years of famine.
Speaker: So we better save during the seven years of good harvest because the seven years of bad harvest, they're coming. Well, sure enough, it came just like he said. So during all the seven years of the of the bountiful harvest, Joseph was leading the people of Egypt egypt and the Pharaoh of Egypt to save.
Speaker: So whenever... ah Jacob and all of Joseph's brothers come down looking for food. That's where they found it. And they had to stand before Joseph. And it's just amazing his response to them.
Speaker: Because verse 15 tells us how the brothers felt now that the dad had died. So listen to verse 15. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead,
Speaker: They said, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him. Uh-oh, payback time. That's what they thought.
Speaker: And so these guys were driven by fear. But you know somebody that wasn't driven by fear? He wasn't driven by fury or revenge? Joseph.
Speaker: Nope, his brothers were certainly driven by fear, that's for sure. But what were they afraid of? Well, their fear was he's going to pay us back for all the evil things that we did. And dad being alive is the only reason he hasn't done it so far.
Speaker: But was that fear based on reality? No, it wasn't. So what was fueling their fear? I think it was a guilty conscience.
Speaker: They never really said, please forgive us, we're sorry. Joseph forgave them all right, but it wasn't because they acknowledged their sin. But listen to what happens in verses 16 17.
Speaker: So the brothers sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you.
Speaker: And now please forgive the transgression of the servants. of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him. So let's just talk about verses 16 and 17.
Speaker: You know another quality about Joseph? He chose truth over falsehood. He wasn't pretending that things had never happened the way they did.
Speaker: But Joseph's brothers, on the other hand, they were so stressed out about him paying them back that they fabricated a lie that their father had told them to tell Joseph to please forgive their past offense.
Speaker: Well, not only did they make it up, but they also, did you catch that? They were hesitant to talk to Joseph about it face to face because of their worries.
Speaker: At least they did refer to their past behavior as sin, as evil, as transgression. But what did Joseph do?
Speaker: It says that Joseph's response whenever the messenger, because remember, they're not going to tell him face to face to face. Whenever they come and tell him the message from his brothers, he wept.
Speaker: He wept. And I wonder why he wept. Well, he's going to tell us and he's going to tell them in verses 18 and 19. Let me read those verses for you. And I think you'll understand.
Speaker: His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold, we're your servants. But Joseph said to them, do not fear for am I in the place of God?
Speaker: ah So I think that Joseph also accepted the fact that he was not God. He was just a man. He's just flesh and blood.
Speaker: So when the brothers came to Joseph and bowed down before him and said, they were his servants, what did Joseph say back to them? Let me review it for you.
Speaker: Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? He knew that he was just a man. I think that's so important for someone to finish well, that they don't use the rest of their life to take out a grudge, try to you know lash out toward other people.
Speaker: He placed his faith in something that's very important. And I encourage you to follow in Joseph's footsteps. Let me read verse 20 and now I'll identify what that was. Here's what Joseph says to his brothers.
Speaker: As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.
Speaker: You see what Joseph is doing? Joseph is placing his faith in the providence of God. He believed that God, the old Lord God Almighty, he believed he's sovereign.
Speaker: And so there are two movements that are upon the earth. One is the actions of mankind. The other is the actions of Almighty God. Joseph refers to both of these two movements in one verse, where he says to his brothers, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
Speaker: Did you notice the double use of the intentional term, meant? You meant evil against God meant good. Wow, that's perhaps the clearest depiction of the truth about God's providence given in Romans 8, 28 that can be seen in scripture.
Speaker: What does it look like that God would take all things and work them together for good to those who love him, who are called according to his purpose?
Speaker: That's what it looks like right there. Verse 20, Placing his faith in the providence of God helped him to realize, yeah, they they had something bad in mind, but God had something good in mind.
Speaker: You know what he did in verse 21? Wow. You know, if you think about it, the option was in his hands. The authority, it's in his hands. So what will Joseph do now?
Speaker: Well, let's see what he says in verse 21. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Speaker: Did you hear what Joseph says? Isn't that incredible? What would he choose to do? I'll tell you what he chose to do. He chose to forgive and he chose to give. It's like he chooses to forgive and he chooses to give rather than take.
Speaker: I thought that was really ah manly and that's really noble of Joseph. Joseph told them that they did not need to fear because... He was going to do something for them.
Speaker: And what was that something? He says, I will provide for you and your little ones. Can you imagine the relief that came over their minds and their hearts?
Speaker: Well, let me close with one last observation that I have about Joseph, because I just feel like, man, this guy finished so well. I think the last thing he did that was just awesome is verses 21 to 26 tells me he invested encouragement in future generations. He invested encouragement in future generations.
Speaker: Now, Joseph was a wise man, and he realized that if he chose to be gruff toward the future generations, then they would most likely close their hearts toward him, his God, and eventually forget all about Joseph as the years went by.
Speaker: But what does he do in the last part of verse 21? It tells us a lot about Joseph, his character, his ways of relating to other people. It says, What great word.
Speaker: and spoke kindly to them what a great word You know, there were probably many matters of state that could have occupied his attention, but I want to read to you the closing verses of this important man. Remember, he's he's in the administration of the ah king of Egypt, the Pharaoh.
Speaker: So let's see, what does it say at the end of Genesis chapter 50? Well, Where was he putting his emphasis? Where was his heart, his mind? What was on his mind?
Speaker: You'll be able to tell it right away. So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years.
Speaker: And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also Macher, the son of Manasseh, were counted as Joseph's own.
Speaker: And Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will visit you And bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.
Speaker: And then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died being 110 years old.
Speaker: They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. So what we see here is not only did Genesis chapter 50 record what happened when Joseph's father died, but it also takes it all the way up to how Joseph finished out his life.
Speaker: And what was he doing even toward the end? I'll tell you what he was doing. He realized that others in his extended family would live way beyond his lifespan.
Speaker: So how did he finish well? Here's what he did. He finished by pointing his family to the faithfulness of God. The promised land had not yet been given to them.
Speaker: But as he reached the end of his journey on this earth, he assured those around him that God would be faithful to bless them with the land that he had promised.
Speaker: Later generations of Israelis would point to similar promises about the land, such as Jeremiah's words in Jeremiah 29 11, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Speaker: Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Can you see what Joseph is doing? Even to his last breath, Joseph is investing in encouragement,
Speaker: into future generations. He's pointing future generations to the faithfulness of God who will always carry out his promises, who will fulfill his plans. Even when times are tough and rough, God's still working out his plans Who would know that better than Joseph, who had suffered so much from the hands of his brothers, suffered so much being sold as a slave by the Ishmaelites to the Egyptians, to Potiphar. And then Potiphar's wife makes an advance toward him and blames it all on Joseph.
Speaker: And so Potiphar believes his wife himself. and throws Joseph into prison. So there he is sitting in prison. And I wonder if he was thinking, God, when I was younger, when I was just a teen, you gave me all these promises that my family would one day bow down before me. And now here I am just sitting in this prison and nobody's standing before me, maybe just a mouse or two.
Speaker: And so just think about that. But then two men from Jerusalem, The Pharaoh of Egypt, two men from his administration were thrown into prison, a baker and a butler. And the baker had a dream and the butler had a dream.
Speaker: In the baker's dream, Joseph was able to tell him the the interpretation of the dream based on what God gave him, the insight. And he said, you know what? You're going to die.
Speaker: And then whenever the ah butler told him his dream, ah Joseph said, you know what? You're going to be restored to your position. So on the day that that butler is leaving the prison, Joseph said, would you just do me one favor?
Speaker: Would you just remember that? that I'm the one that told you the interpretation of this dream. It gave you hope, I'm sure, but it was God who used me and helped me to know what to say. So would you just, don't forget me, okay?
Speaker: He says, oh, I won't forget you. So then the butler leaves. Two years go by, butler forgot all about him. Isn't that how real life he is sometimes? But then guess what?
Speaker: The Pharaoh of Egypt has a dream, a very disturbing dream. And nobody, all of his wise men, none of them could interpret that dream.
Speaker: And that's when the butler realized, oh my goodness, Pharaoh, I know a man who's gifted that God gives him interpretations of the dreams.
Speaker: So the Pharaoh says, go get him. So they bring Joseph out of prison. He has to shave and they give him fresh clothes and so forth. They bring him before Pharaoh And Pharaoh gives him the dream.
Speaker: And then Joseph, by God's help, gives Pharaoh the interpretation. And if what he tells him is, Pharaoh, God has shown you that you're going to have seven years of abundant crops, but then they're going to be followed by seven years of famine.
Speaker: It's going to be desperate times. And so he said, you better save up during the seven years that are prosperous because the other seven years, they're going to really be depleted times.
Speaker: And so the Pharaoh said, you know what? You're the one that told us that. So I'm putting you in charge. So he said, you'll be the second in command. So then in the course of time, as the famine got worse after those seven years of plenty, whenever everyone was saying, we can't we can't make it where we are.
Speaker: So Jacob sends all of his sons, 10 of them anyway, down into Egypt. And there they are. They kneel down before Joseph and say, please, please, would you give us food? We'll be willing to pay for it, but we just can't grow it back home.
Speaker: And so Joseph ah wants to make sure. So he does a few tests. But eventually, after all of the tests, he gets Jacob and his brother, Benjamin, and those other 10 brothers.
Speaker: They all come down and all of them bow down before him. And there he is. There he is second in command of Egypt. And they're all bowing down. And he thinks, oh God, how all your promises, they're so true.
Speaker: You are so faithful to what you say in your word. And so I believe that Joseph knew that. And so he wanted future generations to know the same thing.
Speaker: I'm so glad that we have the scriptures that tell us the examples of people like Enoch, people like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph.
Speaker: And I want you to know that God is gonna still be faithful. So will you let God have his way? Will you say like Joseph till my very last breath,
Speaker: I'm gonna stay true to the God who's so faithful in my life, who gives me goodness out of grace. Like, you know I'm sure Joseph knew he had not done anything to deserve all of that.
Speaker: It had been God all along. Even during the hard times, God was getting him into the place where, where many people would be rescued and saved.
Speaker: Would you be willing to trust a sovereign God like that, who loves, who cares, who protects, who can provide? So many wonderful qualities about God.
Speaker: Well, if so, why don't you pray with me as we bring this to a close today? Oh God, ah thank you. i thank you for the scriptures. They record for us accurately exactly what you did because your name is great. You're worthy. You should be praised. We should look back on Joseph's life and we should say how true you were, how good and gracious you were to Joseph and his family.
Speaker: But also, Lord, there were going to be future generations of ah Israelites who were going to go forward into the future. And Joseph wanted to invest in them the truths of Scripture, the promises of God. He wanted to exalt you and and magnify your name before them.
Speaker: So I'm so thankful for that example. So may each of us do the same thing. in our families. May we lift the name of Jesus high. we mean May we stay strong with the scriptures and point future generations to the Lord. May we not be hard on them and harsh with them. May we be encouraging and uplifting. May we invest in them, investing truth in them, and not get sidelined by little nitpicky things that really don't matter anyway.
Speaker: Help us, the Lord, to love them, to comfort them, to speak kindly to them, but also to challenge them, to to ask you to raise up future generations that'll be mighty for your name and for your glory, that'll be useful to you in your great purposes. So thank you, dear Lord, for what an inspiring account we've read today on how we too can finish well.
Speaker: Jesus, you finished well. You allowed the apostle Paul and many others to finish well. Joseph finished well. May we finish our life well.
Speaker: In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, thank you so much, friend, for being with us today to listen to Growing in Grace. And I pray that's exactly what you would do this week.
Speaker: Let's grow in grace together. In Jesus' name, you take care. Bye-bye.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
