Foreigners, Heirs, and Blessings: Living as God's People in a Strange Land
Genesis 46-47 marks a major turning point in God's redemptive plan. Jacob leaves the Promised Land and journeys into Egypt, not as a man abandoned by God, but as one led by Him. Though Pharaoh offers security, provision, and the best of Egypt, Jacob's true confidence rests in the God who has blessed him all his life. As Israel settles in Goshen, Joseph carefully preserves a distinction between God's people and Egyptian culture, reminding us that believers are called to live in the world without becoming shaped by it. Matt highlights the extraordinary truth that God's children possess an inheritance far greater than any earthly kingdom. Though Christians may appear insignificant, suffer hardship, and live as outsiders, they carry the blessing of belonging to God Himself. Just as Joseph and Jacob endured trials that ultimately brought blessing to others, believers are called to follow Christ's example, laying down their lives in loving service. True joy is found not in what we receive, but in what we willingly give for the good of others.
So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, here I am. Then he said, I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt. and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes." Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob, father, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters. all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, now let me die, since I have seen your face, and know that you are still alive. Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers and my father's household who are in the land of Canaan have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. When Pharaoh calls you and says, what is your occupation? You shall say, your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now. both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, my father and my brothers with their flocks and herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen. And from among his brothers, he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. And they said to Ferro, you'll serve. Sorry, I've jumped ahead there. Pharaoh said to his brothers, what is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. They said to Pharaoh, we have come to Sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen. And if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock. Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, the days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days and the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out. from the presence of Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession of the land of Egypt, the best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph provided his father, his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for your servant, Matt. And we just ask there Lord that your spirit would speak through him and that he might bring us a message of the understanding of what you would have us to understand from this part of your word. Amen. Beautiful, thank you very much. Now, I have a quick question for you guys. What do you think the top speed of a horse and carriages? Anyone? Like it's not a rhetorical question. Does anyone want to take a stab? I don't actually know the answer. I'm just wondering. Anyone back in the day when they had those? 40 to 42, you reckon? Really? Wow. Impressive. 42 kilometres an hour. Well, look, you might get down to Egypt pretty quick if you had one of those, but I just want you to tell you today, right? I know today's a little bit gloomy. I know that this naturally has effect, makes us feel a little bit tired, but... This sermon is not gonna be like that, all right? This is gonna be like Isaac through a school zone. This is gonna be like old mate, like, what am I trying to think? Like Dan's grandmother, sitting on that Kawasaki just zooming through. We are going full speed ahead right now. So let's jump into it together. Let's begin in prayer. Father, we are in absolute need of your spirit right now to teach us, to mold us, to form us, and to make us more like you. And so we ask that you may transform us, make us new Lord, and that your Spirit would descend upon us right now, fill us with your word and transform us through it. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so let's begin at the start. So we take back, right, in the last couple chapters that we've had, we've been watching the story of Joseph, as he's been sold off by his brothers into slavery, but then through the plan of God, he's risen through the ranks. He's also been demoted, then promoted to the top man. And now his brothers have come before him. And finally he has revealed his identity. It's kind of the climax of the story. Everything's going so well. Everyone thought he was dead for 20 years, but now he's back. And now he says, am so desperate to see my father better yet God sent me before all of you so that you might have a place to live. There's a famine in all the land, but this place of Egypt, it has plenty. So come and I'll provide everything for you. You don't have to worry at all about anything. And so then, Jacob, Joseph's father, almost doesn't believe it. But then he sees all the wagons with all the treasures of Egypt and says, all right, I'll go. Let's go and see it for myself. And so it says, right, he packs up his entire family and he begins to head down. But then if you remember from the past chapter, Pharaoh said this to Joseph and to the brothers. He said, have no concern for your goods for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. So he's saying, you don't even need to carry on on this plane. You don't need anything. Just come. But then you read, if you read in verse six, what does it say there? For it says, also took their livestock, their goods which they had gained in the land of Canaan came into the Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with them. It says they took absolutely everything with them. They were not keeping, there was not a speck of dust that they were not keeping, they were keeping behind. They are hoarders. They packed all of it on top of the donkeys and they headed back. Why? Why do you think when you've got a bill, you have the richest man in the world, alright? Okay, some of us have mixed views on Trump and whatever, but still imagine, he calls you up and he says, oy, I want you to come live in the White House. You'll have your own wing, you won't even see me if you don't like me, but everything will be catered for. Are you packing up all your belongings? Maybe you've got a few family heirlooms, but you're not taking all your cattle with you, right? He's got all the cattle, he's fine. This is Pharaoh, this is the King of Egypt. You don't need anything else, so why? Would Jacob insist on taking everything with him? Well, I wanna ask you, if Pharaoh would have supplied with all these things, where would these things have come from? Well, Pharaoh's store houses, of course. Where had all these blessings that they already had? He already had many sons, many livestock and cattle, not as many as Pharaoh, but he still was blessed as a man. They came from God, right? And so the reason he wants to take all of these, belongings down with him is, well, one, he wants this constant reminder before his eyes of the fact that Pharaoh did not make him rich. Pharaoh was not the one that was ultimately giving the blessing to him, but it was coming from God, right? If it hadn't have been for God and interpreting the dreams through Joseph, Egypt would be in the same place as every other nation, right? But it is through God that this blessing is coming through. means of Joseph. And so also, he wants it to be a reminder to Pharaoh, you might think you're inviting me in to bring much blessing into your land and God will bless your land, but you are not the source of the blessing. I am. It is the God, the Most High God that is bringing the blessing. And so now he wanders down into this foreign land, Egyptians, they will become the enemies of God's people, right? So he comes down to this foreign land, enemy territory, right? He's behind the enemy lines. and he sojourns in this place, right? He's a foreigner, right? He needs to keep a hold on his passport because he's not home. but this similar is also like us. I want you to think, what is our case? For us as Christians who believe in faith and the one true God, who are we? Are we just believers? Are we just kind of people who intellectually ascend to the fact that God is real? Well, no, we've actually received something. What have we received? You see it in Ephesians 1 verse 3. What He said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ. with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. So he hasn't just said that, this entire world is yours, this entire universe is yours. He says, everything that can be contained within the heavens, it is all yours, right? Everything. And when there should be new heavens and a new earth, will it have, whose name will be written on it? Jesus, yes, but also along with His, us, it will be our creation to enjoy. will receive everything. And Betty, we have every spiritual blessing right now because everything that God, that Jesus inherits, He shares with His brothers and His sisters. Who is that? That is us. We were united to Him in faith. So, we gain this incredible inheritance. None greater than this. You are a child of God. You're a son and daughter of God. Like that doesn't make any sense. Dan, did you manage to get that photo in the thing? No, don't worry, all good, no worries. No photos up today, that's fine. But if you go and Google, on Google, a blue pale dot, there might be a few pictures of random blue pale dots, but one you will see is this black image, and there's this tiny little speck, and you'll likely see an arrow that says Earth. So when we sent one of the first probes that went out, it an imaging probe that went through the whole, it was called Voyager 1, it went out, it is now past the very stretches of our solar system where the sun's gravity doesn't even have any effect on it anymore. It's past Pluto, which is a ridiculous amount of space away, right? It turned back and it took a snapshot of our Earth. And all it was, was barely a pixel on a screen, just a tiny little dot, and you could see it in a sunbeam. Basically, I wish I had the picture, but anyway, you'll go find it. The man who was in charge of taking the images was a man named Carl Sagan. He was an atheist, not a Christian, but he said this. He says, look again at that dot, that here, that's home. That's us. On it, everyone you loved, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who has ever lived. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions. Ideologies, economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor, explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, supreme leader, every saint and sinner, and all of history that our species has ever had lived on a speck of dust suspended in a sunbeam. You go and look at that image. We are so insignificant, right? just as I was doing some research, I've always been a fan of astronomy. Did you know the biggest black hole in the universe, it's 400 billion kilometers across. Some of you guys don't care about that, but just put this into perspective. If you were to hop in your Land Cruiser and you're on 110, maybe you're more like Isaac, you're sitting on 150 or something like that, right? Even if you're going at the speed of Isaac, right, you do not reach the end of that black hole till when? 300,000 years later, right? Incomprehensible, right? Now, if you were to put that black hole between us and the nearest star, or you to drive all that distance, how close do you get to the nearest star? 0.1 % of the way. God made this universe be, like seriously, we can barely even comprehend the distance between here and the moon. And there's this whole universe. The nearest stars barely even drop in the rest of the universe. And yet God said, I care about you. You see, Carl Sagan had this quote, but he wasn't the first person to have thoughts like this. David had the exact same thought. He said in Psalm 8, when I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? You know, it's a funny thing, we've still got the entire Bible. We've been trying to figure this out for thousands of years. We still don't know why. What do we know that he does care for us? that he could have sent his son anywhere. He's got black holes to manage. He's got things to operate. And yet, he sent his son to die for us. He cares about the fact that your car broke down this week. Why? It does not make any sense. And yet we are seeing the deep love of God. Now though there be a literal black hole out there so big it could rip every atom in your body to pieces, he didn't say that that black hole owns you. He actually says, one day you shall own that black hole. Not because we have all the power, but we are children of the one who does have all power. beyond imagination. And so I want you guys to try and remember this because this is something we so quickly forget. We know we have the label, I'm a child of God, yes, but we forget just how extraordinary that is. God gave us telescopes and a whole universe and nature and so many different things so you guys would realize just how awesome that is. You should not matter. You should be less than nothing to Him. But yet we matter. And so we must remind us. We must be reading scripture. We must be reading the Bible to remind ourselves. We must be talking with our kids about it. We must be talking about our friends about it. We must pray to God and thank Him for it. Because understand, it is like cleaning mud off a Ferrari, right? You don't see the value in it until you clean it off. And we must constantly be doing that because in our lives we neglect this beautiful gem that has been given to us. So we must be consistently, consistently cleaning it so that we can see it clearly. And so that is really just what I want you to get from this first point. That is what Jacob needs to remember as he goes down. He hasn't been blessed by Pharaoh, he's been blessed by the most high God. That is far more impressive than being blessed by Pharaoh. to win over someone like God. Pharaoh might care because well, yeah, know, Jacob has some connections. We have no connections that God should care about us, but yet he does. And so we continue on in the passage now. We won't be addressing obviously everything there. You have that massive genealogy in the middle with all the fun little baby names you can use, right? That there is just a catalog basically is a record for us to remember. said, okay, 70 people went down to Egypt. Why? Because it will be compared. to another census that will happen in several chapters later in the next book, where 400 years later, Israel will leave. And it will be, has God been faithful to his promise? Has he made a great nation out of Abraham, that one man? And yes, he will see there'll be hundreds of thousands of people that have come from his seed. And so that is why that is there. Several other reasons as well, but we don't have time to dwell on it today. And so then when you come down, it repicks up the story again. And Jacob has finally come into the land of Egypt, into the land of Goshen particularly, which was north of this capital city, about a hundred and hundred fifty k's. And so it says that he sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him. And then Joseph is so excited, he gets his chariot, he's running out, I'm ready to see my father. And they just embrace one another and weep for a very long time. This is a gracious reconciliation. This is the parable of the prodigal son. father and son coming back together. It is a delightful time. But then a most interesting conversation sues after that. Where he says, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers in my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. And the men are shepherds for they've been keepers of livestock and they've brought the flocks and the herd and all that they have. And then he tells them, all right, I'm giving you bit of pre-training. When you come, only say this. When Pharaoh calls you and says, what is your occupation? He shall say, your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." Really random point to make. Of all the things, don't say, thank you very, very much. Don't say, oh wow, great and mighty pharaoh. Say, we're shepherds, because you guys don't like that. What is going on there? What is he trying to do? He is thinking something very smart here. Joseph knows the promises that have been given to his forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He knows they're not meant to stay forever in Egypt. And what is the danger with spending 400 years in a place? Will you become very much like that place, right? Unless you're indigenous here, no one here is actually traditionally from Australia. But most of us call ourselves Australians because we've been here long enough, right? We've spent enough time in this land. We're not really that English anymore or that German or whatever else we may be. We are just Australians. And see, that happens when you spend long enough time in a place, you become like that place. And so he says, I want you to say you were shepherds because then there will be a distance between, you'll be an abomination to the Egyptians. So they will not come near you. You will dwell at a safe distance. You will enjoy the fruit of their land without becoming like them. Basically, you're sleeping on the couch and enjoying the free dinners without having to become part of the family. And so that is a good and wise thing, because we don't want them to become like the Egyptians. So they're settled in the land of Goshen, very fertile as Ian was saying before, very, very fertile land. So incredible blessing to them. But most importantly, it was north of the capital and also closer to Canaan, when in several years' time, several centuries' time, they would use that as a swift exit to be able to leave under the grip of Pharaoh. So now, what is there for us to glean from this? Well, is that not also the same of us? Are we also too not called to live differently than the culture around us? Are we meant to be like the Egyptians? No. Are we meant to be like the rest of the world? No. For what does it say in John 15, 19? This is what Jesus says to us. If you're of the world, the world would love you as its own, but you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. It says, chose you out of say, I'm picking you out of it. You're not staying in the capital city. I'm taking you into a land. There is a separation between you and the people. Now understand, in this world, that is not a geographic separation, all right? Again, I hate to pick on them, but we're not tarablockies. Okay? Even if you do live on them, on one, we don't live like that. We don't separate ourselves from the world, from every person thinking, I've got my little kingdom here where no one can hurt me. No, no, no, we're very much in the world. Because then just as Jesus says later on to his disciples, in the, this is the same night he says this in John 17, I do not ask that you take them out of the world. He's praying to God here, to his father, that you keep them, but that you keep them from the evil one. Then verse 18, as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. See, so understand, he pulls us out, he says, don't live like that anymore, you don't have to. I've given you a new heart that seeks to live as I wish you to live, to true freedom, you don't need to live according to your sinful desires anymore. But now he says, now I'm sending you back out into that world to live as my people. You've been transferred out of that kingdom of Satan, where you were just enamored with the things of the world, that's been broken now. You don't need to love those things anymore. We know this world's gonna burn. Why love the stuff here? We can enjoy it, but don't fall in love with it. There is a world to come. And so he says, now I'm sending you out into that world. Why? To share the message of hope, of afterlife, of eternal life that is found in Jesus. So we share it with the world. But then there's the important part. As it says in the very last few words, for every shepherd is abomination to the Egyptians. Now, do you think that it is a coincidence that our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is known as what? The great shepherd of the sheep. Right? He is an abomination to the Egyptians. What are the Egyptians meant to be in our day and age? It is just the world. It is the society around us that does not follow God. Does it hate God? Surely you guys can figure out by now, yes. We know it does. It wants nothing to do with God. It hates God and it hates those who follow Him. Now, we're just gonna stop for a second and deal with the reality of our context. Often, I don't think we actually believe this. And I get it, because we fall into this trap where it's actually really nice to be a Christian here in Chinchilla. I enjoy it as a pastor. I enjoy many privileges that people and that pastors in the city don't. I can do RRI without much fear. We're invited to community events. In many ways, we're actually respected in the community as Christians. That's great. We don't always get that in the city. But that can trick us into thinking that, well, we're here in the Bible Belt. And so therefore, the people here, even the unbelievers, they're a little bit better than those in the city. Although God-hating atheists and tree-hugging vegans, they're not as good as the people out here. Actually, what does the Bible say? Let us just have a look at Romans 3, 10 verse 12 for a second. None is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks after God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Everyone is on the same level. So how can Chinchilla be so different to Brisbane then? How does that work? There is a thing called the common grace of God. What is the reality? Do the people out here just have a little bit better hearts than the people out there? No. By God's grace, for whatever reasons, His restraining grace is simply often greater here in the lives of people than it is in the city. Often the hatred that is contained within their own hearts is covered up just a little bit more. Whether that be upbringing, whether that just be the way of the country that things move slower. In God's grace, He is restraining what is in people. When you read through Romans, this is what it constantly talks about. God is holding people back, but then He lets go. And we need to understand that, that the reality is everyone hates Christians the same. We might even be, we might be really good friends with some non-Christians. That's the grace of God. Amen. That's awesome. Because we can evangelize and we can share with them. That's great. But understand, if God were to let go, they will not be your friend anymore. It is God that is allowing that amicable relationship. And better yet, you may actually see in Pharaoh a reason why we enjoy such privilege here. as Christians. Why was Pharaoh so inclined to Yahweh? Why was it such a good thing for him? Why he worshiped Ramses or, you know, the sun god Ra. He didn't care about Yahweh. So why does, why is he so happy to have these God-fearers, these Yahweh worshipers come into his land? Because he understands that their God is blessing them at the moment, right? He has this view where there's just many different gods. So he says, well, I'll invite that God in if it does something good for my kingdom. What do the people say here? Well, I'll send my kid along to Christian school because then they'll learn to be good people. People still see some benefit. They want the benefits of Christianity. It'll raise my kids up to be good. It's just kind of respectable. It's just a better way of living. It's respectable. But they don't actually want to worship the God that comes with it. Pharaoh didn't care about Yahweh. He just wanted the blessing in his kingdom. He wanted peace. He wanted famine, he wanted to be the center. And so often it is the same thing here. But understand, right, that living like Christ, that pursuing Him will make people hate us. The more we try to pursue it, the angrier they will get. Particularly, what is the thing that angered people most of all about Jesus in his life? The kind of people that he showed grace to. They hated. that he hung out with sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, just the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth. They hated that, but he was a God of grace. So understand that we often think that shining a light, that the thing that will really anger people will be that, I don't know, maybe we don't swear or don't drink or I don't know, we wear different clothes or something like that. Actually, you know what really, really annoys people? If they're angry, forgive them. They will hate you. There is nothing an angry person hates more than for you not to fight back because then they have no justification for their anger. When we show the grace of God to people, when we sit in live, when we sit in with people and spend time among people that Christians shouldn't spend time with and show them through that people grace, fight them in their homes, you will find people will hate you, possibly even Christians. And so you see, you guys getting what I'm putting down here, right? We are children of God, but yet we enter into a world where we are seen as abominations. It may be covered up by the context in which we live. And that's a great thing. That's a blessing from God. Some of us can't handle being Christians in Pakistan, all right? That's why we're here. I'm happy with that, personally. But so we continue on. So we go into the next chapter. They come before Pharaoh, all five brothers, they share their occupation. Pharaoh blessed them, says, enjoy all the land, it's all yours. Have fun with it. Better yet, if any of you are able, please come and take charge of my livestock. He had tons of cattle because they had lots of sacrifices that they would offer. But then the important thing is when Jacob comes in, Joseph's father. So Joseph is brought in, Jacob is father and he stood in before Pharaoh. And then note this, it is in verse seven, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. So can we just take a catalog here? Who are the two characters that we have at this moment? All right, you've got Pharaoh, most powerful man in the world. Who do you have over here? Jacob, he's got a couple sons, couple livestock. who lives in a tent. Most of you guys, some of the farmers in here would top what Jacob was in the modern world, right? The reality is he didn't have much. He didn't even have a house, okay? He is nothing in the grand scheme of things. He would be wiped out by the Egyptian army. He'd be nothing. He's dependent on Pharaoh at this moment, but Jacob blesses Pharaoh? How does that make any sense at all? Well, you see, He was the bearer of a great blessing, right? For what did He carry within Himself, passed down from Abraham to Isaac and now to Him that would then be passed on to His sons? He had the blessing of the Most High God. This is going back to our first point that we were talking about. We are children of God. Yes, He may look like not that much, but He is the... child of God at this moment. There isn't many of them at this point in the world. There's not the millions and hundreds of millions there is today. There's about 70 of them. But then you also see an interesting thing in verse nine, Pharaoh asked him a question, how many days of the years of your life have there been? And then Jacob said to Pharaoh, the days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. So pretty decent. Fewer than evil have been the days of the years of my life. They have not attained to the days of the years of my life and my father's in the days of their sojourning, right? In the time that they spent in tents. sorry, Abraham lived 175, Isaac to 180, right? So he made it to 130, he makes it 147. It seems a little bit whingey to me when frankly, if you make it to almost 150, but the reality is he sees that things are on a downward trend. Things aren't going that well and he says, my life has been one filled with evil, right? Much of it is own doing. He suffered at the hands of his brother, at the hands of his uncle. He's buried his beloved wife. He's also, well, spent the last 20 years grieving the loss of his favorite son. Not that you should have favorites, but he did. And so he has just known much grief in his life. He has lost so many things. And yet He is the one that shall bring the blessing to Pharaoh, that shall bring the blessing to Egypt, to the world. I want you to look at the life of Jesus as well. We're getting close now, wrapping up, we'll be able to head out to lunch, know we're all keen. You read it from Matthew 8.20. Just look at the blessing over Jesus' life. This is the blessing we all want. Do you I just didn't write it down now, but that's all right, I know what says. It says, I and the Father are one. This is the great blessing, right? You can have all the material blessing in the world, you have all the spiritual blessings in the world. Where do they all come from? The one who has control of all spiritual things and all material things. So to be one with Him is to have everything. You are one with God. That is the great blessing of being a Christian. You are made one with God. Yeah, we might not have the power of God at our fingertips, but we can pray and know that the one who has all power at his fingertips, he is us. And so he had this great blessing. but yet then read of his life. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, birds of the years have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. This is the life of the son of God on earth. Or Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, we assumed him not. Surely he is born out grief and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. important part, He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace with God and with His wounds we are healed. And all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to His own way and yet though we have turned aside, on Him has been laid the iniquity, the sin, the wrongdoing of us all. So, here you have the Son of God, the only begotten Son, not adopted into the family, literally from the family. And this is his life on Earth. But you see, this is the hard thing and this is the life of many of the saints. It is a hard one. We hear that Ferrari covered in mud, but the reality is the world will never see past the mud, right? We are just like Jesus here and now in this life, right? But he was the son of God in all his glory and you read in Revelation, you see the glory, it's intense. There isn't even words to describe it really. But yet it was veiled in human flesh. So he appears just another man. All of you who believe in faith in God are children of God, but it's covered up in sinful human flesh. It doesn't look that impressive. You don't look that any more impressive than anyone else in this world. But yet, we suffer. Why? Why do we suffer? Well, why did Jacob suffer? Why did Joseph suffer? Jacob went through all this suffering so that one day who would be blessed? Pharaoh. Interesting. You think back in Genesis 37 when Joseph had his dream that all his brothers would bow down before him, right? They had that view that, oh, this is all about blessing Joseph. Joseph will be high and exalted. But at the end of it, what does Joseph actually say was the purpose of it all? You read it in Genesis 45 verse seven. and God sent me before you for what purpose? So that you might worship me? No, to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. Joseph went through all that suffering, through 20 years of slavery and time in prison so that his brothers might be saved. It is for the sake of others that we suffer. Why did Christ endure the cross? Right? You read it in Hebrews 12, it says, the joy that was set before him. But what was that joy? our salvation. That is His joy. His joy wasn't actually about the things that He was going to receive, it was actually about what He would be able to give. That is what filled Him with joy. I just want you to think about it like this. People often say, right, kids are a sacrifice, but they are worth it. Can someone please explain to me, how exactly is it worth it? Because everyone says that statement, but I have yet to hear someone actually tell me how it is worth it. I'm not sitting here as an angry parent saying you guys have all lied to me. But what it actually is, does your material wealth increase? No, very rarely. Does your lifestyle improve maybe? No, normally it goes down the toilet. So what material gain do you receive? Well, there isn't really any material gain. But what do you gain? Joy. There is just something where that child doesn't really give you anything back except just being your child. You just love to watch them, to care for them. There's just an intangible thing that comes with giving to this person unconditionally and that actually brings you joy. That's how we've been wired. That is why Jesus said in Acts 20, 35, it says, is more blessed to give than receive, right? He made it that way. The whole world goes out there and says, it's about you. This is your life. Find yourself and then go explore the world and just gain everything, gain experience, gain money, gain wealth, gain the perfect family, gain everything. It is all about receiving. and everyone out in the world is miserable because they've gotten it the wrong way around. I'm not saying it's not hard. Look at Joseph, his life was still hard. He said, it's been few and evil, but there was joy and there can be joy. No other religion, no other people can say, like it says in James, consider it all joy when you go through trials of various kinds. Why? Because maybe I'll be good enough and I'll get through it. then I'll prove myself to God. No, we know we won't make it through the trial. We won't prove ourselves to be good enough. How can we consider it all joy? Because we've already received everything. And so now bring the trial. I'll lay out everything because I've been given everything. And so true joy is found in laying down our lives, betting our rights for others. This isn't some romantic ideal. I'm not talking about actually dying, you may be called to do that, but I'm talking about every day laying down your life. How often have you seen the husband who says, I would lay down my life for my wife. What would you do, the washing? I would lay down my life for my wife. Happy to do, oh yeah, I'll definitely do the penultimate thing, but what about the everyday sacrifice? Yes, that is what we are called to every single day. for those around us, our Christian family, also for those out in the world, even for the sake of losing our own lives. Rarely will we be called to it, but be prepared to lose everything else even but your life. Because through it, others shall be blessed. Are you ready for that? Are you ready to suffer, not actually for your good? You may derive some benefit, but actually for the good of others. That is what Jesus calls us to. That is what Jesus truly did. And so wrap it all up so we can go to lunch. We are royalty. We are children of God, sons, daughters, kings and queens of the divine, right? But yet we get clothed in rags. That is what it is like to walk through this world. We will be called to leave behind friends, habits, ways of livings that we loved and invite it into a life that invites suffering. Yet it shall be through that suffering that others shall be blessed. And that shall be possible because true love, which is the love of Christ has been poured into our hearts, which compels us to such sacrifice because of the same sacrifice he made. And so I want us to be like Jacob. Let your years be too few. Let them be full of evil. Let it be so that salvation might come to so many. You might think this is too high a calling for me. I just stack the shelves of drakes or I just do accounting for someone one day a week. I don't know. But don't think this is a small thing. Don't think what God has called you to is too small. Most of the things we do are small, seemingly, but they do miraculous things. God has a way in which He will use you to save people. You say, I've spent 80 years in this place and I don't think I've ever been used to save someone. Wait till you get to heaven, you will be surprised the thing that God shows you. It is a calling that all of us are given. All of us shall suffer in our own degree for the salvation of others. But just because you can't see how it's happening doesn't mean it isn't happening. So just know that we are foreigners and we are not home yet, but one day we shall be and let's look forward to it because I'm a bit sick of being here. But let us enjoy a full taste of heaven in a couple of minutes when we have our fellowship lunch together. Let's wrap up in prayer. Dear Father, Lord, you are mighty, you are good. You are the King of this world, Father, and you have made us your children and yet you have ordained it that we walk through this life and suffer. That is what it means to follow Jesus. He came down into this earth and He suffered, so shall we. But yet Lord, as He walked through that life of suffering, as He took up His cross and followed you, He gained eternal life. Lord, we shall suffer and at the end we shall gain eternal life. Help us to suffer. Help us to suffer knowing it shall be for the sake of others, completely selfish, selfless. Not looking to the selfish gain we may get through it, but having the heart of Christ that pours out, ready to leave behind the ways of the world that others might be blessed. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.