the message, Joseph is a fruitful
bough. Jacob is blessing his sons. He's telling
them of the things that will happen to them and their posterity
in days to come. Then he comes to Joseph. He comes to Joseph. This is the
one whom he loved. Remember, this was his favorite
son. This is the one whom he thought
that he would not see again in this lifetime. I mean, he didn't
even dream that he'd ever see him again in this life. And I imagine that when he comes
to Joseph, I have to think that there was
a smile on his face, that he just could not resist. And he gives him the richest
blessing. Actually, God gives him the richest
blessings through Jacob. There is none like Joseph, and
we are going to look at Joseph and how he's a type of Christ
again, and then how we are blessed in Christ. As he is, the scripture
says, so are we in this world. And we have what he has. What
belongs to him belongs to us. It belongs to us also. But there's
none like Joseph in his character. We've already looked at this.
In all his trials, we never read of anyone like Joseph. The way
he went through these trials. these heartaches and how he bore
up under them. He did not retaliate when he
had the power to retaliate. He didn't do it. Didn't even
complain when he was cast into prison. He became the head of
the prison and he stayed right there until the Lord brought
him out. He was the perfect servant. in
prison as well as on the throne of Egypt. He was the perfect
servant. And this is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
who truly is the perfect servant. God said in Isaiah 42, Behold
my servant, he shall not fail. He's the perfect servant. And
then there's none like him in his conduct. He conducted himself
in a righteous manner, no matter what the situation was. We never
read of anything about Joseph that is off collar. He conducted himself in a righteous
manner in all situations. And our Lord, our Joseph, our
Joseph, always conducted himself in a righteous manner. He knew
no sin. He never stooped. The Scripture
says in one place, he knew what was in man. He did not commit
himself to man or men or man because he knew what was in him.
And he never did stoop to do any act of sin or even a thought
not even a thought of sin, not even while they were slapping
him, while they were plucking the beard from his face, while
they spit upon him, while they mocked him, not even a thought
of sin entered his mind against those men. Always acted in a
righteous manner. Then there was none like him
in power. Joseph possessed all power to rule Egypt. His word
was law. His word was law. What he said,
that was law. Our Lord has all power in heaven
and earth to rule over all. He said in John 17, all power
over all flesh has been given unto me. I might give eternal
life to as many as the Father had given to him. That's what
God's given me. He has all power right now to
rule and reign over all principalities, all powers, all angels, men,
over all things. He rules them right now. And then there's none like Joseph
in his love to his brethren. You remember what they did to
him And when he saw them, when he
saw his brethren, when they came to him in Egypt and they did
not recognize him, his heart, his heart went out to those men,
his brethren. His heart went right out to them.
He had compassion on them. He had no animosity whatsoever
toward them. He loved them. He loved them. Our Lord has loved us with an
everlasting love. Before we knew Him, when we were
enemies in our mind by wicked works, He loved us. He loved
us. While we were out sinning, He
loved us. While we were out taking the glory to ourselves, He loved
us. Having loved His own, He loved them to the end, to the
uttermost. Then there's none like him in
his wisdom. There was none as wise as Joseph. He saved much
people alive by his wisdom. He said, Pharaoh, this is what
we need to do. And Pharaoh recognized his wisdom and put him head over
everything. Our Lord is the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom of God and he
too has saved most people alive by his wisdom. Our Joseph truly deserves the
richest, richest blessings from heaven. Our Lord deserves the
richest blessings from heaven above and the deep that lieth
under. He deserves it all. Now it says
here that Joseph is a fruitful bough. In prison or on the throne,
wherever you find Joseph, you find fruitfulness. You find fruitfulness
wherever you find Joseph. And our Lord, our Joseph, is
a fruitful bough. Listen, he's fruitful. He is
fruitful at what he is. The fruit of Christ's substitutionary
work is a multitude of sinners. And I'm looking at some of them,
just a few of them. I mean, there's a multitude. The Scripture says
no man can number it. I'm looking at just a few. I'm looking at the fruit of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm looking at the fruit of His
substitutionary work. And His children are going to
serve Him and worship Him and be with Him forever and ever. He's a fruitful vine. Oh, when
they saw Him hanging on the cross, He didn't look like one, did
He? Did that look like a fruitful vine hanging on the cross? Oh, but the fruit is coming out
of Him. When this is all over with, there will be innumerable
amount of sinners, giving to Him the glory and praise that's
due unto His name. Have you ever seen a fruitful
bough? Have you ever seen something just hanging over with fruit?
Have you ever seen a grape vine, the grapes just hanging off?
Or an apple tree where the apples are just loaded, and the tree's
just loaded with apples? That's what it's going to be
like in glory. This one vine. It's going to
have all this fruit, all these believers, all these sinners
saved by grace. They're because of Him. Because
of Him. And the Lord's children are fruitful. They bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Listen to Galatians 5, 22 and 23. But the fruit of the Spirit
is love. They will bear this. His children will bear this love.
Did he not bear it? Did any ever love like Christ
loved? Nothing. Joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Is there any fruit, is there
any fruit better than this fruit? Is there anything better than
this? Now where does this fruitfulness
come from? He says here, Joseph is a fruitful bowel, even a fruitful
bowel by a well. By a well. He draws his fruitfulness from
the well that he drinks from. Our Lord, as a man, was given
the Spirit without measure and He drank deep of it. He had the Spirit without measure
and he drank deep. And we who believe draw our nourishment
from the grace of the Spirit of Christ who is the water of
life. This is where this fruitfulness
comes from, this well, this well of the water of life, drinking
of Him, nourished by Him, being nourished by the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is what causes fruitfulness. Whose branches run over the wall?
Christ said in John 15. I am the vine. You are the branches. You are the branches. The branches
belong to the vine. The word whose shows ownership. Whose branches? Coming off that
vine, it says they run over the wall. And you know what this
is a clear picture of here? It's faith in Christ. A vine,
you ever see a vine stand up by itself? A vine is always growing
up on something. It'll grow up a tree, a bush,
a wall. Here's a clear picture of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our support. He's the one
we cling to. And because, now listen, because
of who he is and the blessings that were upon him, he was a hated man. Isn't that
something? That shows you how depraved this
world is. Because of these blessings, because
of who he is, he was a hated man. The skillful, this here is the
masters of archery. That's what it means. The masters
of archery. It's not just some bozo out there
shooting an arrow. These are the master archers.
They hit the mark. The archers have sorely grieved
him and shot at him, listen, and hated him. Hated him. Joseph was hated by his brethren. He didn't do anything to them.
What did he do to them? He told them about two dreams
that God had given him, and they hated him for it. And I'll tell
you another reason why they hated him, because his father loved
him. He was his father's choice son, and they hated him for it. And they shot at him. They lied
on him. They lied on, listen, Potiphar's
wife lied on him. Put him in prison for something
he didn't do. He was forgotten by the baker. He was hated. Joseph was hated
without a cause. In reading his story, you cannot
find a cause in his life as to why they ought to have hated
him. Christ was hated by His own people.
He came unto His own and His own received Him not. They said
crucify Him, crucify Him. He was falsely accused. They
trumped up some charges on him and accused him of it. And then
they took him out and they hanged him on a tree. He was hated without a cause.
He went about doing good, healing, told the truth, spoke the truth.
The truth spoke the truth. But he remained strong. He remained
strong. Listen, but his bow abode in
strength. All his trials did not weaken
his character. It revealed it. It didn't weaken
it. It revealed it. Though many archers
shot at him, he remained strong. Our Lord was shot at by Satan.
Now listen, the Lord said to Peter, Peter, Satan hath desired
thee to sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your
faith fail not. But now, Satan had full power
against the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I, and anyone that's
ever been born, has never felt, never felt the full power of
Satan. He did. He did. Satan shot at him. Men shot at
him. He endured their insults, but he remained strong. He wasn't
weakened by them at all. He remained strong. And here's the secret to his
strength. And the arms of his hands were
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. That's how he remained strong. He was a real man. He was God. And his father was always with
him. I was trying to show Cole some time ago about shooting
the bow. a couple of bows at the house, and he was like this. I reached out and put my hand
over his hand, and this hand over this hand, and we pulled
it back. Now, guess who had a hold of that bow? He was smiling. That's what he's saying. God Almighty pulled that back.
He wasn't sitting there You ever try to pull back a, especially
before they got compound bows, you ever pull back a recurve?
Pull back a recurve, I'm sure. You don't hold it very long before
you start going like this. And it says here that his hands
and the arms of his hands were made strong, not quivering, not
shaking. How were they made strong? by
the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. He had a hold of it. He's the one holding the bow.
He is our strength at all times, in all situations. He's our strength. And from thence is the shepherd,
the stone of Israel. From the mighty God of Jacob
comes the shepherd. Comes the protector, the provider. Comes the foundation stone, the
triad stone on which we are built. Says from thence is the shepherd
the stone of Israel, the foundation of Israel. And here's a promise that old
Jacob gives to him. Even by the God of thy Father
who shall help thee." This belongs to Joseph. This belongs to Christ. This belongs to us. Even by the God of thy Father
who shall help thee. Here's a promise. Here's a promise
of help from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now we have
read their stories. Did they fail? Did God fail them? That's what I should say. They
failed several times, but did God fail them? Never. Never. Look over in Hebrews 13. He says here in verse 5, let
your conversation be without covetousness. In other words,
when you're driving down the road, don't say, boy, I'd like
to have that out, that out, that out. Let it be without covetousness,
and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may
boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man
shall do. unto me. He's my helper. He has promised. He has promised
help. Take Him at His promise. And
by the Almighty, He says this because it means that He has
the power to do it. He gives us a promise of help,
and then He backs it up with, I have the power to do it. Accomplish what I've promised. And here are the blessings. Who
shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of
the deep that lie under, blessings of the breast and of the womb. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have all the blessings of
heaven above. First, they were all given to
Him in the covenant of grace, all the blessings were given
to Him in that covenant of grace. And they were given to us in
Him before the foundation of the world. Turn over to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We've read
this so many times. Look in verse 3. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should behold him without blame before him in love. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ. We have all that heaven can give. I have. You have. All who believe have. All that
God can give in Christ. In Christ. We have it. Blessings, he said, from heaven
above. All that quote that speaks of
it is ours. Blessings of the deep that lieth
under, all things in this life, we are told in Romans 8, 28,
are working together for our good, whether we understand it or not,
it is. All things in providence, working
together for our good, whether it be men or devils or whatever,
they're working together for our good. There's an eternal
blessing in it, but I think this may have a special reference to his death. He went into that grave. He was
buried in the deep, and when that happened, our sins
were gone. Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. When our Lord died on that cross,
was buried in that tomb, buried in this earth, He put away all the sins of all
the elect. Blessings from beneath. Blessings
from above. He came down into this life,
lived and died. Buried. Rose again and went back
to the Father. He says blessings from above
and blessings from beneath. And blessings of the breast.
The rich milk of His Word. I think that's what he's speaking
of. The rich milk of His Word. His
Word is truly a blessing to those who feed on it. Listen to 1 Peter
2. Verse 2. As newborn babes desire
the sincere milk of the Word, That you may grow thereby. Blessings of the breast. This
has to do with His Word. The rich milk of His Word. And
of the womb. This has to do with a tender,
loving mercy. I looked this word up in Greek. And it said it has to do with
a tender, loving mercy. That's what it has to do with. So it has to do with the tender,
loving mercy of the Lord toward His children. In Psalm 22, 9. But thou art He that took me
out of the womb. Thou didst make me whole when
I was upon my mother's breast. This is spoken of Christ, and
this is spoken of His children. The blessings of thy Father have
prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost
bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of
Joseph, they shall be on the head of Christ, and on the crown
of the head of him that was separate." You know, I read that one. The first time I read that, I
read it separated from his brethren. And he was, he was separated
from his brethren. Now listen, all that have this
blessedness are blessed above all. They are blessed above all and
the blessings are everlasting. The blessings that we have in
Christ are everlasting. Cannot lose them, cannot lose
them. Now, how can I be sure that they
are everlasting, that they cannot be lost? Here's how. They are promised to Christ who
was separate from his brethren. Now, the word separate here,
you know, I read that as, like I said, as separated from his
brethren. And some of the commentators
I read, the commentaries said that, you know, they used that
word separated. But the word separate has to do with the Nazirite
vow. It has to do with the Nazarite
vow. One who is consecrated to the
Lord. Behold My servant. See, the blessings
are upon him, upon his head. And he can't lose them. We know
the Lord Jesus Christ cannot lose them. Therefore, we cannot
lose them. It's one who is consecrated to
the Lord totally committed, totally committed to the Lord. He said, My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me. Totally committed to Him. And
these blessings that belong to Christ belong to us in Christ. All these blessings. Justification,
sanctification, righteousness, peace, pardon, forgiveness and
all the blessings, all those blessings belong to us in Him
who is separate from His brethren. Joseph, Joseph is a fruitful,
fruitful bower. The Lord Jesus Christ, oh how How fruitful, how fruitful
He is. He hung on the cross. They just saw a bloody mess.
They saw what they thought was a man defeated. My, my soul. When we get to the end of all
this, we're going to see the fruit the fruit of his substitutionary
work, a multitude of sinners giving glory to God for redeeming
them from their sins.