[Music] well good morning welcome to free grace Baptist Church pastor Butler is suffering from from a few a little bit of a cold that's coming on him so he asked that I would lead worship this this morning so he might be able to save his voice for for the preaching for the preaching hour so welcome to any visitors amongst us we have a couple of men from Regina I was visiting with earlier so welcome to Steve and Daniel and any other visitors amongst us there are no announcements so let's begin worship by turning in our Bibles to Psalm 97 to begin worship Psalm 97 - to lead us into worship will read the entire Psalm Psalm 97 a song of praise to the sovereign Lord the Lord reigns let the earth rejoice let the multitude of Isles be glad clouds and darkness surround him righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne a fire goes before him and burns up his enemies around about his lightnings alight the world the earth sees and trembles the mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth the heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples see his glory let all be put to shame who serve carved images who boast of idols worship him all you gods Zion hears and is glad and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments O Lord for you Lord are most high above all the earth you are exalted above all gods you who love the Lord hate evil he preserves the souls of his Saints he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart rejoice in the Lord you righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name Amen please turn your hymn books to him number 60 hymn number 64 our first hymn of worshipful ask you to stand [Music] [Music] [Music] well let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing be upon this worship service today and upon this whole day that's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we come into your holy presence this morning through your son the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you Father that you are the god of whom we just sang of that you are clothed with all majesty all righteousness we think that you are the all-powerful one the sovereign one the one who rules and who reigns over this whole universe and father you reign over this universe and and yet you you show your your grace even though you are a holy God you show your grace to us every day every day the Sun rises in the East how we praise you father you've given to us rest from from this past night's sleep you brought us into this lord's day father to enjoy your presence to enjoy your holiness we recognize father we come as sinful men and women boys and girls into the presence of a holy God and so Lord we pray that you would be pleased to forgive us of our sins cleanse us afresh and that precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ we are thankful father for for that for that fount that is open for uncleanness for for sinners such as us it's not the it's not the well that that our worshippers if you it is that it is those who who were born in sin who we're born with that Adamic sinful nature yet father you've not left us to ourselves you've redeemed us you've you've placed you've set your love upon us you you've removed those those stony hearts and given to us fleshly hearts hearts that seek after you this day and so lord we pray that as as we come into your presence as we come to this worship service this day father we pray you'd help us in our in our individual hearts and minds to to concentrate upon the things that we were about this day we pray Lord that you would remove from us all those distractions all those things that that would that would that would hinder us cause us Lord to be worshippers of a triune God we know that we come before an audience of one this day we do not come to be with friends we do not come - two - two to entertain but rather father we come to worship you we pray that as we worship you in our in our in our prayers and our in our hymns and in the Word of God as its opened up and that's it as it demonstrates that that great God that you are how we pray father that you would be glorified in all these things bless our pastor give to him strength give to him aid physically we pray that she would just strengthen his voice for the for this preaching our to come and we pray Lord that you would bless us and benefit us from front from from hearing your word we do pray Lord that you give to him strengthen the inner man as well cause him Lord to to know that help and that aid from this from the spirit on huh from the spirit on high the Holy Spirit that father you give to him all that he stands in need of this day to bring forth your word keep him in truth edged him in had Justin as a congregation we pray love that word might find its finance mark in each one of our hearts cause us Lord to to to respond to the word as it's preached for those who are believers for those who are children of God we pray that it would sanctify and and cause us to to enjoy the Christian life as we enjoy each and every day that we might walk with Christ and be made more and more into the image of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and for any and all who are unsaved father in this place this day how we pray at that Spirit of God that word of God would prick the conscience that Lord you would do that inner work that you would call men women boys and girls to yourself this day and cause them to to look and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ Lord we thank you that you are in the business of saving sinners and how we rejoice that as save sinners this day we can give voice and praise and worship to that to that god who has saved us from our sins i we pray lord that you would be pleased to bless churches other churches in this community who are seeking to be faithful with the word of god bless bless the churches across our nation father who are seeking to be faithful with the Word of God we pray that you would be pleased to strengthen those churches and cause them to to be to be in truth we pray Lord that you would multiply the churches across this nation as well we know we do not look to government we do not look to any agency to to bring to bring Redemption to our nation but rather we look to You Father the sovereign God who is able to arrest hearts and and consciousness and and bring to a knowledge of the Savior and how we pray Lord this day that she would be pleased to to to bless the churches and multiply churches sanctify them and cause them to to be preachers to be Herald errs of truth this day we do pray Lord we do pray for those who govern over us those who whom you've given responsibilities to to govern we pray Lord that that you would bless them and cause them to those who are righteous those who are Christians in positions of power and influence Lord cause them to be to be that Daniel that that Joseph to be in that place of position that or position of power they might to use that position they might speak well of their God and act as as thorough Christians we do pray Lord that you would bless their their words and we do think Lord of others who who who legislate wickedness and and how we pray law that should remove those from office who who are intent upon upon legislation that that ultimately is is against God on high how we pray father for those who who who commit to even just those open sins of abortion and celebrate these things Lord we pray against that how it must grieve the heart of God and and to see image bearers just cast aside in this in this so-called progressive world that we live in how we pray load that this would not always be but rather that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven we pray we pray to you father as a sovereign God that you would arrest consciences and and cause this nation of ours to do not continue down the pathway that that we seem to be on and how we pray Lord that you would do that that work of grace and in hearts and lives and and we do pray that you would be pleased to to to cause there to be a righteousness that would that would spread across this land through through the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ Lord we do pray for those who are who are in persecuting countries as well we know Lord that it is not always as we enjoy around this world there are many who who are persecuted for the Gospels sake and we pray though that you would encourage those hearts cause those individuals who who have genuinely suffered a great loss and they have they have suffered perhaps even loss of family members or some are in prison father how we pray that you would just gird them up and cause them Lord to continue to look to you and that they might find their hope their joy their satisfaction and the things that are of eternal worth and we pray that you encourage their hearts this day and we pray they would not grow despont they would not grow weary would not grow weak but they would rather find that joy in knowing that that they are serving a God who is who is watching over them who is able to to satisfy them who is able to give to them all that they stand in need of when we pray Lord that you would just bless those who are suffering for the cause of Christ so let me just ask your blessing upon our our worship time here this day we desire father to not meet together if you are not here so we pray and plead that your spirit will be here in this place and that you would be pleased to bless your word as it's opened up and we just ask these things and pray in Jesus precious name Amen please turn that turn with me in your in your Psalter the the small red book to Psalm 67 Psalm 67 as we continue in worship and I'll ask you to stand [Music] [Music] [Music] seated in turn your Bibles to our New Testament Bob marine which is John chapter 8 as we continue to read through the New Testament in the mornings John chapter 8 John chapter 8 will begin verse 21 and we'll read through to 36 then jesus said to them again I am going away and you will seek me and will die in your sin where I go you cannot come so the Jews said will he kill himself because he says where I go you cannot come and he said to them you are from beneath I am from above you're of this world I am not of this world therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for if you do not believe that I am he you will die in your sins then they said to him who are you and Jesus said to them just what I have been saying to you from the beginning I have many things excuse me I have many things to say and to judge concerning you but he who sent me is true and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him they did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father then jesus said to them when you lift up the Son of man then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself but as my father taught me I speak these things and he you sent me is with me the father has not left me alone for I always do those things that please him as he spoke these words many believed in him then jesus said to those Jews who believed him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free they answered him we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone how can you say you will be made free jesus answered them most assuredly I say to you whoever commits sin is a slave of sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever but his son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed amen well let's pray our loving Heavenly Father again we as we read this passage we truly do rejoice and in the gift of our salvation that you would send your son your only Son the Lord Jesus Christ to be that for appreciation for us that he would take that penalty that hewed bear all the all of the the the anger all of the all of the punishment that was due us upon himself so that we might enjoy that that freedom how we praise You Father that you have that you have redeemed us from our sins and caused us Lord this day to be a rejoicing people so truly it's it's really a marvel that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life may this give us a thrill in our souls we pray Lord that as we continue in worship this day that truly we would we would be thrilled with the fact that we know our loving Heavenly Father we can call you our Father because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did in our behalf we pray that the Lord Jesus Christ might be lifted up in this place for the in this day and we pray again your blessing upon our pastor strengthen him in the inner man strengthen him father in the outer man as well we pray that we would that we would hear if you hear from you this day through your word and we just gave you our grateful thanks in Jesus precious name Amen well just before we go to the preaching we'll turn one last time in our hymn books to him number 254 254 in the larger Trinity hymnal and I'll ask you to stand [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter seven Acts chapter seven Stephens defense before the Sanhedrin remember that according to chapter six he was brought up on two specific charges that he spoke blasphemous words against the law of Moses and that he spoke blasphemous words concerning the temple of God and so he traces redemptive history through Israel specifically focusing on major characters in Israel's history to defend himself and to point his audience to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ so I'll begin reading in chapter 7 at verse 1 then the high priest said are these things so and he said brethren and fathers listen the god of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran and from there when his father was dead he moved him to this land in which you now dwell and God gave him no inheritance in it not even enough to set his foot on but even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for possession and to his descendants after him but God spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them for hundred years and the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge said God and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place that he gave him the Covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs and the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph into Egypt but God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan and our fathers found no sustenance but when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt he sent out our fathers first and the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him 75 people so Jacob went down to Egypt and he died he and our fathers and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Haman the father of Shechem amen well let us pray our God in heaven we thank you for the written word we thank you for this defence of Stephen and for the way that he continually points out the law and the temple all pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that Christ is that one who came in the fullness of the times born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law we thank you that he is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 and that you've shown us our sin you've shown us his sufficiency you've shown us grace and mercy and kindness and God we pray that wherever the gospel is preached today more sinners would be called out of darkness into marvelous light to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to that end we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit upon us now she would sanctify strengthen and edify your people and God that you would be pleased to save sinners and that we would see in this passage the glory of Jesus Christ and it's in his blessed name that we pray amen well as I said it's important for us to remember the specific charges laid against Stephen because Stephen is defending himself before the Sanhedrin or before the religious council here he traces israel's history focused already or we saw last week in verses 1 to 8 he focuses on Abraham and this morning we're going to take up verses 9 to 16 and this emphasis upon Joseph again I'll try to connect the dots as to how he's making his defense before the council in terms of the charges that he spoke blasphemous words against the law of Moses and against the temple of God and I want to look at two things this morning in this particular first the patriarchs in Egypt according to verses 9 and 10 and then secondly the plan of God in verses 11 to 16 and I want us to notice in the first place the patriarchs in Egypt the patriarchs are mentioned that simply means the father's and those are the ones that Jacob begot look back in verse 8 we see that God gave Abraham this confident of circumcision and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs these are the sons of Jacob and Joseph was one of them and we see in this particular account referring to Joseph that the brothers hated him they despised him now Stephan assumes a great deal of knowledge from his hearers Stephan assumes that the counsel of the Sanhedrin understands the book of Genesis I'd like to assume the same thing but I'm not going to completely I'm going to try to sketch for you at least briefly the history of Joseph as he's presented to us in the book of Genesis we notice in the first place this reference verse 9 says and the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph into Egypt now this is recorded for us in the book of Genesis in Genesis chapter 37 and they hated him for three particular reasons in the first place Joseph basically ratted out his brothers to Jacob doesn't tell us specifically what these four brothers were doing but it does tell us that that Joseph went to Jacob and essentially said that they perhaps weren't doing their job or he had made some comment about them that did not endear Joseph to them secondly they saw that Jacob favored Joseph Joseph was the favored among the twelve Jacob loved him Jacob esteemed him even higher and as you might imagine the brothers did it like that parents be very cautious I want to moralize the tax but there's simply a lesson there for us if you favor one of your children over and against the others do not think that's going to facilitate good relationships between the siblings they are going to despise and loathe and abhorred the wine that is favored by the parents but in the third instance in Genesis 37 Jake Joseph had dreams and in these particular dreams his his brothers would be subject to him and then in the second dream it was not only his brothers that would be subject to him but it was also his father and his mother this troubled Jacob at least to a degree but nevertheless he kept this in his heart and so these brothers despised and as we read in the narrative and verse nine according to Stephen they became envious and they sold him into Egypt now that's indicated in the latter part of Genesis chapter 37 and I think that what Stephen is doing remember that he's on trial for having spoken blasphemous words against Moses he is showing that in their history there were men chosen by God sent to the nation that were rejected by the nation I think that Steven's tactic and plan ultimately heading toward the end of the sermon is to show that he's not anti Moses but rather the council as anti Moses he is not misread Moses but rather the Sanhedrin has misread Moses because Moses testified concerning Jesus Christ later on the narrative will move to Moses and Stephen will show effectively how Moses was opposed by the people of Israel as well and so that's the emphasis in Stephen in terms of Joseph's heir Joseph was a man chosen by God Joseph was a man set by God and Joseph was a man rejected by the patriarchs sounds exactly like what is happening at the time of Stephen Jesus was a man chosen by God Jesus was a man set by God and the council the Sanhedrin is functioning like the patriarchs they were envious of him they despised him they sold him for thirty pieces of silver Joseph was sold for twenty shekels of silver the similarities there are obvious to anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see unfortunately they didn't hear it unfortunately they didn't see it and ultimately they drive him out of the city and they stone him to death but that Stephens tactic he is not anti Moses he was not anti Joseph he is not anti any of these men in history that God said but rather it was the nation choosing rather to serve idols and reject the chosen men of God that's his point Matthew Poole says the holy martyr that Stephen accommodates his his apology so I should define for you apology the word that we often use today apology or apologize means when we say we're sorry for something in Greek apology means defense Stephen is giving a defense before the Sanhedrin that's what Matthew Pugh is referring to the holy martyr accommodates his apology so so that or so as that they may yet have occasion to reflect on themselves for as they had sold our Savior under strangers so had their fathers sold Joseph turned to acts 7 at verse 52 this is going to be Stephens point when he brings this to bear upon his hearers again I want to keep this before us as we move slower through the narrative we never the less need to remember how it functions in terms of Stephens defense notice in verse 51 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you always resist the Holy Spirit as your father's did so do you there's the link there's the comparison there's the connection that he is making and asserting throughout his defense verse 52 which of the prophets did your father's not persecute and they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept dead so we see back in chapter 7 verse 9 Stephen successfully summarizes in brief compass all that Genesis tells us concerning their Envy and concerning their selling him in to slavery now that wasn't the initial plan and I think at times we have as Bible readers this idea that you know the Bible is simply a the principles on how we ought to live our lives well that's true to some degree but that's not the main point in the Bible the main point of the Bible is to highlight God's getting glory for himself through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ that's the main point of the Bible and especially if we come to the Bible and say I want principles for healthy interpersonal relationship with my siblings certainly do not go to the patriarchs they wanted to kill him they wanted to destroy him and they wanted to concoct a story that he had been ravaged by wild beasts Reuben the oldest intervenes and says no let's not kill him let's rather throw him into a pit and while they're eating some Ishmaelite trail Ishmaelite traders are coming by and so they reckoned why kill him why bury his body why hide him there'll be no profit in that so they sell him to these Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver they do take that that that multi-coloured tunic that Joseph possessed her own they put a blood on it from a kid and they bring it back to jacob and jacob concludes that animals ravaged his son these are terrible human beings again we ought not to look at scripture as simply a marching order on how we ought to or ought not to behave it is that but that's not the primary emphasis the primary emphasis upon the hero the champion the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ that is the emphasis in Scripture so anyways they sell him into Joseph or so Joseph rather into Egypt but note the marked contrast you see the patriarchs and Joseph and now you see the Lord and Joseph in 9 B and 10 it says but God was with him they were envious and they sold him into Egypt but God was with him again Stephens defense he's not a a temple but he knows that the temple is not the only place where God manifests himself to Israel God is with Joseph in Egypt not in the temple in Israel but he's with Joseph in Egypt he's even with Joseph in a prison in Egypt according to the book of Genesis so you see Stephen is answering the charges he's not anti temple he understands that the temple existed to point men to the Lord Jesus Christ now that Christ has come there is no reason why we go back to the temple and the temple as far as it was used properly by Israel was a good thing but it never was they approached it as an empty ritual they approached it in a formalistic fashion at the time of Jesus Christ himself they put more stock in the temple than the very one the temple pointed to that's why Jesus pronounces in the Olivet discourse that there's an end coming to their temple they had trusted in it they had confided in it they had assumed that since there was temple God must be pleased with us they had misread it by a long shot so Stephen says God doesn't need a temple in Palestine in order to appear to his people he's with Joseph in Egypt so when they said the only place that God can show himself to us is the temple in Israel they were wrong they missed the point Stephen rather got the point and he is educating and schooling them it's unfortunate that they resist this so with reference to the presence of God with Joseph you can turn to Genesis 39 Genesis chapter 39 just to highlight a few of these incidents I thought that was gonna be warm water we had discussed the possibility of warm water to break up the phlegm but it's cold water hopefully that'll do the same thing notice in Genesis chapter 39 after he gets to Egypt he goes to Potiphar's house and the narrative is absolutely crystal-clear verse 2 of Genesis 39 the Lord was with Joseph why is Joseph able to successfully resist the advances of Potiphar's wife which verse 10 tells us was day by day it's not because he had an intrinsic strength it's not because he pulled himself up by the bootstraps it's not because he had the willpower of a rhinoceros it's because God was with him brethren in our fight against that's the component that is vital yes discipline yes willpower yes recess yes use the means of grace but ultimately our success in the life of sanctification our ability to resist these types of temptations it's because Yahweh is with us and that's what's highlighted conspicuously here and again Stephens point is clear God doesn't need the Temple in Israel in order to be with Joseph he's there in Egypt notice it's not only in Potiphar's house but then he's thrown into jail because Potiphar's wife woman of the year basically lies and gets him thrown into jail now notice in verse 19 of Genesis 39 so it was when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him saying your servant did to me after this manner that his man his anger was aroused some wonder who was his anger aroused at I mean the text assumes or most people assume that he's aroused in his anger toward Joseph but maybe he knew mrs. Potiphar a little bit better than the rest of us do maybe he understood that it wasn't Joseph's necessarily and his anger is aroused at her again I simply throw that out there we ought not to necessarily assume he's that man but as king as Pharaoh as ruler he has to engage in this particular duty and he throws Joseph into jail now notice verse 20 then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison a place where the Kings prisoners were confined and he was there in the prison but the Lord was with Joseph you see that he doesn't need the Temple in Israel to be with his people doesn't need the Temple in Israel to dwell with Joseph he's with Joseph not only in Egypt but he's with Joseph in an in a prison in Egypt so verse 21 the Lord was with Joseph and gave him mercy and he gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison and the keeper the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in his prayer in the prison whatever they did there it was his doing the keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made it prosper I gotta say brethren the Sanhedrin the council knew this passage they knew the text so that when Stephen moves from Abraham Abraham to Joseph they understand the implication yeah God appeared to him apart from Temple apart from Israel Stephen is making his defense and then notice as well God is with him even in the disclosure of dreams and Berta I'm sorry chapters 40 and 41 he interprets two drains the chief Baker and the chief Butler the chief Baker gets hanged according to the interpretation of the dream and then the chief Butler promises to remember him but forgets him it's not till later on when Pharaoh has a dream that the chief Butler remembers oh yeah there was this Hebrew that was able to interpret a dream for me notice in chapter 41 at verse 14 chapter 41 verse 14 then Pharaoh wall verse 13 it came to pass just as the as he interpreted for us so it happened he restored me to my office and he hanged him and Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon and he shaved change his clothing and came to Pharaoh now again I don't want to moralize but if I did I would say this there's instances where we shave and we change our clothing there's instances where we clean up there's instances where we gussied up a bit that is the world in which we live and in order to properly present before Pharaoh shave your face and put on some decent clothing thank you that was very kind so that's my moralistic rant be well kempt when you're before the Pharaoh be well kempt when you come before Yahweh be well camped and present when you're in the presence of dignity that's what Joseph demonstrates here again moralism but it fits but the point is is that God is with him John Gill says God was with him and prospered him in Potiphar's house he was with him and kept him from the temptations of his mistress he was with him in prison and supported and comforted him and late and at length delivered him from it and promoted him as follows and caused all the evil that befell him to work for good to him and his father's family so going back to Acts chapter 7 this is Steven fence not only was God with him but according to verse 10 it says and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he made him governor over Egypt in all his house it's an amazing story isn't it this is why he should read your Old Testament I mean the Joseph's narratives are absolutely thrilling it's great reading it stuff that that maid she just praise God and honor God and glorify God and as well it highlights certain things and certain truths notice verse 10 delivered him out of all his troubles he see it's the health wealth prosperity fools that that testify to believers that there's never going to be any trouble in your life oh yeah there is going to be trouble in your life ask Joseph when you came to Jesus did all your problems go away when you came to Jesus was everything hunky-dory now when I came to Jesus my brothers wanted to kill me and then they threw me into a pit they were gonna leave me for dead but 20 shekels of silver allured them and they sold me into slavery but the point is is that the Lord delivered him from his troubles the Bible does not promise no trouble the Bible promises a God who sees us through the trouble a God who sustains us in the midst of the trouble a God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death David can say I will fear no evil because you are with me that's the Blessed encouragement that these Old Testament narratives hold forth to us now that's on the one level but even more importantly these old testament narratives point us to Jesus this is Jesus point in John chapter 5 when he upbraids the Jewish leaders he says you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but these are they which testify of me and then he speaks to Moses and he says if you would believe Moses you would believe me because Moses wrote about me Stephens doing that Stephen is essentially following the master in his use of the Old Testament I have told you many times with reference to the book of Acts there is a shift happening a transition happening the council and Sanhedrin is no longer the leadership in Israel but it's the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ it's not they hoard gifted and skilled in the interpretation of the Old Testament because by interpreting it the way they did they miss Messiah it's the apostles of our Lord it's the men like Stephen who understood the scripture they had the proper hermeneutic it was Christ he is the one by which we interpret the Old Testament and that's what he's evidencing in this point and we need to appreciate that as we read the Old Testament and don't just say well I should shave today and I should put on fresh clothes again moralism but a good point to remember so back to our text he delivered him out of all his troubles excuse me he gave him favor and wisdom Genesis 41 37 and 38 pharaoh says a rather the text says so the advice was good in the eyes of pharaoh and the eye and in the eyes of all his servants and pharaoh said to his servants can we find such a one as this a man in whom is the Spirit of God and what a great testimony from a pagan concerning Joseph the presence of God was so conspicuous in the life of Joseph that pharaoh pagan king of Egypt was able to see this in the life of this man and in the last bit that Stephen tells us in verse 10 is that he made him governor over Egypt in all his house now the text is a bit obscure a bit vague or ambiguous in our in our rendering or in our translation it might read that it was Pharaoh that stationed stationed in as governor and it was Pharaoh as a second cause but it was God Most High who did this it was God most high who exalted him it was God Most High who put him into this crucial position again not for the sustenance of Egyptians but for the sustenance of Israelites the Lord is promoting Joseph into a position of authority so that as this family famine wreaks havoc upon the world Joseph is there loaded with grain to be able to feed his brothers which you know prop - Joseph would you give grain to your brothers you guys want him to kill me and then you throw me into a pit and then you sold me for 20 shekels of silver I mean if ever there's a great example of forgiveness and of kindness and of compassion and of Biblical charity it is Joseph that these wretches ate from his hand is a testimony to the grace of God and it's a testimony to the kindheartedness of this man Joseph because again Joseph understood things theologically Joseph understood as we'll see at the end of the message this morning that you meant this for evil but God overruled it for good Joseph was the biblical theologian the system attention among them that understood the Providence of God most high but in Genesis 45840 Joseph said so now it was not you who sent me here but God and he has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt so while the text indicates that Pharaoh made him governor we know that Pharaoh was a second cause we know that God is the first cause and Joseph confesses that in Genesis 45 8 it was God's doing God's purpose God's sovereignty that put me in this place now the rest of Stephens speech concerning Joseph and the patriarchs verses 11 to 16 tell us why God did that tells us why the Lord exalted Joseph in the way that he did so let's look at that plan of God in verses 11 to 16 in the first place notice the famine verse 11 now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan and our fathers found no sustenance this is recorded in Genesis 41 Genesis 42 it was a comprehensive problem it wasn't just Canaan where they were living remember that's the promised land that's the land given by oath from God to Abraham and to his descendants so the famine affected Canaan to be sure also affected Egypt but see God had revealed to Joseph that this was going to happen so when Joseph interprets the dream for Pharaoh Joseph also recommends the course of action to be followed there's going to be this period of time of great fruitfulness in the land there's going to be this time of Plenty and abundance and I think Pharaoh we ought to stockpile that stuff so that when the famine comes we'll have the stuff and be able to dole it out to Egyptians now perhaps at that time Joseph was unaware of the reality that his brothers were going to come but that's how he that's the wisdom that God gave him there's going to be this famine and we ought to prepare for it so the Lord God is behind the scenes orchestrating all of this again not for the provision and the benefit of the Egyptians they certainly provided for it and benefited but what's God doing thought through Abraham is carving out his people God through Abraham is producing a people that will ultimately produce Messiah all of this happens so that in the fullness of the time God would send forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law every step of the way God is orchestrating for the good the glory of God and for the good of his people and that's what we see in this passage notice the provision of God in verses 12 to 16 Jacob hears that there's corn in Egypt it's the old King James rendering grain there's grain in Egypt Jacob hears this he understands this and he knows that if we send you boys over into Egypt you can gather enough grain and enough food to help us to provide to provide sustenance for us so that we can weather this storm of famine and so the boys go they go on that first visit Joseph doesn't disclose himself to them he treats them a little bit severely at times and then there's a second visit and at that visit what does Joseph do joseph weeps he breaks down and he tells them that I am Joseph I'm your brother I'm the man that you sold into slavery and God has exalted me to this position so that I can look after you so that dream that he initially had you see how it's fulfilled you see the connectivity of the narrative it's not just a history lesson its Theological history God is on every page of the book of Genesis Christ is on every page of the book of Genesis see when the biblical authors present to us history they do so with an agenda they want us to behold our God they want us to see in Marvel they want us to realize that every single one of these events is for his glory and it's for the preservation and the provision and the good of those who love him to those who are the called according to his purpose that's what Stephen is saying but again conspicuously he highlights the reality gods with Joseph even in Egypt and gods with the patriarchs even in Egypt you know I mentioned Joseph's kindness and bowing out food to these boys or you know they weren't boys they were men God doled it out through Joseph right so I think at times we missed those sort of indicators that God is full of grace and mercy I mean we can't miss you know Ephesians four seasons two but God who's rich in mercy that that just smacks us right in the face but the fact that God is providing food for these men is an evidence of God's grace and kindness the fact that he's always been there in our lives in terms of food and provision is an act of God's kindness the psalmist blesses God for loading us daily with benefits certainly as New Covenant Christians we rehearse Ephesians 1 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ was blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ but do we equally bless him for the physical in the temporal the psalmist - the psalmist says blessed be God who loads me gaily with benefits the psalmist David in Psalm 103 does he highlights the forgiveness of sins and he highlights all the occasions and times that God spared him physically you see the Lord is comprehensively sovereign over every detail of our lives and this is what Steven is telling these men and these men understand it these men ultimately reject the reality of what Steven is preaching and they kill him they murder him they destroy him so it's obvious to any reader who's got the problem with the Old Testament it wasn't Steven it was the Sanhedrin it was the council they were corrupt they were idolatrous they were wretches you know I should have learned you to two problems in the text you ever read commentary on act 7 you'll read commentary where some suggest that Steven was wrong Steven got a couple of things wrong he refers to 75 people and if you look at Exodus 1 and you look at Genesis 48 ish you will see that it's 70 people now the Masoretic text which is the Hebrew version that's sort of the Ebru Old Testament that contains 70 what's called the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament contains 75 so Stephen was not in error he's working from the Septuagint and there are ways to reconcile the numbers I refer you to John Gill I'm getting convinced that John Gill could have fixed a car I mean there's not much he couldn't do he has an extended section where he deals with math and numbers and guy like me just falls asleep I mean my son is an accountant I don't know where he got that he certainly didn't get it from me I can't fault John to follow John gills paragraph on reconciling the numbers but suffice to say they can be reconciled Stephen wasn't wrong Stephen wasn't mistaken Stephen wasn't in error that is simply unacceptable the the Septuagint contains the reading seventy-five one scholar well observed if there's a problem an eighth with Stephen it's a it's a Septuagint issue you need to take it up at that level but then as well the reference to Abraham purchasing this field notice in verse 16 they carried back they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for sum of money from the sons of hay more the father of Shechem now I don't want to confuse you needlessly but again I want to simply say that Stephen is not an error the reason why some suppose that Stephen is in error is because this particular transaction was conducted by Jacob Abraham did not purchase the land from these particular people but I suspect that what Stephen is do is he's doing what's called telescoping the two events and the point is simply this I think Dan Darrell Darrell Bock makes it clear the point is simply that Joseph was buried at Shechem on land purchased by Jacob from the sons of hay more Stephens key point is that burial took place in the promised land although in Samaria and the move was an act of faith that God would keep his word that's why Abraham purchases the land in chapter 23 of Genesis it's so that he owns it he has titled to it when a God has said I'm giving you this land but at that particular time the land was filled with Dana Knights and so when offered that piece or parcel Abraham insists no I must pay there must be a piece of the land that I possess even if its land where I'm going to bury people and the same holds true with reference to Jacob and I think Bach's point is accurate Stephens point is that they died in Egypt but they didn't abandon the faith in Yahweh because they took those bodies and they buried them in the land that was an expression of their faith in the Living God who had testified and promised that that land was going to be theirs that's Stevens Point not that he got it wrong not that he was mistaken not that he doesn't know what he's talking about I just think there's a basic rule of thumb that every Bible reader especially in the 21st century ought to adopt is that when it appears that something is wrong in the Bible the wrong is probably between our two ears it's not a problem in the Bible it's a problem with us we need to reconcile we need to work we need to compare Scripture with Scripture and when we do that we will see and conclude it's not the Bible it's me we confess and infallible and inerrant Word of God and it's not only in matters of atonement and substitution but it's in matters of burial and Canaan it's in matters concerning patriarchs it's in matters concerning 75 or 70 it's in all those matters because if we can't trust the Bible when it comes to a basic presentation of historical fact how can we trust the Bible when it comes to blood atonement through the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world the problem is with us it is never with God and I think that's a good hermeneutical principle for all of us to adopt now in terms of conclusion some thoughts I want to end with first the defense of Stephen I've hope I've shown you that the the the the apologist or rather the evangelist here Stephen is not anti Moses he shows clearly that in the history of Israel there are men chosen by God sent by God and ultimately rejected by Israel I mean anybody reading the narrative of Genesis would think how dare these brothers do what they've done to Joseph it's a terrible thing but as well how dare this council or Sanhedrin dot has done what they've done to Jesus as well Stephen is not anti temple he reiterates that God is not confined to temple in the Land of Israel just like he appeared to Abraham outside the land just like he appeared to Abraham without temple so does God appear to Joseph outside the land even in Egypt even in a prison Stephen is tracing Israel's history and the bulk of his defense is going to focus upon Moses that shouldn't surprise us he has been accused of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and the law so it is natural that he's going to spend the bulk of his time with Moses and he breaks up the life of Moses into three 40-year blocks which is most likely how we will proceed in the coming weeks but the patriarchs and this narrative is crucial how they end up in Egypt how do we get to the Exodus in Egypt well Stephen is sketching a biblical theology to inform them of that so that he can deal at length with Moses and ultimately their rejection of Moses not his Stephen continues to emphasize that the law of Moses specifically the ceremonial aspect and the temple pointed to Christ Paul tells us that in Romans 10 the of the law or the tell us the purpose of the law is Christ the purpose for the temple was Christ this is what Christ said destroy this temple in three days I will raise it up and they got so offended and they were so upset but John the Apostle tells us he was speaking about the temple of his body this temple made without hands the argument is clear now that that which the temple signified has come there's no reason to go back to temple it's the point of the book of Hebrews the people of God are being tempted to go back to Moses back to the Levitical system back to the temple in the sacrifice and Paul I would argue wrote Hebrews he says don't do that all that stuff was types and shadows it proved a promotes a sir points us rather to the Lord Jesus and now that Jesus is here don't go back to that sacrificial system on a few occasions I've pointed out the fallacy of dispensationalism the thought that they want to go back to Temple the thought that they want to reintroduce animal sacrifice it is to go backward in redemptive history and it holds more akin with these council members interpretation of the Old Testament than it does with Stephen now not suggesting the dispensationalists reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah they most certainly do and for that we praise God but this emphasis on temple this idea of animal sacrifice in a future Millennial Kingdom does not owe itself to the Apostolic interpretation of the whole Testament it just does it we are not to go backwards we're to go forwards in Jesus Christ secondly we ought to appreciate in the passage and again these men would have got this the sovereignty of God the sovereignty of God we dealt in the last hour 9:30 to 10:30 this morning week we dealt with our confession of faith chapter 5 is of divine providence again that chapter has fleshed out for us in the book of Genesis we saw that on you know Wednesday night Genesis chapter 14 that alliance of Eastern Kings that sort of worked their way through Israel and then they abduct lot and their neighbor arms his 318 household servants and he goes after them and he liberates lot and he sends those guys back to Syria from whence they came gods all over that God's all over the Joseph's narrative even in the ill treatment of Joseph even in the ill treatment brethren Romans 8:28 is not kidding God causes all things to work together for good now I think it's common for us to say yeah he does he works the good things for the good I don't think that needs to be specified by the Apostle I think we all agree that finding bags of money is God working good things in our lives I think we'd all agree that that a house by the lake on a beautiful day is given to us by God Paul's point in Romans 8:28 is that the miserable horrible wretched afflictions that you and I suffer are worked out by God for his glory and our good isn't that evident in the Joseph's narrative even his ill-treatment his brothers wanted to kill him his brothers throw them into a pit while they're munching their sandwiches the Ishmaelites come along they say well let's sell them and then we'll make 20 shekels of silver you think how in the world is God in that we'll just read the rest of the narrative God is in that in the exaltation of Joseph God is in that in the provision laid up by Joseph God is in that in the feeding of Jacob and his science by Joseph God is all over the book of Genesis and we ought to be all over the book of Genesis as well and then a third observation and whether you know commentators sort of question or wonder are Steven or Luke drawing out the typology here in other words is this typology legette whatever you deal with typology got to be careful there's got to be controls on types you know Paul tells us for instance that Adam was a type of Jesus in Romans chapter 5 Adam was a type of Hillel was to come a type is something in the Old Testament that points us forward to something in the New Testament the temple is a type it's the dwelling place of God and sinners that's a type of Jesus Christ now some suggest that Stephen is doing this others suggest that Stephen isn't doing this I'm convinced the Stephen is doing this and I'll I'll tell you why in the first place the patriarchs failed to recognize Jos that Joseph was chosen by God and the council failed to recognize that Jesus was chosen by God I could really go type crazy and say you know even Joseph riding out his brothers is an illustration of Jesus and his holiness and you know making me the religious leaders in its time uncomfortable the fact that that the the father loved the the the son Joseph above the others I mean obviously this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased but I don't think we even need to go that far I think the specific things that Joseph or Steven mentions a lot of names going on that Steven mentions are conspicuous obvious are conspicuously obvious that there is a typology going on notice the patriarchs were motivated by their envy of Joseph so was the council with Jesus remember Pilate according to Matthew 27 1840 Pilate knew that they had handed him over because of envy again one wonders brethren if the council followed this a little bit closer than we did or do because their dealings with Stephen indicate a great deal of animosity they didn't possess lawful authority to execute Jesus so they had to go to Pilate to get the kill order when it comes to Stephen not many years later they kill him they blocked her ears they gnashing it with their teeth and they run him out of the city and they stoned him to death maybe they are connecting maybe they are following maybe they understand what he is saying they reject it wholeheartedly they despise it wholeheartedly but they understand that Stephens not just giving us a lesson or a history of Israel Stephens indicted us Stephens showing us to be the ones that reject Moses Stephen showing us to be the ones that are an empty temple Stephen is showing us to be the guys with the problem exactly that's what Stephens doing as well the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt for twenty shekels of silver Genesis 37 28 again these aren't accidents let me go too far was your type a logical approach but you know on a knock enough Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver the same kind of people that Stephens point you're the same kind of people you have solidarity with our fathers who persecuted the prophets you have solidarity with our Father who rejected the prophets you have solidarity with our fathers who sold their brother into slavery and to Egypt because you betrayed and murdered the the just and holy one and as well in both instances Joseph and Jesus the Lord had his purposes Genesis 50:20 but as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive acts 2:23 him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God you have taken by lawless hands have crucified and put to death you see there were good ends in the ill treatment of both Joseph and Jesus there were great ends in the ill treatment of both Joseph and Jesus in Joseph's case his brothers got to eat in Joseph's case the nation got to hold together in Joseph's case the people of God were complete and fed in Jesus case his death of the cross which was wretched and terrible and horrific had as its purpose the salvation of guilty vile helpless wretches like us we'd all say yay and amen that that was a great and wonderful purpose the glory of God in the salvation of his people by Jesus Christ the Lord they echo this sentiment in acts 4:27 and 28 for truly against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done there ought never to be a Christian who is presented with the truth of divine providence who stumbles or who has issues or who has problems with it in light of Genesis 50 verse 20 in light of acts 2 verse 23 and in light of Acts chapter 4 every single one of God's people ought to realize God is comprehensively absolutely positively sovereign over all things and he has as his purpose his glory and the good of his people Joseph is living testimony of that and we are living testimony because we are the fruits of Christ's redemptive work if you are not the fruits of Christ's redemptive work this morning then may I say to you come under the Lord Jesus Christ the way of salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone it's not going to come through morality you can shave every day until Jesus comes and wear a three-piece suit and go to hell with a clean shaven face and a three-piece suit that morality does not commend you to God your reforming your life does not commend you to God the only commendation to God is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of access is by faith in Him well let us close in a word of Prayer our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for Stephens defense and we thank you for its consistency and for its treatment terms of the sovereignty of God efficacy of Christ's work and the blessed reality that all of this was done for the saving of sinners I pray that all over the earth today as the gospel is preached you would be pleased to save as we sang in Psalm 67 we pray that you'd let the nation's be glad we pray that you would cause your face to shine upon the people's and we pray specifically for this place any and all who are here that are Unforgiven those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins they resurrect and by the power of your Holy Spirit we grant them the graces of faith and repentance and may they know the blessing of being found in Jesus Christ not having their own righteousness which is from the law but that righteousness which is from you through faith in Christ Jesus as the Lord though with us now father help us to sanctify the day bring us together again tonight that we may worship you and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well why don't you take your Trinity hymnal will stand and close by singing about the doxology in praise to our triune God it's on page Roman numeral 16 in the Trinity hymnal [Music] don't keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace amen will please be seated for a brief time of meditation
