Such a blessing. Great having
you guys here with us again. Back to Genesis chapter 40 tonight. I'm going to bring a message
upon this subject. Why come to church? Good question. Why come to church? There's effort involved. There's
self-denial involved. Why come to church? I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Butler and the Baker. The Bible always represents humanity
in two distinct groups, the righteous and the wicked. the righteous and the wicked.
Now, something that I find so interesting, and I've said this
before, all the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. And all the wicked believe themselves
to be righteous, or at least they have the potential to be
righteous. Only two groups, the righteous
and the wicked. The saved and the lost. Sheep and goats. Sheep never become goats and
goats never become sheep. Sheep and goats. Believers and
unbelievers. Children of God and children
of the devil. The elect and the reprobate. There's never a non-affiliate. There's never a third party. There are only two groups. And quite often this is illustrated
by two representative men. Think of Cain and Abel. Think of the Pharisee and the
publican. Think of Simon the Pharisee and
the woman who was a sinner. Think of the two thieves on the
cross. Think of the rich man and Lazarus. And in this story, we have the
butler and the baker, and these are the two representative men. I will be describing you and
myself this morning. in these two representative men,
the butler and the baker. Now you will remember that Joseph
was falsely accused and thrown into prison and the Lord was
with him and he was given charge of all the prisoners. And whatsoever
they did, Joseph was the doer. We heard that last week, that's
the gospel. Whatsoever they did, Joseph was
the doer. Verse one, and it came to pass
after these things, after Joseph being put in prison and being
given charge of all the prisoners, it came to pass after these things
that the butler, of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended
their lord, the king. It came to pass. I love that
phrase from the scripture. It's glorious. God purposed it. It came to pass. That's true
of everything. God purposed it and it came to
pass. Now, we're not told what these
two men, the butler, the cupbearer, is what the word means, and the
baker, he was the cook. We're not told what these men
did to offend their lord, the king, but they did offend their
lord, the king. The word offend is the word that
is usually translated sin. They sinned against their Lord,
the King. Here is where we begin in the
preaching of the gospel. Our state before God. We have offended the Lord our
King. Now, Christ Jesus is your Lord
and your King, whether you know it or not. You are in his hands
and your eternal destiny is up to him. You don't have any control
of this. Whether you'll be in hell or whether you'll be in
heaven is up to him. When people talk about, won't
you accept Jesus? I said, I despise that. It's
not, will you accept him? Will he accept you? You're in
your hands, his hands, the Lord, your King. All men are in the
hands of the Lord, the King. Now, in gospel preaching, we
don't try to prove the existence of God. It's self-evident. Creation
says God is. I think of the position of an
atheist. Now, there's a lot of atheists that have a whole lot
higher IQ than I do. I realize that. Men who are very
intelligent hold that position. But you know, it's really stupid. It really is. I mean, there's
just no excuse for somebody being an atheist. I mean, creation
cries, God is. And I love the way the Bible
makes no attempt to prove the existence of God. He is. And where we begin in gospel
preaching is our state. We have offended our Lord, the
King. That's who he is. He's Lord of Lords and King of
Kings. That statement preachers make,
won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? That's ridiculous.
He is the Lord of your life. Whether you know it or not, you
are in his hand. He is your Lord, the King. And here's our state before God.
Me and you have offended him by our sin. And that's the first thing that
needs to be brought out. I love that passage of scripture
in Romans chapter three, verse 19, where it says, we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every
mouth might be stopped. No excuses. No vindication of
self. No justification of self. Every
mouth is to be stopped. Guilty as charged. And all the
world become guilty before God. Now that's true gospel preaching.
You know, preachers talk about, well, God loves you. Sinner doesn't
need to hear anything about that. He needs to hear that he's offended
the king. I don't know if God loves you
or not. If you're saved, He loves you, but I can't guarantee you
that God loves you. The scripture says, thou hatest
all workers of iniquity. And we got to begin in our preaching
with you've offended by your sin, your Lord, the King. Verse two, and Pharaoh was wroth
against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers
and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward,
in prison, in the house of the captain of guard, into the prison,
the place where Joseph was bound, verse four, and the captain of
the guard charged Joseph with them. You see, these men's destinies
are going to be proclaimed by Joseph as we go on reading in
this passage of scripture. And they continued their season
in ward. Now, I love the fact that the
captain of the guard charged Joseph with him. Both these men,
the butler and baker who defended their Lord, the King, Joseph
had complete charge over them. Don't you love that passage of
scripture in John chapter 17, verse two, when the Lord says
regarding himself, Thou has given him power over all flesh. Saved, lost. Thou has given him
power, authority, control over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as Thou has given him. You know, that
just makes me feel good. I like it that way. Now we read of the dream these
men dreamed. Verse five. And they, the butler
and baker, 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 were bound in the prison, they both dreamed
a dream. And this dream was a dream that
God gave them both. As we're going to see, they both
dreamed this dream and they didn't know what it meant. Verse six,
and Joseph came in unto them in the morning and looked upon
them and behold, they were sad. You know, you come up to the
average person. How you doing? Great. Couldn't be better. Nobody really believes that.
Sin makes sad, doesn't it? You know, this life is sad. Circumstances
are sad. And Joseph looked upon them and
behold, they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers
that were with him in the ward of his Lord's house saying, wherefore
look ye so sadly today? He looked upon these two men
who had these dreams that troubled them. Why do you look so sad? Verse eight, and they said unto
him, we've dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter. And Joseph said unto them, do
not interpretations belong to God. Tell me then, I pray you. We don't know what our dream
means, and there's no one to interpret it to us. We are clueless. Now, if I preached the gospel
in the Chinese language, how much of it would you understand?
I doubt that anybody in here can understand Chinese. Maybe
you can, you can, great, but let's just say nobody can. I
preach the gospel in the Chinese language. What good would it
do you? None, unless there was an interpreter,
somebody to tell you what is being said. Now in this thing
of the gospel, Me and you cannot figure it out. We hear the words, but we do
not know the meaning, unless somebody interprets it to us. That's what the preaching of
the gospel is. Do you understand what you're
reading? How can I except some man should guide me? And Joseph
is the great interpreter. And he knows that he's not the
one who gives the meaning, God does. He acknowledges that God
is the interpreter. He's the one who will make it
known. So tell me your dreams. Verse nine. And the chief butler told his
dream to Joseph and said to him, in my dream, behold, a vine was
before me. I am the vine. You are the branches. I love that illustration the
Lord gives us of union with himself. The vine and the branches. The same stem that's in the vine
is in the branches. One with Christ. There's no other
illustration that can be so close. The same stem that's in the vine
is in the branches. One with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am the vine. Verse 10, 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. Now in this vine is life. Life. Jesus Christ is my life
before God. Now understand this, my righteousness,
I've got a righteousness before God, and my righteousness is
his life. That's why I'm not, I'm not in
any way afraid to face judgment day, because I know what's gonna
be brought out, my life. And my life is his life. There's
nothing for me to be ashamed of. I'm not, you know, somebody
says, we all got skeletons in the closet, not me. Not me, I
don't have any skeletons in the closet. How can you say that? Because his life is my life before
God. His righteousness is my righteousness
before God. That's what makes me, it makes
me sick to think of preachers who talk about believers having
a judgment and some are gonna get a higher reward because of
the things they've done. That's twisted. Christ is my
life before God. Christ is my righteousness before
God. This is the life that buds from
this glorious vine. Verse 11, and Pharaoh's cup was
in my hand, something that already belonged to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's
cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them.
They were crushed. and brought into that gap. Now
every one of you know what that's talking about. That's talking
about the crushing of the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered the wrath of God.
He walked through the winepress of God's wrath alone. That life was crushed. That's a reference to the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this vine. We have this
life. We have this crushing. Now remember, what this represents
is the only sin payment. The only thing that that butler
was going to bring to Pharaoh was in a cup that wasn't his
in the first place, bringing nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You will not dare bring anything
else. You won't come into God's presence
any other way but the crushing of the Lord Jesus Christ. My
only hope that God will accept me is because Christ was crushed
in my place. That crushed grapes, the crushing
of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is my sin payment before
God. There is one sin payment and
this is the only satisfaction to God. Now, What does the butler
bring? Verse 11, And Pharaoh's cup was
in my hand. I took the grapes and pressed
them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand. He brings the cup that already
belonged to the king. With the crushed grapes, the
blood, the believer never approaches God on any ground, but the blood
of Christ. And he brings it in the cup that
God's already given him. That's faith in Christ. You know,
if you have faith, it's what God gave you. And that's how
you bring that which can please God. Now, Joseph gives the interpretation. Verse 12, and Joseph said unto
him, This is the interpretation of it. This is what it means. The three branches are three
days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up your head. Now, if you've got a Bible like
I've got, the marginal reading says Pharaoh shall reckon your
head. He shall reckon. your 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."
Now, here's what's going to happen to you. Pharaoh is going to reckon
you. Now, what in the world does that
mean? Well, that same word is used in Isaiah 53 regarding the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely he hath borne our sorrows. They were reckoned to be his
and he bore them. Isaiah 53, 12, he was numbered
with the transgressors and bear the sin of many. Now the only
ground of peace, listen to me real carefully. The only ground
of peace is reckoning. What do you mean by that? Well,
I was reckoned as a sinner in Adam. You know what that means?
When Adam sinned, I sinned. What he did, I did because I
was in him and it was reckoned to me. I'm not charged with Adam's
sin, though I didn't do it, I did it. I did it. When Adam transgressed God, I
transgressed God. When Christ kept God's law, I did it. I was in Him. Not merely that
it was charged to me, though it was, thank God, but when He
kept the law, I kept the law. When he died, I died. It was reckoned to me. I'm crucified
with Christ. When he was raised, it was reckoned
to me. I was raised. Look back in chapter
39 verse 22. We looked at this last week,
but Here's what took place. 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 that is reckoning. Whatever
they did. They sinned. We know that He
never sinned in His person. Even when He was made sin, He
never sinned in His person. But there's sins because He became
the doer of it. He became charged with it. He
became guilty of the commission of it. Now remember, God does
not put sins into hell. He puts the people who committed
them into hell. He doesn't punish sins. He punishes
the people who committed those sins. While the Lord Jesus Christ
never ever personally sinned. Strike that out of even thinking.
Yet He became the doer of it and that is why God punished
Him. He punished Him because He was
guilty. When Christ died on Calvary's
tree, yes, it was my sin. Yes, it was my sin, but it became
his sin and he became the doer of it. And whatsoever they did,
he became the doer of it just as truly their righteousness. He's the doer of it. He's the
doer of it. Do you see how salvation comes
by reckoning? I was reckoned guilty in Adam. I did it. I've reckoned righteous in Christ
because of his shed blood, because of his glorious work on Calvary's
tree. I am reckoned righteous, holy,
without fault, without spot, without blemish. Oh, the power
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he says, you'll
be restored to this place of favor, not because of anything
you've done to achieve this. We don't read of anything the
butler did to get back into favor. It's because of the pressed grapes,
the perfect life, the pressed grapes of the Lord's death on
Calvary's tree. You're going to be restored to
the place of favor because of Pharaoh's reckoning. Now, this
is when you hear the gospel, you find out what God's done
for you. You don't find out what you need
to do. You find out what God has done for you. He hears you're restored to the
place of favor. Verse 14, but 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." Now, Joseph knew exactly what was going to take
place. In three days, you're going to be restored back to
Pharaoh. He says, remember me. You know what's amazing? That fellow forgot him. Two years
later, We'll read that, Lord willing, next week, two years
later, what took place. He said, I remember my faults.
I forgot about Joseph. He can interpret dreams. But
at any rate, he says, remember me when you come back into favor. Now the butler represents the
believer. The believer's life is in the
vine. the perfect life of the Lord
Jesus Christ, his death, and God's reckoning, making him righteous. That's the life of the believer.
The butler typifies the life of the believer. Verse 16, when the chief baker saw that
the interpretation was good, I mean, he was excited. He said unto Joseph, I also was
in my dream. And behold, I had three white
baskets on my head. Now my marginal reading says
full of holes, full of holes. These were wicker baskets full
of holes, painted white to make them look good. Now the baker
is the representative of the unbeliever. The butler is the
believer. You know, he came to Christ the
same way Abel did, with nothing but the blood. What can wash
away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
He wouldn't bring anything else. But the baker's different. He's
got on his head this whitewashed basket full of holes. Now you see the imagery, but
let's go on reading. When the 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 in the uppermost basket, there was all manner of baked
meat for Pharaoh. Now this word baked meats is
made of two words. The first word is the word that's
always translated works, labor, effort. And the other word is
baked goods. The works of the baker. The works of the baker. Now, you come into God's presence
with anything you've done, and it's full of holes. Isaiah 64,
six says, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Now, if you didn't know it before
now, I hope you know it now, anything that comes from you
is filthy. Filthy. Filthy rags. Well, I don't see it that way.
I don't care whether you see it that way or not, that's the
way it is. That's the way it is. Oh, may God deliver you from
trusting in anything about you. It's filthy. This man is doing the precise
same thing that Cain did. He came into God's presence with
his works, with his best. He's coming the same way the
Pharisee in the temple did. God, I thank Thee. I'm giving
You the credit that I'm not as other men are. I'm at least not
like this person. I'm not like that person. I don't
commit this sin. I don't commit that sin. I fast
twice in the week. I get tired. I thank Thee. I'm
giving You the credit. I believe in grace. I'm giving
You the credit. But what was He talking about?
What other people did. That's it. What other people
did. I'm better than them. I have
not done what other people have done. That was the way he, this
baker comes into God's presence with beautiful pastries. Comes into Pharaoh's presence,
which represents coming into God's presence with these beautiful
pastries, thinking that God would accept them. Now, Verse 17, in
the uppermost basket there was all manner of baked meat for
Pharaoh, and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my
head. And Joseph answered and said, this is the interpretation
thereof, the three baskets are three days, yet within three
days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head. He'll reckon thee. He'll
lift up thy head from off thee and shall hang thee on a tree.
And the birds shall eat thy flesh from off of thee. Now, if you're
going to offer to God your best, if that's what you're about,
if you're going to offer to God your best, he'll reckon it as
yours. You know what he's going to do? He's
going to cut your head off, impale you on a pole, and the birds
will come and eat the carrion of your flesh. That's harsh,
isn't it? Joseph is telling this man what's
going to happen. And our Lord always tells the
truth. If you come into God's presence
in your own works, you're going to be treated the exact same
way this baker is treated. That may sound harsh, but that's
what will happen if a man comes into God's presence on the basis
of his works. Now, question. Question. I want you to listen to this
very carefully. What does the Bible mean by works? It's a good
question, isn't it? What do you mean by coming into
God's presence in your works, in something you do? Hold your
finger in Genesis 40 and turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, verse one. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now, there are two things on
the very surface of that statement. These people were not saved. And Paul wanted them to be saved. That's very important. These
people were not saved. You know, one of the greatest
blessings you can ever experience is finding out you're not saved. When somebody finds that out,
that's when they ask for mercy and not before then. That's when
they see their need of Christ and
not before then. Somebody said, well, I've been
saved all my life. That's way too long. Way too long. These people were not saved and
Paul loved them. He wasn't harsh about this. He
wasn't indifferent about this. He loved these people. He wanted
them to be saved. Verse two, I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God. The God of the Bible. The scriptures,
these people were students of the scripture and they were very
zealous, very sincere. Oh, they were sincere about their
religion. They have a zeal for God. But not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Now there's what works means, right there. You're ignorant of God's righteousness.
Now what's that mean? Number one, it means you're ignorant
of the character of God. If you think you can come into
God's presence and that he can accept your works, all you prove
by that is you're completely ignorant of the character of
God. You don't know the living God. Ignorant of his righteousness
in my damnation. Would God be righteous if he
sent you to hell? That's a simple enough question.
No, because I, well, you exposed yourself. You exposed yourself. Do you understand God's righteousness
and salvation? How he's made a way to be just
and justify the ungodly through what Christ did on Calvary Street.
and you're saved in a way that honors God's righteousness and
you're actually made the very righteousness of God. Just as
he was made sin, you're made the righteousness of God. Now
these people are ignorant of his righteousness and so what
do they do? They go about to establish their own righteousness. Thinking there's something that
you can do that means God owes you something. I did this, now
you do that. Thinking that God has to respond
to what you do. That is works. That's works. The average preacher says, God
loves you and I do too. Christ died for all your sins,
but it's up to you to accept what he did to make what he did
work for you. That's works. That's works. That's all it is. That's salvation
by works. You don't believe the gospel. You see Christ, is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Back to our text in Genesis 40. Works are an attempt to bring
God down to your level. Now, listen to this statement
very carefully. God will meet you on the ground
that you come to Him. Do you hear that? God will meet
you, you personally, on the very ground that you come to Him. If you want God to reckon you
on the basis of your works, your sincerity, your efforts to change,
your victory over sin, your good intentions. If you want God to
meet you on that ground, He will. He will. And let me tell you,
the outcome is not gonna be good. You'll be just like that baker.
You'll be beheaded and cursed. That's what happened to him.
But if you come on the ground of mercy, Lord, let me be reckoned
in Christ. Let me be found in Christ. I
bring nothing but the cup that is yours. Pleading nothing but
the blood of Christ. I have no other plea. There's
no other way I would try to come into your presence other than
him. You come on that ground. You will be received favorably
and brought into a place of complete justification. Now, in that sense,
I said at the first of this message, you don't have any control in
salvation. That's so. You don't. But this is equally true. God
right now will meet you on the ground you come to him. You come. your works like the
baker did, you're going to have the end of the baker. But if
you come in your heart pleading nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, you will be received favorably. Look in 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, he reckoned, The head
of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants,
he reckoned both of them. And he restored the chief butler
under his butlership again, just like Joseph said. 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." Now, Joseph was the faithful
interpreter, wasn't he? He accurately, powerfully, and
truthfully gave what was going to happen to both of these men.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the faithful interpreter. I think
of the two thieves on the cross. The Lord pronounced the one,
you're going to be with me in paradise. The other was left
to himself. the Pharisee and the public.
One went down to his house justified. The other was passed by as an
act of his justice. Joseph didn't sugarcoat the baker's
end, but Joseph had a personal word for the butler. This is
what we're going to close with. Verse 14, but think on me. That's what faith is. That's
what the issue is. What think ye of Christ? When God looks into your heart,
what are the thoughts that he sees regarding the Christ? What do you think of him as prophet? The very word of God. Do you
hear what he says? Do you believe what he says?
Are you relying on what he says? What do you think of him as priest?
Would you only come to God through him bringing you to him as the
priest? You wouldn't dare bypass him. You know he's the only way
you can be brought to the father. What do you think of His kingship?
What do you think of Jesus Christ being King? That means His will
is always done. That's exactly what that means.
His will is always done. Won't you let Jesus have His
way? He has His way. His will is always done. Well,
how come this? Go to him with it. It's his will.
It's his will. He's in absolute control. And
I need his kingship to cause me to believe. Don't you? I need
him to will my salvation. I need him to will my faith.
I need his kingship. Now, The baker had low views
of God because he thought he could bring his own works. And
he brought God down to his level. Thou thoughtest thou was altogether
such a one as thyself. That's why a man comes in his
works. He doesn't understand who God is. But how the butler
glorified God. He knew the only way he could
come is the way God appointed through the blood of his dear
son. These are the two representative
man, which one am I? Which one are you? Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you
reckoned us in your son. Lord, deliver us from being like
that baker, bringing in our light bread and pastries and sinful
deeds and thinking that you could accept them. Lord, cause us to
look to thy son only. Lord, if there's someone who's
never done that before, we ask that you give them the grace,
even now, to look to thy son only. Who he is and what he did
has everything in their salvation. Lord, enable me to do that. Bless your word for Christ's
sake. We thank you for him. In his name we pray. Amen. Mitch
got closing in. Let's stand and sing hymn number
201. He is able to deliver thee. Hymn
number 201.