Usually, if I receive a blessing
from reading the text, I usually get a blessing from preaching,
and I hope that's the case tonight. I sure did enjoy just reading
that with you. Another blessed picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's typified by Joseph. Jacob's
favorite son, Joseph. You can see why I can't stand
him. He was altogether loving, wasn't he? The scriptures tell no false
in Joseph. We'll go through this story,
and you won't see any fault in Joseph. Although he's just a
man, and he was a sinner like us, yet because he's such a beautiful
and clear picture of the Lord, he seems to be without fault.
That's my design. He's distinguished above his
He came to his own, his own received him not. Remember? They sold
him. Despised and rejected. Delivered
him up. They delivered him up. But it
was God who did it, really. They did what their wicked hands
determined to do, but they did what God before determined to
do. As Joseph said in the last chapter,
you meant it for evil. God made it good, as it is this
day. It saved much people's lives.
So Joseph is a picture of Christ. All right, verse 1. Joseph was
brought down. He came from the Father, beloved
son of his father, peace, harmony, tranquility, riches, Glory, honor,
to become a servant in Egypt, a slave. And what a picture of
Christ that is, who made himself of no reputation, but took upon
him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
became obedient even unto death, the death of the cross. Wherefore,
God has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Joseph, Jesus, every knee
shall bow, every tongue confess that he's Lord, the glory of
God the Father. So we went from a high sun to
a lowly surface, and that's what our Lord did. Submitted to slavery,
prison, and even death. He was a prosperous man. That's
the title of this message, The Prosperous Man. and ends. This chapter begins
and ends by telling us everything this man did prospered from beginning
to end. What he started out doing was
prosperous, and John, he finished up being prosperous. The very
last line was, he prospered. A prosperous man. Verses 2 and 3. It says, The
Lord was with Joseph. God was in Christ. Manifesting
or reconciling the world to himself. God with Joseph reconciling those
sons of Jacob to himself. And he was a prosperous man.
He was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. His master saw
that the Lord was with him. This pagan fellow even had to
take note and say, God must be with him. And even the Pharisees
had to say that to Christ. God must be with you. No man
can do these things except God be with you. And it says, The
Lord made all that he did. Did you hear it the first time?
I'm going to say it again. The Lord made all that he did
to prosper in his hand. You see, Joseph is in Egypt on
purpose. Not by accident. Not because
men of their free will put him there, but because God put him
there. He's in Egypt on purpose, accomplishing God's purpose to
save some sons of Jacob. And that's why Christ came. He sent. And since God sent him
with a purpose, that purpose must be fulfilled. God said it
would. I've spoken it. I bring it to
pass. I sent him, he'll accomplish
it. He's a prosperous man. So Christ
came. Psalm 1, now turn quickly, I
brought that to your attention. We sung it. Psalm 1, look at
it for yourself. Psalm 1 says, Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. But his delight
is in the law of the Lord. We're going to see throughout
this story. Talk about his God, wherever he was. He talked about
his God. He never murmured. He never complained. You'll not hear one word of murmuring
or complaining out of Joseph's mouth. Wherever he went, whatever
happened to him, he didn't murmur or complain. Wherever he was
put, he served his God there. Verse three, you'll be like a
tree planted by the rivers of water. Bring forth his fruit
in his season, his leaf shall not wither, and whatever he does
shall prosper. Isaiah 53.10 says, Pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in Christ's hand. So that's why this is written. All right. Verse four. Verse
four in our text. Joseph found grace. in his master's
sight. And he served him. He pleased his master in all
that he did. All that Joseph did, his master
Potiphar was well pleased. He was well pleased with Joseph's
obedience and Joseph's diligence and Joseph's works. He was well
pleased. And Christ said that about himself. He said, I do always do those
things which please my heavenly Father. And the psalm is written
concerning Christ, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness. He does always those things that
please. This is my beloved son, God said from heaven, in whom
I am well pleased. You better hear him. He's Lord.
Well, verse four. So it says Potiphar made him
overseer over his house because of his well-doing and because
of his obedience, because of his character, his master made
him overseer over his house. All that he had, he put into
Joseph's hand. All, yes, all. Verse 5. Came to pass from that time that
he'd made him overseer in his house over all that he had. Did
you hear it? Keep saying these things twice,
Stan, in case we didn't hear it. He prospered. Did you hear
it? He prospered. And he made him overseer over
all that he had, all that he had, all that he had. That the Lord blessed, verse
5, the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. He's
ruler over the house. Listen to John, the baptizer. He says, The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things unto his name. And then in Colossians, oh, I've
got to turn there. I don't want to misquote it. We could quote
it, but I don't want to blow it. In Colossians 1, your favorite
chapter, verse 17 and following says, Christ is before all things. That is, in front of, he existed
before, he goes before, he is forerunner before all things,
and by him all things consist. He's the head of the body of
the church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and
in all things, all things, he might have preeminence, for it
pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Verse 19, verse 20, having made
peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all
things. Did you hear me? All things.
He keeps telling us that, doesn't he? So, in our text, the blessing
of the Lord was upon all, upon all in the house, for Joseph's
sake, for Christ's sake. The blessing of God, my favorite
verse in all the Bible, is God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1
through 3. All right, now, Joseph, everybody's
blessed for Joseph's sake. Joseph is a goodly person. Verse
6. His master left all that he had
in Joseph's hand, and he knew not what all that he had save
the bread which he did eat. Joseph was a goodly person. You know, up to this point, I've
never said that about anybody. I've never said that about anybody
up until Joseph. He's goodly. He's a goodly person. Well favored. One time, a fella
came to our Lord and said, good master. He said, wait a minute,
why do you call me good? You know, we say that all the
time. He's a good man. Our Lord said, why do you call
me good? There's none good. That's what Scripture says, and
none doeth good. No, not one. And our Lord said,
why do you call me good? There's none good but God. If
you call me good, then I must be God. If you call me Lord and
Master and you say well for it, so I am. And He's a good person. The only good man to ever live.
The only one ever good. You know, I thought about Exodus
33 and 4. The Lord said, I'm going to make
all my goodness passed before you. I'm going to make all my
goodness, all the goodness of God, all the fullness of the
Godhead in a body. It's going to pass before you
for thirty-three years. All my goodness is going to pass
before you. He did. He's a person. He's a good man. He's a good man. Well favored. Well favored. Highly favored.
Well favored by God and all who know him. All of them know it.
And I couldn't help but think when it said that Christ, as
a young man, grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and
men. Everybody. Until he started telling
them who he was. Well, all right. Now Joseph's
temptation now. Joseph is tried. Joseph is tempted. will not read through this we
already have verses seven through nine he was tempted by this woman
Potiphar's wife and incredibly he's a single man at this time
in a house with this woman and she tempts him and incredibly
he resists steadfastly steadfastly and what a picture of Christ
this is who scripture says tempted him all all. They die elaborate all points
like as we are yet. Without. Not even a thought not
even a. A inclination notion in him is
no see Satan came to him at first found nothing in Pilate said,
I find no fault in him. The world's tempted him, an unusual
man, sinless man, because he's holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sinners. He has a clean hand, pure heart.
He's never lifted up his soul under the banner of a sworn deceitful
man. He's going to ascend to the holy hill. Yeah, he is. He's
going to ascend right to the throne by virtue of his righteousness.
Though falsely accused, even this is going to work. Are you with me? All this speaks
of Christ. Joseph is the greatest type of
Christ in all the scriptures. I can say that without reservation.
His character is impeccable, his history, his reputation spotless,
he's preserved by God as a near perfect type of the son of God. Joseph fled. Joseph fled. It says that twice. He fled.
He fled. What does Paul tell young men,
the young man tempted to do? Flee. Flee from youthful lust. Young men don't do it. Christ
did as a young man. Thirty years old, tempted at
all points. He fled. He fled. We're no match. for these temptations,
Christ was. Christ resisted the devil and
he fled from him. So Christ is our righteous representative. Look at verse 13, though, in
this story of his temptation. It came to pass when she saw
that he had left his garment in her hand. You read it. He came in and she grabbed a
hold of him and his coat, evidently, and He took off and she pulled
his coat off of him, stripped him of his garment. Why does
it say that? Not just for evidence. Joseph
now has been stripped twice. You know that? He's been stripped
twice. Can you think of the type there? No. He who was rich, yet for
our sake, became poor. He left his royal garments and
glory. Did he not? And robed with flesh
and came down here and worked out another robe. Didn't he? When this robe of
flesh, with his own works, he worked out a perfect righteousness
in the flesh. And what happened? He stripped
of it again. He stripped again. Left it with
us. He is very It's very. That's why that's what it is
that God's word. So remarkable. So remarkable.
Falsely accused, hated without a cause. Our Lord was brought
before the council and false witnesses gave false testimonies. Look now. Did Joseph, did you
see anywhere where Joseph ever said anything? When his brethren
laid hold on him. Is it written in anything Joseph,
did Joseph say anything? When this woman, and now Potiphar
lays hold on him in verse 19. It came to pass when his master
heard the words of his wife, she spake unto him. Verse 20,
Joseph's master took him and put him into prison. He uttered
not a word. Nothing is written that Joseph
answered his accusation. That's by design. That's by design.
Because our Lord, Scripture says, was led as a lamb before her
shearer, his thumb, so he opened out his mouth. Our Lord, when he was reviled,
reviled not again. That's why in the perfect job.
It's perfect. That's why Joseph didn't say. He's going to have the last word.
Joseph is going to have the last word. But now he's being made
sin, he said. He's going to be put in prison.
All right. So he opened up his mouth and Everybody was against Joseph,
weren't they? Everybody was against Joseph.
Joseph, look at verse 20, verse 20. Joseph's master took him
and put him into the prison, all right? This is where Joseph
ended up. He ended up, he started with
the Father, in glory and honor, and ended up in prison. And from here he's going to go
to the front. But Joseph had to go to prison.
You know that? He had to go to prison. Why?
Somebody's going to save him. One man. There's two. There's
two men in prison. One of them he's going to save.
The other one is going to be condemned. Two men. Well, he's
got to go to prison. Our Lord must go to prison. He must go to Calvary, save his
people. And while he was there, there
were two men who had been on that cross at Calvary. Well, all are
against him. Oedipus is angry. Oh, but the
wrath of man is going to praise him. Going to praise him. The wrath of man will praise
him. Joseph suffered severely. Turn with me to Psalm 105, real
quickly. Psalm 105. Psalm 105. Joseph suffered severely. Psalm
105, look at verse 17. This is a recount of what happened. It's almost right to send a man
before them even Joseph who was sold for a server whose feet
they hurt with letters laid in our till the time that his word
came the word of the Lord try the king said it was even the
ruler of the people and let him go for it may be a lord of his
house and ruler of all his mind is Prince that is pleasure teaches
senators with. What a picture of Christ that
is. Let me read this to you from Zechariah 9. It says in Zechariah
9, it says that he sent him forth
to the prisoners because he's a prisoner of hope.
There's a man in prison whom Joseph sent by the Lord to save. Joseph is going to be the one
to exalt this man to the right hand to the right hand of Pharaoh. And he was sent there for that
purpose so that in remembrance of Joseph, Joseph himself would
be exalted to that place. And what a picture of Christ
that is. That man we're going to see in our next story was
a prisoner of hope because Joseph was there. Now read it with me.
22 and 23 says the keeper of the prison. Now Joseph put in
prison wherever he went. He prospered wherever he went
and whoever he went to was committed to him. Keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the
prison. All the prison. And you notice
in verse Verse twenty says the king's prisoners. The king's
prisoners. Prisoners of hope. That's who
our Lord has sent to. His own prisoners. Sons of Jacob
were bound by sin, and this world our Lord has sent to. Prisoners
of hope. And whatever he did there, verse
twenty-two, whatever he did in prison with those prisoners,
whatever they did, whatever went on there, he was a doer of He
was the doer of it. He was in charge of it. He was
the doer of it. And the Lord hath ordained our
works for us. Verse 23. And I quit. The keeper of the
prison looked not to anything that was under his hand. In other
words, he committed everything, lock, stock and barrel, to Joseph. He trusted him so implicitly,
so completely was his trust. And this man prisoner. Everything was committed in his
hands that he didn't even didn't worry about wasn't concerned
about his will be. And what a picture that is of
our Lord God's implicit if you will trust in trusting his son
with all of his purpose. From time in the beginning the
saving of all of his prisoners from the first sinner The last
one he determined to say. Because the Lord is with him.
Because this man is no mere man. The Lord Jesus Christ, God, manifests
in the flesh. And that which he did in the
very last word is, the Lord made it to prosper. He's a prosperous
man. Sent on purpose to save a man
on purpose. The purpose of sending Joseph
to the throne saved many men. And he prospered. Tune in. Next week. All right, stand with
me. Our Father, we thank you so much
for your word. It is marvelous. It is glorious. Surely, it's
God's Word without doubt. We were made to believe and made
to say without reservation, I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded.
Not almost, but fully persuaded. It's your word concerning your
son who was sent on purpose concerning our salvation and he prospered.
And how we thank you. This is the good news concerning
God's Son, Christ Jesus, made of the seed of David, declared
to be the Son of God with power. How we glory in the Word made
flesh and the Word revealed to us. Thank you, Lord, for your
Word. Open it up more fully to us. Make our hearts to burn as
we see Christ in it. In His name we pray. Amen. Thank you.