Christ Reveals Himself
Genesis 45: 1-15
There is a people for whom the Lord Jesus laid down his life. There is a time set when Christ shall reveal himself to each of those persons for whom he died. That is the picture we see in our text today. Joseph is a type of Christ. Today, we come to the time when Joseph reveals himself to his brethren.
Genesis 45: 1: Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2: And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3: And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4: And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5: Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6: For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7: And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8: So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9: Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: 10: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11: And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12: And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13: And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 14: And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15: Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
CHRIST REVEALS HIMSELF
It is Christ who reveals himself to his people—Genesis 45: 1: Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
Joseph knew his brethren. They did not know him. If Joseph had not revealed himself to them, they never would have known him. But he knew them all by name. He knew which one was Reuben and Judah, and Benjamin and so on.
Last Tuesday, we were on our way to the airport in Monroe, La. We passed a church sign that read, “God abides in the hearts of those who let him in.” Brethren, we come into this world spiritually dead in sins. We are ignorant of who the true and living God is
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2 Timothy 2:19: Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
God the Father chose his people and gave them to Christ his Son. Christ became the Covenant Head of his people from eternity. Long before we knew him, he knew us. All along, he fed us. He protected us. He preserved us in every danger
While I was home, I drove by a crossroads that brought back a frightening memory from my teenage years. When I was around 16, I was riding in the passenger side of a friend’s truck. We were on the side road coming up to this busy highway. My friend never slowed down. He ran the stop sign and crossed that busy highway. Why didn’t we get side-swiped by an eighteen wheeler? The Lord bought me with his precious blood. He wouldn’t let me die till he revealed himself in me.
We see here that Joseph loved his brethren; it was his chief desire to make himself known to his brethren—“Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him.” This was Joseph’s heart toward his brethren all along—even when he spoke roughly with them—he loved them. So it is with Christ and his brethren:
Jeremiah 31:3: The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
It is Christ’s glory to reveal himself and the Father to his people. He said,
Matthew 11:27: All things are delivered unto me of my Father; no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Oh, that Christ would be pleased to reveal himself to one of you here now. Even for us who know, oh that he would reveal himself even more! Brethren, ask him to do so.
PRIVATE AND PERSONAL
When Christ reveals himself it is private and personal—Genesis 45: 1…and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2: And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Joseph put all the men out, except his brethren. The Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh could hear something going on. But they had no idea what was happening within that secret chamber between Joseph and his brethren.
Now listen carefully. You may be seated with all your family and friends around you in a church service. Everyone around you may hear this same gospel going forth. But when Christ comes in power, he comes into that secret place of the heart. He reveals himself personally. This revelation will be between you and the Master only.
We have so many distractions in our day. The devils goal is to have our attention focused on a screen of some sort: a computer screen, a telephone screen, a tv screen, a movie screen or a mobile device. Or we have noise in our ears all time. It is convenient to be distracted every waking hour. Will you willfully be ignorant, wilfully be distracted by the world? But Christ has Power to take away every distraction and get you all alone just you and him.
My mother called me one day and said, “Clay, I don’t know what is going on but Melinda is by herself in the boat at the back of the pond with a bible.” God got her alone and made this revelation privately and personally in her heart.
TROUBLING
When Christ reveals himself, at first, it will be troubling—Genesis 45: 3: And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
Can you imagine how troubled they must have been? This great and mighty ruler of Egypt suddenly said, “I am Joseph!” He asked them, “Doth my father yet live?” And they could not answer him. They were speechless. Their mouths were shut! For they were troubled at his presence.
When the Lord first makes his presence known in our hearts, it causes a sinner to be troubled—to fear. They could not answer him. And do you know that is one reason why “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Christ makes you…
Zephaniah 1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD:
1 Corinthians 1: 29:…no flesh [shall] glory in his presence.
When our mouths are finally shut that is when we will hear the word of the Lord. That is when Joseph spoke and drew them to himself—Genesis 45: 4: And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near.
There was a gentleness and a power in that command that made them draw near. Christ said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest to your souls.” (Mt 11: 28-29)
Christ takes away our grief and anger—Genesis 45: 4: And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5: Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
It makes your heart sink, when to your own self, you become so guilty of despising and rejecting Christ—that you both grieve and at the same time are angry at yourself for being so ignorant and hateful and shameful!
Then Christ says to you what Joseph said to his brethren, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.”
Our sins separated us from God—no one to blame for any of our sins but ourselves. But God has a purpose in our sins. It was to send Christ before you to preserve life. And that Christ might get the glory thereby.
When Christ draws us near in faith, then he teaches us the truth and the truth sets us free—Genesis 45: 6: For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7: And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
There is no way any true child of God shall preserve his life by working in this field in which we live. The only way of life is in Christ who God sent to preserve a posterity—to make you a posterity—in the earth, to save us by a great deliverance—Christ and him crucified. Christ was sent to make me a posterity—to make me accepted by God in perfection by Christ’s work.
Think of how great Christ is. Think of how great the deliverance from sin that Christ has wrought for his people: he is great in his incarnation, great in his satisfaction for our sins, great in his resurrection, great in his intercession. So now all God’s elect are delivered by God in Christ.
LORD OVER ALL
God has made Christ Lord of all and given Christ the glory of revealing this in the hearts of his people—Genesis 45: 8: So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
God did it, not you. We cannot take credit, God did it. God hath made Christ the father of all rulers and kings. Christ is the Lord of all God’s house—even ruler of every ruler’s house.
Now God says in Christ go up to God your Father—Genesis 45: 9: Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: 10: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11: And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12: And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
God says now ye have seen—and we have seen by faith. We have heard God himself speak. And that which he speaks and commands us to speak is of all Christ’s glory—Genesis 45: 13: And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
We are to declare Christ—declaring Christ we declare all God’s glory and all we have seen.
By his goodness toward us, Christ brings us into communion with him—Genesis 45: 14: And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15: Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
When he fell upon them and kissed them, they learned, by experience, what true grace is—“and after that his brethren talked with him.” It is when Christ has fallen upon us and kissed us in grace that we can truly talk with him and he hear us. What a beautiful picture of grace and of revelation accomplished by Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!