Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis 41, Genesis chapter 41. This evening I'd like to deal
with just one verse, verse 14. Coming up to this verse, Pharaoh
has dreamed two dreams. but none of the magicians in
Egypt can interpret the dreams. And upon hearing the words of
Pharaoh concerning his dreams and seeing how troubled was his
spirit, his butler remembers his own thought. Now here, this
butler is a He's a fit type, we looked at this last time.
He's a fit type of an awakened sinner, spiritually awakened. One to whom the Lord has shown
mercy. And this butler, as a regenerated
sinner, he confesses his guilt, he remembers his former bondage
in the darkness of sin and unbelief, as every child of God does, before
the Lord calls him by grace. And he spoke, he remembered in
the dream that he had, as opposed to the dream that another that
was in there with him, a baker, had, he remembered that the dreams
magnified the Lord's distinguishing grace. to have mercy and compassion
unto one and to leave another to himself. All this according
to God's goodwill and purpose. So we see in this dream, the
remembrance of this dream, that the potter himself, the Lord
himself, has the right to make one vessel under honor, another
under dishonor. You know, this butler, upon remembering
his fault, he told Pharaoh of Joseph. Joseph here is a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's prophet, God's interpreter. He's the revealer of the Lord's
will and counsel. But not only was Joseph a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was also shown to be a picture
and a type of preachers of the gospel. That butler was crossed
paths with a preacher. A preacher, one that has been
sent of God to preach the message of God's free and sovereign grace
to unworthy sinners, and they're calling out, preaching the gospel,
the power of God unto salvation. Well, then the butler related
the certainty of the outcome. talking about the surety of what
happened, concerning those dreams and the interpretation that Joseph
had given concerning that word, that word of God that does not
return unto the Lord void, but it accomplishes the purpose for
which it's sent. So the butler has related all
of this to Pharaoh. Pharaoh dreams his dreams, he
can't interpret them, didn't know them. The magicians can't
interpret them. and Joseph tells him, he said,
I know a guy that I was in prison with, and he told me of the interpretation
of my dream and the baker's dream. And then the scripture says in
verse 14, then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought
him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself, changed
his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. I want to just look at that 14th
verse right there, because that verse right there is just so
complete and so revealing of the experience, and that's what
it is, the experience of one that the Lord calls to Himself. That verse of Scripture, Neil,
this is one that it just preaches itself. Just look at it. Just
look at it. And there it is right there. I just want us to look for just
a few minutes at this one verse of scripture. I want you to look
first of all at the authority and the power of the one who
calls. Pharaoh here is a picture. He's
a picture of the father. So here's Pharaoh. And look at
that first three words. And Pharaoh sent. And Pharaoh
sent. As a picture of the Father. Who has sent the Lord Jesus Christ? The Father. The Father. That's what he done. The scripture
says that that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the submissive servant,
he humbled himself, made himself of no reputation. The Father
sent the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God himself in submission
unto the Father. Here he is, it says in Pharaoh
sent. There's the authority. of the
one who sends his servant to get his people. The Lord Jesus Christ said, John
12, 49, for I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which
sent me. He gave me commandment, what
I should say, and what I should speak. You know, anybody in that
kingdom could have just uttered the words that the king uttered. Anybody could have merely said
the words, but without the power and without the authority of
the one that is being sent forth, those words mean nothing. So
here, this king, this Pharaoh, picture of the Heavenly Father,
he has the right, he's got the authority, he's got the power
to speak. And it is, in the beginning,
God. God said, and it was. So here, the first thing I see,
I see the authority of one. And Pharaoh sent, now look what
the next three words, and called Joseph. I want you to notice
the authority that calls, but look at the singleness of who
he called. He sent and called Joseph. Now, let me ask you this. everybody
else come out of the prison. The king didn't send for them. The king didn't summon them. Only Joseph was called. No one was summoned but Joseph. And here in picture we behold
how the Lord calls his people out in particular. He calls his
sheep, he calls them by name, calls them out of the dark dungeon
and darkness of sin and unbelief. He said, my sheep, my sheep hear
my voice. My sheep hear my voice. So Pharaoh
sent and he called Joseph. Whenever the Lord was pleased
to call two brothers. Scripture says Matthew 4. He
called two brothers, Simon, Peter, Andrew, his brother. And this
is what Matthew 4, 19 says. Follow me, he's talking to two
brothers. Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. The Lord was walking one day
past a little old table there where a fellow Name was Matthew,
Matthew the publican. He was sitting, scripture says,
and he was collecting taxes, receipt of custom. And scripture
says, and he, that is the Lord, saith unto him, saith unto him. That's what he said. Follow me. He's coming through a town called
Jericho one day. Came to the other side of Jericho,
came to a sycamore tree, and there was a little fella named
Zacchaeus, and he climbed up in that tree because he was short
in stature. He wanted to see the Lord. He wanted to see the
Lord, but because he couldn't see over everybody else because
he was too short, he climbed up this sycamore tree, and he's
sitting there, and the Lord walked right under him and just stops. Scripture says the Lord looked
up and he said, Zacchaeus, make haste. Come down. There was a man that had been
dead for four days. It was a man that the Lord loved.
Had two sisters, Mary and Martha. And he had been dead now The
Lord came to the place, he told them, he said, roll the stone
back. Martha told him, he said, well, Lord, you know, he's been
dead, been dead four days. By now he's gonna start stinking.
And the Lord spoke, and this is what he said, with a loud
voice, Lazarus, come forth. Whenever the Lord was pleased
to call. He called by name. He called
in authority. He called in a particular way
to a particular people. And with every command, I want
you to notice the swiftness of the response to those two. Peter,
Brother Andrew, when the Lord said, follow me and I'll make
you fishers of men, here's what scripture says. And straightway,
Immediately, they left their nets and followed him. Immediately, right now. Their
daddy was with them and they left him right there. Whenever the Lord called Matthew
the publican, walked by that receipt of custom and he said,
follow me. The scripture says, and he arose,
he stood up and followed him. Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. And the scripture says, and he
made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Lazarus,
come forth. The scripture says he came forth
bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And the scripture reveals
that concerning Joseph. Whenever Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph, And the scripture says, and they brought him hastily
out of the dungeon. Oh, wonderful picture of the
effectual call and the immediate effect. God's people, when the
Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ calls God's
people, they come, they come. with a heart made willing in
the day of God's power, they come. It's effectual, irresistible
grace. They don't resist the call of
the Lord. God calls and they come. But
I want you to notice too, it brought him hastily out of the
dungeon and he shaved himself and changed his raiment. Here, Joseph summoned brought
out, shaved himself. I read where the Egyptians, according
to my reading of their custom, I'm just talking about the custom
now. We'll look at the spiritual end of it right here in a second.
They took great care, I found out, when it came to the matters
of cleanliness. Shaving of the head was part
of this. They were just, they made a great
point concerning cleanliness. But here Joseph's shaving, changing
his raiment, he pictured, you know this, you know it pictured
much more than just the Egyptian tradition of cleanliness. While
Joseph's liberation from prison was a type of rescue, the deliverance
of God's people from the bondage of sin, his shaving set forth
the truth of all that are found in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ being cleansed, being washed. John 15, three, clean
through the word which he has spoken unto us. God's sheep are
not cleansed by the works of the law, but they are cleansed
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed at Calvary,
that cleansing fountain which has been proclaimed and preached
through the word of God and believed upon by faith. Truly, there's
nothing that cleanses a sinner before God but the blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood. What a truthful line in that
psalm. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be cleansed. We're
cleansed by his blood. That blood that was shed for
the putting away of our guilt, the cleansing of that guilt,
washing away. So Joseph not only shaved himself,
but the scripture said he also changed his raiment. He was going
to stand before Pharaoh. He was gonna stand before the
king. And so his raiment was changed. He set forth that beautiful
truth that we know and believe by faith that we're all in need
of being cleansed and having a change of our raiment. We're born into this world with
former garments and rags of self-righteousness. Filthy rags. Filthy rags of self-righteousness. And that we need cleansing. We need to be washed from our
sins and have that robe of His precious righteousness to robe
us Before God, we need to be loosed from the grave clothes
of death, as Lazarus was loosed when he came forth, scripture
says, bound hand and foot, and the Lord said unto them, loose
him, let him go, cleanse him, cleanse him, get those grave
clothes off of him. Oh, what a wonderful time of
the picture of our precious Savior who has washed us and robed us
in his own obedience and righteousness Christ Jesus who like Joseph
Was especially loved of his father. Here's here's a just think how
we've been brought up to this this point right here He was
loved of his father hated of his brethren and and despised
and rejected of his brethren The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world Him to his own, his own received
him not. The Lord Jesus Christ who came
into this world, he who knew no sin, but was made sin. He was without guilt, but he
had borne the guilt of his people, willingly submitting himself. Joseph was not guilty of the
crime to which he was accused, of which he was accused by part
of his wife. but he was put into prison for
a crime he didn't commit. The Lord Jesus Christ submitted
himself to be the bearer of the people, to bear their guilt in
his own body, and he didn't personally commit that, but that he might
satisfy the law's demand for justice, and thereby be the savior
of his people. He submitted himself, and he
bore all the sins, Now he's truly found now to be the redeemer
of his sheep. He died, he was buried, and having
truly suffered, three days later he was gloriously raised from
the dead, just pictured in Joseph's being released from that prison. When Christ came out of the tomb,
the scripture says in Acts 13, 29, 30, and they had fulfilled
all that was written of him took them down from the tree, laid
him in a sepulcher. But listen to this, but God raised
him from the dead. Whenever Pharaoh sent for him,
he had a beautiful picture. God raised him from the dead.
Picture Pharaoh being as the father. Christ Jesus, from the
place of shame and suffering to dignity and glory, from the
willing submissiveness to be in the dungeon. The Lord made
sin, willingly submitted himself to the will of the Father to
be raised from the dead to the throne of glory, life from death. That's what's shown in Joseph's
delivery out of this one verse of scripture right here. And
then finally for this evening, Joseph, the scripture says, came
in under Pharaoh. Now just look with me and I'll
look at that last little phrase, he came into Joseph under Pharaoh.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they brought him hastily
out of the dungeon and he shaved himself, changed his raiment
and he came in under Pharaoh. Now Joseph is a beautiful type
of Resurrected glory, that's what I entitled this message
tonight. Resurrection glory. How wonderfully
we behold the reward of the Father concerning the glorious obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 110, verse one. The Lord,
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital V. The Lord, Jehovah,
Yahweh, said unto my Lord, capital L, lowercase o, lowercase r,
lowercase d, unto Adonai, the Messiah. Jehovah said to the
Messiah, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool. Beloved, truly, we see through
a glass darkly. The scripture declares that we
do. But bless God, we do see. We see something. In that one
verse of scripture, we see something of the glory and the truthfulness
of that which was spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ to the two
on the road to Damascus. I've read this so many times,
but how true has it proven itself to be as we go through these
scriptures. And we see Christ, and we see Christ, and we see
Christ. And every time we see him, we rejoice. We see him. How many times have I said this?
If this is just one verse of scripture on a fellow, There
was a mix-up. This guy's wife falsely accused
him, and the husband got mad, and they had him thrown in jail,
and he stayed in jail, and then he came out. If it was just history,
it would mean nothing to us. But when we see the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ, providentially he was brought
as the Lord Jesus Christ, came sin of the father to do the work
of the father in the redemption and salvation of his people.
Joseph is going to be exalted second only to Pharaoh. If you want anything, if you
want to eat, you're going to have to go see Joseph. You go
see Joseph. You got a problem, you see Joseph.
Joseph is going to be shown to be the Savior, the salvation
of his whole family. When there's famine in the land,
his daddy's gonna send his sons, his son's gonna come. You know
the story. We're going there, Lord willing. But here we see
how providentially, how the Lord's bringing Joseph through all these
sufferings, pictures of the suffering of our precious Savior. He came
into this world a suffering servant who knew no sin. bore all the
effects, made like unto his brethren. One who's sympathetic to all
of our sufferings and trials and tribulations. Everything
that we suffered, he suffered. And here's Joseph in jail for
years, delivered out. And the scripture says, and he
came in unto Pharaoh truthfully. Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, the Lord said to the two on the road to Emmaus, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. We see him in that passage of
scripture, our heart rejoices, we say amen. Amen. I pray God
bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Okay, Gary.