I have several passages of Scripture
I want you to read. I want to read for you and with
you. My text really is found over in Psalms 105, if you want
to turn there. Then we'll be looking over in
the book of Genesis. Psalms 105. And look here in verse 16 through
verses 22. Psalms 105 and verse 16. This is concerning the trials
of Joseph. That's what I want to speak to you for a few minutes
on, the trials of Joseph. Moreover, he, that is the Lord
God, called for a famine upon the land, the land of Egypt.
He break the whole staff of bread. He sent a man, Joseph, before
them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant. whose feet they
hurt with fetters. He was laid in iron. Until the
time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him. The
king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and
let him go free. He made him lord of his house
and ruler of his substance, to bind his princess at his pleasure
and teach his senators wisdom. Now I know you've read the story
of Joseph, but I want to read some more of it and refresh your
mind just a little bit if you'd permit me. And let's look over
in Genesis chapter 39. Genesis chapter 39. And let me
read the first nine verses of these. This is after Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelites. And he comes down here through
this desert to Egypt. And Joseph was brought down to
Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard,
an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites which
had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph,
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. 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 into his hands. And it came to pass
for the time that he had made him overseer in his house and
over all that he had, that the Lord bless 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 hands, and he knew not aught
he had save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly
person and well favored. And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eye upon Joseph. And
she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said unto
his master's wife, Behold, my master knows not what is in me,
with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath
to my hand. There is none greater in his
house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything
from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How can I do this
great wickedness and sin against God? And then of course you go
on in that chapter down to verse 21 and you know the story that
Joseph had to flee and left his coat and she falsely accused
him of a wicked sin and they put him in prison. In verse 21,
And the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave
him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 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. And the keeper of the prison
looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord
was with him. And that which he did, the Lord
made it to prosper." Now let's read on just a little bit in
chapter 40. And it came to pass after these things that the butler
of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord,
the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wrought against
two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers and
against the chief of the bakers. And he put them inward in the
house of the captain of the guard unto the prison, the place where
Joseph was found. And the captain of the guard
charged Joseph with them, and served them, and they continued
a season inward. And 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 were both bound in the prison. And Joseph
came in unto them in the morning, and 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? They said unto him, We have dreamed
a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them,
Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me then, I pray
you. And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph. And he said to him, In my dream,
behold, a vine was before me, In the vine there were three
branches, and it was as though it budded. And her blossom shot
forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes. And
Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed
them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand." And then you go on there reading, and Joseph interpreted
his dream, and he said, you know, you're going to be restored in
three days. Pharaoh is going to restore you.
And the baker seen that the interpretation was good, so he said, interpret
my dream. And he had this big basket of baked rolls on his
head, and birds were picking the rolls out. And he said, well,
this must be something good. And Joseph said, in three days,
Pharaoh is going to have your head off your shoulder, and they're
going to hang you on a tree. That's your dream. So he interpreted
the dream, and Joseph told this butler, Remember me when it goes
well with you. Remember me when it goes well
with you. And then in chapter 41, let's
look at a few verses there. The butler had forgot about him
in verse 23 of chapter 40. 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 cows, kings, fat flesh, and they
fed in a meadow. And behold, seven other cows
came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean flesh,
and stood by the other cow upon the brink of the river. And the
ill-favored and lean flesh cow did eat up the seven well-favored
and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept
and dreamed the second time. And behold, seven ears of corn
came up into one stalk, rank and good. And behold, seven thin
ears, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And
the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold,
it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning
that his spirit was troubled. And he sent and called for all
the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh
told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret
it unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto
Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my fault this day." Then he tells
about Pharaoh sending him and this baker to prison. And he said, there was a man
there that interpreted my dreams. And Pharaoh said, bring him out.
And he stood before Pharaoh in verse 16. And Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an
answer of peace. And then, of course, he answers,
he interprets the dream. And then he tells Pharaoh to
set a man over Egypt. There's going to be seven years
of plenty. Save up all the corn in those seven years because
there's seven years of famine. And it's going to wipe out all
the store that they have. And Joseph said, set a man, a
wise man, over all your business. And in verse 37 of chapter 41,
And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes
of his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants,
Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God
is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
Forasmuch as God hath shewed 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. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, See, I have set thee over the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand,
and arrayed him in a vesture of fine linen, and put a chain
of gold about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Thou
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
Pharaoh called Joseph's name, he changed his name. In verse
46, he was about 46 years old when this happened. And then
when they began to run out of corn and people come to buy,
they went to Pharaoh and he says, go to Joseph. Ain't that a wonderful
story? Just to read the story of how
this man came to set up on the throne. He had these two dreams
and he told his brother and his dad the dream. He said, we were
out cutting wheat and I had chopped my little sheave of wheat up
And you had your little leavened sheaves there, and my sheave
rose up and stood upright, and all your sheaves bowed down before
my sheave." And boy, they got so upset with him. They said,
will you indeed reign over us? And he had another dream. The
sun and the moon and the leavened stars bowed down to him. And he told his dad and his brothers
about that. And even his dad rebuked him.
He said, You're telling me, son, that me and your mother and all
your brethren are going to come to bow down before you? But great
things God had revealed to this young man that He had decreed
great things concerning him. These things were going to come
to pass. Joseph had a lot going for him.
I read to you that he was a goodly person and favored. He was well
favored. That word means he was handsome.
He was beautiful. Beautiful to look upon. His mother
was beautiful. Remember his mother, Rachel?
She was a beautiful woman. His grandmother, Rebecca, was
a beautiful woman. His great-grandmother was 90
years old and Abraham said, You're such a beautiful woman. They're
going to kill me and take you. So he favored probably the women
in the family, but he was a handsome, beautiful man. But not only was
he favored naturally, he was favored graciously. This is one
of the most tender men that you ever read about in the Old Testament.
Never once did he hold against his brother what they did to
him. He forgave him. Such a gracious and tender and
pleasant disposition. But one thing you'll note in
the Scripture, And I think you see this everywhere in the Scriptures.
It applies to this young man too. If God is going to use a
man, if He's going to give him great gifts, extraordinary grace,
He's going to have to humble that man. He's going to have
to try him. You never see a man in history
that God greatly used. You study his life, and that
man faced great trials. Most of us here have probably
read after Charles Spurgeon. He's one of my favorite preachers
since the apostles. But you know that man was afflicted,
afflicted in his soul, afflicted in his body. They said probably
if he lived today he would be diagnosed with having bipolar. One of the greatest trials that
he ever got into caused him to have a nervous breakdown. Sometimes
as he got older he was so afflicted with gout that he couldn't even
get out of his house. He couldn't even walk. His wife
became an invalid and could hardly take care of the kids for several
years. The Lord greatly used that man,
but He greatly afflicted him too. Martin Luther, he probably
wrote the best epistle that's ever been written on the book
of Galatians. Most comforting epistle to your conscience. There
were days when he said he couldn't even get out of bed, that he
was so afflicted with oppression. The Roman Catholic Church put
out a contract on his head. They wanted him killed. You go
all the way back through time, and you go back to the Apostle
Paul, and look how the Lord used that man. He labored more abundantly
than they all. But you know what he said about
him? He said, in every city, bonds and afflictions abide me. If God's going to bless a man
and use him greatly, He's going to try him. He's going to keep
him down. He's going to keep him low. And
I think what made Joseph here such a beautiful type of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you and I saw it this morning, was the
great trials that he suffered. From those of his family, those
of his close friends hated him. His own brethren betrayed him,
selling him in a dungeon. in prison and out of that to
the throne. He is such a beautiful picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ Himself suffered these
things, the betrayal, the hatred, the prison, the prison of the
tomb and out of that to the throne. I have often said this, the Lord
could save a man and take him right to heaven the way He did
the thief on the cross. But he don't usually do that,
does he? But what does that teach us about the thief on the cross?
Don't that teach us as soon as the Lord saves a man, he's ready
for heaven? Suffering, though it's necessary
for those who live here to conform them to the image of Christ in
their spirit, in their heart, suffering does not fit a man
for heaven. As soon as the Lord washes a
man in His blood, as soon as He justifies a man, he's fit
for heaven. That's why we believe in the
salvation of all little infants that die. Somebody says, how
can an infant be saved? It can't believe. Don't say it
can't believe if the Lord is the author of faith. He filled
a little infant with the Holy Spirit before he got out of his
mother's womb. If faith is necessary for a dying
infant, He could give him faith. But the reason infants go to
heaven dying in their infancy is because Christ justifies them.
He saves them, He clothes them just like He does you and just
like He does me. But that's not usually the way
the Lord Jesus does. It's by saving a person and taking
him right to glory. Here's the way it usually happens.
We must, through much tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
These are they who come out of great tribulation and have washed
their robes and made them white. That's the way we usually go
to heaven, isn't it? Out of struggles, out of sorrow, out of trials,
and out of that, up to heaven. The text that I read to you in
Psalms said the Word of the Lord tried him. That word there is
a word that they used from the refiners that come from those
that used to refine gold. The word means to melt. We could
literally read it like this, the word of the Lord melted him,
tried him. just like gold is tried. We put
in a bulletin a few weeks ago, you might remember it, a woman
that wanted to know how you refine gold. She was interested in that,
and she went down to the smith where he was refining gold. And
he told her how you refine gold. If you remember the story, he
said, you've got to know what you're doing. If you get it too
hot, you can spoil, you can literally burn the gold. But if you don't
get it hot enough, it won't melt and the impurities won't come
to the top. All kinds of impurities in the gold and as you melt the
gold by the fire, those impurities come to the top and you dip it
off. Then after a while you have pure gold, refined gold. And
the man said, how do you know when it's finished, when it's
refined? He said, I see my reflection in it. I see my reflection. We're predestinated to be conformed
to the image of God's Son. And He's going to refine you,
He's going to refine us until He receives nothing but the reflection
of His Son in us. Let this mind be in you. And
brothers and sisters, we don't always see it maybe, but there's
a lot of impurities left in us. The Lord Jesus builds His church
by each individual, and He builds them out of gold and silver and
precious stone. But in us, we've got a lot of
wood, hay, and stubble. And He's going to melt that down.
And through the process of melting this down through these trials,
that's the way He purifies us. The Word of the Lord melted Him. It tried Him as silver is tried. First of all, then, let's see
this. Let's see if we can find out a need. There's a need for
trials. Peter used that word, didn't
he? A need be. If need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold trials or temptation. Joseph was a fine youth. He was a fine young man. And
I don't mean to impugn his character in any way. But don't you see
Just a little pride in him. As soon as he dreamed the first
dream, he ran and told his brother. He knew what that would do to
them. And he had the second dream and he went and told them again.
I've dreamed again, he said, and I want to tell you what happened
this time. Don't you see in that just a little bit of pride? And
the Lord, knowing His heart as He knows our hearts, He knew
if He let that pride grow as Joseph grew and fester, He'd
not be a fit ruler down in Egypt. But how could you not be lifted
up in pride? He was probably a man 15, 16,
or 17 years old, and God had revealed to him He's going to
be a ruler. People's going to come and bow down to you. How
could you not be proud over that? And these trials that the Lord
put him through fit him for the throne down in Egypt. Boy, I
tell you, pride affects us all, doesn't it? You'll never get
rid of it. About the time you think you're humble and you're
bragging about it. Ain't nobody, I'm so proud I'm humble. We're
afflicted with this honor. Even the great Apostle Paul said
himself, it's needful that I be tried. lest I be exalted above
measure out of the abundance of revelation the Lord give me,
He gave me a thorn in the flesh." Why? To keep me down. I needed
this because I would get lifted up in pride. Listen to what the
Scripture says. Here's what the wise men said.
about pride and I think it shows us some fearful things that are
associated with pride. Pride is one of the sins that
you and I need to be aware of and it slips up on us. Listen
to what Proverbs says. When pride cometh, then cometh
shame. Nothing good ever come out of
pride but shame. But wither lowly is wisdom. Here's another quote Only by
pride cometh contention. There have been good friends,
lifelong friends, separated because of contention. And what brought
about the contention? Pride. Pride. Listen to another quote. In the
mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride. A rod. That hurts people, doesn't it?
When the foolish speaks, it's pride and it's always hurting
people. Listen to another quote from
the wise man. A man's pride shall bring him low. Well, that's the end of it, isn't
it? Pride will bring you low sooner or later. But the honor
is upon the humble in spirit. Listen to one more quote. You
all have heard this. Pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before God. Better is it to be of the humble
spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoiled with the proud. Boy, one thing that scares me
when I see a young man profess to be called to the ministry,
one of the things that scares me about him worse than anything
else is I know that he's going to be tempted to get lifted up
in pride. That's why Paul said, Timothy,
don't let a novice Come into the ministry. Be careful about
laying your hands on a young man that's professed to be called
to the ministry. Lest being lifted up with pride,
he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Charles Spurgeon
said one time to his preachers, he had a preacher school and
he preached to them. And he told some of his young
preachers in the congregation one day, he said, if I could
raise my hand and shield you from trials, and from people
misrepresenting you and treating you cruelly. He said, I would
not. He said, it's these things that's
going to keep you low and keep you from getting lifted up in
pride. And here's what he said about
Joseph on the throne down in Egypt. I know not, Spurgeon said,
what he might have been if, first of all, he had not been laid
in the stocks. His feet learned to stand fast
on a throne through having been set fast in a dungeon. His gold
chain was worn without pride because he had worn a chain of
iron. And he was fit to be the rulers
of princes because he had been a servant among prisoners. The Lord was preparing him through
all of these trials to set him on a throne down in Egypt. Now,
brothers and sisters, a lot of times promotion ruins people,
does it not? You have seen people, they were
just common people. Some way they got promoted. They
got promoted in politics. They got promoted on their job.
They got promoted in the ministry or whatever it was, but that
promotion ruined them. A lot of us can take being down. A lot of us can take being poor.
We can't endure being promoted. And why is that? We get lifted
up in pride. Somebody said you either go through
the dungeon to the throne and you abide there, or you go to
the throne to the dungeon. And it's that way sometimes,
isn't it? The Lord had purposed and decreed to set this man on
the throne. But he knew that he wasn't fit
to be set on that throne until first he had tried him, sifted
him, melted this pride that we saw in his heart as a young man. Think of this. These trials that Joseph faced,
how much of the Lord's chastening hand do we see in It doesn't
say, but we just, I think without speculation, we could say that
a lot of this had to do with the Lord's chastening rod, the
rod of His heavenly Father chastening Him. And we know what's said
about chastening, don't we? It's good for us, but we don't
like it because it's very unpleasant. No chastening for the present
seems to be joyous but grievous. But what's the effects of it?
Afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness. It don't bother me to see a child
of God under the rod of their father. I pray for them, but
I tell you, it's good for them. And when his chastening rod is
lifted, you'll see a difference in that person. It's a needs
be, isn't it? The rod is needful. We're partakers
of His holiness, makes us more like Himself. Down in Tennessee
where I was raised, we used to have two dogs, two fangs on a
little farm. Just everybody that lived around
us lived out in the country. They had two animals that they
loved. They eat one and hunted with
another. Everybody had chickens. My mother would go out and gather
the eggs. When the chickens got where they
couldn't eat eggs, we ate the chickens. She'd wring the heads
off. And we had hunting dogs. People had hunting dogs. And
if you don't know anything about the South, a hunting dog was
a member of the family. You may kick one of the kids,
but don't you dare kick my dad's hunting dog. That's how much
they thought. If you shot one of my dad's hunting dogs, you's
in trouble. I'm telling you now, you's in
trouble. And one of the most shameful things that you could
have on a farm around your house was a dog that killed chickens.
If you had a hunting dog that killed chickens, you couldn't
sell him. Nobody wanted him around their
house. And you broke that dog from killing chickens. And you
know one of the ways they broke that dog from killing chickens?
They'd catch him with the chicken that he just killed. They'd get
him with a collar. And they'd take that dead chicken
and they'd almost beat him to death with it. I've seen a dog, I've actually
seen a dog laying in the yard, a hunting dog, a chicken come
around the corner of the house, and he had run from the chicken.
I don't want anything to do with this chicken. You can almost
read his thoughts. Oh no, and his ears would drop down. The
Lord weans us, does He not? Does He not wean us from our
sinning? We don't think low enough of
it, do we? But let Him put the rod to us. Let us see His frowning
face in His chastening rod. Let Him remind us that the thing
we've done has brought shame or reproach upon Him. It's good
for us to see the frowning face of our Lord sometimes. It breaks
us from our sins. The thing which David did, and
you know what he did. Boy, there's adultery in this
murdering of Uriah. The thing which he did displeased
the Lord. And David found out about it
the hard way, didn't he? He saw the frowning face of his
father in the death of that child. But he never did that again,
did he? These trials sometimes come. And what it is, is the
chastening rod of our Father. And it's good for us, but it's
not pleasant. But boy, next time you see a
sin coming, you lower them over yours and you run from it. I
don't want anything to do with you. I don't want anything to
do with you. That's good for us, isn't it?
Suffering trials, the chastening rod of our Father in Heaven. See, another advantage about
Joseph's trials and ours too is this. The Word of the Lord
tried him. He was tried. Joseph could have
known the Lord and did know Him. I'm sure he knew the Lord before
he ever was sold by his brethren and went down to reign on the
throne. But there's something about his
trials that reveal things to him and let him know things about
the Lord that he would have never known if he had stayed home.
There's things about the Lord that you and I would love to
know more of His power, more of His presence, more of His
love and His mercy. Don't you want to know more about
Him and these covenant blessings, these spiritual blessings? But
you know, the way we find out about that is through trials.
It's through struggles. If He had stayed with His daddy
down there in the land of Canaan, He'd have never known near as
much about the Lord as he did being tried as he was. Imagine the power of God revealed
to this young man in supporting him in all he went through. He
had to have the presence of the Lord. There was times that he
couldn't have made it if the Lord had not have manifested
Himself to him in grace and mercy and love. Imagine your brother,
your brethren, throwing you down in a pit and leaving you? And the next time you see them,
there's two or three of them dragging you up out of the pit
and there's another one of your brothers over there taking the
money for you from the Ishmaelites? Imagine how your heart is broken
over there. Who's going to support a man
when his spirit is broken about that? Imagine him going down
that long, dusty trail down through the desert, down into Egypt.
He couldn't even understand what those guys were saying because
he didn't speak their language. He gets down there only to be
put on a block where they sell slaves. He's lost the presence
of his fathers and his brothers and his homeland, and now he's
been accused of this awful crime. He finds himself in the stocks
and his feet's raw and they're swollen. A man in a condition
like that needs somebody to support him, but he had nobody. Therefore,
who supported him? He had no company to love him.
Therefore, who loved him? There are some things we can't
experience. We can't know until we experience them. There were
times this man was so lonely and had nobody to talk to. Who
are you supposed to talk to? I tell you, when we get in a
position like that, that's when our Savior shows up, ain't it?
When you're as weak and as unstable as water and think you can't
put one foot in front of another, and you bet He experienced that.
Who was His strength? I bet you when this man got on
the throne. I bet you when he put that chain around him and
everybody was bowing down to him, I bet you his mind shot
back over all the history of the last 13 years. And he thought,
the mystery of God. Oh, the love of my God. The presence
of my God. The power of my God. All of that
has preserved me and brought me to this place. But he only
knew that from being sold by his brother and put in that pit.
and walk that long, dusty road and lay in that prison fast in
the stocks. I want to know more of the love
of my Savior. But it's going to come through
experience. I ain't going to get it probably from reading
a book. You can get the intellectual aspect of it, but boy, there's
a deeper getting it down in your spirit. Gail told me about her
niece, about a year or so ago when the little twins was born.
One of them was born, they were both born premature. One of them
is doing pretty good, but the other one is an afflicted little
child, a year old now, and one is blind. A blind little child,
greatly afflicted. I wonder which one of those little
twins that mother manifests her love to the most. I don't say
which one she loves the most, but I wonder which one receives
more of the manifestation. I bet you that it's that little
blind child, don't you? Can't you imagine her taking
that little blind child and looking at her? Oh, you sweet little
afflicted soul. Oh, she rubs it with her cheeks
and the tear drops and she speaks such sweet words to it and holds
it so closely. Why? It needs it. It needs that experience, that
support. And that's when the Lord comes
to us. That's when we feel His power in our soul. I tell you,
there's a knowing a thing and there's a feeling a thing, ain't
there? There's a knowing His love as we read it in the Bible
and we're assured of it. But I tell you, there's times
when He makes us to feel His love and the strength of it and
His presence of it. Moses felt the power of his Lord. He came to this conclusion. He
said, Lord, if You don't go with me, don't lead me up. And boy,
after we felt the power of His blessed Holy Presence, we feel
that way, don't we? But it comes out of these trials.
It comes out of these trials. Something else these trials taught
Joseph. The experience of them taught
him. that temporal advantages are not to be dependent upon.
Temporal advantages are not to be dependent upon. We're told
in the scripture that Jacob loved Joseph more than all of his brothers. And I bet you he relished his
father's love, didn't he? But you know something? He lost
his father. Didn't he? He lost that advantage.
He had a coat of many colors. I wonder sometime when he put
that coat on, it was so beautiful, I wonder if he thought, boy,
this is the beginning of my rule. What happened to that coat? Last
we read of it, it was dipped in blood. It was ruined. He had
the advantage of Potterford's house. Boy, he went there and
he thought, man, this ain't too bad. I know I'm a slave, but
my goodness, anything I want to eat, any clothes I want to
wear, all the servants respect me. This is a good job. But what happened to it? He lost
it, didn't he? He lost it. Temporal advantages,
worldly circumstances, brothers and sisters, are not to be dependent
upon. There's no sense to seek after
them or put our trust in them because we can lose them at any
time. Hold to God's unchanging hand. Ain't that what we used to say?
Build your hopes on things eternal. Hold to God's unchanging hand.
And don't put your trust in and your confidence in these worldly
temporal advantages because you're going to lose them. We may not
lose them now. Well, we think, we think, boy,
this job, man, this job's secure. I mean, I'll never lose this
job. Boy, this check's going to be
coming once a month. I can depend on that. No, you
can't. I mean, Richie Solomon said,
it's like a bird sitting on a fence. He'll take its flight and it's
gone. Our circumstances are subject
to change all the time. Something else. Boy, this is
a tough trial for Joseph, but his trials taught him this. And
this can be heartbreaking. Don't put your trust in man.
Don't put your trust in man. Sometimes we put our trust in
things. Sometimes we put our trust in people, don't we? Couldn't
trust his brothers, could he? Man, they sold him. Couldn't
trust Potiphar's wife. She falsely accused him. Couldn't
trust Potiphar. He turned against him. Couldn't even trust the butler
after he got him out of jail. When it's well with you, think
on me. But he forgot him. Cursed is
the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, his
strength. And I ain't accusing anybody.
I'm pointing the finger back at myself. You put your confidence
in me, just wait a while, and you'll be disappointed. Who are
we to trust? Trust in the Lord. Lean upon
Him with all your heart. He'll support you. He'll never
fail you. Have you ever known His promises
to fail? Has His love ever failed you?
Has He ever said He'd do one thing and then fail to do it?
He's the one to trust in, isn't He? We sang the old song sometime,
Great is Thy Faithfulness. O God my Father, there is no
shadow, not even a shadow, of turning with Thee. Thou changest
not, Thy compassions they fail not, as Thou hast been. Thou forever shalt be. Every
morning His faithfulness is new. And that will never stop. Put
your trust in Him and not in man. David said, When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. When
my bank account fails, and it will, He won't. When I've lost
my job, and I may, I'll not lose Him. When sickness brings me
to weakness, He'll be my strength. When friends forsake me, He's
a friend that will never forsake you. Put your trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And think of this. I'll let you
go pretty soon. Think of this. In the text that
I read to you, not only it was said the Word of the Lord tried
him, but it was said the Word tried him. What in the world
does he mean by that? The Word tried him. Did you ever
think that they didn't have the Word then? He couldn't have been
talking about the book of Genesis or any writings of Moses because
Moses hadn't lived yet. What was the Word of God to him?
Well, I'm sure that is what Jacob, his father, had told him. When
Jacob said something and he said, listen Joseph, this is what the
Lord said. And when he told him what the
Lord had said about that covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac,
and confirmed it to Jacob, that was the word of the Lord to this
young man. He had these dreams. When they
dreamed back in those days, the Lord spoke to them through those
dreams. God at sundry times and in diverse
manners spake to the fathers by the prophets, and He spake
through these dreams. And Joseph knew when he had those
dreams, this is the Word of the Lord. He's speaking to me. When
the Lord pressed upon his conscience a truth, he said, that's the
Lord. Now I'm glad for one that you
and I have the Bible, aren't you? I'm glad that we don't have
to go, but they knew it. And I have a dream now, and most
of my dreams I have to repent of, and I sure can't trust Him.
I ain't going to write them down for anybody to read. If I want
to save the Lord, the Word of the Lord, I open my Bible. Don't
you? But back then, God spake in these
ways, and the Word tried Him. How did the Word try Him then?
Well, the Word came to His conscience. The Spirit of the Lord came to
his conscience and pressed upon his conscience, Thou shalt not
commit adultery. You know why he didn't lay with
Potiphar's wife? He knew it was wickedness. He
said, How can I do this wicked thing and sin against God? The
Word of the Lord tried him. You know the Word of the Lord
is going to try you. It's going to try you morally. There'll
be times when you're tempted, when your old flesh suggests
to you to do something that's wrong. And you're going to have
to take the Word and stand right there and say, No. No. I won't do so wickedly and sin
against my God. Imagine when Joseph got put in
prison because he wouldn't yield to Potiphar's wife. Imagine the
devil come to him and said, It's your fault. You're righteous
over much. That's your problem. You could
have yielded and you wouldn't have been in jail. You could
have had it made. Boy, that's a temptation. That's a trial,
wouldn't it? Imagine after you'd been in prison
for 10 or 12 years. You hear these suggestions? I
thought you believed God. You remember when you dreamed
that you was going to be a ruler? People was going to bow down
to you? Do you still believe that now? You still love your
Father's God now? Your family has betrayed you.
You're in prison by false accusation. You still believe God now? How
are you going to get out of this dungeon on the throne? Buddy,
you talk about a temptation. You talk about a trial. Are you
going to believe God when you're in a trial like that? Is His
Word still true? Boy, it's easy to believe a promise
on a sunny day. But let the skies cloud up. Let
the storms come. Can you believe God then? And
buddy, he did. The Word of the Lord tried him
and he was just like Abraham. He staggered not at the promise
of God. I wonder if Jacob told Joseph,
Joseph listen, if the Lord makes a promise to you, be like your
grandpa Abraham. Don't stagger at it. And boy,
when he's down in prison and the devil suggests it to his
mind, that promise is not true. God has no intentions of fulfilling
that promise. He staggered not at the promise
of God. Was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. The Word tried Him. It tried
Him. I'll tell you another way the
Word of the Lord tries us too, and that's by being silent. You ever go for a long, long
time and you don't get any impressions at all from the Word? You just
open this book and it seems like it's dead. You go to work, you
come home, you ladies work around the house and keep your house
up, and boy after a while you begin to think, how long, oh
Lord, forever. I wonder how long this man went
in prison. He never had any dreams. He never
had any confirmation at all. Boy, he had to live on that old
dream that he had years ago. And that's the way it is with
us sometimes, isn't it? The Lord is silent to us. And boy, we start saying, Lord,
speak. Speak to me. Did you ever read
this Bible? It's nothing but words. And then
there comes the time, boy, when He'll come to you. Oh, it impresses
a precious promise upon your heart and it just blesses your
soul and you thank the Lord for it. But then you go for a long
spell and it tries you by saying nothing. The Word of the Lord
tried him. And let's close with this. Joseph was faithful in his profession
of God. Did you notice the places I read
to you Every time he had opportunity, he professed his Lord. He never
was ashamed of his Lord. When Potiphar's wife tried to
get him to sin with her, what was it he said? He said, if I do this, I'll sin
against my God. When the two men came down to
prison and had their dreams, what did he say? Don't interpretations
belong to God? And when He came before Pharaoh,
surely He won't say nothing about the Lord before Pharaoh. Here's
this great King upon His throne. He's not going to mention His
Lord there. But what did He do? The first
thing He says, Pharaoh, it's not in Me. It's not in Me. But my God can give you an answer
of peace. It's easy for me to get up in
front of you all and preach to you. I can just be so bold. But boy, let me go out and talk
to my mean neighbor. Let me go off to work and put
my car down in the clock and turn and there's three or four
guys mocking me. It ain't too easy then is it?
It takes grace then. He did it. And this, this, in Psalms 105,
19, I read it to you, until, I love this, until the time that
the Word came, was fulfilled, the Word of the Lord tried him.
Did you notice that until? Until. There wasn't any until
set upon his trial. That tells us that the Lord is
the author of these trials. Isn't that a blessing? Isn't
that comforting? If I thought the devil was over
all of these things and he was in control of all these trials,
why, we'd despair, wouldn't we? That's why Joseph, when his brethren
came down and they were afraid he was going to punish them,
he said, I know you meant it for evil, but God meant it for
good. God is the author of these trials,
no matter what means He uses. It's He who is the author of
it. That keeps us from cussing at other people. Joseph didn't
say it's that wicked woman. He didn't blame the devil. He
said the devil made him do it. But here's what he said. These
trials are in my God's hands. And there's an until attached
to them. There's limits that they have.
Joseph could not come out of prison until Pharaoh had his
dream. Pharaoh could not dream until
God gave him the dream. But then when he dreamed and
Joseph interpreted the dream, the until, the until opened up
all the doors. It's over, Joseph. My until has
been fulfilled. Suddenly they bring him out of
prison and set him upon his throne. The Lord sets limits to these
trials. And brothers and sisters, this
is why we need to be patient in our trials. Don't get too
anxious. Doesn't an until set upon your
trial? And if you try to get out of
it before then in your own strength, by your own wisdom and conniving,
you'll never do it. Be patient and wait upon the
Lord, and when His until is full, then He'll promote you. Then
He'll promote you. But not until. I don't know how
long your until may be. I don't know how many days or
how many years, but there isn't an until attached to it. And
He knows it. He's decreed it. Somebody says, well, I don't
want to be a Christian. They suffer too much. I don't
want to be a Joseph. He stayed in prison 13 years
or so. I don't want to be like that.
Well, let me tell you something. There's more people in that prison
than just Joseph. There's several stayed in there
when he came out. Everybody suffered. But here's
the difference between being a saved person and being a lost
person. Everybody's going to suffer.
But a suffering saint has a sympathizing Savior. He has someone to help him and
be his strength and to love him. And look at the end. You don't
want to be a Christian? You don't want to be a child
of God? Think of the end. When Joseph came out, those guys
stayed in there. And there may be suffering in
life, and there will be, but consider the end of life. The
saint will be delivered. They will be taken home to be
with the Savior for all eternity. Ours is when everybody else will
have to go to their long prison home. Oh, if I had to suffer hell on
earth, then give me hell on earth if Christ is mine. If God loves
me in Christ, because we know what the end will be, don't we?
God has decreed it. Lord bless His Word. John, while you're standing,
dear brother, would you dismiss us?