Coming to Christ's Return

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Little, little too strong. Go with me to Acts chapter 7, and I'm just going to read a verse of scripture there, and then I want you to go to Genesis, but we'll go to Acts chapter 7 first of all.

And while you're doing that, let me share something with you before I share something with you. You know, I was praying yesterday, and the Lord just blessed me, and I started laughing and praising the Lord, and out of it came the seed for another message that I'm not going to preach to you tonight, but you know what came to me? What came to me in these three words, it don't matter. And I'm going to preach to you in a week or so a message called It Don't Matter.

You know what I was thinking about? You know, whether the stock market goes up or down, it don't matter. Saturday is October 15th, and that may not mean anything to you, but it means something to me. I'll tell you why, because most of you took care of your taxes on April the 15th.

I wasn't ready. I had a piece of information that wasn't ready, so my accountant got me an extension for three months to July 15th. On July 15th, he wasn't ready.

Three months from that, he got another extension, and that extension is up October 15th, and so I called him. I said, look, you know, he said, don't worry. You don't have to pay anything.

Everything is all right. Well, I found out he was wrong. I got it in the mail on Monday, and he was wrong, but I want to tell you, it don't matter.

It doesn't matter. You know, if Bush or Dukakis win, it don't matter, and if the Mets aren't in the World Series, it don't matter. You know why? Because this, I'm not going to change, because Jesus never changes.

Hallelujah. It don't matter, because he always remains the same. Hallelujah.

Now, I wish I could preach that tonight, but I can't. I can't, but it don't matter. I got another one.

Acts chapter 7, verse 13. There's one verse here. It says, And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family was disclosed to Pharaoh.

On the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family was disclosed to Pharaoh as well. Now, go with me to Genesis chapter 45, and then just keep your Bible open there to a few of these chapters. We're going to talk about Joseph tonight, and I'm going to talk to you tonight about coming to Christ the second time, or coming to Christ again, or coming to Jesus the second time, based upon this story of Joseph and his brothers.

It says, Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence, or in his presence. They were shocked, to say the least. Then Joseph said to his brothers, Please, please come closer to me.

Look at my face. Look at me. And they came closer, and he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

And then verses 14 and 15, it says, Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck, and he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterwards his brothers talked with him. Again, the account in Acts 7.13 says, And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Now, just as that happened, just as Joseph's brothers did not know him on their first visit, and we'll look at that, so many today who come to Christ never get to know him the first time.

Those of you that now know Jesus, I mean, you really know him. You truly know him. Some of you now also know that the first time that you came to Jesus, you thought you knew him, but you really didn't.

You really didn't know him. Either you were ignorant, you didn't know the terms, you didn't know the conditions, you didn't know the commitment that was involved, including repentance of sin and renouncing of your sins. And as a result, you have to now admit, I was not saved, although I thought I was.

Now, another reason that you may have never known Jesus the first time is that you didn't hear the true gospel. You were told to, quote-unquote, accept Jesus. You were told to do this, or you were told to do that, or you went through catechism, or you went through baptism, or you went through other things, but you really didn't know him, or if you went to an altar, you didn't know who or what you were accepting.

It was because the bugle produced an uncertain sound, and some go for years like that. Now, some of you will understand what I'm going to say, and others of you won't. If you have been in a church all of your life, especially if you were raised in it, and let's say that you were in a Baptist church, or you were in a Methodist, or Episcopalian, or Catholic church, and all of your life you grew up in it, but never knew Jesus, and finally your eyes were opened some way out of the hunger of your heart, or you were challenged.

Somehow you found Jesus, and you came out of that, and you realized how you were cheated. And a lot of you, you have no respect whatsoever for your church now because of that. Now, some of you may not understand that when you hear some people talk about this church or that church, and they have no respect for it whatsoever because maybe you did find the Lord there.

But many people didn't. My wife was raised in a church, and she got saved in it in spite of the church. Probably one of the few in the history that got saved in it, and I'll not name it lest there be any Methodists here tonight, but all her life she was raised in the church.

Finally got saved there when a visiting team came along and presented the gospel. And she sat there and said, What's this? And some of you know what I'm talking about. You've gone to churches where, as someone has said, they give you sermonettes for Christianettes.

And I've heard some of you tell that. You say, I was in the church for years, but I was never saved. That's tragic, my friend.

That's tragic to be in the church and to be cheated like that. Someone said, someone else said, that it's useless to advertise the banquet if there's nothing to eat. Now, our scripture tells us that it was not until the second visit to Joseph, it was the second altar call that he gave, you might say, that he made himself known to his brothers.

And oh, what a wonderful and glorious encounter it was, as we shall see. But sadly, it did not happen on the first visit. They spent time in Joseph's presence.

They were in his house. They even went away with a few blessings, but they did not know Joseph. And he could not and he would not reveal himself to them as much as he wanted to.

And you see, Joseph is a type of Christ. And his brothers are a type of the church, or it's a type of the sinner or the seeker that's coming to him. And you see, there are times when we do not know him, even though he is trying to speak to us.

And even though we may have bowed down before him with some cry or petition. And oh, the tragedy of being in the presence of Jesus and like Joseph's brothers, not recognizing him for who he is. But thank God tonight that we can know him, truly know him.

It's encouraging to know that it's possible at the second visit that Jesus will make himself known to us as Joseph did to his brothers. Now, some of you may say, but Brother Pastor Dunn, I've come to Jesus umpteen times and I don't know him or I didn't know him. Is it possible to come again and again and not know Jesus? Well, the answer to that is no.

We really don't come umpteen times to Jesus because all the umpteen times really count as the first time. The other comings when you don't know Jesus all have to be put into the same category. And this is the heart of my message tonight.

If you sought to know Jesus and to walk in righteousness and obedience and in truth and it hasn't happened, then there is a second visit. There is another visit that you can have to Jesus tonight and you can know him, hallelujah. All other comings to Christ without success have to be put in the same category or failure.

It's a failure to understand the true gospel and how it is that Jesus will and wants to disclose himself to you so that you can really know him, really love him and really serve him. There were some reasons why Joseph could not and would not reveal himself to his brothers even though his heart ached to do so and one occasion he had to excuse himself and he went out and he wept. But it wasn't time.

But why was it that he didn't reveal himself the first time? You ought to know that. There are some reasons why you never knew Jesus in all your other unsuccessful comings to him and to the altar and to the church. Remember, Jesus looked at his people.

He looked over the city of his beloved people and this is what he said, Matthew 23, 37. He said, how often I wanted to gather you children together. I wanted to reveal myself.

I wanted you to know that I was the true Messiah. I wanted to gather you the way a hen gathers her chicks around her wings, but you were unwilling. Ah, but my friend, there is a second visit.

There is a time and a place and a way of full disclosure of Joseph when Jesus will reveal himself to his brothers. And if you feel like Joseph tonight and you've made those long trips to the altar, you've made those long trips to Egypt, you've made those long trips here and there and there was no cleansing and there was no peace with Joseph and there was no hug on the neck and there was no kiss and there was no revelation. I want you to be encouraged in the word tonight.

It says at the second visit, Joseph or Jesus was made known to his brothers. There is an hour of the second visit. I'd like to think this is the church of the second visit, hallelujah.

This is the hour and may be the hour for you tonight. This may be the night that Joseph wants to step out from behind the veil, from out behind the curtain and ask you to draw closer to him and say, come closer to me, see who I am in all of my power and glory. Note how it came about that Joseph did make himself known.

What was the difference between the first and second visit? Well, first of all, Joseph did not reveal himself the first time because there were some things that they did not know about him. For example, they did not know how God had highly exalted him and given him a name that was above every other name almost in the kingdom in Joseph's case. Look at chapter 41, chapter 41 verses 45 and verse 55, excuse me, chapter 41 verse 55 tells us, this here tells us something about Joseph's position and power and if they had known who it was that they had come to, it might have made a big difference in the outcome on their first visit.

Look at it, it says, and so when all the land of Egypt was famished and the people cried out to Joseph for bread and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, go to Joseph, go to Joseph, whatsoever he says to you, you shall do. Does that sound familiar? When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt and the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain and Joseph because the famine was severest on the earth. Now the reason why many who come to Christ the first time without success, without satisfaction is that they don't really know who they're coming to.

We need to know everything there is to know about Jesus. His brothers came into Egypt thinking, if I can just buy a little corn, this will save us. They were merely looking to prevent starvation but the real thing that God had in store for them was not mere corn but a glorious revelation, an encounter with Joseph and when they found him, instead of having access just to a meal or a sack of grain, they could instead go to Joseph because he had the key to the whole storehouse of Egypt.

Hallelujah. This, my friend, is a picture of Jesus Look again at chapter 41 and verse 42. It says, Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and he put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.

Verse 46, Now Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh. Again, here's the type of Christ And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went to all the land of Egypt. Look at verse 49, Then Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea until he stopped measuring it for it was beyond measure.

Now you tell me if that's not a picture of Jesus. Hallelujah. What a picture it is.

Philippians 2, 9 says, Therefore God has also highly exalted him and bestowed upon him a name that is above every name and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father just as everyone had to come and bow to Joseph in order to get grain. You see the problem that some have in coming to Jesus is they think if I can just have a little sack of corn, I'll be okay. If Jesus will just take care of this one little problem for me.

It's amazing. It's amazing how people pin everything on this one little thing. If God would just do this one little thing for me or if you just take care of this one area of my life.

If you'll just take care of this one sorrow that I have here. If you'll just get rid of this one pain, I'll be happy. But listen to my friend.

What do you want tonight? Do you want corn or do you want Joseph? Do you want corn or do you want Jesus? You see a little sack of corn will last you a few hours or a few days and you'll be empty before you get home. And some of you have gone from place to place and that's what you have. That's all you got.

That's all you had. You had a little sack of corn and you were empty before you got home and you got home you had to turn on WWDJ or you had to turn on this or you had to turn on whatever. It didn't last as long.

You've lost it on the subway going home. What is really needed is a full revelation. A full disclosure of Joseph who is Jesus.

He holds the combination to the granaries where is stored everything that you will ever need. Think of it, the people from all the earth came to Joseph to buy grain and he was able to provide it for them. Hallelujah.

Somebody said, I don't know who said it, he said, without Christ I'm a fish out of water but with Christ I'm in an ocean of truth. And some of you have been a fish out of water for years. And so Joseph's brothers did not see him as Lord over all the earth.

They came for food, not for Joseph. They came because of famine, not in faith. You see, not only were the keys to all the granaries and storehouses under his command, he could open them, he could close them as he pleased.

When he gave a command, nobody could challenge him. He was given that authority. He is a type of Christ in all of his authority.

Pharaoh said of him, go to Joseph, whatever he says to you, you shall do. You remember that? Remember when Jesus started his public ministry at the Canaan wedding? What did his mother say? Whatever he said to her, she said to the servant, whatever he says to you, do it. It is pleased the Father that in Christ, he's Joseph, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.

And therefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him. You see, if in your first meeting to Jesus, you had known him and all of his power and authority and exaltation, then you would have known that you could trust him and that you could give him your life and you could give him everything. You could give him everything.

So whatever he says to you, you would do it because you knew that he had the power and authority to do right by you. If you would surrender to him, instead of coming for corn, you would have received that bread that cometh down from heaven. The result being as Jesus said, he who eats me, he shall live because of me.

Hallelujah. Aren't some of you tired of eating the menu? It's about time you got down to the meal. Hallelujah.

Jesus, the bread of life. I remember an incident. I don't know whether I've told it before.

I may have, if not, it bears another application. I remember a young man who came into Teen Challenge one time and he came seeking a few grains, a few sacks of grain. But I didn't know this, but it became very apparent very quickly that he was not sincere and he would sit in our chapel.

And you know, they talk about body language. Have you ever heard the expression body language? Well, if body language could talk, I'd hate to hear what this young man was saying. You know, he'd just sit and he was rebellious, wouldn't listen, became a troublemaker.

And he was there, I don't know, a few days, and finally some of the staff said to me, you know, we ought to let him go because he's really causing a lot of trouble. And so I said, okay, I'll dismiss him. And we were in agreement on that.

And I went to find him and he left. He was gone. He left voluntarily.

And so we said, well, okay, that takes care of that. But two hours later he was back and he was sitting there in the lobby and I came into the Teen Challenge Center and there he was and I looked at him. He looked at me and he said, Reverend, I want to talk to you.

So I said, come on in the office. He said, look, he said, I want back. He said, I made a mistake.

I blew it. I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone.

And I said, look, I said, I'm sorry, but we have rules. This is not a revolving door. You can't just go out and in as you please.

You can't. You'll have to be put on a waiting list and you'll get back maybe in a week or so. He said, Reverend, he said, I know your rules.

But he said, listen, something happened to me when I was out there. He said, I was only out there, you know, a bit. And he said, something told me this is a place I ought to be.

He said, Reverend, he said, something spoke to me and said, go back, go back. That's where you're going to get help. And so I looked at him and I thought about our rules and I said, okay, look, I'm going to overrule our rule and I'm going to let you back.

And there's still no change in him after he came back. But I didn't find out for months later what happened. When he left, he went home.

And the reason he had come to us is because he was on parole and he had broken his parole, had quit going to see his parole officer. And so there was a warrant for his arrest. And so he couldn't go home and he was living on the streets.

And so he heard about Teen Challenge and he came to hide out. He came for sacks of grain, three hots and a cod, as we say. But we didn't know this.

But when he was home, he went home because he took a chance and decided he would go home. And he was having a meal at home when there was a knock at the door. And his brother went to answer it and it just opened.

The chain was still on it and he caught sight of his parole officer. And so he jumps out of his seat, climbed out a back window, ran back as fast as he could. And there he sat in my office looking up with innocence in his eyes.

And he said, Reverend, something spoke to me and told me this is a place I ought to be. Well, you see, a lot of people come to Jesus for a lot of reasons. A lot of the wrong reasons, you see.

In other words, he wanted to save himself. But what he needed was the living bread. He found it, praise God.

He's in the ministry today. But you see, we've got to know who we're coming to so that we can know what he is able to do and what power and authority that he has. You see, your vision of Jesus will determine what it is that you ask for and how you come to him and what he wants to become in your life.

Is Jesus going to be just the one that you run to in a crisis? Or is he going to be the Lord of your life and the one that you go to and whatever he says, you will do? Some people treat Jesus as a means to an end and they degrade salvation and they turn it into a technique of carnal control. That's exactly what the prosperity movement has done. They run to Egypt and they fill their sack with Joseph's grain.

And in fact, the measure of spirituality becomes how high your wagon is filled with sacks of grain from Joseph's granaries. But they never get to know Joseph. But here is a quote from an old hymn.

This is what it says itself. It says this. Wealth and honor I disdain.

Earthly comforts all are vain. They can never satisfy. Give me Christ or else I die.

This brings me to another point. Joseph did not reveal himself to the sons of Jacob, to his brothers because they had not confessed their guilt. They never dealt with their sin.

Remember they had sinned grievously against Joseph and Joseph's treatment of them during their first visit, though it appeared to be harsh, but it was intended by him. It was intended so that it could expose their sin. Look in chapter 42 in verse 17 or verse 16 or verse 17 it says, and so he put them all together in prison for three days.

But you see the real prison that they were in was a prison house of their own sin and guilt. They had committed, they had attempted murder and though Joseph's life had been spared, their intent had been to kill him and they had never dealt with that sin. They had not confessed it to God.

It was still there hidden away and Joseph acting as a type of Christ begins to do certain things to his brothers to bring about a conviction of sin. Look at chapter 42 again verse 16 it says, send one of you that he may get your brother. And while you remain confined that your words may be tested whether this is the truth in you, whether there is truth in you, but if not by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.

So he put them all in prison, all together in prison for three days. And now Joseph said to them on the third day, he said, do this and live for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison, but as for the rest of you, go carry grain for the famine to your households and bring your youngest brother to me so your words may be verified and you may will not die.

And they did so. And then they said one to another, truly we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen. Therefore, this distress has come upon us.

And so they begin to deal for the first time, they begin to deal with this whole issue that they never dealt with the first time. And here is a major reason many never truly know Christ in their first coming is that there has been no repentance of sin. Joseph was trying to expose the famine in his brother's hearts.

They had murder in their hearts. They simply, and then they simply covered over their sin. But Joseph begins to do certain things to prick their conscience and bring to the open what is hidden.

And you see the major reason that many come to Christ, but they never know him. He never really can reveal himself and they never have peace, they never have lasting victory is because in the first place they have never laid the ax to the root and they've never brought forth meat for repentance, fruit that is meat for repentance. We have to come to Christ with a broken contrite heart and an overwhelming sense of the depth of our sin.

Not just because of what that sin does to us or the effects of it superficially or outwardly, or not just because of what it does to us, to our family, to our friends. Many times many only see that level of it. But my friend, you got to go deeper and see what that sin has caused God to turn his face away from you just as Joseph could not reveal himself to his brothers until that was exposed in their heart.

Psalms 41 and 4 says, but as for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. King David's famous prayer, Psalms 51, for against thee only, the only thee, excuse me, let me start again, against thee and thee only, I have sinned and done what is evil in thy sight. And you may wonder, and some people have complained and said, you know, why you preach so much against sin in your church? Listen, my friend, until you come to lay that ax to the root, you can't know Jesus.

In your first coming, many of you didn't deal with your sin. And most likely the church that you attended and the message you heard did not call you to account for your sins and any conversion not accompanied by godly sorrow over sin. If it doesn't have distress of soul, it's a false conversion.

The Puritan said this, he who has slight thoughts of sin never has great thoughts of God. Hosea 7.2 tells us why many do not find Jesus in their first coming to him. It says, and they do not consider in their hearts that I remembered all their wickedness and their deeds were all around them.

They were before my face. They were before my face. And you see their sin came up before God.

They had to deal with it before Joseph would reveal himself. Ah, but there's one more thing. When Joseph's brothers first went to Egypt, they did not all go.

They left something very precious behind. Look at Genesis 42 in verse four. 42 verse four, but Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers for he said, I am afraid that harm may befall him.

And you see, what did Joseph zero in on? He kept saying, is there somebody else? Or how's your family? He began to probe because he knew there was somebody else. And finally it came out that there was a Benjamin. And then the second time when they went back, look at chapter 43 verses four and five.

When their father sends them back again, they told him we can't go back unless we have Benjamin. Verse four, and if you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you do not send him, we will not go.

For the man said to us, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. You see, now they understand the conditions. They understand what's involved in coming to Joseph.

And you see, Benjamin is a type of how many go to Christ, but they leave something very precious behind at home. And that something, that Benjamin represents an unsurrendered part of our life. It represents a Benjamin sin.

It represents a Benjamin self-interest. It represents something else that's precious and dear to us that we keep holding on to. And there is even a preaching that allows for sin, for the sinner to come to Christ without bringing everything, without surrendering everything.

But God can make you everything you want to be, but first you have to place yourself in his hands and know secret Benjamin's back home. To take all that we are and have and hand it over to God may not be easy. And some of you, it's happening little by little, line upon line.

And some of you, it's taken a lot of services. It's taken a lot of altar calls. But I want to tell you, my friend, it can be done.

And when it's done, the world will have one less candidate for misery if you'll turn it all over to him. You recall the story of Ananias and Sapphira, members of the first Times Square church of Jerusalem. They were carried out dead for holding back the price or portion that belonged to God.

And I believe the reason for that drastic measure and judgment was to establish early on in the church that there is no half price salvation and what the consequences of holding out on God is all about. Acts 5, 3, Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back some of the price of the land? And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last and great fear came upon all who heard it. You bet great fear came on them.

You see, to not come completely clean, to leave a Benjamin back in the closet somewhere, there's a Benjamin. If you come to this church and there's a Benjamin left behind and you come to this altar without laying it down, that's lying to the Holy Ghost. And I want to tell you, I'm not that old to being raised in early, early Pentecost, but I remember in the church, our fathers believed in this principle that when you lie to the Holy Ghost, that what happened to Ananias and Sapphira can happen to you.

We've seen it. We've seen it. Brother David and I could tell you about a well-known ministry.

Two people, two people died because they lied to the Holy Ghost. They lied to the Holy Ghost. And I remember my father used to preach in the church, and I saw it happen.

He told people who were lying to the Holy Ghost, he said, I'll bear you, I'll be bearing you. Acts 511, it said, great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of those things. You see, it's the absence of the fear of God that keeps seekers from laying down everything to the Lord.

You gotta lay your Benjamins down. You gotta bring your Benjamins to the altar. You see, the Benjamins are that which, Benjamins are precious looking, something that doesn't look so bad.

But Joseph said, I want everything, I want everything. Now, let's take a look at the second visit of Joseph's brothers to Egypt because something wonderful happened in his presence a second time. That's something wonderful that's been happening to some of you.

Oh, I loved it, I love it. I love it, we're blessed. We talk about what God's doing in some of your lives and your hearts.

Oh, some of you are young, some of you are older. You've come to share what God's done in you and oh, praise God. There's a second time.

But look what happened, certain things that happened. First of all, they ran out of corn. After their first visit, they ran out of corn and they ran out of blessings, which they got from Joseph on the first visit.

Look at chapter 43, verses one and two. The famine was severe in the land, so it came about that they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt and their father said to them, go back, buy a little food. Buy a little food.

You see, if you keep coming to Jesus the way Joseph's brothers came to him the first time, you're always gonna run out of blessings and you're gonna keep running back for a little food. And if you come to Jesus just for corn, just for temporary blessings, you're sure to go hungry and be in spiritual famine. And it's sad to see people who faithfully, they faithfully go to Egypt.

They faithfully run here and there. Some of you, I know your testimony. You've gone to every big meeting.

You've gone to every big preacher. You have spent hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars. You've flown across the country.

You've gone here and there to buy a little food. But until, and you always run out of that. Until the revelation of Joseph takes place, you will always be in want.

There will always be that inner emptiness. I watch people run here and there. Some of them run for, well, they run for prosperity corn.

And some of you used to run around for popcorn. I mean, you know, you get a little blessing, you know, all excitement, just excitement. That's all, just a blessing.

And some of you ran around for miracle corn. Miracle signs and wonders. But most of the time you have to wonder what they, you know, where are they, where's the miracles? You know, because when you're into that thing and you keep people, you got to keep people coming, you know, with miracle after miracle.

If it doesn't happen, you got to manufacture it one way or the other. And some of you ran for miracle corn. And some of you ran for some exotic corn dish.

But I want to tell you, it's only corn. It's not the true bread that endures to eternal life. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Job 30 and three says, oh, when I read this, grip me. It says from want and famine, they are gaunt.

They gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation. You know, I got a picture one time looking at some of the street people and I drive home at night and see them going through the garbage cans. Gives me a picture of the church.

Gives me a picture of some of you. You've gone everywhere looking, but it's been famine, you ran out of blessings. But I want to tell you, there's a spiritual famine that ought to take us back to Joseph for another visit.

Just as Joseph's brothers went again, their emptiness drove them, or your emptiness ought to drive you to the altar. And some of you lived in spiritual warmth for years. You've told me, and now you know why.

You never knew Jesus. Now, another lesson that Joseph's brothers had to learn is that you can't buy from Joseph. You can't buy from Joseph.

He ain't selling corn. He doesn't sell what we need. Turn to Genesis 42, verses 25 through 28.

This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Not a rebuke.

You see, there's several Greek words for dog. One is a vicious dog, and one is a cute little household dog, puppy dog. And that's the word Jesus used.

But also the reference, the reason for the reference to dogs is that Jesus had already brought to the attention of the disciples orders to fill their bags with grain and restore every man's money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey, and thus it was done for them. So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money, and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.

Now, that was not trickery. That was not revenge. That was not a payback on Joseph's part.

It was genuine generosity. But they were horrified. Their hearts sank.

They literally trembled when they saw that. And they must have thought, why? And in fact, they asked, why is God doing this to us? We have not been able to please this man, Joseph, at all. And now, whether they knew that he put the money back there or whether they surmised or not, but they must have thought, what can we do to please this man, Joseph? And some of you have come to Jesus over and over again, trying every possible way to get a victory, trying every possible way to please him.

You tried every good work that you could think of. You went from meeting far and wide seeking the Lord. You tried every formula.

One said fast, another said praise, another said this, another said that, and you did it all. But every time you got home and you opened up your sack, God gave you back your money. In other words, the Lord didn't accept your works and your devotion and your striving and your service and your many ways to try to please him.

It won't work that way. And the way that you know the Lord did not accept your personal efforts at righteousness and how you can know that he gave you your money back is that in spite of all your good works, you never got what you came for. In spite of everything you tried, you still didn't have peace.

You still didn't have victory over sin. You still didn't have a consciousness of the presence of the Lord in your life. It's a terrible feeling to pay Joseph money and to find that your money is not good enough.

It's the Lord's way of saying, I don't want your self-righteousness. I don't want your superficial prayers. I don't want your superficial devotion.

I want Benjamin. I want it all. And that's the only way to come to me.

But look what happened on the second visit after they had finally said we're guilty. Chapter 42, verse 21, and they said to one another, truly we are guilty concerning our brother. Truly we're guilty.

And then chapter 43, verse 29, and he lifted up his eyes and he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and he said, is this your younger brother of whom you spoke of me? And he said, may God be gracious to you, my son. And Joseph hurried out for he was deeply stirred over his brother and they sought a place to weep and he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out and he controlled himself and he said, serve the meal.

Now, there was one more work of conviction that had to take place in their hearts and I'll not get into that, but again, he put money in their sack. Again, he tested them one more time and then they came back and look at chapter 45, Joseph reveals himself. Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him and he cried, have everyone go out for me.

So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. That, my friend, you see, that was the second time and they, of course, they couldn't believe it. They could not believe that it was Joseph and of course not and neither could some of you believe it when you found out that you didn't have to go through a man.

You didn't have to go through everything that you've been trying to go through to get to God. There was no man with them when Joseph made himself known and oh, what joy it is to know that you can come face to face into the presence of Jesus, hallelujah. When you've taken care of everything, he will reveal himself to you and Joseph came closer to his brothers.

Please come closer to me and they came closer and they came closer. Oh, are you coming to Jesus that way? Do you know that? Turn with me to James 4, verse 8 to an often quoted verse. In fact, it's a little portion of verse that we quote many, many times but we don't quote it in its context.

It says, draw nigh unto God and he'll draw nigh unto you. It's James 4, verse 8. But note the conditions upon which we're to draw nigh to him. It says, draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you.

Then he lays it out. Here's the conditions and Joseph and his brothers had to meet these conditions and then he revealed himself. He said, cleanse your hands, you sinners.

Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable. Mourn and weep.

Tell me Joseph's brothers weren't miserable with confusion and conviction but then they dealt with their sin. He said, let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourself in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you.

You see, these poor sons of Jacob did not know that the man who was Lord over Egypt was their own brother. And Jesus wants you to know that he's your brother and that he wants a relationship with you. Hallelujah.

If you'll come, if you'll come. Joseph, you see, restrained himself until the Holy Spirit had prepared their hearts and the second time Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. Do you want to know Jesus like that? Do you want to know Jesus that second time? The Jesus whom you can recognize and draw near to because you've cleansed your hands, you mourned over your sins and when that happens, a veil will be opened unto you and Joseph will say, here I am, come closer.

Come closer to me. I don't know about you but that's what the Lord's been, that's what the Lord's been saying to me. That's what he said to me Friday night when Gary ministered.

I felt the Lord saying it, draw closer to me. Sunday morning I felt it, Sunday night I felt it. He keeps saying, draw closer to me and they came closer and he said, I am your brother Joseph.

Remember the 10 lepers? One, they came, the first visit they got new skin but one came back and he got a relationship with Jesus and that's what he wants to give you tonight, a relationship with him. There is a second time, there is a true revelation of Jesus. He wants to give you that revelation if you'll let him do it here tonight in this service.

Let's pray, let's stand together. Let's stand together. To the house of the Lord, she's greatly, verse 10, and she greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

She was so consumed by her need. She was so consumed.