Okay. Thank you. It's so good to see you. I wasn't
expecting to see you here. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. We're so, so happy because they've been working
all week. Been sick. so so So, My soul. Good evening and welcome. It
sure is good to see you out there. Let's stand together and sing
hymn number 485. 485. We praise thee, O God, for the Son of thy love. For Jesus, who died and is now
gone, Hallelujah by the glory Hallelujah Amen Hallelujah by
the glory Revive us again ? We praise thee, O God ? For thy
spirit of light ? Who has shown us our Savior ? And scattered
our night ? Hallelujah, thine the glory ? Hallelujah, amen
Alleluia, thine the glory revive us again. All glory and praise to the Lamb
that was slain. He has borne all our sins and
has cleansed every stain. Hallelujah, Thine the glory. Hallelujah, Amen. Hallelujah, Thine the glory. Revive us again. Revive us again. Fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with
fire from above. ? Hallelujah, thine the glory ?
Hallelujah, amen ? Hallelujah, thine the glory ? Revive us again
Be seated. You don't need to turn to this,
but I'm going to be reading out of First Thessalonians chapter
two, just three verses, just three verses. But I really, really
am so encouraged to see so many friends and brothers and sisters
and people come a long way. Hadn't seen in a while. It's
always such a blessing, such a blessing. And, uh, I remember
when we used to have eight preachers here and And if you know the
hallway, all this would be full, that'd be full, and the foyer
would be full. And I just ain't up to a big
meeting like that anymore. I just ain't up for it. Maybe
I might try, we might try one more. We might try one more. But I'm gonna read, this is what
I'm gonna read. 1 Thessalonians chapter two and
verse four. And this is for, this is really,
this means something to me, as I know it will you. But as we
were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel. God
put us in trust with the gospel. Even so we speak the gospel. Not as pleasing men, but God
which tries our hearts Neither at any time used we flattering
words, never bragged, you know, never tried to flatter anybody.
We never coveted anything anybody had, never used our liberty as
a cloak of maliciousness, and God's a witness of that. Nor
of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others. And that's the way it is for
preachers. And all these men that come, and that's the way
we feel. God allowed us to be put in trust.
And even so we speak, we ain't trying to please a man, but God
Almighty that tries our hearts. Our great, blessed, glorious
God of heaven and earth, immutable, eternal, sovereign, merciful,
gracious, full of love, full of pity, long-suffering, and
patience. And Lord, it's into your holy and blessed presence
we come, blessed to come into the presence of an infinitely
holy God. And we come through that blessed
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for
us to purify us from all our sin, to save us by his blessed
grace, to shed abroad in our hearts the love of the Holy Ghost,
the love of God. And Lord, we're like David. We
come. In ourselves, we're poor, so
poor. We bring nothing. And Lord, we're
needy, so needy, need of everything you have for us in this service
tonight, always in need of what you have for us. We want to be
fed. We want to be taught. We want
to be instructed. We want to be encouraged. We
want to be comforted. We want to be rebuked. We want
your will to be done. But Lord, of all this we've asked,
We pray that you would please come down in power, come down
among us, visit this vine, visit this plantation, visit it in
power and grace and mercy. And as these preachers stand
tonight to preach, God bless them, liberate their minds, warm
their hearts, and Lord use them vitally to your glory and our
good. and forgive us of everything that's unlike you, and thank
you for the dear saints here and the dear saints that's come
to visit. May our time together be to your glory, to your glory,
and your glory only. In his blessed name we pray,
amen. Many of us know the words to
this. There's some inserts in the chorus books, in several
of them. If you don't know the words,
just try the best you can. We have come into this house
to worship Him. We have come into this house
and gathered in his name to worship him. We have come into this house
and gathered in his name to worship him. We have come into this house,
gathered in his name to worship Christ the Lord. Worship him, Christ the Lord. So forget about yourself and
concentrate on Him and worship Him. So forget about yourself
and concentrate on Him and worship Him. So forget about yourself and
concentrate on Him and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Christ the Lord. So let's lift up holy faith and
magnify His name and worship Him. So let's lift up holy faith
and magnify His name let's lift up holy faith magnify
his name and worship Christ the Lord worship him Christ the Lord He is all my righteousness, I
stand in Him complete and worship Him. He is all my righteousness, I
stand in Him complete and worship Him. is all my righteousness I stand
in Him complete and worship Christ the Lord worship Him Christ the
Lord I've been so looking forward
to this. You know, I want to be fed and the Lord's blessed
these two men to come and I love Cody and he's preached here a
lot and I sure love him, love to hear him preach and he's been
a great blessing to me in this congregation many, many times.
Cody, you come bring the Lord's message. Good evening. Let me start by
saying it was ten years ago, the first time I ever stepped
foot in this church building for a conference, and I never imagined that one
day I'd be speaking here at the conference. But it is a tremendous honor
to be asked to do so. I think we take it for granted.
I know I do. Anytime the Lord allows me to
step foot into his house, a place where he's put his gospel and
given his messenger to declare Christ, it's an honor just to
be present, let alone stand and be the one speaking on behalf
of God. Tremendous honor. Thank you for
having me. I pray our Lord would allow us to forget about ourselves
and concentrate on Him and worship Him tonight. I invite you to
turn with me to Genesis chapter 41. Genesis chapter 41. I think most of you have probably
heard of the name Joseph, but perhaps there's someone here
who doesn't know who Joseph was in the Scriptures. He was the
beloved son of a man named Jacob. And if the Lord is willing, I
hope to deal with some accounts here dealing with this man Joseph
all weekend. Joseph was a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There are several people in the
scriptures who pictured or typified our Lord Jesus Christ, and there's
none that I enjoy reading about more than Joseph. like you and me, Joseph was a
sinner. He was a sinner saved by the
sovereign grace of God Almighty. Now there's a recurring theme
I notice when reading these accounts dealing with Joseph, and it's
this. God continually overruling evil for good. We see what seems
like an unfortunate circumstance pertaining to Joseph, and yet
we read that the Lord was with him. And we see the goodness
that the Lord wrought through that. situation, time and time
again. Now, the Lord was with him. We read, it was either chapter
39 or 40, that the Lord caused Joseph to prosper in whatever
it was he did. He caused him to prosper. And
I don't want to give it all away, but, you know, it started with
his brothers. That's me. Isaac's medicine. It started with Joseph's brothers
hated him. They just wanted to kill him. They decided to sell
him. Sell him as a slave. Poor Joseph. No? And then he goes to Egypt, a
foreign land, an evil land. And he becomes servant to this
man, Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard. Again, poor Joseph? No, right then and there. As
soon as he stepped foot in Potiphar's house, Potiphar put him in charge.
Well then his wife tries to get Joseph to lay with her and then
she gets a hold of a piece of his clothing and then he winds
up in prison. Poor Joseph. You know what happened when Joseph
wound up in prison? The prison guard put him in charge. Now that's where we are here
starting in the beginning of Genesis chapter 41. Look at verse
1 with me. And it came to pass at the end
of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed And behold, he stood
by the river, and behold, there came up out of the river seven
well-favored kine and fat-fleshed, and they fed in a meadow. And
behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river,
ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kine upon
the brink of the river. And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed
kind did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kind, so Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed the
second time, and behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one
stalk, rank and good. And behold, seven thin ears,
and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured
the seven rank and full ears, and Pharaoh awoke, and behold,
it was a dream. At this point in time, it had
been two years since Joseph interpreted some dreams in prison. Pharaoh
had a baker and a butler, and they got thrown in that prison
with Joseph. And there's a beautiful picture.
There's a lot of beautiful pictures there, but one I see is he was
numbered with the transgressors. And these two men both had a
dream, and they had no idea what the dream meant, and Joseph Joseph
interpreted their dreams, and one man was shown mercy. One man was left alone. One man
perished. Joseph interpreted their dreams,
and after he interpreted the man's dream who was spared, he
asked him to remember him. He said, when you're restored
to your place as Pharaoh's butler, Would you remember me? Would
you mention my name to him? If you know the account, you
know that that man forgot him. Forgot him. He forgot him. And Joseph's still
in prison. It's believed, and based on what
the scriptures say about the number of years that have gone
by, it's believed this was about 10 or 11 years now that Joseph's been
sitting in this prison. And mind you, he was thrown in
prison based on a lie. And yet all of this, including
that, is happening exactly according to God's purpose. And Pharaoh
dreams this dream. Now let's see what's gonna happen
here. Look at verse eight. And it came to pass in the morning
that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all
the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh
told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret
them unto Pharaoh. Man couldn't interpret the dream.
Man can do nothing. Doesn't matter how strong we
are, how wise we are, how rich we are, that's irrelevant. We
have no ability. You know, the scriptures warn
us about if we think we're something, I pray God would cause us to
remember we're nothing. Or let him that standeth beware
lest he fall. None could interpret the dream.
Verse 9, Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying,
I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was wroth with his
servants, and put me in ward and the captain of the guard's
house, both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream,
and one night I and he, we dreamed each man according to the interpretation
of his dream. And there was there with us a
young man and Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard,
and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man
according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass
as he interpreted to us, so it was. Me he restored into mine
office, and him he hanged." Here the butler remembers. He remembers
Joseph. Now, I find it interesting, it
doesn't even say here that he remembered his name. Just said
a young man, a Hebrew, servant to Potiphar. But he recalls what
happened, and he gives Pharaoh some hope that, I think I found
someone who might be able to interpret your dream. Look at
verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought
him hastily. Didn't waste any time. They called
him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself and changed
his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret
it. And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a
dream to interpret it." Without delay, Pharaoh summons Joseph. Now, this was a very urgent matter
for Pharaoh. He was troubled, greatly troubled.
I can't help but acknowledge the urgency of what it is we
do when we gather here. You all know because the last
few times I've preached here, you know I've been burdened with
the affliction that the Lord has given to my mom and then
recently the affliction the Lord has given to my son. Let's never forget, it's the
Lord that sends these afflictions. It's the Lord that can turn our
world upside down in an instant. And he does just that every day
to people all over this world. It's so urgent that we come here,
that we come to a place to hear the word of God, because we never
know when we're about to take our last breath. We have no idea. God knows. It's appointed. It's
appointed on the man who wants to die. Now is the accepted time. You
know, we always say today is the day of salvation. It says
now. Now is the day of salvation. Right now. I pray God would put
an urgency in us to hear his word and believe it now. Just
like Pharaoh rushed to get Joseph to tell him his dream right now,
may God enable us to hear right now. May God prick our hearts
now. And let me acknowledge this too.
There's none that can understand, there's none that can interpret
God's word. We open the book and we think,
oh, well, I can understand that, well, I can believe that. God
says that his word is spiritually discerned and that we're not.
It must be revealed, just like Pharaoh's dream must be revealed.
Look what Joseph said here, verse 16, Joseph answered Pharaoh saying,
it is not in me, I can't do this. Say, well, you're a preacher,
I can do nothing. He said, God shall give Pharaoh
an answer of peace. He confessed his utter inability
and that the answer must come from God and God alone. You know
that. I can't bless anybody. I can't save you. I can't do
anything for myself. Nothing. And yet God has been
pleased to use the means of men to give understanding to his
people. He pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. to save them that believe. Now,
how does God speak to us through preaching? God hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his son. From Genesis 1-1 to Revelation
22-21, it all declares Jesus Christ and him crucified. If there's anybody here that
doesn't know that and believe that, I pray it will be so. Oh,
may God speak to us. May God speak to us. Verse 17.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood
upon the bank of the river, and behold, there came up out of
the river seven kind, fat-fleshed and well-favored. And they fed
in a meadow, and behold, seven other kind came up after them,
poor and very ill-favored, lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the
land of Egypt for badness. And the lean and the ill-favored
kind did eat up the first seven fat kind. And when they had eaten
them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them, but
they were still ill-favored as at the beginning. So I awoke.
And behold, in my dream, I saw in my dream, and behold, seven
ears came up in one stalk, full and good. And behold, seven ears
withered, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after
them. And the thin ears devoured the
seven good ears. And I told this unto the magicians,
but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph
said unto Pharaoh, the dream of Pharaoh is won. God hath showed
Pharaoh what he is about to do. You know, people naturally, Naturally,
we, identifying with fallen mankind, we come to church wanting to
hear about something we can do, don't we? Isn't that what churches
all across this town and whatever town you live in, if you don't
live here, isn't that what churches are all about? Well, give me
something to do. Put me to work. Is that why you want to hear
something to do? I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. No. It's my honor and privilege,
anytime I'm asked, to get to stand up and declare what God
hath done. Let me tell you what God's done. I may fall flat on my face up
here, and that's OK, as long as I've told you what God hath
done. It ain't about me. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. Joseph acknowledges who's in
control. God is going to show you what
He's going to do. Not what I'm going to do, not
what you're going to do, what He's going to do. You know, if
this was all about what Joseph was going to do, do you think
Joseph would have ever wound up in Egypt if he had his way? Earthly speaking, if Joseph had
what he wanted, would he have wound up here? Never in a million
years. Never in a million years. Pharaoh,
you think if Pharaoh had his way, this famine would come like
the world had never seen? No? I don't think so. You see,
Joseph was a sinner saved by grace. He pictured Christ, okay?
He was a sinner. He pictured Christ. Pharaoh was
just a sinful man, okay? And this Pharaoh, I don't know
if God saved him or not. I like to think maybe he did.
I don't know. I don't know. But Pharaoh was just a king,
lowercase k. There is a King, capital K, capital
I, capital N, capital G, who's seated and reigning on his throne
right now and forever and ever. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 26, the seven good kind
are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The
dream is one. and the seven thin and ill-favored
kind that came up after them are seven years, and the seven
empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of
famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh, what
God is about to do, he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come
seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, and there
shall arise after them seven years of famine, and all the
plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt." How bad's
this famine gonna be? They're not even gonna remember
the plenty. That's how bad this is going to be. The end of verse
30. And the famine shall consume
the land, and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason
of that famine following. For it shall be very grievous,
very heavy. And for that the dream was doubled
unto Pharaoh twice. It is because the thing is established
by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. My sinner margin
therefore established as prepared of God. Prepared of God. Seven years of great plenty followed
by seven years of famine like there never had been before.
And this came to Pharaoh in two dreams because God established
it and he's surely going to bring it to pass. There's no getting
out of this. Whatsoever God do with this forever,
nothing can be put to it, nothing can be taken from it. Nothing. We can say it if we want to,
but only as fools. What doest thou? What are we
going to say to our Maker? It's foolish, isn't it? God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. None can stop Him. None can hinder Him. I love this
verse, Isaiah 46, 11. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. You enjoy that verse? Verse 33. Now therefore let Pharaoh look
out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of
Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over
the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in
the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food
of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand
of Pharaoh. And let them keep food in the cities, and that
food shall be for store to the land against the seven years
of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land
perish not, be not cut off. Here Joseph instructs Pharaoh,
he says, you need a man. I'm here to tell us we need a
man. We need a man. This isn't it. You're not it. We need a man.
We need a man both wise and discreet. Wise and discreet. And let me
say this. At no point in this do I see
Joseph being cocky or arrogant. Right here, he didn't tell Pharaoh,
I'm your man. God will humble his people. Christ
humbled himself. This is a mighty task for a man
to oversee these seven years of plenty and seven years of
famine. This is a mighty task. Who is sufficient for these things?
Who is sufficient for these things? I rejoice so much to tell you
this. The great famine took place in
the garden. I don't know what it was like
before that, but I imagine it was similar to these years of
plenty. No bondage, just freedom, joy. You can eat
anything you want. You think there was just a couple
options? I doubt it. I'm sure Eden was a land of plenty. You
can eat everything except that right there. That one tree, don't
eat that fruit. But when Adam ate and plunged
all of mankind into damnation and destruction and utter ruin,
do you know that a man stood ready from all eternity to save
us from that famine? Right here. The famine hadn't
come yet. The seven good years of plenty
hadn't even started yet. And yet, here Joseph is. There
Christ was. The works were finished. He's
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he told Pharaoh
right here, he said, you can appoint some officers. You know
what those officers picture? God's preachers. Some officers
to go point everybody to Joseph, the wise and discreet man. What
do we do? We're called to point everybody
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the power and wisdom of God. All who are famished. All who
are famished will gladly look to Him. Where are we gonna go? We're gonna go to Him, by God's
grace. God's given us faith in Him.
Verse 37, Joseph made this suggestion, and the thing was good in the
eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. Now, this
right there, that was my introduction. That was a little long, I know. I don't know how long, I don't
know. Here's my message right here, okay? This is what I want
us to see. The thing was good in the eyes
of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh
said unto his servants, can we find such a one as this, a man
in whom the spirit of God is? Can we find such a one as this?
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, for as much as God has showed
thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou. Pharaoh chooses Joseph. I'll tell you what. Pharaoh didn't
have any other person to consider. He was the only choice. There
was no other man. It was obvious, wasn't it? And
yet we naturally think that we're something like him. Thought that
he was altogether such a one as us. Oh, how ridiculous. There's none like him. There's
none like that. The Lord Jesus Christ, He was
daily the Father's delight. He went about doing good everywhere.
Everywhere He went, every single day, everything He did was please
the Father. Please the Father. Right here,
Pharaoh is a picture right here of God the Father. Joseph pleased
Him. He pleased Him so much. So greatly. And I like this too.
Did you notice there? It said that He pleased Pharaoh's
servants too. Is Christ not pleasing to you?
Does anybody compare to Him? We're told, I believe, in John
3 that He has the Spirit without measure. Without measure. He's one with the Spirit. He's
one with the Father. I love what it says about Christ in Isaiah
42 where, one, it says He shall not fail, but also it says He's
God's elect. He's the chosen one. He's God's
servant. God's servant. He's God's anointed
king. God said, I've set my king upon
my holy hill of Zion. That's Christ, the son, the servant
of God. This is my goal for all weekend
long and for the rest of our lives. I pray God would cause
the Lord Jesus Christ to be altogether lovely to us, altogether beautiful,
altogether comely. Colossians 3, 11, Christ is all.
I pray Christ might be made known to be our all in all. Nothing
else is worth anything because he's everything. Verse 40, 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 I can't help but think back
to Joseph's brothers right here. I wanted to mention them a lot
tonight. I'm barely going to mention them at all, but they
could not stand him. Their heart was full of hatred
for him. It wasn't that they just didn't like him. They hated
him. You've got to hate your brother pretty bad to want to
kill him. You know, they saw that coat
of many colors that their father had made for him, and they just
hated him all the more. Thought they deserved the coat.
And once they got their hands on that coat, they tore it up.
And went and lied to their father, let him think an evil beast devoured
his beloved son. How evil! Must have hated their
father, too. That's a pretty cool thing to
do, isn't it? And imagine... I don't think I'll get here this
weekend, but I want to get here eventually. Imagine what Joseph's brothers
would have thought if they knew what was going on right here.
When Joseph makes himself known to them in chapter 45, they couldn't
even say anything at first. They were so scared. They were
so afraid. Can you imagine what they would
have thought when they found out the one we hated conspired
to kill and then decided just to sell, thought we'd never see
again, and here we are begging him for food? Can you imagine?
Brethren, think about the spiritual picture there. We're Joseph's brethren. Are
we any better than they? God forbid. Potiphar's wife,
who had Joseph wrongfully imprisoned, imagine what she would have thought. She's now subject to him. Her husband is Pharaoh's captain
of the guard. He's subject to Joseph too. The
man that threw him in prison is subject to him. My, how things
changed. We read in 1 Timothy 6 that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the blessed and only potentate, the King
of kings and Lord of lords. He's the most high God. Nebuchadnezzar
learned that, didn't he? Thought he could do what he wanted.
No, there's one king. It wasn't Nebuchadnezzar. Mighty
king, or so he thought. So he thought he was till God
made him as a beast of the field. I like how Pharaoh told Joseph
right here in verse 40, he said, according unto thy word shall
all my people be ruled. We can't do anything unless God
let us. This whole world is moving according
to his word. He upholds all things, everything,
everywhere, everyone, all the time by the word of his power.
No exceptions. That's who God is. That's who
Jesus Christ is. Everybody likes to talk about
Jesus. That's who the real Jesus is. There's no other. The Lord
Jesus Christ, Savior, the King, God Almighty. The end of verse
40, don't be confused. He said, only in the throne will
I be greater than thou. He's one with the Father. He
said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. When he talked
about no man, no man can pluck him out of my hand, my Father's
hand. He said, I am my Father. We're one. Number one, he made himself obedient about
the things he suffered. He said, lo, I come to do thy
will. Who's he talking to? His father.
As the obedient son, as the obedient servant, he submits himself to
his father. But he's no less God than the
father. No less God than the father. Verse 41, and Pharaoh
said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all the land of
Egypt, Christ reigneth over all. He ruleth over all. There's nothing
that is not under His reign. Nothing. Nothing. Doesn't that
comfort you? When I'm troubled, just that
thought comforts me so much. I like this verse, Psalm 24 verse
1. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world
and they that dwell therein. Anything exempt from that? Whatever
we have, what do we have that we haven't received? It all comes
from Him. Well, you're smarter than me.
Well, oh well. I thought of this song, Crown
Him With Many Crowns. I love that song. Crown Him With Many
Crowns. I think it's the end of the chorus.
It says, crown Him Lord of all. Lord of all. He's not Lord because
we crown Him as Lord. God, I've made this same Jesus
whom we crucified, both Lord and Christ. But don't you want
to crown Him Lord? Don't you want, you know, people talk about
your crowns and put on your crown. Cast your crown at His feet.
Is that not what we're going to do? We're going to glory in
Him. Glory in Him. Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven
and earth. All power. All power is His. The Father loved the Son, and
hath given all things into His hand. Everything. All things.
That's not hard to understand, is it? All things. For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Is
that all right with you? It doesn't matter if it is or
not, but I love that. I love that. He's Lord of all. Lord of all. Verse 42, and Pharaoh
took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand,
and 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. Everyone's gonna bow to Joseph. Turn to chapter 37, back just
a couple pages. I mentioned that coat of many
colors his father had made him because of his great love for
him, to distinguish him among all others, from all others.
Well, that coat of many colors is gone, and now he's arrayed
right here in king's clothing. I love that. He was his father's
delight, and now he's Pharaoh's delight. He was also Potiphar's
delight, and the captain and the prisoner's delight, too.
Is Christ our delight? Is it your delight? Bow then
ye. Look here at Genesis 37, verse
five. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, here I pray you this dream which I've dreamed.
For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf
arose and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaf stood
round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren
said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou
indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream
and told it his brethren. And said, behold, I have dreamed
a dream more. And behold, the sun and the moon
and the 11 stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his
father and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and
said unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves
to thee on the earth? And his brethren envied him,
but his father observed the saying. Look at chapter 42. You know,
if you just read that, you think, man, what an arrogant, self-conceited
brother he is. No, this is God's purpose prophesied
and fulfilled. And I'm going to tell you this,
they may have hated him, but by the end, you get to the end
of Genesis 50, they love him. That's the end of this. Let me
tell you this. By nature, we hate the Lord Jesus Christ, but
if he saves us and delivers us by great deliverance, God sees
to it that we love him. You see why I love this account?
Look here, Genesis 42, verse 6. Genesis 42, 6, And Joseph was
the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the
people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and
bowed down themselves before him with their face to the earth. Are we going to bow to you? Yep. Don't you love seeing the scripture
fulfilled? Oh, my soul. We can trust God's Word. If it
says it, that settles it. You used to always say that.
God said it, that settles it. Every knee shall bow, every tongue's
gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and it's gonna be to
the glory of God the Father. But back in chapter 41, verse
44, Genesis 41, 44. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in all the land of Egypt." Without you, Joseph, nothing
happens. Without Christ, without His Word
speaking it, nothing happens. Nothing happens. You believe
that? If you believe He's sovereign,
if you believe He's God, if you take Him at His Word, you do.
Oh, may God enable us to. In John chapter 1, we read that
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word
was God, the same was in the beginning with God. It tells
us that there was nothing made that He didn't make. Nothing. Nothing. There was not anything
made that was made without Him. You mean to tell me that was
Jesus Christ in the beginning who said, let there be and there
was? Yes. Yes. Who else did you think
it was? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, where
were we? Where were we? Did he take counsel
with us when he spoke the world into existence? Oh no, no. All things were created by him
and for him. He's before all things, by him
all things consist. He's the head of the body, the
church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. That means he's first, he's first. For it pleased the Father, just
like it pleased Pharaoh, that in him all fullness should dwell.
What else are we looking for? Look to him. Look to him. Verse 45 right here. And Pharaoh
called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paneah. Zaphnath-paneah. There's a couple
meanings here. My sinner Martin says a revealer
of secrets. Revealer of secrets, but I like
this meaning a little bit better. Blue Letter Bible says, treasury
of the glorious rest. You know what a treasury is?
It's a place where treasure is stored. I'm an accountant. In the accounting
world, it's where the money is. It's where all the things of
value are. That's what Joseph was. And how
much more? A greater than Joseph is here. How much more true is that concerning
our Lord Jesus Christ? See your treasure? Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. You know, he told
that rich young ruler, you know, that man thought he was good.
He thought he was the same as God because the Lord said, why
you call me good? There's only one good, that's
God. Told him all the things he'd
done from his youth. The Lord told him, there's just
one thing you lack. Sell everything you have, give it to the poor,
come follow me and you'll have treasure in heaven. Is Christ
your treasure? Christ wasn't his treasure. That was his problem.
It wasn't even his money, it was his goodness. His self-perceived
goodness. The only goodness is God. The
only goodness is Christ. He's goodness personified. I know I'm going to get to it
tomorrow, but if anybody needs corn, Pharaoh's going to see
to it that they have to come to Joseph. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Come to Joseph. Come to Christ. Treasury of the glorious rest.
Anybody here weary, heavy laden? I know I'm not the only one that
went to work today. Anybody tired? Anybody tired in your soul? Christ
said, come to me. I will give you rest. I will. I will. Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphnath-Paneah, and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter
of Potiphar, a priest of On. Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife. You
know, that's a very minor detail that stuck out to me, and I thought,
You just can't make this up. Pharaoh gave him a wife. He gave him a wife. Joseph didn't
just go out and find a wife. No, Pharaoh gave him a wife.
The Father gave Christ a wife, the Lamb's wife, the Bride of
Christ. The Father gave her to him. Our
maker is our husband. Ephesians 5, for this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. The father gave
him a wife. Gave him a wife. Tomorrow we're
gonna see, gave him children too. Gave him children, sons. The end of verse 45 right here.
And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt There was much
work to be done, and Joseph got to work. From our Lord's youth,
as he walked this earth, he said, I must be about my father's business.
He didn't do anything for himself. Everything he did was to do the
will of the Father, and that was to save his people. That's
exactly what he did. That's exactly what he did. There's so much here. I've not begun to scratch the
surface. of what a glorious picture Joseph is of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. But I pray we have indeed seen
a glimpse of him tonight. Let's sing the Lord in prayer.
God, our Father, we thank you for this blessed time to come
here and worship you. Call upon your holy name. We
thank you for this account of our brother Joseph and how he
so beautifully pictured our Redeemer. Lord, all the provision that
you gave through Joseph In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have everything.
We lack nothing. Lord, please bless your word
to the hearts of all of us gathered here tonight and all who might
be here in this service, Lord. Be with Brother Todd as he comes
to speak in just a moment. We're just men. Lord, help us
to hear your word. Help us to declare it. Help us to believe
it. Give us faith in Christ. Cause us to look to him and him
alone. Forgive us of our sins. We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen. Lord, bless his word. I enjoyed that very much. I got
fed. Fed good. I really did. Somebody told me one time, Joseph's
a 72 point type of Christ. Man, you brought out things I
didn't even know was there. I appreciate that so much. We
got a dear, dear friend of mine that's been here lots of times
over the years and been down here played the piano for us
and sung. And our dear friend, I've read
some by day. Anybody got friends that's older
than 20 years old? I've got folks here today that
I've known for 40-something years, and we're still friends. And
when we get around one, they'll just pick up like we just left
off. So Mike's going to come, Mike Bartram. And he's going
to sing a song I asked him to sing. There is a line that's been drawn
through the ages. On that line, who stands out
from the crowd? On that cross, a battle is raging. of evil, all the demons and the
devils of hell. The angels of glory, and they
meet on the cross of sin. The earth shakes with the voice
of the God And the sun refuses to shine.
For there hangs God's Son in the darkness, and in With his feelings, the battle
is over With his feelings, there'll be no
more war It is finished and Jesus is born. Yet in my heart the battle's
raging. Followed prisoners of war and
control. They were battle pens of my own
making. I didn't know that the war had
been won. victory was mine for the I am free. Sing it with me. It is finished. It is finished. Well, I'll take it. Nothing else ever happens. It's
just been wonderful.