Well, your Bible ought to just
open to Genesis chapter 41. If you'd turn there with me again,
please. Genesis chapter 41. In verse 38, Pharaoh asked, can
we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
And as I said last time, that's the question that we propose
in our preaching. We declare Christ to be the perfect
man, the righteous one, the one mediator, the only savior, the
one thing needful. And then we ask, can you find
such a one as this? Can you find such a substitute? Can you find such a savior? Can
you find such a redeemer as this? Pharaoh wasn't asking his servants
to search the kingdom for one as this. Pharaoh was pointing
to Joseph and he said, can you find such a one as this? A man in whom the spirit of God
dwells. And as I said last time, that's
what we do in preaching. We point to Christ and we ask
that question. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Is there such a one as he? And
the answer of course is no, there's none like Christ. There's only
one who can save us from our sin. And in verse 39, we read,
and Pharaoh said unto Joseph, for as much as God has showed
thee all this, There is none so discreet, that word means
separate, separated, and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over
my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people
be ruled. Only in the throne will I be
greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took his ring from his hand, and he put it upon Joseph's hand,
and he arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold
chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot, which he had. And they cried before him, bow
the knee. And he made him ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphnath-Paeonea, and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter
of Potipharah, priest of On. And Joseph went out over all
the land of Egypt. Last time we discussed the name
that Pharaoh gave Joseph, Zaphnath-Paeonea, it was an Egyptian name. In the Egyptian language, it
meant savior of the world. He who has bread and famine. And that certainly is a good
description of our Lord and savior. And did you notice in verse 45
that Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife? Her name was Ashenath, and that
name means some, all names in the scripture mean something.
We've seen that so many times. Ashenath means peril. It means
danger. It means pitfall. It means I
shall be hated. Now she was an Egyptian. She was a woman of the world. It says here that she was a priest,
More than likely, she was the daughter of a priest, and more
than likely, that means a prince. And his name was Potipharah,
and the word Potipharah means afflicted. I got to thinking
about those names. You know, Asenath was an unworthy
bride for such a one as Joseph. Why, you say? Well, she served
a false god. She worshiped an idol. She was
a daughter of a priest who worshiped a sun god. She worshiped the
wrong sun. That's what's wrong today. Men
and women are worshiping the wrong sun. And in verse 45, we
see that Pharaoh gave Joseph this wife before Joseph ever
started his work in Egypt. Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife. She was his wife, his bride before
he ever started this daunting task that lay before him. And I know you see the picture
here. God gave Christ a bride, a wife, and he gave her to him
before the foundation of the world, before Christ ever came
to do his great work of salvation. God had already given him a bride
to redeem. And Christ's bride was one who
had experienced great peril. She was one who, by the pitfall
of sin, had fallen into great danger. Christ's bride was of
the world. That's what Egypt represents.
She was the natural fallen daughter of Adam. Adam, who had once been
the prince of Eden. But now he was one who had been
terribly afflicted by sin. Names mean something. And in
verse 46, Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. And I'm gonna let scripture speak
for scripture here. Put your marker here, if you
would, and turn over to Luke chapter three with me. We'll
come right back to Genesis, so either keep your finger or your
marker there. But look at Luke 3, verse 22. Joseph was 30 years old when
he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And verse 22 of Luke
3 reads, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
upon him, that being the Lord Jesus. And a voice came from
heaven which said, thou art my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. And Jesus himself began to be
about 30 years of age. And back in Genesis chapter one,
verse 46, we're told that Joseph went out from the presence of
Pharaoh and he went throughout all the land of Egypt. And I
thought about how our Lord and Savior, Christ, went out from
the presence of His Father to do a work of redemption in this
God-forsaken world of sin. Little is said of the first 30
years of our Lord's life. After His birth and the blessing
given by Simeon, only one brief story is found of Him at the
age of 12 when He confounded those in the temple. Yet the
minute Christ comes out of the waters of baptism, we're told
that the father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well
pleased, just as Pharaoh was well pleased with Joseph. And
again, we see the picture, look at verse 37. And the thing was
good in the eyes of Pharaoh. Christ went out from the presence
of his father, why? Well, this was a work that he
must do alone. This was a work that only he
could do. You see, he would have to appease
the law of God without any assistance from above. As a man, Christ
would have to work out a perfect righteousness for his people.
As a substitute, he would have to die as an innocent man to
pay the guilt of a guilty man or pay the debt of a guilty man.
As a sacrifice, he would have to satisfy the justice of God
that was against his elect by being made sin for them and forever
presenting them righteous with his righteousness. That's the
only way you and I can have it, is to have his imputed to us
and stand faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding
joy. And as a savior, Christ was and
is just and justifier of those that believe in him, Romans 3.26. Joseph was 30 years old when
he went throughout the land of Egypt preparing and putting all
things in order. And God's word says in Matthew
chapter four, verse 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching
in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people. Joseph went out in the presence
of Pharaoh to do the work that Pharaoh determined him to do.
And Christ went out from the presence of his father to do
his ordained work. And both the work of Joseph and
the work of Christ were a work of salvation for their people,
for their brethren, for their families. And in verse 47, and
in the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he, Joseph, gathered up all
the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt.
And he laid up the food in the cities. And the food of the field,
which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn as the
sand of the sea, very well until he left numbering, for it was
without number." And you see, friends, it was God's purpose
to bring Joseph to the throne. Now let me tell you what's been
on my mind in looking at these things. I've learned many things
about our Lord through the pictures that Joseph paints of Christ
for us. But Joseph also teaches us many
things as a man, not just as a type of Christ, but as a man.
Naturally speaking, I think it's very important for us to remember
that Joseph was no different than us. As a man, Joseph was
a sinner, just like you and I. And when I think on these things,
I like to put myself in the place of men and women in the Scripture.
Do you ever do that when you read? How would I act? How would I think? Because they're
men of like passion, and women of like passion, just like we
are. And when I read the accounts
of God's people in the Bible, I try to put myself in their
place. I try to put myself here in Joseph's
place. And I thought to myself just
today, how would I feel if my own brothers, my own family hated
me so bad that they wanted to kill me? How would I feel if
out of envy and hatred, my own flesh and blood hated me so bad
that they threw me into a pit without water? Would I believe
that the Lord was behind it? Would I believe that the Lord
had allowed it? Would I believe that the Lord was in it? What
would I have felt if my own family had sold me into slavery for
20 pieces of silver? That's anywhere from about $200
to $400 in today's market. Would I grumble and complain?
Honestly? Knowing myself? Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Would I feel sorry
for myself? Absolutely. While falsely accused in Potiphar's
house, do you think Joseph might have just thought, being a man,
being like you and I, do you think he might just have thought,
what did I do to deserve this? I didn't do what Ms. Potiphar
accused me of doing. Why would someone lie on me like
that? Why would someone say such a
thing as that? Now we're not told what Joseph
thought, but that's what I would have thought. Why did the Lord
allow this to happen? You ever ask yourself that? Why
is the Lord allowing this to happen? What about in the prison? I know in prison many would think
God can't be in this. God can't be in this, I'm in
prison. People say things like bad things
don't happen to good people. God's too good. God loves me
too much. This is the devil's work. God
wouldn't do such a thing. Don't forget, Joseph was human
just like us. You don't think Joseph wanted
out of prison. Absolutely. He wasn't being just a martyr. He didn't want to be locked up
in a dungeon no more than you and I would. He would have never
asked the butler to remember him, to speak a favorable word
to Pharaoh for him, if he didn't want out of prison. You see,
he had the same passions as you and I do. But then the butler
forgot him for two years. For two more years, he sat there
in prison. I'm sure every day hoping that
word would be sent from Pharaoh that the butler had told Pharaoh
about Joseph. And do you know what I would
have more than likely said during those two years? All that I did for that stinking
butler. And he does me like that. Or how about this one? You ever
said this? Why? He's where he is today because
of me. If I ever see him again, I'll
give him a piece of my mind. But we never read where Joseph
murmured. We're never told that he complained.
He never charged God foolishly. He quietly submitted to the divine
providence of God as the first cause of all things. Joseph accepted
his destiny as being according to the sovereign will and purpose
of God Almighty. And I'm telling you, friends,
I can learn a lot from this man, as a man. The providence of God's not always
pleasant, especially to the flesh. When Joseph was in the pit, he
didn't know that he'd one day be in the palace. We get to read
ahead. When he was in the pit, he didn't
know one day he'd be in the palace. When Joseph was serving under
Potiphar, he didn't know that one day he'd rule over Potiphar.
When Joseph was serving under Potiphar, he didn't know that. When Joseph was sitting in that
dungeon in prison, he didn't know that he would soon be sitting
on the throne. How beautiful is the sovereign
providence of God. God brought Joseph to the throne,
but he brought him to the throne by the way of hatred. He brought
him to the throne by the way of a waterless pit. He brought
him to the throne by the way of slavery, by the way of prison. And so we can see how true Romans
8.28 is, can't we? Truly all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. And I suppose the thing that
I see the most about Joseph here, to my own shame, is his faithfulness
in adversity. His faithfulness in adversity.
It's easy. It's easy to believe God when
everything's going good. You know that and so do I. But
how about when you're hated without a cause? How about when you're
in the pit of despair? How about it when you're falsely
accused? How about when you're in the dungeon of depression?
Do you believe God's the first cause of everything then? Do
you believe that God sent this your way? You know, we need,
I'm telling you, I'm talking to me, You listen in. We need to quit getting angry
and upset about the second causes in life. The second causes are a means
in which the hand of God uses to accomplish his sovereign will
and purpose. And we let all these second causes
get in our way, don't we? Oh, I'm telling you we do. We
let the second causes steal our joy. We let them rob us of our
peace and our comfort. Whether they're people or whether
they're places, whether they're things or whether they're situations,
all of them, second causes, second causes. God's behind them all. The next time something difficult
comes my way, Lord, help me. to know that it's only a second
cause and that He is the first cause. Now, I wanna spend what
time we have left thinking about the subject of need, of the need
that a sinner has to come to Christ. Do you have a need? Has
God shown you your need? I hope he has, because until
God shows you your need, you'll never have any interest in Christ
the Savior. That's just so. That's just so. Those that are sick have need
of a physician. Right? Look at verse 53 of Genesis 41.
And the seven years of plentiness that was in the land of Egypt
were ended. And the seven years of dearth,
that word means hunger, began to come. According as Joseph
had said, and the dearth was in all the lands, but in all
the land of Egypt there was bread. Now I'm telling you, we have
a beautiful picture here, maybe not beautiful is the best way
to say it, but we have a picture here of this world in which we
live spiritually. There's a famine in the land.
There's a famine in the land. I know you know that. There's
dearth in all the land. That word dearth, as I said,
means hunger. There's hunger in the land. People
are starving, starving for the truth, starving for Christ, the
bread of life. But in the land of Egypt, there
was still bread. I don't know the significance
of that. Maybe the Lord has shown me, but in verse 55, and when
all the land of Egypt was famished, I know this, the famine didn't
let up and finally it reached Egypt also. And when all the
land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, pay close attention to this, go unto Joseph. Go unto Joseph what he saith
to you do. When Egypt was famished, you
see what happened? They cried unto Pharaoh for bread. And that's the same thing that
happens when a man or a woman, a sinner, whom God shows their
need to, begins to hunger spiritually. They cry unto God. They cry unto
God. They cry unto God for bread.
They cried unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, what did Pharaoh say? He said, you go unto Joseph. You go unto Joseph. No one's
gonna eat unless it's by his hand. Did you hear that? Whatever
Joseph says to you, do. Pharaoh set him over the land
of Egypt, all the land of Egypt, verse 41. Joseph wore the king's
ring. What he said was law. Pharaoh
set him over the land of Egypt. He wore his ring. You better
do what Joseph said. Better do what Joseph said. He
had this power by royal decree. None had better murmur nor complain
against Joseph. To complain against Joseph was
to complain against Pharaoh. You didn't want to do that. If
you come to Pharaoh for food, you're going to have to get it
from Joseph. You're going to have to bow to
him. None can lift a hand or a foot in Pharaoh's kingdom without
the permission of Joseph. Isn't that what we read? How
much more is it so for the kingdom of God? How much more so with
Christ? Our Lord said, Father, the hours
come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as
thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Joseph had power
over all Egypt. Who does Christ have power over?
Over all flesh. over everything, everyone. Joseph possesses what it takes
to have physical life. Christ possesses what it takes
to have eternal life. It pleased Pharaoh to give all
this authority to Joseph, but it pleased the Father that in
Christ should all fullness dwell. I love the thought of those two
words, all fullness there. All fullness, what is that? What's that talking about? Well,
it's talking about all that God requires from you and I, the
sinners that we are. It's talking about all that the
sinner needs, all righteousness, all obedience, all justice, all
godliness, all holiness, all submission. All that God commands
of men and women, all that God expects of men and women, Christ
has the fullness of it. I need Him. You need Him. I need power to believe. Have
you realized that you need power from on high to believe in this
word? Well, I was made willing to believe in the day of His
power. Psalm 110.3. I need repentance. You need repentance. It's Christ's goodness that leads
sinners to repentance. I need righteousness. He was
made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. I need forgiveness. He said,
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson, They shall be His wool, Isaiah
118. I need healing by His stripes
we are healed. All the fullness, all the fullness
dwells in Christ. You know, He has the capacity
to contain all fullness. It's all in Him. He has the power
to retain and keep all fullness. He's God in the flesh. He has
the wisdom to distribute all fullness. What a Savior. What a God. Yes, physical life was found
in knowing who to go to. In the land of Egypt and all
the lands there around, to have physical life, you got to know
where to go. You got to know who to go to. Pharaoh said, go
to Joseph. Whatever he says, do. Spiritual
life is in knowing who to go to. You better believe it is. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. We better hear him. He shall give eternal life to
as many as God gave him. And again, we hear that word
give and eternal life in the same sentence. Eternal life is
a gift. It's a gift. It's Christ who
gives eternal life. You're going to have to come
to Christ to have eternal life. Just as you're going to have
to go to Joseph to have corn. Look at verse 56 again. And the
famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened
all the storehouses. Friends, spiritual famine is
all over the face of this earth. Only Christ can open the storehouses
of God's grace. Only Christ can open the storehouses
of God's mercy and love to sinners. Joseph was made king by royal
decree. Christ is made king of kings
by royal decree. Joseph, no doubt, was a fit king
to open the storehouses. He was carrying out his plan. He filled the storehouses. We
read that. He saw the work through, didn't
he? Christ is a fit king to open
the storehouses. As God, he planned them. As God,
he purposed them. As the God-man, he filled them. And he finished the work the
Father gave him to do. And when he did, he cried, it's
finished. Verse 56, and Joseph opened the
storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians. And Christ, by His
own sacrifice and substitution, opened the storehouses of love,
mercy, grace, and forgiveness. And He says, ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, no
money, come ye and buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Isaiah 55.1. How can you buy
without money? Well, you can charge. But we can buy also when it's
free. Recently, we had to clean our
garage out. Don't you hate to clean your
garage out? Well, no, you really shouldn't because you get to
use it then for what it was made for, like a car. And I had a
couple things that I didn't use that were just in the way. And
they were too nice to throw away. And I knew that Derek might want
them or could probably use them. So I called him and I asked him
if he wanted them. And he said, yes. He said, I'll
pay you for them. And I said, no, you can't buy them. You can't
buy them. They're not for sale. They're
free. They're free. You just got to
come and get them. You just got to come and get
them. You can come without money, I told him. You can come without
money. Why? Because there's no price
on them. They're not for sale. They're
free. They're free. No price on a gift, is there?
You give me a gift and then say that I owe you $20? That isn't much a gift. It'd be a purchase. You can't
purchase, friends, what Christ has to give. You can't. You come
and you buy without money. It's without price. It's free.
In the last part of 56, we read, and the famine waxed sore, grew
worse in the land of Egypt. Verse 57, and all countries All
countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn because
that the famine was sore in all lands. All the countries came
into Egypt. How many of them came? All of
them. All of them came into Egypt.
All of them came to Joseph to buy corn. And as I read that,
I thought to myself, all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. God saves men and women out of
every nation, kindred, tongue, and nation, or out of every tongue
and tribe, I mean. And all the world has become
guilty before God. All the world guilty before God. Now, God's not gonna save the
whole world. But God's gonna save some men and women out of
all parts of the world. But in order for Him to save
them, they're gonna have to come to Christ. They're gonna have
to come to Christ. Isn't that what this picture
is? It's just so plain. All God's people, even all God's
people are gonna have to come to Christ. Look over at chapter
42. We won't get into it tonight
other than just reading a couple three verses here. but all God's
people are gonna have to come to Christ in order to be saved.
Look at verse one of chapter 42. Now, when Jacob saw that
there was corn in Egypt, there's no corn anywhere else, friends,
but there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, why
did you look upon one another? They were just sitting there
looking at each other, shrugging their shoulders, what are we
gonna do? Jacob, their father, said, there's
corn in Egypt. And he says, why do you look
one upon another? And he said, behold, I have heard
that there's corn in Egypt. Get you down thither, and you
buy for us from things, that we may what? Live and not die. This is a matter of life and
death. You're gonna have to go down to Egypt. You're gonna have
to go down to this, Man that sits upon the throne. And Joseph's ten brothers went
down to buy corn in Egypt. Now listen, I'm going to repeat
it again. In order to have physical life, they had to go down to
where the corn was. They were going to have to go
down to where Joseph was. And in order to have spiritual
life, Sinners are gonna have to come to where the living bread
and water is. You're gonna have to come to
where Christ is. Do you see that there's corn in Egypt? Well,
do you see that there's living bread in this world? Christ is
the living bread. He's not of the world, but he
was in the world and he worked out a perfect righteousness for
his people. Christ said, I am the bread of
life. That was pretty direct, wasn't it? He that cometh to
me shall never hunger. Never hunger. And he that believeth
on me shall never thirst. No man, no woman cometh to the
Father, he said, but by me. If you're going to live, if you're
going to have eternal life, somehow, some way, you're going to have
to get to Christ. The storehouses of mercy are
in his hand. But I'm in a pit without water. I'm serving this world in Potiphar's
house. I'm in a dungeon of deception
and depression. Do you feel as though God has
forgotten you? Yes. From all second causes to
second causes. Maybe God's going to bring you
to Christ. Huh? Maybe God's going to bring you
to Christ. May God enable us to come to
Him. In Him is life. Nowhere else.