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All right, so we're there in Genesis 41, and I'll just look at the memory verse chapter verse 16 Genesis 41 16 and Joseph answered Pharaoh saying it is not in me So I've taken that as a title this morning. It is not in me Hey what Joseph is saying is hey my success what I'm able to accomplish what I'm able to do the advice I'm able to give the interpretation. I'm able to to give to you Pharaoh comes from God So we see a great thing about Joseph the great character He is he wants to give all honor and praise unto the Lord right. He's a humble man. He's not filled with pride He knows his state. He knows he needs the Lord to help him And so that's one of the key takeouts that we can take from this chapter Let's start off with verse number one, and he came to pass at the end of two full years Now what what's the two years in reference there? Well, it's been two years since Joseph interpreted the dreams to the butler and to the Baker So what do we get out of that we get well? Let's keep reading that Pharaoh dreamed and behold he stood by the river So what we get out of that from the time that Joseph had? Pharaoh had this dream is that Joseph was in prison for at least two years and beyond that right because he's been there longer than Two years and so you can see you know for a man of God for someone that's been innocent He has suffered right he has gone from some hardships He has lost a lot of his freedom and that just gives us the picture that he's at least over two years Even though when we read these stories it can feel like you know it's from one day to the next one week to the next That we get these stories But a lot of time passes by as we read these stories verse number two and behold they came up out of the river seven well favored kind that's cows or cattle and Fat flesh and they fed in a meadow so this is the dream of Pharaoh verse number three and behold seven other kind came up after them out of the river ill favored and lean flesh and Stood by the other kind upon the brink of the river and the ill favored and lean flesh kind did eat up the seven well favored and fat kind so Pharaoh awoke and So this this picture that he gets is that you know he's got these these these cows and the first ones Fat flesh you know they're healthy cattle they're healthy cattle They're fat they're productive cattle that that is that he's finds He sorry dreams of seven of them, but then comes another seven cows, but these are unhealthy these are malnourished these are skinny cows and And then he wakes up from that dream right that's what we read about there at the brink of the river Let then he has another dream verse number five and he slept sudden about that You know if you had a dream you probably experienced that you've had a dream And you're like man what I have that dream And then you're like well at least that's over you go back to sleep and the dream continues Oh, yeah, the same dream all over again I'm sure you've all experienced that well he has something similar verse number five and he slept and dreamed the second time and Behold seven ears of corn came up upon the stalk rank and good So you have seven ears of corn or wheat you know the crops that are good. They're Fruitful they they good verse number six and behold seven thin ears and Blasted with the east wind sprung up after them, so then another seven What ears of our corn comes up, but this one's unfruitful these ones are skinny they don't look good They're not good for eating they spring up after them verse number seven and the seven thin is Devoured the seven rank of full ears and Pharaoh awoke and behold it was a dream So what happens these these are sickly looking crops they eat the healthy ones right and that's he wakes up You know and it was a dream So we have the poorer crop eating up the fruitful crop and so this this bothers this bothers Pharaoh verse number eight and it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled and he sent and Caught for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof and Pharaoh told them his dream But there was none that could interpret them Unto Pharaoh now keep your finger. They go back to our Genesis, please 40 just the previous chapter Genesis chapter 40 verse 8 just a reminder So he calls all these powerful men all the religious leaders all the wise men all the guys hey Can you tell me about my dream? Why have I dreamt this and how did it end there could there was none that could interpret them? Unto Pharaoh so just back in the previous chapter look at verse number eight just as a reminder Genesis 40 verse 8 it said at the end of it and Joseph said unto them do not interpretations belong to God Tell me them. I pray you so why were these magicians and wise men unable to interpret the dream? Because they weren't saved They weren't children of God God was not revealing that to them now what they you know God was not given these guys the interpretation Of the dreams so this lines up with what we saw in the previous chapter that Interpretations can only come true interpretations correct interpretations can only come by God's people Directly by God that it that comes and that's why you know whatever we understand in life our opinions our thoughts Must line up with the Word of God the Word of God is what helps us Understand if we're on the right path or if we're in the wrong path and to bring us back into subjection to what God says And so you know that's important for us and again the truth behind that is that it says you know the natural man Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither Can he know them because they are spiritually? discerned the natural man the unsaved man Cannot tell you the things of God and one thing you'll see as we read through this chapter is these dreams were given to Pharaoh By God directly by God and that's why they could not interpret it because they were not children of God They were not people of God and that this just brings me to my remembrance again You know and I have these discussions from time to time. You know I've had someone say to me You know when I when I want to you know understand the Bible a little deeper when I when I need to understand What's going on in this case? You know I'll go and check out what the rabbi saying what the Jewish rabbi say why? Why are you going to go to an unsaved Christ in thine religious leader to help you understand the Word of God? They're a natural man. They're not born again. They haven't got the Spirit of God You know whatever preachers you listen to you know you might be you know you might be curious Oh, you know I really want to understand this portion of scripture I really want to understand what the Bible teaches about this topic, and then you know you'll give up searching for the saves man And you just YouTube you know the topic and whatever preachers preaching on you listen to no wrong all right You're listening to the wise men or the magicians that haven't got the Spirit of God They're not going to be able to tell you the truth They're not going to be able to interpret properly what God has to say to you Okay, make sure whatever you listen to whatever preachers whatever books online whatever articles you read whatever it is Wherever you go for some some counsel and wisdom you go to a spiritual man you go to someone that is saved You're better off just going to the children in this church that are saved and they'll tell you more truth than the unsaved false prophet Okay, so what's good about this is the at least these magicians aren't trying to give a false interpretation at least They're honest enough to pharaoh to say hey, we can't interpret this right and So again, you know be careful who you seek answers to make sure it's not the unsaved Jewish rabbi Okay, who's a Christ rejecter? You know Jesus said you know if you believe Moses you would have believed on him Okay, so they don't even believe Moses. They don't even believe the teachings of the Old Testament So why would you go to them for counsel of the Old Testament? But anyway verse number nine Genesis 41 verse 9 then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh So that's the butler who had his dream interpreted correctly In the previous chapter saying I do remember my faults this day Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put me in ward in the captain of the guards house Both me and the chief baker and we dreamed the dream win one night I and he we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream and there and and there was there with us a young man and Hebrew Servant to the captain of the guard and we told him and he interpreted to us our dreams to each man according to his dream He did interpret and it came to pass as he interpreted to us. So it was Me he restored into unto mine office and him he hangs So what do we learn there that it took, you know that it took at least you know, two years, right? Again that idea of Joseph being at least there for two years since interprets in the dreams This guy forgot about Joseph completely for two years and I had preached about this last week the need, you know that when you're unappreciated Don't worry. Just keep serving the Lord the Lord knows and he's going to come through for you But what happens in verse number 14? So Pharaoh now knows about Joseph Pharaoh known now knows that Joseph is able to interpret dreams verse number 14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon and he shaved himself and Changed his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh Now you guys thought all the godly men will had beards in the Bible, right? What do we see? Can we establish a doctrine and say well God, you know wants all men to have beards and you know She shouldn't say now. What do we say? We see a godly man a good character, right? What's the first thing he does? Oh, you're gonna bring me for Pharaoh. He has a quick shave. All right now we know why he has a shave He also changes his garment. So obviously he has prison clothing on, you know, I'm sure it's tattered. It's not you know presentable So what he wants to do is make himself himself presentable. His beard is probably not presentable His beards probably not growing in its right place. He's like I can't fix this up So he just shaves it all off right puts on some new clothes and goes before Pharaoh So what do we learn there? We learn that you know a good godly character You know, if you're a good character You should be someone that's presentable All right, when you come behind the pulpit to preach the Word of God to show people the Word of God says, you know If your beard is in tatters, you know If you're you know shave it off or whatever right tidy up or just make sure if you've got a beard you keep it nice And trimmed you keep it nice and tidy, you know There's a reason why you know want you guys to put in a tie I want you to be presentable when you come to the house of God We see that and as a good character in Joseph We should be doing the same thing. He said well, he did it because he you know, Pharaoh is very important very powerful Listen, I don't care about that. The children of God in this church are more important than Pharaoh So if it's good enough to be presentable to Pharaoh How much more than is it necessary to be presentable before the children of God right verse number 15 and Pharaoh? Said unto Joseph I have dreamed a dream and there is none that can interpret it and I have And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it and Joseph answered Pharaoh saying it is not in me God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. That's awesome. Right and again, you know I've said to you that these chapters, you know chapters 39 40 41 have a lot of great things for leaders especially preachers people that want to be pastors or deacons You know learn from Joseph This is such a great man such great character a guy who goes from nothing to take it on positions of authority And he's always able to praise God. He's always able to thank God for you know, what he's able to achieve You know and you know, sometimes I get the compliments. Hey, that's a great sermon. Well, praise God It actually makes me feel better. All right, because I know that the study the hard work I'm given is been helpful to some of you, but at the same time we can't forget to thank God You know We can't allow those things to go to the to your heads because the only reason we can interpret All right the only reason we can understand the Word of God is because of the Spirit of God that is in us right as saved people and so you know the Bible says in Philippians 3 3 for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and Rejoicing Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Of course, that's about salvation We don't have any confidence that our flesh that our works will save us But it shows it should also be true in our spiritual walk that the things we achieve the good works We do right, you know seeing so saved is not because of you. It's not because of your flesh, right? You give God the glory. It's God who's equipped you with the ability to preach the gospel It's God who's given you his word, which is what brings faith, right? To see someone call upon the name of the Lord without the Lord you wouldn't be able to do it Okay, and so we ought to be the same kind of people we've no confluence confidence in the flesh and then also What I also like about Joseph here is that it's not ashamed to acknowledge God, right? It's not a shame to to give thanks to God Amongst the people who do not know the God of Israel, right and this just reminds me of Matthew 10 32 I'll just read to you, you know Jesus says these words whosoever shall therefore shall confess me before men Him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven? But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven So if you want Christ to speak highly of you before God the Father You know when you're saved and you go to heaven and he says, oh, you know brother so-and-so sister so-and-so there You know and it speaks highly of you It's because you took the time to speak highly of God You were not ashamed of his name not ashamed of the God that you worship and you you know You were you were public about what you believe you were public about the God that you worshiped you know the benefit there is that God will do the same for you Jesus Christ will do the same to you before God the Father and You know keep that in mind, you know, don't be ashamed and you see Joseph He's not ashamed and I have no doubt when we all get to heaven that you know, Jesus will say well This is Joseph, right? You know, he gave glory to God even in his hardships He gave glory to God even in a nation which had rejected obviously or did not know the God of the Bible anyway verse number 17 there and Pharaoh said unto Joseph in my dream behold I stood upon the bank of the river and behold they came up out of the river seven kind Fat flesh and well favored and they fed in a meadow and behold seven other kind came up after them Poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed such as I never saw in the land of Egypt for badness and Now this is a little bit of extra information that we did not read earlier But it says in verse number 20 and the lien and the ill-favored kind did eat up This the first seven fat kind and when they had eaten them up It could not be known that they had eaten them But they were still ill favored as at the beginning so I awoke so we get a little bit more information there Not only did these seven cows these these are now nourished Sickly looking cows come up after the the ones that were fat and healthy But they ate the fat ones right that they ate of them and even though it these cows ate these very healthy cows According to this extra information. They remained looking lean Alright now if you ate a big cow you'd put on weight right if you were you were eating well You'd be putting away. You'd be looking healthy, but the story here Is that no these these are ill man nourished cows still looked the same way and this caused him to awake So this is like this is what this is bothering. It's like a nightmare. This is like a nightmare to Pharaoh and Verse number 22 it says and I saw in my dream and behold seven ears came up in one store full and good and behold seven Ears withered thin and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears and I told this unto the magicians, but there was none that could declare it to me and Joseph said unto Pharaoh the dream of Pharaoh is one God have showed Pharaoh what he is able about to do okay, so the dream of Pharaoh is one now This will if you guys can just keep this in mind this phrase The dream of Pharaoh is one for the afternoon service alright But just one thing that you'll notice there. How many dreams the pharaoh have did he have one dream or two? Yeah, two okay, but he says all the two they were one okay, so they're those dreams are united They they come hand in hand They're together in the same way way We would say that you know you know two they get married husband and wife they become one flesh Okay, and this is important not so much for now, but for the for the next sermon And so what he's saying is you know the message that's coming from the dreams are one and the same Okay, so there's unity in the dreams verse number 26 the seven good kind are seven years and the seven good ears are seven years The dream is one so there's that phrase again The dream is one even though there were two dreams and the seventh in an ill-favored kind that came up after them are seven years And the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine This is a thing which I've spoken unto Pharaoh what God is about to do he showeth unto Pharaoh so what what's that? What's the interpretation there right that there's going to be seven great years right of crops growing of fruitfulness? But then there's going to be seven years of famine strap that so these dreams are a future Presentation of the next 14 years that are going to take place verse number 29 Behold there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of it I just want to notice that it's not like the next seven years are normal years or fruitfulness But they're years of great plenty you know above the norm Okay so you're going to be able to get much more in the next seven years than you would normally get in your stand years verse number 30 and There shall rise after them seven years of famine and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt and the famine Shall consume the land so the teaching there is you know when these when these malnourished cows were eating the healthy cows or When the the the thin wheat were you know devouring the fat wheat? You know what he's saying is you know once you're going through the famine like you're going to enjoy the first seven years It's going to be wonderful, but once you once you experience the famine Then you're going to totally forget how good the first seven years were that's how bad the next seven years are going to be is What he's saying right you're not even going to be able to rejoice and be thankful for the previous seven years verse 31 and the plenty Shall not be no Anyway known by the land by reason of the famine following for it shall be very grievous very grievous Okay, so we see the interpretation of the dream there now It's important for us to just keep in mind that the next seven years are going to be very plenteous Okay, it's not your standard years It's not you know if a farmer went out and did his standard work and was expecting a certain growth Well, this would be a lot more. Okay the land be extremely fruitful verse number 32 Verse number 32 and for that the dream was doubled in Pharaoh twice, okay? This is important right so Pharaoh has this dream twice. It's a double dream It says it is because the thing is established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass So are there any doubts that these dreams were not of God or of God now? We're of God right God gave him two dreams, and we get a very very important principle here What is that that it was established because there were two dreams right this is a very important biblical principle And I'll just quickly read to you from 2nd Corinthians 13 1 it says in the mouth of two or three witnesses Shall every word be established in the mouth of two or three Witnesses shall every word be established God gave Pharaoh two dreams to establish this dream two Witnesses of the same event that's going to play out, so what's the principle there? That whatever you believe in the Bible okay, whatever doctrines you build that you've got more than one verse Okay, and I'd say more than one clear verse more than one verse This is black and white and now you see this happen all over again right you take people that you know see people with false doctrine Number one they'll take a verse that doesn't plainly state what they believe or they have one verse that may point to what they're saying But they've just got the one verse you know and So this is it's an important truth of the Bible You know don't rest on one verse if you're trying to establish something get more than you know to get two or three verses Teaching the same thing that's how you establish yourself That's how you you know build stability in your knowledge and your wisdom of the Word of God You know and as preachers you get behind the pulpit You know don't preach something that's vague or unknown if you've got something with two or three witnesses great You know you know preach it with all authority because it comes from God right and so that's a great lesson that we see in The Bible, but not only is this a principle in the things that we ought to know of what God says but this is also true of the nature of God right also true of the nature of God and First John 5 6 says this is he speaking of Jesus that came by water and blood Even Jesus Christ not by water only but by water and blood and it is the Spirit That's a Holy Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth And then we have the famous verse for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and These three are one Listen the doctrine of the Trinity is important It's foundational because according to God's Word if something needs to be established it needs to come from at least two or three witnesses Now if God was just one person if we just took that view well Jesus is the Father Jesus is the Son Jesus is the Holy Spirit. We've only got one witness of himself Well, then we can't trust that God All right, it's not the true God How can I know the oneness God is telling me any truth when there's only one witness. It's not good enough Okay, we see how God does things you know God in his own nature is free and by being free the Father says the same Thing the Son says the same thing the Holy Spirit confirms for us Which Christ has taught this gives us the two free witnesses We need to know that the God that we worship is the one true God That the Bible that we read is coming from that one true God and we can establish ourselves We know this is grounded in truth. You know and that gives us the confidence You know God is free persons. You know that's a God that's worthy of worship That's a God that we know speaks the truth Okay and The oneness God not only does he not exist, but it's a God that I would never trust okay I don't know how people can believe that when you know he can't even witness You know give more than one record or one witness of who he is anyway verse number 33 Genesis 41 verse 33 So Joseph continues speaking right he's told Pharaoh the Interpretation of the dream he tells them about the problem And this is another great characteristic of a good leader a good character Not only does he identify the problem, but now what does it he's done the job right? That's what he was called to do give me the interpretation of the dream, so he gives the interpretation He's done his job or has he now some people you know if you're lazy or a bad character You'll do your job, and that's it and you walk out of there. You know they asked me for the interpretation I've given it. That's their problem. What do we see in Joseph though? What kind of character we see he keeps talking? He goes now therefore He's starting to give Pharaoh advice Right it says now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man Discreet and wise and set him over the land of Egypt. Hey, that's good leadership. That's good character Oh, I identify the problem, so I'm going to offer a solution That's what you do right, that's how you get promoted. That's how people look up to you right anybody can find problems Listen if you just wanted to find problems of new life at the church join the club we can all do it But how many of you will have the character that say well? This is a problem. Let me offer a solution That's what I'm looking for when it comes to people you know when I was when I was a manager And I was promoting people when I take on supervisors I was always looking for the person that could yes identify a problem, but will then step in and say But this is what we can do. That's the kind of person you want right you know Pharaoh Doesn't want to have to fix every problem in Egypt. That's why he's got the wise men That's why he has the magicians even though they're worthless right this is why he now promotes Joseph is because he's looking for the men with solutions Okay, and if you want to be a leader you want to be that kind of person of good character You've got to develop this right you know if you've got a job and all you do is winch the manager This is rubbish. This is nonsense. This is dumb You know he's not gonna like you and you're gonna think you're valuable because I can point out all the problems Anybody can point out the problems anybody right the wise one will either shut up because he doesn't he thinks well I don't have a solution. I don't know how we're gonna fix this right or he's willing to work it out And here's the thing the people that dwell on problems a lot They ought to be the ones with a solution because you've had the time to think about this problem This is bother bothersome. You know and and therefore You know the reason you know it's a problem is because you know that it can be better You know that there's a solution that can be a point applied, but then the right person says I'll do it Right I'll take on the problem I'll fix this up even though that's not what I was called to do he was called to interpret right he goes above and Beyond he does more than what was required of him And you know this this is something you know and again You know I'm just I'm just giving you my my experience in the workplace. This is a difference between meetings Business meetings that are a waste of time and business meetings that are effective Okay, and you know I like I said, I always wanted the person person would come to my office This is a problem. I'd be like so what's the solution so I don't know all right? Can you go come back into the office when you found a solution? Eventually they figured out I better not go to him until I have a solution right this is a problem And this is what I'm willing to do Okay, so this is the solution my next thing will be all right. It's yours Okay, you worked it out go and sort it out, and then like oh, man I better not come with a solution unless I'm willing to actually be the one that carries out the solution right But that makes things effective right and here's the thing in due time People work out what I'm what I'm willing to do you know the kind of boundaries that I set Right and then they don't have to come into the office to tell me at the problem the solution They just see the problem, and they just fix it right you know I'm sure Pharaoh didn't need to know every problem in Egypt right he had other people there to see the problem and to fix it And this is where you know you get effective meetings right if you're someone that is in meetings And you're bored half to death well Meetings are very effective okay as long as you do them right, and this is what I found a lot of meetings You know business meetings, maybe even church meetings people are just throwing a problem. You know. This is a problem This is a problem. This is a problem, but no one's saying well. I'll take care of it. Okay. That's a waste of time There's no there's nothing going forward. These are the meetings that are lights at the end of the month all right How's the month of May? This is what we did these are the numbers this is the productivity we had these problems But we sorted them out like this. That's cool These are other issues. We're dealing with this is how we're currently dealing with us. That's a productive meeting right That's a productive mean that you're all good right you can see the work that people are doing this step in up to the plate And taking care of it. That's Joseph. That's a leader Okay, making sure they step in and deal with it now what verse am I up to here guys That's not a 34 verse number 34 Let Pharaoh do this Joseph still speaking and let him appoint officers over the land and Take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years So he goes like let's raise the taxes basically to 20% okay a fifth part now I've heard someone so mentioned to me that you know this is where you know Joseph may have you know because I said to him There's nothing really recorded of wrong things that he did well This might be a record of him doing something wrong where he increased taxes, right? But of course look we don't you know the Bible doesn't give us the detail of how all this played out Okay, we know there are going to be extremely plenteous years to come we know the character of Joseph I Don't believe for a second that Joseph went from you know taking taxes to 5% to 20% I Don't believe that for a second you know What I know I know the kind of character Joseph is right here Let's say let's say you run a business for those of you that run your own business I'm sure this is common sense to you if God guarantees to you the next seven years You know there's gonna be so much work You know like so much work. It's gonna be plenty you won't even be able to keep up with it What are you gonna? Do if you you've got that confirmation from God, and you're just going to continue business as is No, you're going to hire more staff right you're going to take on you're gonna get more tools or whatever it is You're going to prepare yourself for the seven plenteous years, so you can accomplish the work. That's necessary right so you can be more productive Right now. I can't tell you because I don't have a clear scripture here We don't have the detail of what Joseph did, but that would be common sense we know the character that Joseph is right I have no doubt that he went to the farmers the people of this land and say hey guys get ready Don't don't just so what you normally so So more than you normally do I'll even send you helpers. We'll get some farm hands on hand We'll get some extra people We'll get more people that can collect and the nation will profit all of the nation will profit and we'll be able to take 20% of sorry 5% you know 20% of the produce right, but here's the thing not only does Egypt profit But so does the farmer right? He's not with less. He's got more. He's been guaranteed the next seven years He's got extra hands. He's got extra workers. You know it's more. There's more productivity. Yeah, even the landowners I'm sure for the character that Joseph is is making a profit from this okay? It would be similar to someone who runs a business And you know let's say you're running a business, and you're making $50,000 right so you hire a business Count like a what they call them people that like help businesses Anyway, whatever you know I'm talking about someone that has knowledge of business that person comes in he says well It's going to cost you this much for my service, but then by the end of it instead of making $50,000 You'll be making a hundred thousand dollars all right that would be the same thing so someone comes alongside And helps you produce more they get something out of it Egypt get something out of it But so would the people that are the farmers and the landowners and workers you know they would also be prospering From these years you couldn't just do it with the current resource that you had these years are above and Beyond the norm all right So again, I have no doubt that that's the kind of person that joseph was and verse number 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years to come and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh And let them keep food in the cities and that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine Which shall be in the land of Egypt and the land sorry that the land perish not? Through the famine and the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his Servants all right, so we see just a very wise giving counsel. Not just a problem, but offering a Solution and pharaoh says yeah, this is awesome This is what we need to do verse number 38 and pharaoh said unto his servants Can we find such a one as this a man whom the spirit of God is so what does he recognize? Says man, you've got God's spirit You know yet God can interpret God is using you verse number 39 and pharaoh said unto joseph for as much as God have showed this or Show thee all this there is none So discrete and wise as thou art thou shall be over my house and according unto thy word Shall all my people be ruled only in the throne will I be greater than thou What an amazing promotion all right from being in the jail to now being second in command Basically being Pharaoh in a sense But the fact of Pharaoh except for the throne right able to control everything all the commerce all the business in the land of Egypt And you know Joseph becomes a a rich man You know so what do we learn here that you know to excel in your you know to excel in your job? You know to land job opportunities learning God's word You know applying the things that you learn in God's word You know needs to be applied in all aspects of your life. You know it profits you everywhere You know you know learning the Bible shouldn't just be something you think well This is just you know for church, or this is just you know the times that I'm with the Lord You know this is just you know when I'm out soul winning know the truth of God's word the wisdom that Comes from God's word you've got to take that and apply it everywhere even in your workplace You apply God's words right you apply the instruction the guidance you see in your workplace The guarantee is you'll be more productive the guarantee is you get those opportunities open up to you Okay, because it works anywhere and people will see they might not even know you're a believer right, but people will see there's something about this Person it's a spirit of God all right. It's a knowledge that God gives because we let's give them all Let's give them more opportunities. Let's give them the promotions You know let's give them opportunities to take on you know jobs because we see the wisdom He has right the wisdom that comes from God by being a problem solver resolving issues it works in all aspects of your life verse number 41 and Pharaoh said unto Joseph see I have set thee over all the land of Egypt and Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it unto Joseph's hand now This is obviously a picture you know that the ring kind of represents like like his authority right so say look I'm giving you the same authority that I have right even the ring might even represent like the riches right the riches of Pharaoh He goes Joseph there in your hands That's that's what that's the picture that's going on here and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck and He made him to ride in the second chariot, which he had so what do we learn here? He gets his promotion he gets his job, and he gets rich right he gets the riches of Pharaoh He gets some new clothes. He gets a new car right gets a second the chariot And and they cried before him you know bow the knee and he made him ruler over all The land of Egypt, and this is why I'm saying yes riches in of themselves Are not sinful right if you know I believe that's excessively wealthy That's rich, and he can't think well this guy's just after the money You know you think Joseph was after money No, he was just after doing what's right right? You know doing what God has asked him to do and God was able to bless him with the riches right and so there's nothing Wrong you know I get people that have a nice car sometimes say to me should I have that car you know do you think? It's right what God's given it to you if you got the riches and you had to afford it You know net now. You know you know learn not to cover it You know be satisfied with what you have you know praise God you've got this nice car Praise God you know enjoy you don't have to you know Worry yourself silly about whether I should have that or not if God has given it to you praise God you know praise God he blesses us even with riches sometimes in this life and so What I do want to mention here if I can keep oh, so I'll just read the next verse number 44 This number 44 and Pharaoh said unto Joseph I am Pharaoh and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in the land of Egypt So what do we what do we learn here right? Joseph is given a position of authority right and with his authority comes Wealth right, but what else comes with that if someone's taking on great authority or leadership there also comes great risk alright great risk, so We already know that Pharaoh if he's mad enough. He's gonna hang you alright He'll put you to death could you imagine if Joseph messed up now? Like he just said hey This is what's gonna happen Pharaoh froze everything at him to make it work, and then Joseph fails in his job He'll lose his life Guaranteed right and so what I'm trying to say is you know when you take on positions of authority of leadership you gotta understand You're also taking on risk. This is why it's so important that you're you know serving with God You're doing things in accordance to God's Word, and you know this is why I'm against you know Communism this is why I'm against workers unions right because the the philosophy behind these these Ideas is that you know everyone should be paid equally right if you're a business owner Or you're the worker you know those profits should be shared equally across the board or whether you're a lazy worker Whether you're a productive, but this is why I've never joined unions brethren. I didn't you know that we're fighting for your pay increase I don't want your stupid pay increase what the 1% the 2% you get for everybody I'd rather stand out and get the 10% all right. I'd rather stand out and get the 20% All right, otherwise if I'm just gonna go with your one or two percent. Yeah, I'll be lazy as well If that's what you know what's the point of working hard then you know and these these stupid philosophies that we have today You know communism that no you know if you're running a risk You deserve to pay yourself more right if you're a business owner Maybe you have to take out a loan to run your business or whatever you know you ought to pay yourself more Than the apprentice you hire right he's got no risk right he just comes in you know so you know we see These these principles in the Bible and this works this makes sense right the more risk you take You know the more you should be honored the more you should be you know paid right, and you know I'm not saying this because on the past The Bible speaks of pastors being worthy of double honor those that rule you know the You know God's house well. Why because he's got greater risk There's a greater condemnation when a pastor messes up then the average person in the church, right? These are just things that apply in all aspects of life anyway. Let's keep reading verse number 45 There's a lot of great topics in this this chapter that you could just take you know make entire sermons out of But let's just touch upon these truths verse number 45 and Pharaoh called Joseph's name zap napa Nia and He gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipharah priest of on and Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt and Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt Keep your finger then go back to Genesis 37 now Genesis 37 verse 2 So how old was Joseph when he spoke to the Pharaoh and was promoted 30 years old right 30 years old Genesis 30 to 37 verse 2 and this was the introduction that we had of Joseph. It says here These are the generations of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock of his brethren etc so when we're introduced to Joseph He's 17 years old right when he's the favorite son He's 17 years old when he you know I'm not sure how much time took place from the time Then he got sold as a slave, but he was a young man all right So what we learned is that 13 years has passed since being his father's favorite son 13 years right being sold as a slave you know serving in Potiphar's house being put in prison and now ultimately being Second-in-command of all an entire nation it took you know 13 years 13 hard years very hard years for Joseph losing his family losing everything he knows you know being falsely accused being put in prison and Another great characteristic we see of a great leader there right his perseverance. He didn't give up right He just kept serving the Lord no matter what situation it took and it took 13 years to finally You know reap what he sold 13 years You know some of us aren't willing to even risk one month right and put in one month in and then we give up when? We don't see results right you get on that keto diet. You've done it for two months Oh, man, I look the same you give up you can do it for 13 years Or you do it until it's answered right now I'm just using that as a stupid example, but you know other things in life other goals You're trying to achieve don't give up right even when it looks like you're going backwards Joseph went backwards right being thrown in prison being put it You know made a slave all these kinds of thing he goes backwards, but in God's counter. He was going forwards right you know Joseph was created Was getting good characteristic was learning great truths of God and serving the Lord even when things were difficult Please continue serving the Lord even when it's difficult keep asking the Lord your prayer requests the things that are on your heart Don't give up keep keep asking the Lord for the things that you need and then it says here in verse number 47 Genesis 41 verse 47 47 47 and in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls Yeah by handful so you can see above and Beyond and he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and Laid up the food in the cities the food of the field which was round about every city Laid he up in the same and joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea very much Until he left numbering for it was without number, so what a blessing of God right what great fruitfulness You know he was keeping records. He was counting everything they had it's like you know what forget counting We just got too much right and what what a great privilege. You know God was faithful to his word You know did not let Joseph down verse number 50 and unto Joseph was born Two sons before the years of famine came which asinath the daughter of Potipharah priest of on bear unto him unto him now notice the names that he gives his children here these are these gives us a sort of insight of Joseph, and how he was sort of Coping with the changes in his life And it says here in verse number 51 and Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh for God said he Have made me forget all my toil and all my father's house What a great thing about the joseph right so what he's saying did he have You know did he suffer when he was sold as a slave Absolutely suffered greatly right, but he caused his first son Manasseh And he names in this because what he means is that the Lord made him forget all his toil now the Lord made him forget All his difficulties all the past you know issues instead of being sorrowful instead of being depressed instead of being cast down The Lord was able to get him through right and it says he he you know he forgot It's not like God wiped his memory of course. He knows where he came from okay, of course He's thinking of his father and his brethren, but he's no longer sorrowful right. He's he's he's thankful for the position He's at right. He's serving the Lord no matter. What difficulties is facing. He's been fruitful He's having great fellowship with God and by being a Christian like that. That's that's communion You know or communicating with the Lord you're going to be able to forget your past mistakes, right? I'm sure many of you have made mistakes in the past you regret you have two options You either keep revisiting those past sins keep putting yourself down being full of sorrow Or you say well, Lord. This is where I'm at today Please help me to live out my life in accordance to your will that's going to help you forget the things of the past All right the things you can't change the things in the past you can't change put them behind you and that's what he calls his son and You know this famous verse Philippians 3 13 brethren. I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before so even Paul says this is something I have to do this is something that I've done is to forget my past the mistakes the persecution All the grief all the regrets that I have you know now. I'm just going to serve the Lord I'm going to think about the future and so that's the characteristic of great men of great ladies Great, you know leaders that we see in the Bible And then look at verse number 52 and the name of the second called he Ephraim for God had caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction Alright, so it says look. This is a land. I don't really like it Like it brings me affliction right, but he says but even in the face of tribulation Trials and difficulties the Lord has made me fruitful praise God and because you right now you might be going through difficulty I don't know. I don't know your situation. You know we share things one another prayer requests things like that But I'm sure there are other things you struggle with that you don't want to be open in public You know difficulties that you're going through. You know the Lord can make you fruitful even in those difficulties all right again Don't give up on God. God is faithful to you You keep being faithful to him whatever challenges are going through just be faithful to God and God will make you fruitful you know great you know Spiritual maturity you know about you know great character in Joseph He doesn't give up You know and and a Christian that gives up in trials and difficulties and says you know he just gives up on the Lord Gives up on Church gives up on those things the reason they do that is just because you know the carnal Christians They're babes in Christ They've not grown in maturity right if you're someone that can can get through challenges and difficulties you're demonstrating your spiritual maturity to to others verse 53 and The seven years of plenteous that were was in the land of Egypt were ended and the seven years of dearth or famine Began to come according as Joseph had said and the dearth was in all lands But in all the land of Egypt there was bread Why was that bread because of Joseph's hard work keeping you know the wheat? Saving up for the hard years to come verse 55 and when all the land of Egypt were famished The people cried to pharaoh for bread and pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians Go on to Joseph what he saith to you do and the famine was over all the face of the earth and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians and the famine wax saw in the land of Egypt and All countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn because the famine was so sore in all the lands So there's one final thought that I want to take out of the rest of this chapter here. It's a specifically specifically there in verse number 55 right and when all the land of Egypt was famished the people cried to pharaoh for bread Alright, they ran out of food. They go to pharaoh say look Can you give us bread and pharaoh said unto all the egyptians go unto Joseph what he saith to you? Do you know my final thought there? I want to take this as a spiritual lesson here, you know Learning the Bible coming to church hearing preaching applying the things in your life Memorizing scriptures living your life in accordance to God's word right reading your Bible cover to cover You know again and again and again is never a waste of time Never a waste of time right because what we learn here is there will come times When there's a famine a famine for the word of God a dearth in the land And people are going to be looking for the one that can give them bread all right They're going to be looking for the people that know the truth of God's word all right Keep studying keep learning the Bible all right. I'm sure look you're going to find such, and I'll give you one story here You're going to find situations that there are going to be family friends right that right my that Right now they probably think they have enough they probably think they don't need you they probably don't think they need the Lord right It's going to come in that time in their life when they're hungry when they're going through famine And they're like who's got the bread right who's got the truth of God's word Don't be surprised when they come to you and ask you once again right you've tried They said I'm not interested. I come to you. Tell me once again about the gospel. Can you tell me once again? Why you believe what you believe you tell me once again the church will attend You know we may never see on a national level right we may never see our nation of Australia our Politicians and the people in charge say we need God we need the word of God right where are God's preachers? Where are those again preach the Bible you know without compromise? We may never see that as a nation as a whole, but one thing you definitely see are Individuals individuals that God has put in your life right where they're going to go through hardship They're going to go through you know looking for answers looking for the truth And you know I just just reminded just when I was down in Sydney You know one of the brothers down there went to visit a family down in Melbourne And they've got an elderly with his grandmother in law so his wife's grandmother, and she's being you know cap you know Catholics Catholic born Catholic bread, and they expected her to be Catholic dead right and you know all her relatives are Catholic right? She's 80 something years old right and I think she's sort of close to death or something something that you know has made her now think about death right and She did not look she didn't want to hear from her children and the relatives that are Catholic She knew they're not right You know and she started to look for the truth who's got the truth And you know the bro down in Sydney. She she called for him and said look Can you tell me what you believe can you tell me you know? Why is it that you're no longer Catholic and that? Opened the doors for them to give an 80 you know most of us when we knock those on an 80 year old We kind of know then you know Right because they've gone their whole life rejecting God you know many many of them are reprobate all right They you know, but you don't know all right, and she called for the truth She needed the bread she asked for the truth. She got saved. I praise God You know these things happen in real life, and so you know please you know don't give up on the people You know you don't have to you know destroy every friendship every family situation You know they might not be hungry right now for the Word of God You know if you destroy those relationships you know when they're looking for it They may not come to you because of this free relationship try to keep those things open as much as possible All right as much as without you know cop you compromise on the Word of God try to keep those Channels open because you don't know what opportunities God may present to you With it when people are looking for the truth of God's Word So you know the Bible says in 1st Peter 3 15 be ready always to give an answer to every man that asked if you're a Reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear Joseph was ready Joseph was ready for the seven hard years right and he had an answer and so we ought to have answers as Worlds for those that come looking for bread all right. Let's pray