Let's pray together. Our merciful and gracious Heavenly
Father, we come into your presence in the name of thy blessed son. Lord, we ask that you would hear
us for his sake. Lord, we so desperately need
you, your mercy, your grace. We need to hear from you. Lord, we ask that you grant us
that request for Christ's sake. We ask that you drive away anything
that would distract us from hearing from you and cause us to be like
newborn babes, sincerely desiring the milk of the word. Bless us
for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. In Genesis chapter 40, while
in prison, Joseph interpreted the dream of the butler and the
baker. The butler dreamed of crushing
grapes and the juice going into Pharaoh's cup, and the baker
dreamed of three baskets in his head, on his head, filled with
baked meat that the birds came and ate them. We considered that
last week, and Joseph told what these dreams meant. The butler
was restored to his office and the baker was put to death. Look
in verse 20 of chapter 40. 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 the chief baker among his servants, and
he restored the chief butler under his butlership again. And
he gave the cup unto 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 the scene changes. Two years go by. Joseph spends another two years
in prison. And two years later, Pharaoh
has a dream. Joseph is still in prison. The
butler's forgotten him. But we read in verse one, 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 cows, fat-fleshed, and they fed in a meadow. And, behold,
seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill-favored
and lean-fleshed. They were skinny cows. Their
ribs were sticking out. And they stood by the other kine
upon the brink of the river. And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed
kind did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kind. So Pharaoh awoke. And I don't have any doubt that
he was troubled by this dream. So he falls back asleep again
in verse 5. And he slept and dreamed the
second time. And behold, seven ears of corn came up 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 woke up, and behold, it was a dream. And it came to
pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled. And he sent
and called for all the magicians of Egypt. He sent for the wise
men of Egypt. He sent for the preachers of
Egypt, basically is what that means. He sent for the preachers.
And they couldn't tell him anything. He told them his dream, but there
was none of them that could interpret this dream unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto
Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day. Now, two
years ago, you'll remember he had this dream interpreted by
Joseph. Joseph said, remember me? He
forgot it. Two years later, he remembers.
He says, I remember my faults this day. And he tells what took
place. Pharaoh 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 unto mine office,
and him he hanged. Now, I want you to think about
what Joseph did. He told the future. He said, within three
days, you're going to be restored to your office, to the butler.
And within three days, he said to the baker, you're going to
be hanged and put to death. He told the future. Now, you
and I know that only God can tell the future. And here's why. Look in verse 25 of this same
chapter. Then Joseph said unto Pharaoh, and this is after he
interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, the dream of Pharaoh is one,
God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. You know what the future is?
It's what he's about to do. You know, everything that has
happened, doesn't matter what it is, it's what he has done. If it hadn't happened yet, he's
about to do it. It will happen. Now, what this is teaching, really,
How did God knows the future? How did He knows? Because He's
determined everything that's going to take place. He's purposed
everything that's going to take place. God is a God of predestination. Absolute predestination. He controls
everything. If someone wants to argue against
that, well, you can if you want, but it's what Scripture teaches.
I don't have any question about that. And would you want something
to not be under His control? I would want to think of anything
that was under, that was outside of his control. But he is the
God of predestination. He controls everything. He's
God. It's easy for him. It's easy. It's not difficult.
You know, we think that seems so vast. Well, with God, it's
easy. He's God. He's all powerful. He's sovereign. That's the God
of the Bible. And it came to pass, as he interpreted
to us, verse 13, it was to me. He restored it to my office and
gave me a hand. Well, verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called
for 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 have dreamed a dream,
and there is none that can interpret it, and I have heard say of thee
that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh An
answer of peace. I love that answer. He gives
God the credit, but you know, when God gives the answer. It's
an answer of peace. You'll understand this came from
God. God will give this answer of peace. So Pharaoh begins to
tell him of his dreams and Pharaoh said unto Joseph in my dream,
behold, I stood up from the bank of the river. And behold, there
came up out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed and well-favored,
and they fed the meadow. And behold, seven other cows
came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed,
such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for madness. And
the lean and the ill-favored cows 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 awoke. You know what I thought
of when I thought of that? Here these skinny cows eat these
fat cows aplenty. And after they ate them, they
didn't look any different. They looked just as bad. I couldn't
help but thinking about our supposed goodness. It gets eaten up by
our badness. And you can't tell the difference,
can you? No different. Let's go on reading.
Verse 22, And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up
in one stalk, full and good. And behold, seven ears withered
thin and blasted with the east wind sprung 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 unto
me. They couldn't explain it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh,
The dream of Pharaoh is won. I know you had two dreams, but
they mean the same thing. God has showed Pharaoh what he's
about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven
good ears are seven years. The dream is one. And the seven
thin and ill-favored cattle that came up after them are seven
years. And the seven empty ears, blasted with the east wind, shall
be seven years of famine. Now, this was a worldwide famine
that took place. This is the thing which I've
spoken unto Pharaoh. What God is about to do, he showeth unto
Pharaoh. Behold, there came seven years
of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 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 the 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. Now, there's the interpretation
of the dream. You're going to have seven good years of plenty. But after that, there's going
to be seven years of a worldwide famine such as the world has
never known. Now, verse thirty three, let
Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and sent 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 him keep food in the
cities, and that food shall be restored to the land against
the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt.
Let the land perish not through the famine." Now, Joseph comes
up with a, well, the Lord gave him this wonderful idea as to
how to deal with this famine. OK, verse. Thirty seven and the
thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh in the eyes of all his
servants and Pharaoh said in his servants. Can we find such
a one as this is? A man in whom the Spirit of God
is. Now, you know as well as I do
who this is referring to. Joseph and in this he's a glorious
type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we'll see. Verse 38. And Pharaoh said unto his servants,
Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of
God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is 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, do you remember
that dream Joseph had some thirteen years before this? He dreamed
that his brothers would bow down before him. He dreamed that even
the sun and the stars would bow down before him. He dreamed of
this grandeur that would take place. Well, it's beginning to
take place. He's going from the prison, and
this is interesting because of something that he accomplished
in the prison, he's now made the most powerful man in the
world. All because of something he accomplished
in the prison. And you can see how that's a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ because of what he accomplished
on Calvary's tree. God's given him a name which
is above every name. Well, let's go on reading. And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, verse 41, See, I've sent thee over
all the land of Egypt. 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 he made him to ride in the second chariot, which he had.
And they cried before him, Bow to me. And he made him ruler
over all the land of Egypt. 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, where we see the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God said, nobody's going to make
a move without your permission. You're going to be the cause
of all things. And Pharaoh, verse 45, called
Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paneah. Now, John Gill said that that
name means the revealer of secrets. Joseph is the revealer of secrets.
And the only way we can know the father is if the son reveals
him. I think of that passage of scripture
where our Lord says, No man knoweth the Father except the Son, and
he that whomsoever the Son will reveal him. The only way I can
know God is if he is pleased to reveal himself unto me. Now, one of the marginal references
says this name, Zaphnaphaneum, means man of food during the
famine. Arthur Pink says that this name
means the Savior of the world. All those names refer to the
Lord Jesus Christ. So Pharaoh gives him this name
and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, priest
of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph
was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
Do you remember how old our Lord was when he began his public
ministry? He was 30 years old. And Joseph went out from the
presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
And in the seven years, the earth brought forth by handfuls, and
he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in
the land of Egypt. And he laid up the food in the cities and
the food of the field, which was round about every city, lay
he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn at the
sand of the sea very much until he left numbering for it was
without number. So great this amount of food he gathered during
this seven year period. And this is what was going to
cause Egypt to survive and other countries were going to come
and buy food off of them in the future. And unto Joseph, verse 50, were
born two sons before the years of the famine came, which Asenath,
the daughter of Potiphar, priest of On, bare unto him. And Joseph
called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For God, said he, hath
made me forget all my toil and all my father's house." Now that's
very remarkable. Now remember, Joseph was at least 30 when he
made this statement. He was 17 when his brothers sold
him into slavery. He was accused of a crime by
a woman that he did not commit. He was thrown into prison for
it. He was in prison for many years, 11 years. He interprets
a dream and he says, tell Pharaoh about this. The butler forgot
about it. You want to talk about a span
of what the world would call bad luck, what the world would
call it. This man had a miserable existence
for many years, but he feels so blessed right now that he
says, God has made me to forget every bit of it. That's remarkable,
isn't it? He forgot every bit of it, and
that was seen in the name of Manasseh. For God said he had
made me forget all my toil and all my father's house in the
name of the second called the Ephraim. For God had caused me
to be fruitful in the land of my affection. Not only has he
made me forget all my problems and made me the most powerful
man in the world, he's also caused me to be fruitful. He's given
me a family, Ephraim. The Lord hath caused me to be
fruitful." Manasseh and Ephraim. That's what I've entitled this
message. Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh means forget. Ephraim
means fruitful. Manasseh and Ephraim. Now, these are Joseph's words. And he meant him from the very
depths of his heart. Can you imagine how he must have
felt when he saw everybody bowing the knee to him? And he remembered
just not too long ago, I was in prison. And now all of a sudden
the Lord has exalted me to this position. He thought about all
that he'd gone through. He said, it's not even worth thinking
about. He forgot it. And then the Lord gave him these
two kids. He caused him to be fruitful in the land. Manasseh
and Ephraim. Now these are the words of Joseph.
But I have no doubt that these words, these names have several
applications. And the first application I'd
like to make is these as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, Joseph is such a clear type of Christ, and first of
all, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what
about the land of his affliction? Joseph said he's made me to forget
about the land of my affliction. What about the land of his affliction?
You know, the Lord is described by the Holy Spirit when he walked
upon this earth. As a man of sorrows. And acquainted
intimately acquainted. With grief. You know, we read
of. The Lord rejoicing in spirit.
But you know, not one time I don't imagine you did at some point,
but still not one time do we ever read in scriptures of the
Lord laughing. Not once. He rejoiced, no doubt,
but he was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He left heaven, the presence
of his father, the praise of angels, and he came to this sin-cursed
earth. What must that have been like?
Who could possibly tell? He left the expanse of heaven. And I don't know what all that
means, but what a place heaven must be. He left the expanse
of heaven and was confined to Mary's womb. That's God. What a condescension that was.
And you know, I think of his life as he grew up. I'm, I guess, speculating to
some extent now, because the Lord doesn't give as much or
the only information he gives us about his life before his
public ministry began was that time when he said to his parents,
you know, why are you searching for me? Don't you know that I
must be about my father's business? But you know this, you think
of him growing up in the neighborhood he lived in, in the home he lived
in. This is God. This is the only
holy man to ever live. He never sinned. And I can't
help but think how often he must have, through his holy conduct
and his perfect character, you reckon that provoked the anger
and the wrath of the kids that he might have been playing with
at the time? I don't have any doubt that it did. I mean, this
is the only holy man to ever live. And you think of the things
he went through as he walked through this earth. Men hated
him. How he was hated. He came from
the worship of angels to being despised and rejected of men.
What must it have been like for him to be, to leave the direct
presence of his father? And being around people like
me and you. What must that have been like? And oh, the stoop
of the cross. I'm talking about the first stoop
now. I'm talking about his life as he walked here upon this earth
as a man of sorrows and grief. But you think about the stoop
of the cross. I think of the concept of shame. Shame is a horrible thing when
you're ashamed and you don't want anybody to know you're so
ashamed. You know, when my sin became
his, when the sins of his people became his, he bore the shame
of it. Oh, he was so ashamed before
his father because it became his. He was made seen, and all
that that means, he bore the shame and the guilt and the defilement. What astute, what affliction
he experienced. He experienced the wrath of God.
You think of that affliction that he experienced. You know
what the scripture also says? I've been talking about what
he experienced. The scripture also says, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before us. He endured the cross. He despised
the shame. He counted it as nothing. And
he sat down at the right hand of the Father. You think of all
of our Lord's affliction. It was nothing doing because
of the joy that was set before Him. The joy of doing His Father's
will. The joy of glorifying His The
joy of saving His people from their sins. Now this is something
that just, I believe it. I have a hard time believing
it, but I believe it. You know, when He was dying on that cross,
He had me in His mind. He had me in His heart. He had
the name of every one of His people engraved on His heart,
His hands. He was thinking of me. Don't
you find that hard to believe? I'm not asking you not to believe
it, but don't you find that hard to believe? That he would love
you like that. To where he would count all that
affliction as nothing. Just forget about it. For the
joy that was sent before him. He endured the cross. And not
only did he forget all that he went through because of the joy
that was sent before him. That's Vanessa. What about Ephraim? Think of the fruit that he bore.
What's the fruit that he bore? What did he accomplish? Oh, listen
to me. When he walked out of that tomb,
after suffering so on Calvary's Hill, when he walked out of that
tomb, you know who else walked out with him? Everybody he represented. It is finished! Was it? Sure was. This is the fruit he
bore by his death. Yes, Vanessa, there's a forgetting,
but there's also a from the fruitfulness. God caused him to bear much fruit
to everybody he died for. He saved and this is this is
what is so wonderful. While I'm talking to you right
now, I'm. I'm. Conscious of so many different
things that. Trouble. All that being said. I can't get any more saved than
I am right now. I'm complete. I don't have any
sin. That's His fruit. The fruit of
His death. Now, those are the words of the
Lord Jesus, but you know, this Ephraim and Manasseh can also
be applied to God the Father. It's true regarding Him, there's
a forgetting and there's a causing to be fruitful. There's a forgetting
with God the Father. Hebrews 8, verse 12, this is
a quotation from the Old Testament, but in Hebrews 8, verse 12, God
the Father says their sins and their iniquities. Well, I remember
no more. There's a forgetting there. I have a real problem. with my memory. You know, Lynn
and I were taking a walk the other day, this is interesting,
and she said, you know, when you forget stuff the way you
forget them, you ought to let people know that you've got real
problems there. Because I don't know what, something
is wrong with me. You know, I think it's physical,
it has something to do with the previous sickness, I got a brain
brain dead spot here. I can't remember events. I can't remember growing up.
I mean, I can't. I have a very terrible memory. I just can't
remember stuff. You know, God's not like that. Obviously. Yet he says. Their sins and their iniquities.
I will remember no more. Now, how is that? How can an
omniscient God forget sins? We'll turn to Hebrews 8. Look
at this passage of scripture. Verse 12, For I will be merciful. Now that word is actually propitious. Propitious. I will be a propitiation. That merciful is not really the
best translation there. I will be propitious. I will
put away their sin by my blood. That's what that means. I will
be pacified for them through the work of Christ on the cross.
I will be propitious to their unrighteousness, and because
of that, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more. Now, have you ever known something
is there, even though you can't see it, but you know it's there?
You're afraid it'll pop up somewhere. Maybe nobody knows about it,
but you're afraid it'll pop up or or it's you know, it's there,
but you just can't see it, but you know, it's there, but you
can't see it. Is that the way the Lord is when he views us?
He knows our sins are there, but somehow he can't see them.
Is that what this is all about? Turn to Jeremiah chapter 50. Verse 20. In those days, Jeremiah, Chapter 50, verse 20.
In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for. And there shall be. How is it that God forgets my
iniquities because there's nothing there to remember. Now, that's
what the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, does. There's nothing
there to remember. It's not like he has a problem
remembering things like I do. Not at all. He's God. There's
nothing there to remember. He was manifested, 1 John 3,
5, 6, to take away our sins. Did he do it? You know what it
says next? In Him. If I'm in him, you know what
that means? No sin. That's how he doesn't remember
my sin. There's nothing there to remember.
That's how effectual the blood of Christ is. Ephraim, forgetfulness. There's something God forgets.
And because of this, he causes us to be fruitful. This is the
work of the Holy Spirit. The reason I have the fruit of
the Holy Spirit is because Christ died for me and put away my sins.
And now, because of that, I have the work of the Holy Spirit.
God gives me a new heart, a new nature. He gives me the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, gentleness,
so this is God's work. God and God causes it. He caused
me, Joseph said, He caused me to be fruitful. God causes this
fruitfulness. So we see this in as it relates
to God the Father. But I also see these two names
in the experience of the believer. Manessa. Forget it. Would you turn with
me in Philippians, Chapter three, I bet you know where I'm going. Philippians, Chapter three. Verse
13. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind. Forgetting those things which
are behind. There's not so much we can say
about this. You know what I have to do about
my sins in the past? Forget them. Has God forgotten
them? Then why would I remember them? Forget them. They're gone. They're gone. They're
not going to rise back up. You don't have to worry about
it. They're not going to rise back up. Forget them. Forgetting those
things that are behind. Forgetting. May God give me grace to do this.
Forgetting wrongs doesn't do you. Forgetting injustices. If you
want such a blessing, just forget it. It's hard. Just forget it.
It's hard to do, but forget it. Just forget it. It's not even
good to think about. Forgetting my experiences. Forgetting my religious experiences.
I've had a lot of experiences. I really have. And you know what
the thing for me to do with them is? Forget them. Let me tell
you why. I'll have a tendency to look
to those experiences rather than Christ. I'll have a tendency
to try to find assurance out of something that happened in
the past, rather than looking to Christ right now. I'm not
to look back to the past for assurance. I'm to look to Christ
and Him only. And that's what I'm called upon
to do. So what do I do with my experiences? I'm thankful for
them. If they were real, I'd want to
be sure. Well, I'll throw them away and
look to Christ right now. My bad experiences, whatever
they may be, forget them. Forget what is behind. And not only do we forget, that's
what Paul said to do, this one thing I do, forgetting the past.
You know, isn't it a blessing? To really believe that, you know,
every day is a new day. Every day is a clean slate. Forget all this stuff, it's new
every day. But not only are we called upon
to forget, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching
forth into those things are for, before God actually causes the
believer to be fruitful. Turn to Galatians 5. Verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit.
Is love. And I have no doubt that that
is the fruit of the spirit, it manifests itself in joy, peace,
all suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance and
such against such there is no law, but the fruit of the spirit.
Is love. And that is the fruit of every
believer. Love to God. You know, I can
say with Peter, Lord, you know all things. You see right into
my heart. And you know that I love you.
And I do. The Lord knows whether that's
true, but it's a love to God as He's revealed in His Word. And it's manifested by love to
his people. A genuine love to his people
that will prove itself by actions. And a love to men. Don't you
want to have that love that Paul had to men where he said that
I could wish that I myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh. I'd like to know something of
that love. You know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 14,
verse 1, make love your aim, make it your pursuit, make it
your goal. I wonder what all we prayed for
this week. We prayed for a lot of different
things, no doubt. I wonder if we prayed that the
Lord would cause us to love something like He loves. Make love your aim. Forget what's
behind. And be fruitful and every believer
has every encouragement to be fruitful, because this is the
work of God's grace. It's not. It's the fruit of the spirit.
It's not the fruit of your works or your discipline. It's the
fruit of the spirit. So every one of us have every
reason to ask the Lord, cause me to bear this fruit, cause
me to increase in this fruit. Vanessa. Forget. And Ephraim. cause to bear fruit. Let's pray.