Treasure In Your Sacks

GEN.43:19-24 "TREASURE IN YOUR SACKS"

A) Joseph’s brothers had gone to Egypt to buy food to live on because of the famine .......

* They did not know their brother at this time, so they bought the food with the money they had!

* Unknown to them, Joseph had ordered their money to be returned secretly to them.

* Joseph’s helper had put the money in their sacks!

B) Stopped for the night to rest, they discovered the money, and fear gripped their hearts!

* For they thought surely that they would be charged as thieves!

* Now they come back to their brother for more food and try to explain the money in their sacks!

* You cannot explain God! * Job 11:7 "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find

out the Almighty unto perfection?"

* Ecc.8:17 "Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done

under the sun: because though a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther;

though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it."

C) Now we come to v.23! * Joseph’s servant said, "There is treasure in your sacks!"

* And he tells them Who put it there! * They were being blessed and didn’t see it!

* I wonder if the same thing might be happening to you and me! * We are blessed!!!

* We have some treasure in our sacks as well!

* Let’s look at what treasure we have in our sacks today!

(1) PULL BIBLE OUT OF THE SACK - WHAT A TREASURE!

* The Bible is a treasure because it is from God Himself - It is God-breathed!

A) Jer.23:29 says that God’s Word is like a hammer!

* A hammer is used for building ... For repair ... Nailing down things ...

B) James 1:23-24 says that God’s Word is like a mirror!

* Who do you see? * That’s why folk don’t read the Bible, it shows them who they are!

* It tells the truth about the things that are wrong in our lives!

C) Heb.4:12 says that God’s Word is like a sword!

* A sword is a weapon ... The Word of God is a weapon for us!

* It gives us ammunition to fight the temptations of the devil!

* A sword cuts and divides and so does the Word of God!

D) Ps.119:105 says that God’s Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path!

* The Word will show me where I’m standing and lead me where I’m going!

* When the storms of life are raging, the Word of God is like a lighthouse!

* To neglect it’s warnings is to suffer shipwreck!

E) Since the Bible is so magnificent, why are our Bibles dusty?

* Why do we cherish them as mantle pieces rather than opening the book and devouring it’s

content? * Why do we watch more television than we read God’s Word?

* I’ll tell you why ... We have forgotten what a treasure this book is!

* Think about the people in countries who don’t have Bibles!

* They are willing to give most anything to have just a page of this sacred text!

* Think of what the saints of old have sacrificed rather than deny this Book!

F) I’ll tell you, this Book is a valuable treasure!

* We don’t have to "figure things out" on our own, God has given us written instructions!

* He has given us promises to depend on, a glimpse of the future that we can focus on!

* In the trials of life we are not left without guidance!

* We just need to read the directions and do what it says!

G) When was the last time you picked your Bible up & viewed it as a treasured possession?

* Now, I don’t mean that it’s treasured because it is leather or was expensive or given to you by

someone who loves you! * I mean .......

* When was the last time you saw your Bible as a treasure because it gave you the Words of God

* What a treasure it is ... The Word of God!

(2) PULL "GRACE" FROM THE SACK - WHAT A TREASURE!

* One of the most spectacular gifts God has given to us is the grace that comes through Christ!

* Eph.2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is ......."

A) Some have the tendency to view salvation as something they have to earn!

* But salvation is not based on what we do, it is anchored in God’s gift to us!