Now in the life of Joseph, the
great type of the Lord Jesus, we're told something about the
garments that he wore. And these garments represent
the five distinct periods of his life. Now, I think this is
interesting. There are also references to
the clothing of the Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry.
And you don't know any detail about our Lord's precious I think of his swaddling clothing
in the manger. I think of the hem of his garment
that men touched and were made whole. I think of his garment
that became shining, exceeding white as no fuller on earth can
white them. On the man of transfiguration,
when his deity burst through his humanity, I think of the
towel he girded himself with and washed his disciples' feet. I think of the purple robe that
his murderers placed upon him and the crown of thorns that
they pressed upon his head. I think of the seamless robe
that the soldiers gambled for. I like to think of the great
clothes that he wore that he took off and he folded them up
and laid them down in the tomb as he walked out. Every detail
of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. Precious,
precious. And we're given the garments
that Joseph wore. During five distinct periods
of his life, and there's so much to learn of the gospel of Christ
in these garments that he wore. Back to Genesis 37, we have the
garment of the favorite son. Now, Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children. Because he was the son of his
old age and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his
brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren,
they hated him. And they could not speak peaceably
unto him. Now you must admit you can see
why his brethren were envious of him. You put yourself in their
position. If your father gave all of his
favor to a special child, more so than he did you. I would be
envious of Joseph if I were in their shoes. I would think, well,
why doesn't he love me the same way he loved Joseph? Their father,
Jacob, made a marked and distinct difference between Joseph and
them. And can you imagine how that
coat irritated them when they saw it? I bet they thought I'd
like to rip that thing off of him. As a matter of fact, that's
what they ended up doing. Look in verse 23, and it came
to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren that they stripped
Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. They stripped it off of him.
Now, why did they hate him? His brethren hated him. It wasn't
just one of those things where they said, I hate you, but they
didn't really mean it. In the heat of passion, they hated him.
They could not speak peaceably to him. Why? Well, because he
was his father's favorite. That's why. He was his father's
favorite. You know, I know somebody else
who is his father's favorite. Listen to this scripture. I'm
going to read from John 3, verse 35. The Father loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. It's there to stay. You see,
all of God's love is in Christ and it's not to be found anywhere
else. It is all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Romans chapter eight? Verse 38. Paul says, for I am persuaded,
Romans 8, 38, I'm persuaded, I'm convinced of this, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. That's where God's love is found. Now, I need to bring this out. God's love is only in Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no
love, only wrath. God's love is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, the message that's preached
in our day is God loves everybody. You hear that all the time. Christ
died for everybody, but it's up to you as to whether or not
you'll accept Him or reject Him. God loves you. Christ died for
you. He wants to save you, but it's up to you. Now, that just
is not so. It's just not the truth. God's
love is in His Son and toward those in His Son and only toward
those in his son, outside of Christ,
there is no love and there is no favor. To tell people that
God loves them, even if they don't believe, makes his love
independent of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why that is
so bad. It's saying God's love is somehow independent of Christ.
Now listen, God's love is in Christ, only in Christ, and outside
of Christ is nothing but wrath. Now, these young men, Joseph's
brethren, became angry with him and hated him. Why? Because the
father's love was toward him. And to get mad at God for not
loving all men is to get mad at God because his love is only
in his son. Now, what you think with me?
Does God love the devil? You ever thought about that?
Does God love the devil? You know he doesn't. I don't
hear people getting upset about that, though. Does God love demons? Fallen angels? No. People don't
get upset with that. Does God love those outside of
Christ? No. And that's where people get upset. Quite often, People get upset,
but it's still true. God's favor and love is only
in Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no favor, only wrath. And I wish I could say that the
way it ought to be said. I ought to be saying it with
fear and trembling when I say it. Outside of Christ, there
is no favor. The wrath of God abides on that
person, the scripture says. It's there to stay. It will not
leave. Now, what is your response to
this? When you hear this teaching, what's your personal response
to it? Let me tell you what my personal response to it is. Because
first, it's true. I know it's true. The scripture
teaches it. I can say honestly, I can see
why God would have no love to me. I really believe that. I can
see why. The fact that he does love me
is what I'm amazed by. His mercy and His grace, but I can see
why God would hate me. See, God's hatred is not like
ours. It's with regard to what's right, righteousness. And I can
understand it. Now, you know what I say to this? I say, oh, that I might be found
in Christ. That's what I want. I want to
simply be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that passage of
Scripture, Ephesians 1, chapter 6, where it says, He hath made
us accepted. Where? In the beloved, the well-loved,
there's one beloved. God's love is in Christ and only
in Christ, outside of Christ. There is no favor from God. And
that's what Scripture teaches. God's love is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we see this in Joseph, the coat of the favorite son. Now, let's consider the coat
of the servant. Now, he's brought down to Egypt
and he's made a slave in Potiphar's house. And everything he did,
the Lord made to prosper. But look what happened to him
in Genesis chapter 39, beginning in verse 7. And it came to pass
after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph. Now, Joseph had prospered greatly
as the main man in this His master's wife, his master's farm or whatever
it was, he prospered. Everything he did was successful,
and so he made him in charge of everything. And it came to
pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes
upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said
unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wanteth not what is
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? Don't you admire his integrity
at this time? He said, how could I do this
and sin against God? And it came to pass as she spake
to Joseph day by day. This happened every single day.
Day in, day out, she's still chipping at him. Can you imagine
being faced with that? Can't you see where he'd give in? At
some point, a point of weakness, but he doesn't. It came to pass,
as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearken 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 with him.
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. And he left
his garment in her hand and fled out and got him out. And it came
to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand
and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of the house
and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought us in a
Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with
me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it came to pass when
he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried that he left
his garment with me and fled and got him out. And she laid
up his garment by her until her Lord came home. And she spake
unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which
thou hast brought unto us came unto mock me, and it came to
pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment
with me, and he fled out. And it came to pass, when his
master heard these 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 were bound, and he was there
in prison. Now, we admire Joseph's conduct
so much in all of this. But what this points to is the
sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to think just
for a moment about that. How in the world can you imagine
this? He never sinned. He never had a sinful thought.
He never had a sinful action. He was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. Now, I do not understand this. But he didn't even have the potential
to sin. It's what is called the impeccability
of Christ. He was impeccable. He didn't
even have the potential to sin, yet he was tempted to sin. Do I understand that? Not at
all. That's just one of those things
you just believe. He could not sin, yet he was tempted in all
points, like as we are. Yet without sin, he kept God's
law perfectly. He's the only holy man to ever
live. He never sinned. Even when I'm
enabled by the grace of God to do the right thing, I'm still
sinning. I know that. I can't even breathe
without sin. And when God enables me to do
what's right, I guarantee I have a bad motive in it. No doubt. about that, but not him. He never
sinned. He knew no sin. He did no sin. In him is no sin. And just as
his garment as the favored son was taken away, they stripped
it of him, stripped him of it. So was this garment taken away. Which leads us to the third garment,
the garment of his suffering. He was sent to prison. And when
he was delivered from prison, He changed what he was wearing.
We read that in chapter 41, verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph. He'd been in prison for many
years. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they brought
him hastily out of the dungeon and he shaved himself and changed
his arraignment and came in unto Pharaoh. Now, what must have
gone through Joseph's mind when he resisted that temptation? and yet got thrown into prison
anyway. Do you reckon he thought, why
is the Lord letting this happen to me? I have no doubt that that
thought rolled through his mind. He was stripped of the coat of
the favored son. And that happened to our Lord
when he left heaven and came to earth. And then he was stripped
of the garment of his perfect righteousness. And that is what
happened on the cross. Joseph was thrown into prison
for a sin that he did not commit. And we know that illustrates
why the Lord went to the cross. But here, all types and all illustrations
fail the garment of his suffering. That's what he had in this prison,
the garment of his personal suffering, the sufferings of Christ. When he was in the Garden of
Gethsemane. On his face, literally on his face, the scripture says
he sweat great drops of blood at this time, blood actually
burst through his pores. Such stress. You talk about stress,
we all think we're stressed. He was praying father. If it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my
will, but thine be done." What was the cup he was speaking of?
Was it simply that he dreaded the physical sufferings? Now,
I would not in any way minimize the greatness of his physical
sufferings. Can you imagine being nailed
to the cross? I can't imagine the physical sufferings he went
through. Oh, the pain. But I also know this. When he
was sweating great drops of blood, at that time, it was not because
of the physical sufferings. And I'm not in any way minimizing
the physical sufferings. He sweat great drops of blood
at the thought of being made sin. You know, That just doesn't bother us that
much. You know why? We're used to sin. It really
doesn't much bother us. We're what you would call desensitized
toward it. Sin doesn't bother us very much. It's our element. It's the nature
we're born with. We're used to it. But His holy
soul pure, immaculate soul that knew no sin. Oh, the garment
of his suffering, the thought of being made sin. Turn with me to Psalm 40 for
just a moment. Sacrifice and offering, thou
didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt
offering and sin offering, hast thou 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, O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
Who is speaking? There's no question about that,
is there? That's Jesus Christ the Lord speaking. This is quoted
in Hebrews chapter 10 as the direct words of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, look 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 are more than the hairs
of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Who's speaking? The same one of Psalm 40, verses
six through eight, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is how truly
This is how really the sins of his people became his. He said,
mine iniquities. He didn't say Todd's. He said,
mine iniquities. How real were his sufferings?
I mentioned that last week. How real were his sufferings?
Well, you say they're totally real. Yes. And that's how truly
my sin became his. Just as truly as he suffered,
my sin became his. And all the hell that is in sin,
all the filthiness, all the defilements, all the wickedness of sin was
made to lay on Him, and how it recoiled His holy soul. That's why He sweat great drops
of blood. That's why He cried out, if it
be possible. The Scripture says He was sore
amazed and exceeding sorrowful. He said that. He said, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, the garment of His
sufferings. He was made sin. God really saw His Son as guilty. You know, I can't get over that. He really was guilty, wasn't
He? My sin became His. But just as truly as He really
was guilty because of the garment of His sufferings, I really am
righteous. Actually, really, literally. The garment of his sufferings. And that leads me to the garment
of his deliverance. Look in Genesis 41. Verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph. And they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He
had been in that dungeon for many years. Many years. And he shaved himself and he
changed his raiment. He took off the garment of his
suffering and came unto Pharaoh. Now, perhaps you remember the
story. We're going to consider it in more detail next time here
in Genesis chapter 41. But while Joseph was in prison,
there was a butler and a baker. that had been cast into prison,
that had a dream. And Joseph interpreted those
dreams. Look in chapter 40, verses 5 and 6. And they dreamed a dream,
each 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 prison. And Joseph came
in at the end of the morning and looked upon them, and behold,
they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers,
which were with him in the ward of the house, saying, why do
you look so sadly today? You know, the compassion of Joseph. He looked upon these two men
and he said, why are you so sad? I think of the compassion of
the Lord Jesus Christ in that. And they said, well, we're sad
because of some dreams we had. We don't understand what they
meant. And Joseph gave them the interpretation
of those dreams in verses 12 and 13. interpretation to the butler.
And Joseph said unto him, this is the interpretation of it,
the three branches of three days, yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head and restore thee unto thy place. And thou
shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manner
when thou wast his butler. Good interpretation. You're not
within three days, you're going to be out of this prison and
you're going to be restored to your original position. And then
the interpretation of the baker's dream, verse 18. And Joseph answered
and said, this is the interpretation thereof, the three baskets are
three days, yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine
head from off thee and shall hang thee on a tree and the bird
shall eat thy flesh from off thee. And this was not a very
good interpretation for this fellow. Within three days, you're
going to be killed. You're going to be hung up, and
the birds are going to eat your flesh. Now, both of these interpretations
were true. Three days later, the butler
was released, and the baker was put to death. And Joseph had
asked the butler, he said, when you get out of prison after these
three days, remember me. But do you know, amazingly, the
butler forgot it. Can you imagine that? He just forgot about it. About like you and I can forget
about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a sorrowful thought. But
it's true. The reason we have the Lord's
table is that it's doing remembrance of me. Well, in Chapter 42. We have
the story of Pharaoh's dreams. Seven skinny cows ate seven fat
cows. And seven skinny ears of corn
ate seven fat ears of corn. And Joseph interpreted that dream. What happened was the butler,
Joseph, or the Pharaoh, had these dreams and he was very troubled.
He called for all the wise men of Egypt to see if they could
interpret these dreams. Those two things that happened, the
cows and the ears of corn. And nobody in the land could
interpret it. And then the butler said, I remember my fault this
day. I forgot about Joseph. There's a man in prison who could
interpret these dreams. And so they bring him out of
prison. Verse 14, I've already read it. Verse 12, chapter 41, there was
there a young man in Hebrew serving 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 interpreted. It came to pass as he interpreted
to us, so it was. Me he restored into my office.
and him he hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon and shaved
himself and he changed his raiment. He's brought out of prison because
of something that he accomplished in prison. And the gospel is
here so clearly. He is brought out of prison because
of something that he accomplished in prison. He accurately interpreted
those dreams Therefore, he's brought out of prison. He does
away with the garments of his sufferings. And he's brought
into the presence of the Pharaoh. Now, his time in prison represents
the Lord Jesus Christ, his suffering. We've seen that so clearly. But
why is Christ brought out of the tomb? Why is Christ brought
out of this horrible state? Because of something that he
accomplished while he was there. What did he accomplish? He accomplished the complete
salvation. And I mean the complete salvation
of everybody that he died for. That's what he accomplished.
And this fills my soul with joy to know that my salvation was
accomplished by what he did. Remember when Moses and Elijah
were speaking with him on the man of transfiguration, and you
know what their subject was? They spake of the decease which
he should accomplish. Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering, here's what he accomplished. By one offering, by his death
on the cross, he had perfected forever. Him that are sanctified. That's what he accomplished.
He accomplished my salvation. Thank God for that. That's why
I don't have anything to worry about. It's already finished.
It's already accomplished. I have nothing to do but rest
in Him. He accomplished it. Just as Joseph was brought out
of the prison because of something he accomplished, our Lord was
brought out because of something he accomplished. The very good
news of the gospel message is what he actually accomplished. And just as the Lord took off
the grave clothes of his sufferings, Joseph removed his clothes and
he appeared before Pharaoh in a new garment. The garments of
deliverance. I don't know what the Lord was
wearing when he took off the grave clothes. He's wearing something.
He didn't walk out of the tomb naked. The garment of his deliverance,
he took his grave clothes off and we have the garment of his
deliverance and last. There's the garment of his kingship,
which you look in chapter 41. Beginning in verse 41. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
this is after Joseph had interpreted the dreams, you remember the
story. Joseph said, well, the seven fat years or seven years
of plenty. The seven fat cows are seven
years of plenty. The seven fat ears of corn are seven years
of plenty. The seven skinny cows eating the fat cows are seven
years of famine. They're going to eat up the seven
years of plenty. The seven skinny ears are the
seven years of famine. They're going to eat the seven
fat ears. It's showing us that there's going to be a great famine
throughout all the land. Here's what you need to do. You
need to find someone wise to manage the affairs of Egypt and
send him over all of Egypt and take two Two sevenths or two fifths, I
can't remember what it is, of everything that is raised. And
you say that then we'll have all kinds of food during those
years of famine. And indeed, all people from all
over the world came to them to buy food. And if you were going
to have food, you're going to have to get it from Joseph. Pharaoh
put him in complete charge. And we read beginning in verse
41 of chapter 41. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set 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 vests 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, Thou of the knee. 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. And
that's how much authority he was given. No one could make
a move without him. Bow the knee to Joseph. And do you know it was in this
garment of his royal kingship that he saved his brother. You
remember how they came to him? They came to him as a king. Not
as their brother. Not even as a merciful man. They
came to him as a king. Seeking mercy, and when we come
to Christ, this is how we come to Him. We
come to Him as a sovereign King. And the only way we come in salvation,
in mercy, the only way, the only true way we can come to Him,
if you come to Christ, what does it mean to come to Christ? I
mean, it seems in some respects it seems so vague. You know what?
How do I come to him? He's in heaven. I'm down here.
I can't see him. How in the world do I come to the Lord Jesus Christ?
What is this thing of coming to Christ? I know what it is. It's to come in my heart. It's
not a physical move. It's to come in my heart and
lay down at his feet and say, if you will, you can make me
glad. I'm in your hands, whatever you
do is right. The only way you come to Christ
is you come to him as a sovereign, ruling, reigning king. My salvation
is totally dependent upon you. If you damn me, it's right. It's
right. If you save me, it's right. Whatever
you do is right. Have mercy on me. Let me be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how somebody comes to
Christ. They come to Him as a sovereign king. And I tell you what, you
don't just do this once. This is the way you come to Him
every time you come. If you come that way one time,
that's the way you keep coming. That's the way we come to Him
right now. And what garment is He in right
now, as I'm speaking? He's in the garment of His sovereign
King. ruling and reigning, seated at
the right hand of the Father in absolute control. And that's
the way we come to Him. The garment of the great King. Bow the knee to the greater Joseph,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.