Joseph Opened the Storehouses

Now let's turn back to the book
of Genesis, chapter 41. Joseph was an unusual person. He was greatly loved by his father. In fact, his father showed partiality
to this young man Joseph above his ten brothers. The brothers were very jealous
of Joseph. And one day when he came out
to the fields where they were working, he told them a dream
he had. And God spoke to men back then
by dreams. The scriptures were not complete.
The revelation of God was not written in a book as we have
it. God spoke to men by visions and dreams and prophets and personal
messages to them. He told his brethren how he had
dreamed that someday they would bow unto him. And this agitated
them, infuriated them, and they talked about killing him. One
of the brothers persuaded them not to kill him, and they cast
him into a pit. And by the providence of God,
some men came through there in a caravan and they sold Joseph
to these men to be a slave. And they took his coat of many
colors, which had been given to him by his father, ripped
it to shreds and poured animal blood all over it and took it
home and gave it to the old man and told him that Joseph was
dead. Well, Joseph was taken down to
the land of Egypt. And there he became the foreman
of a certain man's household and possessions, and God blessed
him. But the woman of the house brought
a conspiracy against him and forced her husband to have Joseph
cast into prison for something that he had not done. And he
was put in prison, in the dungeon. And while he was there, the chief
butler of Pharaoh and the chief baker were cast into prison. They became friendly with Joseph.
Joseph was in prison. Pharaoh's chief butler, chief
baker, they were in prison. And one day they came to Joseph,
the baker did, and told him that he'd had a dream. And Joseph
was given the power from the Lord to interpret the Baker's
dream and told him how in three days that that Pharaoh would
hang him and the Baker the butler had a dream the Baker was the
one hanged the butler had a dream and Joseph told him how that
in three days Pharaoh would restore him to his position as chief
butler in Pharaoh's palace, and it came true. The baker was hanged
and the butler was restored to his position in the palace. And Joseph told him when he left
the dungeon, said, remember me, and say a good word for me. Well, the butler didn't. He didn't
remember Joseph. In fact, the scripture says that
the chief butler remembered Joseph, but forgot him. Did not remember
Joseph, but forgot him. And so some time passed, and
then Pharaoh had a dream. And you heard me read it a few
moments ago. He dreamed that seven cows came
up out of the river, and they were fat cows, beautiful, favored
cows, and they were grazing in the meadow, and then seven lean
cows came up out of the river, ill-favored, thin. And they devoured
the fat cows, but they didn't look any different. They looked
just as ill-favored and thin as they ever were. And then he
dreamed that the ears of corn, seven fat ears of corn, were
growing on a stalk, and then seven lean ears grew on the same
stalk and just devoured the fat ears, but they were still lean
and looked like they had been killed by the east wind. Pharaoh
asked his magicians and sorcerers and all these fellows to interpret
the dreams, and they could not. And the butler remembered Joseph. And he said to Pharaoh, he said,
there was a young Hebrew in prison with me, and he interpreted a
dream which I had in regard to your restoring me to favor. And
it turned out exactly as he said it would, and perhaps this young
Hebrew could interpret your dream. So they brought Joseph to Pharaoh,
and Joseph showed Pharaoh how that There would be seven years
of plenty, prosperity in the land of Egypt, followed by seven
years of famine. And he said the seven years of
plenty would be forgotten in the years of famine because hunger
and famine would consume the land. And he said, Pharaoh, the
thing to do is look you out a wise, discreet, honest man of integrity
and put him over all the food. And for these seven years of
plenty, store up one-fifth of everything that's produced, everything
that's grown. Build great storehouses, build
great barns, build great places where you can put food and keep
it during the seven years of plenty. Then when famine comes
and hunger comes, you'll have plenty." And so Pharaoh said,
well, who in all the land is wiser than Joseph? So he made
Joseph king over all Egypt. He gave into Joseph's hand. He
said, I'm Pharaoh. And without thee shall no man
lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. I am favorable,
and only in the throne will I be greater than you. I have set
thee over all the land." And so during those seven years,
Joseph stored up, filled the storehouse, and then when the
years of famine came, there was plenty for everyone. Even other
countries came to Egypt to get food. Now, there are many lessons
in this. And like I said a moment ago, this is easy preaching.
There's so much, so much truth here. First of all, you could
preach on the providence of God in the life of his children.
It was God's purpose to bring Joseph to the throne in Egypt.
That's what the dream he had back there he told his brethren
about. He dreamed that they would be bowing before him, and that's
what was fulfilled. Later on, his brethren came from
Israel to Egypt to buy corn and they had to get it from Joseph
and they bowed down before him and asked him for his favor and
his mercy and his grace and So God set out to bring Joseph to
the throne and he brought him by way of his brother's hatred
by way of the pit By way of Potiphar's house by way the prison to Pharaoh's
palace then to the kingship So we could go spend the whole time
showing how that God in his providence some good thing, some bad thing,
but all working together to accomplish his purpose for Joseph. He brought
the shepherd boy from the field to the throne. And I'm sure there
were times in Joseph's experience when he was there in the dungeon
or there in the pit and his brothers were plotting his death, he thought,
surely God's not in this. And then he was down in Potiphar's
house and he was doing so well, he was prospering, he'd been
made overseer, foreman over everything, and then Potiphar's wife lied
on him. He was thrown in prison. Here
he sits in prison now. And I'm sure he thinks, how can
this work together for my good and for God's glory? But it did.
It all worked together for God's glory and his good. I heard a
story one time, years and years ago, about a man who was going
through a rug factory. And they were making beautifully
colored rugs. They were rugs with flowers and
leaves and all kind of things, but they took him into the place
where the rugs were made. And all the big bolts of yarn
were everywhere, and these strings of yarn were all coming down
to one machine. The machine was here, and a string
of black, and red, and purple, and yellow, and green, and orange,
and white, and all these different threads were converging on one
machine, and it looked like it would be nothing but a mess.
All these strings were coming into this one machine, and here
they were going in this side, and then you step over here,
and they were coming out. The machine had brought them
together. and made them into a beautiful pattern. There was
a rose, and the green leaves, and the yellow background, and
all of these different flowers were in this rug. But if you
stand on this side of the machine, as all these colors were coming
together, it looked like all you could have is confusion and
a mess until you get over here. And sometimes it seems that way,
Because we look on things as they are, not as they're going
to be. God looks on them as he has decreed them in his eternal
providence. He said, I am the Lord, I declare
the end from the beginning. God made the machine. And God
Almighty will bring together the dark times and the light
times, the heavy times and the prosperous times, the times of
sickness, the times of sorrow, the times of joy, the times of
failure. He'll bring all these things
into our lives to make us like Christ. And you could spend the
whole message on it. Then you could go into this.
You could go into the sovereignty of God over the weather. You
know, He talked to Job about that. He said, if you entered
into the treasures of the snow, the rain, does the dew have a
father? Who set the ocean in bounds? Who holds the ocean there? Who's
the father of the tide, the moon, the sun, all these things? God
controls the weather. It's in the hands of the Lord.
And here was the seven years of plenty from God's hand and
seven years of famine. The crops, it's all in the hands
of the Lord. God's sovereignty over heathen
nations. God wanted Israel to come to Egypt for his own purposes. I don't understand them, but
he did. Here he made a Hebrew, a Hebrew child king over a pagan
nation. God brought him there. The heart
of the king is in the hands of the Lord. He turneth it whithersoever
he will. God's sovereignty over men's
dreams. That's right, he has sovereignty even over men's dreams. And then we might deal with this,
the providence of God and the life of his child, the sovereignty
of God over all things. I'm a person who believes in
God's absolute sovereignty. God is God. There's no power
greater than our Lord, and all things are in His hands. He creates
the light and the darkness, good and evil, life and death. I,
the Lord, do all these things. How big is your God? God is sovereign
over the moments, over the seconds, the minutes, the hours, the days,
the weeks, the years. He's absolutely sovereign. And
I tell you, when you learn that, you'll find some peace. You'll
find some joy, you'll find some rest, you'll find some comfort
when you learn that, that these things are not in your hands
nor in the hands of men. Put no confidence or trust in
the flesh, yours or anybody else's. Put your confidence and trust
in the Lord. Job knew that. He said the Lord gave and the
Lord hath taken away. Hannah knew that. She said the
Lord maketh poor and the Lord maketh rich. Eli knew that. He said it's the Lord, let him
do what he will. God worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will, not just the big things. The big things grow
out of the little things. The big things are born of the
little things. Without the little things, there
are no big things. God numbers the hairs of your head. That's
what he said. What's a sparrow worth, Christ said? What is a
sparrow worth? Little or nothing. Not a one
of them falls to the ground without your father. There's a dead bird
out there that fell to the ground without the Father's omnipotent
power. He causes the bees to make the
honey. He causes the birds to care for
their young and to build their nests. He teaches them how. He
cares for the little things. Despise not the day of little
things, God said. It's the little things that destroy
our composure, is it not? Not the big things. We can handle
big things. But God's in the little things.
The little foxes that spoil the vines. And if we could rest in
his absolute, immutable, faithful providence and sovereignty over
all things, we'd learn to worship. We'd learn to trust. We'd learn
to rest. We'd find that peace we've been
looking for so long. Trust in the Lord. Lean not to
thine own understanding and he'll bring it to pass. But we don't
glorify him when we don't trust him. He said, we're not to have
anxious care, even for the things we shall eat, drink, or wear.
God knows you have need of these things. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, his righteousness. All these things will be added
to you. Well, as you see, we could go on, but the faithfulness
of Joseph, we could deal with that. Here is a man in the greatest
trial and adversity. I don't know what part of Joseph's
experience was the most trying. I suppose that when his own brothers
sold him as a slave, that would be pretty difficult to bear.
But he remained faithful. I suppose when he had served
when he had served Potiphar so faithfully, and then Potiphar
comes in and believes everything this woman says and doesn't believe
Joseph at all, and he's thrown into the dungeon. That's the
time when some of us would have quit. That's the time we would
have thrown up our hands. That's the time when we would
have left the sinking ship, so to speak, but not Joseph. And
then when he interpreted the dream for the butler and baker,
and he sat there and waited for days and weeks and months, I
interpreted the dream for this man, and here he's been restored
back to the palace, and he forgot me. He just forgot me. And that
might have been the time we'd have quit, but not Joseph. Joseph
remained faithful through all trial and all adversity, and
he walked with God. He maintained a testimony of
godliness, grace, and truth, even in a pagan land surrounded
by pagan people. He remained true. But the thing
that I see here more than anything else is a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And I'm going to give it to you
in a four-fold outline very briefly. First of all, if you look at
Genesis 41, verse 41, the first point of this message is this.
Joseph opened the storehouses by royal authority. He did not
take this office upon himself, it was given to him. He opened
the storehouses by royal authority. And Pharaoh said, Joseph, I have
sent thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his
ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and arrayed
him in vestures of fine linen, put a gold chain on his neck,
made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they
cried before him, bow the knee. And he made him ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said, Joseph, I am
Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot
in all the land of Egypt. And down here in verse 55, And
when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to
Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians,
Go to Joseph, go to Joseph, and what he says to you, do. My friends, I wish I had the
wisdom I wish I had the ability, I wish I had the power to make
plain to everyone who hears me preach, to everyone who hears
me try to teach God's Word, that Almighty God has vested all things
in Christ. If you'll turn with me to the
book of John, chapter 3, verse 35, I'll read this to you from
God's Word. Everything's in Christ. God hath
put nothing in the hands of angels. God hath put nothing in the hands
of men. God hath put nothing in the hands
of the church. He's put it all in the hands
of Christ. That's right. In John 3, 35,
the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his
hands. All blessings, all mercy, all
grace, all redemption is in the hands of Christ. Our Lord said,
All authority is given unto me in heaven and earth. Our Lord
said in John 17, 2, All power is given unto me over all flesh. And then in John 5, 22, listen
to this, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son. I wish I could make clear that
without him we not only can do nothing, we are nothing. Christ
said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth
in me bringeth forth much fruit. If you abide not in me, you are
fit only to be burned. Withered, dry, dead, lifeless
branches. Christ is divine. Now turn with
me to Colossians chapter 1. the first chapter of Colossians,
verse 14 through 19. Now listen to this. What I'm
saying is this, that Pharaoh called Joseph in, and he said,
Joseph, I'm turning everything in Egypt over to you. Only in
the throne am I greater than you. Not a man shall lift a hand
or a foot in this country without you. You shall have all power
over all food, over all the storehouses. When anyone came to Pharaoh for
food, he said, you go to Joseph, and whatever Joseph says, do.
It's all in his hand. Total, complete control and power
over all things. Now look at Colossians 1, verse
14, talking about Christ, talking about the kingdom of his dear
Son. Verse 14, Colossians 1, In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sin. who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him
were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he's before all things, and
by him all things consist. And he's the head of the body,
the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence, for it pleased
the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." Mr. Spurgeon spoke on this verse
of Scripture in 1872, and he had a three-point outline. It
pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. He
asked three questions. What? All fullness. All fullness toward God. All
that God requires of men is found in Christ. All righteousness,
all obedience, all justice, all godliness, all submission, it's
all found in Christ. All that God requires of men
is found in Christ. All that God commands of men
is found in Christ. All that God expects of men is
found in Christ. Toward God, all things are in
Christ. Toward man. What does the sinner need? I
need power to believe. He gives power to the faith.
I need repentance. He's exalted to give repentance.
I need righteousness. He was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I need a new heart. He said, A new heart I will give
thee. I need forgiveness. He said, Though your sins be
as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. I need healing. He healeth
our diseases. Thou, O Christ, art all I want. more than all in thee I find."
What? All fullness. Where? In Christ. In Christ. Why? Now, three things. Watch this. He has the capacity
to contain all fullness. Christ and only Christ. An angel
cannot contain all fullness. Only Christ has the capacity
to contain all of God, all of God's grace and mercy and love
and righteousness and truth. He has the capacity to contain
it. Secondly, he has the immutability
to retain it, because he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And then he has the wisdom to
distribute it. You know, Joseph said, Look you
out a man who is wise and discreet. You look out a man who can handle
this job. And the only one who has the
capacity to contain all fullness, and the immutability to retain
all fullness, and the wisdom to distribute all fullness, is
God himself, Jesus Christ his Son. All right, the third question
he asks is, why? It pleased God that in him should
all fullness dwell. What? All fullness. Joseph, it's
yours. Egypt is yours. The people are
yours. The throne is yours. The food
is yours. Not anybody is going to eat unless
it's by your will. Not anybody is going to lift
a hand or a foot unless it's by your direction. That's power. And that's the power by royal
decree that my Lord, Jesus Christ, has been given by the Heavenly
Father. It pleased God. That's why I suppose some Egyptians said,
well, how come Joseph has this kind of power? And Pharaoh said,
because I'm Pharaoh and I've decreed it. I've decreed it. That's why. It pleased God. That
in him should all fullness dwell. Turn to John 17. Look hard at
this verse now. John 17. You see the picture?
Pharaoh said, Joseph, I'm committing everything into your hands. You
have supreme authority, absolute power. Even when the people came
to Pharaoh and said, we want some food, he said, you go to
Joseph. It's in the hands of Joseph. You don't get any food
from me. You needn't go to my wife, you
needn't go to my mother, you needn't come to me, you go to
Joseph. It's in his hands. And our Lord said, now watch
this, John 17 1, these words spake Jesus, lifted up his eyes
to heaven, said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy Son,
that thy Son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. You know, we stop to think about
this thing of eternal life. It's a gift. We stop to think
about the food in the land of Egypt. What if the wrong man
had been given that position? What if someone without the wisdom
to distribute it? What if someone with an eye to
his own profit had been given that power, that position? Our Lord Jesus Christ did not
take this honor upon himself even as the high priest of old,
but he was made the mediator, he was made the surety, he was
made the king, he was made the prophet by his Heavenly Father.
And into his hands was put all things, all fullness dwells in
him. Because he's the only one with
the capacity to contain it, the only one with the immutability
to retain it, it changes not. The same ones who looked to him
in Moses' time and in Isaiah's time and in John and James' time
and in Spurgeon's time can look to him today. He still has awfulness,
unchangeable. And then he has the wisdom to
distribute it. The wisdom. Please, God. Please,
God. I want to show you three verses.
You can write them down and look them up later, but listen to
this. In 1 Samuel 12, verse 22, it says this. Now, David, they
said, David, where's your God? David said, our God's in the
heavens. What's your God like, David? Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places." What
did he please to do? Well, 1 Samuel 12, 22, it says,
"...the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake,
because it pleased the Lord to make you his people." Pleased
God to make you his people. It pleased God to make you his
people. Just like it pleased God that
in all fullness you dwell in Christ, it pleased God to make
you one with Christ. And then Isaiah 53, verse 10,
listen to this, why did Jesus go to the cross? Why did Christ
suffer and die? Why did Christ bleed on that
old rugged cross? Why was he buried and rose again?
It says in Isaiah 53, verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It pleased the Lord. And then it says over in 1 Corinthians
1.21, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to say them that
believe. Why has God ordained such as I'm doing tonight? Because it pleased him. And then
in Galatians 1.15, the Apostle Paul said, it pleased God to
reveal his Son to me and in me. All right, the second thing that
I want us to see, first of all, Joseph, was made king by royal
decree. Royal decree. He had the storehouses
put in his hands by royal authority. Secondly, Joseph was the fit
person to open the storehouses. Why? Well, I've got three reasons.
Number one, he planned them. He planned them. Secondly, he
gathered the corn. Look at verse 49. And Joseph
gathered corn. as the sand of the sea, very
much, until he left numbering, for it was without number." Joseph
planned the storehouses, he filled the storehouses, and he stored
up all that the people could use, plenty. It was his plan
and his purpose and his work. He's the fit person to open them
because he's the one that prepared them. And our Lord Jesus Christ
is the fit person to open the storehouses of grace, because
he planned them, and he filled them, and he stored up plenty. One day the Lord Jesus Christ
turned to his disciples, a multitude had heard him preach, and all
up left him, and the twelve disciples were there, and he turned and
said, Will you go away? And they said, Lord, to whom shall we
go? There's famine in the land, there's no help. Shall we go
to the law? Shall we go to the ceremony,
the dry, dead ceremony? Shall we go to work, filthy rags?
Shall we turn to the church? Shall we turn to the temple?
Shall we turn to the tabernacle? Shall we turn to the sacrifices
which could never put away sin? Thou hast the words of life.
A man who lived in Egypt would have been a fool to go to anyone
but Joseph, wouldn't he? And a man today is a fool to
seek salvation anywhere but in Christ, because he hath the words
of life. He planned it, he paid the price,
he purchased it, and because he's able to say to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. One old hymn writer wrote these
words. Come, humble sinner in whose breast a thousand thoughts
revolve, come with your guilt and fear oppressed, and make
this last resolve. I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
hath like a mountain rose. I know his courts I'll enter
in, whatever may oppose. Because prostrate I'll lie before
his throne, and there my guilt confess. I'll tell him I'm a
wretch undone without his sovereign grace. I'll to the gracious King
approach whose scepter pardon gives. Perhaps he will receive
my plea, and then the sinner lives. Perhaps he will admit
my plea. Perhaps he will hear my prayer.
But if I perish, I will go, and I'll perish only there. I can
but perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I shall forever die." Joseph, you have all authority. You have supreme control. You
have absolute command, you're the king. Now, he opened the
storehouses, and the people who were hunting, look over here,
when he opened them. Joseph opened the storehouses,
it says over here in verse 56, look at it. And the famine was
over all the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and
sold to the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in the earth. When the people needed him, Joseph
was there. When the people were hungry,
Joseph was there. And our Lord said, Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come to the water. Come and buy wine and
milk, come and buy it without price. Because it's the free
gift of God's wonderful grace. The famine was universal. Here's
another picture here, verse 57. And all the countries came to
Egypt because the famine was sore in all the land. All had
sinned and come short of God's glory. But our Lord invites people
out of every nation, tongue, tribe, and kindred to come to
Christ. And he says, look at chapter
45. Let me show you something here before we quit. Another
beautiful picture. You know, Joseph's brethren came
from Canaan, came up there to buy, to get something to eat,
and Joseph was on the throne. And then he revealed himself
to them, and I want you to listen to what he says to his brethren.
They were afraid, and they wept, and they apologized, and all
these things. And verse 4 of Genesis 45, listen
to this. And Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I
pray you. And they came near. And he said,
I'm Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore,
be not grieved," now listen to this, "'nor angry with yourselves,
that you sold me hither. For God did send me before you
to preserve life.'" I told you one Wednesday night preaching
that we need to quit getting angry with second causes. We
need to quit getting angry with second causes. God is the first
cause of all things. And we need to see these second
causes as just means in the hands of God to accomplish his purpose
and his glory and our good. And what we do, we fret and fume
with the second causes, human beings and All of these different
what we call accidents and incidences. We need to quit getting angry
and upset with these things and look back like Joseph said to
his brethren, he said, you sold me, but I'm not mad at you. Don't
be greed with yourself, because God meant it for our good. And all you were, just like the
Lord Jesus Christ, didn't get angry with Peter, really. He
said, turn to Peter and said, Satan hath desired thee, that
he might use you. One time when he turned to Peter,
he called him Satan. Peter was popping off about the
Lord not going to the cross. He said, now don't go to the
cross. No need you doing that. And our Lord turned and said,
Satan, you get behind me. You savers, not the things of
God. He didn't even call him Peter, did he, John? He called
him Satan. And we need to quit fretting about these second causes
and getting upset with second causes and remember that all
of it is in the providence and purpose of God if we're his children.
Now read on. Joseph said, God sent me here
to preserve life, for these two years, verse 6, hath the famine
been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there
shall neither be earing nor harvest, and God sent me before you to
preserve you, a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives
by a great deliverance. Now listen to me. All the land
of Egypt profited by Joseph's presence. You with me? All the land of Egypt profited
by Joseph's wisdom. All the land of Egypt profited
by Joseph's storehouses. But it was all meant for Israel.
That's what God said. That's what Joseph is saying
right here to his brethren. Seventy people came out of Canaan
into Egypt. Seventy Israelites. And God Almighty
moved the whole nation God Almighty gave a man a throne over a whole
nation, the most powerful throne of that day. God Almighty gave
a Hebrew boy that supreme authority for the good of his people. And
Jesus Christ, his Son, came into this world 2,000 years ago. And
every son of Adam in this world is profited by that grace and
that visit of Christ. This whole world has been preserved
by his visit. The very fact that God Almighty
put up with Adam and Adam's sons through all these years has been
because of Christ. If Jesus Christ, now you listen
to me, if Jesus Christ had not been, Jesus Christ and his people,
had not been in the purpose of God to redeem them through Christ,
this world would have never stood after Adam ate that fruit. God's
wrath and judgment would have consumed it like he consumed
the world by the flood and like he'll someday consume this world
by fire. But God preserved this world
for his people. For his people. God is performing
a work of grace in the hearts of his people throughout the
years. And God will bless a whole nation through one man. God will
bless a whole community through one group of people. And Joseph
came down here to Egypt, and he's sitting on that throne.
And he has total control over all of the primitive, heathen,
pagan, godless, out-of-worshipping Egyptians. But God is doing it
for his people. That's right. For his people.
Israel. I'll save you with a great deliverance. And our Lord Jesus Christ came.
And our Lord, let me show you this before I quit. Turn to John
chapter 14. He said, now watch this in John
14. He came down here and prepared
for us a great deliverance, and he said in verse 3 of John chapter
14, verse 2, he said, In my Father's house are many mansions. And
if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place
for you. I came down here and prepared
a deliverance, came down here and prepared a redemption, and
I'm going to prepare a place. And if I go and prepare a place,
I'll come back and receive you unto myself. You say, Brother
Man, what's heaven going to be like? I don't know. I really
don't know. I've given it a lot of thought, looked into the Bible. I don't know what's going to
be there. I don't understand just exactly what's going to
be there. I often think, are we going to
be like our Lord when he rose from the grave? I know we're
going to know as we have been known. I know we're going to
have eternal life. We're going to have bodies of
flesh. I know we're going to eat, drink,
but I don't know exactly what's going to be there, but I know
what's not going to be there. I know he said very positively in Revelation
21, and God shall wipe away all tears, there's not going to be
any tears in heaven, and there's not going to be any more death,
not going to be any more death in heaven, and not going to be any
more sorrow, There's not going to be any more crying. There's
not going to be any more pain. I know those things are going
to be gone. He's gone to prepare a place. Our Joseph, by the Heavenly
Father, has received supreme authority. In him all fullness
dwells. And he came down here and he
performed the work and opened the storehouses. And he gave
us all that we need. And he said, now I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, a prepared place for a prepared people, I'm going
to come back and receive you. I'm waiting for that. Our Father
in heaven, Thank you for your word. This beautiful picture
of our Lord is redemptive grace, is redemptive glory. Our Supreme
Lord and Savior, King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom
we bow and declare with our lips, and not only with our lips, but
with our hearts, Jesus Christ is Lord. And all the benefits
and blessings from thy bountiful hand are ours through him. He purposed it, he planned it,
and he executed it. And, O Lord, he hath given to
us this grace. We thank thee and praise thy
name, for Christ our Lord. minister to us through these
words which have been written and the words that we have felt
led of thy spirit to speak. Give joy and assurance to thy
people and give conviction and hunger and thirst to those without
the Redeemer and bring them to trust him and to believe on him
and look to him alone and find in him all they need. I am so
glad that our Lord Jesus Christ loves sinners. We praise him
for his grace, and in his name we ask these things. Amen.

Joseph Opened the Storehouses

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Joseph Opened the Storehouses

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