We're glad to have Clay Curtis
here tonight, and he's preaching in Danville, and he brought Mark
and Regine and Diane with him, and we're glad to see you all. The butler, the baker, and the
gospel. In Genesis chapter 39, in Joseph's master, verse 20, took
him and put him into prison, The place where the king's prisoners
were bound and he was there in the prison. But 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. 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." Everything Joseph did prospered because
the Lord was with him. and he had charge of all the
prisoners. Now, I was thinking this is probably
the only time in the history of mankind this has happened,
when a prisoner has responsibility for all the prisoners, and it's
given into his hand by the main jail keeper. So there are two
prisoners that are going to come under Joseph's jurisdiction,
and we're gonna read about them in chapter 40, the butler and
the baker. And it came to pass after these
things that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had
offended their lord, the king of Egypt. We're not told what
they did, but these were chief men in his cabinet. And Pharaoh
was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of
the butlers and against the chief of the bakers. top. And he put them in ward in the
house of the captain of the guard into the prison, the place where
Joseph was bound. Now Joseph was still bound, yet
he was calling the shots at this time. And the captain of the guard
charged Joseph with them and he served them and they continued
a season in ward in the prison with Joseph being their overseer. And they dreamed A dream, both
of them. God gave them these dreams. How many times do you dream and
you can't even account for it? They're weird. You don't know
what they meant. You don't know where they came
from. Well, we know where these dreams came from. God gave these
men these dreams. And they dreamed a dream, both
of them, each man his dream, and one night, each man according
to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker
of the king of Egypt, which was bound in that prison. And Joseph
came in unto them in the morning and looked upon them, and behold,
they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers
that were with him in the ward of the Lord's house, saying,
wherefore look ye so sadly today? I see something of the sensitivity
of Joseph here. I look at Joseph as being a really
positive man. He knew the Lord was with him,
no matter what was brought his way. He knew the Lord was with
him when he was in Potiphar's house. He knew the Lord was with
him when he was in the prison. And he was just a positive man.
And really, with the Lord on the throne, why would we not
be positive? He controls everything. And Joseph was sensitive toward
these men. He could see something was wrong. And he said, why are you so sad?
What's wrong? Verse eight, and they said unto
him, we've dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter of it. We have no idea what these dreams
mean. And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations belong
to God? You know, he was always confessing
his Lord, his God. Do not interpretations belong
to God? Maybe they'd never heard of God
before, but they have now. Interpretations belong to God. Tell me then, I pray you. And
the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him, in
my dream, behold, a vine was before me. And in the vine were
three branches. And it was as though it budded
life And her blossoms shot forth and the clusters thereof brought
forth ripe grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand
and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup. I crushed them and I gave the
cup unto Pharaoh's hand. And Joseph said unto him, this
is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three
days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head. And my marginal reading says
he will reckon you. He will reckon you. This is key
to understanding the gospel. He reckoned the baker's head
as well. Two different results, but they
were both reckoned. Their heads were both lifted
up. Verse 13, yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine
head. and restore thee unto thy place. And thou shalt deliver
Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manner when thou wast
his butler. But think on me when it shall be well with thee. Joseph
knew he would be out of prison in three days. Think on me when
it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto
me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of
this house, for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of
the Hebrews. And here also have I done nothing that they should
put me into the dungeon." When Chief Baker saw that the
interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my
dream. And behold, I had three white baskets on my head. And my marginal reading says
full of holes. These baskets were full of holes. And in the uppermost baskets,
there were all manner of baked meats for Pharaoh. I had labored
to cook these things and to present them to Pharaoh. And the birds
did eat them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph answered and said,
this is the interpretation there of the three baskets or three
days. Yeah, within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head
from off thee. and shall hang thee on a tree
and the bird shall eat thy flesh from off thee. Now that was a
difficult interpretation, wasn't it? Can you imagine how difficult
it was to tell this man that in three days, your head's going
to be cut off and the birds are going to eat your flesh. That's
a gruesome interpretation. True, but it must've been difficult. Verse 20, and it came to pass
the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast
unto all his servants. And he lifted up the head of
the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Same
word. He lifted up their heads. He reckoned them. And he restored the chief butler
unto his butlership again. And he gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand, But he hanged the Chief Baker as Joseph had interpreted
to them. Yet did not the Chief Butler
remember Joseph, but forgot him. And he's going to be in this
prison for another two years. Now this is the second of three
times Joseph interpreted dreams. You remember the dreams he had
concerning his brothers, how they were going to bow before
him. And then he had these dreams
that he interpreted in the next chapter. We're going to see where,
because he interpreted these dreams, he's going to be brought
before Pharaoh and interpret his dreams. And he's going to
go from a prisoner to the chief man in Egypt in a very short
time. It's a beautiful story. The Lord said regarding the scriptures,
they are they that testify of me. And he said concerning Moses,
Moses wrote Genesis. He wrote the first five books
of the Bible. He wrote several Psalms as well.
But the Lord said concerning Moses, Moses wrote of me. So we see ahead of time that
this is not only the story of Joseph's correct interpretations,
There is a very clear and simple gospel message in this story. Now, the Bible always represents
humanity in two distinct groups. Here we have the butler who was
destroyed. who was restored, and the baker
who was put to death. These two men are two representative
men. The Pharisee and the Publican,
two representative men. The rich man and Lazarus, two
representative men. Cain and Abel, two representative
men. They're the righteous, they're
the wicked. They're the saved. They're the lost. They're the
sheep. They're the goats. They're the
wise. They're the unwise. The Bible
always represents all men in one of two groups. And the butler and the baker
certainly represent that to us. And these two men both had offended
their Lord, the King. We don't know what they did,
but I love the way this story starts. It begins with these
two men who both offended their Lord, the King. Now, he is that
to all men, whether they acknowledge it or not. He's everybody's Lord. I love the scripture in Romans
14, nine says he's Lord both of the dead and the living. both
of the lost and the saved, He is their Lord. The Lord said,
thou hast given me power over all flesh. He's your Lord. I love saying that, He's your
Lord. Whether you know it or not, whether you acknowledge
it or not, He's my Lord. He's the Lord. Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father. And these two men, had
offended their Lord. Now, I learned something about
gospel preaching here. Gospel preaching, the Bible itself,
makes no effort to prove the existence of God. Self-evident. Here is where we
must begin in gospel preaching. Not does God exist, but what
is our stake before Him? We've offended Him. He's God
over all, and our stake before Him, every one of us, we have
offended Him. Sin, understand this, sin is
an offense against God. That's why it's so bad. You know
the scripture, David said against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight. What did the prodigal return
saying? I've sinned against heaven and
in thy sight. Sin is against God. Somebody
says, well, what about the people you do wrong? Well, you do them
wrong. There's no doubt about this, but this is the chief problem.
Sin is against God. And these men had offended. their Lord, just like you and
I have offended God. That is where we begin. There's
where gospel preaching begins. Now, false prophets, and I don't
use that word lightly. I want to say that with fear. I don't want to misrepresent
anybody, but I know this. False prophets begin with God
and the things he will do for you. If you fill in the blank,
if you meet some kind of condition, Oh, God will do all kinds of
good things for you. If you, that's not gospel preaching. Gospel preaching begins with
God and our offense against him. our state before God. Paul put
it this way in Romans chapter three, verse 19. Now we know
that what things soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world stand guilty before God. That's where we begin in
gospel preaching. These two men come, the butler
and the baker, and they have offended their Lord. The King. You know, the issue is not what will I
do with the Lord? The issue is what will He do
with me? Right now, the issue is not what
will I do with the Lord? The issue is what will He do
with me? He is God over all, blessed forever. He's the King, and sin is offense
against Him. Verse four, and the captain of
the guard charged Joseph with them. You know, they didn't know
how What a blessing that was to be put in Joseph's hand. And he served them, and they
continued a season in the ward. And they dreamed a dream, both
of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according
to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker
of the king of Egypt, which was bound in prison. And Joseph came
in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and behold,
they were sad. Isn't there a sadness to sin?
There's a sadness to sin. It wreaks havoc in our lives. Yes, the main problem is it's
against God, but what a sadness there is to sin. And Joseph looked
upon this, and his kindness just strikes me, and I think of the
Lord Jesus Christ. his kindness towards sinners.
Aren't you thankful he is called the friend of sinners? Don't
miss that. He's the friend of sinners. And I'm just so amazed by thinking
about this, but you know, a sinner never got around him and felt
uncomfortable and threatened and judged. They drew near to
him. There was something about him
that caused them to draw near. And Joseph, demonstrates this
character as a type of Christ. And he says to these people,
why are you so sad? He asked Pharaoh's officers that
were with him in the ward of his Lord's house saying, wherefore
look ye so sadly today? And they said unto him, we've
dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter of it. We have
no idea what it means. And with regard to the gospel. Me and you can't figure it out. We can't interpret it. You can't
lock yourself into a room and say, I'm not leaving till I have
this thing figured out. It ain't gonna happen. We're
totally dependent upon revelation. And that's where preaching comes
in. That's not to exalt the preacher. The preacher knows he's nothing.
Paul said, I'm nothing. Me too, you too. It still says,
if pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that
believe. You're not gonna figure this
out. Faith cometh by hearing. And you know, there's nothing
more. You just sit there and hear. And you're totally dependent
upon God to make known to you what he's saying in his word.
There's no interpreter. I love what the Ethiopian eunuch
said when Philip said, do you understand what you're reading?
He said, how can I? except some man should guide
me. And that's the way all of us
are. We're shut up to revelation. We're shut up to God revealing
himself to us through the preaching of the word. And Joseph, verse
eight, and Joseph said unto them, Do
not interpretations belong to God? They sure do, don't they? Tell me, I pray you. And the
chief butler told his dream to Joseph. And Joseph said to him,
dream to Joseph, and he and said to him, the butler speak to Joseph. He says, in my dream, behold,
a vine was before me. And in the vine were three branches. And it was as though it budded
and her blossoms shot forth. Now this speaks of the life that
is in the vine. The Lord said, I am the vine.
And this speaks of the perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is like Aaron's rod that
budded, very similar. This is talking about the supernatural,
miraculous, perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He kept God's
law perfectly. Life comes from him. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand,
a cup that was given me. It wasn't mine, it was Pharaoh's. And I took the grapes and pressed
them, crushed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into
Pharaoh's hand. Now, he talks about what he presents
to Pharaoh. First, it's a cup that didn't belong to him. It
was given to him. Faith, the gift of God's grace. And in that cup, he had one thing,
the crushed grapes. That represents the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. All he brought was the blood
of Christ in a cup that didn't belong to him. Now, when a sinner
approaches God, all he brings Nothing in my hands I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling. That's the way a sinner comes
into God's presence at all times. He never graduates from that.
He always comes. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This butler brings this in a
cup that was given to him. That's the faith he had to bring
this crushed grape, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
all he presented to his Lord. Nothing else. Verse 12 and Joseph said unto
him, this is the interpretation of it. The three branches are
three days. How long was the Lord in the
tomb? Three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head. Now this is not language that
we would normally use, but it's used here. It's used with regard
to both the butler and the baker. Pharaoh will lift up your head
and as I said both times it's used my marginal reading says
he shall reckon you. Now the key to understanding
the gospel is found in this word reckoning. God reckoned the butler
and he was restored. He reckoned the baker and he
was put to death. Now, the butler brought nothing
but the blood of Christ. Can you identify with that? To
make no other plea but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ at all
times. At all times. That's the way it came. Now,
like I said, those crushed grapes represent his death. Let me tell
you something about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that
the butler brought. Number one, why is there death
in the first place? Because sin. I don't understand
how this works. The Christ didn't only bear my
punishment. He didn't only bear my guilt,
he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. And sins can't be
two places at once. If he bears them, I do not. By his death, that crushed grape,
Complete satisfaction was made. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Complete satisfaction. And what
I love thinking about even more than these two things is that
God is glorified by his death. God is completely glorified by
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every attribute of God is honored. God is glorified. Now, what a glorious thing to
think with regard to the death, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sin paid for, complete satisfaction made, and God is glorified. The way for God to be just and
justify the ungodly is made. Now remember the butler had offended
the king and all he brought was the grapes, the crushed grapes. And what did the king do? Within
three days, verse 13, within three days shall Pharaoh lift
up thine head or reckon thee. and restore thee unto thy place. Now let's talk about this thing
of reckoning. Remember that scripture in Romans chapter four where
it says to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace
but of debt. But to him that worketh not. Would that describe you? I'm not talking about lazy and
indifferent and thinking I don't need to give any effort in this
thing. I'm not talking about that at all. But you are convinced
by God that you could never be saved by anything that you do. And I mean anything and works
are over for you. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now, the only ground of peace
is reckoning. Now, when Adam sinned, he was
reckoned that I did too. Somebody says, how can I be held
responsible for something I didn't do? You're not. You did it. God reckoned you with Adam's
sin. When Adam died, you died. I hope we all believe that. I
hope nobody thinks, well, I wouldn't have done it. Yeah, you would
have. You did it. You did it. Not you would have done it, you
did it. That's God's reckoning. And how God reckons things is
how they are. When Adam died, I died. Do you know what? When Christ
lived, this is true with regard to every believer. When Christ
lived, his life is reckoned as mine so that I live that life. Thus it becometh us, he said
to John the Baptist, to fulfill all righteousness. And when he died, suffering for sin. That was reckoned
to me. And he paid the debt. And when he was raised from the
dead, justified, God satisfied with him. God pleased with him.
Couldn't be any more saved than he was. God reckoned that to
me. Now salvation comes by reckoning
and how God reckons things. or the way they are. And I love
thinking this, you know, people, people think, well, how could
I be reckoned with something that happened before I was born? How could that be right? Well,
you wasn't born when Christ lived and died, were you? But you sure
want to be reckoned by what he did, don't you? You got to take
both. You got to take both. He reckoned
him and he was restored. Here's what's going to happen.
Pharaoh's going to reckon you. He's going to restore your place
and you'll deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former
manner when thou was his butler. This is good news, isn't it?
But Joseph says, think on me. Don't forget about me. And show kindness, I pray thee,
unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me
out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away
out of the land of the Hebrews. And here also have I done nothing
that they should put me into the dungeon. Now you'd think
he'd remember that, wouldn't you? You'd think he would. Let's go on reading. When the
chief banker saw that the interpretation was good, oh, he was excited,
I suppose he thought, I'm gonna hear good news too. He said to Joseph, I also in
my dream, and behold, I had three white baskets on my hand. And
my marginal reading says, full of holes. Somebody said it was a wicker
basket. I don't know, but it was full
of holes. And in the uppermost basket,
verse 17, in the uppermost basket, there was all manner of baked
meats for Pharaoh. Now this is an interesting word.
It's the only time this word is found in the Bible. And it's
made of two words. The first one is work, do, labor. The second word is bake. This
is the best baking I can do. I mean, I'm sure it was Baked
meats, very much like Cain and his beautiful fruit that he brought. Baked meats, your best, your
best. I sure don't want to offer to
the Lord my second best. I want to give him my best. Problem
is my best is no good, but he didn't realize that at this time.
He's offering his bake meats, his works. And what happened? And the birds
that eat them out of the basket upon my head. Now, that's going to be true of me
and you. If we bring our bake meats, they're no good. And the
birds will eat them and I'll be left with nothing. Verse 18
and Joseph answered and said, this is the interpretation there
of the three baskets or three days, same as the butler, three
days yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine hand. Same
word. Here's what's going to happen
when Pharaoh reckons your head, he's going to cut it off and
you're going to be hung on a tree. Now that is the end of everyone
who comes into God's presence in their own works, their own
efforts, their own good intentions, their own whatever it is. It's full of holes. Our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags, and the only thing that's gonna happen, and
I'm sure it was difficult for Joseph to give this interpretation,
but he said the only thing that's gonna happen is you're gonna
be nailed to a tree, and you're gonna be put to death. Now here
are the two reckonings. And there's only two reckonings
in the gospel. If you come into God's presence, now listen real
carefully. I'm telling you the truth. If you come into God's
presence right now, asking only to be reckoned in Christ. Can
you do that? You come into God's presence,
I only want to be reckoned in Christ. God will meet you on
that ground, and that's where he'll meet you. I'm not making
any qualifications. If you come like that, you'll
be received like that. If you come pleading nothing
but Christ only, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy
cross I cling. You come like that, God will
meet you right there, and he'll save you, and he'll restore you,
and you'll have complete honor. But if you come the other way,
God will reckon you that way, and it won't be good. You'll
have the same end as the baker. You come looking to Christ only,
God will treat you. He'll meet you on that ground. I promise. You come in your own
works, God will meet you on that ground. And beloved, it will
not be good. Verse 20, and it came to pass
the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast
unto all his servants. And he lifted up the head of
the chief butler. What got into it? He thought about that man who
defended him and he reckoned him and put him in the place
he'd formerly been. And the chief baker didn't have
that end. He reckoned him in such a way
that his head would be cut off and the birds ate his flesh while
he was nailed to a cross or a pole or whatever it was hung on a
tree. 21, he restored the chief butler
unto his butlership again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand, but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted. Now, if I'm preaching the gospel,
if I say, you come into God's presence, pleading only Christ,
you will be accepted. That's what's gonna happen. You
come in your works, you're going to have the same end as the baker. That will happen. You know, it's amazing. Verse
23, yet did not the chief Butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Got all about him. And so Joseph lays there in prison
for another two years. And the scripture says his feet
was hurt with fetters. It was not a comfortable place.
He was there for another two years, but there's a reason he
was there for two years. The Lord's gonna bring him out
in two years. All of a sudden, the butler's
gonna remember. He's gonna say, I remember my
faults. I remember them. And he's gonna tell Pharaoh about
this man in prison who his God had enabled him to interpret
dreams. And in, I suppose, one day, Joseph goes from being a
prisoner to being the most powerful man in the world, as we shall
see. Let's pray. Lord, we would be like the butler and bring in the cup that you've
given us pleading only who Christ is and what he did. And Lord, we asked for deliverance
from being the baker, bringing our own baked meats, our own
works. Lord be our teacher, deliver
us from our own understanding, deliver us from our own will. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.