Let's hope our eyes and ears and our hearts to be open unto the words preached tonight
that we could all learn and become better Christians.
And we just pray you'll build Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit.
Bless him right now as he preaches your word to us in Jesus' name. Amen.
Next is going to be 155, doxology.
This is a short one, so we'll sing it twice.
Sorry to disappoint you if you're expecting Christmas songs tonight.
It's already passed, we have to move on.
You've got to stick around for next year if you want the Christmas songs again.
Song 155, doxology.
Hallelujah, praise him above the heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise him, all creatures, here below.
Praise him above the heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Good evening, thanks so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
Last service of the year.
So if you get a bulletin, if you need one, lift your hand nice and high
and we'll get you a bulletin.
Our Bible memory passage, we're on John chapter 1, verse 6.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
On the inside we have our service and soul winning times.
And then I'm going to get a count for the last few days of soul winning to report.
I had three people report soul evasions for Monday already via like email and everything like that.
Is there anything outside of that for Monday?
There's another eight, so 11 for Monday, that's great.
What about Tuesday?
Anything from Tuesday by chance?
Nothing for Tuesday.
What about tonight?
I didn't get tonight's count.
I think we had at least one in the van.
What do we have in the van?
Someone had one.
All right, two, three.
All right, three for today.
Keep up the great work on soul winning.
And then also on the right, we have our list of expecting ladies.
Continue to pray for all of them.
We have our prayer list.
Continue to pray for the Negara family, Miss Lucy's mother's tumors, Cameron Hall's leg,
the our pastor friends with their health and lockdowns.
Miss Stephanie Weathers is also asking for additional prayer for her pregnancy.
Brother Jeremy Gore has a surgery on January 11th.
It's dealing with his head.
So if you'd just pray for him.
Also, there's a prayer quest not in the bulletin just to add.
But the dog was just praying, asking for prayers for his family.
So if we continue to pray for him and we could add in there also.
Brother Tanner Fur is God willing and be ordained January 16th.
So we just pray for him and that church plant and everything up there.
It's pretty exciting.
So let's say a quick word of prayer as a church family now for those that were mentioned.
Thank you Heavenly Father for our opportunity to be here and gather together and to sing
praise in your name and to hear the word of God preached.
I pray that you would just bless all aspects of our service.
You bless all the ladies that are expecting.
You bless all of our church family that are not here but are sick,
that you'd be with them, that you would strengthen them, encourage them,
that you would help them to recover, that you would give them your favor.
I pray that you would also just bless all of our friends in this world that are needing relief,
that you would continue to open doors for the house of God and the gospel to continue to be
spreading forth.
I pray that you would also just give favor and wisdom to those that need it in our church.
We just thank you for all that you give us.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Again, like I said, January 16th.
I'm going to be in Oklahoma City preaching both services.
Brother Tanner Furr has been our church leader for over a year and he's been doing a really
good job over there.
He has a really incredible zeal for soul winning and he's a really good preacher and everything
like that.
And from my viewpoint, an evangelist, you know, I just really want them to be a really
zealous soul winner and, you know, a good preacher and he really fits that bill well.
He also is above and beyond that because he has a really great family and really well-behaved
children and everything like that.
And he's doing such a good job up there.
And he just has a sincere heart to want to serve the Lord.
And I think it makes a lot of sense to empower him to do even more in the role that he's
already doing.
And we'll just see what happens in the future.
But he does have an interest in serving the Lord.
And so he's doing a good job and we want to help him with that.
We want to help that church to grow and just have even more ability to do things.
And so we're excited about that.
Also in the back, we have the New Year's Eve party listed.
It's this Friday and you're welcome to bring a dish to share if you would like.
It's going to start at 7 p.m.
We're going to start with about an hour of men's preaching.
It depends about how many guys want to do it or whatever.
But if you'd like to preach and you're a man of our church, just wear a button-up
shirt or a tie.
Actually both, not either, sorry.
Don't want to confuse anybody out there, right?
You still have to wear both, okay?
And since I'm not preaching, I'm going to be wearing a Christmas gift that I got, a
shirt that I got because it's really cool.
But you guys have to wear a button-up shirt and tie, all right?
So you can still change afterwards if you want.
We're going to have pizza and then we're just going to have a board game night, fellowship
night so you can hang out if you'd like to bring something that you'd like to snack
on.
And you're welcome to stay as long as you want until midnight.
So we'll basically hang out until the next year and then we'll go home.
If you have kids and you want to just have dinner and then go home later, that makes
sense.
It's not a big deal.
So just feel free to show up and then have fellowship with us as much as you want.
Down below we have the congratulations to the Cooper family on the birth of Melody
Rae Cooper.
She was born December 24th, 622 p.m.
Paying seven pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.
And there's also a meal train for the Cooper family.
So congratulations to them and that's really exciting.
Almost a Christmas present.
I mean that's about as close as you can get.
And then down below, I actually wanted to make a quick
announcement.
Thank you.
Bye.
Saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
What grace sent off my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.
Did grace have drawn me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise.
And when we first begun.
Amen.
Here's England.
As the offering plates are passed around,
please turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 40.
Genesis chapter number 40, we're going
to read the entire chapter starting in verse 1.
Genesis chapter 40.
The Bible reads in Genesis chapter 40.
And it came to pass after these things
that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker
had offered their lord the king of Egypt had offended,
rather, their lord the king of Egypt.
And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers,
against the chief of the butlers and against the chief
of the bakers.
And he put them inward in the house of the captain
of the guard into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,
and he served them, and they continued a season inward.
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.
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning
and looked upon them.
And behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh's officers that
were with him in the ward of his lord's house,
saying, wherefore look ye so sadly today?
And they said unto him, we have dreamed a dream,
and there is no interpreter of it.
And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations
belong to God?
Tell me them, I pray you.
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph,
and said to him, in my dream, behold, a vine was before me.
And in the vine were three branches,
and it was though it budded.
And her blossom shot forth, and the clusters thereof
brought forth ripe grapes.
And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand,
and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,
and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
And Joseph said unto him, this is the interpretation of it.
The three branches are three days.
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head,
and restore thee unto thy place.
And thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand,
after the former manner, when thou wast his butler.
But 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.
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good,
he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold,
I had three white baskets on my head.
And in the uppermost basket there was
of all manner of baked meats for Pharaoh,
and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
And Joseph answered and said,
This is the interpretation thereof,
the three baskets are three days.
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head
from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree,
and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
And it came to pass the third day,
which was Pharaoh's birthday,
that he made a feast unto all his servants.
And he lifted up the head of the chief butler
and of the chief baker among his servants,
and he restored the chief butler
unto his butler-ship again,
and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand,
and he hanged the chief baker
as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph,
but forgave him?
Fireheads for a word of prayer.
Father God, we thank you for Genesis chapter 40, Lord,
and for all of the spiritual pictures and truths
that are in this chapter.
I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit now
and help him to explain this chapter to us
so we can learn more about your word
and understand this portion of scripture
and apply some lessons to our lives tonight,
and we thank you so much for our church,
and in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen.
During our Bible study in Genesis chapter 40,
in the previous week,
we learned about Joseph being thrown in prison,
and Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife
to have tried or attempted assault against his wife,
but we know that Joseph was innocent in the story
and he's thrown in prison,
and we kind of pick up the story
with him being in prison,
and he's obviously been there for a while.
The Bible told us that he had become basically the ruler
or basically in charge of the prison while he was there,
and it says in 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.
There was wrath against two of his officers,
against the chief of the butlers,
and against the chief of the bakers,
and he put them in ward in the house
of the captain of the guard,
into the prison,
the place where Joseph was bound,
and the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,
and he served them,
and they continued to seize and reward.
Now, it's kind of interesting here
because if you understand verse 21 of the previous chapter,
look back at verse 21,
it says,
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy
and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison,
and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand
all the prisoners that were in the prison,
and whatsoever they did there,
he was the doer of it.
So it's like he's kind of in charge,
he's kind of the ruler,
or like a second in charge of the prison,
but when these other men come into the prison,
notice how the Bible describes Joseph,
it says that he served them,
meaning it's like Joseph,
even though he's the ruler or the leader,
he serves them and he's doing things for them.
Now, I think the parallel here
or something that we could understand is
that a really good leader is someone who serves.
And being a ruler or being in charge of something,
it's not telling people what to do,
but it's rather serving them and doing good unto them.
You know, it's theoretical,
and especially today in today's world,
but it's theoretical that our governors
and our presidents and everything,
that they're called public servants,
meaning that they're supposed to serve the people
and they're supposed to like offer their life
and the term of their service
is they're doing a bunch of good unto the community
or their state or their country
and it's an act of servitude
and it's something that's supposed to be looked at
with prestige and honor what they're doing,
not to really serve themselves
and not to get paid all these bribes
and not to have all these luxuries
and things thrown at them that we see today.
And obviously our political system
has become beyond corrupt
and it's really just changed into something
that it's not even intended to be
because it's really supposed to be a service type role
where people are serving the community state
and being a politician,
even though we look at it
through a really dark glass of today's lens,
you know, it actually is an honorable role,
one that you would have to do a lot of work,
a lot of sacrifice,
you're putting forth a lot of energy
and trying to hear the petitions of your constituents
and of your people
and you're trying to represent them
and you're going through all these meetings
and you're advocating for them
and you're trying to sign things into law,
it's a respectable position,
it's just a problem that the people
that are doing it are corrupt.
Just like a pastor,
you know, there's nothing wrong with the role of a pastor
even though we see a lot of churches today
have a bad pastor
or they have an evil pastor
or someone taking advantage of that role
or that job duty,
it doesn't make pastoring bad,
it just makes that person bad.
And the same would be in America,
there's nothing wrong with a president
or a governor or a senator
or any of these leaders,
the problem is a lot of the people
that are actually doing these jobs,
that's the real problem.
And we see with Joseph,
you know, even though he's in a position of leadership,
he exemplifies what a good leader is
and it's someone who serves.
And in any role that you find yourself as a leader,
whether that be even in the home,
you know, being a father or being a mother,
you know, that's a leadership role.
You have to lead your children,
you have to guide them,
you know, a picture of a really good leader,
a really good mother,
a really good father
is one who serves their children,
is one who's going to serve those that are under them,
you know, maybe in the job,
you have people that work for you,
you know, maybe you have employees
or you have other people
that are under your leadership,
you shouldn't look at is what can they do for you
but rather what you can do for them.
And the same should even go with ministry,
you know, when it comes to a position in ministry,
whether that be a deacon
or whether that be an evangelist
or whether it be a pastor or any of these roles,
you should really look at as an opportunity to serve others,
it's not to see, you know,
what can people do for you
but rather what you can do for them
and how to help them and how to lead them.
Even Jesus Christ, when he came to this earth,
he didn't come to get served,
he came to give his life a ransom for many is what he said.
He didn't come to, you know, sit back
and let everybody fawn him
and give him grapes and whatever.
No, no, no, no, no.
He basically was the grapes,
he was squeezed out, his blood was squeezed out
and he basically gave his life for others,
he served others, he got down on his knees,
he washed his disciples' disgusting and smelly feet.
And you say,
how do you know they were disgusting and smelly?
That's how I feel about every guy's feet, okay?
Every guy's feet is disgusting and smelly
and I can't imagine washing any of your feet,
I don't wanna do it,
I know Jesus didn't wanna do it.
You know what, he was setting an example.
He was showing that a real leader,
a real ruler is gonna be one who serves.
He's not there to see what he can get out of it
or to look at me, you know.
And so someone that has this type of an attitude of thinking,
oh, I can't wait to be in leadership,
so then things will be easier,
people will be working for me now or whatever,
that's a bad heart.
You know, and that's not the type of heart
you'd ever want in a minister or a pastor.
And in fact, frankly speaking,
a deacon is the exact opposite of that,
because a deacon, while it does have the role,
it has the title,
it's really kind of a powerless job
in the sense that you're not really empowered
to do anything,
really you're just there to serve everybody.
I mean, you're just basically the public servant
of the church, you're just there to serve and to help
and to assist and everything like that.
You know, a deacon's not really a position of authority
that's going around telling people what to do,
but rather he's just kind of just helping every other person.
And a lot of churches kind of get this backwards.
In fact, a lot of churches,
the deacons are the ones that run the church.
They literally tell the pastor what to do,
or they tell, you know, the leadership what to do
and everything like that,
and they invest, a church will invest all of its power
into its deacons,
whereas it's actually a deacon is just a full-time servant.
You know, and the pastor is supposed to rest
in the head of the pastor or the leader.
You know, otherwise, how can you ever turn the ship?
You know, if you can't even, you know,
make any kind of decisions or any kind of rulings
or any kind of leading.
I mean, would it really work that the children of Israel
were run by committee?
No, they needed Moses.
And in fact, the one time they tried the committee,
it failed because they sent 12 spies into the wilderness,
and when they came back, it was a 10 versus two vote,
and the committee voted not to go.
And so you see the committee failing.
You know, you don't want to have a bunch of committees
and all these groups, you know, voting and organizing,
whatever.
You need a strong leader to lead.
But at the end of the day, that leader needs to also
be a benevolent dictator in the sense
that he's doing the best for others.
He's there to serve.
He's humble.
He's not trying to lift himself up or anything like that.
And Joseph is the same attitude here.
Joseph is one who finds himself in a lowly position in prison,
yet rises to the top.
Even though he's at the top, though,
notice he doesn't change his attitude.
He still serves these other men, these other people,
and he's there to basically just provide them
whatever they need.
Now let's keep going.
Verse 5, it says this.
And they dreamed a dream, both of them,
talking about the butler and the baker.
It says, each man is dreaming 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.
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning
and looked upon them, and behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him
in the ward of his lord's house, saying,
wherefore look ye so sadly today?
And they said unto him, we have dreamed a dream,
and there is no interpreter of it.
And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations
belong to God?
Tell me them, I pray you.
Now I kind of chuckle when I read this.
Because I'm like, hey, why are you guys sad?
Because we're in prison.
It's kind of funny when I read this,
because I'm thinking, why is it weird that someone's
sad when they're in prison?
Right?
Wouldn't it just be kind of just a normal,
like you're just kind of sad?
But notice that these men are all, I guess,
normally happy, even in prison.
And they got Joseph serving them,
and they're doing these things.
And so being sad was actually not commonplace,
even while in prison for these men.
And so then he's saying, why are you guys sad?
And to me, it's just obviously like, I'm in prison.
But notice they're sad because they can't even
understand their dream.
That's kind of a weird thing too, right?
They really want to know this dream,
but they can't figure it out.
So they're looking sad.
He can pick up on it.
He's saying, why are you so sad?
They say, no one can figure out our dream.
No one can interpret our dream.
And then Joseph makes a really profound statement here.
He says, do not interpretations belong to God?
Tell me them, I pray you.
So Joseph makes it very clear to start out this chapter
that the only way someone could interpret a dream
would be if God divinely is giving them that understanding,
that kind of wisdom.
Now, I think we can draw a lot of interesting things
out of this thought here.
So if you would, and stick your finger here,
but go to Matthew chapter 2 for a moment.
Go to Matthew chapter 2.
And this is what I thought of when
I was thinking about this chapter.
We already know the interpretation
because it just gives us the interpretation, OK?
And it's real plain.
It's real straightforward.
But when I was thinking about dreams and God
communicating through dreams, one thing that kind of struck
me is the fact that it seems like God
wants to communicate or talk to people at all hours of the day.
Just think about it.
I mean, a dream is while you're sleeping.
And it's like God still wants to talk to people
even while they're sleeping.
And we know that God's not asleep.
God's always active and busy.
And God's not even only concerned
with the population that's awake.
The fact that the Earth is a globe, my friend, OK?
Half of the Earth is asleep while the other half's awake,
right?
Presumably, unless some of you stay up, OK?
But I'm just saying.
Arguably, about half are sleeping
while the other half's awake.
And you would think, well, God's only
going to care about the half that's active or conscious
or whatever.
But that's not true because God's still
paying attention to people while they're sleeping.
He communicates to them through dreams even, right?
That's kind of an interesting thought.
Now, look at Matthew chapter 2, verse 12.
The Bible says this.
And being warned of God in a dream
that they should not return to Herod,
they departed into their country another way.
Here's another place in scripture
where another Joseph is being warned by God in a dream.
Now, go through Numbers chapter 12 for a moment.
Go to Numbers chapter 12.
I just wanted to show you how God is not just communicating
with them in one place through dreams with a lot of people.
And in fact, God often communicates to unsaved people
or people that aren't even like his people through dreams.
Communicates to Nebuchadnezzar through dreams,
to Pharaoh through dreams.
We'll learn that in the future through this chief baker
and this butler.
And so God has a desire to talk to and communicate
to all people.
But here's the problem is that people cannot understand
the word of God or God's communications on their own.
Now, look at Numbers chapter 12, verse number 6.
The Bible says this.
And he said, hear now my words.
If there be a prophet among you,
I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision
and will speak unto him in a dream.
My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently
and not in dark speeches.
And the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.
Wherefore, then were you not afraid to speak against
my servant Moses.
Now, I'm pulling out these verses
to explain an interesting thought.
A dream, while it is a communication of God,
it's not the most direct communication
you could possibly have.
And he brings out this point with Moses.
He just talked to him freely like his friend.
Like, you know, just talking to him face to face.
Whereas a dream, he's comparing that, if you notice,
I believe it's in verse seven here,
it's saying it's a dark speech.
Sorry, verse eight.
Yeah, not in dark speeches.
Meaning that Moses was special.
A lot of his communications from God
were just real straightforward.
Like, how about the 10 commandments?
I mean, that's pretty straightforward.
In fact, God's literally writing it with his own finger
and then just handing it to him.
You know, it's kind of hard to screw that one up, right?
Whereas if God communicated you through a dream,
that's not as easily understood.
It's not like on the surface.
You just completely understand exactly
what God's trying to communicate.
It would take then an interpretation on top of that.
Whereas if you get the commandments,
there is no interpretation needed.
Thou shall not kill, done.
Okay.
That's why also, you know, people will be like,
oh, you got to interpret the Bible.
I don't need the Bible to be interpreted.
It's already been interpreted.
It was translated from Greek and Hebrew into English.
And guess what?
I speak English.
I don't need a human interpreter.
You know, I don't need to say you're like,
there was a man sent from God.
His name was John.
What does that mean?
Like there was a man sent from God.
His name was John.
That's what it means.
That's the interpretation, right?
So, you know, don't get all tripped up with this.
You know, this people will try to hide behind the idea of,
well, it's how you interpret the Bible.
Okay.
And here's the thing.
Yeah, of course, there's some parts of the Bible
that need interpretation.
I'm not saying that there isn't, right?
A dream would need to be interpreted.
Okay.
There's certain proverbs and there's parables
and there's all kinds of things in the Bible
that need to be interpreted.
You know, thou should not kill doesn't need an interpreter.
You know, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
I don't need an interpreter.
That one's just right on the surface.
So there's a lot of the Bible
that you don't even need an interpreter.
You know, and if someone says,
well, it depends on how you interpret it.
That's foolish.
That's nonsense.
Okay.
That's hiding behind something that's not real.
It's a thinly veiled excuse for something that's not true.
I'm not saying that there isn't portions of the Bible
that need to be interpreted.
Okay.
Because there is.
And of course, right here, we have an entire chapter
devoted to dreams being interpreted.
Okay.
But not everything needs to be interpreted.
Now, here's the thing.
God did communicate through dreams though.
Okay.
And God gave dreams to certain people
and they had to be interpreted.
Here's a foreshadowing of the fact
that God likes to communicate in this way
and how when Jesus comes on the scene,
he's going to speak in parables.
Meaning that even though they can hear the words
and they can even understand the words themselves,
they don't know the meaning
or they don't understand how it applies
or they don't comprehend
what God's really trying to communicate
when he would give the parable.
And the same with this dream, right?
The chief baker and the chief butler
can fully remember.
They can bring to remembrance the dream.
They can tell you with vivid detail
everything that happens in the dream,
but they have no idea what it means.
And that's what frustrated them.
They're like, why am I having these three, you know, birds?
Or why am I having these three vines?
Or why am I having these different things?
They just, it doesn't make sense to me
even though they know exactly what happened.
And what did Joseph said?
He said, interpretations belong unto God.
Okay.
Go to Proverbs chapter number one.
What does this all mean then, Pastor Shelley?
It means that while God wants to communicate
to every single person
and has attempted to communicate
to every single person,
and we all have a King James Bible,
you know, in our hand in this room today,
and it's the most popular book in human history,
there's another element to actually understanding
what God said, and it's called being saved.
And you have to have the Holy Ghost
to help interpret the Bible for you.
Okay.
And to give you that understanding.
And sometimes it also takes meditation.
It goes beyond just a surface level of being saved.
You have to actually study the word of God.
You have to hear a lot of preaching.
You have to, you know, live the Christian life.
You can't be a forgetful hearer of the word.
You have to be a doer of the work.
You have to have a lot of these things going for you
to then end up understanding the Bible.
And in Proverbs chapter one,
it brings out this point, look at verse five.
A wise man will hear and will increase learning,
and a man of understanding shall attain
unto wise counsels who understand a proverb
and the interpretation, the words of the wise,
and their dark saying.
And here's the thing, you can understand
a lot of proverbs even while being unsaved
on their surface level.
You can understand just the simple proverb
of, you know, he that spareth the rod hated the sun.
You know, every unsaved person could hear that
and say like, oh wow, it's saying if I don't punish
my children, then I actually hate them.
They could figure that out, okay.
And there's a lot of proverbs in the Bible
that are very, you know, straightforward
in a carnal application, you know, labor not to be rich.
Now, a lot of people could read that and say,
that's telling me I shouldn't strive to be rich.
But to the unsaved, it's not gonna make any sense.
It's gonna be like, why would I not want to be rich?
Why would I not want to heap on myself
all kinds of wealth and untold riches?
And, you know, that's what we're all striving for.
That's what every rap song told me to do is get rich
or die trying, you know.
I mean, I got 99 problems, but riches ain't one.
You know, it's like, I mean, it's like every single song
out there is just trying to strive for money.
So that wouldn't make any sense to them.
They wouldn't understand the interpretation
of that particular proverb, okay.
How would I get that interpretation then?
Well, you start reading more of the Bible
and you start hearkening unto other wise men.
And you go and you read 1 Timothy chapter number six,
which says the love of money is the root of all evil.
And you're like, oh wow.
And then you read other passages in the Bible,
like in Psalms, when it's like saying, you know,
I was envious of the wicked until I understood their end.
Until I came to church and heard the word of God being preached
and realized that chasing money is gonna destroy you.
It's gonna ruin you.
That the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this life,
they're gonna enter in and choke the word
and I'm not gonna become fruitful in the things of God, okay.
And that it's actually just vanity.
Even the people that have the most money in this world,
they can't get enough.
They still wanna be the number one.
You know, if you're number two, you gotta be number one.
And if you're number one, you gotta be double number two
or triple or quadruple.
Like these guys can never be done.
They want all the money
and then they would still want more on top of it, okay.
You can never have enough money.
It's a foolish thing to chase after.
So when it comes to the Christian life,
when it comes to our world,
God doesn't want us to just have the surface level,
you know, the proverb meaning.
He wants us to have the interpretation too.
And we get that interpretation from God, okay.
Now again, how do you get interpretations?
By comparing spiritual to spiritual.
So someone comes to you with an interpretation
or a particular passage of scripture,
yet they can't show you anywhere else in the Bible
where they got that.
Here's my question.
Did it come from God?
Now go if you went to 2 Peter chapter one.
And I would say no.
You know, if you want to explain something to me in the Bible,
show it to me in another place in scripture, right?
You know, you could believe all kinds of crazy things
with one verse in the Bible.
You know, there's all kinds of crazy one-liners in the Bible
that taken out of context could mean
whatever you want it to mean, okay.
That's why it's important to compare spiritual with spiritual
and allow the Bible to give you complete doctrine
from multiple places.
Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall every matter be established,
every word be established.
We want to make sure that our doctrines,
especially that are the bedrocks of our faith,
are not based on a solo verse,
like repent and be baptized, you know.
Oh, I guess that means, you know,
I guess we got to get baptized to be saved.
Or he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
You know, some doctrines that some people believe,
they're grasping at straws on one verse.
Faith that works is dead.
Okay, prove me that doctrine
from another place in scripture real quick.
Good luck using Romans four, you know.
Good luck using any of Romans, okay.
I mean, you know, if you have a one-liner doctrine,
you know, don't be an Acts 238 Christian,
be a Genesis to Revelation Christian, you know.
Believe all of the scripture and all the Bible.
Because what does the Bible say?
Well, in 2 Peter, chapter number one,
it gives us an interesting verse here.
Look at verse number 20.
Knowing this verse, that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation,
for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost.
So the Bible says that there's not any kind
of a private interpretation.
Meaning that nobody, no part of scripture,
no part of the Bible is just one man's idea
or one man's understanding.
All of it came from God, okay.
So all the Bible was written by man
and then all the, but through the power of the Holy Ghost,
but then all the understanding also came from God.
So it's like the words came from God
and the understanding came from God.
It's not like God gave us the words
and then I figured it out.
No, no, no, I can't figure it out.
Both the words and the understanding come from God
and it's not of any private interpretation.
There wasn't some guy that figured it out.
Joseph didn't figure it out.
Daniel doesn't figure it out.
God had to give them the understanding.
The Holy Ghost had to give them the enlightening
and had to give them everything that they needed.
So whenever we wanna understand something in the Bible,
we need to stop relying on ourselves
and rely wholly on God.
And that sounds cool, but what does that mean?
Well, it means that you have to just read the Bible.
You have to literally,
if you wanna understand the Bible, you have to read it.
If you wanna understand it, you have to memorize scripture.
If you wanna understand it, you have to meditate on it
and you have to allow the Holy Ghost to provoke you,
to prod you with scriptures that are gonna then help you
line up other verses in the Bible together.
None of my understanding ever came from anything
other than the Bible itself.
The Bible just talking, you're sitting there
and you're thinking, and then it's like,
Bible verses come into your mind.
You're just like, wow.
That's why that passage makes sense
because this other part of the Bible.
So it's a self-authenticating book
and it constantly shows itself unto you
and you have the Holy Ghost guiding you.
You're not gonna understand it
without the Holy Ghost being present,
without the Word of God,
without God giving you this understanding.
And even we have Joseph here saying,
do not interpretations belonging to God.
Now, of course, he wants to hear
what happened in the dream, why?
Because it's God's Word.
So Joseph already knows other parts of God's Word.
Then when he has the other part of God's Word,
then God is gonna give him that understanding
and help him to interpret these dreams.
But you know what?
God wants to communicate to every unsaved person,
but here's the problem.
They can't understand the interpretation.
They need some man to guide them and they're sad.
You know, the guys that are sad
wanting to know what the dream is
is no different than the guy
that I knocked on the door this evening
and said, hey, are you for sure
that if you die today, you go to heaven?
And they don't know or they think they know
or they guess, but they're just like,
I don't know how to go to heaven
or I hope so or whatever.
It's like they need somebody to show them
from the Word of God how to be saved
what it means to believe on Jesus Christ.
You know what?
They're not gonna accidentally figure out
how to get saved.
Interpretation is belonging to God.
You know, we're his chosen vessels
to go out and to preach the gospel
and to enlighten people
and to give them the interpretations
of the Word of God,
to tell them what these things mean,
how to be saved.
And as easy it is for a saved person
to understand what it takes to be saved,
for some reason,
an unsaved person is just like,
and if you want to confirm the Bible,
if you want to confirm the Bible,
go soul winning.
Because you look at verses like John 3 16
and it's just like,
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but ever last in life.
And then you go and talk to people,
they'll quote you that verse.
They'll quote it verbatim
and then you'll say,
so what did that say you have to be saved?
Go to church.
It's just like, what?
Be a good person, you know,
or I don't know.
And then you're just like,
you just said it.
And then you think of Romans chapter number 10,
it says the word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth and in thy heart.
That is the word of faith we preach.
It's like what you're saying is what I believe.
I'm just trying to help you
put two and two together.
I'm just trying to help you interpret.
So no matter how easy the Bible seems to you,
no matter how on the surface
it could seem to you,
you have to realize to the unsaved,
they're blinded.
And they need some man to come
and give them the interpretation
and to help them and to guide them
and to serve them and to love them.
And not just be like,
oh, who cares?
I'm in prison.
Who cares about these other yahoos?
No, no, no.
Go and find them,
hear their dreams
and show them what God wants to tell them,
what God wants to communicate to them.
Because wouldn't it be sad if we read this chapter
and it says no man can interpret our dreams
and Joseph's like,
that sucks, see you later.
But isn't that what a lot of Christians do?
They don't even check to see
if their friends and their neighbors
and their loved ones are saved.
They don't even know.
They don't even know
if they're on their way to heaven.
They're not even asking them about their day.
Why are you sad?
What's going on?
God's trying to communicate
to every single person that God has.
The question is,
will we come along and provide the interpretation?
God's done his part,
will we do our part?
And that's why it says,
if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to them that are lost.
Now, we have to rely on God for the interpretation.
Obviously, I'm not saying that,
you know, it's nothing special about me,
but it's that the Holy Ghost inside of me is special
and he's the one that gives me
all of the keys to help every person out.
And I believe the more that you help people out
and the more that you serve people,
the more the Holy Ghost is going to give you wisdom
and the understanding.
Now, go if you would back to our story
in Genesis chapter number 40,
Genesis chapter 40.
It doesn't really make any sense
that God's just going to constantly give you all this wisdom
and then you never use it.
And you say,
well, I want more wisdom.
Well, then start doing more.
Because it seems like the more you do,
the more God will just help you understand the Bible
and it'll make more sense to you.
In fact, there's a lot of passages of scripture
I never really understood until I actually lived it,
until I actually kind of went through it.
And then I'm like, wow, that makes a lot of sense.
You know, it's funny,
there's all these tribulation verses,
but it's like for the non-denom church,
I mean, their tribulation is their coffee was too hot
or something.
So it's like, it doesn't even make any sense to them.
It's like, I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
You know, it's like that whole verse is wrapped up
in like being killed for Christ and being tortured
and going through all kinds of ridicule
and severe tribulation.
And it's like, people will quote that
for just the most nonsensical, you know,
white woman first world problems, you know?
And I'm just thinking like,
what in the world?
You know, they didn't have my color shirt today,
you know, at the store or whatever.
I have to order it online.
You know, I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me, you know?
It's like, what?
You know, BOGO ended yesterday.
Oh man, I can do all things.
It's like, what?
Come on.
They didn't have my brand of milk at the store, you know?
And I have to get the other brand or whatever.
It's like, come on, that's not really the struggles
that God's really kind of prepping us for.
But you know, when you really serve God,
you actually start having like real serious issues
and real enemies and real problems.
And then you're like, wow,
these verses actually make sense.
I know why those things are found in the scriptures.
Genesis chapter 40, look at verse number nine.
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph
and said to him, in my dream, the old divine was before me.
And in the vine were three branches.
And it was as though it budded.
And a blossom shot forth
and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes.
The Pharaoh's cup was in my hand.
And I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup.
And I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
Joseph said on them, this is the interpretation of it.
Three branches, the three branches are three days.
Yet within three days, shall Pharaoh lift up thine head
and restore thee unto thy place.
Now shall deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand
after the former manner when thou was his butler.
But 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.
Now what's interesting is when Joseph gives the interpretation
he immediately is like, oh yeah, an FYI, get me out of here.
But that also tells me that Joseph had hope of leaving prison.
Because why would he tell him, hey,
see if you can get me out of here.
That means that every day he must have had hope
or believed that God was going to get him out of this situation.
And this to me makes a lot of sense to couple these things
because the interpretation is given to him by God.
So if he gets out, isn't all the reason he got out
going to be given to God and all the glory given to God?
And he's saying that God is actually
going to be the one rescuing him.
And it makes sense why he's giving him this interpretation.
So I think in Joseph's mind he's thinking like,
this is my opportunity from God.
God's blessing me.
God's obviously putting this man in my life
and giving me the interpretation for a reason.
It must be that I'm going to get out by this butler.
And that to me makes a lot of sense.
Now let's read the next one.
It says, when the chief baker saw the interpretation was good,
he said unto Joseph, this is why you start with the good news, OK?
If he started with the bad news, the butler
might not want to hear the interpretation.
Hey, I want to interpret the butler first.
I'm just joking.
He said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream.
And behold, I had three white baskets on my head.
And in the uppermost basket, there was of all manner
of baked meats for Pharaoh.
And the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
And Joseph answered and said, this is the interpretation
the three baskets are three days.
Yet within three days, shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head from off thee,
and shall hang thee on a tree.
And the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
And he didn't ask him to do anything for him.
Also shows that Joseph has a lot of confidence
in the interpretation that God gave him, didn't he?
Because didn't he put all of his trust
in the first interpretation?
Because he didn't.
What if the reverse happened, where it ended up
that the baker ended up getting restored
and the butler died or whatever?
Then he's not going to be like, oh, that baker guy
is probably going to remember me.
No, no, no.
He put all of his hope in the butler.
OK.
And maybe there's a little bit of tie-in here
with the gospel kind of showing that he's putting
his trust in the butler, who after three days
is going to be restored.
You kind of have the pouring out of the grapes,
maybe a picture of the blood of Jesus Christ.
So you kind of see maybe he's trusting
in the blood of Jesus Christ.
I don't really want to go too far with that
because this is the obvious interpretation of the passages.
God already gave that to us.
But for sure, Joseph is really confident
in the word of the Lord, even though it hasn't happened.
Think about this.
We read the story and we're like,
of course he put his trust in this
because he knows it's going to happen.
He didn't know it was going to happen.
He's given God's word about a future prophecy,
yet Joseph believes it as real as something
that's already happened.
He already knows it's going to happen
because whatever God said is going to happen.
You know, that's where you can just
put your faith in the word of God.
You know that it's going to happen.
And you know, there's a lot of things
that we believe in that we haven't seen yet.
We haven't seen our physical salvation.
We haven't actually been redeemed in the sense
that our full body has been changed into our glorious body.
We haven't been with the Lord yet.
We haven't gone to heaven yet.
If you have, you might need to find a different church, OK?
But we haven't seen those.
You know, our faith is still faith.
It's not a site yet.
But one day it'll become a site.
But we need to live like we've already seen it.
We need to live like we already believe it,
like we know it's going to happen,
and put all of our trust in God's word that we already know.
Not to say like, well, hey, if it doesn't work out,
you know, and you actually are restored,
will you just go ahead and also mention me?
No, no, no.
He's like, you're done.
Like, see you, buddy.
Butler, hey, remember me, buddy?
Making pals with the living and not with the dead, OK?
And this guy is basically dead while he's living, OK?
Now, go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 2.
Here's another thought that I had.
Why did God communicate to the butler and the baker?
Like, what benefit does the baker
have to hear that he's going to die in three days?
I mean, he was sad before.
I don't think he's going to be happy now.
Think about it, right?
He was so sad that he couldn't understand the dream.
I think he's probably less happy after having understood it.
It's like, man, I don't know what this dream is.
You're going to die, dude.
Oh, sucks.
How sure are you about that, 100%?
It's like, oh, man.
But see, here's the thing.
This is how the world works.
God has already told us everything that's going to happen,
and God's word communicates to every single person.
But you know what?
It's not the same for every single person, OK?
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse number 14.
Now, thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the saviour of his knowledge by us in every place.
For we are unto God a sweet saviour of Christ,
and them that are saved, and them that perish.
To the one, we are the saviour of death unto death,
and to the other, the saviour of life unto life,
and who is sufficient for these things.
Meaning, what the Bible is saying is that the gospel goes out,
and while we call it good news,
it's actually not good news for everybody,
because the person who doesn't believe it,
it's not good news at all.
It's actually the worst news they could ever hear.
Hey, let me tell you something that's going to happen to you after you die,
by not believing in Jesus, hell.
Death.
And that's what real death is.
And you know what?
We preach the message of the cross,
and we preach a message of hope,
and we preach the good news,
and it's glad tidings to all people.
But here's the thing.
It's technically not good news to those who reject it.
It's actually a message of death to them,
because they're going to reject it,
and they don't like the word of God.
And so the word of God has an either entirely positive message,
or an entirely negative message,
and it depends on one thing, if you believe or not.
And so the picture, I believe, of the butler and the baker
is the sense that the word of God is being communicated to everyone,
but not everyone is going to get the benefit of God's word.
To some, God's word is a great blessing and a message of hope,
while at the other side, the word of God, to some,
is a message of death and destruction.
That's why it's not a shock that some people hate the word of God.
You think that the baker liked this dream?
You think afterwards he was like,
that was a cool dream, I want to hear it again.
Or do you think he's like, I don't like that dream,
I don't believe in that dream,
get that dream away from me, or whatever.
And this is how we see the world today.
We see a group of people that hate the Bible,
they hate the word of God, they don't want to hear it.
In fact, they want to stop people from even preaching it anymore.
Why?
Because it spells out their doom.
It spells out their destruction,
and it's foretelling what's going to happen to them,
and they don't like it.
Just like why criminals don't like the laws that they break.
A person that commits murder doesn't want to hear about the penalties
that are associated with committing murder.
They want to be like, let's get rid of that,
let's get me done with that.
It's why it's silly to ask a bunch of pedophiles to vote on legislation
about putting pedophiles to death.
Of course they're not going to be for it.
Of course they're going to oppose it.
They're going to be against it.
So we have to understand that the word of God
is not something that everybody likes.
It's not a message of hope for every single person
in the sense that those who don't believe
is never a message of hope.
Obviously, the Bible does say it's a message of hope,
because theoretically, if you believe,
obviously you go to heaven, right?
But the word of God is a two-edged sword in the sense that
it's either all good or it's all bad.
Which one do you want?
Okay, and it's therefore the taking for those that want to have eternal life.
Now let's read the rest of this passage here
and I want to kind of talk about one more thing here.
Genesis chapter number 40 says in verse 20,
it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday,
that he made a feast unto all his servants,
lifted up the head of the chief butler
and of the chief baker among his servants.
He stored the chief butler on his butler ship again,
he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand,
but he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them,
yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph but forgot him.
Now I have no idea why everything's in the Bible.
Kind of interesting that it's Pharaoh's birthday after the third day.
The only thing I could think is it's kind of like, you know,
Christ is, you know, risen again
and it's kind of like how we get risen again is like a birth
and so it's like the birth is tied to the third day, I don't know.
But nevertheless, it gives us the reason for why he restores the one
and destroys the other, just like Joseph had interpreted exactly.
But what ends up happening in verse 23 is really an important message
I think that we all need to take away is that the butler forgot Joseph.
And here's the reality, that often when we have the successes
that come with serving God, the successes that come,
the blessings that come from serving God,
it has an ability or it has an effect
where it can sometimes cause us to start forgetting God
or to not really appreciate what God has done for us.
And it's kind of a chilling effect sometimes even on our zeal
or on our gratitude towards the Lord by being so successful.
Now I'm going to show you this in the Bible,
keep your, you don't have to keep your fingers whenever coming back,
go to Jeremy chapter 8, go to Jeremy chapter 8.
But what happens is the butler immediately forgets Joseph
and the Lord who gave him this dream as soon as what?
He's restored, right?
He's restored, he's back into prosperity,
he's back into good favor, everything's going good in his life,
so then he forgets God all of a sudden, right?
He's interested in God when he's in prison,
he's interested in God's word whenever his life's in the dumps,
when he's having a lot of hard things in his life,
but then he just kind of forgets God again when he's prosperous, right?
Well, this is a common theme throughout the Bible.
Deuteronomy chapter 8, look at verse 11.
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God
and not keeping his commandments and his judgments
and his statutes which I command thee this day.
Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full,
and has built goodly houses and dwelt therein,
and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply,
and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied,
and all that thou hast is multiplied,
then thine heart be lifted up,
and thou forget the Lord thy God,
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt
from the house of bondage.
So, notice what God is saying.
He's saying, I need to warn you about something.
You go in the promised land,
I'm going to bless you guys really mightily.
I mean, you're going to be in a land flowing with milk and honey,
you're going to have all kinds of blessings of your cattle
and blessings of your children,
and you're going to have all these great houses,
and you're going to inherit all these wonderful cities
that you didn't even have to build,
that giants built for you.
But he's saying, don't forget me,
because it's human nature when things are going well,
when you're blessed with money
and all the things that you have,
to think that it's something about you
that caused that to happen.
You know, most people,
especially in the high school and stuff,
they get this real bad with athletics, right?
I mean, they think that they're someone special
because they can throw a ball around or whatever,
not realizing God's the one that gave you the body
that you have to even do that activity,
sport, athletic, competition, whatever.
And they start forgetting the God that created them
blessings that he's given people.
You start making a lot of money
and you start thinking it's because you're smart,
because of what you did, you know, working hard.
But here's the thing.
There are some people in this world
that work super hard and have no money.
Ask every undocumented person that lives in America.
In fact, I'm not saying all of them do,
but a lot of them work really hard.
In fact, some of them probably work a lot harder
than most American men that are actually documented
or whatever, so-called,
yet they have a lot less money, don't they?
And you could think, well, it's because I work really hard
that I have all my money,
whereas there could be people that are undocumented
working way harder than you and have less money.
So how did that happen?
It's because God just blessed you,
because you were blessed to live
in one of the most prosperous nations on the planet
where God just handed down all kinds of money
and wisdom and gifts unto you.
And look, I'm not trying to downplay working hard
or educating yourself or any of those type of things,
but you know what?
God is the one that's giving you the opportunity
to do those things, have the finances
or have the parents or have the people in your life
that assisted you and helped you get to the place
and the position that you're in.
And you know what?
It's really easy to forget all the people
and all the things that God has done for you
through your life when you're prosperous,
when things are going well for you.
And you start thinking like, oh, yeah, it's me.
I'm just such a wonderful guy or I'm just so smart
or of course other people aren't like I am.
I'm glad that I'm not like this publican.
I do all these wonderful things for myself.
It's really easy to get a prideful attitude
when things are going well.
And look, America suffers from pride.
It'd be really easy for all of us to go
to any foreign country and think that you're better
than all the poor people in these other countries
based on the fact that God just handed everything to you.
It's not like you're actually any better than them.
In God's sight, he's not thinking that you're just better
because you have more money or more wealth or more education.
That doesn't make you better than someone else.
You know what?
The person that's better in God's sight is saved
and follows his commandments.
That's the person that's better in God's sight.
Go go to Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter number 17.
This is a common theme throughout the Bible
and we need to be very careful of this
because we live in one of the most prosperous nations
on the planet, number one.
Number two, not only we live in one of the most prosperous
nations in the country, but we're saved
and we're following God's commandments
and I see a lot of blessings in this room.
Have you seen the bulletin?
It's full of blessings.
There's so many blessings and all kinds of things
that people have in this room and things
that God has given them.
Here's a third blessing.
This church, all of us, are extremely blessed
with the knowledge that we have from the Bible.
We have so much knowledge of the Bible
that so many people have not had and so many people don't have.
I mean, even throughout history,
throughout the word of God, men didn't even have the whole Bible.
They only had portions of scripture.
I mean, we have Genesis to Revelation
and while it would take a lifetime to understand
1% of the Bible, we have so much understanding though, still.
We know so much.
We could turn to so many places in the Bible
and understand so many different things in the word of God.
We've had so many men that have gone before us
that have taught us so many good doctrines
and laid down so many foundations
and taught so many great sermons before us
and just basically spoon fed us and handed us
so much good doctrine.
I mean, it's basically like just going to Fogo to chow
and they're just bringing cuts of meat just left and right.
You're just putting the green thing up
and you're just like, come on, buddy.
And then the chicken boy comes and you're like, scram.
You're so rich, you don't even want the chicken.
There are literally people in this world
that are starving to death and would die for chicken
and we're like at Fogo sitting here like,
don't bring me the chicken again.
Don't bring me the pork.
Only the filet and the steaks have cut,
the great steak cuts, right?
I mean, just the top of the tops.
I don't even want the bottom sirloin.
Give me the top sirloin.
You know, I want the filet or whatever.
I mean, that's what it's like for us spiritually
and I think sometimes we don't even understand it.
We don't even realize it.
We've forgotten where we came from.
We've forgotten what the Lord has done for us
and it's a common theme in the Bible.
Look at Luke chapter 17, verse number 12.
Read another story here that's kind of similar.
It says in verse number 12,
and as he entered into a certain village,
there met him 10 men that were lepers,
which stood afar off and they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, master, have mercy on us.
And when he saw them, he said unto them,
go show yourselves unto the priests.
It came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,
turned back with a loud voice, glorified God.
Fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus answering said, were there not 10 cleansed?
Where are the nine?
They're not found the return to give glory to God,
save this stranger.
Now, I don't know why, but this phrase just always
just sticks out to me, but it's just like,
where are the nine?
Where are the nine?
And you know what?
In our lives today, here is a question for Christianity.
Where are the nine?
There's just so many people that they just don't really care
what God has done for them.
And you know, if you're not a soul winner,
you know, you're part of the nine.
I mean, you gotta go out.
I mean, God gave you the gospel and you can't even go
and tell someone about it.
And you know, the best way to say thanks to God
for your salvation is to go share it with someone else,
is to go in to help someone else,
go in and interpret a dream for them.
Let's go beyond that for just a second here,
because I believe that while this parallel
is primarily on salvation,
and that's what we should interpret that as,
there's a lot of other blessings that God has given us.
There's a lot of other life altering decisions
that we've made in our life.
And you know, while we don't want to forget the Lord,
I also don't want us to forget the Josephs
in our life either.
And notice he forgot Joseph too, didn't he?
He didn't remember Joseph.
And I think all of us could probably,
if we thought hard enough,
realize there was a person in our life,
or there was something that happened in our lives,
where we got this great enlightenment,
encouragement, knowledge, information, or whatever.
And based on that, we made a life altering decision.
We made a life altering decision,
and then we just kind of forgot about that.
You know, a lot of people,
they weren't educated in the Bible at all.
They got saved, and then after getting saved,
they heard a sermon like,
hey, don't slaughter your children through birth control.
And they were like, oh, okay.
And so they didn't, and then guess what?
God gave them a child.
And they literally have a living, breathing child
because of some man preaching the word of God to them,
some kind of a sermon.
And it's like, how can I appreciate the child
that I got through making that really good decision?
And you know, that's just one example.
There could be a lot of examples like this,
where you made a life altering decision.
Maybe you heard a message that saved your marriage,
or got you married, right?
You got the right kind of spouse.
Or, you know, you restored a relationship,
or you have a child, or you have a lot of children.
You know, you have all these different blessings
that came from hearing the word of God
being preached to you.
You know, and it's funny to me because people realize,
you know what, my life is so much better
because of when Joseph came
and interpreted that thing for me.
But then they don't go to church the next week.
And it's like, you went to church not expecting anything,
got the most life-changing experience you've ever had,
and then you didn't go back?
Isn't that kind of same as these lepers
showing up with Jesus,
and getting the greatest things they've ever had?
They got cleansed of their leprosy,
and then they never came back.
Wouldn't you be like,
I want to hear what else that guy has to say.
Maybe he has some other good message for me, right?
You know?
And it's so silly when we read the Bible,
and we get a great truth,
we read something in the Bible,
God enlightens us,
God shows us something,
and it changes our lives forever, for the better.
And then we're just like,
I don't need to read it anymore.
I don't need to go to church anymore.
I don't need another sermon.
I don't need another.
You know,
why don't you keep drinking from the well
that's giving you all these blessings?
Why don't you go back and say thank you,
instead of forgetting?
You know, it's easy when you get your problems fixed,
and you start having these blessings,
and then just forget all the needs you had before,
and forget where all those things came from.
And look, you don't want to forget about Joseph,
because Joseph is not just going to get you out of prison,
he's going to save your life.
He's going to save your life.
He's going to save the entire Egyptian nation.
And here's the thing,
when God gives you one blessing,
he's not done.
He wants your cut to overflow with blessing.
He wants you to have life more abundantly, right?
You know, God doesn't have one blessing for you,
and you say,
well, I think I've got all the blessings I need.
Wouldn't that be the same for the butler?
Couldn't the butler think like,
what else could Joseph do for me now?
I'm already restored.
Like, there's nothing better he could do for me.
Yet, the blessings that are coming down the pike
are even better,
are even greater in magnitude.
He couldn't even see it.
And you know what?
That's the same idea that Christians will have
when they get saved,
they learn some good doctrine,
and they fix a couple things,
some really great life-altering decisions,
but then they quit on God.
Now they're not going to church,
they're not hearing the Bible anymore,
almost thinking,
what else can God do for me now?
You know, you're limiting God,
you're spitting in the face of God,
you're not glorifying God,
you're forgetting God.
You know, it's silly and it's foolish
to forget the God that gave you
all the blessings you have at this point,
because he can take them all away
if he needs to get your attention again.
You know what?
And just like the butler has a great message,
and the baker has a horrible one,
the Christian that keeps serving God,
you're going to keep having a good story.
And the one that forgets, though,
and has stopped serving God,
you know what?
He's going to get your attention somehow,
and it's not going to be possible.
You know, God's word is either the best
or the worst thing that can happen to you
at all times.
You know, God, it's like dad coming home.
You know, when dad comes home
and you haven't eaten cookies before dinner,
it's great, dad's home!
You got cookie crumbs,
it's like, dad's home.
What's going to happen?
You know, the same as with God's word,
God's word's coming down the pike.
You know, and if you do that,
which is right, and you're serving God,
it's just going to have more and more blessings,
He's going to help you through all of your life,
and if He's already altered your life for the better,
why do you think He would stop now?
Why do you think He would stop giving you
really good blessings?
It's really losing faith,
and it's forgetting the Lord that gave you
the blessings you had now,
and they could end up turning into cursing
when you forget them.
Let us not forget the Lord.
Let us always come back,
and let us always continue to serve Him,
and continually allow Him to give us
the blessings through His word.
Thank you, Heavenly Father,
for giving us this great church.
Thank you for everything that you've given.
I mean, you've given us so much.
Thank you for this year.
I pray that as we enter into the next year,
as you give us blessings,
that we won't forget the Lord,
that we won't turn away from the Lord,
but rather we'd realize where the blessings are come from,
and that we would continually turn to the Lord
and give glory.
We constantly seek the Lord.
We wouldn't allow blessings to cloud our judgment,
but rather we would constantly give honor and glory to you
for the things that you've given us,
and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
With that, let's go ahead and sing one more song
before we head home tonight.
If you'll take out your hymnal.
364, standing on the promises.
Again, that's 364.
364, standing on the promises.
All together.
Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages life his praises ring.
Glory in the highest I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior.
Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I cannot fail,
with the howling storms of doubt and fear of sin,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail.
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior.
Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love's strong tour,
overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword.
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior.
Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all.
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior.
Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
Amen. Thank you all for coming. God bless you.