God provides

[0:00] Let us pray. Loving Father, we pray that we may indeed wait patiently upon thee and seek thee together. And now as we seek thee in thy word, we pray that thou wouldst open it unto us and help us this evening.

[0:15] For this is not the words of mere men, it is the word of the living God. And we know that all of it, Lord, will ultimately point us to Christ, thy beloved Son. For we know, Lord, that all scripture and all creation and providence ultimately declares the glory of the living God.

[0:35] And so we pray that as we seek Christ in all the scriptures, thou wouldst bless thy word to us and open it unto us and help us then this night.

[0:46] For we can do nothing without thee, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So hear our prayers and forgive our sin for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now in this passage that we read from Genesis 43, we find the situation where Joseph's brothers have been down into Egypt once already and they have been lavishly provided for by the man that they don't yet know is their brother who has given them all the corn and all the food they could possibly need and has restored their money as well.

[1:21] But now, not surprisingly, the food has run out and now their father Jacob is anxious they should go back for more. But of course there are conditions on their getting more food.

[1:34] There are four or five points I'd like us to think about in this brief passage that we read. And perhaps slightly perversely, I want to work backwards. I want to work from the end and the points that we find there and work back to the first point I'd like to make there.

[1:51] So the first thing I'm looking at is at the end of the passage where we see that as Joseph's brothers sit down, they looked at one another in amazement. And the reason for this is because although it says that they sat before him the firstborn according to his birthright, that sort of implies they kind of took their places themselves.

[2:09] But it's pretty clear from the context and versions and so on that it is Joseph that arranged them in order of seniority and put all their, it wouldn't be 12 brothers, it would be the 11 brothers there now because Simeon has joined them all in their proper order of birthright.

[2:27] And they who probably left themselves with just a sort of pulled out a chair and sat down on a bench or whatever, or sat down or reclined themselves just higgledy-piggledy, they were amazed that this man seems to know exactly who they are and what their position in their father's family is.

[2:45] And of course, yes, Joseph does know them because he's one of them. But also, of course, it points us to the fact that the Lord himself knows us perfectly, each one.

[2:55] We are amazed at how much he knows. We think we are the ones who find out all the wonders of nature and discoveries of science and so on. And before we know it, the more we find out, then we realize, well, actually, yes, God did say this in his Bible thousands of years ago.

[3:12] This is simply confirming what God has already revealed, what he's already claimed ages ago. The Lord knows not only everything about this world and creation and us in it, he knows us individually.

[3:24] He knows us personally, which is quite a shock to us sometimes, just as it is to the brothers here. It was Psalm 139, it said, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and my uprising.

[3:35] Thou understandest my thought afar off. There's not any word in my tongue, but, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. So this little sort of brief glimpse here of the brothers sitting down at their foot in front of Joseph, where he has arranged them, causes them amazement.

[3:54] They sat before him, the firstborn, according to his birthright, and the youngest, according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. Now Joseph is being quite specific here, because he's not just, obviously, the ruler of Egypt at this stage, Daphne, Pania, as the Egyptians called him, but he is also literally one of them.

[4:15] And Christ, of course, when he comes, although he is God the Son from all eternity, and I suppose particularly at this time of year, it's appropriate for us to remember, he became one of us. He took on human flesh.

[4:27] And this is a quite sort of awe-inspiring thing to remember, is that the Godhead from all eternity, although no doubt it had been part of the divine plan, the Godhead from all eternity, had not originally had human flesh as part of the Trinity.

[4:44] But that became the case with the incarnation of our Lord in the womb of the Virgin. From there, the time, all the nine months he's growing in there, and then when he's born, of course, then the Godhead has had humanity within it.

[4:59] It's not the case that God sort of invades humanity a bit, rather, as one of the ancient creeds says, you know, taking manhood into God. In the person of the Trinity, God the Son from all eternity, which is pure spirit, like the Father, like the Holy Spirit, and so on as well, but when he becomes flesh in the womb of the Virgin, that humanity is taken into the Godhead.

[5:24] So God the Son is now a human being. And of course, when he is born, and that which we remember and celebrate a number of years from as well, when he is born, we remember especially that he is one of us.

[5:38] He became one of us, not simply so that he could be born, not simply so that he could live, but so that he could die. He was like, so that he could die the atoning death upon the cross with that perfect life that he had lived, that divine life that he had lived, laid down as the perfect sacrifice.

[5:58] That is why it is good news that he has come. That's why there's peace on earth and goodwill between God and man, because the price of the enmity, the price of sin that man has committed, the enmity between God and sin, which man carries, of course, has been paid.

[6:15] And so for all who would have it, there is this peace, which the Lord gives. He knows us, each one perfectly. He has become one of us, just as Joseph is already one of his brethren before they come amongst him and the Egyptians.

[6:33] He already knows them. He's already way ahead of them. As soon as they come, he sees them, he clocks them, he knows them right away, even though they don't know him. And likewise, the Lord knows us for all eternity, even though we have not initially known him.

[6:48] The day comes when Joseph's brothers do know him, because he makes himself known to them. He reveals himself to them. And of course, that's him doing it. Didn't he say, I thought I'd saw that guy somewhere before.

[7:01] I know who that Egyptian guy reminds me of. It's Joseph. It's that one we left down the pit all those 20-odd years ago. None of them in a million years was going to think that or recognize that.

[7:12] They weren't going to know him unless he revealed himself to them. And it's the same with the Lord. He knows us, each one perfectly. He has arranged us in the perfect order of our seniority.

[7:26] From Adam, the first one, he creates, all the way down to whoever the last born human being is going to be. And if you think about it, that's a strange thought, but it's a fact.

[7:36] That eventually, when time is about to come to its conclusion, there is going to be somewhere in this world a little baby that will be born who will be the last baby ever to be born in the world because the Lord is going to bring everything to our conclusion.

[7:52] But there will be somebody who's the last one. Just as there was somebody who was created as the first one. And all the millions and billions of humanity that have been in between brothers have arranged them all in their perfect order.

[8:04] You all know their birthday. You all know what date you were born. And other people were born. Some people were born the day before you. Others people were born the day after you. Or the year before you. Or the year after. Whatever. We've all got our place in humanity.

[8:18] And the Lord has arranged it all perfectly. And when the time comes for those whom he is going to redeem, he reveals himself. But he already knows personally, individually, those to whom he intends to reveal himself.

[8:33] they sat before him the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. That's the first thing I'd like us to recognize.

[8:45] The second thing is if we go up the page a wee bit, again working backwards, perhaps perversely. If you look at their interaction with the steward and he says in verse 23 there, he says, you know, peace be to you.

[8:59] Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money. Then he brought Samir out to them. So, from having started off being afraid and thinking they were being tricked and about to be arrested or to be made slaves, the steward says, okay, don't worry.

[9:17] You know, your God and the God of your fathers has given you treasure. Now, he's probably been told to say this because it's unlikely that the Egyptians themselves would acknowledge the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

[9:28] It is probably unlikely that he would know enough to be able to say that to Joseph's brothers but whether he's been told to say it or whether he's just extremely diplomatic, it is right that it is God who has done it ultimately but God has worked through the agency, through the means of Joseph, the steward's boss.

[9:48] Probably, possibly, he has been told what to say and Joseph has told him to give the glory to the God of Israel and is saying, you have treasure in your sacks. That's great. That's right. I already had your money.

[9:59] That's true. He had received it but he'd given it back on Joseph's instructions. So basically, what they had received, all that they had had, all the food that had kept them alive, everything that had sustained them, it had been effectively free.

[10:16] It had been free because what they thought they were able to pay for it with, they hadn't actually paid for it at all. It was free from the provider. It had kept them going but of course, ultimately, it wasn't enough.

[10:30] Now, the Lord gives what he gives to us absolutely free. Not a single one of us pays God for what we receive.

[10:41] We are sustained and kept alive from day to day by the grace of God. The food that we eat, as we heard in prayer, the roof over our heads, the water in our taps, all that sustains us, all that the Lord provides for us.

[10:56] We go, yeah, but that's not free. I have to go out and buy it in the shops. Yeah, but who gives you the means to earn the money or to get the money? Who puts the food in the shops? Oh, other people work for that. Who makes it grow?

[11:08] Who brings the fish out of the sea or causes the cattle to grow in the fields or the sheep or brings the crops up from the ground? That's something man cannot control. It is the Lord who has fed and sustained us all this time and all through these years.

[11:23] The Lord has been abundant and we have not paid Him one red cent for any of it. We haven't given Him so much as one brown penny. And yes, we give our offerings to the Lord, but that's not paying for what we receive.

[11:37] He gives it to us freely because even if we don't love Him and even if we don't sin, He still feeds us. He still provides for us. He calls us the sun to rise on the evil and the good.

[11:47] He sends us the rain upon the just and the unjust. He gives us freely all the good things of this world. But as Joseph's brothers discover, however abundant the provision, however rich the abundance of the earth and however great the corn and all that they have, it's not enough.

[12:09] And eventually it runs out. And this is so true of all the things of this world. Although the Lord gives them freely, one of the things I would suggest to you He wants us to recognize and to learn is it's never going to be enough.

[12:24] No matter how much you have, no matter how much you accumulate, no matter how much you feast in this world, it's never going to be enough. Either it will run out, as it has here for Joseph's brothers, or you and I will run out.

[12:39] We'll run out of time. We may still have loads of food in the Lord, but it can't keep us alive beyond the appointed hour of our departure. It's never going to be enough.

[12:50] No matter how generous, no matter how full, no matter how blessed, the Lord's provision for the things of our body in this world, it's never going to be enough because man is not merely flesh and blood.

[13:04] Man is not merely body. He is body and soul. And he needs more. God gives freely and he gives abundantly.

[13:15] And what we think, oh, we've earned, we think we've paid for. Joseph's brothers thought they paid for it, but in fact, they hadn't. They had the money back again. They had it free. The Lord gives free to all of us.

[13:27] But at the end of the day, what is given for our bodies in this world? Yes, it will sustain your body as long as your body lasts, but ultimately, it won't be enough. Eventually, it will run out or we will run out either way.

[13:41] We need something more. And the Lord is ready to provide that more, but that's a further point. What the Lord gives, he gives freely, he gives abundantly, but at the end of the day, it's never going to be enough.

[14:00] Scrolling back up then to another previous point. If we come to verses 11 and 12, what we find there. Jacob, before the brothers set off, he says to them, oh well, if it has to be this way, then this is what you should take to the man.

[14:15] Take him a present, you know. Take some of the choice fruits of the man in your bags. Carry a present down to the man, a little balm, a little honey, gum, pistachio nuts, almonds, and so on.

[14:26] Take them, double the money with you, and so on. There's all these delicacies that Jacob is able to say to him, take some of the almond nuts, pistachio nuts, the honey, and so on, and whatever else the special gifts are, whatever is also included under these headings.

[14:44] The implication is that there are these delicacies they can take. There are these fruits and spices and honey and blessings and all these sort of presents that are worthy for such a great man.

[14:57] There are delicacies, but the thing is what they need just now is bread. What they need is the ordinary corn. They need the basic bread and without that bread they're going to perish.

[15:08] They can't say to all their wives and children, so it's okay, we've got pistachio nuts, it's okay, we've got honey, oh it's alright, we've got balm here. Not only are they unlikely to have it in sufficient abundance, but delicacies will not sustain.

[15:22] Delicacies are just that, the little garnishing, the sweetening of life, the little bits of luxuries little bits of luxuries will not save us. They are not sufficient any more than all the abundance of the world is sufficient.

[15:36] At the end of the day, what Joseph's brothers need, what Jacob needs, what his family needs, is bread. It is that basic staple for their survival.

[15:47] And at the end of the day, what we ourselves need is the bread of life. You can have as many luxuries as you like in this world. You can have all the sweetest food, you can have all the richest spices, you can have all the most tasty nuts and balm and honey and man and all the rest of it, but at the end of the day, a land which is famine-stricken, which can still produce its luxuries, and isn't that just like us?

[16:14] We've got a land that is famished in regard of the word of God. Miss Hunger, Amos, spoke of a famine for hearing the words of God and we don't have it in abundance in this land, although there's a desperate need for it.

[16:29] There's plenty of luxuries. There's all the worldly riches in which our comparatively affluent society is abundantly blessed, but that doesn't save and that doesn't sustain.

[16:42] What we need is the bread of life. We need bread, that basic staple requirement without which we perish and without the bread of life, our souls will perish.

[16:55] And all the luxuries in the world that they still have, despite the famine state, is not going to be enough, is not going to sustain them. So they have to have that which is most basic of all.

[17:09] And there is nothing more basic to our life's requirement than the Lord. that gospel staple diet, the bread of life, that is what we need.

[17:21] You say, well, that's not true. I mean, loads of people survive without the Lord. How long do they survive? That's like saying anybody can survive without bread. Yeah, that's true, but how long do they survive? If they've got no food, they won't actually die the next day.

[17:35] It will take quite a bit of time. It will take several weeks, but without food, they will perish. And without the Lord, people may last several decades.

[17:46] They may even last a hundred years, but eventually they'll perish without the Lord, and their death will be ultimate, ongoing death, if they depart this life without the Lord. If we don't have that bread of life, then our life in this world will be as good as it gets.

[18:05] If we don't have the bread of life to sustain us, then it's not life in all its fullness that we are able to look forward to in eternity, it will simply be living death, ongoing death, eternal death, eternal separation from the Lord.

[18:20] Our need, despite how pleasant the luxuries of life make this life, if you are starving to death, there are no comfort, and there are no strength, and there are no help.

[18:32] Take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, great, carry a present down to the man, a little bar, a little honey, gum, mull, pistachios, almonds, goodness, those are all, what else?

[18:42] They had all this, but they didn't have bread. And we may have all the luxuries in the world, but without the bread of life, we are starving, and sooner or later, without it, we will perish eternally.

[18:57] And we see also the danger of delay. Judah says to his father, verse 10, if we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice, he means twice over, we could have been there and back again, twice over, if we'd gone before, with Benjamin, if we'd gone and got more food, we wouldn't have been having to eke out the last little bit, we could have gone for more, we could have come back again.

[19:22] Money's not an object, it's not that they can't afford to buy more corn, it's not that Egypt doesn't have corn, it's got plenty, it's just that they've delayed to go.

[19:33] They've delayed to go because they're afraid. They've delayed to go because they know there's no way their father's going to let go of little Benjamin, but at the same time, there's no way the man of Egypt is going to give them any corn or sell them any corn if they don't love Benjamin, so they do what a lot of us do when we're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[19:52] They do nothing, and they just wait and hope the problem will somehow resolve itself, but of course, it's not going to. We get stuck between a rock and a hard place sometimes when we think, well, I know where the corn is, I know how to get bread of life, I really wait it's to be fine, but I'm not really sure that I'm prepared to go or face down whoever might give me a hard time or to meet the conditions which, you know, they don't want me to meet them, there's other people in my life that might oppose this and so on and so on, just not going to do anything.

[20:24] And I'll just hope that we can last a bit longer. Well, you can last a bit longer, but you can last indefinitely. You get to the stage where even Jacob is saying to his sons, well, come on, isn't it time you went down and bought some more food?

[20:37] And then they tell him the conditions. But this is the danger of delay. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice, except we had lingered.

[20:49] we would have been there and back again. And this also is a message for each of us if we are hesitating or pausing before commitment to the Lord.

[21:01] And by commitment to the Lord, I don't simply mean, oh, well, yes, well, I've made a profession of faith several years ago, but that's okay because that's me over the line now. I can relax, let go, and do what I like. No, commitment to the Lord is an ongoing, growing, living relationship.

[21:16] Going deeper with the Lord. It's like any relationship. The more you go into it, the more you realize how much you don't know. And the more there is to be learned and the more joy there is to be found and commitment to the Lord, the more we put in, the more we will get out of it.

[21:31] Not because God is some kind of legalist, but it's the way that His grace works. He freely gives it. But the more you put in, the more you will get out.

[21:42] Now, we've said, you know, without the staple diet of bread, that's why we will perish. And that is true. But there's somebody who just takes a piece of bread and eats it.

[21:52] Yeah, okay, they'll get some good out of it. But somebody else, because they go into it more deeply, they think, well, what are all the recipes we can do with this? What are all the things we can make? Whether it be bread and butter pudding or make all kinds of cakes or whatever it might be.

[22:05] We can do a whole amount of wonderful recipes. We can go deeper in with this. We can get so much more good out of this. We can share more of it. We can distribute it. Maybe we can plant seed and grow our own or whatever it may be.

[22:18] The deeper you go in to something, the more you will get out of it. Now, I remember when I, the first time in my teens when I actually finished reading right through the Bible.

[22:30] And so, of course, okay, I've done that now. and I thought, yeah, well, I can't actually remember most of it. So, I thought, well, I better start again, start keep reading. And of course, it's not a good plan to sort of shut the book and say, oh, well, that's it.

[22:43] I've read it. I've finished with it now. Because you'll never know or remember or understand all the depths of it. It's something you have to be at every day. Now, we're thinking about food in this chapter.

[22:55] You wouldn't say, oh, well, yes, I had lunch once in 1975 and that was okay. I mean, that was fine. But, you know, I've done that now. So, I don't need to do it again. I don't need to eat again. Yes, you do. You have to eat every day.

[23:07] Otherwise, you're going to perish. Otherwise, you're going to famish. You wouldn't treat your body that way. So, why do we treat our souls this way? We need the Lord.

[23:17] And we need to be going deeper and deeper with the Lord. And the more we know the Lord, the more we put in to find out more about the Lord and knowing Him better, the more we will get out of it.

[23:30] God rewards such labor. We are not saved because we deserve it, but the Lord rewards labor on His behalf. Now, He repays all the effort that is made to seek Him while He is to be found and call upon Him while He is near.

[23:46] If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice. Think how much farther on we'd be with the Lord if we'd only committed and started years ago. That's not to say, oh, else there's no hope.

[23:58] Let's give up. No, you can start at any time. You can start at whatever age you're at. And I know I've used this illustration before, so apologies, but I love it, so I keep on using it. In the congregation I was in first, there was a lady who finally came to profess her faith at 92.

[24:15] I know I've told this one before, but it's a great one. At 92, at that time of the day, at that time of her life, she was coming out one end of the day. But fair enough, she's on goodness knows how many pearls. She's 92 years old, got a couple of bit of slack.

[24:28] But when she finally committed herself to the Lord, she got a new lease of life. She started coming out both ends of the day. She got coming out in a midweek prayer meeting. She started coming out in a lady's fellowship.

[24:40] And anything that was going, she was at it. And she was so positive and enthusiastic and cheerful about it. For 92, she finally died at 104.

[24:52] And yes, by the last couple of years, she had slowed down a wee bit. And she wasn't out at quite so many things as she had been before. But she got 12 years of being within the Lord's covenant family, sitting at the Lord's table, being a fully-fledged part of the body of Christ and giving such encouragement, even to her youthful and ignorant own minister who's still telling the story years later with such encouragement that she gave.

[25:22] And she was 92 when she came forward. I'm not recommending that anybody of necessity waits till they're 92 before they commit to the Lord. But I'm just using it by way of illustration that it is never too late for you to begin.

[25:37] Because when you begin, who's to say, oh, well, I've only got another six months. The Lord might give you another 12 years. Like you did for her. He might give you any number of years. You know, Abraham was 75 when he was just getting started.

[25:49] And all that there was ahead of him in his life. So if we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice. That doesn't mean that well, so what's the point? That means, okay, let's go for it now.

[26:02] Let's not delay any longer because think how much further on we'd be if we had started sooner. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.

[26:14] So there are all these things to begin with. There is the knowledge the Lord has of us, which is illustrated by the position the brothers are in at the table. There is the fact that the Lord gives us free all that he does.

[26:29] I already had your money. The money was in your sacks. It didn't cost you a thing. It's okay. You're not in trouble. This is what the Master intended. We've got the fact that despite the fact there's abundance of luxuries, what do people actually need is bread.

[26:44] Or our souls actually need is bread. And there is the danger of delaying because plenty of people think, oh yeah, well I can do it. Look, the minister just told us a story about somebody who didn't come to level 92 and said, hey, I've got years yet.

[26:56] You don't know that you've got years. Some of you may recollect that if Paul Murray has told a story about a young lad when he was himself seeking or beginning to think about the Lord and this guy had it all planned out.

[27:10] And he knew what he was going to do and he knew when he was going to start thinking about religion, when he was going to get his house and his car and so on. And he was dead within a couple of months. It didn't work out that way because he didn't reckon on the Lord.

[27:24] He reckoned he'd have loads of time. It would be at his disposal, his life. God gives us the gift of life. But he doesn't specify how long it's going to be for any of us.

[27:36] So seize the opportunity. If we had not delayed, we would now return twice. Finally, of course, if we're scrolling back a little further, there's the most obvious point of all, which points us, of course, ultimately to our Savior.

[27:52] The brothers are saying, we're not going down to Egypt if we can't take Benjamin with us. He's our guarantor. He is the one whereby if we've got him, the doors will swing open and we'll meet the man and he'll give us whatever we want.

[28:05] He'll sell us corn and so on. If we don't have Benjamin, we might as well not set off. In fact, we're not going to set off unless we've got Benjamin with us because that is their guarantee of actually gaining an audience.

[28:18] That is their guarantee of some hope of reception and admission and acceptance with the man that they do not yet know as their brother. If they don't have Benjamin, they might as well not bother.

[28:30] It's not because they've ceased to be Joseph's brothers. It's not because Joseph's a nasty man. If they were to go to Egypt and knock and say, please, please give us some corn. Have you got Benjamin with you?

[28:41] Well, no, we don't. Well, tough. He's not going to give him to them. Well, that's not very nice. Surely if he's kindly, surely if he's merciful, he's already been merciful. He's already given them their first load of food that's got them this far for free.

[28:56] He's given them their money back. He's done everything for them. He's shown them far more kindness than they ever showed to him. But the one thing he has required of them is Benjamin.

[29:08] If they're not bringing Benjamin, they're not going to see his face at all. Now, hopefully, the analogy is clear enough. The Lord has stipulated and required of us the one means by which we will have access to see his face, to enter into his throne room of grace, to be received, to be fed, to be provided for, to be received, as it were, in his kingdom.

[29:33] But, without that one guarantee, we won't get near him. We won't get out of hell or beyond earth or whatever if we do not have the mediator, if we do not have the Savior, Christ.

[29:48] It's not little Benjamin here. It's Jesus, the Master, the Savior. Benjamin, of course, points us to that here in this situation. Joseph is the one in many ways who's more of a redeemer for his brothers, but Benjamin is the condition here.

[30:05] Benjamin is the requirement. They've got access to Benjamin. It's not like he's run away or gone missing and they don't have him. They do have him. They've got Benjamin there.

[30:15] Their father can let him go or not let him go. And if they take him, then they get the access. And if they don't, they don't. Now, the Lord has stipulated. He has given us freely his son, Jesus Christ.

[30:28] He has come from heaven to earth. That's what this season is meant to be about. Remembering his coming amongst us in great humility and meekness as the infant of Bethlehem.

[30:42] This littlest member of the human race in many ways at that point in time is the one who opens heaven's door for us. If we have Christ, then we have access to all the blessing and redemption that the Lord has laid up for them that love him.

[30:59] That is the condition he has laid. If we try and knock on heaven's door without Christ, there will be no admission. For it is his blood alone, his presence, his sacrifice, which alone has purchased salvation for all who will trust and believe in him.

[31:17] God has given us his son. Benjamin is there. All we have to do is take him. All we have to do is receive and accept the Savior the Lord has freely offered to fallen mankind.

[31:30] Freely offered for sinners. He is already there for you if you will have him. And receiving him to go with him on this journey of your life.

[31:40] Notice how it is a little bit further down in verse 15. It is almost in the blink of an eye as as of the journey into Egypt. Which really just had been the blink of an eye. The men took this present. They took double the money with them.

[31:50] And Benjamin rose and went down into Egypt and stood before Joseph. Just like that. Now of course it would be a long, difficult, dangerous journey. It would have taken some considerable time. Life's journey is usually long and difficult and filled with all manner of challenges and potholes and all manner of problems and pain and difficulties as well as the joys and the happy times too.

[32:13] It is not just the blink of an eye except until you get to a certain stage in life and then you look back and you realize yes it was actually the blink of an eye. But only in retrospect, when you're actually making the journey, it can be arduous.

[32:27] It can seem very long and very difficult and so on. So it's a lot longer than it's just enunciated there in verse 15. But, as long as they've got Benjamin, they know they've got hope at the end of it.

[32:39] And if you have Christ with you in life's journey, not only is he the one who sustains and keeps you through the journey, he is the guarantee of being received favorably at the last.

[32:52] That is what that old-fashioned word, but truth of all, propitiation means. It means that which causes to be favorable. He causes the Lord to be favorable to us.

[33:04] That's what propitiation means. Christ is the propitiation for us and for our sins. If we have Benjamin, we have hope. If we don't have him, we're not going.

[33:16] And in many ways, it's like what Moses said to the Lord in Exodus. He says, if thy presence will go with us, then we'll go up into the holy land, but if not, we won't go. The Lord says he will go with us.

[33:29] The Lord has sent his son to abide with us. It's not him that departs from us. You ever noticed that about Jesus' ministry? He never ever sends anyone away.

[33:41] He never dismisses anyone. But plenty of people turn around and walk away from him. Plenty of people apart from him. But he never sends anyone away.

[33:53] Remember what he says in John 6, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. If you have your Benjamin, if you have Christ, if you have the Lord, whose infancy in coming amongst us at this time, we remember all we ought to be remembering, then you have everything you need.

[34:15] You have the bread of life, you have the luxuries, you have the free gift, and all your money back as well as it were, and you have a Lord who knows you and sets you in your place and your position, and welcomes you not only to his table, but into his very home, into heaven itself, but the one condition that makes it all necessary, here it is Benjamin, in reality it is Christ, but that Christ is available to each and every sinner who will receive him.

[34:51] Let us pray.