Genesis: Part 7
Genesis 50:15-21
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Happy to be with you guys today. We are in our Genesis series and we are walking through the different patterns or themes that we see throughout scripture but were originally found in Genesis. And it really just helps us to get a broader picture, a more cohesive picture of scripture, how things are repeated, how things happen over and over again as a way for us to see how the story of the Bible is just woven together really beautifully. So we are actually going to be talking today about God's sovereignty in suffering. And I think this is a big one for a lot of us, this is a hard one to wrestle with, but we all, I think at some point, have or will wrestle with this idea of suffering. And if we believe, we question a lot of times that, well if we believe in a God who is sovereign, and we do, then why does He allow suffering? Why does He allow us to suffer? Now first of all, caveat here, this is not the suffering Olympics. We are not trying to compete with who suffers more or who's experienced what suffering because the reality is we all have suffered in some shape or form. We have, even if we've suffered similar things or gone through similar situations, we're all individual and unique people and so we handle those things differently. We deal with them. The Lord processes things with us in different ways. And so it's not about comparing or competing. And the reality is there are people who have suffered more than we have or less than we have. But that is not what we're talking about today. And also as a second caveat, this is not about lessening our suffering. We want to talk about why we suffer today, but I never want that to be a reason for our us to lessen the fact that we do suffer. We're still acknowledging that. This isn't some sort of toxic positivity sermon that we're talking about here. It's acknowledging that we really do suffer. Bad things really do happen. But we're going to get into why we suffer and how God is with us in that.
So we are actually going to be in Genesis 50 today. We're going to be talking about the story of Joseph and we actually meet Joseph in Genesis 37, but we're going to pick up in chapter 50. So if you want to go ahead and turn there, it'll be on the screens, but if you have your Bible or your phone, you can turn to Genesis chapter 50. I'm going to give us a little backstory though on Joseph. So for those that don't know or need a little refresher, Joseph was the 11th of 12 sons of Jacob. You all met Jacob last week when Pastor Andre talked about him and how he wrestled with God and God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. So Joseph was his 11th son and he was his favorite son. So Jacob had multiple wives and Joseph was the oldest son of his favorite wife. So Joseph became his favorite. And in fact, he gave him a coat of many colors and this was a huge gift. It was an expensive gift. It was a, a obviously extravagant gift in that time. And his brothers were not happy about it. Joseph also had dreams. God gave him dreams that revealed that his family, his siblings and his parents would bow down to him. And he freely shared those dreams with his family and they were not big fans of that. And so his brothers became so angry that they wanted to kill him. They actually grabbed him and threw him in a pit and made plans to kill him. When one brother tried to save him by suggesting they don't kill him and they just sell him into slavery instead. Like that's somehow better. But they ended up going with that plan. They sold him to some travelers and told their father, Jacob, that he was killed by a wild animal. So he was led, their father was led to believe that he had died and he was very distraught by this. But Joseph was now a slave. He was headed to Egypt. He was away from his family, his culture, his traditions, his, his religion, his belief in God. He was away from everything. And that was just the beginning of his suffering. He became an employee in an Egyptian official's home and was doing quite well actually until the official's wife tempted him. And he, because he feared God, denied her and she got angry and accused him of the very thing she was tempting him of doing. And so he was put into prison where he continued to experience suffering. He was there for many years and he actually interpreted some dreams of some fellow prisoners. Those interpretations ended up becoming true. So again, several years later, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had some dreams that he wanted interpreted. And Joseph was brought from prison to interpret those dreams. And Pharaoh was so impressed with him that he made him number two in all of Egypt. The dream was regarding seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine. And so Pharaoh put him in charge of taking care of the crops and gathering in excess so that they would survive when the famine came. And he did that. He became extremely powerful, saved Egypt and the surrounding nations from this famine. So much to the point that his brothers in the nearby nation had to come to Egypt to request food. Now, they didn't recognize Joseph at the time. He has been 13 years and he looked different. He sounded Egyptian. He looked Egyptian and he was much older now, but he knew them. He ended up testing them a little bit, see where their hearts were. He was able to convince them to bring their father, Jacob and his younger brother to Egypt as well so that he could see them after several years of being separated. And eventually he revealed who he was. And he did though, his brothers were terrified because not only did he know what they did, but now he was in a position of authority that he could punish or even kill them for what they did. But in a wild turn of events, Joseph forgave them and he moved his family to Egypt and was able to be reunited with them. And then eventually his father, Jacob died.
And that is where we are picking up in chapter 50. That was just the real quick Reader's Digest version for you, but we're gonna pick up in chapter 50 verse 15. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children," and he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. So his brothers doubled down by lying, but that's a whole other sermon. We're not going to go into that today. But despite that, despite all that they did to him and then trying to deceive him once again, Joseph forgave them and he wanted them to see God's sovereignty in it all. That God was in control and that Joseph, along with God, forgave them for what they did. The reality is that Joseph suffered a lot. It was 13 years from the time he was sold into slavery to the time he was risen up in his official position in Egypt. 13 years, most of which was caused because of his brother's sin. And yet he forgave them. And he gave God glory for what happened to him and how God used that. That's a powerful testimony of allowing God to use your suffering.
Let's look at verse 21 again. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. I have trouble speaking kindly when my feelings are hurt, let alone when I'm sold into slavery. Right? Like that's crazy to me. He reassured them. He cared for them. He said he would provide for them. That is only done by the grace of God. By the grace that Joseph experienced from God that he was then able to extend to his brothers. I think many of us, we don't think that we should suffer because we don't have a right view of our humanity, of our sinfulness. We think, why should we suffer? If we follow Jesus, if we're good people, why do we suffer? And it's because our view of who we actually are is skewed. We have to have a right view of ourselves and of God in order to have a good theology of suffering. Western theologian R.C. Sprout Jr. says, he addresses the question, why do bad things happen to good people? He says that only happened to one person and he volunteered. There is only one good person. The Bible says that there is no one righteous, not even one, only Jesus Christ. So as good as we think we are, as maybe society would tell us, maybe culturally speaking, we're a good person, we're nothing compared to Jesus. It was only by his grace. He volunteered to suffer for us and he was the only one who didn't deserve to suffer. Even as Christ's followers, Jesus promised that we would suffer. John 16:33 says, I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. We are guaranteed suffering, but the beautiful thing is we are also promised that we will never be alone. He says he will never leave us or forsake us. So while we will have to walk through some fires, we won't walk through them alone. Jesus walks through it with us. More often than not, we aren't delivered out of suffering. We're not just pulled out of it and spared it. More often we are delivered through it. We still have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death sometimes, but he is with us. Isaiah 43:2-3 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze for I am the Lord your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior.” We will all suffer, but we will never suffer alone. Even when we feel alone, he is with us. He walks through that with us. I want to look today at why we suffer. We see people throughout scripture who loved God and suffered. They served him. They were submitted to him. They were quote unquote good people, and yet they still experienced suffering.
So I want to look at why that is and how God in his sovereignty can use our suffering. So as we look at each reason, we're also going to look at a person from the Bible who exemplifies that as well. So why do we suffer? Well, for the first one, I believe is that it's for our sanctification. Sanctification is a word that it's kind of a Christian word that means becoming more like Jesus. We are being made more into his image. We are being sanctified or made holy. Our suffering produces holiness in our lives, and it sanctifies us as we navigate through that suffering. James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." We must experience suffering in order to persevere in our faith, and then we become more mature believers. Suffering and walking through that deepens our faith, and it makes us more mature followers of Christ. You will not meet a mature believer who has not experienced suffering. Romans 5, it's talking about being justified through our faith, but in verse 3, it says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." The suffering, it produces perseverance in our faith, and that perseverance produces character, and we have to have the character of Christ.
As we experience the suffering and we build up perseverance in our faith, and our faith deepens, we look more like Jesus. He suffered. If Jesus suffered, why do we think we shouldn't? It makes us more like Him. I think of the story of Job. I think Job is often referred to when we're talking about suffering, because he suffered greatly. He was a righteous man, even at the beginning of his story. He loved God, he was a righteous man, but he was wealthy, he had a family, he was well off, and he lost everything. His children, his wealth, his health, everything. But he never cursed God. Even when his friends and family told him he could or should, he never cursed God, despite being broken and made into nothing. He allowed his suffering to deepen his faith, and we see in Job 42, towards the end of his story, verse 2 says, "I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be thwarted." Even in his suffering, he acknowledged God's sovereignty. He knew that God was in control, that he was still good, and that his purpose and his plan was the best option for him. Later we see in the same chapter that Job was restored. He got back his wealth into good standing, he had more children, and the Lord, it says, "The Lord blessed Job in the latter part of his life greater than in the former." His faith grew, his dependence on God deepened, he became more sanctified through his suffering. That character that only comes through suffering and perseverance was developed in him.
Another reason that we experience suffering is for the spread of the gospel. Revelation 12:11 says, "They triumphed over him, him being Satan, by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony." We triumph over our enemy, over our accuser, by the blood of Jesus and by our testimony. When we experience suffering, our faith is deepened and then we can go testify, we can tell our story of our suffering and God's goodness in that suffering and point people to Jesus. That we then endure this suffering by our own power and strength, it was only by God's goodness that he brought us through. Stephen is the one that comes to mind from the book of Acts. He was a follower of Jesus, a disciple, he preached the way of Jesus unashamedly and he became what the church recognizes as the first martyr, the first one to die for his faith. And his testimony and ultimately his death, which is the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate form of suffering, spread the gospel far and wide because immediately after Stephen's death, the persecution of the early church became rampant and the disciples and the followers in the early church had to disperse. But Acts 8:4 says, "Those who had been scattered, preached the word wherever they went." The gospel spread out of suffering, out of persecution, out of the martyrdom. So not only was Stephen himself sharing the gospel and his testimony and death spread the gospel, but so did the other disciples who were persecuted and experienced suffering in their own lives. I understand that that is an extreme example of martyrdom, but God's sovereignty is on display and the same is true in our own lives. That when we experience suffering, we can point people to Jesus. It allows us to tell our story, to share our testimony of who God is so that more people can come into his kingdom. Without that persecution and suffering, I wonder how far or fast the gospel would have spread. But because they endured, because they persevered, the gospel spread quickly. Hearts were changed and more people turned to God. Our story, our testimony of our suffering, hopefully will turn others hearts to Jesus.
Lastly, I think we experienced suffering for the benefit of others. This is closely related to the spread of the gospel, but it's different in the sense that it's not only for their salvation, it's also for their edification, for building them up. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” As the body of Christ, we share in each other's sufferings. We carry each other's burdens. We take them to Jesus and put them at the foot of the cross through prayer and interceding for each other. We bring comfort to those who are suffering because we too have suffered. How many times has someone encouraged you in your time of need or your trouble and your suffering because they've experienced something similarly? Or maybe when was the last time you were able to do that for somebody else? That you could be there for them because of what you have experienced? I believe that in God's sovereignty, He uses our suffering for the benefit of others, to support and build each other up. Edification to edify the body, to build up the church. He uses our suffering for the good and the benefit of others. There's a pastor friend in our network of churches who lost his young life to cancer in May, and he recently wrote on his blog, "God is not wasting this pain. He is repurposing it to help others find joy, to give comfort, and to remind us that faith is not just for the mountain top, it is for the valley too." He's using his pain, he's allowing God to use his experience and his suffering to bring comfort and encouragement and faith to his congregation. He could quit. He could say, "I'm done." He could wallow in his suffering, and there's time for grief and mourning to be sure, but he also knows that God is bigger than an all, and he wants God to use that suffering to encourage and build up the body of Christ.
We mentioned earlier that Jesus walks with us through the fire, and the image that I like to have is that because of God's sovereignty, as we walk out of the fire, he allows us to carry buckets of water to take to other people who are walking through the fire themselves. We get to carry hope and encouragement and the gospel to other people who are experiencing suffering too. This reminds me of the apostle Paul. He did spread the gospel to be sure, so he could have been on the last point as well, but he experienced so much suffering during his ministry. He was shipwrecked, imprisoned, beaten, bitten by a snake. So many things that he dealt with and suffered through, but he turned so many people to Jesus. He wrote most of the New Testament. We are benefiting from him to this day and from the suffering that he endured. Philippians 1:7, which he wrote, says, "It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart, and whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me." Because he endured the change, because he went and defended the gospel to people who hated him for it, we all are experiencing God's grace and see that in our lives. 2 Thessalonians 1:4, again, Paul's words says, "Therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring." He was trying to encourage the believers at the church of Thessalonica because he knew what he had written that we read earlier in Romans, that their perseverance through the persecution would develop their faith and perseverance and character. He knew that that was true. And so he wanted to encourage them and build them up and say, "Y'all, I've been there. I've been persecuted too. I know what it's like, but God is good. He is sovereign and he will use it for your good and his glory.”
Paul wrote in Romans as well, Romans chapter 8, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." We know that in all things, how many things? All of them, not some of them. In all things, God works for the good of those who love him. We don't always get to see the good that comes from our suffering. We don't always get to see how the Lord uses it, but he does and he promises that he will. There's several other instances in the Bible where we see suffering and God's sovereignty. Just a few that come to mind are the woman in Mark 5 who suffered the affliction of blood and Jesus healed her. She touched the hem of his robe and he healed her. And he could have just kept on walking and nobody would have known except her, but he stopped. And not only did he acknowledge her faith, but he allowed everyone else to know that she was healed as well. And so her suffering that she endured for 12 years and her ultimate healing was able to build up the other followers of Jesus, to encourage them, to point people to him and say, "That is the one, he is the Messiah." King David, he suffered a lot, usually at the hands of friends or family, but he endured a lot and he made his own mistakes to be sure, but he suffered a lot. But God acknowledged him and credited his faith to him and said that he was a man after God's own heart. Despite all the trouble and drama and suffering that he endured, he still worshiped God and gave him glory. Pretty much every prophet in the Old Testament experienced suffering on some level. And often it was because they were experiencing suffering along with the nation of Israel that came on them because of their own sin. So much of their suffering wasn't even their own fault. They were experiencing suffering, but God used that in a mighty way and he was able to use them to speak truth to the nation and draw the nation of Israel back to himself. We see this pattern over and over and over again. As I said, we don't always know why we suffer or the good that we're promised will come from it.
I think a lot of us, if we can manage, we'll have a lot of questions for God when we get there. We want to know why. We may not care once we get to heaven, but right now we want to know why. But as we've seen through these examples and through Joseph, his experience and his suffering, that while we will experience suffering, we can trust that God is good and he is sovereign through it all. Even the story of Joseph, I think exemplifies these three things really well. He grew in his sanctification over those 13 years from a cocky teenager to a man full of grace and forgiveness. Although the gospel didn't exist yet, the gospel of Jesus, because Jesus hadn't come to earth, but he still was pointing people to God and his redemption and his forgiveness. His obedience and his suffering allowed for the nation of Israel to grow, which led ultimately to God's redemption plan. And thirdly, his suffering led to the benefit of others. He literally saved millions of lives, both in Egypt and in surrounding nations and specifically his own family. It said he was going to care for them and provide for them. Friends, God wastes nothing, even our suffering. He will not waste anything and he is good, not only despite our suffering, but because of it. I know that it's hard to reconcile a good God with the suffering that we see or experience in this life. I know it is. I struggle with it myself, but we see over and over again how God uses our suffering to grow his kingdom, to make us more like Jesus, to spread the gospel around the world. And just to benefit and build up his body, the church.
So I want to leave us with this question. How has God used suffering in the past to sanctify you, spread the gospel and or benefit others? When we identify this answer and we can point to that, I believe it will help us in future suffering because we will remember that he was faithful. He was in control. He was sovereign. And again, we may not always see the good that comes from it, but when was a time that you did so that you can remember that God is still sovereign, he still provides comfort. He still walks with us through the dark, through the fire. So you can draw from that when you are experiencing any future suffering. We serve a good father who has good for us. And despite all the suffering and all the pain, both in our own lives and in the world, our King reigns. He is still on the throne. He is not surprised. And if nothing else, we can celebrate and find comfort in that truth today.
Let's pray. Jesus, we thank you for your goodness, for your sovereignty. That while we will have troubles, we can have peace that comes from you. We can take heart because we know the end of the story. We know that you win. But even right here and right now, in our heart right now, there are still growth. There is sanctification. There's good. Use our heart. Use our suffering. Use our struggles, Lord, to bring glory to yourself and bring good to us and those around us. We thank you for your sovereignty in all of this. And when we cannot reconcile your good with the ugliness of the world, God, bring us comfort. Bring us your peace. We love you and praise you in your name. Amen.