is used to cause people to persevere
under adverse circumstances. And Joseph certainly had more
adverse circumstances than you or I know anything about, didn't
he? I mean, he went from one bad thing to another. But he
made the best of it, didn't he? The Lord was with him and caused
everything he did to prosper. He made the best of every situation.
And there is no reason for you and I to not be the same kind
of person Joseph was. Now, we ought to be encouraged
to. You look at the circumstance he was in and yet what a blessing
this man was. Lord's with you. There's no reason
for you and I to be exactly. To not be exactly what Joseph
was. What a blessing this man is. The Lord can make us prosper
even under difficult circumstances. But if that's all we see in this
passage of scripture, we've missed the point. This is a clear, an
illustration of the gospel and a story concerning what faith
is, as we'll find anywhere in the word of God. Now, Joseph
is a type of Christ in this story. And Potiphar and the jailer both
teach us what faith actually is. The Lord was with Joseph
and how God was with Christ, how God is with Christ. When
it says Joseph was goodly and well-favored, who could that
describe but the Lord Jesus Christ? Beautiful, well-favored, the
Son of God, the altogether lovely one, the fairest of ten thousand,
the bright in the morning star. Oh, what a beautiful picture
of Christ. Joseph lived such a life. That Potiphar and the jailer
could put their complete trust in him. What a life he must have
lived. And what a type of Christ Joseph
was as he resisted these temptations. The Lord Jesus did not sin. Joseph was cast into a prison
for a sin that he did not commit. And then that what took place
on the cross, you can see so many parallels to the gospel
in this story, but there's a couple of things I'd like to call your
attention to look in verse five. Just thirty nine. And it came to pass from the
time that he'd made him overseer in his house. And over all that
he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's
sake. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. Notice Potiphar is called the
Egyptian, and that always signifies evil in the scripture. Always. So he's an evil man. That's brought
out just in his name, the Egyptian. The Egyptians were an abomination.
But this evil man experienced extraordinary blessings for one
reason. What was that reason? For Joseph's
sake. Now here's the very essence of
the gospel. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32
says, Be ye kind. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one another, not holding
people's feet to the fire, but forgiving one another. Even as
God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven you. Why has he forgiven you? There's only one reason. For
Christ's sake, God does not need to find a reason in me or you
to bless us. Amen. Encourage you. He doesn't
have to find a reason. He doesn't have to look into
your heart to find a reason to bless you. He does it for one
reason, for one singular reason. He does it for Christ's sake. Would you turn to Psalm 106?
I want to look at a couple of scriptures. Hold your finger
there in Genesis 39 and turn to Psalm 106. This is always
such an encouragement to me. The psalmist says in verse six
of Psalm 106, we have sinned with our fathers. Here's his
confession of sin. We have committed iniquity. We
have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy
wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude
of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red
Sea. Nevertheless, that's a precious word. Nevertheless, In spite
of all that said of him, he saved them for his namesake, that he
might make his mighty power known. Turn to Ezekiel 36. Now, in this wonderful chapter,
the Lord talks about all the things that he's going to do
for the children of Israel. Look in verse. Twenty three. He says, I'll sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen. Verse 25,
I'll sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from
your filthiness. Verse 26, he says a new heart also will I
give you a new spirit will I put within you. I'll take away the
stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of
flesh. I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in
my statues. Notice the things the Lord says he's going to do.
He doesn't say I'll do this if. He says this is what I'm going
to do. And you shall dwell in the land that I give your fathers.
Verse 29, I will save you from all your uncleanness. I'll call
for the corn and will increase it, lay no famine upon you. I'll
multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field.
Now look at verse 31. Then when I do these things,
then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God. Be it known unto you, be ashamed
and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. I'm not doing
this in response to you. He's doing this because he's
gracious. Does that encourage you? He doesn't have to find
a reason in you to give you his blessings. Let's look at another
scripture. Turn to Daniel. Daniel, chapter nine. Daniel's praying, verse four.
And I prayed unto the Lord, my God, Daniel, chapter nine, verse
four, and made my confession and said, oh, Lord, the great
and dreadful God, keeping the covenant mercy to them that love
him and to them that keep his commandments. We sinned, we've
committed iniquity, we've done wickedly, we've rebelled even
by departing from my precepts and from my judgments. Neither
have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets which spake in thy
name to our kings and our princes and our fathers and to all the
people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto
us confusion of face, as it is this day, to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel that are near
and that are far off, to all the countries where thou hast
driven them because of their trespasses, that they trespassed
against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings,
to our princes, to our fathers, because we have sinned against
thee. To the Lord our God belongs mercies and forgiveness, though
we have rebelled against him. Neither have we obeyed the voice
of the Lord our God to walk in his laws, which he set before
his servants, the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed
thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice.
Therefore the curse is poured upon us in the oath that is written
in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we sinned against
him. And he hath confirmed his words which he spake against
us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us
a great evil. For under the whole heaven hath
not been had been done under Jerusalem. As it's written in
the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made we
not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from
our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the
Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord
our God is righteous in all of his works which he doeth, for
we have not obeyed his voice. And now O Lord our God, thou
hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with
a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renowned. At this day we
sin, and we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy
righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury
be turned away from the city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain,
because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers,
Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that
are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear
the prayer of thy servant in his supplications. And cause
thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that's desolate. Why? For the Lord's sake. Now, there's
the argument we can always use, Lord. Have mercy on me. For the Lord's sake. I don't
know of anything that encourages me any more than this, that all
that God has for the sinner is given freely for Christ's sake.
Now, that's just encouraging to me. I had this concept spelled
out to me. I remember when I was in college,
during the summers, I wanted to work at a place called Armco
Steel. And if you worked there, you
made at that time, back in the 70s, $15, $16 an hour. I mean,
it was big money for me. And I remember I thought, I'm
going to do whatever it takes to get this job. And I went there
every day to the employment office. I showed them my face. I thought,
well, the early bird gets the worm. I'd be there early, and
I would do everything I could to get that job. And I would
just watch people hire past me continually. And I didn't get
the job. And I was so discouraged. I thought, what can I do? I mean,
I've done everything. Well, I decided I'll call my uncle. My uncle
was a big shot there. I never talked to him about it,
but I called him. I said, do you think you could
help me get this job? Do you know the next day they called
me and gave me a job? And they did it for my uncle's
sake. It had absolutely nothing to
do with me. They did it for my uncle's sake.
God says, for Christ's sake, I am blessed. I'm brought into
glory for one singular reason, for Christ's sake. That's good enough reason. Don't
need any other reason. Now, also in this story, you
remember, I entitled this What is Faith? We have a remarkable
illustration of what faith actually is in this story. Now, look in
verse 21. Of Genesis 39. Now here, Joseph is brought into
this prison. And it's hard telling what kind
of man this prison keeper was. I wouldn't think he's exactly
a warm and fuzzy guy. I mean, he was a prison keeper
in this horrible atmosphere, in this horrible environment.
And he would have been just as rough with Joseph as anybody
else would be. But look what verse 21 says. But the Lord was
with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight
of the keeper of the prison. What does that tell me? Why did
the jailer look upon Joseph with such favor and trust? Because
the Lord caused him to. The Lord supernaturally worked
on his mind and in his heart and caused him to have favor
toward Joseph. Now, what that tells me is true
faith. Now, this jailer, as you know,
had faith in Joseph. He committed everything to Joseph's
hand. The first thing this tells me about faith, we're asking
the question, what is faith? True faith is not the product
of man's will or man's decision. It's a supernatural work of God. He worked on this man's heart
and caused him to view Joseph the way he viewed him. Now, if you have faith, I do
not have to convince you of this. If you have faith, you know it's
the gift of God, don't you? I don't have to talk anybody
into that. You know the faith that you have, God gave you.
And you know the only reason you have it is because God gave
it to you. And you know that if he didn't
give it to you, you wouldn't have it. You know that, don't you?
Faith is the gift of God. Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9 says,
For by grace are you saved through faith. And that faith is not
of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Now, the reason that jailer had
his faith was because God supernaturally worked it in him. He turned his
heart toward Joseph. Now, the next thing I would notice
about faith, I'm asking what is faith? Faith is not blind. Faith is not a leap in the dark. The reason Potiphar Had such
a high opinion of Joseph was based upon what he saw. Now,
look with me in verse two. Of Genesis 39. And the Lord was
with Joseph and he was a prosperous man and he was in the house of
his master, the Egyptian, and his master saw. That the Lord
was with him. And that the Lord made all that
he did to prosper in his hand, this is what he saw. He observed
this. He wasn't a dummy. He watched
what was going on, and he saw that the Lord caused everything
Joseph did to prosper. He saw he was making money off
this man. His crops were increasing, whether it was in the house,
in the field, everything was going well with Joseph at the
helm. And he saw this. So Joseph found
grace in his sight, and he served him. You see why he found grace
in his sight. He made him overseer over all of his house and all
he put in his hand. It came to pass from the time that he made
him overseer of his house and over all that he had, that the
Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. Now, Potiphar's
view of Joseph came from what he saw. It wasn't a leap in the
dark. It wasn't blind faith. It was
based upon a knowledge and an understanding. He watched that
the Lord made everything Joseph did to prosper. Then he said,
well, he's the one to trust. Let me show you some scriptures
in the New Testament. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. Faith, real faith. What is it? Well, first, it's the gift of
God. It's the work of God. He caused the jailer to have
the faith he had. But secondly, it's based on knowledge. There's an actual content to
faith. There's something you actually believe you see it and
you believe it and you rely on it. In Second Timothy, chapter
one, Paul makes this statement, verse 12. For the witch cause, I also suffer
these things, nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed and I am persuaded. I'm convinced. That he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Do you have that persuasion?
Are you convinced, are you persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ is
able to save you without your help? There's a persuasion. Look in
Romans four. Verse 19. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body, now dead when he was about 100
years old, talking about Abraham. He had the deadness of Sarah's
womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief,
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully
persuaded, fully convinced, he really believed this, that what
he had promised, what God had promised, he was able also to
perform. Faith believes, from what it's
seen, it's seen that whatever Christ does prospers, and faith
believes that he's able. It really is that simple. Faith
believes he's able. Do you believe that whatever
the Lord Jesus does or did prospered? Do you believe that? Do you believe
he must be successful? Do you believe that his sacrifice
actually Put away sin. Do you really believe that? Do
you believe that his righteousness is sufficient to save you if
you're covered with it and you don't need anything else? Do
you believe that if he represents you, you must be saved? You believe
that he must prosper, that he must be successful? Do you believe
that? Well, that's what faith believes. Where there is faith,
there is a knowledge. He saw That the Lord Jesus prospered
and so he. Believed him. Now I want you
to look at the jailer. Well, no, let's let's look at
the Potiphar and the jailer. Beginning in verse four. And Joseph found grace in his
sight and he served him. And he made him. overseer over
his house and all that he had he put in his hand. And it came
to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house
and over all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians
house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he
left all that he had in Joseph's hand. And he knew not all he had to
take the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person.
and well favored. Now Potiphar was totally hands
off. He completely trusted Joseph
to take care of everything, and he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand. His well-being was completely
100% dependent upon Joseph. Now look at the jailer in 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. He committed all the prisoners.
There's some significance to that. You think of what these
prisoners must have been. These were wicked men. These were criminals.
They were mean men. Hard to tell what all they were
guilty of. Yet he committed every single one of those prisoners.
to Joseph's hand. His hands were off. I don't have
anything to do with it. It's totally up to Joseph to
take care of these prisoners. Isn't that what faith is? My sins. I'm totally dependent on the
Lord Jesus Christ to take care of them. Totally. I don't have a plan B. I don't
have some other hope. If what he did is not enough
to take care of my prisoners, my sins, I've got no hope. I
have committed the salvation of my soul to him. It says in
verse 22 that whatever they did there, he, Joseph, was the doer
of it. I'm looking 100 percent. to the doing of the Lord Jesus
Christ, not my works. But he is. You see, faith is
in a person, it's not just giving assent to certain propositions
and say, well, I agree with that. I see the scripture teaches that.
I mean, that's involved in faith, but that's really not what faith
is. Faith is in a person. You believe that person is able
to do all he set out to do. You believe that because of who
he is, his sacrifice Takes care of all my sins. His righteousness
makes me perfect in God's sight. Faith is in a person. Paul said,
I know what I believe. I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded. I'm utterly
convinced that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. That's what faith is. I'm relying
on Christ. Look at verse 23. The keeper
of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand. He looked to Joseph only. And that's what faith does. It
looks to Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, and
nothing else. It relies completely on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith is a committal to the Lord. I'm totally committing to Him
the salvation of my soul. If what He did is not everything,
then I will not be saved. It's as simple as that. I don't
have an ace in the hole. I don't have a plan B. If what
he did is not enough to save me, I will not be saved. That thief nailed to that cross in pain,
knowing his time was short, knowing he was a wicked He said, Lord. Remember me. When you come into your kingdom. Now, if the Lord remembers you. If he mentions your name before
the father. Will anything else? Need to be said. No. Nothing. He committed all of
the salvation of his soul. To the Lord, Lord, if you remember
me. If you mentioned my name before the father. Everything
is going to be just fine. Faith is a reliance upon the
Lord Jesus Christ to do everything that can you trust Christ with
the interest of your soul, the way Potiphar and the jailer Trusted
Joseph. I mean, they were hands off,
weren't they? Whatever was done, Joseph was a doer. I don't even know what I got.
I'm not looking. My salvation is wrapped up totally, my interests
are wrapped up totally in him. Well, that's what faith is. What
is faith? Three things. Faith is the gift
of God. It's not the product of man's
will, it's the gift of God. Faith has a content. Potiphar
saw that the Lord made everything Joseph did to prosper. He saw
that everything Joseph did was successful. Faith sees that if
Christ died for me, I'll be saved. If Christ represents me before
the Father, if he intercedes for me as my great high priest,
I'll be saved. Faith has some knowledge. It's the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed.
And in true faith, There is a commitment of the soul. I commit the salvation
of my soul to him. Hands off. If what he did is
not enough, I will not be saved. That's what faith is. That's
a beautiful picture of what faith is in that passage of Scripture.
Let's pray together.