We come before Thy throne. Oh,
we bow to Your sovereignty, knowing that You are an absolute sovereign.
and knowing that the only reason we are saved is because you have
decreed it, and you have made it come to pass, and you have
purposed and planned it in eternity. And we who are your people marvel
at that, and as we look through the life of Joseph, we see how
you protect Joseph and take care of him, and each one of us who
are your sheep can look at that, the life of Joseph, and we can
see how you protect us, how you watch over us, how you guide
us, how you direct us, all through our lives, and oh, what comfort
that we can glean from that. Lord, may you be glorified today
and magnified through the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name,
amen. Okay, let's open up our Bibles
to Genesis chapter 39. We'll read the last four verses
there just for review. And then we'll be in chapter
40. Lord willing, we'll look at the whole chapter 40 today. Lord willing. The name of the message is Judgment
and Mercy. Judgment and Mercy. Genesis 39 verses 20 to 23, and
Joseph's master took him, being Potiphar, and put him into the
prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he
was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph
and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the
keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the
prison, and whatsoever they did, he was the doer of it. The keeper
of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because
the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it
to prosper." Now, we've seen in our study so far that it was
obvious to Potiphar And that it was obvious to the keeper
of the prison that the Lord was with Joseph. And we know it was
the Holy Spirit who moved to have Joseph find favor in their
eyes. We know that. And he does the
same for his people. And God worked in Joseph, moved
him to conduct himself with respect towards those who had authority
over him. We do not know how long it took for the keeper of
the prison to find favor with Joseph, but we must never lose
fact of the sight that all this was falling out according to
the sovereign decree and plan of our great God. All this was
happening according to his purpose. And it's he, again, who gave
favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison, gave Joseph favor
in the sight of the keeper of the prison, and gave favor in
the sight of Potiphar for Joseph. Now when Joseph was in Potiphar's
house, he was given great responsibility, we know that. We see that as
well as when he was cast into prison, that he's given responsibility
too, as well. And never lose sight that when
Joseph obeyed his earthly masters, his obedience was unto God and
his sovereignty. He's serving these men, but they
are but instruments in the Lord's hands. Remember that too. He's
serving these men, but they're but instruments in the Lord's
hands. Think of that even in our lives.
We go to places, we serve. Basically, when you go to a job,
you're serving. They're renting you for that
time, right? But they are, just like everybody else in the world,
instruments in the hands of the Lord. That's what they are. That's
what they are. And they carry out His sovereign
will as He pleases. And we'll see later on that Pharaoh
was the instrument later on in our story. That Pharaoh is the
instrument that God uses to exalt Joseph to a position as second
in command over all of Egypt. And then we'll see, as we get
to that part of our study, that Joseph is a type of Christ there
as well. Listen to what the Scriptures proclaim in Philippians 2, verses
8 to 11. It says this, In being found
in the fashion as a man, he, Jesus Christ the God-man, humbled
himself and became obedient unto death. even the death of the
cross, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He became obedient unto death. And we see today, this morning,
as we look at our morning study, that the Lord Jesus Christ, when
He came to this earth, He came to save us from our sins, but
He also came to glorify the Father. And we see that in our study
this morning in the main message. He came to glorify the Father.
Okay, so let us never lose sight again that all these events that
we've looked at so far, with Joseph being sold into slavery,
cast into the pit by his brother, sold into slavery, go to Potter's
house, ended up in prison now, all these things were decreed
by God before time began. Remember that too. It's always
important for us to remember that. And they're now being executed
by God at his own appointed time. At his own appointed time. Now
let's look at chapter 40 of Genesis. And we'll see that this chapter
reveals more of the Lord's providential hand in his purpose of exalting
Joseph to his position as sovereign ruler over all of Egypt. To second
in command over all of Egypt. And remember, he's a Hebrew.
He's a Hebrew. Let's read the first four verses
of Genesis chapter 40, where we see that the prisoners which
had offended Pharaoh are placed in the same prison where Joseph
is. And it came to pass after these things that the butler
of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord,
the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against
two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, so
the one, the head one, the one who's in charge, and against
the chief of the bakers. And he put them in the ward,
in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the
place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard
charged Joseph with them, and he served them, and they continued
a season in ward. Now, we remember that Joseph
was 17 years old, 17 years old when he was taken and sold into
slavery. Later on we're seeing the study that he's 30 years
old when he stands before Pharaoh. And later on, next week, we'll
find out that he's been forgotten for two years. So this is happening
when he's around 27, 28 years old, what we're in now. So imagine
that, 10 years have passed, 11 years have passed. Remember I
kept saying in the study, and time has passed, and time has
passed, and time has passed, right? It's been 11 years since
he was sold into slavery. Could you imagine that? 11 years.
My goodness. Look at verse 1, and it came
to pass again. Verse three though, and he put
them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard in the
prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of
the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them and
continued his season in ward. So we see the phrase again, and
it came to pass in verse one. Again, this is referring to the
passage of time between when Joseph was cast in the prison
and when the baker and the butler are now cast into prison. And
God's timing is always perfect. His timing's always perfect.
When did Christ come into this world? When it was appointed
by God, when the fullness of time had what? Come, right? So God's timing's always perfect. Now obviously, Joseph wanted
to be delivered from the prison, and we're gonna see that later
on in the study today. But it was to happen at God's
appointed time, and it was to happen not a second later and
not a second earlier. And we see then that Joseph had
been in prison again for some time. We see that. The butler
of the king of Egypt and the baker, they had offended Pharaoh
somehow. We don't know how, but they offended
him. They offended him. And Pharaoh was wroth against
two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers and
against the chief of the bakers. And then we see them put in ward
in the house of the captain of the guard. And remember, Potiphar
is the captain of the guard. We looked at that already too,
and that this house, this ward is attached to his house, and
it's a place where the king's prisoners go, only the king's
prisoners, no one else. It's not just a normal prison,
it's a prison for the king's prisoners, or pharaoh's prisoners. But we see them now, they're
in the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. We see in verse
four that the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,
and he served them. And they continue to season a
season in ward. We don't know how long that time
is, but they continue a season in ward. We don't know, again,
what the chief butler and the baker did to offend Farrell.
Might have cooked the wrong food for him or something. We don't
know, right? We don't. Something triggered Farrell. Now think
of this, though. Now think of this. Something
triggered Farrell to be offended at the butler and at the baker. Now we see the whole picture
now, don't we? It's all happening according
to God's providence. There's no chance. This is all
falling out to the decree of God. Because the butler, the
chief butler and the chief baker were to be in prison at that
appointed time with Joseph. And it's all purposed by our
great sovereign God. And these two men were placed
right where God wanted them. Right in the prison where Joseph
was bound. And Joseph was right where God wanted. Let us draw
comfort from that, beloved. We are right where the Lord wants
us. We're right where the Lord wants us. My. And Joseph was not alone
in the place of shame. He's suffering. He's in shame
and suffering in prison. Neither was the Lord Jesus. Think
of that. The Lord Jesus wasn't alone,
too, as he hung on the heights of Calvary. There were two malefactors
crucified with him, two offenders. And we see here that there's
two prisoners with Joseph in prison. And we will see this
type go even further, beloved. Here's the Lord. Here's Joseph.
He's in prison. He's being cast into prison.
And he's innocent. And he's suffering, and he's
innocent. He's innocent. Our Lord suffered, and he was
innocent. He was accused of things, and
he was innocent. Right? Innocent. But we'll see
this go even further. This is wonderful. Look at verses
5 to 8. And they dreamed of dream, both
of them, the butler and the baker. Each man's dream in one night,
each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and
the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in prison. And
Joseph came in unto them in the morning and looked upon them
and said, behold, or looked upon them and behold, they were sad.
Now, being in prison make you sad anyways, right? But obviously
they were sadder than normal. And Joseph discerned this. He
discerned this. And Joseph came in and said unto
them in the morning and looked upon them and saying, behold,
they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers
that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying,
wherefore look ye so sadly today? And they said unto him, we have
dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph
said unto them, do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them,
I pray you. Again, all this is falling out. All this is falling out and coming
to pass to accomplish God's sovereign will. That which he has purposed. And each of these men dreamt
a dream. They did not know what their dreams meant. And when
we see when Joseph comes into them in the morning and looked
upon them, they were sad. Again, Joseph's having compassion
upon them. Joseph's in prison too. He's
in prison as well. And he's having compassion upon
them. And he asks them why they're so sad. Now, again, think of
this. Anyone who's been taken from
the high court of feral, because this is the chief butler, and
this is the chief baker. They're in charge. And they've
been taken from the high court of feral. That's a high position. That's a high position. And they've
been taken from that, and here they are cast into prison. So
they'd be sad again, because their lifestyle being taken away
from them. And here they are sitting in prison, And Joseph discerned again on
this particular morning that it was obvious that these two
men were more disturbed than they might have been before. And we see Joseph manifest kindness
to them in his speech, and we know he did that to others as
well. And we see that in this passage of scripture, Joseph
speaks kindly to them, showing them that he did have concern
for them. They weren't just people he had
to serve, he had actually concern for them. And he says, wherefore
look ye so sadly today? May our great God work in us
this genuine loving concern for others. May He work this in us
for one another and that we would show it to each other for the
glory of God. Our love for Christ will manifest
our love for the brethren. We've seen that in our study
in 1 John, that love for the brethren is a work of the Holy
Spirit of God. And after Joseph asked them why
they looked so sad, they said, we dreamed a dream, but there's
no interpreter of it. And it was obvious, again, that
they were disturbed, not so much by the dream, but by not knowing
what it meant. Not knowing what it meant. And
again, all this is purposed and planned by God. You're gonna
get tired of hearing me say that during the study, but that's
what I'm gonna keep saying. It's all planned and purposed
by God. And it's arranged by God to manifest
his spirit that was in Joseph. And look at Joseph's answer to
them in verse 8, and said unto them, do not interpretations
belong to God. Tell me them, I pray you. So
Joseph, he's quick to give glory to God, isn't he? He's quickly
giving glory to God and to draw their attention to his God, the
God of the Hebrews, by asking this question. Do not interpretations
belong to God? And he knows this to be true
because he petitions the one who is king of king and lord
of lords. He knows this to be true. He petitions the very one
who knows everything. Let's read verses 9 to 15 now.
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him,
in my dream, behold, a vine was before me. And in the vine there
were three branches, and it was as though it budded, and her
blossoms shot forth, and the clusters there bought forth ripe
grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand,
and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and
I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And Joseph said unto him,
This is the interpretation of it. Three branches are three
days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place. And thou
shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, and the former matter,
when thou wast his butler. But think on me, now here's Joseph,
but think on, now see, Joseph's in prison, he wants out. Just
look at these words here. But think on me, when it shall
be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me. and make
mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For
indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews. And
here also have I done nothing, that they should put me into
the dungeon." So we see then that Joseph by
the Holy Spirit and by divine illumination interpreted the
chef or the chief butler's dream. And one can only imagine how
How the Chief Butler's countenance changed as Joseph told him the
interpretation of this dream. Instead of being sad and gloomy,
which he was, obviously, when Joseph came in, boy, he'd be
all ready to leave almost, wouldn't he? He'd be full of joy. And now think of this, this is
what happens to God's born-again bloodlust children. When the
Holy Spirit of God's conviction grips our hearts. with sorrow
and fear under the preaching of the gospel. And God's preachers
tells us the meaning of what Jesus Christ accomplished for
us, the fact that he suffered and bled and died for us, and
that cruel cross. And what happens? Oh, tremendous
joy floods our hearts. I'm forgiven by the mercy and
grace of God. I'm forgiven. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Now, note
in verses 14 and 15, Joseph asks the the butler to remember him
when he's put back to the position that he came from but think on
me when it shall be well with thee and show kindness I pray
thee unto me and make mention of me unto Pharaoh and bring
me out of this house for indeed I was stolen away out of the
land of the Hebrews and here also have I done nothing that
they should put me into the dungeon he was innocent he was innocent
of the charges that were laid against him And Joseph, we see,
we know Joseph's trust in our great God, isn't he? He's trusting
our great God. And there's no doubt in Joseph's
mind when he gave the interpretation of this dream that in three days
the butler would be delivered out of prison. That's why he
says, just remember me. He had no doubt. He had no doubt. He believed. He believed that
the butler would be restored to his previous position as Pharaoh's
chief butler. And he says, just remember me.
Just remember me. And he knew things were going
to go well for the butler, but he asked them to remember him
just to think upon him when it should be well with thee and
show kindness, I pray thee unto me and make mention of me unto
Pharaoh and bring me out of this house. So he desires to be out
of prison. He's trusting the Lord, isn't
he? We know that. But he desires to be out of that
situation, just like anybody would. Especially if you're there
and you're innocent. And you're innocent. We see in
verse 23 of this chapter what happened. The butler forgot him. The butler forgot him. He forgot him. Yet did not the
cheap butler remember Joseph, but forget him. And we will see again that this
is all falling out according to God's sovereign purpose. Joseph
is to be in prison until God's appointed time. He's to be in prison until God's
appointed time. He's to be delivered when it's God's time for him
to be delivered. Remember that when we're going
through a trial and tribulation. Our Lord is ever with us. He
will never leave us nor forsake us. Never. Even though sometimes it feels
like we're alone, we are not as God's children. We are never
alone. Never. Our Lord is ever with
us. Ever with us. Joseph will be brought back to
the Butler's memory later on in the study, we'll see that
in next week's study, he'll be brought back to the memory of
the Butlers. But not right now. Let's read
verses 16 to 19, and we'll see that Joseph gave an interpretation
to the Chief Baker. Now the Chief Baker, after he
heard what was said to the Butler, he's probably excited, like,
tell me now! Well, we're going to find out that he won't be
too excited for very long. But he probably was, right? Think
of the report that the Butler received. He's probably thinking,
yes, I may be out of here in three days, too. That's what
we would think if we were in that position, wouldn't we? You
would. You'd automatically think that. Well, so he's excited. And he's
going to tell Joseph what he dreamed, because maybe it'll
be interpreted in a good way, too. Let's read verses 16 to
19. When the chief butler saw that
the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was
in my dream. And behold, I had three white
baskets on my head. And in the outermost basket there
was of all manner of bakerments for Pharaoh. And the birds did
eat them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph answered
and said, this is the interpretation thereof. The three baskets are
three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thy head from off thee. And he shall hang thee on a tree,
and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee. This is not what
he was expecting to hear. Now imagine what he would have
thought when he heard in three days that Pharaoh would hang
him on a tree and the birds would eat his flesh. He'd be sadder
than he was. And remember that earlier I said
Joseph was a type of Christ, and how he's suffering. He's
suffering without a cause, or he's innocent. Joseph's innocent,
just as Christ was innocent. Just as Christ was innocent.
He's a type of Christ. But notice here, there's two
transgressors too with him, with Joseph. There's two transgressors. And notice that he's the means
of blessing the one, And he's the mean of judgment falling
on the other. Right? Boy, that butler was elated.
But that baker was sad. So he's the means of blessing
to one, though. You're gonna be restored to where you are.
And he's a means of judgment to the other. In three days,
they're gonna hang you on a tree. Oh my. The butler and baker each
had a dream, and Joseph was the interpreter of them to the butler
again. He said he'd be delivered to
the baker. He said, within three days, shall Pharaoh lift up thy
head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree, and the
bird shall eat thy flesh from off thee. One received mercy, didn't he? One received mercy. The other
received judgment. One was spared, and the other
died. What a picture we have, beloved.
What a picture we have before us. Two thieves were crucified
beside our Lord. Two thieves were crucified beside
our Lord. One received mercy, and the other
went into perdition. One got what he deserved, and
one got what he didn't deserve. What do we deserve? Judgment.
What don't we deserve? Mercy. What a picture. What a picture. And how the truth of Proverbs
10, 8, 28 comes out. The hope of the righteous shall
be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Who's
our only hope as believers? The Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christ and Christ alone. And what a blessed hope we have.
What a blessed hope we have. He's everything to us. We have
no righteousness of our own, but the believer is clothed in
the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. And the only righteousness that
any hell-deserving sinner can make any hell-deserving sinner
acceptable in the sight of God is the righteousness of Christ.
Because we're hell-deserving sinners. That's what we are.
But we receive mercy, Lord. We receive mercy. My, what a
Savior. So think of those around us who
are trusted in their works and the will of the flesh. Millions
of professing Christians, professing Christians, believe they will
enjoy eternal bliss in heaven because of something that they
have done. There's a lot of folks out there that believe that.
And they've been deceived by lying preachers. And they're without excuse though.
They're without excuse. Because they believe those lies.
And we should have enough concern for our souls, our eternal souls,
to search the Holy Scriptures. To search the Holy Scriptures.
To see if what we're hearing is the truth. Brother Charlie
and I were talking, who gets the glory? Who gets the glory
in preaching? Right? Listen to who gets the
glory. Always listen to who gets glory. Does God get the glory
or does man get the glory? Right? Gospel preachers preach
the glory of God and we give him all the glory and all the
honor and all the praise. Lion preachers will talk about
themselves and they receive all the glory. They're mentioned
a few things here and there because they can't, they got to taper
the lie with a little bit of truth. But a drop of poison will kill
you. Oh my. Oh, we're supposed to
search the scriptures to see if these things are so. Let's
read verses 20 to 22 now. And it came to pass the third
day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all
his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief butler
and the chief baker among his servants, and he restored the
chief butler, just like Joseph had said he would, onto his butlership
again and he gave the cup on the pharaoh's hand and he hanged
the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted. Now Joseph's interpretation of
these dreams came to pass just as exactly as how he said they
would. Let us take something from this.
Nothing and nobody can thwart the will of God. Nothing and nobody can thwart
the will of God. Now what comfort that brings
us as believers. I love what Paul penned and it's
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God and I'll tell you why. what joy it gives my heart, and
I'm sure it'll give your heart, if God be for us, who can be
against us. Oh, think of that in light of
what we're studying. Oh my beloved, it's wonderful.
It's absolutely wonderful. Nothing can thwart God's purpose
or his will. And how thankful that should
make we, who are the born again, blood washed children of God,
the people of God, that we were included in the eternal purpose
of God when he chose a people in Christ. And bring it right
home. God, each believer can say, God
chose me. My. That's incredible. Absolutely incredible. He chose
me. Not because anything in me, certainly
not that. But all because of His grace
and His mercy. And we were chosen by God in
eternity. We had no idea. We do not know
who those who are chosen by God are. Therefore we preach the
gospel to all. We say salvation is in Christ
alone. No other place. Look to Him and
live. Because we have no idea who God's
elect are, but He knows who every one of His sheep are. The ones
He saved, and the ones who are still dead in their sins, but
He redeemed them at Calvary's cross. Never forget that. He redeemed them at Calvary's
cross. And to think that we were included
in the eternal purpose of God to be recipients of His saving
grace through the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone.
My. It just makes your heart just
sing, doesn't it? My. Oh my. It's incredible. Now look at
the last verse here. Yet did not the chief butler
remember Joseph, but forgot him. He forgot him. Again, it's all
happening according to God's purpose. And this fell out according
to God's sovereign purpose. But this is grossing gratitude,
isn't it, on the behalf of the butler? It really is. But this
is natural man, right? This is typical of many unregenerate
people who are promoted to high or lofty positions in this life.
They seem to just forget those who helped them attain that position. Some even get such a high opinion
of themselves that they sever fellowship with those who they
believe to be inferior to them. This happens, unfortunately.
It should never happen. I love what Henry said, and this
has been something that's just stuck with me. Never forget the
rock you were human. No matter where you end up in
life, never forget where you came from. Don't ever forget
that. My mom, she was a housewife. My dad, he was a trailer mechanic. I never forgot where I come from.
Just common folks, just like me. Never forget where you came
from. Never forget. Never forget, beloved.
Never forget. But some, again, get such a high
opinion that they sever their fellowship with those they believe
to be inferior to them. And the butler forgot Joseph.
And we'll see next week, though, it's for a space of two whole
weeks. Two whole weeks. Or two weeks. Gosh, what's wrong
with me right now? Two years. Two years. I'm sorry. Oh, my. And always remember that
God's timing is perfect. It's perfect, beloved. It's perfect.
God had not forgotten Joseph. Even though in the situation,
you look at the situation, you think, wow, has God forgotten
him? No, God's not forgotten him at all. He's perfectly in
the will of God. He's right where God wants him
to be. He's right where God wants him to be, right where he wants
him to be. And he'll be there for two years,
two years, two years. And then Pharaoh will have a
couple dreams, or Pharaoh will have some dreams, And no one
will be able to interpret them. And then the butler will remember
Joseph, probably trying to gain favor with Pharaoh. Here all
of a sudden remember Joseph. But again, this is all according
to God's purpose and God's sovereignty. We'll look at that next week.
It's absolutely wonderful. The butler will remember Joseph. And this is all arranged by God.
So may this God-honoring truth that we've looked at today, Help
us to patiently wait on our Lord. Just to wait on Him. Wait on
Him. Things will come to pass according to His timing. Now,
we get excited. We do, don't we? Right? We all
do. We do. The first thing we want to do
is fix the situation. Men are good at it. We want to fix the
situation. We can't fix the situation, right? And we just need to wait
on the Lord. Just wait on our King. Wait on
our King. Before rushing into something
we might not be prepared for, Let us just wait on the Lord,
and may God give us grace and strength to wait, right? May
He give us grace and strength just to wait on Him, and just
to look to Him, as the Scripture declares. Look unto Him and be
saved. Oh my, what a Savior. Heavenly
Father, we thank You again for allowing us to gather together
and be here, worship You. Oh, thank You for allowing us
to just come here, We know that there's many in this world, many
in this area who do have no care for you at all. And yet you've
given us a saving interest in you. You gave us an interest
in the gospel. You give us a love for you and
for your people and for the gospel and for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Glory to your name, oh Lord. May we who are your people magnify
thee and praise thee in Jesus' name, amen.