again tonight to Genesis chapter
39 Genesis chapter 39 I ended my
message last time from the life of Joseph with him being put
into prison he being falsely accused of and Potiphar, his
owner, put him in prison. We see that in verse 20. And
Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place
where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in prison. Once again, I want to remind
us that we see this wonderful truth. It was true that Joseph
like every child of God. This truth that we read in verse
21, but the Lord was with Joseph. This is, as far as I'm concerned,
one of those many exceeding great and precious promises that the
Apostle Peter writes about in the New Testament. God's promise
to his people, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And all of the promises of God
are yea and amen in Christ. Joseph, we see, was deprived
of his father's company. He was alienated from his homeland,
but not his Lord. The Lord was with Joseph. Now tonight, I want us to especially
think about Joseph being raised from this lowly position that
is of a prisoner to the great and high honor to which he came. I want you to hold your places
here in your Bible, but if you will, turn with me to Psalm 105.
Psalm 105, and the psalmist is giving a history of the nation
of Israel. And he speaks about this experience
of Joseph, Psalm 105, beginning with verse 16. Moreover, he,
and you've got to read above that to see the antecedent to
he, who he is, and he is God. He is God. That is Joseph's Lord,
who was with him. Moreover, he, called for a famine
upon the land. He break the whole staff of bread. And we know from Genesis that
it was not only in the land of Egypt where there was a great
famine, but it covered the known land, the earth at that time,
especially the land of Canaan where Joseph's family were. Moreover, he called for a famine
upon the land. He break the whole staff of bread.
He sent a man 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, Pharaoh 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 all his substance to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his senators wisdom." Let me just go back over that
with us noticing these few things. Who called for the famine and
broke the whole staff of bread? God did. The Lord, the same Lord
who was with Joseph. Who sent Joseph into Egypt where
he was sold and his feet hurt with fetters and laid in the
iron? The Lord did. The Lord, same
Lord who was with Joseph, the sovereign Lord God. Who purposed
the time of Joseph's deliverance when he was brought from the
prison? to become the administrator of all Egypt. The Lord did, the
Lord who was with Joseph. It was the sovereign Lord God
who accomplished all of these things. God's people, in this
world we meet with trials and difficulties, but we must constantly,
constantly remind ourselves to look at the first cause, of whatever
difficulty, whatever trial the Lord may send. It is true God
may use Satan, the devil, but the devil is not all powerful.
And when all is said and done, the devil is God's devil, and
he can only do what God allows. We see second causes. The devil,
wicked men, they may play their part. in whatever trial or difficulty
we go through, but we must constantly remind ourselves that behind
it all and behind everyone else is the Lord, the sovereign Lord
who is with his people, just as he was with Joseph. The sovereign Lord who worketh
all things, according to the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1 in
verse 11, worketh all things after the counsel of his will,
that is his eternal will, his purpose, who makes all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. All things work together. for
their good, only because God is the first cause of all things. Difficulties and trials, and
all of God's children experience them as we go through this world.
We should look upon them as discipline, God's discipline. And remember
that every son that God loves, He disciplines, He chastens,
every son. And Paul, the writer of Hebrews,
said that if you be without chastisement or discipline, then you're not
a true child of God. You're illegitimate. God uses
these things in our lives for His glory and for our good. Let us always remember, the Lord
was with Joseph. The Lord, if he be for us, who
can be against us? That's the reasoning the Apostle
Paul gives us in Romans chapter eight. Now let's go back to Genesis,
please. And I have six quick things I
want to point out to us about Joseph. First of all, Joseph suffered
imprisonment because he was falsely accused. He was in prison because
Potiphar's wife had accused him of that which he was not guilty. He was innocent, we recognize
that. Let me read you a passage from
the New Testament, the Apostle Peter writing to believers, and
this is found in 1 Peter chapter two. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 19. For what glory is it, what glory
is it, if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take
it patiently? But if when you do well, what
glory is it if you've done wrong and you suffer for your actions,
what glory is that? when you have done good, when
you have done good, done well, when you do well and
suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even here unto were you called
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that we should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Who his own self bare our sins
and his own body on the tree. that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray,
but are now you returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your
souls. Joseph suffered for well-doing. He didn't suffer for evil-doing. He was falsely accused and put
into prison. The second thing that I want
us to see here about Joseph is he found favor. He found favor
with the keeper of the prison. If you notice again here in Genesis
chapter 39 and verse 21, but the Lord was with Joseph and
showed him mercy and gave him favor. God 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. The keeper of the prison looked
not to anything that was under his hand." Now notice, because
the Lord was with him, because the Lord was with Joseph, and
that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. Joseph found favor
with the keeper of the prison. The Lord was with him, and that
which he did, the Lord caused it to prosper. There's a proverb,
it's found in Proverbs chapter 16, in verse seven, that tells
us, when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him. When a man's ways please the
Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Joseph's ways pleased the Lord,
and he found favor with the keeper of the prison, and the keeper
of the prison recognized that the reason things prospered under
Joseph's hand was because the Lord was with him. because the
Lord was with Joseph. So those two things, Joseph suffered
imprisonment, being falsely accused. Joseph found favor with the keeper
of the prison. Number three, Joseph, now we're
going into the next chapter, chapter 40, but Joseph showed
himself friendly. You know, it'd be easy to have
a bad attitude to be in prison, not be guilty for what you were
charged, be there suffering injustice, it would be very easy to have
a very bad attitude. But Joseph showed himself friendly. This, I believe, at least it's
suggested to me by what we read here in chapter 40, beginning
with verse one. 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. Now the office of a
butler, and I assume a baker, that wasn't a lowly office. These
men were somebody in the palace of the pharaoh, of the king of
Egypt. But the king, like most of the
rulers at that time, sovereign ruler over that nation. He was
a despot, and he could do what he wanted to, and the butler
displeased the king, and so did the baker, and so he put him
in prison. Pharaoh was wroth against two
of his officers, against the chief of the butlers and against
the chief of the bakers. He put them in ward in the house
of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where
Joseph was bound. I made mention of this in the
message last time. It was important in God's providence
that Joseph be put into a prison where the king's prisoners would
be put. And it's a spoke. One of the
spokes in the wheel of God's providence is that Joseph is
sold and bought by this man Potiphar who was over the king's security
guard. And therefore, when he put someone
in prison, it wasn't just any prison, but it was the same prison
in which the king put his prisoners. And these men must, their paths
must cross. That is Joseph and the butler. But what I'm wanting to point
out here is Joseph showed himself friendly to these men. And you
say, well, where do you see that? Well, let's read on. And the
captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served
them. He served them. They were under his rule, but
he served them. God's people are like our Lord,
aren't they? Aren't we? We should be. He said,
you call me Lord and Master, and you say, well. But he said,
I am among you as one that serves. He served, and Joseph, we see,
he was charged with them, and yet he served them, and they
continued a season in ward, and they dreamed a dream, both of
them, each man his dream in one night. each man according to
the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the
king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison." Now notice this,
this is where I say that Joseph showed himself friendly. These
men were prisoners under his charge, that's true, but notice
the care that he takes in these prisoners. He comes in in the
morning and immediately, Immediately he recognizes by their countenance
something's different. He had an interest in these men,
didn't he? He showed an interest in them.
And that reminds me of another proverb which tells us that a
man that hath friends must show himself friendly. A man that
hath friends must show himself friendly. You know, some people,
they attend a church, and they don't speak to anyone, and then
they go out and say, well, no one spoke to me. Well, did you
speak to anyone? No. No, I didn't. Well, why didn't you? I thank
the Lord we have a friendly church here. And visitors come here,
they find friendly people. And a man must show himself friendly
if he's going to have friends. That's what the proverb says
and that's what I see here in Joseph. He comes in in the morning
and looked upon them and behold, he recognized immediately something's
happened. Something's happened to these
men. They're not like they were yesterday when I left them here.
They're sad. They're sad. He had an interest
in them. And he asked favor of his officers
that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying,
wherefore look you so sadly today? And they said unto him, you know,
he could have said, listen, you think you've got problems? I'm
here falsely accused. I didn't do anything to be worthy
to cause me to be put into this prison. But no, he's not that
way. That proverb, let me finish that
proverb. A man must show himself friendly
to have friends. A man that hath friends must
show himself friendly and, this is the rest of the proverb, and
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Joseph
had that friend. He showed himself friendly and
he had that friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Who is
that friend? Well, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his Lord who was with him. His Lord. They both dreamed a dream and
there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, do
not interpretations belong to God? Tell them, or tell me them,
I pray you. So that's the third thing I point
out about Joseph. He showed himself friendly. And
the Lord Jesus Christ is a friend of sinners, isn't he? He is,
he's a friend of sinners. He said, I came not to call the
righteous to repentance, but sinners. He came to seek and
to save that which is lost. The fourth thing I see here,
Joseph always, he always acknowledged that God was the one who gave
the interpretation. Now these men might have bragged
on him like Pharaoh, being lost men, not understanding, but Joseph
never took the credit. He never took the credit to himself.
No, it was always the Lord. He's the one who gives the interpretation
to the dream. Notice that in here in chapter
40, verse eight. And they said unto him, we have
dreamed a dream and there's no interpreter of it. And Joseph
said unto them, do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me. Tell me them, I pray you. He
knows and he tells these men that the interpretation of their
dream, he didn't have that in himself. He did not have that
ability. He did not have that wisdom in
himself. This wisdom, this ability to
do what they wanted someone to do, it comes from the Lord. It's God. Interpretations belong
unto him. And if you will, in chapter 41,
I want you to see that he does the same thing when he's called
before Pharaoh the king. In chapter 41 and verse 16, Joseph
answered Pharaoh saying, it is not in me. You see that Butler
had told Pharaoh, I remember there was a man in prison who
interpreted my dream and his interpretation was correct. And
Pharaoh said, Bring him here. Call him. And so they cling Joseph
up, bring him into the presence of the king, and the king desires
that Joseph give him not only the interpretation, but I believe
the dream also. But anyway, Joseph answered Pharaoh
saying, it is not in me, God. It is not in me. God shall give
Pharaoh an answer of peace. And then look down to verse 25.
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, the dream of Pharaoh is one God
has showed. You see what I'm saying? He's
giving the credit to the interpretation of the dream. He's not taking
the credit to himself. He's giving the credit to the
Lord. And also in that same chapter,
look down to verse 28. This is the thing which I have
spoken unto Pharaoh, what God is about to do. He showeth unto
Pharaoh. You know, we see the same thing
in Daniel. Keep your places here, but turn
with me to the book of Daniel. Remember Nebuchadnezzar, he's
the one that dreamed a dream and could not remember his dream.
And he demanded that his wise men tell him the dream and the
interpretation. And of course they all said,
well, no one's ever demanded such a thing as this. You tell
us the dream and we'll tell you the interpretation. Yeah, yeah.
I know how that works. No, you tell me the dream and
the interpretation. We can't do that. Well, get ready
to meet your maker because you're all going to die. And when the
man who had charge over them, came in and told Daniel. Daniel
asked for time, and they prayed him, Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, the three Hebrew children who ended up in the
fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. But notice here in Daniel chapter
2, verse 25. Ariok brought in Daniel before
the king in haste and said, thus unto him, I have found a man
of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king
the interpretation. The king answered and said to
Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, art thou able to make known unto
me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, the secret
which the king hath demanded Cannot the wise men, the astrologers
and the magicians and the soothsayers show unto thee, king, but listen
now, there's a God in heaven. There's a God in heaven that
revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar.
what shall be in the latter days. The point being that both Joseph
and Daniel, they glorified God. Yes, they're going to give the
interpretation of the dream, but they make sure that the king
understands it's not because there was anything special in
them, that it was God Almighty who gave them the interpretation. Now here's the fifth thing, if
you go back to Genesis, I wanted to point out. The fifth thing
is Joseph was forgotten by the butler. Now you remember the
butler dreamed and his dream was, as Joseph interpreted it,
that he would be restored to his place of butlership. And
he would bring Pharaoh his cup to drink from. And sure enough,
it happened just as Joseph told him the dream signified. In three
days, he was back in place serving Pharaoh. And that was a place
of honor. I know we have a tendency maybe
to look down on the place of a butler, but in that society,
that was somebody. Wasn't everybody got to be the
king's butler? That's a place of prominence,
a place of authority even. But Joseph asked him, notice
in verse 14 here in chapter 40. Then Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph. No, I'm in 41. Chapter 40 and
verse 14. Joseph, after he interpreted
the dream of the butler, he says, but think on me. And notice in
the margin before the word think. Remember me with thee. Remember
me with thee. Think on me when it shall be
well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make
mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For indeed, I was stolen away
out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing
that they should put me into the dungeon. Remember me, Joseph
said to the butler. Now look down to verse 23. Yet did not the chief butler
remember Joseph, but forgot him, forgot him. Now, I don't see
how any of us can fail to remember another man years and years later,
centuries later, another man who asked another man to remember
him. You know who I'm talking about,
don't you? There was a man who was crucified on one of the crosses
on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing grace
of God is displayed in the salvation of that man. Because when you
read all three of the gospel narratives, you find out that
he, along with the other thief, they were railing upon the Lord
Jesus Christ in the beginning of that day of crucifixion. But before the day was ended,
this man said, Lord, remember me. When thou comest into thy
kingdom, remember me. And he didn't forget him. He
didn't forget him. He said, today thou shalt be
with me in paradise. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
bowed his head and dismissed his spirit that day and entered
into paradise, there he was. There he was. There he was. And all he had asked was, Lord,
remember me. Be merciful to me. Remember me. What'd I say? He's a friend of
Santa's, isn't he? Is he your friend? Can you call
him your friend tonight? And can you believe that he is
a friend that sticketh closer than a brother? That no matter
where you go, no matter what you experience, that you always
have your friend, the Lord Jesus Christ with you. And more than
a friend, more than a friend, your savior, your Lord, your
master. Well, notice this sixth thing
about Joseph. Joseph was exalted. Again, in
chapter 41 and verse 39, Joseph was exalted. And Pharaoh said
unto Joseph, For as much as God has showed thee all this, there
is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over
my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people
be ruled. Now think about this. In the
morning he woke up in prison, and he went to bed that night
master over all Egypt. The only one who was higher than
him in authority was Pharaoh himself. Only in the throne will
I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand
and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, put a gold chain
about his neck and made him to ride in the second chariot which
he had and they cried before him as he went down the street
in this chariot. The runners went before him who
were crying out, bow the knee, bow the knee. This is somebody
coming by here now. This is next in command of all
the land. And then I notice in verse 45,
Pharaoh gave Joseph another name. And boy, this is some name. This is some name. Any of you
want to pronounce this name for me? Zaphnath-paneah. But notice in
the margin what it means. Now Joseph had another, he had
his name Joseph, didn't he? Now both of these names are impressive. When we think about Joseph as
a picture of Christ, Rachel, his mother, gave him the name
Joseph. And if you go back in the chapters
here and see when he was born and she gave him that name, you'll
see in the margin, the name Joseph, it means adding, A-D-D-I-N-G,
adding. What a picture of Christ. He
adds us, doesn't he, to the family of God. He's the only one. He
adds us to the population of heaven. And then this name, this
very long name, this Syrian name that he was given, if you look
in the margin it says, a revealer of secrets are the man to whom
secrets are revealed. What it means is the wisdom,
Pharaoh said that he was full of wisdom. He could reveal the
secrets, the secrets. He had that power. And this speaks
of Christ too, because we know in him, or he at all, the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Now look down to verse 55. Verse
55. When all the land of Egypt was
famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh
said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph. Go unto Joseph. If you're going to get any food,
it's going to come from Joseph. He's in charge of the granaries. Go to Joseph. Now, let's close
by looking in the New Testament to the letter of Philippians,
very well-known passage of scripture to all of us here this evening,
Philippians chapter two. We see Joseph exalted from a
very humble place, the prison, to the highest place, second
in command in all of Egypt. Here in Philippians chapter two
and verse five, the apostle says, let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, that
is as eternal son, he is one with the father. He is equal
with the father and with God, the Holy Spirit. He's won, he's
in the form, the essence, the very essence of God, the uncreated
son, the eternally begotten son. Who being in the form of God,
he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In other words,
it wasn't something he thought he had to grasp onto, hold onto,
because he knew who he was. He knew he was God. I love that. verse in John chapter 13, before
he washed the disciples' feet, the scripture says that he knew,
let me read that, yeah, let me turn here and I'll read it because
I want to finish there in Philippians, but in John 13, it says, and
supper being ended, Supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him. Now notice, Jesus knowing that
the father had given all things into his hands and that he was
come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid
aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. And after
that, he pours water into a basin. He could do what he did because
as this verse of scripture tells us, he knew that he was come
from God. He knew who he was. And some
people can't serve because they're so, how would I say this? They're so, they feel they're,
insufficiency so much. They feel like they've got to
prove, I'm somebody. I can't serve. That's beneath
me. That's below me. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, he knew who he was. He knew he came from God. He was going to God. And therefore,
he could take the towel and the basin of water and go to every
one of those disciples, even Judas, who he knew would uh,
betray him and wash their feet. Do you know who you are? Do you? If you're a child of God, do
you know who you are? You're a child of the king. God loves you. He's always loved
you and he will always love you. He gave his son for you. Recognize
who you are. You've been adopted into the
family of God. You're an heir and joint heir
with Christ. All things are yours. That's
what Paul said, isn't it? 1 Corinthians 3, all things are
yours. Well, let's go back to Philippians
2. who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But now notice
he made himself of no reputation. Joseph didn't do that. Joseph
ended up in prison, but he didn't volunteer. No, but the Lord Jesus
Christ did. He made himself of his own will. He made himself. of no reputation. He took upon
him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. And notice even the death of
the cross. Not just obedient to death, but
to the most ignominious death known to man, one of the most
cruel forms of execution known to man, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore, Joseph's now come
to the throne, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him
and given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Joseph dispensed earthly grain
for the people to keep them from starving. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he is the true bread which came down from heaven. He declared,
am the bread of life. He that cometh unto me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The
Lord Jesus is exalted. He is given power both in heaven
and in earth to give eternal life to as many as the Father
hath given him. What Pharaoh said to the starving
Egyptians, we say to all men, if you're hungry, if you're hungry
for bread, saving bread, don't go to the church, don't go to
the baptism pool, go to Joseph, go to Jesus, for he has life
eternal. He is life eternal. Go to Him. You say, well, I need repentance.
Look to Christ. I need faith. Look to Christ.
Whatever your need is, go to Christ. Look to Christ. That's justice, those Egyptians,
to keep from famishing. If you want food, go to Joseph.
If you want salvation, you better go to Christ, because there is
salvation. and none other. Let's sing the
hymn. We'll be dismissed.