The Stirring Of The Guilty Conscience

THE STIRRING OF THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE

Gen. 42:21

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. There are always two ways to look at something.

2. A young boy, Jayden, came into the house covered with mud after finishing a rough day of play. "Mom," he shouted at the top of his voice, "if I fell out of a tree, would you rather I broke a leg or tore my pants?"

3. "That’s a silly question," his mom answered from the next room. "I'd rather you tore your pants!"

4. "Well, I've got good news for you then," Jayden said triumphantly. "That's exactly what happened!" Likewise, God has good news for you today!

B. IDEA

1. Today we’re looking at how easy it is to look the other way when we sin and to justify what we do. We’re looking at the story of Joseph’s brothers and how God brought them to repentance.

2. A little background. Joseph’s brothers hated him, said they would kill him, and sold him as a slave into Egypt. Gen. 37:19, “Here comes the dreamer!...Come, let’s kill him & throw him into one of these cisterns...” “[They] sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver...” (37:28).

3. Eventually God raised Joseph up to be second-in-command over all Egypt because he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams of a coming worldwide famine. God used this famine and the hunger it caused to stir the consciences of Joseph’s brothers that they’d - for years - attempted to stifle.

4. Probably God had dealt with each brother numerous times, convicting them. The old memories had pushed up to the surface of their consciences only to be squelched and pushed down again.

5. So today we’re looking at “The Stirring of a Guilty Conscience.”

I. THE TROUBLE WITH UNRESOLVED SIN

A. INSENSITIVITY TO SIN

1. It’s possible to be insensitive to sin. A 4 year-old girl in London held up her broken wrist and said, “Look mommy! My hand is bent the wrong way!” She felt no pain. Doctors discovered she also had a fractured thigh, but felt no pain. Now she’s 14 and though careful, still finds blisters and burns.

2. Why? She has a medical condition where she can’t feel pain! There’s another more deadly insensitivity – insensitivity to sin! The Bible says, “Having their consciences seared as with a hot iron” 1 Tim. 4:2. [Walter Knight’s Treasury of Illus., p. 363]

3. Joseph’s brothers let jealousy of him become hate. We’ve got to get hate out – to put it under the Blood – or it may drive us to darker sins. Jesus equated anger with murder (Mt. 5:21-22).

B. ILLUS.: LETTING HATE LINGER

1. Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States. He was orphaned at age 14 because of the horrors of the Revolutionary War. He was popular, but was uneducated and had a violent temper.

2. One thing Jackson was really good at, however, was hating. He hated the British for killing his family. He hated the Indians for the massacres he’d seen. He hated his political & personal enemies. He was divorced, and his enemies tried to use his former wife in attacking him. He fought several duels over her.

3. Yet Jackson became a popular hero at the battle of New Orleans only losing 8 men while the enemy lost 700 dead & had 1400 wounded.

4. Wonderfully, later in life he encountered Jesus Christ, was baptized, and joined the church. The remainder of his life he spent studying the Bible & letting Christ change him. But he said that his toughest battle was forgiving his enemies. [GLEN PEASE]

C. UNCONFESSED SINS ARE NOT “GONE”

1. If we have unresolved sin, it’s never far below the surface. It seems like someone is always bringing up the problem we have. Friends bring up cheating or lying or dishonoring parents or being untruthful with an employer, or looking at the wrong stuff on the internet. And all of a sudden our conscience is pricked and our hidden, forgotten sins bubble up to the surface. What happened in private suddenly feels very public.

2. God brought about that 7-year famine with one purpose in mind: to bring all the world to Joseph. Joseph is a type of Christ. Since the original sin in the Garden of Eden, God is drawing all mankind to His one solution for sin: Jesus Christ! He alone has the answer! Jesus is the Bread of Life! If you want Bread, you have to come to Jesus!

II. THE TESTING OF THE BROTHERS

A. THE BROTHER’S SHOCKING RECEPTION. When Joseph saw his brothers, he decided to test them to see if their character had changed.

1. His brothers didn’t recognize Joseph because he dressed like an Egyptian and spoke to them through an interpreter. He was the dread Lord Zaphenath-Paneah (41:45), with absolute power over all Egypt. All bowed before him. He had on Pharaoh’s gold chain and ring of authority. He was married into one the wealthiest families in Egypt. He held the power of life and death.