upon whom the ends of the world are come dear God and so I pray that we would be
admonished by the story this morning and that you would speak to our hearts
through the preaching and in Jesus name I pray, amen. Now this is kind of a
little bit of a different sermon for me but I preach sermons like this from time
to time I want to go through the life of Joseph and I want to bring out a great
truth that the Bible has here and I want to make the application and so let's
begin with the story here it starts out in chapter number 37 verse number one
with a 17 year old boy named Joseph. Now the first thing that stands out to me
because God gives his age here that he's 17 years old and as you're going to see
in this story this is not the typical 17 year old of our day. Boy it irks me and
it bothers me the way that our society is constantly trying to keep people
young longer. Have you ever thought about that? How they want they expect a 17 year
old boy almost to be like a child. You know there's a word that's used teenager.
Now the word teenager is not found in the Bible and the concept of a teenager
is not even found in the Bible. God calls a teenager a young man that's what he
calls them because see a boy there's a child like in the front row here my
children and up around the age 12 13 God expected them to start being a young man
not to be had their hair all punked out and sag their pants and walk around you
know trying to look cool trying to look like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys
trying to look just like MTV and Hollywood and all the garbage he
expected them to grow up and be a man and start living like a man should live
he said you're a young man and so there that transition that God provided from
the age of around 12 to the age right now 17 18 19 when it's time to get
married and have their own family they were supposed to be developing habits
that were like the habits of a man and more like being a man he didn't call
them an old boy tells me young man and you'll see this young man Joseph at age
17 and you'll see the greatness of this man even at age 17 but if you look there
it starts out in verse number one says that his father is dwelling in the land
of Canaan he's a stranger there it's basically just him and his family there
and his servants and they're a little bit isolated from the world around them
which is very wicked and heathen at this time in the land of Canaan and it says
that he's keeping the flocks out in the field Joseph is with some of his
brethren and the Bible says that he came and told his dad some of the wicked
ungodly things that his brethren were doing he came and brought the evil
report of his brethren back to his father and said look this is ridiculous
the way these guys are acting and of course his brother and just hated him
and hated him now we see that Joseph was the favorite child we saw in the reading
that we just read because he was the youngest and sometimes the baby the
families a little bit spoiled and so they looked at it that way and his dad
gives Joseph a coat of many colors and this just really sets off his brethren
who were already jealous of him they were already irritated by him his
holier-than-thou attitude because he was trying to live a righteous life in this
wicked heathen land of Canaan and around these wicked brethren that didn't love
God and they already hated him for that but then yet the more when his dad gave
him this coat of many colors so here Joseph is back at the house with his dad
his brethren are out on a trip they're taking the sheep to another place where
they could find a little greener pastures at this time so they go on to
Shechem and then they go on to Dothan and Jacob tells his son Joseph he says
listen I want you to check on your brethren I want you to go see how
they're doing I want you to see how the flock is doing and so he Joseph said
sure dad here am I and so he sent him out and he went out and he asked a man
he's wandering around he said I seek my brethren where are my brothers and he
said well they've left here and they've gone to Dothan he continues on further
to Dothan and it says that when they saw him a great way off it says they said
behold this dreamer cometh behold this this dreamer cometh remember he had
those dreams that said that one day his brethren were going to bow down and
worship him one day his brethren were going to bow down and he would have
dominion over them and so they said let's see what's going to become of his
dreams and the Bible says that they took him they ripped the coat off him they
beat him they abused him and they were going to kill him that was their goal
they desire to rip his coat off him beat him and kill him but Ruben delivered it
and he said listen let's just throw them into this pit and then that way we're
not the ones that killed him we don't want to be the ones that actually
physically you know lift up the night let's throw them into this pit that we
found here and he'll just die of natural causes just in this pit with no food no
water and so that's exactly what they did now Ruben's secret plan was to come
back later and get him out of the pit so they throw him into this pit they laugh
at him they spit on him they mock him Ruben takes off and goes somewhere else
he's planning on coming back later remember well while he's gone there's a
big train of Ishmaelites Arabs coming through there and they were coming
through they were on their way from the land of Arabia and then coming into
Egypt well when they came through Judah one of his brethren one of Joseph's
brethren had a great idea he said what what's the profit in killing our brother
here and leave them in this bit let's sell them let's make some money and so
they took him out of the pit and the Bible says that they sold him look if
you would at verse number 26 and Judah said unto his brethren what profit is it
if we slay our brother and conceal his blood come and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother in our flesh
and his brethren were content then they're passed by Midianites merchant
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the
Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver and they brought Joseph into Egypt and Ruben
returned under the pit remember he was going to come and get him out and behold
Joseph was not in the pit he rent his clothes and he returned unto his
brethren and said the child is not and I wither shall I go and they took Joseph's
coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood so what
happened was he came back and said where is he's gone what am I gonna do
what am I gonna tell dad and they said hey listen Ruben don't worry about it
we're gonna take the coat that we ripped off him earlier we're gonna slice it up
and we're gonna kill this kid of the goats we're gonna kill this goat and
take the blood and we're gonna dip his coat in the blood and people are gonna
think that the blood on this coat is Joseph's blood they're gonna think that
an evil beast devoured him we're gonna get away with this nobody's gonna know
about it well that's what they did now it's interesting to see in the story
here the parallels and before I move on to the next part of the story I want to
show you some of the parallels with Jesus Christ see Joseph in the Old
Testament is a picture of Jesus Christ let me show you a couple of these look
if you would it at verse number 18 it says and when they saw him afar off even
before he came near unto them they conspired against him to slay him you
remember Jesus Christ in the New Testament gives a parable about the
householder who has the vineyard and he builds a tower and he goes into another
country and lets it out to husband men and it says that he sent servants to get
the fruit thereof to get the money to get the rent and it says that they beat
them they evil and treated them they sent him away empty and finally he said
I'm gonna send my son he said surely they will reverence my son and so he
sends his son pictured by God sending Jesus Christ to the world and the Bible
says that when they saw the son a great way off just like they saw Joseph here a
great way out they said behold this is the air let us kill him and seize upon
the inheritance and that's exactly what they did here just as they wanted to
kill Joseph just as they conspired against him the Bible says in John 1 he
came unto his own but his own received him not but as many as received him to
them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his
name and so just as Joseph here came to his brother and he said I seek my
brethren member Jesus said the son of man is come to seek in the same that
which was lost well Joseph just as Jesus Christ seeking his brethren seeking the
lost sheep of the house of Israel Joseph come seeking his brethren and the same
reception they see him a great way off and they conspire against him and say
let's kill him and so here comes Joseph he's walking toward him they kill him
and what do they do next member or they don't kill him at this point I'm sorry
they were going to kill him they take him they beat him they take his coat off
them just like Jesus Christ was beaten just like Jesus Christ's coat was
removed then they throw them into the pit and I want to show you something
about this pit I have to move fast because I want to get to the point of
the sermon but look if you would at verse number 24 it's a word Genesis 37 24
it says and they took him and cast him into a pit and the pit was empty there
was no water in it now nothing in the Bible is coincidental accidental or
incidental and you see there it says that they threw him into a pit with no
water in it another time you could say in the book of Zechariah the Bible
refers to hell as the pit where there's no water talks about the fact that hell
is devoid of water and so Jesus Christ is pictured here again being beaten
being abused and rejected by his brethren and then of course Jesus will
be crucified on the cross his body was buried in a tomb but his soul descended
down into hell the Bible says for three days and three nights and in the pit
where is no water and then what happened three days later he rose again from the
dead right we'll turn over a few verses it says right here and I couldn't help
when I was studying this sermon I read verse 29 and of course in verse 28 it
says that he was sold for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites if you say the
book of Leviticus chapter 27 talks about the different prices for different age
groups and and there's a young man that sold for 20 pieces of silver of course
Jesus was 30 years old so his price was 30 pieces of silver it's in Leviticus
chapter 27 but look at verse number 29 and Reuben returned into the pit and
behold Joseph was not in the pit see well I couldn't help when I was reading
this I was studying this I couldn't help but think of that that Sunday morning
when they came back to the grave when they came to the tomb and when the
disciples came early first the two ladies were there early Mary and also the
other Mary were there and they went there and then later Peter and John they
came to the tomb and he was not there for he was risen and I thought of the
same thing with Joseph here he went into the pit but he came out of the pit up
from the grave he arose the Bible says Jesus Christ so you see a lot of
parallels with the life of Jesus Christ whenever you're reading the Bible you've
got to be looking for Jesus in the story because the whole book is about Jesus I
mean from the beginning of the Bible Genesis 1 1 to Revelation 22 21 is the
revelation of Jesus Christ unveiled throughout the scriptures unveiled
starting out in the beginning well there's Jesus right there he said I'm
the beginning and the ending in the beginning God there he is again in the
beginning God created the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Creator and on
and on throughout the Bible you'll see just a picture of Jesus Christ all the
way through and so Joseph is a picture of Jesus Christ and then of course in
verse 31 the obvious one here in verse 31 of chapter 37 it says and they took
Joseph's coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood
remember revelation 19 Jesus Christ can come back on a white horse and the Bible
says gonna be wearing a vesture dipped in blood and its name is called the Word
of God and so on and on you see him sold into the hand of these Ishmaelites sold
to the world delivered to the world let the world destroy him just like the Jews
did remember the Jews didn't kill Jesus they delivered him to Pilate and said
you crucify him Pilate Roman centurion you hammer the nails into his hand and
that's exactly what Joseph's brethren did they didn't want to lay hands on him
they didn't want to kill their brother they said let the world do it let let
these Ishmaelites do it and just like Jesus Christ said let the Romans do it
let them do it but I'm going to tell you something even though the Roman
centurion was the one that nailed the nails into the hands of Jesus even though
it was these Midianites perhaps that took Joseph away who was really
responsible because in Acts chapter 4 Peter gets up and preaches and says
Jesus whom ye with wicked hands have slain and crucified he was speaking to
the Jews in the temple he stood in the temple and looked at those Jews who
shouted crucify him crucify him and he said you're the one that killed Jesus it wasn't the
Roman centurion it wasn't Pilate it was you because you're the one that was
consenting unto his death and so let me tell you something and I don't care
whether this is popular and I don't care whether you like it or not this church is
going to preach the truth until hell freezes over if you vote for these
people that are for abortion you're responsible for it because you with
wicked hands are delivering up the unborn children of America so that they
can be slain by the wicked men of this world that are called the abortion
doctors and nurses who commit these wicked acts and I'm going to tell you
something don't say well you know I just vote for Democrats and and and abortions
because my pocketbook well damn your pocketbook to hell because you shouldn't vote for a murderer
amen that's right well anyway back to the sermon here here they are they
deliver up this young man Joseph to the world and say we you know we're not
going to do it but we'll deliver them up to him let them abuse him let them take
him and do whatever way I want with them look if you would at verse number 39 I'm
sorry chapter 39 verse number one flip over one chapter there chapter 38 is
totally different unrelated story about his brother Judah but in chapter number
39 verse number one it says 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 dither so he's bought
by this officer of Pharaoh an Egyptian man named Potiphar and the Lord was with
Joseph and he was a prosperous man and he was in the house of his master the
Egyptian I remember how old he is he's only 17 years old here he is 17 years
old he's delivered as a slave I mean literally a slave to this man Potiphar
an officer of the Egyptian and the Bible says the Lord was with him and he was a
prosperous man you see that you know it's interesting you can say the Bible
here he's called a man he's only 17 years old I could show you another place
in the Bible where somebody's 30 years old and the Bible calls him a lad calls
him a boy because it's not an age that makes you a man okay it's when you take
responsibility for yourself and when you decide that the Lord is going to be with
you and that you're going to be a mighty man see that's what makes you a man it
makes you a man when you pay the bills yourself you know the some guy there's
some deadbeat on the street corner I don't care if he's a hundred years old
he's not a man because he's living off of other people because other people are
responsible for him he's not responsible for his actions he got to take care of
himself but Joseph here is called a man because he lives for God because he
takes care of himself because he works hard because God causes him to prosper
look if you would at verse number five and it came to pass from the time that
he had made him overseer in his house so Potiphar actually puts Joseph in charge
of his whole house and it says that from the time that he made him overseer in
his house and over all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for
Joseph's sake and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the
house and in the field and he left all that he had in Joseph's hand see the
trust there I mean he just lets him handle everything and he knew not all he
had saved the bread which he did eat and Joseph was a goodly person and well
favored that means he was a good-looking guy there it says you it says that he
handled everything he's totally trusted and then it mentions he's a good-looking
guy who's a goodly person and well favored and it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife so this is Potiphar's wife cast her eyes upon
Joseph and she said lie with me she wants to commit fornication which must
commit adultery with Joseph but he refused and said unto his master's wife
behold my master what if not what is with me in the house and he had committed
all that he had to my hand there is none greater in this house than I neither have
you kept back anything from me but thee because I were his wife how then can I
do this great wickedness and sin against God and it came to pass as she
spake to Joseph day by day I mean just day after day she's just nagging on him
just trying to get him to commit this ungodly act with her that he hearkened
not unto her to lie by her or to be with her but look at here's the mistake that
Joseph makes right here in verse 11 this is where he blew it and it came to pass
about that time that Joseph went into the house to do his business and there
was none of the men of the house there within see that was the problem usually
there were all kinds of servants there but he had kind of a bad judgment here
where Joseph said I'm gonna go into this house and I mean she's already been
talking to him about this right he says I'm gonna go into the house by myself
nobody else is around and I'm gonna work and do my I'm just doing my work but
she's in there so it's pretty much just him and her alone in the house now let
me warn you something men ladies okay don't be alone with somebody else's
spouse don't drive down the road in the car with somebody else's spouse
okay you say that's old-fashioned yes it is back in the book of Genesis chapter
39 this is about this book was written about 3,400 years ago so my god and so
yes it is very old-fashioned but I'm gonna tell you something you say well I
don't care what you say you know what do whatever you want and we'll hear about
you we'll hear about you how you committed adultery and we'll hear about
you how you didn't commit adultery but everybody accused you of committing
adultery I mean think about it we're gonna see in the story here Joseph
didn't do anything wrong he didn't do anything wrong look at the story I'll
show you it says in verse 11 of chapter 39 and it came to pass about the sign
that Joseph went into the house to do his business he's doing right and there
was none of the men of the house there within and she caught him by his garment
she grabs him saying lie with me and he left his garment in her hand and fled
and got him out so she grabs hold of his jacket or his shirt or whatever it was
and he wanted to get out of there so fast that he ran out of there and she
literally ripped his shirt off his body I mean ripped his clothes off so he runs
out of there with no shirt on and the Bible says here in verse number 14 that
she called unto the men of her house and spake unto them saying see he had
brought in Hebrew and that's mine and she begins to lie and to say that Joseph
was coming on to her now look who knows what the truth is nobody was there see
that's the danger boy think about think about me as a pastor boy there's people
that don't like me believe it or not you know I know you don't believe that
if I have the time I could I could explain it to you but there are people
that don't like me wouldn't somebody love to get me alone in some house
somewhere with some woman that's not my wife so they could lie about me and you
know what even if even if I was just exonerated even if I was totally
justified and I didn't do anything wrong and everybody said look he's been
acquitted he's not guilty you know it's always in the back of people's mind you
know that right it's always like I wonder what really did go on I wonder
what really did happen you know they did he was off the hook but nobody was
really there so who really knows you see honey and so you got to protect yourself
always protect yourself you know I don't even I won't have other people's kids
around me I won't have any these days because there's so many freaks and
we're as you can get accused of the weirdest thing I don't I don't have any
other people's kids around me by myself I don't have any I definitely don't have
anybody else's spouse around me by myself I just want to be wise as serpent
and harmless as a dove the Bible said I want to be wise about this thing of
putting myself in a bad position here where I could be lied about and so
Joseph's a young man you know he needs to learn these things and so he's about
to learn a powerful lesson the Bible says in verse number 20 of course
Potiphar comes home she tells him look this guy's trying to attack me he of
course believes his wife and so the Bible says and Joseph's master took him
verse number 20 of chapter 39 and put him into the prison a place where the
king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison but the Lord was
with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper
of the prison so even in prison I mean he's just succeeding and prospering why
because the Lord is with him and it says in verse 22 and the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison I mean
puts him in charge of everything 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 because the Lord was with him and that which he did the Lord made it
to prosper see three times in this chapter that phrase is there the Lord
was with him and then in Acts chapter 7 when Stephen preaches his sermon he says
that the Lord was with Joseph because that was what stood out to Stephen from
from studying the Bible and so the Lord was with Joseph that's why he prospered
that's why he was successful listen to me you want to know what my philosophy
is for pastoring this church do you want to know what it is I just want to make
sure that the Lord is with me that's all I mean I'm not I don't know how to I
don't know I don't have all the books how to build the mega church you know I
don't have the books about the purpose-driven church and Joe I don't
have Joel Osteen's book your best life now I don't have I don't have of course
it was about Joseph as we'll see it'd be your best life 13 years from now but see
I don't have these books about all the tricks of the trade you know it says is
God with me that's all that matters to me my sermon did you like my sermon this
morning I don't care because if you don't like it it doesn't matter just God
like my sermon if you don't you don't like this invitation that we hand out
here you know like some of the stuff that says in here I don't does God like
it is the Lord with me because if the Lord's with me then I'm going to
prosper and so that's what I believe if the Lord is with this church this church
will succeed if the Lord is with my child rearing then my kids can turn out
for God see is the Lord with me and you got to get that in your mind that's all
that matters doesn't matter what anybody thinks except what God thinks because if
you have the Lord with you hey if God before us who can be against us and so
you've got to realize that you could be in the worst situation you could be a
prison lied about sold into slavery beaten abused thrown into a pit but it's
God with you you're going to prosper so just worry about what he thinks that's
all that matters and so it says the Lord was with him and that which he did the
Lord made it to prosper chapter 40 verse number 1 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 Baker's so
here's Pharaoh he has these two men in his house servants and there are two
very important minutes us one is the chief Baker I mean this guy's look this
is important this guy's cooking all his food now a rich man like Pharaoh he's
gonna want his food a certain way I mean he enjoys eating quality foods and so he
doesn't you know this is a man that wasn't just some derelict I mean this is
a guy that was hand chosen to be the chief Baker and then his chief butler
same thing this is the man who actually made the king's beverages and prepared
his special beverages and brought them to him now this is a I mean think about
it this is a man that you'd have to trust because if somebody's making my
food and making my drinks but what if they slip something in there something
that's bad some kind of poison or something you know so you got to trust
this guy this is a guy that's very close to Pharaoh I mean he's working I mean
think about it can you imagine a position where you're just right there
with you know the President of the United States every day like you're his
press secretary or you're just right there with I mean you're walking with
them you're carrying the the briefcase with the handcuff the the football they
call it you know you're right there with the president look that's an important
person that's not somebody that just you know got out of high school and they
couldn't get a job at Taco Bell so they're working you know for the
president this is an important man and so these two men Pharaoh puts them into
prison he gets angry with them for whatever reason and he throws them both
into prison and they get wind up in Joseph's prison and man remember he runs
the show in there he's the shot caller in this prison I mean he runs everything
and so these men are there with them in prison and one day they wake up and
they're upset they're sad and he says what's the matter with you guys and they
said well we had a dream last night both of us had dreams and we cannot figure
out what this dream means and he said well listen I think that God can
interpret your dream and one and I know God and so why don't you tell me what
your dream is and I'll tell you what it means and so the two men the butler and
the Baker had these rings the first one said I had a dream this is the butler
he said I had a dream that there was a branch of a vine growing up and had
three branches and he said that had grapes growing on the branches and he
said that I took the grapes off the vine and I squeezed him into a cup and made
this grape juice and I handed it to Pharaoh and he drank it and he says okay
I'll tell you what it means in three days you're gonna come out of prison and
you're gonna be back to doing your job of giving the king his his drinks his
juice and whatever so then the Baker gets all excited he's like wow this is
great you know he's getting out of jail I wonder what my dream means it's gonna
be great and he says okay I had a dream too he said I had a dream that I had on
my head a big three trays of pastries on my head and I was walking around and I
was getting real flustered and irritated because all these birds are coming in
just eating these pastries and I'm trying to get away you know cuz I'm
trying to get this hey you know I'm spilling them and I'm trying to get it
to where it needs to go and they're eating them and he says well let me tell
you something that's what your dream means the three trays are also three
days in three days your head is gonna be lifted off your body he said and you're
gonna be hung on a tree and the birds are gonna come eat you and it's funny
because he tells he tells the butler he says when you get out of here and when
you get back put in your position he says I want you to remember me the
butler the baker he's like I don't care what you think you're gonna be dead in
three days you're gonna be bird food and so you didn't really care what he
thought about it but he tells the boys that please remember me well sure enough
three days later both dreams come true and the butler does not remember Joseph
and forgets about him for two whole years okay now at this point I want you
to follow me for a second with these numbers two years from the time that
they had this dream is when Joseph is going to get out of prison okay now
remember he was 17 years old at the beginning of the story well when he gets
out of prison he's going to be 30 okay you follow so he started out he was 17
when he gets out of the prison he's going to be 30 and so in those 13 years
he spent part of that time in Potiphar's house and part of that time in the
prison now the Bible doesn't say how much he spent in either place you know
understand but he spent over two years in prison so you could probably guess
maybe he spent about six and a half years in Potiphar's house and maybe
about six and a half years in prison but anywhere between could have spent
anywhere from two to you know two to twelve years in prison who knows but he
spent all this time either being a slave in Potiphar's house or running the show
in the prison and so the Bible says in verse number let's see here verse number
one of chapter 41 says it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh
dreamed and the holy stood by the river now Pharaoh's gonna have a dream here's
Pharaoh's dream he looks and he sees seven fat-fleshed well-watered kind he
sees these fat cows seven fat cows are walking out and then here comes seven
skinny mangy ugly just right just totally dying of hunger malnutrition
skinny cows and the seven skinny cows and this this reminds me of what they're
doing over in Great Britain with but anyway the seven cows they eat the fat
cows the well-watered cows can you imagine a cow eating another cow it's a
weird dream okay this cow you don't have to imagine just go to England where
they're the mad cow disease they grind up cows and being anyway that's a
different sermon about what's wrong with feeding a cow another cow but anyway
they get there and they eat these seven fat cows and the Bible says after the
skinny cow ate the fat cow you'd expect there to be a big lump in his stomach
right I mean he's got this big fat cow on his stomach like if you ever seen a
snake eat an egg you know I got the big lump there well they eat the big fat cow
and you can't even tell that they ate it I mean they're just as skinny as they
were before so he wakes up and he's just huh kind of a weird sick dream is
this mad cow disease and so he goes back to sleep in the middle of the night he
goes back to sleep and then there's seven ears of corn that grow up in a
field big full luscious yellow nice corn and then these seven other corns grow up
and they're like dying and rotten and weak and that says that the big the
rotten corn like ate the big full rank ears of corn and again he wakes up upset
well Joseph comes and the butler says I do remember my faults this day like oh
man I forgot about Joseph in the prison he's the one that told me I was gonna
get out of here and I forgot all about him and so he says there's a guy in
prison Pharaoh he's a young Hebrew man and he can interpret dreams I mean it's
crazy he can tell you exactly what you dream what it means and so he said go
get him so he brings him in and Joseph interprets the dream he says the seven
fat cows and the seven fat ears of corn are seven years where I mean you're
gonna be making money I mean the earth is gonna bring forth by handfuls
everything's gonna prosper nothing's gonna die on the vine I mean you're just
gonna have record increases prosperity all throughout the land of Egypt then he
says after that there's gonna be seven years of famine drought no rains gonna
fall everything's gonna die it's gonna start looking like Phoenix just dirt
there's gonna be no fields of corn or anything like that it's just gonna die
and he said it's gonna be so bad that you're gonna forget about all the money
that you made and all the food that you had in the in the plenty of years he
said it's gonna be like it never even happened and so he said this is what you
have to do Pharaoh he said take one fifth of everything that comes in in
the good years save it up set it aside for the seven years and then when the
famine comes you can sell all that people won't die and you can make it a
ton of money you can own everything Pharaoh and so he says okay that's what
we'll do he takes him out of the prison this guy goes from being in prison to
being the second in command in Egypt he became the most powerful man in Egypt he
takes him out he puts a royal robe on him he sets him up and glorifies him as
being just the top ruler and you know it's just Pharaoh and then and it says
only in the throne am I greater now and he says we're equal because you're gonna
handle everything you know it makes me think of again back back to the
similarities here between Jesus Christ but think about how think about how
Jesus was crucified on the cross remember all this picture of Jesus
well Jesus was crucified on the cross cast into the pit cast down into hell he
says the earth with her bars was about me forever in Jonah chapter 2 he said
that will not leave my soul in hell he comes up out of the grave he arose and
the Bible says that wherefore also God has glorified him and given him a name
which is above every name that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should
bow look if you would at chapter 41 let's see verse number 41 look at this
if you would let me man I lost my verse chapter 41 43 there it is chapter 41
verse 43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had and they
cried before him bow the knee you see that they told him bow down to Joseph
you know it reminds me of Philippians I don't know why I have the whole thing
memorized but some reason my mind is something I have to find a starting
place because I want to tell you what it says here in Philippians 2 you have to
turn there see here Philippians 2 the parallel here of Jesus Christ going down
into hell being in the prison he said the earth with her bars was about me
forever in Jonah chapter 2 is possible prophesied and he raises from the dead
and the Bible says that he in in Philippians 2 and be found in fashion as
a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of
the cross wherefore God also had highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow 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 you see
Jesus Christ has been exalted on high to equality with God because he is God of
course and so there he is sitting at the right hand of the Father the Father the
Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and he's seated at the right
hand of the Father right now glorified given a name above every name unto
heaven just as Joseph was glorified to being the second-in-command well back to
story I gotta hurry but in chapter number 42 we see in verse number one now
when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt the seven years of famine are over
seven years I'm sorry the seven years of plenty are over they've had money they've
had food they've had prosperity at the end of the seven years there in Egypt
the famine begins boy they're starving but remember Joseph had laid everything
inside he'd set aside the food and the money and everything well in chapter
number 42 verse 1 it says now when Jacob remember this is his dad back in Canaan
now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt Jacob said unto his sons why
do you look up one upon another he's like quit staring at each other and go to
Egypt and buy some corn and so here he is he sends them to Egypt and they go
there they buy corn their dad had a lot of money so they went there and bought a
bunch of corn but here's what happened Joseph knew them he recognized him right
away they didn't recognize Joseph because he'd grown up now he's all decked
out in royal apparel and everything and they didn't know who he was he accused
of being spies he said you're spies so he's just messing with his brother
because he's paying him back what they did to him he's like you're spies you're
come to see the nakedness of the land they say no no we're not spies we're
his brothers we're here to just see and he said well tell me tell me the truth
then he starts asking a bunch of questions see if their stories will
match he said okay what's your dad's name how many brothers do you have and
he goes through this right well ten of the brothers had come down to Egypt to
get the corn they left their one brother Benjamin at home this is the youngest he
was born after Joseph and they said well there were 12 of us one of us is dead
that's not much Joseph because they think he said one of us is dead and the
other ones at home and he says okay well we're gonna see if you're really lying
he says don't come back until you bring with you your other brother that's at
home and then I'll know that you're telling the truth because I can see him
and see that he looks like you and see that you have another brother they said
no no we can't bring him back our dad said no he cannot come and he said you
must bring him back I'm gonna take Simeon your brother I'm gonna throw him
in jail and you can't get this brother back until you show me the other brother
and then I'll know you're telling me the truth and so he sends him away he
sells them the food that they needed and they're upset and they go back to their
dad and they say oh dad the guy thought we were spies the ruler spake roughly to
us he gave us a bad time and he doesn't want to give us any more food and he put
Simeon in jail and we can't get him back until we bring your brother Benjamin and
the dad says no way he said this is my beloved young son here you are a you
know Joseph's already dead and he said I cannot stand to lose him forget it
so he just leaves his other son in jail Simeon so months and months go by and
pretty soon all their food runs out again and his dad says hey kids go buy
some more corn and they're like dad we can't go dad because we have to bring
Benjamin he says no just go buy it and they're like look he told us no he's
gonna throw us all in jail he's gonna kill us and so finally they talked down
and they said look if you would if you would just send him with us we could
have been there and back twice by now you know can you just send him he says
look I will be sure T for the lad Reuben says he says if I don't bring him back
then you can have my sons he says I will bring him back and so finally the dad
says okay go ahead fine don't let anything happen to him so they come back
as soon as they get there Joseph eats a meal with them he's friendly to him he
gives them everything and I'm skipping a lot just for sake of time there's a lot
more details so I read it's a great story he gives them all the food he
gives them everything they need he sells it to him well he plays another trick on
him he sends them off all right guys have a great time well here's what he
does he takes a very fancy royal cup that he himself drinks out of Joseph does
and he hides that cup in Benjamin's backpack and he puts it in there and he
sends him off all right see you guys later have a great time well they kid
about a mile down the road and he gets a whole bunch of this police and armies
get and they chase after them and say you stole something out of our house and
they said what we seal anything and so they say yes you did they said fine
search our stuff and whoever you find it in kill him because we because we know
that it's not well of course they search through the stuff and they get to
Benjamin the youngest son the one that they were supposed to make sure nothing
happened to him they find the cup in there they say he stole it and I mean
the other guys are so upset just says they rent their clothes like oh good
night what is going on and so he said well I'm not gonna kill Benjamin this is
what the officer of Joseph's house said I'm not gonna kill him I'm just gonna
take him for life to be my slave and you guys can all go home and see you later
well remember what their dad is just so upset about this so he tells it so Judah
comes to him remember Judah was the one whose idea was to sell Joseph into
slavery in the first place Judah comes to to the man here and look if you would
at chapter number 42 I'm sorry chapter number 44 that's just a little bit there
chapter number 44 and look at verse number 33 this is the offer that Judah
makes he says now therefore I pray thee let thy servant he's talking about
himself abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord and let the lad go up
with his brethren for how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me
lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father so here's what
happens the same man who sold his brother into slavery now is at the at
the feet of that brother Joseph and saying please just let me exchange my
life for Benjamin just take me and let him go free I'm willing to put myself
into slavery is that interesting I mean the same guy put his brother and say now
the same brother of the same wife the same favorite little child that dad
cares so much about that he leaves old Simeon you know sitting in prison the
same joke Judah turns it around and now he's come full circle and he learned his
lesson he said you know what he says I will exchange myself into slavery and
just let him go free well at this point Joseph just breaks down I mean he's been
playing this trick on him but he's just so emotional about this that the Bible
says in verse number one of chapter 45 then Joseph could not refrain himself
before all them that stood by him and he cried cause every man to go out from me
and there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his
brethren and he wept aloud he cried just weeping and wailing and a loud voice and
the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard and Joseph said unto his brethren
I am Joseph doth my father yet live and look at this it says and his brethren
could not answer him for they will trouble to this present point can you
imagine I mean they've been dealing with this guy and he says I'm Joseph and the
Bible just says they couldn't even talk they couldn't even believe I mean they
were just scared it was just surreal they couldn't even imagine that this was
really going on and his brother could not answer him for they were troubled
by his presence verse 4 it says and Joseph said unto his brethren come near to me I
pray you and they came near and he said I am Joseph your brother whom you sold
into Egypt but look at this next verse it says now therefore be not grieved nor
angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither for God did send me before you to
preserve life look at verse 7 and God sent me before you to preserve you a
prosperity in the posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great
deliverance so now it was not you that sent me hither but God and he hath made
me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the
land of Egypt and so he says look flip if you would diverse of chapter number 50
the last chapter of the book of Genesis chapter 50 Genesis 50 and verse number
20 the Bible reads here but as for you you thought evil against me but God
sent it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive
you see here's the moral of the story at the end of the story here we see
Joseph's brethren revealed to Joseph he says I'm your brother he says you sold
me into Egypt but don't worry about it because God has used this God sent me
here to preserve much people alive and he said God has used your sin and your
wickedness for his honor and glory and so he says in verse number 20 of chapter
50 look there it says but as for you you thought evil against me what you did was
wrong what you did was sinful and wicked he's saying in selling me but God meant
it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive you
see some of the things that are evil in this world some of the things that are
wrong that maybe you yourself have done maybe some of the things that are wrong
somebody else has done that have wronged you or you've wronged somebody else or
bad things in your past that you'd like to forget about people that have hurt
you or abused you and people that you've hurt even worse that's even more painful
when when you hurt somebody in your past he says look God can use it for good
God can take the worst situation God can take the man that's been abused by his
brother hated and despised and he can lift that man up and use him for his glory
look if you want i'm going to turn to one last passage Romans chapter 8 turn to Romans chapter
8 in the new testament it's the sixth book in the new testament Romans toward the end of your
bible there in the new testament Romans chapter 8 look at verse 28 commonly quoted verse Romans
8 28 probably one of the greatest chapters in the entire bible is Romans chapter 8
but Romans chapter 8 verse 28 the bible says and we know that all things i mean that's the bad
things that's the negative things that you've done that's the negative things that people have
done to you it says and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God
to them who are the called according as first let me give you an example and i'll preach the
message just quickly here but let me give you an example and and don't get me wrong because i'm not
condoning evil and i'm not saying that wrongdoing is ever right it's never right wrong but think
about this when i was a when i was a teenager from the time that i was about 12 to the time
i was 16 or five years in there where our church fell apart we were in a great independent
fundamental baptist church just fell apart just scandal just destroyed everybody went scattering
every which way and and we couldn't find a good church to go to and for five years my parents you
know and i we went to these just liberal churches you know these liberal baptist churches that were
using the niv you know they're they got the rock band on stage they got the girls in the mini
skirts being the backup singer for the worship leader you know and it was like a las vegas show
and we went to these youth groups and it was a pool and devotions where we'd just go make
swimming the girls are in bikinis and we'd go swimming this was instead of wednesday night
church over the summers wednesday night church was cancelled all the teenagers would go over
to the male gynecologist's house that's another sermon and we'd go to his house and swim in his
backyard the girls are in bikinis and we're out there just living it up man and then we'd have
a five minute little sugar-coated message out of the niv and so was that right for me to go to those
kinds of churches with my parents and our family to go there was it right for my parents to take
me there is it right for me to go there no i think it's right to go to some church that doesn't even
have the bible doesn't have the king james bible i think it's right to go to some church where
nobody gets saved and nobody gets baptized you think it's right to go to a church that's liberal
and worldly no but god took that evil circumstance of me going to those wrong churches and getting
all that garbage in my head for five years and when i came to myself as the prodigal son came
to himself and i came to myself and i had the king james bible and i got it out i began to read it
for myself cover to cover at age 17 then i said you know what i'm going to take this bad
circumstance of me being just messed up for the last five years these liberal churches and i'm
just going to take that and it's going to teach me some valuable lessons because i'll tell you what
i know what i'm never going to be like i know what i hate and i know what this church is never going
to be like and i know what the liberalism is like and i don't need it i don't want anything to do
with it and god through that experience of me going through those kind of churches and coming
out of that and coming into the right kind of churches into soul winning into hard preaching
he told me he's saying look it was it was evil it was wrong where you went but you know god's
going to use it for good son because you're going to just be running screaming the other direction
for the rest of your life from that kind of garbage because you know what it's about because
you were there on the inside and you know what it's about you know where those people are today
i could give you the roll call the kids in that youth group pregnant out of wedlock sodomites
one was a bouncer at a gay bar hardly i don't even hardly know of any of them that are even
that were even saved you know they're just going there and they their life went to hell and so i
know what i know now because i've been there but see i'm not going to sit there and say it was
god's will for me to go to that liberal church so i could learn all that no it wasn't god's will
but because i went there god turned around and used it for good you see that and god can do that
any time let's say today you decide to push the reset button and say today i'm going to
start living for god maybe i missed a bunch of church in the past maybe i was liberal in the
past maybe i didn't live for god in the past maybe i was half in and half out in the past
but today i'm going to push the reset button and say i want to live for god now i want to read the
bible cover to cover now i want to win souls now you know what god will do god will just stop right
here today july whatever it is today july 16th maybe i should think about whether i'm going to
use the date whether i know today's date but you know july 16th or whatever today is 2006 he'll
say okay stop everything you want to live for me you want to live for god you want to do right
you want to get your life on track he said let's stop now and let me look at everything you've
done in the past all the wrong things that you've done all the wrong things that other people have
done and he says you know what let me devise a plan how i can use this i can use this for good
and really make something great happen in your life because i'm going to take this past that
you have and i'm going to use all of it for my good so look if you would a roman separate
it says and we know that all things work together for good to them to love god see that's the key
he's got to love him to love god to them who are the called according to his purpose and look at
this for whom he did for no he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers see that word predestinate it's like
the word destiny you see that he's saying your destiny if you're a child of god he said i
foreknew that you would get saved i mean before the world began your name is written in the book
of life and i can see that you're going to get saved he said i foreknew because i know everything
god knows everything he's saying i foreknew that you'd be saved and he says because you are saved
because you're a child of god you're a you're a joint heir with jesus christ jesus christ your
elder brother you're a child of god he says you your destiny is to be conformed to the image of
his son is what it says in verse 29 there he says your destiny your life is wrapped up in one thing
becoming like jesus christ your destiny is to be conformed to his image your destiny is to be like
him and so you say why does bad things happen to me why isn't god answering this prayer why
are things going wrong why do people hurt me and use me and why don't people care about me and why
why is everything going bad and why do things go wrong and why is there just pressure just
constant pressure on me just constant uh fighting i mean it's just a fight why i'll tell you why
because god says i'm using that i'm putting you through the fire i'm putting you under the
pressure just like he put joseph for 13 years of slavery and prison and bondage he says i'm
conforming you like joseph was an image an image of jesus christ and i'm conforming you to be a
picture of jesus christ in this world he says i'm conforming you to my image i want you to be like
me and you're not going to be like me if i put you in the lap of luxury you're not going to be
like me if everything goes your way you're going to be like me when you suffer like i suffer you're
going to be like me when you go through the fire and through the fighting and through the through
all the battles then you can be like me then you can be strong like me then you can live for god
and do all do always things which please your father like i did he's saying your destiny
you're you say what's my purpose in life what's my goal what's my destiny where am i going in
life your destiny is to be like jesus christ your destiny is to seek and to save that which was lost
your destiny is to be a soul winner your destiny is to live like jesus christ and you say why do
things happen to me it doesn't matter what it is it's because it's bringing you into conformity
of jesus christ to be like jesus you see god means everything for good that other people mean
for evil things that you meant for evil in the past god will use it for good so don't be
discouraged see the big picture it's not joel osteen your best life now it's your best life
in 13 years you see joseph listen joseph 17 year old boy your best life now is to be in prison
because 13 years from now you're going to be exalted to be the most powerful man in the
world literally because i'm with you see go through the 13 years and it may not be exactly
13 years for you whatever it is go through the 13 years and be like jesus christ let's bow our heads
and have a word of prayer father i thank you so much for this great story in the bible so
encouraging dear god when when we go through hard times boy it's hard to see the big picture
sometimes as as human beings and sinners we just see what's going on right now and we don't really
see the bone we don't really see the bone we don't really see the bone we don't really see the bone