In John chapter five, verse 39,
the Lord said, you search the scriptures and in them you think
you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. Now that means every scripture
bears witness and testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we're
gonna look at this entire 41st chapter of Genesis, but let's
read verse 55 again. And when all the land of Egypt
was famished, the famine hit the land and they didn't have
anything to eat. The people cried to Pharaoh for
bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, go unto Joseph. That's what I've titled this
message, Going to Joseph. Now, Joseph had become the most
powerful man in the world. If you were going to have anything
to eat, it would be him that gave it to you. You didn't have
any power at all. produce food. All the food was
with Joseph. He was the most powerful man
in the world. Now in this 41st chapter of Genesis,
we have one of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus Christ
that you'll find in the Bible. And let me tell you something
I fear. I fear this for myself. I fear this for you. I fear a
Christless Christianity. I fear that. And if that is our religion,
may the Lord deliver us from that with this message from this
passage of scripture. Go to Joseph. Now let me remind you of what
had taken place Joseph was the father's favorite. He was Jacob's
favorite. Jacob made a clear distinction
between Joseph and everybody else. And he made him that coat
of many colors, and his brothers envied him. They hated him. He
had dreams. He dreamed that his brothers
would be bowing down and worshiping him, and he told them about it.
And you can imagine them getting upset, but they were so mad they
wanted to kill him. but they sold him as a slave
into Egypt. While he was in Egypt in Potiphar's
house, he prospered greatly. And Potiphar's wife made a false
accusation against him, cried rape when he had acted nobly,
and he was thrown into prison. While in prison, the Lord prospered. The Lord was with him. It says
that several times with regard to Joseph, and I love that phrase,
the Lord was with him. Well, that's everything, isn't
it? have the Lord with you. Now, while he was in prison,
he correctly interpreted two dreams, one by the butler, one
by the baker. We considered those last week.
The butler was restored, the baker was nailed to a tree and
hung and his head was cut off. Was his interpretation of the
dreams? They were accurate. And Joseph said, remember me. He said this to the butler. He
knew he was going to be shortly within three days getting out
of prison. Remember me. Remember me. But you know what
the fella did? He forgot him. He forgot him. And so Joseph is in prison for
two more years. And the scripture says they heard
his feet with fetters and he was laid in ire. This was a very
difficult position for him to be in. Now let's begin reading
in verse one of Genesis chapter 41. And it came to pass at the end
of two full years, this is two years after he had made these
correct interpretations, and he'd been in prison two years,
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, or cattle, cows, fat-fleshed, and they fed in a meadow. And
behold, seven other kind came up after them out of the river,
ill-favored and lean flesh, skinny cows. And they stood by the other
kind upon the brink of the river, and the ill-favored and lean
flesh 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 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. And it came to pass, verse eight,
in the morning that his spirit was troubled. He thought of these
dreams that he had. Two dreams. Some skinny cows
ate some fat cows and they didn't get any bigger. They remained
skinny. Skinny ears of corn ate some fat ears of corn and they
remained skinny and lean looking. And he thought, what in the world
does that mean? Verse eight, 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
the dream. Now the word interpret is open
up. And you and I will not understand
the scriptures. We will not understand the gospel
unless God in his mercy is pleased to open to us the scripture. I want that to happen this morning
so desperately for the Lord to open to me and to open to you
the scripture. But here's Pharaoh. He had no
idea what this meant. He asked the Egyptian magicians
and astrologers and wise men, and they didn't know. Verse nine,
then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh saying, I do remember
my faults this day. All of a sudden he remembered
that young Jew in the prison who properly interpreted his
dreams. Two years later, he remembers
Pharaoh, verse 10, was wroth with his servants, and put me
in ward in 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 in 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. Then Pharaoh sent and
called Joseph, and they brought 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've dreamed a dream,
and there is none that can interpret it, and I've heard of thee that
thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, It's not in me. He corrects Pharaoh this
time. I can't interpret a dream. God
is the one who makes known the dream. God shall give Pharaoh
an answer of peace. Verse 17, Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
In my dream, behold, he's relating the dream to Joseph. 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 the meadow. And behold, seven other kind
came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean flesh,
such as I've never saw in all the land of Egypt for the badness.
They were so thin. 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 woke.
And I saw in my dream and behold, seven ears came up in one stock,
full and good. And behold, seven ears withered
thin and blasted with the east wind sprang 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."
Nobody knew what this meant. Verse 25, and Joseph said unto
Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. I know you had two dreams,
but they mean the same thing. God has showed Pharaoh what he
is about to do. Now, I love the way Joseph speaks
here. He makes no apologies. God is telling you what he's
going to do. I love that. God is telling you
this man who seemingly thinks he's so powerful and is powerful,
humanly speaking. God is going to tell you what
he's going about to do. Verse 26, the seven good kind
are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The
dream is one, they mean the same thing. And the seven thin and
ill-favored kind that came up after them are seven years, and
the seven empty ears blasted with east wind shall be seven
years of famine. They're the same thing. This
is the thing which I've spoken unto Pharaoh, What God is about
to do, he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there cometh seven years
of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. There's going
to be seven years where you're gonna have so much food, you
won't know what to do with it. And there shall arise after them
seven years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten
in the land of Egypt, 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. And for the dream was doubled
unto Pharaoh twice, it's because the thing is established by God,
and God will shortly bring it to pass. Verse 33, he now tells Pharaoh
what he ought to do. 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 through the famine." Now this was going to be a grievous
famine. And he says, take two fifths of everything or two,
whatever it was, a fifth part, 20% of everything you grow, Save
it. And then during those seven years
of famine, there's going to be plenty of food for everybody. Verse 37. And the thing was good
in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all of his servants.
And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one as this?
A man in whom the spirit of God is. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
forasmuch as God has showed thee all this, there's none so discreet
and wise as thou art. 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. Now Joseph is selected
for the job. and look at the authority Pharaoh
gave him. You're over everybody. Only in the throne will I be
greater. Now this is speaking of the sovereignty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The sovereignty of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, Pharaoh said to Joseph,
only in the throne will I be greater." Do you remember when
the Lord said, the father is greater than I? He said that. John 14, 28, my father is greater
than I. Now that's not in essence or
in substance. He also said, I and my father
are one. And in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, but he is subordinate to his father.
John chapter 17, verse four, he said, I've glorified thee
on the earth. That's what it came to do. I've
glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work that thou
gave us me to do. And we read in first Corinthians
15, 28, when all things should be subdued unto him, then shall
the son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all. equal with the father, yet subordinate
to the father. Verse 41, and Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
see, I have sent thee over all the land of Egypt. Joseph is given absolute control. The Lord said, all power. is given to me in heaven and
in earth. He said, thou has given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou has given him. Now, I wish I could say this
right, but he is over all He's over me. He's over you. He's
over everybody in this room. He's over for everybody outside
of this room. And He has complete control of all things. His will is always done. Me and you are in His hands and
our eternal destiny is up to Him. Now, what do you think about
that? What do you think about that?
That you're in His hands and he can do with you or me whatsoever
he's pleased to do and my destiny and your destiny is in his hands. What do you think of that? Well,
let me tell you what I think about it. I'm glad it's not in
my hands because I'd mess it up. And I'm glad it's not in your
hands because you'd mess it up. But in his hands, what a safe,
glorious place to be. I give unto my sheep eternal
life. I give unto my sheep eternal
life. They're in my hands. Nobody's able to pluck them out
of my hands or my father's. That's the authority the Lord
Jesus Christ has given. Now let's go on reading, verse
42. And Pharaoh took off his ring
from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him
in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck,
and made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they
cried before him. They cried before him, bow the
knee. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. Now, the ring, the garments,
are symbolic of absolute favor, the divine favor, the complete
favor. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person. And there's only one thing to
do. Bow the knee. Bow Knee. Worship. Now I've said this so
many times in the past. I hope somebody here for the
first time. You'll only worship and bow the knee to an absolute
sovereign. One who has complete control. You have no control. You realize
this? You're in his hands. That's the
only one you'll worship. Like the leopard. Scripture says he came and worshiped
him saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. It's all
up to you. It's all 100% up to your sovereign
will. If you will, he came and worshiped
him. There's no worship without this. He came and fell on his
face, worshiping him saying, Lord, if you Now that's worship. I think of the Syrophoenician
woman. Jesus, our son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. And he answered her, not
a word. Didn't stop her. She continued
crying, have mercy on me. And then he made this statement
to her. He said, I'm not sent, but for the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. Now he told this Gentile woman, I've only
come to save the elect. That's exactly what he means
by that. You know what the scripture says? Then came she and worshiped
him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. Now that's worship. Bow the knee. That's the place
Joseph is given. bow the knee. Now, have you ever
bowed the knee to him? You will. I hope it's now, but
you will because to him, every knee is going to bow and every
tongue is going to confess that he's Lord. Now let's go on reading
verse 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. Once again, it's sovereignty,
and I absolutely love the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. You know, that
breath you just took, that's only because of His will,
and He can withhold it if it's His will. He's the Lord of Lords
and He is the King of Kings. You and I are in His hands at
His sovereign disposal. You can't lift up a hand. You
can't lift up a foot without Him. You know when I hear preachers
say things like, won't you accept Jesus? I find that so offensive.
That's not the issue. You and I are in his hands, and
whatever he does is right. Now let's go on reading, verse
45. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaneh. And my marginal reading says
a revealer of secrets, or the man to whom secrets are revealed. That's what he calls Joseph. And he gave to him wife Asenath,
the daughter of Potiphar, priest of all. And Joseph went out over
all the land of Egypt. Now he gives him this wife. And
during this time, he has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. We're going to consider them
because they're going to talk about them in a couple of verses. But one thing
that's interesting, they're given Hebrew names. His wife was an
Egyptian. Pharaoh was an Egyptian. He was
living in an Egyptian community or country, and he gives them
Hebrew names. People say, why are you giving
them names like that? But he did, and we'll see why
in just a moment. Verse 46, and Joseph was 30 years
old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now, he had been
sold into slavery when he was 17, so he's been there for 13
years, and now he stands before Pharaoh at about 30 years of
age. Now, you know what that's referring to. The Lord Jesus'
public ministry began when he was 30 years old. And I think
it's glorious that the scripture veils in obscurity the first
30 years of our Lord. We're only given that time when
he was in the temple, talking to the doctors, answering questions
to them. 30 years, and each second was
utterly important. We don't know, not given any
information about it. But in that time, he was obeying
God perfectly. He was working out a perfect
righteousness. And then his public ministry
begins. At 30 years of age, Joseph stands
before Pharaoh. And Joseph was 30 years old and
he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out
from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land
of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth
by handfuls." They'd never seen anything like this. I mean, there
was such produce created. Verse 48, and he gathered up
all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt,
and laid up the food in the cities, and the food of the field, which
was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph
gathered corn as the sand of the sea very much until he left
numbering." It was measureless. You couldn't count it. It was
a whole lot more really than the 20% he said to put back. It was measureless. And you know
what this is letting us know? I want you to remember this.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is measureless. It's infinite. It's boundless. It's bottomless. You cannot be too bad to be saved. You cannot be too sinful. You
can't have fallen too far to be saved. The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ is without measure. Oh, I love to think of his grace
without measure. You know, we call grace unmerited
favor. I think this is better, demerited
favor. Demerited favor. It's without measure. Verse 50. And unto Joseph were born two
sons. before the years of famine came,
which Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar priest, of on barren
to him. And Joseph called the name of
the firstborn Manasseh. It's a Hebrew name. For God sayeth
he hath made me forget all my toil and all my father's house. Now this was before the famine
hit, he was in his mid-30s, and the name of the second called
he Ephraim, for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land
of my affliction. Now these two boys he had, Manasseh
and Ephraim, he gave them both Hebrew names. And I think it's
interesting, I think his wife must have been on board with
this. Perhaps she had become a worshiper of the living God
through the influence of Joseph. And so they give these boys names
that nobody knew what they meant, but they had a special meaning.
The first one was God has made me forget my toil. Now that word
toil is also translated in the King James Version, labor, mischief,
misery, trouble, sorrow, iniquity, pain, perverseness, and wickedness. God hath made me forget all that. And you think of what he had
gone through being sold and being unjustly accused. God's made
me off, forget it all. And he's made me fruitful in
this land. Now, what this tells us about
is the fruit of Christ's death. This is what he accomplished.
He's made our sins to be forgotten. How can God forget? Because there's
nothing there to remember. When Jesus Christ said, it is
finished, the sins of all of God's elect were put away. There is no sin. When God looks at Todd Nigert,
he sees someone who has never sinned, who has always been obedient. My sins are forgotten. My wickedness, my perverseness,
whatever it is, it's all been made to be forgotten by what
Christ did on Calvary Street. He made that which was my sin
to not be. It's gone. And he's made what
was not my fruitfulness to be. He's caused me to bear the fruit
of God the Holy Spirit, giving me a new nature. Now that is
all seen in Manasseh, forgetting, and Ephraim, fruitfulness. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished by his death. His two boys represent forgetting
and fruitfulness. Verse 53, And the seven years of the plentiness
that was in the land of Egypt were ended. Now they had these
seven great years. I'm sure everybody was just enjoying
themselves. And the seven years of Darth
began to come according as Joseph had said. And the Darth, the
famine was in all lands, all over the world. Then in all the
land of Egypt, there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt
was famished, They'd all run out of bread. They were starving.
Not until then, when all the land of Egypt was famished, the
people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, go unto Joseph. Go unto Joseph. What he saith
to you, do. Now, This is what God directs
me and you to do. Now, keep with the imagery. There's only one source of food.
Joseph. The only place you could get
that which you needed was Joseph. Nowhere else. There's only one
source of salvation. Jesus Christ, the Lord. There
is no other. The Lord said, I am the way,
I am the truth, I am the life. I am the way that excludes all
other ways. I am the truth that excludes
all other truths. I am the life that excludes all
other lives. He said in John chapter six,
I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. He that
cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. You know what that means? That
means if you ever really come to Christ and believe on Him,
you're not going to be thirsting for something else. you're going
to find complete satisfaction in him. Now, if you are not satisfied, you've come as a purchaser and
not as a receiver. That's the only reason. You've
come as a claimant and not as a recipient. You've come for
merit. not for mercy. If you don't find
satisfaction in simply being found in him and believing that
he is, you're complete in him. You need nothing else. If you're
dissatisfied with that, you've never come to him in the first
place because he said, he that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now go to Joseph. Whatsoever he says to you, do. You remember when the Lord's
mother said that, that the miracle of the water being made
wine, and they come to her and say, we've run out of wine. She
said to them regarding Lord Jesus, whatsoever he sayeth to you,
do. Now turn with me for a moment to John chapter six. beginning in verse 27. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for the meat which endureth, that lasts unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God
the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what
shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered
and said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. You believe God sent him. And
you believe he did what God sent him to do. Do you believe that? Now I think of these words, go
to Joseph, go to Jesus. And I'm going to say that reverently.
I want to use his name reverently, but go to Jesus. Do you need
pardon? Do you need forgiveness? Go to
Jesus. He's got a monopoly on it. And
it's all in His hand. You go anywhere else, it won't
do you any good. Do you need cleansing? The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Do you need righteousness? Go to the Lord Jesus. He'll give
it to you. Do you need grace? Go to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Do you need peace? Go to Him. He is our peace. Do you need
light? Go to him. He's the light of
the world. He's the light is how God can
accept somebody like me or you. Do you need repentance? Go to
him. He's exalted as a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel, the remission of sins. Do you need faith? Well, he said
to be the author and the finisher of our faith. Go just like they
said, go to Joseph, go to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and whatsoever
He says to you, do. Now, beloved, this is His command
to you right now. Trust Him. Believe on Him. Rely on Him as all that you need. to make you perfect before God. You don't need to figure out
if you're one of the elect, you don't need to figure out whether
or not he died for your sins. Here's the one thing you're called
on to do, to believe on him. Verse 56, and the famine was
over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses
and sold them to the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt, but all these storehouses were open, these
measureless storehouses. And all the countries came into
Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because if the famine was so
sore in all the lands, the only place you could find food was
in Egypt. And the only way you can get
it as if Joseph said you could have it. Now, I want you to think
of the power of that man. Now, in the meantime, verses
one and two of chapter 42, and this is what we're closing with.
And when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said
unto his sons, why do you look upon one another? What are you
doing? It's not gonna do you any good,
looking on one another. What are we gonna do? What are
we gonna do? There's nothing you can do. There's only one place of food.
There's corn in Egypt, not here. You're not gonna find it here.
Don't look at each other for anything. You're not gonna do
each other any, why look ye on one another? I've heard there's
corn in Egypt, get you down. You know the way up is always
down, isn't it? The way up is always down. Get ye down thither and buy us
from thence that we may live and not die. Now, listen to these words. The
Lord said, these are the words of the Lord Jesus. He said, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. and you'll find rest
for your souls. He said in John 737, if any man
thirst, let him come to me and drink. Go to Joseph, the greater
Joseph. The Lord said in John 637, all
that the father giveth me. This is the words of the greater
Joseph. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise, for no reason whatsoever
cast out. Go to Joseph. Let's pray together. Lord, give every one of us, for
Christ's sake, the grace to go to him. Deliver us from looking upon
one another. Deliver us from looking to ourselves.
And cause us to look only to him. Lord, we thank you for our greater
Joseph. We thank you that no man can
lift up his hand or his foot except by him. In his name we
pray. Amen. Matt, could you come lead
us in closing hymn? And I'm not going to stand back
in the back. We're getting out of here because
we've got to catch a plane. So bye, everybody.