Laying Down Our Lives

I've been reading a lot of books on leadership recently, and one of the fun things to do as you read a book on leadership is to ask, how would Jesus part with this book on leadership? Would he fit into this model of leadership? And would he fulfill the prescriptions of the book's model of what they're saying leadership is? As I thought about that, I realized Jesus was a unique leader. His leadership style wasn't one where he's trying to gather a great following. He says to his followers things like, eat my body, drink my blood. He says he's going to tear down a temple that took years to build and then rebuild it in three days. He says to somebody else, you can't bury your parents. No. Another one, you have to sell everything you own. He then goes around, he confronts everybody in their sin. That's not how you win friends or influence people. He tells people not to talk about the great things he's done. He tells them to be quiet about the miracles and the way he's glorifying the father. He tells them to take up their cross, embrace shame and humility. And finally, and most importantly, he tells them with his model and throughout the rest of the New Testament, that if you're going to be His disciple, if you're going to be one of His followers, you're going to lay down your life for others. You're going to consider others more important than yourself. You're going to consider others' prerogatives and interests more important than your own. This is an amazing message that doesn't get a large following, but it will get a committed following. He's looking for disciples who will follow Him, disciples who will trust His sacrifice. and will sacrifice themselves. The message this morning is very simple. God saves sinners by his sacrifice to be a sacrifice. God saves sinners by his sacrifice to be a sacrifice. You see, you have the base, what God has done for us, and then you have the purpose. We are to model and reflect the Savior. We are saved by God's Son to be God's children. We are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus so that we can be poured out as an offering of worship to the God who has saved us. We're going to be back in Genesis. We're going to look at Genesis 44 this week. Now, this fits into the larger narrative that really began in 37. We've been looking at Joseph and Judah. Those two stories are tied together so intricately. Last week, we looked at how the dream began to be fulfilled, that dream that his brothers and his parents were going to bow down to him. That is what's driving this entire story. Joseph tested his brothers. And this morning, we're going to look at that final big test when he sets up Benjamin to be his servant, to be his prisoner. The primary interaction between the two brothers is Joseph and Judah. We're going to see their interaction and how they're tied together. There's four terms I want you to listen for as I read. Lord and servant, father and son. Lord and servant, father and son. Now, the Lord and servant, that was repeated over and over again, and that's driving from the dream. These boys, these brothers and their father, they're going to be servants to Joseph, who God has established over them as their Lord. The other names relate to another relationship, father and son. God is seeking to reconcile this family. God is seeking to reconcile the covenant family. And what's amazing about this is the servants, the brothers are going to be servants to the Lord, not because of a heavy rod. but because of grace and mercy and love. Last week, my wife told me that was quite the cliffhanger. You left us hanging with what happens next. Well, this week is going to be even more so. But you can read Genesis 45 after the service to see how it ends, if you don't know. Let's hear together Genesis 44. I will read verses 1 through 17 first. Speaking of Joseph, Then he commanded the steward of his house, fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of the sack. Put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain. And he did as Joseph told him. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, Follow up to the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good? Is it not from this that my Lord drinks and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this. When he ever took them, he spoke to them these words. They said to him, Why does my Lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing. Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then can we steal silver or gold from your Lord's house? Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my Lord's servants." He said, "'Let it be as you say. He who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.' Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination? And Judah said, What shall we say to my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also, in whose hand the cup has been found. But he said, Far be it from me that I should do so. Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father. We saw last week, Benjamin's father was afraid of sending Benjamin with these other brothers. There's Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of his favorite wife, his two favorite sons, and there's the other sons from the other wives and concubines. And he's afraid of sending Benjamin. He hesitates. They have to be pleading with him for him to send Benjamin with the brothers. Because they're afraid something's going to happen to him. And as we'll see, Judah's going to recite how difficult this was for his father. As the brothers come, Joseph tests them in many ways. We saw at the end of chapter 23 that Joseph sets up a mill. And at the mill, he gives Benjamin five times more food from his own table than the other brothers. He's wanting to see how they're going to respond. That was one of the final tests of the last chapter. Now we're proceeding into the major test. He sets Benjamin up. He puts his own special silver cup in a sack. Now, silver has been an interesting term, a key term. Remember, Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. So, as we see the silver cup, you're supposed to be reminding yourself, yes, the silver cup here, it's going to now be used to redeem the brothers and to help them. The key idea of this overarching story is simple. God uses evil for good. God uses evil for good. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. That's the key theme of the entire 37 through 50. And in verse four, you see Joseph using the same words, but not in the same way. Brothers, you have repaid good with evil. He's showing how wicked they are. He's setting them up because they are evil. Now, I'm not sure how Joseph really saw this whole thing playing out. He puts the cup in the boy's sack. He sends them off and then he confronts them with the sheriff. The sheriff comes with a warrant. Where's the silver cup? Now, they all boldly, confidently say, oh, we are completely innocent. You can search us. They make a pretty foolish promise. Whoever you find the cup with, he'll die. And the rest of us will be servants. And the sheriff, the steward, he says, okay, whatever it will be as you say, but then he completely changes the arrangement. The rest of you will go home. The one who has found the cup, he will stay. You see, the whole test is about how these brothers are going to treat Benjamin. Are they going to stick with him and fight for him and defend him? Or are they going to leave him to die like they did Joseph? The brothers are lined up according to age. Again, how do they know what the ages of the brothers are? They line up according to age, oldest to youngest, and the drama of this event. Checking each sack one by one. And then the final one, Benjamin. The cup is found. Benjamin is declared guilty. The brothers weep and tear their clothes because they are afraid, not just for Benjamin's life, but they are afraid of what this is going to do to their father. The scene changes in verse 14. The brothers all go to Joseph's house. He's sitting there waiting on them. They didn't get into trouble far. He brought them back quickly. They prostrate themselves. Again, the dream, your brothers and your parents, they will bow down before you. The dream is driving the entire story. We see it alluded to here very clearly. Joseph asked, Do you not know that I'm a man who can practice divination? Now, that's commanded against in scripture. We're not supposed to practice divination. So why is Joseph talking about practicing divination? I think it's part of the ruse. Joseph already said very clearly. that his power, his wisdom, comes from God in dreams and the power to interpret dreams. He said this in Genesis 40, verse 38, and in 41, verse 16. I don't think he's practicing divination. He's not taking the special cup and putting in water and oil and other things and breaking the spirit's world. No, he set this whole thing up, but it's part of the ruse because his brothers have to wonder, how does he know so much? So we are in no way seeing that divination is a good practice. It's part of the ruse to trick the brothers. Look at verse 16. We see Judah now, he's stepping up, he begins to lead his brothers, the one that was forsaking his brothers, he is now leading the brothers. And Judah said, What shall we say, my Lord? What shall we speak? Or, how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also, in whose hand the cup has been found. God has found out our guilt. They're not guilty for this. They didn't steal the cup. I think he's referring to the guilt they have for killing Joseph, for selling him into slavery. God has said that they're killed, and this is why they think all these things are happening to them. I don't believe he's confessing about the cup. I believe he's confessing about, for the second time, the fact that all these things are happening because of what they did to Joseph. They've already confessed that once in 42, verse 22. Notice how Judah emphasizes this. We are my Lord's servants, both we and he also. Let us all be your Lord's servants. It's going to be better for the brothers to stay in Egypt in prison than to go back and have to see the sorrow on their father's face. They would prefer to stay there with Benjamin as a servant, as a prisoner, than to have to go back and see the father's death on his face all over again. Joseph responds, but he said, Far be it from me. It's a very loaded statement from Joseph. He knows he's not the one who's going to make them bow down. God is going to do it. Far be it from me to make you my servants, because I'm trusting God. God made the promise. I've seen him work as affiliate. God is the one who's going to make this happen. Not me. And then the heart sinking command. But as for you, go up in peace to your father. Peace. There's no peace when they go back to their father. He's going to tear off his clothes and put ashes and sackcloth on him. He's going to weep. He's probably going to die out of sorrow. Joseph here knows what's going on. Go up in peace. The contrast of what they know is going to happen and that word must sink deep. Their hearts. Are sunk. They're afraid. And then steps up Judah. He gives us one of the longest speech in Genesis, maybe the most moving speech in all of Genesis. It's full of passion and persuasion. He stands up. and gives a defense. He stands up and gives a great declaration of what has happened. This is one of the greatest speeches in Genesis. Let us read it together again. Listen for the language, Lord and servant, father and son. Then Judah went up to him and said, Oh, my Lord, please let your servants speak a word in my Lord's ear. And let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My Lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my Lord, We have a father, an old man, and a younger brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him. Then you said to your servants, bring him down to me that I may set my eyes on him. We said to my Lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die. Then you said to your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again. When we went back to your servant, my father. We told him the words of my Lord. And when our father said, Go again, buy us a little food, we said, We cannot go down if our youngest brother goes with us. Then we will go down, for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us. Then your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons. One left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces, but I have never seen him since. If you take this one also from me and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs and evil to Sheol. Now, therefore, as soon as I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, then as his life is bound up in the boy's life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. And your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not bring him back, back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life. Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord. Let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father. It's a passionate, sacrificial, loving speech. He retells all the stories and all the events that have happened up to this point. There's six different parts of the speech, verse 18. He appeals to be heard humbly. Verses 19 through 23, he recalls how the prince has demanded their youngest brother come back. He recalls to him that you are the one that set this up. Now, I don't think he's trying to put guilt on this, Joseph, the man he knows as the evil mean prince. But he's trying to point out that you demanded this to happen. And when we went back, the father said the son can never leave. He recalls what Joseph did to set this whole thing up. Verse 24-29 recalls how difficult it was for the father to let the youngest go. It was only because of the inevitable death that was going to happen from the famine that he even lets the son go. Verse 30-31 predicts that not bringing Benjamin back will cause the death of their father. It's amazing. He articulates for himself, his life is bound up in the boy's life. He knows that his father loves this son the most, and now he's using that as an argument. He is confessing and agreeing that this is true. Verse 32, I have personally given my pledge, my life as a pledge for the boy. This is the turning point of the speech. So far he's listed the history, he's given the facts. This is what's been happening throughout this whole episode. This is why the boy is so important to the father. Now, I have given my life as a pledge. He has made a promise to the father. And then verse 33. Being obedient to that pledge, Judah asked to be a replacement for his youngest brother. He will be a substitute for him. It is the only option out of a devotion to his father. Now, this speech is what I want to focus on the rest of our time. This speech contains numerous levels of story that are absolutely fascinating. The first one is simply this. Judah retells all events that have led up to this point. He begins to put some pressure on the prince. You are the one that asked for the brother. You don't ask for the father. Now you're telling me you told us he had to come back. And now look what's happened as we brought him back. Again, I don't think this is trying to put guilt on him, but I think he's trying to show the pressure that they were under with the father. They had to plead with the father to let this son go. They're afraid of what would happen to the father if the son does not return. Now, if we look at this, Judah stepping up. This is a strong contrast between chapter 37 and here. There, the brothers are not responsible. There, the brothers do not care about their father or their brother. There in Judah 37, they're selfish and self-consumed. Here, Judah, he's saying, I will take his place. He's fulfilling his role as a brother. He's accepting that the father loves the son more. And he's saying, I will take his place. We see maturity. We see them accepting the Father's order. We see them accepting God's order. The second thing we see, the second story is this. Judah reveals that his story is one of redemption. Judah reveals that his story is one of redemption. We're not just seeing maturity take place. We're seeing a life transformation. Judah was a slave trader. And not just any slave trader. He sold his brother into slavery. Judah has a murderous heart. He was going to kill Joseph, but then decided, you know what? We'll make a little money if we sell him into slavery instead of kill him. Let's go that route. Judah was selfish and disloyal to the family. He leaves his brothers in chapter 38 to go party with the Canaanites. He forsakes the covenant family and the promises of God. Judah was promiscuous. He sought out a prostitute. Not realizing it was actually his daughter-in-law. Finally, we see he's self-righteous because whenever his daughter-in-law becomes pregnant, he jumps on her and says, you must die. But then when he realizes it's his son, he clearly makes a confession that he is culpable as well. Judah was a despicable character. He was a sinner in need of grace, but when he was confronted with this sin, when Tamar confronted him with a sin, he confessed she is more righteous than I. He's humbled in chapter 38, verse 26. He is humbled. And that's where you see the conversion showing evidence. We see lots of evidence from grace after this. He vows. to his father that he will bring Benjamin back. He gives himself over as a pledge. This is evidence of grace. It's amazing as we see these two characters, their stories are intertwined, these two brothers, Judah and Joseph. Joseph comes. Joseph was a victim and becomes a ruler. But Judah, he was a betrayer and became a brother. He was selfish and became sacrificial. I believe that Judah is confronted with a sin and recalls the mercy of God. I believe we see him modeling Christ. We see him, most of all, giving evidence of grace. Now, friend, if you're not a Christian this morning. As you look at Judah. The one thing I want you to see is that Judah is a despicable character. And I think if we look at all the characters of Scripture, what you'll see is they're all sinful. No one is good, no one is righteous. If you're not a Christian this morning, I hope you look at Judah's sin and you see that you're without excuse and looking to the Savior. See, I believe a lot of non-Christians will look and say, I'm too sinful. I'm not good enough to be loved by God. I'm not good enough. My life has too many scars. I have too much baggage. There's no way God could actually love me. If he only knew the things I've done, the things that I've gone through. Friend, if that's you this morning, if you're so overwhelmed with guilt that you think there's no way God could ever save you, God could ever love you, look at the characters of the Bible. Most of all, Know this, your sin is not bigger or stronger than Jesus Christ. The same God who spoke all that we see into existence is the same God who spoke a word of forgiveness on the cross. There is no sin greater than God's power. Sin has no power over God. If you confess your sins to Christ, he is able to forgive you. Maybe you're not a Christian here, and you're not overwhelmed with guilt. You actually would tell me, hey, I'm a good person. I'm not a sinner. You're not convinced. Let me ask you this, friend. Who do you hate? If you don't think you're a sinner, who is it that you hate? Who comes to your mind? Which co-worker do you talk about, but you don't talk to them? Which family member have you ostracized and removed yourself from? Who's that person that your blood starts boiling every time they come near you? For that hate is murder in your heart. That is offensive to God. That makes you a sinner. Well, maybe you tell me, well, I'm actually nice to everybody. I love everyone. OK. Your ultimate guilt is that you haven't been living for God. Your ultimate guilt is that you're living your life as if God doesn't matter. God created you. God is worthy of your every breath, your every thought, your every word, your every deed. If you think you're a good person to everyone else, how much are you thinking about God? How much are you ignoring Him and what He has done for you? You see, you were created by God. He created you for Himself. He created you for His glory. He created you for a relationship. He created you to be loved by Him and to love Him. Yet you ignore Him. You prefer He not exist by the way you live. Friend, God deserves our every affection, our every obedience, our every ounce of respect. If you're not a Christian this morning, I pray the Spirit is convicting you. I pray the Spirit will convict you that you are a sinner. And I pray the Spirit will convince you that your sin can be conquered on the cross of Jesus Christ. That He came and lived a perfect life. He died for you. And He will rise again, giving all who believe in Him eternal life. Judah reveals that his story is one of redemption. Let me continue to talk to Christians about the story of redemption. Do you ever look at somebody and say they're too far gone, they're too hardened against God, they're too bent towards sin, they're too opposed to the gospel? Who is that person that you think they're so hardened by God they'll never be reached? Who is that person or what kind of person do you quickly judge and say they can't hear the gospel? They're too hardened against it. When you're judging God, you're saying that his love and power are not boundless and limitless. You're saying that their sin is more powerful than the gospel. You're also thinking of yourself too much. If you are tempted to think about other people and think they are not good enough, you're saying, I am good enough. If you look at other people, murderers, rapists, homosexuals, adulterers, advocates of abortion, whoever it is that you look at and you say, these people cannot come to God, they're too hearted against it. Look at their lifestyle. What you're doing is saying, I was good enough. Repent of your self-righteousness. And come to the God who is infinite and boundless in power. For the good application, start praying for those people that you think are too hard for the gospel. Don't try to argue them into the kingdom. Pray for them. Trust the power of God. Let that be your opportunity to trust God and the power of His gospel, the power of His Spirit to save every sinner. Friends, we have to praise the God who is able to save sinners. The first thing we have to do is look and see that we are sinners and praise God that His love and power are boundless in saving us of all of our sin. When tempted to judge, let that be an opportunity to think about your own sin. Our final point this morning. Judah reflects a story that will bring ultimate redemption and reconciliation. Judah reflects the story that will bring ultimate redemption and reconciliation. Judah is not just revealing that he's a more mature. He's not just revealing that he's a convert. Judah is foreshadowing the true king of Israel. The king of Israel is going to come from Judah's lawn. The king of Israel was supposed to stand in the place of all of Israel and represent them to God. And Judah is foreshadowing that just a little bit here as a big brother of Benjamin. He is foreshadowing standing in the place of his brother, Benjamin. He's foreshadowing the true king of Israel. The son of David, a Judean, the son of Abraham, and even the son of Adam, he is foreshadowing Jesus Christ. What's amazing is that the king figure here becomes the good brother. Benjamin, as his brother, stands up to defend him and to be a substitute to deliver him. Now, don't we all wish we had a brother like that who would always be there for us to protect us and defend us? Well, the good news this morning is we do have a brother like that. God himself has become the brother to all who believe in Jesus Christ. The father has sent his son to be the true king, the king of kings, the ruler of all the world, so that all who believe in him have him as a big brother. Judah's actions foreshadow what will take place when the real king comes, the anointed king who becomes the perfect substitute. Now, what I want to do is show you that Judah's actions are great. They're honorable. They're honorable because they also reflect the true king that's coming. But I want to contrast the offering of Judah, the brother of Benjamin, and the offering of Jesus, God's king. First, Judah is merely a man. He can only make a one for one exchange. He can only help save one person from prison. He can only say, I'll save that one. He can't save the other brothers. He could not be a replacement for anyone else but Benjamin. Jesus is God. He is infinite and abounding in his power and love. He is able to stand in the place of many. He is able to stand in the place of all who believe in him. So Benjamin is limited because he's only a mere man. He's an individual. He can replace one person. Jesus is able to replace as many as believe in him. Secondly, Judah is a sinful man. He's not able to be a substitute for Benjamin's guilt. He's only able to go into the prison and stand there in the place of the one crime. Well, Jesus is able to forgive all of our guilt, not just one crime. Jesus was the perfect man. He's a son of God who came down, took upon flesh like us in every way except for sin. He lived according to the Father in every way in perfect obedience. He followed his instruction. He followed his model of holiness so that when he dies, the innocent righteous one takes upon himself the wrath of God so that whoever believes in him, their sin is not counted against them anymore. He's able to perfectly forgive every sin. And then that righteousness that he had, he's able to give that to us. So when the father looks at us, he sees us as his son. He lets us participate in the sonship. Let me give an example of this. If you go to court and say you're guilty of manslaughter, you've hit someone with your car. The judge can say, not guilty. You let the person in your car, but the judge said not guilty. You walk away, and the American court system can never try you for that again. You are free from being tried in America. You'll never go to prison for that. But you still have the guilt. You still have the seared conscience. You still know what you did, and you know that it was a sin, and it is still offensive to God. You will be held accountable for that. You see, Judah could stand in your place if you were counted innocent, or if you were counted guilty. But he can't remove the guilt from God. He can't remove the guilt that we have before God. Only Jesus can do this. He is the perfect man who is able to take on every sin. Third, Judah's brotherhood is limited. Judah fulfills his brotherly duty. He stands in the place of his younger brother. He's his kinsman redeemer. What's amazing about Jesus' love for us as our brother is that he's not naturally our brother. Jesus is the one unique son of God. He's the eternal son of God. He doesn't have a natural brother. He's the only one like him. But he comes to earth to become like us so that he can become our brother. You see, Judah was the natural brother. He was supposed to do this. Jesus is not like us in any way, naturally. But He takes upon our nature so that He can become our brother, so that He can become like us, so that He can love us. And that way, when we believe in Him, we get the benefits of sonship. We get the benefits of what Christ is. In Jesus Christ, we're adopted into the family. We now get to enjoy being sons and daughters with God. We get to call God Father. We get to be in His presence. We get to see Him face to face. We get to eat at the family table. It's the beautiful thing about Jesus' brotherhood. It's not limited. It comes to adopt us into the Father's family. Fourth, Judah's actions are primarily motivated to keep the father from dying. Jesus' primary motivation is to glorify the heavenly father. Judah seeks to keep the father, his earthly father, from dying. Jesus, in his sacrifice, well, he's seeking to glorify the heavenly father. He's seeking to keep us from dying. See, Jesus, he takes on our greatest enemy. Death. When we die, we will be judged. When we die, we will stand before God and we will have to give an account of our sins. Unless we believe in Jesus Christ, who is our substitute. Who, even though He was innocent, He took on Himself our transgressions. He took on the wrath we deserve. And then He rose again. If you're not a Christian this morning, The call to you is to lay down your life. Lay down your guilt. Lay down your sin. Lay it down to Christ. Lay down your life. Quit trying to fix yourself and trust your sin, your life, and your death to Jesus Christ, who, when He forgives you, He will begin fixing you. If you are a Christian, you are called to lay down your life as well. You are called to follow our King. You are called to have a kingdom ethic where you lay down your life for your brother. You don't lay down your life for your brother so that you can be saved. You lay down your life because you are saved. You lay down your life because you see Jesus Christ as your Savior and He now is your Lord. He modeled it and He commanded it throughout the New Testament. Now, let's think about what it means to lay down your life for somebody. First, who should you lay down your life for? I think there needs to be a proper trajectory here. We need to have priorities. So this is what I prescribe as priorities for who you should lay down your life for. First, your local church believers. Christians who you have covenants with in a local church. Second, the universal church. Believers who are not part of this body, but part of another body. And third, those who are not confessing believers. Now, why do I prioritize Christians over non-Christians? Well, as we saw in 1 John, as we walked through that book, John prioritizes laying down your life for Christians, for your brothers and sisters, and not for the world. I believe we see throughout Scripture that it's the church that believers are supposed to be laying down their lives for, first and foremost. Okay? So, 1 John is our proof text or our reasoning to think the Christians are prioritized over non-Christians. Why the local over the universal church? Why would I say you should lay down your life for those in this body or the body that you belong to over the universal church? Laying down your life is not a random act of kindness. Laying down your life is an intentional giving over of yourself to someone for their good. When you lay down your life for somebody, you're intentionally looking and seeing what their need is and seeing how you can meet that need by sacrificing yourself. My only assumption is that those who you know and that you worship with weekly, those whom you take the Lord's Supper with regularly, those whom you fellowship with in week in and week out, those are the people that you're going to know and be able to best intentionally lay down your life for. There's enough needs in this church for us to all be laying down our lives. We need to be busy with the body, not busy bodies. We need to be busy with the body, finding out what our needs are and finding out how we can meet them. Finally, let me give a word for what it means to lay down your life for non-Christians. Whatever you do, To let on your life for a non-Christian, whatever you do to love your neighbor outside of the walls of the church. Make sure the gospel is the priority. Don't just go do nice things. Go do nice things so that you can glorify God and elevate Christ. Their greatest need is to be forgiven of their sin. Yes, we want to make sure we feed the hungry. We want to make sure we care for the widow and the orphan. But their biggest need, if we're Christians, is to know that they're sinners and they need Christ. Finally, how can we lay down our lives within the body? Well, I think the basic principle is we're not going to lay down our lives like Christ did. In the sense that I don't see us all dying for one another. If that were the way we were supposed to be laying our lives down here in America, in this place, well, we wouldn't be here. We'd all be dead because we've all laid down our lives for each other. What we are supposed to do, I think, is use our words. As Christ laid down His life so that we have the gospel words, we are supposed to now use our words as a way to lay down our lives for another. We're supposed to use our words to build up others, not tear them down. We're supposed to use our words to care for others with the gospel. What do we talk about with one another? Do we talk about the gospel? We're talking about our own lives. I want to make sure that we are a church. My prayer, number one desire for this church is that we're a church that gives each other the gospel in our fellowship, in our conversations. We don't counsel one another with do's and don'ts, but we counsel one another with the forgiving power of Christ and the enabling strength of the Holy Spirit. So how do you lay down your life on the body? First, use your words. Not selfishly to tear down and give your opinion, but to build up, to correct with the gospel. Secondly, your time. How do you use your time? What takes up the biggest chunk of your time? Are you selfish with your time? Our time is probably our most valued commodity. It's our most valued resource. We're all losing time. Friends, we're called to redeem the time, which means we are using the time for God's glory. And I think that means we're going to be using our time to love one another. Let your beginning point be the Lord's Day, today, the first day of the week, Sunday. Commit every Lord's Day to thinking about how you can spend more time through that day with other believers. Over lunch, over dinner, during the afternoon, and even in the evening. Let this day be the day that you commit yourself to serving the Lord by serving one another. Finally, we've got our words, we've got our time, we've got our money. Give sacrificially and joyfully. That's a high calling. Giving sacrificially and joyfully. You know the only way you can do that? is by being so compelled by the love of God that you want to love others with your money. Being so compelled with a gift that God has given to you that you want to give other gifts to other people. That goes with your words, your time and your money. If we are not compelled by the love of Christ to give of these things, we should ask if we know the love of Christ at all. Friends, let the love of Christ comfort you. Let the gospel of Jesus Christ be the foundation of your life, the way you make your decisions. For the gospel of Jesus Christ will be your great comfort in giving us forgiveness and giving us a new purpose to love one another by laying down our lives. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Almighty God, we thank you, Lord, that we can look at these The stories, and there's so much more. How you have directed history. How you've directed sinners. So that we can see you, thousands of years ago, already working to bring about your gospel plan. We can see you in Joseph and Judah. Models of reconciliation and grace and forgiveness. We can see that you're so much greater. We can see that Jesus Christ is greater than these. I pray that as we leave this place, and even now, as we take the Lord's Supper together and we sing, I pray that we will be encouraged by what you have done for us and be challenged for what you call us to do now. And that is to be a sacrifice, an offering to others as an offering of worship to you. In your name we pray. Amen.