the weekend without my wedge
pillow, and I got reflux both nights, and that causes me to
cough a lot. I don't think I have anything that's contagious, so
don't even worry about it. I hope that's the case. You're
right. I've entitled this message, All They Did, He Was the Doer. Look in Verse 22, the last phrase,
and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer. Whatsoever they did, he was the
doer. Perhaps you've heard of this
description of scripture The verbal plenary inspiration of
scriptures. Have you ever heard that term?
If you hadn't, that's fine. I remember when I heard the term,
I thought, what does that mean? That's a highfalutin way of saying
every word of scripture is God breathed said exactly as he would
have it said. Let me repeat that. Every word
of scripture is God breathed, said exactly as he would have
it said. And we see how important this
is in our text. I'm going to read you this statement
again. Whatsoever they did there, he
was the doer. Now I want to give you some translations
of this and some of these other versions. The warden put all the prisoners
under Joseph's authority and he was responsible for everything
that was done. Here's another. The warden put Joseph in charge
of all the prisoners. and everything that happened
in the prison. Here's another. And the keeper
of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners and he was
made responsible for all that was done there. Now, is that
what our text says? Not at all. That is what made
sense to the translators. Surely this is what this means.
And they didn't give a literal, verbal, plenary translation of
it. They gave their interpretation
of it. Here is what this means. Words and ideas that are not
in the text. They might make sense to the
natural man, but they are words that are not in the text. And
because of that, Somebody that pays attention to something like
that misses a very clear illustration of the gospel. All they did,
he was the doer. Now, in the first six verses
of Genesis chapter 39, we're given the first 11 years that
Joseph spent in Egypt. Verse 1, And Joseph was brought
down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh, captain
of the guard, an Egyptian, brought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites,
which had brought him down thither. 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, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in
his hand. 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. And 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. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he,
Potiphar, left all that he had in Joseph's hand. And he knew
not aught he had save the bread which he did eat. what a servant
Joseph was, how he benefited this man. And then we're given
this comment about Joseph's physical appearance, and Joseph was a
goodly person and well-favored. Thus the first 11 years in Egypt. 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. She found him attractive and
she makes this blatant request. This was a wicked woman. Lie
with me. No faithfulness to her husband.
She saw Joseph lie with me. Verse eight, but he refused. And said unto his master's wife,
Behold, my master what is not what's 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? Now this is so beautiful. And
the first thing that I would point out about this is what
people say about grace is debunked here. Joseph didn't use his privilege
of grace as an excuse to sin, but as a reason not to sin. How
can I sin against God and remember sins against God. You wrong other
people but sins against God. How can I wrong my master and
sin against God when he's given me such grace? Now the natural man hears of
the grace of God and they think well that's an excuse for sin.
Not with a believer. Not with a believer. How could
I sin against God? Now God made the act of intimacy
between a man and a woman in marriage and a man and a woman
committed to one another until death alone shall part them. The two becoming one flesh. is
given to illustrate the union that exists between Christ and
his church, and it's a gift of God. It's a beautiful thing. It's the gift of God. God made
this, but fallen man has debauched and debased this gift. You know, I love the scripture,
marriage is honorable in all. This is found in Hebrews 13.
Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers
and adulterers, God will judge. Now, you know this as well as
I do. Sexual sin is behind so many of the problems in our society. Perverse crimes, broken homes,
lives destroyed, the suffering of children it leaves in its
wake. Now, the intimate act of marriage
in the marriage covenant is holy. It's beautiful of two, a man
and woman committed to one another for life, loving one another,
but outside of marriage, it's evil. That's all you can call
it. Now, that being said, every one
of us are far too familiar with the temptation to sexual sin.
Everybody in this room knows something about that. You know,
when Adam. fell what did he do he hid from
God and when the Lord said why did you hide he said because
I knew I was naked his eyes were opened and all of a sudden he
knew he was naked now he was naked before the fall but you
know what he didn't have sinful nature and it wasn't even an
issue there wasn't any wrong evil perverse thoughts that went
through his mind, he was without a sinful nature. It was after
the fall that he saw this. They knew they were naked. Now,
as we see this, sexual sin is never okay under any circumstance
and never to be excused. I love what Paul said, flee fornication. And this is to be taught to our
children. Joseph did not give in and he's
a beautiful type of Christ in that. Who is the one who is tempted
in all points, like as we are, yet without sin? Humanly speaking, I guess Joseph,
the best man to ever live, as far as what the Bible presents
of him. I know that he was a sinful man, just like you and I are,
but because he's such a type of Christ, the Bible never exposes
any of his flaws. And we admire him in resisting
this. How can I sin against God, against
such privilege he's given me? Verse 10, and it came to pass
as she spake to Joseph day by day. This wasn't a one time event. She spake to Joseph day by day
and he hearkened not unto her to lie by her or to be with her. 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 that were within. Somehow
I think she got them all out. I think that this was premeditated
on her part. 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 left his garment in her hand and was fled forth.
You know, there's a saying, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
And I think this is a description of that. Look at the wicked thing
she did. And it came to pass when she
saw that he left his garment in her hand and was fled forth,
that she called unto the men of her house and spake unto them
saying, see, he is brought in Hebrew unto mock us. And 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 lifted up my voice that
he left his garment with me and fled and got him out. You see
what she's accusing him of? I mean, he has been innocent
in this. He has not given in to her requests. He shows such faithfulness. She
is so enraged. She accuses him of this. Verse 17, and she spake unto
him according to these words, saying, the Hebrew servant, which
the house 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. All a lie. He acted so honorably, where
does it get him? False accusation. And he ends
up being thrown in prison. Look in verse 19. 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
are bound. And he was there in prison. Now you can't help but
think, why didn't he have him put it to death? I think perhaps
he knew his wife. I think perhaps something like
this had happened before. And this man had seen the integrity
of Joseph for 11 years. And that's why he didn't have
him executed. That's what I think, but verse 21, the Lord was with Joseph. Oh, I want the Lord to be with
me. The Lord was with Joseph. That's everything with Joseph,
even when he's in that prison. The Lord was with Joseph. Let me ask you, if the Lord's
with you, everything's okay, isn't it? Doesn't matter what
it is. Even if you're in a prison, the
Lord was with Joseph. He had been falsely accused.
The Lord let this happen. The Lord had a purpose in it.
Listen, Israel would not be delivered had not Joseph been thrown into
prison. Now, I'm sure Joseph didn't know this at that time,
but he knew this, the Lord's with me. When blessed with a
sense of his love, a palace, a toy would appear and prisons
would palaces prove. If Jesus would dwell with me
there, the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, kindness,
and he gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Now the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers
of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. You know who else was
in the Lord's hand? This prison keeper. And he turned
his heart to have favor toward Joseph. The Lord is in control
of everything. He's in control of unbelievers.
You don't need to worry about what's going on. The Lord controls
everything. And he put it in the heart. And
you found this in your own experience where if the Lord's caused somebody
to favor you or disfavor you, whatever it is, he did it for
his own glory and for his purpose. Here he does that with this person. 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. The keeper
of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because
the Lord was with him. And that, that which he did,
the Lord made it to prosper. Now this is the same thing that
happened in Potiphar's house, isn't it? Just as Potiphar committed
everything to Joseph's hand and everything Joseph did, it prospered.
The prison keeper committed everything into Joseph's hand. Now, I don't
understand how that works, but that's how we have it. The prison
keeper committed everything into Joseph's hand. Joseph's responsible
for everybody. He's responsible for everybody
in this prison. Now, here we have the statement,
whatsoever they did there, he was the doer. Now here's the
importance of the verbal plenary inspiration of the scriptures. That every word is said, breathed
by God, said and placed exactly as he would have it said. Whatever
was done by them, whatever they did, he was the doer of it. Now the gospel is spelled out
very clearly in that statement. And if all we get out of this
passage of scripture is what a wonderful man Joseph was to
resist temptations, and we do admire that, but if that's all
we get, we've missed the meaning. Because the mystery of the gospel
is so clearly illustrated in this statement, whatever they
did, Joseph was the doer. Now those words are very exact. Whatever they did, Joseph was
the doer. Now, what does that mean? Whatever
they did, it was Joseph who did it. What does that mean? Now I want to consider three
things from this passage of scripture. First, who did Joseph have committed
to his charge? Look what it said. And the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand, all the prisoners that were in the
prison. Who did he have charge of? Prisoners. Now let me talk for a few moments
about a prisoner. Christ came to set at liberty
the captives, those who are in bondage, those who are in prison. A prisoner cannot just walk out
of the cell when he wants to. That wouldn't be prison, would
it? If you could just walk out of the cell whenever you wanted
to, it would not be prison. The prisoner is in prison because
of the crimes he has committed and he's there against his will.
He doesn't want to be there in any way. He'd much rather have
his freedom, but he's in the prison because of the crimes
he has committed and he cannot get out. Is that not a description
of someone who sees themselves to be a sinner? Is that not an accurate description?
You're in the prison because of the crimes you committed.
It's your fault. And you're there against your
will. You don't want to be in there, but you can't get out. Now hold your finger there and
turn with me to Romans chapter seven for just a moment. Verse 14, now Paul is speaking as a believer
and only a believer has this understanding. No unbeliever
understands this. He says, for we know that the
law is spiritual, but I am carnal, fleshly, soul under sin. That means sold as a slave to
sin, a prisoner to sin in jail and I cannot get out. Now you're in the prison of sin.
It's all your fault. You're being held there against
your will and you can't get out. Not everybody feels that way.
You know, folks that have a free will aren't prisoners, are they?
So they think they have a free will. I can get out of this if
the circumstances are right. I can change things. It's not
totally hopeless. There's some things I can do.
Now, that is spoken of by an unbeliever that does not understand
sin being a nature. Now, an unbeliever can understand
something about the the trouble of addiction and the bondage
to addiction and all the problems that causes. And it causes so
many problems. And he sees that he is in bondage
to this addiction, but he has some hope that somehow, someday
he'll do something and he'll get out of it. But someone that's
into the bondage of sin, they're in a prison and they know there's
nothing they can do to get out. You see, if I know anything about
the bondage of sin, that means I know that all I do is sin.
If I did it, it's sin. If I thought it, it's sin. I
can't prevent that. I can't keep that from happening.
And it's all my fault. I'm not blaming Adam. I'm not
blaming the fact that I was born that way. It's all my fault. I can't blame anybody but myself.
And I'm in bondage. Somebody said, sounds to me like
you're not saved. If you're saved, you know exactly what I'm talking
about. If you're not saved, you don't. It's a mystery to you.
You don't really understand sin. But if you're saved, you know
what I'm talking about. You cannot not sin. I'm locked up in my cell against
my will. I don't want to be here, but
I can't get out. A prisoner. You know, the scripture
speaks of prisoners of hope. He heareth the sighing of the
prisoner. You see, every prisoner That's
the person who's given to our greater Joseph, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he has complete control over
them. Joseph was giving charge of all
the prisoners. I love that song. He breaks the power of canceled
sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest
clean. His blood. availed for me." So
here is the person that the Lord comes to save. A prisoner. A prisoner. Where do you fit in that description?
A prisoner. Now it says whatsoever they did
there, Joseph was the doer of it. In him taking responsibility
for these prisoners, whatsoever was done there, Joseph was the
doer of it." And here we have the great gospel mystery of substitution. Whatsoever they did, Joseph was
the doer. Now, I suppose you could say
that under Joseph's leadership, an example, these hardened criminals
Inspired to a life of virtue, maybe, but that's not what the
text says. I know someone would take that
text and say, well, he inspired them to a life of virtue. And these are prisoners. There's
a reason they're there. And I hope Joseph did that, but
that's not what the text says. The text says whatsoever they
did, he was the doer of it. Now this statement gives both
sides of substitution. The great mystery of the gospel.
Now this is, we admire Joseph. Don't you admire his life? His
conduct, his character. He's such a beautiful person. I love it when, in the next chapter,
when he sees those people in the prison and he says, why are
you so sad? He cared about these people.
I mean, he was an unusual man. But if that's all I see, I've
missed the meaning altogether. In this statement, we have the
very mystery of godliness. We have the gospel in this statement. Whatever they did, He was the
doer. Now while He never committed
a sin, and I need to say that, when He was made sin, He never
committed a sin. He never sinned. Don't ever think when we talk
about Him being made sin, that that means he started committing
sin, that he started having hateful thoughts toward his father, that
he started all the things that are involved in the commission
of sin. He never committed a sin. But whatsoever was done there,
now these are criminals. These are wicked men. He was
the doer. You see 2 Corinthians 5.21 says,
for he, God the Father, hath made him sin. Now how can God do this? I don't
know, but he did it. That's the point. He did it.
He took my sins from me and gave them to Christ. So that Christ
became guilty of the commission of those sins while he never
sinned. He never sinned, but God did
not punish him strictly speaking for my sins. My sins became his
sins and the justice of God smote him. Whatsoever was done there,
he was the doer. Now somebody says, can you back
that up with the scriptures? Yes, we can. Yes, we can. I know you've probably seen these
before, but I want you to see them again. Psalm 40. Who is speaking verse six, sacrifice
and offering. Thou didst not desire mine ears
as thou opened, burnt offerings and sin offerings thou has not
required. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It is written of me. I delight
to do thy will. Oh my God, yea, thy law is within
my heart. Now that's quoted as the very
words of Christ in the book of Hebrews. This is Christ speaking. And look what he says in verse
12. For innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I am not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me."
Now, how could Christ speak that way when he never sinned? Because my sin became his sin. Psalm 69. We looked at this in Sunday school
a couple of weeks ago, verse 21. They gave me also gall for
my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Who's
speaking? The Lord Jesus Christ. This is
with regard to the cross. And what does he say? Look in
verse five, O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are
not hid from me. He doesn't say, you know, Todd's
foolishness imputed to me. He doesn't say, you know, Todd's
sins that were imputed to me. He said, my foolishness and my
sin. One more scripture turned to
lamentations chapter one, right after the book of Jeremiah lamentations
chapter one. Verse 11, all her people sigh,
they seek bread. Lamentations one verse 11. That's
right after Jeremiah. Verse 11, they've given their
pleasant things for me to relieve the soul. And now look what the
prophet says. And if you read the book of lamentations,
read it one of these days, sit down and read it. It's got five
chapters and remember every verse is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
When he says, I'm the man that has seen afflictions. Who's the
one who really saw afflictions? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now look
what he says. Oh Lord, consider for I am become vile. He's the only one who ever became
vile. You and I were born vile. We
were born sinners, but he was made sin. What he says, is it
nothing to you, all ye that pass by, behold, and see if there
be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth
against him. He hath spread a net from my
feet, he hath turned my back, he hath made me desolate and
faint all the day, the yoke of my transgressions. is bound by
his hand. They are wreathed and come upon
my neck and he has made my strength to fall. The Lord has delivered
me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up." Now
I don't know how the Lord did this and I don't need to know
how the Lord did this but he made it to where my sin became
his sin so that all that I did He was the doer. You know, it scares me even to
say something like that. And when I think of him taking my
sins in his own body on the tree and bearing them and becoming
guilty of them, let me repeat, the Lord did not kill Christ
because he was innocent. He killed Christ because he's
guilty. My sin became his sin. All they did, he was the doer. But here's the other side. He
was the doer of whatever they did. Now, turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter five. 2 Corinthians chapter five. Verse 10, For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Now, what's been done in your
body? Plenty of bad things. plenty
of bad things. What has been done in your mind?
Plenty of bad things. You know what? If you stand before
God in yourself, you'll be condemned. I'll be condemned. But here's
what justification means. Everything done in my body is
good. I have no sin. I stand before
God just Because what I did, He was the doer. He was the doer. That's my hope. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness. And whatsoever I did when there
was no, all the things done in my body were good, are good,
will always be good. It's because he is the doer. Salvation is what he has done. He is the doer. It's not do,
it's done because he is the doer. What he does is done. I think of that scripture in
Revelation 21 verse six, he said, it's done. Election's his doing,
isn't it? He said, you've not chosen me,
but I've chosen you. Election is his doing. Justification is his doing. He
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. He did it. He made it to where
I have no guilt. Redemption is his doing. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Regeneration is his doing. When God gives me the new birth,
it's not response to be asking him for it. He gives me the new
birth because of the doing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Regeneration
itself is his doing. The life that I have is His doing. He's the life. He is my life
before God. I'm going to be judged by what
took place in the 33 years of His blessed life. I love to think
of the first 30 years that we don't have any information on,
except that time when He was 12 and except when He was born.
Everything else was perfect obedience before God. And those three years
of his public ministry, he could say, which of you can convince
me of sin? Oh, his perfect life is the life
that I'm going to be judged by. Isn't that great? Preservation is he is doing,
preserved in Christ Jesus. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
his presence with exceeding joy, every aspect of salvation is
his doing. One final thought, look back
in our text. Whatsoever they did there, he
was the doer. Now the language of that, And
let me remind you, every word of scripture is breathed by God,
said exactly as He would say it. Now you can look at that
and say, well, He was responsible for what everybody did there.
Well, that's not what it says, is it? Whatsoever was done, He
was the doer. Verse 23. The keeper of the prison
looked not to anything that was under his hand. You know, you and I would do
very well to not look to anything under our hand by way of acceptance
with God. I can tell you right now, it's
no good. Because the Lord was with him,
Joseph, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
Now that prison keeper, looked completely to Joseph for everything. He didn't look at anything under
his hand. He looked to Joseph for everything. Turn with me
to Ephesians chapter one. I want to be just like this prison
keeper, just like Potiphar was. Ephesians chapter one. Verse 12, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Us people
who first trusted in Christ, we're the ones who are for the
praise of his glory. Is that what that passage of
scripture means? Absolutely not. Paul wasn't saying I'm to the
praise of his glory and you are too after you. Who's the first
person to trust Jesus Christ? God the Father trusted Jesus
Christ with all of the elect. He entrusted me to Christ. He entrusted every one of his
people to Christ and trusted him to save them completely. He didn't look for me for something. He looked to Christ. Christ willingly
took my place. He took responsibility for me.
He said what Judah said to Jacob when he said, of my hand shalt
thou require him. Talking about Benjamin. Of my
hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not back to thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. And Jacob trusted him to do that. God, the father put all his trust
in his son for the salvation of his people. And you want,
you know what you and I are called to do to put our trust in the
same place God does to trust the Lord Jesus Christ completely
as all that God requires of me. Oh, the Lord was with Joseph. And I'm in Joseph, in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Lord is with me. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you that whatsoever
we did. Your son is the doer. How we thank you that he put
away our sin. How we thank you that his doings
here on earth become our doings. And when you save us, all the
things done in this body because of his doing is good. Lord bless this message to our
understanding in Christ's name we pray. Amen.