And we read in Genesis chapter
40 in verse 14. This is after Joseph had given
the butler the good news that he would be imputed righteous
and restored by Pharaoh. Then Joseph said, 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. Declare my name, remember me,
and declare my name, declare my righteousness, that I might
be exalted. Verse 23, Did not the chief butler remember
Joseph, but forgot him. He forgot him. Two full years
went by that he forgot Joseph. And then we read over in verse
9 of chapter 41, a word came through Pharaoh, and Pharaoh
couldn't interpret this word. And then we read in verse 9,
Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember. Now I remember. I remember. What's going on here with Joseph
and what's happening with this butler? Our subject this morning
is Joseph forgotten and remembered. Joseph forgotten and remembered. Now what's going on here with
Joseph? Well, we read there in Psalm
105. And the Lord said there in Psalm
105 that until the time that His Word came, Joseph had the
Word of the Lord. He knew the Word of the Lord.
The Lord is going to exalt Joseph. But until His Word came, that
same Word, the Word of the Lord tried him. The Word of the Lord
tried him. That's what we see here. Now
brethren, we're absolutely dependent upon the Word of God. Absolutely dependent upon the
Word of God. We're born again by the Word
of God. We're given the promise of God's
salvation by the Word of God. We're kept by the Word of God.
We're preserved by the Word of God. And we'll be brought into
glory by the Word of God. We're absolutely dependent on
the Word of God. And until that Word comes, we
will be tried by the Word of the Lord. Be tried by the Word
of the Lord. Do you know what a try means?
It means to be tested. To be proven. To be assayed. It's a trial, it's a test. We
will be tested by the Word of the Lord. So we're totally dependent
on the Word of the Lord. Now when we speak about the Word
of the Lord, I'm talking about Christ the Word. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. By Him was all things created
that were created. He upholds all things. He's the
life of all men. This is the Word we're talking
about, the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. That's
the Word. That's the Word. We're dependent
upon Christ the Word speaking His Word effectually in our hearts
through the preaching of the Gospel, giving us an understanding
of His written Word. We're dependent upon Christ the
Word moving all providence by His Word. All powers His in heaven
and earth. And we're dependent on Him to
move everything. To move the enemy's heart where
He will, and to move our heart where He will. And to move all
providence where He will. We're dependent on Christ the
Word. Utterly dependent upon Him. Now
I want to show you something that was happening to Joseph.
We see a picture of Christ in Joseph. You remember in the beginning,
Joseph was given a word from God that God was going to exalt
Joseph and his brethren were going to bow to him. It was given
to him in a dream, but we know from that time that that was
the word of God. That was God speaking. That's
how he spoke in that time in different ways. But He spoke
to him and He gave him the Word that he's going to be exalted. God's going to exalt him. That
was the Word that would come to pass by God. And we're told,
but until that Word came to pass, the Word of the Lord tried him.
Well, Christ was given a Word in eternity. Christ the Word
was given a word, a covenant word, that when He finished the
work of redemption, of redeeming His people, God the Father would
exalt Him. After He had exalted God, glorified
God, declared God just and the justifier of everyone that believes,
then God also would highly exalt Him. Give Him a name above every
name, and at His name every knee is going to bow and every tongue
is going to confess that He is Lord of lords and King of kings.
But until that word came to pass, that word of the Lord tried our
Lord. It tried our Lord. Joseph. It tried Joseph. How did it try Joseph? Remember,
he went into the field where his brethren were. He went to
that field and he declared that word. He declared the word of
the Lord that the Lord had given him, the promise that the Lord
had said. He declared it to his brethren. But they weren't excited
about it like Joseph was. They didn't rejoice in it like
Joseph did. They didn't see any good news in them bowing to Joseph. That was good news for them.
That was how they were going to be saved from the famine.
But they didn't see it that way, and you and I don't see it that
way at first either. And when Christ came into this
world, it says Christ came unto His own, but His own received
Him not. Why? Because Christ came preaching
that Word. He came preaching the Word God
made with him. He came preaching that he's going
to be exalted to the right hand of the Father, and ever he's
going to bow and confess that he's Lord. But that wasn't good
news to us. Because we didn't see that's
how we're going to be saved from the famine. So you see how that
very Word that God promised our Savior, that would come to pass
when He had finished redeeming His people? By that very Word,
our Lord was tried when He walked this earth. Because He preached
it. Well, did the Lord turn from
preaching that Word? Did He cease preaching that Word
of God? And say, well, maybe I can water
the Word down and I can get men to come to me that way. No. He believed the Word of God.
He said He passed the test. He was tried and He passed the
test. He's faithful. He said, all that the Father
gives me shall come to me. I trust my Father. No man can
come to me except my Father which is in heaven. Draw him, I trust
he'll draw them all to me." Well, brethren, we've been given this
Word. We've been born of God by the Word of God, by the incorruptible
seed, and God's made with us an everlasting covenant. He's
promised that we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall
be saved in Christ. We're going to be exalted to
God's right hand in Christ. We are. And we're going to be
exalted in glory. And it's going to be by Christ.
And we go forth now declaring this Word. But until that comes
to pass, it's by this very Word we preach that we're going to
keep being tried. We're going to be tested by this
very Word. Men are going to reject us. We're
going to be despised and rejected. We're going to pass the test.
What are we going to do? Are we going to stop preaching
the truth and tone the Word down? Or are we going to believe God
that all the Father has chosen and given to Christ are going
to come to Christ? He's going to draw them. We're going to
believe God and just keep preaching this Word. That's how you pass
the test. We won't do it but by His grace,
but that's how you pass the test. Well then, we saw this. Joseph's
life in Egypt, in Potiphar's house. He was faithful, but he
was tempted in Potiphar's house. He was greatly tempted in Potiphar's
house and then falsely accused. Well, did Joseph believe God?
Did he believe God's Word? that God was going to exalt him
when he was being accused and then falsely accused and then
he was thrown into prison, it sure didn't look like God's word
was coming to pass, did it? Not to Joseph. It didn't look
like, when they put his feet in fetters, it didn't look like
God's Word was coming to pass. So is he going to believe God's
Word? Or is he going to turn now and say, well, let me make
a deal with you fellas. Let me plea bargain. Let me do
something to get out of these chains. Did he defend himself? No. He kept his mouth shut. He
kept his mouth shut because he believed the Word of God. He
believed God was sovereign. He believed God would bring His
Word to pass. He believed God would make good
on His Word. He trusted God. So when he was tried by that
very Word, whether he would believe God's Word or he would lean on
the arm of the flesh, he believed God's Word. Well, look to Christ. Christ walked through this earth.
He was faithful. He served God as He walked this
earth. And our Savior was falsely accused. Men brought up charges against
him that were just false. There was no sin in him. It was
all false. And he knows God is going to
exalt him. But it was through a cross. And
he had to go through that cross. He had to go through that most
severest of trials. And so Christ, does He believe
God when it looks like He's being crucified and He's going down
and He's going to die? Does He believe God that God's
going to raise Him up? Or does He turn to His own hand
and defend Himself and try to save Himself? No, He believed
the Word of God. You see, until that Word came
to pass, He was tried by that Word. But He believed God and
He opened not His mouth. He went to the cross. Well, at
last, then we come to this. Joseph's cast into prison, and
he's there with that butler and that baker. And what a picture. We see Christ on the cross. There
He is hanging between the two thieves. One of them God's going
to have mercy on, and one of them God's going to pour judgment
out on. Well, Joseph's there between these two, the butler
and the baker, and Joseph's given this word to give to the butler,
and it's good news. It's such good news. He tells
him there that Pharaoh is going to impute righteousness to him.
He's going to restore him to his former place. And Joseph
says one thing, but remember me. When you go that place, remember
me. Make mention of me. Make mention
of my righteousness that I might be brought out of this place. Could God let that happen? If God would have brought that
to pass, if He had allowed that to happen, if Joseph said to
the butler, now you go and say to Pharaoh, and if Pharaoh comes
up, if it had been done that way, God didn't have anything
to do with it. It would have been Joseph found
a way to get himself out. And he can't do that. He can't
do that. He can't be brought out but except
by God. He got to trust God. He got to
believe God. So he's there. He's there for two full years.
Well, in those two full years, is he going to forget God's Word?
It doesn't look like God's going to exalt him, does it? There's
that Word he has from God, but before it comes to pass, he's
being tried by that Word. Is God going to raise him up? Is God really going to make good
on that Word? I'm here in this trial. I'm here in darkness.
I'm alone. I'm by myself. There's not anybody
to help me. Is God going to make good on
that Word? By God's grace, he continued
to say, cease from trusting man. Don't trust man. By God's grace, Joseph kept saying,
my soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. Well, now look to Christ. In
a worse way, in a way that's just incomparable, our Lord Jesus
Christ went to Calvary's cross. And on Calvary's tree, he was
made sin for his people. He was made a curse for his people. He was made to bear the justice
of God in the place of his people. Joseph was left there for two
full years. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered
eternity in three full hours on the cross. And that justice,
that wrath, That punishment for the sin of His people was being
forsaken of God. Being forsaken of God. And there He was alone on the
cross, in total darkness. The picture we have before us
is of Joseph in a dungeon, in total darkness, totally alone. Christ hung on the cross in total
darkness all alone. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when
He hung there, He was being tried by that Word. By the very Word,
the very promise of God, He was being tried by it. Do you know
what our Savior said? Our Savior said in Isaiah 50
and verse 6, I gave, I gave my back to the smiters. I gave my
cheeks to them that plucked off their hair. I hid not my face
from shame and from spitting. Why? For the Lord God will help
me. How did he know that? He had
the Word of God. He had God's Word. And he said,
I know the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not be
confounded, I won't be ashamed, Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know I shall not be ashamed." He had what
you have. He had the Word of God. That's
what we have. Now believer, we've got God's
everlasting covenant promise. And do you remember what that
covenant is? Do you know what the Word is? The Gospel, the
Word, the covenant, is Christ. He said in Isaiah 49, I'll give
thee for a covenant to the people. Christ is the everlasting covenant. He said this is my blood. This
is the New Testament in my blood, he said. Christ is the new covenant. He's the everlasting covenant.
In him all the laws fulfilled, all the promises of God that
God's made to us are yes and amen. They're sure and they're
certain so that all God's seed shall be saved. Because it's
all yes and it's all amen in Christ. But until the time of
His Word, until that time His Word comes to pass, while we're
in this life, we're going to be tried by that very Word. It's not more than what Christ
suffered. And is the servant greater than
his Lord? If Christ was tried this way, shall not we be tried
this way? Sure we will. It's for our good. You know what it's teaching us?
It's teaching us never trust you and never trust man at all. Don't trust the flesh. There's
one to trust. The Lord. The Word. Christ the
Word. Trust Him. Trust Him. But, here's
the sad case. Very often, most often, you know
who we see ourselves in and all the people in this story right
here? The butler. The butler. Joseph gave him some
good news. Boy, can you just picture, you
know, think about if you were in that prison and Pharaoh's
the most powerful man in the world. Pharaoh just gives the
sign and your head's coming off. And there this butler is in prison
and he's I mean, he went from being the chief to being the
least. And there he is. And Joseph reveals
to him, the Pharaoh is going to count you righteous, and Pharaoh
is going to restore you, and you're going to come to him with
that cup just like you did before, and you're going to have the
glory you had with Pharaoh before. Man, can you imagine how happy
the butler must have felt? Can you just imagine that? I'm
going to be free. I'm not going to die. I'm going
to be free. And then to add to the joy, to
add to the amazement of it, he heard Pharaoh sit there, I mean,
he heard Joseph sit there and tell that other fellow, the baker,
that he's going to pour judgment out on you and you're going to
die. I'm going to live and this other man is going to
die. Oh, how his heart must have been so full and so excited and
so overjoyed. I'm going to live. And then we
read these words. Joseph said, just remember me
when you get there and just speak of me. Yet did not the chief
butler remember Joseph but forgot him. How often is it, brethren? How often is it we get the good
news, we hear the good news, Christ reveals the good news
to us, we hear the gospel preached, and we go out thinking, I'm going
to remember Him. I'm going to serve Him, I'm going
to be diligent, I'm going to go after what He's done for me.
But we get promoted. We get back to the palace, and
honor is put into our hand, All these things, and next thing
you know, we've forgotten Him. We've forgotten Him. How are
we going to be saved? How are we going to be saved?
That same Word. That same Word. That Word's going
to bring it to pass, and that Word's going to try us. And we
failed that test. We see in the butler here, he
was tried by the Word, but he failed the test, didn't he? How's
he going to be recovered? It's that same Word. Now let's
look at this. First of all, it's the Word of the Lord that troubles
us and turns us. The Word of the Lord. Christ
is going to send the Word. He's going to trouble. When you
don't remember Him, if you're His, this is certain. He's going
to send the Word and He's going to trouble you. He's going to
wake you up. And He's going to trouble your spirit. And you're
not going to be able to get free from it. You can try whatever
you want to, to get away from it. You're not getting away from
it. Now look, verse 1, Genesis 41. And it came to pass, at the
end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed. Now you remember this
now. God's not speaking to us in dreams
today. He's speaking to us today by
Christ His Son. He's speaking to us by the Word,
by the Gospel we preach, by the written Word of God. He's speaking
to us by the Word. That's what he spoke in time
past in different manners, the Scripture. They didn't have the
Gospel. I mean, they didn't have the Scriptures yet. Moses' books
hadn't even been written during this time. And God would speak
through dreams. And that's what we have here,
is God's Word coming through a dream. You see, He wouldn't
allow that butler to go back and by His Word and by Joseph's
Word free Joseph, but he's going to free Joseph, but he's going
to do it by God's Word. So God puts a Word into the heart
of this Pharaoh. He puts a Word into the heart
of this Pharaoh. And look what Joseph said about it down in
verse 25. This is to show you that this
is the Word of God. He said concerning that dream,
God has showed Pharaoh what He is about to do. You see, that's
God speaking in this dream. So we got the Word here. The
Word of God came to Pharaoh. Now the Word is the Word that's
going to always wake us up. Now look at verse 4. It says,
He dreamed this dream, and it says, and Pharaoh awoke. He awoke. Now that's what's going
to happen when God sends the Word. It's going to wake us up. His child of God has got to be
awakened. We slumber, we sleep in our so-called
fatness because we think we've got it made, and really that's
a famine when we forget Christ. So He's got to wake us up first.
And then it says, verse 5, and he slept. He went back to sleep. Isn't that us? We get awakened
by God, and then the next thing you know, we're trying to go
back to sleep again. Trying to get back in, occupying
our mind with... And that's mostly what everything
is in our world, is just trying to occupy our mind with stuff. Trying to dream. Trying to go
back to sleep. But, it says here, he dreamed
a second time. God's going to make you hear
His Word. If He's going to speak to you
and preach to you and teach you the Gospel, you're going to get
it, and He's not going to let you go until you get it. That's
certain. That's dead certain. Now look
at verse 7. It says there at the end, it says there at the end, let
me get to it, it says, And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And verse 8 says, And it came
to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled. You see
what God's done here? God's awoke him. God wouldn't
let him go back to sleep. He woke him back up. And He's
troubled him now in his spirit. Now that's where you're going
to have to be brought. You're going to have to be brought to be awakened,
to be troubled in spirit. And that's what God does through
His Word. I can tell you this now. It doesn't do me and you
any good to try to make this happen faster. It doesn't do
any good that me and you try to make this happen effectually.
It doesn't do any good for me and you to think that we can
speak the Word in such a way that we can get these results
ourselves. God's going to do it in His time.
Two years passed before God did this. And God's going to do it
in His time, not our time. And He's going to do it effectually
by His Word, not by our Word. You may be the vessel used to
speak, but He's going to do it when you don't even know He's
speaking to His child. That's right. Now watch this.
He does this work by the Word and God forces His child to seek
Christ only. When He does this, when He troubles
you, He's going to force you to seek Christ only. Now that's not who
we seek first. But He's going to make you seek
Christ. Look at who Pharaoh sought first, verse 8. It says there
in verse 8, he was troubled and it says, and he sent and called
for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof. These magicians, they're often
false preachers and false teachers in Scripture, often called magicians,
sorcerers, soothsayers, those that mutter and peep, and these
so-called wise men of the world. That's who, you know, we think,
that's who we need to go to. And, you know, somebody will
be, they'll be troubled, and they'll be awakened, and their
spirit will be troubled, and first thing they'll do is, I've
got to call the preacher. You know, I'd love to be able
to help you. But I ain't the one you need to go to. I'm not
calling myself a Pope. And I'm not wearing that funny
hat and walking around trying to put myself between you and
God. You need to go to Christ. That's
who you need to go to. You need to go to Christ. He went to these
magicians. He went to these wise men. And it says here, it says, and
Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none that could
interpret them unto Pharaoh. No man. No man can reveal the
Gospel in your heart. No sinner can reveal the Gospel
in another sinner's heart. None could interpret it. Remember
what we've been seeing in 1 Corinthians chapter 2? It says, none of the
princes of this world, none of the wise men of this world, none
of the magicians of this world knew the hidden wisdom, Christ's
hidden wisdom. Because if they had known Him,
they wouldn't have crucified Him. But God, God hath revealed
God, by divine revelation, God hath revealed His hidden wisdom,
His gospel, His Christ. He's revealed it unto us by His
Spirit. That's what He's done. That's
what He's done. He's made us to know the gospel
by His Spirit. And He's the only one that can
do it. The only one that can do it. So first we see here it's
by God's Word. And we see God is going to wake
His child up. He is going to trouble the spirit of His child.
And if His child goes and seeks some kind of interpretation or
some kind of guidance somewhere else in the world, He is going
to bring that to an end. He is going to have His child
come to Christ. Alright, second thing. When we forget the Lord,
we failed the test, we have been tried by the Word and we failed
it. Child of God. How are we going to be brought
to Christ? How are we going to be brought
to see our faults? Well, by the Word, the Lord brings
His child to remember. He brings us to remember. Now,
verse 9. This Word comes to the butler.
This dream comes to the butler. Pharaoh delivers it down to him.
He hears that none of these men can interpret it. And verse 9
says, "...then." Then. Then. That's such an important
word. Then. It was then, it was when the
Word of God came. It was when the Spirit of God
troubled us. It was when the soul was awakened. It was when no man could interpret
the Word of God. When God gave us a need, then,
then, what did we do? We began to cry to God. We began to cry to God. Look
at the picture here, verse 9. Then spake the chief butler unto
Pharaoh. Pharaoh hears a picture of God
the Father. Then the butler spoke to Pharaoh. When you're troubled, you're
woke, you're troubled, no man can interpret, you see your need
now, that's when you're going to be brought to start speaking
to God, and truly speaking to God. When God's drawn you to
speak to God, that's when you'll speak to God. with Eric this
morning talking about prayer and that those things were so
good he brought out about prayer. And I'll add this, you ain't
going to pray until God makes you pray. That's right. That's when you're going to pray.
Now watch this. Look at Psalm 51. I'll show you
that. Psalm 51. This is a man, Psalm
51 is a man that's been brought to repentance. This is like what's
happening in type. It's like what's happening in
this butler. But David here was really brought to repentance.
He was really over his sin. He was confessing to God now.
He came to God and was talking. And listen to what he says in
verse 14. He says, Deliver me, O God, from
blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation. If you deliver
me, then my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. When's
your tongue going to have the praise of God put on it? When
God's done something for you. Look down at verse 15. Oh Lord,
open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
That's when we're going to come to God and speak to God. When
God's opened our lips and put the Word on our lips. Here's
why. Because He doesn't desire sacrifice
from you. Most of our prayers are sacrifices.
Well, I need to do this. God's not going to be pleased
if I don't pray to Him. Those deceitful hearts of our
deceitful flesh, most of our prayers are sacrificing. God
don't desire sacrifice. But I tell you, when we pray,
He says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken
and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. That's
when you pray, when God has broken your heart. When God's broken
your heart to where you don't have, you don't even know the
words to pray, you might not even have words to pray. You're
just, in your heart, you're being drawn to God and yearning for
God and poured out to God. And you may not be even speaking
any audible words or any words anybody can understand. It's
just a heart thing. And God's drawing that prayer
out of you. And that's true then. That's true then. And then look
at this back in our text now, Genesis 41. When God's Word searches our
heart, that's when we're going to be brought to confess our
sin. Look at verse 9. It says, Then spake the chief
butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this
day. That's the first thing we've
got to remember is our faults. Our sins. I remember my sins. Now, look at this. What was it he remembered? Verse
10, Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and he put me in ward
in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief
baker. We got to be brought to remember when we were made to
behold God's wrath. When we were made to see the
strict justice of God, when we were made to see that if God
gave us what we deserve, we'd be cast into hell like that.
We have to be brought to see this over and over again. Do
your sins bother you? Do your sins plague you? Do you mourn over your sins and
come to a place often where the Lord brings you to where you
just wish you could be done with your sin because it's against
God and God only? God has to bring us there. And
He brings His child there. He brings His child to mourn
our sin. I remember my faults. I saw the wrath, the wrath of
God. And I had this vision, I had
this dream, He said. I remember when I first heard
the Gospel. You remember the dream the butler had? The butler
saw this this cluster of grapes, and he saw those grapes pressed,
and he saw the juice of that grape poured out in a cup, and
that cup carried the Pharaoh. You know, when I first heard
the gospel, you know what I heard? I heard it like I imagined that
Butler was interpreting that dream by his own wisdom. When
I first heard the gospel preached, I heard it as, God's going to
crush me. I'm the one that's going to be
crushed because I'm the sinner. My blood's going to be poured
out. I'm going to be put under the wrath of God because I'm
a sinner. But Christ came. Christ came. The Word came. Look at this. And by His Word, He makes us
to remember what Christ has done for us. Look at verse 12. He
says, And I saw all this, and there was a young man, a Hebrew,
this was a Jew who came to Me, a servant to the captain of the
guard, And we told Him, and He interpreted to us our dreams,
to each man according to his dreams He did interpret it. We
saw it last time in chapter 40, Joseph came to them. And that's
what happens. He's brought you to this place
where you see God's wrath, and you see that's all you deserve
is God's wrath, and that you deserve to be thrown into hell,
into God's eternal punishment. And Christ comes to you, and
He says, why do you look so sad? And He draws out of you that
confession, I'm a sinner, that's why. And He makes you to know
the interpretation of this Gospel. He makes you to know it's not
you that's going to be crushed under this load. No, no, God
given me a people and I've taken their place and it's me that's
crushed under the load of God's hand. And it's my blood that's
spilled out on Calvary's tree. And I'm the one who goes into
the presence of God with the cup. And I'm the one who gives
the cup to God's hand. And I'm the one that He imputes
righteous. And I'm the one that He restores
to the glory I had with the Father before the world was. And because
He's done this for me, He's going to do it for you. That's what
God makes us to know in our heart. He does it by the Word. By the
Word. This is how we're brought back
and brought to remember. Brought to remember. And He makes us know this too.
He makes us to remember God's grace is distinguishing grace.
Look at verse 13. It came to pass, as He interpreted
to us, so it was. Me He restored unto mine office,
and Him He hanged. Do you remember when God called
you by His grace? Do you remember that He made
you to hear the Gospel? Made you to delight in the Gospel?
And you thought, I can remember thinking, everybody is going
to delight in this. And I go to a family member, a loved one,
and tell them this. They didn't delight in it. In
fact, they hated it. Went and told it to friend. No
delight, only enmity. And he made you to see God has
mercy on whom He will have mercy. And God hardens whom He will.
And He made you remember His distinguishing mercy, His distinguishing
grace. You see, This is all the things
about this gospel. This is what makes God, God.
God will have mercy on whom God will have mercy. He can because
He's God. God sends His Son because His
Son will be His salvation. He can because He's God. God
will be the one who gets all the glory and all the praise
because He's the substitute. He can do that because He's God.
When a substitute batter stands in, a designated batter stands
in, and he bats in place of another fellow, and the other fellow
sits on the bench. The other fellow don't pick up the bat.
He don't swing the bat. He don't make the hit. He don't
round the bases. He's just sitting over there
on the bench. Who gets the glory? The substitute. The designated
batter. And he's going to get the glory.
Christ's going to get the glory because He's the one that came
and did it. God can do this. This makes Him God to save how
He will, whom He will. And then at last, when God has
brought us to remember Christ, He's brought us, He woke us up,
He troubled our spirit, He brought us to Christ because we couldn't
get a revelation anywhere else. He brought us to confess our
sin, He brought us to remember the wrath of God and to remember
His great mercy in Christ. He brought us to remember this
distinguishing mercy He had upon you. Then, He brings us into
communion with Christ. He brings us back into communion
with Christ. Look at verse 14. Then Pharaoh
sent and called. What's a call? That's a word. Pharaoh sent and
by his word he called Joseph. And they brought him hastily
out of the dungeon and he shaved himself and changed his raiment
and came in unto Pharaoh. Christ was tried by the word
of God's promise. Christ was despised and rejected
of men. God allowed wicked men to take
Him and crucify Him and nail Him to a tree in the powers of
darkness. His lifeless body was put in
a tomb. But He declared God just. He
satisfied the justice of God. He declared that it's God who
is the justifier of all who believe. He gets all the glory. There's
no boasting then. It's excluded. And that's what
He declared. So he's the righteousness of
God. And so death couldn't hold him.
Death couldn't hold him. God was satisfied and God sent
and called and said, bring him forth. And he came out. He came
out with a change of raiment. Remember they went to that tomb
and looked in there and there was those clothes he had on when
they put him in there. There they sat. Folded up. He wasn't in a hurry. He folded
them up, sat them there and walked out. Change of raiment. a glorified
body. He ascended with a glorified
body. The God-man, glorified, seated at God's right hand with
all power over all. So you know who works this work
right here? You know who it is that's working
this work when we forget God? It's Christ the Word. It's Christ
the Word. And when He's brought us to Himself,
and He's brought us to His feet, and He's brought us to see our
sin and confess our sin and remember Him, Hastily! Hastily! Hastily! God says, Come! Bring him forth! Bring him forth! And Christ goes
into the Father with His child. And we got communion with God
again. And the hearts opened up and you rejoice and you say,
Lord! How could I ever forget you?
How could I ever forget you? And He says, Now, you go forth. You remember me. You go forth
and you make mention of me. You exalt me, my righteousness. And we go forth. For a little
while, we make mention of Him. We rejoice in Him. We exalt Him.
But what happens? We forget Him. But if where He
is, He won't ever stop doing this Word. And you know what
He's doing all along? He brings that Word to pass where
He raises us with Christ in the eternal glory forever. He's going
to try us by this word. And by every one of these trials,
He's continually showing you, don't trust you. Don't trust
you. Trust the word of God. Just trust
the word of God only. Amen.