I love and appreciate this church,
love and appreciate this pastor, and I'm so thankful for our friendship
over the years. Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 39? Paul said in 2 Timothy 3.16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's all God breathed. And it said exactly as God would
have it said. How do you expect me to believe
that the Bible is the inspired word of God? I don't have any
problem with it at all. God created the universe as an
act of his own will. And if he has the power to do
that, he has the power to inspire men to write a book and keep
it preserved just as he would have it said. Now always keep
that in mind when we read the scripture. Genesis chapter 39,
beginning in verse 20. And Joseph's master took him
and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners
were bound. And he was there in the prison,
but the Lord was with Joseph. What more could be said? The
Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor
in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of
the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were
in the prison. And whatsoever they did there,
he was the doer of it. Now I'm not asking you what you
think that means, but what does it say? What does it say? It says whatsoever
they did, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked
not to anything that was under his hand, Because the Lord was
with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. How did Joseph arrive in prison? Well, you know the story. Joseph
had these dreams that infuriated his brother, his brethren. He
said, you're all gonna bow to me. The sun, the moon, and the
stars are gonna bow to me. And they hated him. And they
had him sold into Egypt. The Midianites brought him down,
and he arrives in Potiphar's house. And the Lord was with
him. And everything he did in Potiphar's
house prospered. so that Potiphar committed everything
to him. He didn't know what was his.
It just trusted Joseph completely with everything. Look in chapter
39, verse one, and Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar,
an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, brought
him into the hands of the Israelites, which had brought him down with
her, and the Lord was with Joseph. And he was a prosperous man.
And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his
master saw that the Lord was with him. Now, how did he see
this? Well, by what he saw. Everything
this man did prospered. Everything he did turned to gold.
And he saw this. He couldn't mistake it. And Joseph found grace in his
sight, and he served him, and he made him overseer over his
house, and all that he had he put in his hand. It came to pass
from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over
all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house
for Joseph's sake. That's the gospel, isn't it?
And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the
house and in the field, and he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand. And he knew not what he had save
the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person
and well favored. He was a very nice looking man.
Verse seven, and it came to pass after these things that his master's
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph. And she said, lie with me. But
he refused. and said unto his master's wife,
Behold, my master what is not what is with me in the house,
and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. There's none
greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back anything
from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I
do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came
to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened
not unto her, to lie by her or to be with her. Now here we read
of Joseph being tempted to sexual sin. Now everybody that's old enough
knows something about temptation to sexual sin. What's the first thing that's
recorded after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit? Scripture says
their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. Now they were naked before this,
but you know what? It wasn't an issue. But now that
their eyes are opened and they have these evil natures, it becomes
Such an issue. Now, God created sex. You ever thought about that?
God created sex. It's not dirty, it's beautiful. The act of two becoming one flesh
in the consummation of the covenant of marriage. It's given to illustrate the
beautiful union between Christ and his church being one. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4 says,
marriage is honorable in all and the bed is undefiled. And man has taken that which
is beautiful and degraded it and debauched it. Sexual sin
is behind much of the problems in our society today. The crimes
that take place, the homes that are broken, the lives that are
destroyed through sexual sin. It's behind many or most of the
divorces. And you look at the way it's
destroyed the lives of children, the families it's broken up.
Sex in the marriage covenant is holy. Outside of the marriage
covenant, It's great sin against God. It's evil. Don't ever think
in any way that sexual sin is okay or permissible in any way
to any degree. It is not. Teacher children, they know,
but the society that we live in condones sexual sin, and we
want them to know. All that being said, That's not
the point of this. Let me repeat. That's not the
point of this narrative. This narrative is given to teach
us the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what this is speaking
of is the utter sinlessness of Jesus Christ. never sinned. He never sinned. Not in thought, not in word,
not in deed. He never sinned. Verse 11, And it came to pass about this
time that Joseph went into the house to do his business and
there was none of the men of the house there within and she
caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And he left his
garment in her hand and fled and got him out. And it came
to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand
and was fled forth. I think she thought, I've had
enough. Hell hath no fury like a woman's
scorn. She was upset. She was going
to do something about this. This was a wicked woman, wasn't
she? A desperately evil woman. Then, verse 14, she called unto
the men of her house and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath
brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to
lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice, and it came to
pass, when he heard that I lift up my voice and cried, that he
left his garment with me and fled, and got him out. And she
laid up his garment by her until his Lord came home. And she spake unto him, according
to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought
unto us, came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass, as I
lifted up my voice, and cried, that he left his garment with
me, and fled out. And it came to pass when his
master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him,
saying, after this manner did thy servant to me, that his wrath
was kindled, and Joseph's master took him and put him into the
prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. And he
was there in prison. Now I couldn't help but wonder,
why didn't they have him put to death? Certainly would have
been his right to do it. I think he knew something about
this woman. I think maybe something like this had happened before.
And he's, in some respects, merciful in putting him in prison. And
you know, something else that we don't read of, we don't read
where Joseph made any claim, I didn't do this, this is wrong.
Maybe he did, but we don't read of it. You know someone else
who didn't make a claim against the accusations brought against
him? Verse 21, but the Lord was with
Joseph and showed him mercy, favor. Oh, the Lord loved Joseph. And he gave him favor in the
sight of the keeper of the prison. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever
he will. And the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the
prison. There's one group of people that
Joseph was given personal responsibility for. Who? Prisoners. They weren't free to walk out.
They were prisoners. Those are the people that Joseph
was given responsibility for. Not anybody else, but prisoners
locked up They were not free to leave. I Think it's interesting
that men make free will a given Did you know there's no such
thing There is no such thing thing. Men are enslaved to their evil
nature. All men are enslaved to their
evil nature. They are not free. Turn with me, hold your finger
there and turn with me to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter seven. And before I read this, the very
notion of free will is absurd. God does not have a free will. Why do you say that? His nature. He can't sin, can he? He can't
lie, can he? He can't up and decide to be
evil, can he? No, his will is controlled by his nature. And
the natural man, their will is controlled by their nature, a
sinful nature. And the very idea of free will
is an absurdity. There's never been a bigger lie
told. Now look what Paul says in Romans
chapter seven, verse 14. For we know, who's the we? Everybody who knows. Everybody
who knows. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin, sold. as a slave to sin. Was Paul a believer or an unbeliever
when he made that statement? He's a believer. And did you
know only a believer could make a statement like that? They're
the only one who have any understanding of what sin is in the first place.
You see, they've been given a new nature. They've been given a
holy nature. And only the believer can understand
anything about slavery to sin. An unbeliever is a stranger to
this. That's why I said, well, he couldn't
have been saved when he made a statement like that. That's
because you Don't know anything about sin. That's because you've
never been born again. That's because God's never saved
you. That's the only reason someone would make a statement like that.
Now an unbeliever can understand being controlled by an addiction, but not this. Being sold under sin. That's why Paul ended this seventh
chapter, O wretched man that I am. Not O wretched man that I was
before God saved me. O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Who did Joseph have the charge
for? Prisoners. How many of them? All of them. All of them. That's who Joseph was responsible
for. Now if you find yourself objecting
to this, Either you're just self-deceived
or you've been given a strong delusion that you might believe
a lie, that you might be damned because you've received not the
love of the truth. This is something that every believer knows. We know. He didn't just say,
I know. We know. Him speaking as the
representative of all of God's elect, we know. Do you? We know that the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal. Sold. What strong language. Sold under sin. And Joseph takes complete responsibility
for these people. and only these people. Verse 22, and the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the
prison And whatsoever they did there,
he was the doer of it. Now, I ask again, not what do
you think that means, what does it say? And remember, this is said exactly
as God would have it said. Whatsoever they did, Joseph was
the doer of it. Now, here we have the great mystery
of the gospel clearly stated. Now, the Old Testament is given
to illustrate the gospel. All of it is. All of it is. That's
its only purpose, to illustrate the gospel. And in this statement,
we have the great mystery of substitution. We have the great
mystery of what it means when the Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin on Calvary Street. Now whatsoever they did there,
Now, when I've read that, I don't know why this comes to my mind,
but when I've read that in the past, I thought, well, Joseph
was such an effective leader, the Lord prospered him so much
that he got these guys straightened out, and they started doing real
well, and Joseph gets the credit for it by how he led them. And that's just, I don't know
why I read it that way, but I think, that's not what it says, is it?
That's not what it says at all. It says, whatsoever they did.
This is a prison. I was talking to a man in prison
just a couple of weeks ago, and he said the things that go on
here, I can't imagine. Whatsoever they did, Joseph was
the doer. Now, what does that mean? This picture is as clear as there
is anywhere in the Bible of what Christ being made sin means. Now, understand, He never sinned. Amen? He never sinned. He never committed a sin. When he was made sin,
he never sinned. Now, if somebody says, well,
you're saying Christ sinned. You can say that if you want,
but that's a willful twisting of what I'm saying. He never
sinned. And that's pointed out in Joseph's
dealing with Potiphar's wife. But the reason he's in prison
is because of the crime he was charged with. And though Christ
never sinned, when he was made sin as my substitute, he became
guilty of the commission of that sin. God does not put sins into hell. He puts the people who committed
them into hell. God doesn't punish sins. God punishes the one who committed
those sins. Now, do I understand this? No. Do I believe it? With all my
heart. Christ became the doer. Whatsoever they did, didn't matter
what it is. Christ became the doer of it. So much so that he
owned those sins as his own personal sins. Now, Brother Fortner read
this passage last night, but turn with me to Psalm 40. I'll tell you what, even saying
this kind of stuff, it makes me uncomfortable. It does, it's
not easy to say. Is it what the book teaches though? That's the issue. Is this what
the scripture teaches? Verse seven, then said I, lo
I come, in the volume of the book it's written of me. Who's
speaking? The Lord Jesus Christ. And look
what he says in verse 11. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindnesses and
thy truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have
compassed me about mine iniquities. Not Todd's iniquities that were
imputed to me. Mine iniquities. have taken hold upon me, so that
I am not able to look up there more than the hairs of my head. Turn to the 69th Psalm. Verse nine, for the zeal of thine
house hath eaten me up. That's spoken of Christ in John
chapter 2. Those are his words. He's the
only one who could say the zeal of thine house hath eaten me
up. This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. Now look, he says in
verse one, save me, O God, for the waters are coming to my soul.
I sink in deep, my hour, where there's no standing. I'm coming
to deep waters where the floods overflow me. I'm weary of my
crying, my throat is dried. Mine eyes fail when I wait for
my God. They that hate me without a cause,
I've spoken of Christ in John chapter 15. They that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They that
would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then
I restored that which I took not away. Who's the only one
who can say that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look what
he says. Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness. And my sins, my sins, are not
hid from thee. Whatsoever they did, Joseph was the doer of it. Christ died on Calvary's tree. Yes, the just for the unjust.
It's because my sin became his sin. That he was guilty of committing. But this also shows the reality
of justification. Just as truly, whatsoever they did, Christ was
the doer. It doesn't say what Christ did
was imputed to them. That's not what it says at all.
It says whatsoever they did, Christ, Joseph, was the doer
of it. Keep your finger there and turn
to Revelation 19. Verse six, and I heard as it
were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his
wife hath made herself ready, and to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen. clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of Christ imputed to the saints. Doesn't say that, does it? Doesn't
say that at all. I've heard people say, well,
what this is talking about is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Oh, oh, do you have any deeds that would be counted as clean
and white? I don't think so. The righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness of the saints. Whatsoever they did, He was the
doer of it. I love what The Lord said to
John the Baptist, when John the Baptist said to him, I have need
to be baptized in thee, and comest thou to me? He said, suffer to
be so now. For thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. You know when he kept the law?
You know somebody else who did? Every believer. Every believer. What he did,
he did as an us. Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Now salvation is not due, it's
done. Because He is the doer. That's what I entitled this message,
the doer. Now you think of every aspect
of salvation. I gotta begin with God's eternal
purpose. He's the surety of it. When we talk about election,
He's the doer. He said, you did not choose me,
but I chose you. I hear people say, well, we choose
him because he first chose us. The Lord didn't say that. He
said, you didn't choose me. I chose you. When we talk about redemption,
it's his doing. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. being made a curse for us. Justification. Isn't that his
doing? He took his righteousness and
made it mine. And now I stand before God without
guilt, having never sinned whatsoever they did. He was the doer. We're regenerated. We're given
life for this one reason. He lived. He died. He was raised from the dead. Why, the faith we have. is said
to be the faith of Christ. I live yet, not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life that I now live, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Repentance, the change of mind
we have is because he changed it. We have good works because
we're his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works Whatsoever they did we persevere Because we're preserved
in Christ Jesus Whatsoever they did he was the doer of it The
Apostle Paul put it this way Christ is all. In all. You know, in this history of
Joseph, I love this story. But in chapter 36, we're given
the descendants of Esau. And there are many of them listed.
and all their exploits and all the things they did, the cities
they built, the wars they won, and there are a lot of people
mentioned. You open up chapter 37, here's the generations of
Jacob, Joseph. That's it. The only name of significance
in the kingdom of heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever
they did Joseph was the doer of it and look at verse 23 The
keeper of the prison now What kind of hard job did this guy
have trying to keep in line this bunch a keeper of the prison
back in that day? Oh my what a but look what it
says the keeper of the prison look not to anything He didn't look at any of his
responsibilities that he had to do. One place he looked. Joseph. Joseph. He wasn't worried about
the prisoners. He wasn't worried about him escaping.
He wasn't worried about anything. He looked to Joseph. I think of that passage of scripture
in Ephesians chapter 1, 12, that we should be to the praise of
His glory who first trusted in Christ. Who's the first one to
trust Christ? The Father. When He entrusted
into the hands of His Son all of His elect, and He looked completely
to His Son for everything He requires of man. You believe
that? Did he take 99% responsibility? No. He took full responsibility
as the surety for God's elect and everything that God requires
of me, everything, everything, he looks to his son for. Me and you are called upon to
trust him the same way. You have the same faith God does. He looks to his son for everything
he requires of you. You look to his son for everything
he requires of you. May I do that? You're commanded
to. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. Don't wait till you understand
more. Don't wait till you have a better
experience. Don't wait until you have a better
life and maybe you're not sinning so much. Remember, faith in Christ
has absolutely nothing to do with what you believe about yourself. Let me repeat that. Faith in
Christ has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you
believe you're saved or elect or born again. Here's the one issue. Do you
believe that Jesus is the Christ? God's prophet, God's priest,
God's king. Do you believe that He is the
Son of God? That's what's called saving faith.