Joseph’s Misunderstood Exaltation
Genesis 41:1-57
March 8, 2015

Ok, let me start by saying “Put the brakes on for a second”
• I know the temptation…
• I know what you’re waiting for…
• I know what you’ve been told…

Preacher, we’ve been waiting for that silver lining and it finally arrived!

You told us Joseph’s prosperity in Potiphar’s house wasn’t the silver lining…
You told us the favor of the jailer wasn’t the silver lining…
But there is no way you can tell us that this isn’t the silver lining.

I mean, this has got to be one of the top 5 feel good stories of all time.
Broken, rejected, disowned, mistreated, forgotten youth
Finally arrives and ascends to power.

Role the credits we finally got the happy ending we were waiting for.

Now admit it, in the back of your mind
That is what many of you are expecting.

If there was ever a Romans 8:28 story, this is it:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

If there was ever a Jeremiah 29:11 story, this is it:
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

By most accounts we just got the happy ending we were waiting for.

Well, “I hate to burst your bubble this morning”
(but someone has to do it)

Now first let me go ahead and state the obvious.

Yes, it is obvious that Joseph’s circumstances have improved.
• He has moved from Potiphar’s prison to Pharaoh’s palace.
• He now has all the worldly comforts at his disposal that he could ever want.
• He now has the respect that any man could hope for.

But I still want to ask you to put on the brakes for a moment,
Because I need to tell you that Joseph’s circumstances
Still aren’t as good as you think they are.
(We’ll get to that in a moment)

The other thing I need to tell you is that if you tie up the story here
And roll the credits for a happy ending you missed the whole point.
I told you from the outset that this story is not about Joseph.
Who is it about? (Judah)

If Judah doesn’t get saved this story doesn’t end well.
Oh sure, we’re happy for Joseph,
But the big story doesn’t end well.

And I have to remind you that
Before you open the champagne and blow the confetti,
You must remember that Judah is still in a world of danger.
He is still immoral
He is still corrupt
He is still selfish
And based on the famine that is coming, he is still in extreme danger.
If you celebrate now your celebration is going to be extremely short-lived.

That, by the way, is why Genesis has 50 chapters and not 41 chapters.

This is NOT the “Happily Ever After” part of the story.
THIS IS the next step in God’s Providential Plan of Saving Judah.

And it is so important that you see this.
See, the last few chapters have done a good job of helping us see
That our suffering may be for a purpose greater than ourselves.

But you also need to see that when God does choose
To pull you out of suffering, that still may not be about you.

Joseph’s suffering was not entirely about Joseph,
And Joseph’s rise to power was not entirely about Joseph.

Now let me walk you through this chapter and show you the next step in God’s providential plan. (oddly enough it isn’t that different from the last 3)

5 points
#1 JOSEPH’S WARRANTED OPPORTUNITY
Genesis 41:1-37

Now that is certainly a big chunk to cover all at once,
So let’s break it down just a bit further to fully grasp what is happing.

1) HIS SUDDEN IMPORTANCE (1-14)

Well first we remember what we talked about last week,
Joseph’s prison stay lasted way longer than any would have expected.

“Now it happened at the end of two full years…”

I won’t rehash the agony inherent in this that we spoke of last week,
But you are reminded that Joseph has been here a while.
In fact, you’ll see in a minute that Joseph is now 30 years old,
Which means he has been in Egypt for 13 years,
And a great deal of that has been spent in prison.

But God is once again at work…

There is a famine coming…
We talked about this several weeks ago as the real enemy of the story.
It is representative of the sin curse and it is coming to destroy Israel.

God however has been preemptively working ahead of time
To deliver God’s people by placing Joseph right where he needed to be.

And now it is time to move Joseph once again.
And the means by which God does that
Is a dream that Pharaoh cannot interpret.

(READ 1-8)

Well you can imagine the anxiety floating through Pharaoh’s court.
After all Pharaoh is not the type of man you want to disappoint.

If you don’t’ believe me ask the cup bearer who was in prison
And the baker who has been killed.

Things could get pretty dicey around here
If someone doesn’t come up with an interpretation to this dream.

And that is where we find that Joseph
Suddenly becomes more important than he has ever been in his life.

Now the cup bearer remembers.
(READ 9-13)

So suddenly Joseph becomes pretty important
To the entire court that waits on Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh is curious too so he calls for Joseph.

(READ 14)

So we see Joseph’s sudden importance
2) HIS SOBERING INTERPRETATION (15-32)

And again you have to love Joseph’s focus don’t you?

Just as he did with the cup bearer and the baker,
Joseph is still using his gift for the glory of God.

When Pharaoh tells Joseph that he heard that he can interpret dreams, Joseph says, (16) “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
And so Pharaoh restates the dream to Joseph.

And just as we said last week,
God has placed Joseph in the right spot at the right time
According to the gift He has placed in him.

He is the perfect man for the job.

And Joseph instantly gives the interpretation.
(READ 25-32)

God gives Joseph the accurate interpretation of the dream.

But this isn’t just about interpretation.
God has a plan
God has something in mind

And God uses Joseph to go above and beyond just a simple interpretation.
3) HIS SOUND INSIGHT (33-36)

Now this may not seem like much to you,
But I promise you this is not a normal incident.

The interpretation was expected, the advice most certainly was not.
No one just up and gave advice to Pharaoh,
Especially not a 30 year old convict.

And yet, God has so orchestrated the situation
To soften Pharaoh’s heart to receive it.

This isn’t Joseph’s plan, this is God’s plan.
Joseph isn’t even lobbying for a new job here, he is merely expressing what God has laid on his heart.

I promise you from Joseph’s perspective
It is probably more likely that Pharaoh punishes him for this advice
Than it is that Pharaoh promotes him for it.

But God is at work, and so Pharaoh accepts what Joseph says.

(37) “Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.”

Please take a moment and see God’s fingerprints all over that situation.
This is not chance
• This is God working through natural circumstances
• This is God working through confusing dreams
• This is God working through spiritual gifts
• This is God working through revealed wisdom
• This is God working through softened hearts
God is all over this.
And so Joseph received the opportunity he deserved.

And then comes the MOST MISINTERPRETED part of the whole story.

Joseph’s Warranted Opportunity
#2 JOSEPH’S CURIOUS PROMOTION
Genesis 41:37-45

I know…I know…
We read that and all the prosperity gospel folks cry “Victory!”

And the children’s stories just started rolling off the press.
“Ok kids, if you will be faithful to God, and if you will do what is right, and stay sexually pure, and if you will endure, then someday God will promote you to a position of power and prestige too!”

Admit it; you’ve heard it just like that.
It appears to be the payoff we’ve all been waiting for.

Here is where I want you to tap the brakes.
This isn’t as good as it sounds.

I know,
• Joseph is second in command
• No one is more important than Joseph
• Joseph is honored and loved and clothed and cared for
• Joseph is calling the shots and making the decisions

Now stop for a second…
DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR TO ANYONE?

IT SHOULD, IT’S THE CONTINUOUS CYCLE OF JOSEPH’S LIFE.
• Joseph was Jacob’s favorite too, clothed in honor, second in command, checking up on all his brothers…and it landed him in Egypt

• Joseph was Potiphar’s favorite slave, clothed in honor, second in command, conducting all the affairs of his house…and it landed him in prison

• Joseph was the jailors favorite prisoner, clothed in honor, second in command, overseeing all the prisoners…and he ended up being forgotten

DO YOU SEE THE CYCLE?

Can I fill you in on something shocking to most people?
Joseph is just as much a slave of Pharaoh as he ever was of Potiphar.

Oh sure, he’s a slave in better surroundings, but he’s still a slave.
And yes, I know he’s second in command,
But what happens when Pharaoh’s wife gets upset with Joseph?

JOSEPH IS STILL A SLAVE…

Now, let me take you even one step further.
(I really hate to burst your bubble here, but you need to see it)

Joseph is promoted and rewarded and all of that stuff,
But it is not as though it seems.

Let me tell you a story:
(It’s a story Voddie Baucham shared in his book: “Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors” – pg. 73-74)

“Helen is a concerned mother. She has a son named Christian who keeps her on her knees. She has frequently called upon the elders of her church to pray for her boy. Christian was always a talented, handsome young man. He went to a great university, earned an impressive degree, and landed a great job. Whatever he touched seemed to turn to gold. However, his pursuits came with a price.
Christian ended up working for a company whose moral reputation was less than desirable. He also moved quite far away from home – to another country in fact. He never went to church, and he never saw his family, not even for holidays. Eventually, he even started to go by a different name. Nobody knew him as Christian; his friends called him Darwin because of his ability to thrive in their “survival of the fittest” company culture.
Eventually, Christian married an unbeliever, the granddaughter of one of the founders of the company. They had a couple of kids, but Helen never got to see them – she had never even seen a picture of her grandsons. She did know, however, that they had never seen the inside of a church. Needless to say, Helen was heartbroken!
Now think about the elements of Helen’s story. Did you notice where they came from?…straight from Genesis 41! How on earth, then, can this chapter be considered the big payoff?”

Does that help you see Joseph’s predicament a little clearer?

Joseph
• Is in the wrong land
• In the wrong house
• With the wrong master
• With the wrong compensation
• With the wrong honor
• With the wrong name
• With the wrong wife

(40-45) “You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.”

Is that really the message of prosperity we are after?
Is that really the reward for faithfulness?

Hey kids, be faithful and God will exalt you to…
To a situation with lots of money and power,
But one that is totally pagan, void of Him in every respect.

This is NOT the happy ending you’ve been waiting for.
• Joseph is not in Canaan
• Joseph is not with his father
• Joseph is not in the company of God’s people

AND LOOK THE PARALLEL TO US IS EASY TO SPOT.

I don’t’ care how successful or rich or powerful you get in this world – OBTAINING THIS WORLD IS NOT THE GOAL

We are citizens of heaven – that is our payoff!

Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Listen to Asaph talk about those who gain the world.
Psalms 73:18-20 “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”

This reality caused Asaph to say:
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

Take the prosperity gospel and wad it up
And throw it as far out of your brain as you can get it!

We aren’t looking for an earthly reward, we’re looking for an eternal one!

We are those who are called to sacrifice this life for the sake of the next.

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

And when God looks at you and dreams about what you could become,
His mind does not wander off to places of prosperity and ease.
He dreams of you being holy and just like Jesus!

Yes Joseph has been promoted, but it is a curious promotion.

DO NOT read this section and go to quoting Rom 8:28 and Jer 29:11.
THIS IS NOT THE PAYOFF.

If this is the end…then Judah dies.

This is merely another step in God’s providential plan to save Judah.
Yes, it is a noticeably more comfortable step for Joseph,
But A STEP NONE THE LESS.

And we know that because the story doesn’t end here.
There is more to read.

#3 JOSEPH’S USUAL SUCCESS
Genesis 41:46-49

Again, the pattern is extremely familiar.
• Just like in Potiphar’s house
• Just like in the prison

Pharaoh does not regret putting anything in Joseph’s care.
Everything he touches turns to gold, and the reason is still the same
GOD IS OBVIOUSLY WITH HIM

This prosperity is not Joseph’s reward,
But it has been the means by which God
Continues to place Joseph where He wants him to be.

And here is the remarkable part.
• Up until now the story has been moving really slow for Joseph.
• We’ve even been wondering if his life was being wasted.
• We’ve even wondered if he was being sold cheaply.

But look at this.
(46) “Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt.”
It has been thirteen years since Joseph was sold by his brother.

And look where he has come in just 13 years.
All of a sudden it looks like
God might have been moving quicker than we thought.

I mean, take any 17 year old kid you know and ask them, “Where do you see yourself in 13 years?”
If any of them says, “I’ll be Vice President of the United States”,
You’d laugh out loud at them.

In just 13 years God took Joseph from a normal teenage boy
To second in command of the most powerful nation in the world.

It may have seemed slow going for a while,
But actually I’d say God was moving rather quickly.

There is not another path in the world Joseph could have taken
To be ruler in Egypt this quickly.

THAT IS THE AMAZING PROVIDENCE OF GOD
He accomplishes the impossible for His perfect plan.

And by the way, that plan STILL isn’t finished,
That is why God is yet again prospering Joseph.

You get the feeling that God is not quite finished yet.
• He moved him from Canaan to Egypt
• He moved him from Potiphar to Prison
• He moved him from Prison to Pharaoh

And yet God is still doing the same thing…
Could it be that He has more in mind?
Absolutely!

Now, let me give you a wonderful part of the story.
#4 JOSEPH’S TELLING DECISION
Genesis 41:50-52

These verses are not necessary so far as the order of events is concerned.
But it was obviously important to Moses that you understand something.

WHAT DOES MOSES WANT YOU TO SEE?

JOSEPH IS CONTENT IN EGYPT,
BUT HE IS NOT SATISFIED THERE

I told you that he is a slave of Pharaoh.
• Later he won’t even be able to go see his father or to bring Jacob to Egypt without Pharaoh’s permission.
Joseph is a slave.
• He had no say in his new name
• He had no say in his new wife
• He had no say in his new position
• He had no say in his new living arrangements

And we would not know what Joseph thought of his predicament,
Where it not for these three verses.

For here we find that Joseph had two sons, and the names of those two sons give us an enormous amount of insight regarding Joseph.

(51) “Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”

“Manasseh” simply means “forget”

And Joseph tells you why he selected that name.
“God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”

Now don’t’ misread that.
It DOESN’T mean that Joseph forgot his father or his people.

If he had done that, then his boys would have Egyptian names
Just like he does.

He is saying that he has forgotten (or forgiven)
All the trouble and pain they put him through.

Joseph is rejecting the Egyptian heritage for his Hebrew heritage.

Joseph was not at home in Egypt.
And if you still doubt that, look at the name of his second son.

(52) “He named the second Ephraim, “For”, he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

“Ephraim” means “fruitful”

And Joseph clarifies it as well.
That “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

That is a very telling statement.
• It was Canaan that started all his troubles.
• It was Canaan that rejected him and sent him away.
• Egypt has actually ended up treating Joseph rather well.

But what does he call Egypt?
“the land of my affliction.”

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Joseph is satisfied in Egypt.
• He has learned to be content there.
• He has learned to forgive and be grateful.
• But Joseph knows he is not home.
• Many people see this as the “pay off” – but Joseph didn’t!

In fact, later in the story,
Joseph is only going to require one thing of his people.

Genesis 50:25 “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”

Moses is making the unmistakable point.
This is NOT the payoff

Joseph has his sights set on a greater reward…a greater country…
A heavenly one!

Now, there is one more point, and it is in fact the next step of God’s providential plan.
#5 JOSEPH’S PREDETERMINED ROLE
Genesis 41:53-57

Do you see what God has been doing?
• God made Joseph special to his father so his brothers would hate him.
• God made his brothers hate him so they would sell him to Egypt.
• God sold him to Egypt so he’d meet Potiphar and his wife.
• God used them to put Joseph in prison so he’d meet a cup bearer.
• God had him meet the cup bearer who would introduce him to Pharaoh.
• God had him meet Pharaoh who would put him in charge.

And God then prospered him when he was in charge
So that Joseph would be sought after by the entire world.

(57) “The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.”

I promise you he never saw that coming
When he was in chains headed to Egypt.

THAT IS THE PROVIDENTIAL PLAN OF GOD.
THE STAGE IS NOW SET

Joseph is now in position to deliver his family.
Joseph is now in position to save Judah.

And now I remind you of what we talked about at the beginning.

We’ve seen how God can use our suffering for the greater good in other people’s lives.

I want you to understand that the same is true for your exaltation.
Too many times we suffer
And we genuinely go looking for how God wants to use us,
And then God delivers us and we assume it was all about us.

He afflicted me for you, but He delivered me for me.

That certainly wasn’t true in Joseph’s life.
Do you realize that God may have restored you for an even greater purpose?

Did God make Esther queen just because she was so faithful and He wanted to reward her with life in the palace?

No, she was placed there for “such a time as this”

This was not Joseph’s reward, it was His purpose!
And the same is true for you.

Wherever you are
• God has you there for a purpose.
• He desires to use you there.

Don’t allow yourself to think that it is somehow all about you.
Your suffering is not all about you and your neither is your prosperity.

And this is hard to do

Most people will willingly surrender their suffering for God’s use,
But very few are willing to surrender their prosperity for His use.

God delivers them and somehow they assume that
Their deliverance is some sort of just reward for their endurance.
(No wonder we read the story of Joseph wrong)

Friends, the reward comes in heaven – not here!
You are meant to use your present condition for the glory of God.

My encouragement is that you let Him use you today.
Open your eyes to the bigger picture.
Quit seeking to obtain this world and seek to be used of God.

That is the true testimony of Joseph’s exaltation.

Jesus 101
Colossians 1:15-20 (15-18)
March 1, 2015

Well tonight we are going to begin a new study together.
We are not going to be studying a particular book,
But instead are going to look at various texts.

Similar to when we did our study of The Holy Spirit,
Tonight we are going to simply begin looking at Jesus.

And I don’t mind telling you the purpose.

Paul wrote:
Colossians 1:28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

Paul understood that the best way to help believers be conformed into the image of Christ is to continually show them Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

As believers are continually asked to gaze into the face of Christ, we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory”

That makes studying Jesus the most valuable tool possible
In aiding a believer’s quest for sanctification.

If you desire to be like Christ…
(and certainly you should know that this is God’s will for you)

Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

So if you desire to be like Christ, then you can do nothing but benefit
From taking some time to study Him.

So for the next few weeks (and I have no idea how long)
We are just going to look at Jesus.

And tonight we are going to start with what might in fact be
The pinnacle “Jesus” text in all of Scripture.

It is Colossians 1:15-20

In this text Paul gives us what I called “Jesus 101”
It is a simple and yet profound look at WHO JESUS IS,
WHAT JESUS DOES, and WHAT JESUS DESERVES.
To give you just a brief background to the book of Colossians:

The Colossians were facing literally a melting pot of heresy.
• They were a mostly Gentile congregation and so the obvious pagan background and influence was there.

• They were also partly Jewish and so the legalistic Jewish influence was there.

There are shades of
• Paganism
• Gnosticism (a group with a higher realm of knowledge),
• Asceticism (belief that you please God through self-depravation),
• Judaism (with the fulfillment of feasts and ordinances).

They were a melting pot of false doctrine.
PAUL’S SOLUTION WAS TO SHOW THEM JESUS.

Instead of breaking down the flaws in every false belief system,
Paul spends the majority of his time
Showing the Colossians who Jesus really is.

• Paganism said Jesus wasn’t important
• Gnosticism said Jesus wasn’t fully human
• Judaism said Jesus wasn’t God
• Asceticism said Jesus wasn’t sufficient

So Paul sets out to show the Colossians who Jesus really is,
And the reminder to us is so important.

Tonight I just want to break it down into three points for you.
#1 HIS RANK
Colossians 1:15-18

A quick reading of this passage will help you see exactly how to break it down.

Four times Paul uses the same phrase: “He is”

(15) “He is the image of the invisible God”
(17) “He is before all things”
(18) “He is also head of the body, the church”
(18b) “He is the beginning”

That being the case I think it should be clear that
Paul is setting out to show you who Jesus is.

The four “He is” statements of Paul,
Focus in on four different realities about Jesus.

1) HIS DEITY (15-16)
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

First and foremost Paul says “He is the image of the invisible God”

“image” there translates EIKON
It is where we get our word for “icon”
It literally means “a statue” or “a representation”

It can be a “representation” or a “manifestation” of something.

For example.
It is word used of a coin with Caesar’s picture.
Mark 12:16 “They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

It was a “likeness” of Caesar a “representation” of him.

But it can also be a “manifestation” of someone’s nature.

For example, man was created in God’s image.
1 Corinthians 11:7 “For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.”

Man is not a representation of God, but rather a manifestation of Him.
Man, like God, is a living soul who can think, reason, choose, etc.

The problem with man is that after being created in the image of God,
Man “fell” in the garden and became corrupted by sin,
And therefore cannot claim to be like God, even though he was created in God’s image.

Jesus however is the perfect “image of the invisible God”

He is both a representation and a manifestation of God.
He is in fact God made flesh.

Hebrews 1:1-3a “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”

The writer of Hebrews doesn’t just say Jesus looks like God, he says that “He is the…exact representation of His nature”

Jesus is the “same substance” as God.

Philippians 2:6 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,”
Jesus “existed in the form of God”

And of course this was so much the case that Jesus could say:
John 14:9 “Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

John the apostle said it like this:
John 1:14-18 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

And when you read those passages
The simple truth becomes evident time and time again.
Jesus is God

And this might seem redundant to you,
But please understand that if you believe that,
Then you are definitely in the minority today.

Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hindus,
And even many professing Christians do not believe that.

They are content to call Jesus an example, a prophet, a teacher, a good man, but most refuse to call Him God.

And yet, that is precisely who He is.

In John chapter 5 the Jews actually threatened to kill Him
Because they assumed He said that He was equal with God.

John 5:18 “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

Now let’s assume this was said about you.
Someone says they want to kill you because you seemed to make yourself “equal with God”

You’d back up in a hurry.
You’d say, “Oh no, that’s not what I meant, I’m not God”

But let me show you how Jesus answered
John 5:19-23 “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

The Jews would have expected Jesus to run from their accusation
That He made Himself out to be equal with God.

Instead, Jesus adamantly affirmed that He is.

I SHARE MY FATHER’S PASSIONS
“whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner”

I SHARE MY FATHER’S POWER
“just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes”

I SHARE MY FATHER’S PRAISE
“all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.”

Folks, those are BOLD statements, if Jesus doesn’t believe He is God.

Consider other encounters.
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

Jesus just said that you should pray to Him and in His name.
Would anyone who did not believe they were God tell others to pray to them?

John 20:27-29 “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

If Jesus didn’t believe Himself to be God,
You have to wonder why He would not have corrected Thomas there.

Matthew 14:33 “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Matthew 28:9 “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.”

Matthew 28:16-17 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”

Would you really suppose that Jesus would just sit idly by and let others worship Him, if He didn’t believe Himself to be God?

You get the point.
Jesus is God
And that is precisely what Paul wants you to see as well.
“He is the image of the invisible God”

You will never get a better or more accurate picture of who God is,
Than what you see in Jesus.
Jesus is God made flesh.

And the fact that Jesus is God means something:

Look at what Paul says next:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Well, Jehovah’s witnesses love this phrase.
“the firstborn of all creation”

They take that verse as in indicator that Jesus was in fact created
And therefore cannot be God.

But that is NOT at all what Paul is saying.

The term “firstborn” is not necessarily
A term used of the chronology of one’s birth.

In the Bible “firstborn” was a title of importance and inheritance,
Not necessarily an indication of birth order.

• Both Isaac and Jacob were considered the “firstborn” though neither was
actually the oldest in their family.
• Israel was called God’s “firstborn” though they clearly were not the first
people on the planet.

The term “firstborn” here speaks of Jesus’ importance
And His right to the inheritance.

Psalms 89:27 “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.”

In that Psalm “firstborn” was a status, not a description of birth order.

Paul is here telling you that in “creation”
No one and nothing holds a higher rank than Jesus Christ.

WHY?
(16) “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

The reason Jesus has the highest rank in all creation
Is because He is the creator of all things.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
That is talking about Jesus.
• He created all things “in the heavens”
• He created all things “on earth”

There is not a star in the sky, nor a grain of sand on the shore
That He did not create.

But His creation is not limited to physical things we can see.
He also created “visible and invisible” things.

You can see birds and dirt and water and trees.
And He did create all of that.

He also created what you can’t see.
• He created wind and gravity and atoms and cells
• He created angels (even fallen ones) who live in the spiritual realm that you
cannot see.

He also created the natural order and authorities of the world.
“whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities”

Paul said in Romans:
Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”

There is nothing in all of creation that He did not create.

In fact Paul says, “all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

In short, Jesus is God, the chief creator
And supreme authority over all creation.

He created it all, and one day it will all answer to Him.

That is His rank
Paul wants you to see His Deity.

First His Deity
2) HIS SUPERIORITY (17)
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Paul simply says that “He is before all things”

Certainly in one sense this is redundant since we already established that
He is the most important figure of all creation.

But Paul takes His importance to a whole new level here
When he says that “in Him all things hold together.”

That is to say, not only is He the creator of all things,
But He is also the most important piece in all of creation.

He is the central cog to everything.
If you take away Him, then the whole thing falls apart.
WHY?

Because He is the SUSTAINER of all things.
“in Him all things hold together”

Jesus is to life what a tortilla is to a burrito.
You take away the tortilla and you no longer have a burrito,
You’ve got a mess!

He holds it all together.
• Why does the earth perfectly orbit the sun at the rate of 365 days per year?
• Why does the earth perfectly rotate on its axis at the rate of 24 hours per day?
• Why does the sun continue to rise in the east and set in the west?
• Why does the moon never move any closer and threaten the tide?
• Why does your heart continue to beat?
• Why do your lungs continue to breath?

Someone is behind it all, sustaining it, keeping it running.
He not only began creation, but He sustains it.
If you take Him out, it all falls apart.

Creation would absolutely explode.

And you may not realize this, but consider.
The most lethal weapon on the face of the planet is known as the “atom” bomb.
The nuclear blast occurs when the atom is split.

Now consider the atom, and here is the mystery.
In the nucleus of the atom the scientist finds 8 positively charged protons together
And 8 neutrons which have no charge.

Here is the mystery.
Magnets and elector fields teach us clearly that if you put two positives together,
They repel against one another.

Only opposites attract.
And yet, inside the atom there is no negative,
Only positives and there are 8 of them.

SOURCE
MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon; Moody Press, 1992] pg. 49

WHAT KEEPS THE ATOM TOGETHER? WHY DOES IT NOT FLY APART?

And the answer?
JESUS
You think Russia is a threat for nuclear war,
All Jesus has to do is quit holding the atom together
And the whole of creation becomes an atom bomb.

Do you see why He is the most important part?
Not only is He the creator, He is the sustainer of all things.

His Divinity, His Superiority
3) HIS AUTHORITY (18a)
“He is also head of the body, the church:

Certainly He is creator and sustainer of the church as well,
But here Paul has something entirely different in mind.
HE IS THE CHIEF AUTHORITY OVER THE CHURCH.

You would think this would be a “no brainer” in church today,
But I promise you it is a forgotten concept.

Thanks to the American constitution and our preoccupation with our own personal rights.

Someone decided that the church was supposed to be a democracy.

And it wasn’t long before “majority rule” began to hold more weight
Than “Biblical revelation”

And people started to follow what the majority wanted
Even over what the Bible mandated.

And in some ways this was absolutely blatant
As we saw churches ordain women pastors or homosexual deacons.

But we also saw less than blatant examples as well.

Churches actually substituted surveys of the membership
For seeking of the Lord in prayer.

So long as people were happy, we were content,
Despite what Jesus may or may not have wanted.

But I remind you again.
The church is not a democracy, it is a theocracy.
Jesus the undisputed King with absolute authority
Over all things that relate to the church.

If He wants it, He gets it.

And that means that no one’s opinion or will
Matters more than Jesus’ opinion or will.

His Deity, His Superiority, His Authority
4) HIS NECESSITY (18b)
“and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead”

The final “He is” statement calls Christ “the beginning”

Now certainly we understand that in the sense of whatever it is we are talking about, IT ORIGINATES with Jesus.

But when you take the statement as a whole
You understand exactly what Paul is saying that Jesus began.

“He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead”

Again, Jesus was not the first person to ever rise from the dead,
But He was the most important.

WHY?
Because in His resurrection He conquered death
And gave us the opportunity to gain eternal life.

• Jairus’ daughter rose from the dead, but she didn’t give it anyone else
• Lazarus rose from the dead, but he didn’t share it

Jesus not only rose, but He then offered that same life to others.

He said:
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.”

Jesus is the beginning of eternal life.
It all starts with Him.

He is the beginning of salvation.
That means that in regard to salvation
There is nothing more important than what you do with Him.

You can follow the Bible to a “T” and never fail a command,
But if you fail to come to Jesus, you miss the whole point.

Jesus said:
John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”

It’s all about Jesus.

Consider the end and the final judgment.
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

It wasn’t just sinners who were thrown into hell.
If that was the case, everyone would go there.

It was sinners whose name was not written in the book.
It was sinners who hadn’t come to Jesus.

Nothing matters more than what you do with Jesus.
When it comes to life and eternity, Jesus is not a luxury, He is a necessity.

There is nothing in life more important than Him.
And if you miss Him, you miss everything.

Jesus said:
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Peter said:
Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

And you get the point.
Jesus matters!

“He is the image of the invisible God”
“He before all things”
“He is also head of the body, the church”
“He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead”

We are talking about someone important.

Now I told you that Paul here was giving you His rank.
Well, look at it.

(15) “firstborn of all creation”
(17) “before all things”
(18) “head of the body”
(18) “the beginning”
(18) “firstborn from the dead”

Can you see His rank?
There is no one and nothing in any sphere of creation
That is more important than Him.

• He is God in the midst of creation
• He is sustainer in the midst of chaos
• He is authority in the midst of confusion
• He is life in the midst of death

If you take Jesus out any single area of life, it will fall apart.
Take Him out of creation and it will implode
Take Him out of the church and it will fall
Take Him out of life and it will end

He is the most important and central cog to all things.

So His rank?
#1 seems to be an understatement.

He rightly has the name that is above every name.
Philippians 2:9-10 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

That is Jesus 101
You simply cannot overstate His importance.

Now, I want to simply introduce you to the second point,
Which we will dive into next Sunday night.

His Rank
#2 HIS RIGHT
Colossians 1:18c

“so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Paul showed you who He is, here Paul shows you what He deserves.
He has rightful claim “to have first place in everything.”

We’ll talk about this next week,
But spend the week examining all the areas
Where Christ does not have “first place” in your life.

Because I promise you He deserves it.

What Joseph Couldn’t See
Genesis 40:1-23
March 1, 2015

Well this morning the saga continues,
But I’ll tell you from the outset it’s still hard to see that “silver lining” we’ve been in search of.

So far we’ve seen nothing but injustice and wrong.
• The good son sold into slavery by the wicked brothers, and the wicked brothers get off scot free.

• The most wicked (Judah) brother living in blatant immorality while the good son suffers in prison.

• The good son, despite his religious conviction, is falsely accused and goes from slavery to prison.

It is all wrong and very tough to swallow.

And yet today, in one verse,
We get the biggest “kick in the gut” of the entire story.

See, up until now everything has been bad and wrong,
But for the first time in our story HOPE enters the equation.

Now, hope is a good thing.
I’m never a fan of stealing someone’s hope.

However, hope can also be a tricky thing,
Because when you dare to hope and then see that hope crushed
It’s actually harder to swallow than if you’d never had hope at all.

And that is what Joseph is about to face.
In short, this story moves from injustices to just plain cruelty.

Just when it appears that Joseph
Is finally going to get the break that we all know he deserves
WOOSH! The rug is pulled right out from under him.

And for those in here who have faced long battles against difficulty,
You know how hard that can be.

SO HOW DO WE HANDLE THAT?

Well, there are a couple of things you need to remember
(and it’s what we’ve been learning in the Joseph story).

Hope is always present

1 Corinthians 13:13 “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Hope does still abide.

But our hope cannot be based on
The expectation of favorable circumstances in this life.

Where is the Christian’s hope realized?
Eternity

Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

• The Christian hope is based on the fact that this life is not all there is.
• The Christian hope is based on the reality that someday Christ will make all things new.
• The Christian hope is rooted in the sovereign providence of God and in understanding that God has a plan and it will be worth it.

Consider Paul for a moment:
2 Corinthians 4:8-11 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Now his list is actually very telling.

On a physical level Paul is receiving nothing but pain and hardship.
Notice the words that describe his physical life “afflicted”, “perplexed”, “persecuted”, “struck down”, “constantly being delivered over to death”

Those are harsh realities.

Yet, despite those realities, Paul gives insight to the inner man.
“not crushed”, “not despairing”, “not forsaken”, “not destroyed”

Paul is in an awful predicament, and it doesn’t promise to get any better
(at least in a physical sense)

So where does Paul get this optimistic mindset from?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Paul could clearly see that the outer man was “decaying”,
But that didn’t mean the inner man was.
His answer?
“we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things we are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Paul knew (even if he couldn’t see it)
That “momentary, light affliction is producing…an eternal weight of glory”

Paul learned to look at what he couldn’t see, not at what he could see.
And this is very good advice.

Now, I am in no way going to imply
That Joseph was looking at the wrong thing.
There is not a hint in this chapter of Joseph losing hope,
Or of Joseph growing bitter, or of Joseph giving up.

For all we know, Joseph was doing exactly as Paul directed.

So this chapter is not in the least intended to be
Some sort of sermon directed at what Joseph should have done.

By my estimation Joseph is doing great.

Rather, this is a sermon directed at how you read this chapter.
(And then how you read hardships in your life)

We are going to work our way through this chapter two separate times.
I want to show you this chapter through two different lenses.
• I want you to see it through Joseph’s eyes (the way we commonly look)
• Then I want you to see it through God’s eyes (the way we should look)

And if we’ll learn to look at “the things which are not seen”
Then our hope will never fail us, even in the darkest moments.

So let’s work through this chapter.
#1 THROUGH JOSEPH’S EYES
Genesis 40:1-23

Now obviously we are going to break this point down a little further
To make the scene easier to digest.

I do want to begin, however, by remind you of where we are in the story.
• Joseph is a slave in Egypt, he served Potiphar, and he did such an amazing job that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything.

• This new found responsibility ultimately found Joseph in the house alone with Potiphar’s wife who tried to seduce him and then framed him when he was unwilling to consent to her request.

• Joseph was then wrongly imprisoned.
Genesis 39:20-23 “So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”

So Joseph is in jail, but again God is using prosperity
As a means to position Joseph exactly where he wants him.

“Then it came about after these things”

We are moving on to the next step in God’s providential plan.

So let me walk you through this chapter and show you “what is seen”. Let me show you the obvious from this chapter.

1) THE MAN JOSEPH SERVED (1-4)

I hope you caught that as you read.
• Yes the cupbearer and the baker offended Pharaoh and landed in prison.
• Yes Pharaoh was furious with those men.
• And yes they were put in prison in the same place as Joseph.

Look at verse 4, “The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.”

Now at the end of chapter 39 we were talking about the jailer,
But now Joseph is serving someone else.

“The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge…”

Who is that?
Genesis 39:1 “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.”

Joseph is once again serving Potiphar,
Only not in his home, but now in his prison.

Let me just ask you how you’d feel about that?
• Would you have a little bitterness?
• Would you feel a little less-inclined to give it your all?
• Would you be content to just mope in cell and tell Potiphar to forget it?

Joseph didn’t.
Even though he has already been wronged by Potiphar once,
He is still serving to the best of his ability, and God is blessing that.

I want you to see that Joseph is making the most of his suffering,
And from our perspective is passing the test with flying colors.

The Man He Served
2) THE OPPORTUNITY JOSEPH SEIZED (5-8)

If you don’t love Joseph by now, you simply have to love him here.

I told you last week that many times in the midst of our trials and pain
We do go in search of how God might use us.

• There are many stories of sick people witnessing to their doctor or to other
patients.

• Certainly we are familiar with men like Paul who wrote letters from Prison or
John Bunyan who wrote the famous “Pilgrim’s Progress” from prison.

• I’ve seen numerous people strive to still be used of God even in the midst of
their suffering.

And that is precisely where we find Joseph.
He is making his rounds, serving the other prisoners and he notices
That two of the prisoners just aren’t having good days.

(6-7) “When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

Well we certainly give an “A” to Joseph for compassion and caring.
It is refreshing to see a man in a horrific circumstance
Still concerned about the suffering of others.

But understand, his compassion is for an even greater purpose.
Joseph sees this as a witnessing opportunity.

(8) “Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Now it is true that in a moment Joseph will begin to see
This as an opportunity for his release,
But that is not what he is seeing now.

He has no idea what the dream is going to be.
Right now his only concern
Is to teach these men that God is sovereign over their lives
And is capable of giving them wisdom of how to live.

Joseph is taking their misfortune
And using it to turn their hearts toward God.
What a great young man!
And what a tremendous example of suffering the right way!

Peter said:
1 Peter 3:15-16 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”
That was certainly Joseph.
He was serving with humility and seizing opportunity.

The man he served, The opportunity he seized
3) THE DELIVERANCE HE SOUGHT (9-15)

And here comes the “hope” for Joseph.
• He was serving with the right attitude
• He was ministering with the right attitude
• And all of a sudden Joseph is confronted with the hope that he might have a way out of here.

When he hears the dream of the cupbearer,
Joseph realizes that this man is about to be out of prison in 3 days
And in the company of Pharaoh.
This is just the shot he’s been waiting for.

And Joseph jumps on the opportunity.
(14-15) “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”

Do you blame Joseph for this?
ABSOLUTELY NOT

If you’re in a bad situation and you get the chance to get out of it,
I’ll never fault you for taking it.

Paul said:
1 Corinthians 7:21-22 “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.”

There is no way we’d fault Joseph for seeing this as an opportunity
To not only get out of prison, but also out of Egypt.

Now, we are called to be content in whatever circumstance,
But that doesn’t mean if given a way out we can’t take it.

But what I want you to see here is this story through Joseph’s eyes.
• I can only imagine that Joseph has felt the sting of his injustice (he says so here),
• But you know he’s maintained his hope that God will deliver him because he has continued to live in a manner that glorifies God.

You have to see that Joseph was waiting on God to deliver him.
You also have to see that from Joseph’s perspective,
It must have looked like that is precisely what God was doing.

I can almost imagine Joseph laying down that night
With prayers of thanksgiving to God for sending a way of deliverance.
This is the best shot Joseph has had of returning to Canaan yet.

And let me show you why he would want it so badly.
4) THE END JOSEPH SAW (16-19)

There were two dreams in that jail,
One ended favorably, but the other did not.

The baker’s dream had a much more harsh interpretation.
The cupbearer might be delivered, but the baker would be decapitated.

And please understand that this would not have been easy for anyone in that prison to swallow.
• There was no due process
• There were no appeals
• There was no trial by jury

Every man in that prison was subject to
The exact same daily whims of Pharaoh as that baker was.

On any given day, Potiphar could decide that
He was still mad at Joseph and do the exact same to him.

This reality would have only heightened Joseph’s desire to escape.
And now it appears he has his chance.

And then we see it.
5) THE DISAPPOINTMENT JOSEPH SUFFERED (20-23)

Does that not just punch you right in the gut?

Read the next chapter and it will get worse.
Genesis 41:1 “Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.”

“two full years”?

Three little words to you in your Bible,
But it must have felt like an eternity to Joseph.

We have Joseph, and innocent man, a faithful man, a humble man,
And for a brief moment he was an optimistic man.
But now that has been crushed!

AND IF WE LOOK AT WHAT IS SEEN
WE ARE PRONE TO BE THROWN IN A PIT OF DESPAIR
• It looks like Joseph is forgotten
• It looks like this will never end
• It looks like Joseph’s life is absolutely being wasted

Why would God take a man like Joseph, with his abilities, and his commitment, and bury him away in some Egyptian prison and waste all these years?

And listen, there is more than one Christian who has fallen victim to that type of thinking.

• I can’t tell you the number of preachers I know of who spent most of their ministry just trying to get to a bigger church where they could be really used of God.

• How many people have suffered with an illness in the prime of life which took them out of service and wondered why God would waste those prime years of serving opportunity?

• How many have lost a loved one too soon and wondered why God would let such a productive life be cut short?

All of those look like wasted opportunities.

It’s like what we read last week in Psalm 44
Psalms 44:12 “You sell Your people cheaply, And have not profited by their sale.”

And if you look at what is seen, that is EXACTLY how it appears.

Paul, however, said that the secret was to look at what was not seen.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

So having looked at this situation through Joseph’s eyes,
Now let’s look at it through God’s eyes.

#2 THROUGH GOD’S EYES
Genesis 40:1-23

And again we can break this whole chapter down a little
To make it easier to digest.

From God’s perspective Joseph’s life was not being wasted.
In fact, God had placed Joseph
In the most important role in the history of Israel.

The Psalmist said that it appeared that God was selling His people cheaply and not profiting from their sale.
But God is going to get a better return on Joseph’s life than on any other.

The point being: Things aren’t always as they seem.

Look at this through God’s eyes.
1) THE PERFECT LOCATION (1-4)

I don’t know that any of us would see prison
As the prime location from which to be used of God.

From our way of thinking freedom and opportunity run hand in hand,
But not by God’s way of thinking.

When you consider what God was doing,
Joseph could not have been in a better place at a better time
Than in this prison on this day.

It is a divine appointment to say the least!
2) THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY (5-22)

Now remember that
Joseph saw this as a perfect opportunity to secure his release.

God saw it in a totally different way.
God orchestrated it as a perfect opportunity
For Joseph to use his unique gifts to make a lasting impression
On the person who would one day give advice to Pharaoh.

Now think about this.
• God not only orchestrated the scenario, but God orchestrated it according to the gift that He also placed in Joseph.

God put that gift in Joseph
Because He knew where He planned on using Joseph.

Now think about this for a second.

Paul said:
1 Corinthians 12:14-18 “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
In regard to spiritual gifts, Paul said:
1 Corinthians 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

Did you catch the “just as He desired” or the “just as He wills” part?

Listen, Joseph was not a square peg in a round hole.
Joseph fit this scenario perfectly.

And if you are a child of God, so do you!
Your suffering, your predicament, your hardship seems wrong,
But it only seems wrong through temporal eyes.

The God who providentially guided you into this dilemma
Did so because you (like no one else)
Were divinely chosen and equipped to handle it.

You were specifically gifted
You were specifically molded
You were specifically placed

AND ALL THAT TO FIT WHAT GOD WAS DOING
IN A WAY THAT YOU COULD NOT SEE

This situation was tailor made for Joseph.
• Joseph might not have been able to handle Laban
• Jacob might not have been able to handle Abimelech
• Abraham might not have been able to handle prison

God knew what He was doing in each of those lives
And He always picks the right man or woman for the job.

I know it all looks wrong, but believe me, it only looks that way

Joseph is the perfect location at the perfect time
To seize the perfect opportunity.

And then there is one more thing.
3) THE PERFECT TIMING (23)

Now granted this one is harder to swallow.

We probably have more trouble with this one than with any other.
We can generally rationalize the necessity of suffering.
We can generally come to grips with our pain.

The issue we most commonly have difficulty with
Is why our suffering is allowed to linger.

Ok God, I get it, suffering has to happen. We live in a sin-stained world where things like sickness and death occur. I can see that believers are not exempt.

But what I have trouble with is why You seemingly ignored my prayers and just let it endure for so long.

If I were God, I would have fixed the situation long ago, and yet You just seem to let it go on and on and on.

I have a tough time imagining that
This isn’t exactly how Joseph must have thought at times.

But the answer?
GOD’S TIMING IS PERFECT

THERE WAS NO FAMINE YET
THERE WAS NO NEED FOR JOSEPH YET

AND HERE IS THE KICKER
If God had granted Joseph’s request the way Joseph wanted it,
Then all that Joseph had been through would have been for naught

Let’s suppose Joseph’s desire is granted:
• The cupbearer goes to Pharaoh and tells him everything
• Pharaoh has sympathy on Joseph
• Pharaoh releases Joseph and supplies him escort back home

• Would Joseph have been happy? Yes
• Would Jacob have been happy? Yes
• Would Joseph’s brothers have been in trouble? Yes

And the story would look great for 9 years.
Because in 2 years those 7 years of plenty will arrive
And then after that will come 7 years of unbearable famine.

Israel will starve, Israel will die, and the Messianic line will be wiped out.

That cupbearer HAD to forget about Joseph
If Israel was to be saved.

You didn’t realize that your salvation depended upon that cupbearer forgetting about Joseph did you?

I think it’s safe to say that
It’s a good thing that God is in charge, and not us.

It looks wrong through human eyes,
But through God’s eyes the timing is perfect.

And might I remind you that God’s timing is always perfect.
Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

John 7:6-8 “So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”

Romans 5:6 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
God knows what He is doing.
It is all happening exactly according to His time table.
GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION IS RUNNING RIGHT ON SCHEDULE!

And again we read:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

I just want you to know that it doesn’t benefit you to look at what is seen,
But hope is found in looking to what is not seen.
Listen to this passage about your suffering:

1 Peter 5:6-11 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Did you catch it?
“exalt you at the proper time”
“suffered for a little while”

You hardship is not lost on God and your life is not being wasted.
You are not being sold cheaply.

God has created you (like Esther) “for such a time as this”.
And what you must realize is that it will be worth it!

SO AGAIN I ASK,
• Are you willing to present your life to the providential hand of God?

• Are you willing to endure things that seem wrong and hold to the hope that God is making it all right?

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

The Truth About Prayer
James 5:13-20
February 22, 2015

Well tonight we are going to conclude our study of the book of James.
No doubt it is one of the most beloved books in the New Testament.

People love the direct style of James to take problems head on.

• We are people who like specific instruction.
• We are people who like “how to” lists.
• We are people who want to be told what to do.

And certainly that is always important.
We need to know what God expects.

But that doesn’t address the whole problem.

The other problem that arises
Is what I like to call the Romans 7 dilemma.

You remember it:
Romans 7:14-20 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

Paul there isn’t talking about a man who isn’t concerned about obedience.

That is a man who wants to obey God more than anything else.
The problem is that he has come face to face with his own weakness.
Despite his efforts, he has seen a propensity to fail.

I’m sure most of you in here can identify with this frustration.
It is the desire to do and be what God wants,
And then the failure to fully achieve it.

And really, that is where the book of James would most likely leave us,
Where it not for these last verses.

James has filled his letter with one practical command after another.
• Don’t complain
• Don’t slander
• Don’t show favoritism
• Don’t be ambitious
• Don’t be arrogant
• Don’t overlook the needs of the less fortunate
• Don’t love the world
• Don’t stretch the truth

And on and on and on

And when we study those together here at church on Sunday nights
Every one of us is primed to do it.

And then we hit the world.
And before you know it we find that we stumble
In some of those very areas we fully intended to conquer.

The reality is that obedience
Is not something that is done in human strength.
You and I cannot be who God wants us to be on our own.

It requires nothing short of the work of God in our lives.

That is why Paul followed Romans 7 with Romans 8, which is a chapter that speaks of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Only the Holy Spirit can achieve in us God’s desires.
We can’t do it on our own.

In short, I just want you to understand that
If any of us are to become what James or God intends,
Then God will have to do it.
And if you truly understand that, and if you truly believe that,
Then tonight’s topic will make perfect sense.

And that is: PRAYER
A prayerless Christian is either one who
Doesn’t understand that obedience requires God’s help,
Or they are a Christian who doesn’t really care about obedience.

Prayer is an essential ingredient to the successful Christian life.
We must petition God if we are to ever be what God intends.

We need His help.

And that is how James closes his letter.
He closes with an appeal to pray.

He also closes with an explanation of the duty of prayer for a believer.

Now that being said, I must tell you that
This has recently become a burden of mine.

I am ashamed to say that I haven’t always been
As committed to prayer as I should have. (most likely I’m still not)

That is not to say that I didn’t pray or didn’t enjoy prayer, but rather that I was too dependent on my own efforts and abilities and didn’t understand the necessity of prayer.

This is something that God has been correcting in me for quite some time.

It is the same thing that brought about
• The Month of Stillness we had several years ago,
• And our Sunday night prayer for the lost,
• And our Wednesday night prayer times.

I am continually learning that
We will accomplish nothing if God is not involved
And as a church we should be committed to corporate worship
And corporate Bible study and corporate ministry
AND ALSO TO CORPORATE PRAYER.

We are fooling ourselves
If we think we can accomplish God’s purposes without it.

It is essential.
And that is what James is going to teach us in our text tonight.

There are four truths that we grab here from James.
#1 PRAYER IS THE RESPONSE TO LIFE
James 5:13

James here gives two extreme opposite emotions that we face,
But no doubt they are emotions that we have all faced.

“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray.”
“Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.”

We can probably all name many times we were “suffering”,
And we can probably all name many times when we were “cheerful”.

Each of these emotions,
Should cause a Christian to respond with prayer to God.

If a Christian is suffering, he should pray.
In other words, he should take his concerns to God.

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
We understand the truth that Peter gives us,
It is a blessing to be able to go to God in prayer when we are suffering.
And I’m NOT even talking about some sort of a “results” based system,
Where I tell you to pray so that your suffering will stop.

Look, suffering is promised.
Suffering is even important.
We’ve seen it with Joseph and the providential plan of God.
We’ve heard about it in Hebrews how God disciplines His sons.

Suffering happens, and I’m not holding up some promise that
If you’ll just pray then God will take away your suffering.

He might eventually, but that is not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the “Peace in the middle of the storm” reality.

Too many today have no idea what this is like. I learned it at Crawford, and have been reminded of it many times in my life.

Crawford was my first real encounter with hardship that was beyond me.
• I faced circumstances where I knew I could not go on.
• I had no ability to study or preach or see a difference.
• I was at the end of myself.

And it was there where I learned the blessing of prayer.
What it was to go to the Father and not to see my circumstances instantly changed, but to instantly feel His arms pick me up.

I could be a wreck and go to pray,
And by the time I would leave my knees, the mountain was smaller,
God was bigger, and I was ready to keep going forward.
(go in as a kitten, come out as a lion)

“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray.”
By all means pray!

There is a hymn that echo’s this same truth.
“O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer.”

We as Christians need prayer when we are suffering.
Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayers are the believer’s weapons of war. When the battle is too hard for us, we call in our great Ally, who, as it were, lies in ambush until faith gives the signal by crying out, “Arise, O Lord.” Although our cause be all but lost, it shall soon be won again if the Almighty doth bestir Himself.”

James says we ought to pray when it is hard, but not only when we are suffering, but also when we are cheerful.

“Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.”
And yes this may be a song, but speaking to the Father is speaking to the Father.
It doesn’t matter if your head isn’t bowed and your eyes aren’t closed.

This is why Christians who are filled with the Spirit love to sing.
Those praise songs are joyful prayers lifted to the Father in gratitude
And praise for who He is and what He does.

AND THEY ARE GOOD!

Come some Wednesday night and join the song after the prayer time.
I promise you there isn’t another song sung in church
Like the one following prayer on Wednesday nights.

But the point is, whether you are suffering or joyful – PRAY
(Prayer is always the proper response)

1 Thessalonians. 5:17 “pray without ceasing;”

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

Luke 11:1-4 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

I love what Jesus said: “When you pray…”

Jesus makes a very subtle, but powerful point.
It doesn’t matter if you know how to pray, if you don’t pray.

God intended for you to live this life with much prayer.
It ought to be continual and in every situation.

Prayer is the response to life
#2 PRAYER IS A REQUEST FOR LIBERTY
James 5:14-15

Now we hit some of the most debated over passages in the Bible.
So before we talk to much about the application, let’s see if we can’t bring some understanding to what James was talking about.

I want to show you the two ways to look at it.
#1 – Healing is just a prayer away.

This is the name it and claim it theology.
If you are sick, all you have to do is pray and if you follow that up with a little oil, you will get better.

Now let’s be honest.
• Most people read that without any intention of doing it…until they get sick.
• And I’ve known several people who did this very thing.

But there is a problem here.
Namely that everyone dies.

This can’t be a verse that promises physical healing of every sickness in response to prayer, because obviously Scripture teaches that sooner or later this body has to pass away.

If you try to take this verse and apply it to physical healing
You are working yourself into a theological boxed canyon.

But still some people look at it like that.

#2 – James is talking about spiritual renewal.

The word for “sick” is (ASTHENEI) (as-then-a-o)
It is used to refer to physical sickness,
But nearly every time in the epistles, it refers to spiritual weakness.

Acts 20:35 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Romans 6:19 “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”

Romans 14:1 “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”

1 Corinthians 8:9-12 “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”

It seems very probable that James is speaking not of physical sickness,
But of that same spiritual weakness.

James is reminding those who have a spiritual weakness,
Or who have been convicted about one of the areas of this letter
Where they are falling short
To call upon those who are strong in the faith to pray for them.
This seems to make better sense of verse 15.
(Since not all sickness is a result of sin)

“and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick (weak), and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgive him.”

Perhaps the reason this word was rendered “sick” instead of “weak”
Is because of James mentioning
“anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”

Again, we look at another Greek word.
The word James uses for “anointing” is “ALEIPHO”
it means “to rub with oil”.
This was commonly used to refresh a person.

Remember Mary anointing Jesus?
Luke 7:46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.”

Or how about Jesus teaching to those who fast?
Matthew 6:17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…”

James didn’t use “chrio” which is “a ceremonial anointing”.

James wasn’t talking about a ceremonial anointing of oil,
But rather he is using a figure of speech
To speak of refreshing a person.

When you are beaten by sin,
And have an area in your life where you are weak of faith,
Then call on those who are strong to pray for you,
And their visit, and prayers will be refreshing to you.

James point is simple for us to understand.
Not only should we pray in response to life.

We should seek the prayer of those who are strong in the faith so that God may grant us freedom or liberty from the sins that hold us back.

Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

Acts 6:1-4 “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Acts 8:17-24 “Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

What James reminds us here, is that we should realize our weakness,
And then call upon one who is strong in the faith to pray for us.

Why not just pray for yourself?

Lets look at it in a physical sense.
• Suppose you were trapped under a log, and you did not have the strength to
free yourself. Who would you want for help? You would want someone
strong enough to move the log.

Now in prayer, it is a little different.
• Suppose a man has a difficulty with his addiction to alcohol. He realizes it is
a problem, but can’t seem to find the strength to quit. Consequently, his
prayers are even somewhat half-hearted, for if he had the strength to pray
with sincerity, he would have the strength to quit. He must call upon
someone who will pray earnestly according to the truth.

James says, call the elders. Call the leaders. Let them pray for you.
“and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up,”

James even goes further and says: “and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”

Being weak doesn’t necessarily mean you have sinned,
It just means that you recognize
That you need help to conquer a certain area.

However, many times those who are weak do fall into sin
And they not only need help, but forgiveness of their sin.

So call for the elders, and that mode of confession
And seeking of help is akin to repentance
Which promises forgiveness.

So prayer is a response to life, it is a request for liberty
#3 PRAYER IS A REQUIREMENT OF LOVE
James 5:16-18

In light of what James just said, this makes perfect sense.
“Therefore, confess yours sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.”

If you’re weak, or have already stumbled in sin,
By all means solicit prayer so that you can gain victory and liberty.

After all:
“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

You ought to pray for people because prayer is extremely powerful.
Prayer works.

Samuel Chadwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

And I love what James says next.

He gives an illustration.
(17-18) “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.”

What a comfort!
Now I know that there are many Christians in the world
Who are absolutely intimidated by the thought
Of praying with another believer.

• I’m not spiritual enough…
• I’m not deep enough…
• I’m not righteous enough…

But look, the power or the prayer
Isn’t based upon the righteousness of the prayer.

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours”

He was one of us, and yet look how effective his prayer was.

Beyond that, when we pray, we don’t pray in our own name,
We pray in the name of Jesus.
He is truly a righteous man, and that “can accomplish much.”

Here is the point.

If we have such a powerful tool at our fingertips,
What does it say about us, if we don’t use it on behalf of other?

It is not love to withhold such a powerful resource as prayer.

1 Samuel 12:23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.”

Ephesians 6:18-20 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Romans 1:9-10 “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”

Philippians 1:9-11 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

If we want to pretend to love people,
We cannot withhold the most powerful weapon we possess from them.

We must pray, it makes a difference in their lives.

Response to life Request for liberty Requirement of love
#4 PRAYER IS A RESPONSIBILITY TO THE LOST
James 5:19-20

And here we learn that it’s not just the saved who benefit from our prayers, it is also the lost.

“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Now obviously I think more than just prayer is implied here.
Scripture also speaks of confronting a sinning brother.

However, in light of the context of what James has been talking about
I think it is also understood that
We are talking about praying for this sinner.

We also owe it to pray continually for those lost in sin,
That God may grant them repentance, and lead them to the truth.

We ought to remember, that we cannot save anyone.
Our preaching, our witnessing, our generosity, our commitment;
Are all futile to save even one person. God has to save people.
We must therefore commit to pray for the lost.

Charles Spurgeon also said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go their unwarned and unprayed for.”

We must commit to pray for those steeped in sin.
1 Timothy 2:1-8 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”

I know some think, “Man I’ve prayed, and it hasn’t done any good.”

How many have heard stories of the faithful prayers of a mother
Who prayed for her children her entire life before they were saved.

Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

It is a hardened heart that won’t pray for the lost.

Amos was such a man as this,
And God had to coerce him to intercede.

Amos 7:1-6 “Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?” The LORD changed His mind about this. “It shall not be,” said the LORD. Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land. Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?” The LORD changed His mind about this. “This too shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.”

But you get the point.
It is good to witness, it is good to show compassion,
But by all means pray for the lost, only God can save them.
Only God can open doors to reach them.
Prayer absolutely matters.

Spiritual victories are not one through physical means.
Pray.

• It is the response to life
• It is a request for liberty
• It is a requirement of love
• It is a responsibility to the lost

Exactly As God Planned
Genesis 39:1-23
February 22, 2015

As you know we are studying through the book of Genesis.
We’ve called it “The Gospel According to Moses”

Moses has carried us through Sin, Judgment, Salvation, Sanctification,
And now we are in the middle of PROVIDENCE.
• Adam taught us sin
• Noah taught us judgment
• Abraham taught us salvation
• Isaac taught us sanctification
• And now Joseph is teaching us providence

And honestly, if you read this story accurately,
It is one of the most mind-blowing stories in all of Scripture.

God is in the process of orchestrating events in such a way
That He might save Judah and the Messianic line
Through whom Jesus Christ would be born.

The means through which God is doing that is through the life of Joseph.

God is taking sinful men, with sinful plans, and sinful actions,
And yet somehow perfectly molding the situation
Into exactly what He desires to occur.

It is really quite remarkable.
We are seeing providence worked out in its finest form.

And that certainly continues this morning.

Now, before we start working through the text this morning,
I do want to provide you with a bit of a DISCLAIMER.

If you are looking for “feel good”, you are not likely to get it here.
Grasping the providence of God is likely to force you to die to self
In perhaps even a greater way than you ever have before.

Jesus was clear:
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Following Christ…
Being used of God…
Will require you to fully die to self.

• Will require you to see God’s will as more important than your plans.
• Will require you to see God’s glory as the end goal
• Will require you to quit seeing God as a means for your own personal gain.
I want to be clear from the outset.
Following God is a costly endeavor.

Luke 14:25-35 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus was clear.
• There is no room for a disciple that is only partially committed.
• The endeavor to follow Christ is an “All or None” decision.
• You can’t be half-hearted (that is weedy soil)
• You can’t be faint-hearted (that is rocky soil)
• You can’t be a fence rider (He is not with Me is against Me)

Submitting your life to Christ and God’s use is costly.
(And you are going to have to come to grips with that
Before you are ready to follow this story regarding Joseph)

Fully grasping the story of Joseph
Requires fully embracing death to self.

NOW, YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW THAT IT WILL BE WORTH IT.
Jesus also said:

Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

• Following Christ will be worth it.
• Living your life for the glory of God will be worth it.
• Submitting your life to God’s providential plan will be worth it.

Just know that GOD DOESN’T SETTLE HIS ACCOUNTS IN THE HERE AND NOW. HE SETTLES HIS ACCOUNTS IN ETERNITY.

I want to remind you of that reality
And now I want to take you to the life of Joseph.
We are already a little ways into the story.

In chapter 37 we saw the contrast.
• We saw good Joseph and his wicked brothers.

• And we saw the unthinkable, Joseph was sold by his brothers to some
Ishmaelite traders and the brothers got of scot free.

The reason is because God is about to use Joseph to save Judah.
A famine is coming and God’s people would not survive.
God’s answer is to send Joseph to be a deliverer for Judah.

But then we read chapter 38 and saw what kind of a fellow Judah was.
In our estimation Judah was hardly worth saving.
A lying, wicked, murdering, greedy, disrespectful, adulterer.

Judah had rejected everything God had for him.
• He disregarded the Promised Land
• He defiled the Chosen Seed
• He despised the Sacred Covenant

And yet, despite his extreme lack of worth,
God was still bent on sending Joseph to save Judah.

It was a testimony to the unfathomable and amazing grace of God
That sacrificed His perfect Son to save wretches even today.

But none the less, you know WHERE WE ARE in the story.

Judah is living in sin, raising wicked boys, visiting a prostitute, etc.
Meanwhile Joseph has been sold into slavery and has arrived in Egypt.

So let’s rejoin the Joseph narrative
And see what God (in His awesome providence) is up to.

Genesis 39 is not difficult to understand, God’s fingerprints are all over it.
Moses is using it to help you and I understand how God works.

4 points.
#1 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EVIDENT FAVOR
Genesis 39:1-6a

It’s really not hard to grasp the point of these 6 verses.
(2) “The Lord was with Joseph”
(3) “the Lord was with him”

That is the first and foremost thing that Moses wants you to understand.
Yes, it appears that Joseph has been given an extremely raw deal,
But he is not in this thing alone.

God has not forsaken Joseph.
Joseph was right where God wanted him,
And God was right there with him.

You could say that “They were on mission together”

God was with him, and that is the MAIN POINT.
Everything else you read trickles down from that.

God was with him
(2) “so he became a successful man”
(3) “and…caused all that he did to prosper”

And the end result of God’s obvious favor on Joseph was that
Potiphar also noticed it, and therefore elevated Joseph to the highest possible position he had.

(6) “So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.”

Now, at this point I want to ask you to be careful.
This again is another area where people seem to travel beyond the point that Moses is making. These 6 verses are commonly misunderstood.

In the Joseph story people are so desperate to find the silver lining
That they will literally take any positive statement and dwell on it.

And the story goes something like this:
“Joseph was sold by his brothers, but God was with him and as a result Joseph was a prosperous man.”

The application then goes something like this:
“When bad things happen to you, just trust God and He will make you prosperous too.”

BE CAREFUL.
And understand what I am about to tell you:

PROSPERITY WAS NOT GOD’S REWARD TO JOSEPH. PROSPERITY WAS THE MEANS GOD USED
TO GET JOSEPH WHERE HE WANTED HIM.

It wasn’t as though Joseph was so obedient that God rewarded him by making him prosperous. That is not what happened.

Rather, God was using Joseph for a specific purpose,
And to be able to put Joseph where He wanted him,
Then prosperity was the best course of action.
But rest assured, if sickness or poverty or failure had been the best course then God would have just as quickly brought those things into Joseph’s life. (after all, we’ve seen God use slavery)

Prosperity is not God’s reward to Joseph,
It was the means God used to get Joseph where He wanted him.

Where did God want Joseph?
(ultimately in Pharaoh’s court)
• But first, he had to meet Pharaoh’s cup-bearer in prison
• Before that, he had to be thrown in prison
• Before that, he had to meet the woman who would cause his imprisonment
• Before that, he had to be trusted enough to have access to that woman.

Joseph was made prosperous, not as a reward,
But so that Potiphar might trust him, leave him with his lying wife,
And allow the plan of God to continue to work out.

I want you to understand that because so many today
Want to make prosperity out as a deserved reward for the faithful.
“If you just live for God, He’ll make you prosperous too”

Well what about the apostles?
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”

What about Paul specifically?
1 Corinthians 2:3 “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,”

2 Corinthians 10:10 “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”

Don’t view prosperity as a sign of God’s favor.
And don’t view hardship as a sign of God’s disdain.

God will use either to fulfill His purpose in your life.
The truest blessing of the section is that God did not leave Joseph.

And in your life do not make prosperity your ambition,
Make obedience your ambition.

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

Joseph was a man of evident favor, but that favor is seen in the fact
That God was using him, not in the fact that he was prosperous.

You must grasp this so that you do not become discouraged
When your life becomes harder than you think it should.

The promise of God IS NOT that He will make you prosperous in all things.

The promise of God IS that when you submit your life to Him,
He will never leave you nor forsake you. That is God’s favor!

Joseph was a man of evident favor
#2 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXCELLENT PIETY
Genesis 39:6b-10

There again we find another attribute in Joseph that God was using.

“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”

And people instantly say, “I wish I was handsome in form and appearance.”

But listen, God didn’t make Joseph handsome
As a reward for being obedient.

God make Joseph handsome so he’d be attractive to this carnal woman who would eventually get him sent to prison.

Joseph’s good looks served a purpose in God’s providential plan.
And you probably recognize that
They didn’t end up serving a pleasant purpose.

But Joseph was handsome and this woman wanted him.

The beauty of these four verses is that
Joseph’s extreme piety was put on display.

And I know, at this point that “low hanging fruit” is to
Preach a message on sexual purity and how to overcome temptation.
That is not Moses’ point.

Moses is merely preparing you for what is about to happen next.

Moses wants to show you that Joseph’s predicament is NOT punishment,
IT IS PROVIDENCE.
For some reason we seem to want to attribute suffering to sinfulness.
• We get sick and we ask, “What did I do?”
• Someone else gets sick and we ask, “What did they do?”

And we want to attribute our misfortune to a bad decisions.
Why?
So that we can avoid it the next time and thus avoid the suffering.

That’s what Job’s friends wanted.
They wanted to know what Job did wrong so they could make sure they didn’t do it and suffer like Job did.

Eliphaz said:
Job 4:7-8 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.”

Bildad said:
Job 8:3-6 “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right? “If your sons sinned against Him, Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression. “If you would seek God And implore the compassion of the Almighty, If you are pure and upright, Surely now He would rouse Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.”

Zophar said:
Job 11:13-20 “If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him, If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents; “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear. “For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it. “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning. “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely. “You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor. “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

• They all desperately wanted to find Job’s sin.
• They wanted to attribute Job’s suffering to some wicked thing he had done.
• They even accused him of some things.

But they were missing the point.
The book opens with the unmistakable point
That Job was NOT suffering because he was sinful.

Job 1:6-8 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

Job’s suffering was NOT because of his sin.
God (in his sovereign and providential control)
Was using suffering and was using Job for His purposes.
AND MOSES WANTS YOU TO SEE THE SAME ABOUT JOSEPH.
What is happening to him is NOT because of his sin.

Joseph was living right.
• Joseph refused to disrespect this woman
• Joseph refused to disrespect Potiphar
• And Joseph refused to disrespect God.

(9) “How could I then do this great evil and sin against God?”

The greatest means of resisting temptation is the fear of the Lord,
And Joseph certainly had it.
Joseph was a man of excellent piety.

Keep that in mind as you begin to examine providence in your own life.
The presence of suffering DOES NOT indicate the rejection of God.

Suffering can certainly be a result of sinful choices,
But it is NOT AS THOUGH God doles out suffering on those He is angry with and prosperity on those He is pleased with.

That is the prosperity gospel, and it is a lie.

God promises suffering for all people,
And there are numerous accounts where God brought it on the righteous
Specifically because they were righteous.

I HOPE THAT GIVES SOME COMFORT TO SOME WHO HAVE SUFFERED

Just know that so far Joseph has been sold and deported and he has more hardship ahead of him, but know that it is NOT because he is sinful.

Joseph was a man of evident favor Joseph was a man of excellent piety
#3 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXREME ADVERSITY
Genesis 39:11-20

Well, there it is.
Yet another case of EXTREME INJUSTICE
Joseph just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

My grandpa used to sing me a song about a rabbit with no tail, and after each verse it would say, “Same song, second verse, could get better, but it’s gonna get worse.”

That was Joseph’s song.
All he is doing is trying to please God.
And man how that seems to blow up in his face.

This woman actually catches him, tries to take his clothes off him,
He flees (as he should) and she turns it against him.
She tells a flat out lie to her husband, and she pins part of the blame on her husband “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to make sport of me;”

Since the she is blaming Potiphar,
He has no choice but to save face and get rid of Joseph.

Now again, please notice the providence.
(20) “So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”

• Potiphar could have had Joseph killed, but he didn’t.
• Secondly, he just happened to throw him in “the place where the
king’s prisoners were confined.”

God was at work.
And you must see that, because if you don’t
There is nothing in this chapter for you.

From a human perspective, once again, this is all WRONG

Hollywood has conditioned us to wait for the happy ending.
• Potiphar’s wife was supposed to have been spotted by one of the lowly cleaning ladies.
• Potiphar was supposed to have been informed that his wife was an adulteress.
• Joseph was supposed to be delivered just before being thrown in prison.

A Hallmark movie would even have Joseph being set free, returned to Egypt, where he would meet the love of his life and live happily ever after.

This movie about Joseph would make a horrible Hallmark movie.
In our minds this is not supposed to happen.

BUT LISTEN…
• In God’s mind this is EXACTLY what is supposed to happen.
• This is going exactly according to God’s plan.
• This is God’s purpose.

Let me read you an often quoted verse again:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Now we love to focus on the “good” that is mentioned there.

The problem is that we commonly like to fill in the blank
For what the “good” should be.

But please notice the last two words of that verse.
“His purpose” (not your purpose)
God is working all things out for good,
But not necessarily your immediate and temporal good.
God’s overall plan is good, and He is using you to fulfill it.

• God is in the process of redeeming the world – that is good
• God is in the process of saving sinners – that is good
• God is in the process of glorifying His name – that is good

And He promises to use “all things”
To bring about THAT “good” for “His purpose”

Joseph’s predicament seems all wrong, but from God’s perspective,
Things couldn’t be working out better.

Now that reality forces you and me to get very real for a moment.

HAVE I FULLY SURRENDERED MY LIFE TO THE USE OF THE MASTER?
• Am I submissive to the purposes of God?
• Does God really have the right to use me for His ends?

I’ll never forget an incident that occurred early on in my ministry (before Spur) in which a person made some horrific false accusations about me and subsequently spread them all over the community.

I was angry at God for letting it happen.

God’s response: “Oh, so you didn’t surrender your reputation when you agreed to follow Me?”

Do you realize that this is where Joseph is?
• His reputation is shot.
• He is now in prison as a perverted slave.

It wreaks of injustice, and yet it is all according to God’s plan.
God is using Joseph to fulfill a great plan for the salvation of the world.

And I have to ask, would I be willing to be used like that?

Would I, like Paul say:
Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

I told you looking into God’s providential work might be difficult.
But we are forced to see how committed our heart is to him.

It can at times appear that God doesn’t care
And that He is overlooking the injustice of His people.

TURN TO: PSALMS 44
To them it appeared that God’s people were sold cheaply
And that there was no profit in their sale.

That certainly can appear to be the case with our brothers in Christ
Who are being killed in the Middle East by Muslims.

But God IS working
All the injustice is perfectly according to God’s providential plan
And that is what I want you to see next.

Joseph was a man of evident favor Joseph was a man of excellent piety
Joseph was a man of extreme adversity
#4 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXACT PURPOSE
Genesis 39:21-23

Again, I am almost amused at those who want a happy ending so badly
That they actually try to find one here.

Joseph receives “favor in the sight of the chief jailer”
And people want to cry “VICTORY!”

Folks, Joseph is in jail, away from his father, away from his homeland, with a shattered reputation.
This is NOT a good scenario.

Yes, but Joseph is in charge and he is still prospering.

But my question would be, who is benefitting from Joseph’s abilities?
• Potiphar did
• Now the Jailer is
• Soon Pharaoh will

If you want to see something to love here,
Then love Joseph’s humility and God’s faithfulness.

God is still with Joseph
Joseph has not grown bitter against God
And God is working out His exact purpose.

Joseph is in prison, about to encounter the next key player in the saga.

Providence is at work.
God is using Joseph for a greater purpose.

Voddie Baucham wrote:
“Joseph’s journey from Potiphar to prison is a reminder that God does not balance the scales in the here and now. He certainly doesn’t always tilt them in our individual favor. He does, however, work all things according to the counsel of his perfect, immutable will, and he uses frowning providences to accomplish his redeeming work. Therein lies our hope. Thus, we can say with Job, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15)” (Baucham, Voddie; Joseph And The Gospel Of Many Colors; [Crossway Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 2013] pg. 67)
And this is what you and I must see.

We yield providential control to God,
And submit our lives to be used by Him for His great purposes. And we know that rather through prosperity or pain,
God will use us for His good purposes and reward us in eternity.

That is the life of Joseph.
Joseph’s story is the anti-prosperity gospel.

Joseph’s story reads as follows:
“Trust God, and obey him and then be sold into slavery, removed from your homeland, falsely accused, and thrown into prison.”

I know that is harsh, but thank God He used Joseph in such a way.
Because Joseph’s sacrifice saved Judah,
Through whom Jesus Christ would come who would save us.

It was a good purpose
It was a good plan

Paul said:
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And so the question before you and I is whether or not
We will surrender our lives to be used of God.

Whether or not God’s purposes are more important to us than our own.
Whether or not we will be totally submitted to His kingdom and His work.

And make no mistake, this is what Jesus was asking
When He asked you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.

And though the road maybe hard, we have the promise that
God will reward us for our suffering and it will be worth it all!

Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
WILL YOU FOLLOW HIM?