Big idea: Keep trusting the sovereign Savior and you will pass the test of success (faithfulness).
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Well, good morning. Good morning friends. Good for Good morning church family. It's so good to gather. We are back in Genesis, and we are going to pick up the story of Joseph this morning. Then we're going to be looking at Genesis 41 stay seated, because I'm going to read the whole chapter. It's a fantastic story. I don't know how we don't just read the chapter. We're going to read the chapter and then pray. But chapter 41 is the time where the rags to riches story goes to riches. Joseph goes from pit to Prime Minister in a morning or an afternoon, so to speak. It's an amazing story. So turn at Genesis 41 you could follow along up above on the screen, if you don't have a paper Bible with you or Electronic Bible. Genesis, 41 after two whole years, how long Joseph's been in prison? Still, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came out of the Nile, seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed on the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke, and he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears thin and blighted by the east wind, and the seven thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream, a vision. So in the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians to of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there were none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cup bearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today, when Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. We dreamed on the same night he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard, when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream, and as he interpreted to us, so it came about, I was restored to my office, and the Baker was hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes. He came in before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it. Said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Joseph answered Pharaoh. It is not in me God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, behold, in my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed on the reed grass. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt, and the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dreams seven ears growing in one on one stalk full and good. Seven ears withered and thin and blighted by the east wind sprouted up after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, that is, the soothsayers, or the dream interpreters, but there was no one who could explain it to me. Then Pharaoh, then Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years. The seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that come came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind, are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of Great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. But after them, there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten. Rotten in the land of Egypt, the famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow it, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dreams means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take 1/5 of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities. And let them keep it that food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine. This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne, will I be greater than you? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, see I have set you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot and called out before him, bow the knee. Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name zaphenath panaeah, and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of potipherah, priest of on. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly. And he gathered up all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured before the year of the famine came, two sons were born to Joseph Asenath, the daughter of potipherah, priest of on bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. The name of the second he called Ephraim. For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction, the seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come. As Joseph had said, there was famine in all lands, but in the land of Egypt, there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, go to Joseph. What he says to you, do so. When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. This is the word of the Lord God. We, thank you for such a compelling story that you give us. We, thank you that you reveal your sovereign will, moving Joseph out of out of Canaan through very hard circumstances, raising him up for your specific purpose and time. We watch your sovereign work, and we marvel, and we recognize that you are always working your sovereign ways are always running Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are part of that, that your death, resurrection, foretold by God, has not only purchased a feeding, a spiritual feeding, but salvation. You are far greater than Joseph, and it is to you that we bow the knee and that we are eager to hear Holy Spirit. We pray that you'd help us understand and apply these things. We see your work. Pharaoh thought the Spirit of God was at work in Joseph, and I doubt he really understood the Trinity, but it was a fact that you are at work in him as you are at work here, help us understand the revelation that we have on the pages of Scripture so that we can please you and honor you. We do pray that you would be at work across our city. I think of fourth Memorial Church, and I think of first church up the hill this shared area in Spokane, where we want. See your will, your word proclaimed people to trust you and use their gifts, their abilities in this world for your good purposes. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.
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Well, we've all been watching some of the Olympics. I assume one of the things that's been a notable story is the Olympians who crumbled under the pressure. You all probably have a name of somebody that you can think of. I mean, they they made it to the Olympics, they were ranked first in the world, and they failed to make the podium. Now, athletics strives under those kind of stories. It thrives under those kind of stories, doesn't it? How will they handle success? How will they handle failure? The Joseph story has the rarest combinations in the Bible. Joseph remains faithful to God in affliction and success. If you think about it, there is only one other Old Testament character who does this, Daniel. Both of them end up being prophets to their king, Prime Minister, and the way they pray and think of God's people, they end up as priests. Joseph's going to fill the bill for this 1000 years or more before Daniel. Joseph is hand picked for greatness, but his family and the world is against him. I mean, doesn't this sound like an Olympic story. I can imagine NBC interviewing the story, hand picked for greatness, family and the world is against him. He's sold into slavery, wrongly accused and imprisoned. He interprets two prophetic visions and is left forgotten. He spends 13 years in the School of affliction, when suddenly events change and he's catapulted into greatness. How is he going to handle success? The old preachers were fond of saying it like this, the greatest trial is suffering, second only to success. How will Joseph handle his sudden success? Now, let me be clear about the Joseph story. Joseph has, and this is not just preacher speak. It's like literal speak. He has a once in a millennium, role in the plan of God. Daniel has the next one like it. He functions as Prophet, Priest, Prime Minister. Joseph is God's instrument to bring Israel to Egypt. That's the big story line. How is God going to take Jacob and his sons and multiply them into a nation? Joseph's got a role, and Egypt has a place in the plan of God. They're going to multiply into a great nation. What's right in front of us in the next 10 chapters, this in the nine after we find that Joseph doesn't crumble under success. He didn't crumble under suffering. He didn't crumble under injustice, and he's not going to crumble under success either. And every once in a while, God puts somebody in the pages of Scripture for us to say, how do we handle our suffering? How do we handle our success? This is clearly the case for Joseph, he resolutely kept attention off himself and on the sovereign Savior, and he kept his life focused on his mission. How did he handle his success without getting proud, falling to disgrace, overly indulging himself. How did he do that? We talk about the big idea this morning. We could say this, what he did, what we need to do is to keep trusting the sovereign savior. And you do that, you will pass the test of success. God is unfolding His saving plan. He is clearly the orchestrator of all the circumstances. You're not going to be a Joseph. So if you had visions of grandeur after this message, here is a recipe how to get to Prime Minister. That's not going to happen. But you do go through life achieving successes at times, in school, at work, in family or in ministry. How do you view success? Many look at success in terms of validation. My success validates me as a person. I'm an important person. If I am successful in business, if I have lots of friends, if I'm successful in my marriage or successful in my parenting, if I get promotions in my job or have a position of authority, I really am something. Look, I've achieved success. Sometimes it's an obsession, like success is just an obsession. I just have to have more of it. I have to have more of it. Other times, success is trying to prove something. My mom or my dad was terrible at fill in the blank, and I'm not going to be like that. I'm not going to be like that. I'm not going to be like my mother. I'm not going to be like my father. I'm going to I'm going to do better at marriage or parenting or investments or ministry or religious practices, you're trying to prove something to in many cases, a ghost somebody is not even around. Others are trying to measure up to somebody else's standard. You of your own standard. I'm going to prove to myself that I can do this. Some view success as a defeating the monster story. There's all this bad out in the world, and it's coming for me. Just know it's coming for me. Big companies, big government, Big Pharma, the liberal agenda, the conservative agenda, wokeness, social justice. Great Evils are coming at me. They're coming to get me. And so the way I live my life is in a series of battles and victories.
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If you don't have something to be angry at, you're just not a person like I'm just, there's a war out there, and I'm, I'm going to be a warrior. Finally, there's, there's some of you who are terrified of success, because with success comes pressure. If I succeed, what could I also do? Fail? I'd be found, found a fraud. Don't, don't we have a statement, fake it till you make it like this underlying insecurity, where you want to try something but you think you're going to fail. How do you pass the test of success? How do you pass this test of success and simply pursue faithfulness. How do I pursue faithfulness? God has put you at this time in this place with a certain set of things in front of you. How do I pursue faithfulness? What Joseph says in the passage is really relevant in a culture driven by success, it all has to do with focus. It has to do with focus. Joseph's going to keep his focus on who the real kingdom power is. He's going to keep his focus on the revelation of God, what God's revealing to Pharaoh, in part that's knowable because of how God uses him. He's going to focus on the task. There's a lot of details listed out in the task, and he focuses on those. He's got a task or a mission in front of him, and at the end of the chapter that interprets all of it, he's going to focus on God's grace and what God is doing. How do I pass the test of success and simply pursue faithfulness? First, keep your focus on the real kingdom mover. You can trust God, because he's the real mover of kingdoms and economies grand scale. He's the real mover of cities and local governments and. Workplaces and neighborhoods. He's the real mover. You notice as we now re enter the life of Joseph Pharaoh has a dream 41 one, after two whole years, we're still connected to Joseph's story he had just told the baker and the cup bearer what their dreams meant, and the Baker was hanged, and the cup bearer exalted, and Joseph had pled with him, please, get me out of here. And it says very, very clearly that the cup bearer forgot him after two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed So chapter 40, God has given Joseph a special ability. Joseph's languishing Ian prison, cup bearer had forgotten him. Pharaoh has two dreams we should rather think of them like nightmares, omens, Divine warnings, terror dreams. They're gruesome. They're surreal. Seven cows. What's it? Plump, beautiful. Seven cows are beside the Nile, soaking in the cool waters to keep the flies off. Who knows what they're doing. They come out of the Nile, and they are eating that lush marsh grass, and suddenly seven ugly skin and bones, cows come after them. They stand beside them, and they do what all cows do. They attack the other cows and eat them. It's so surreal. I mean, the skinny, ugly, sick cows act like lions. They pounce on the fat cows. They tear them to pieces. They gorge themselves on the on the flesh. This is a horrific scene, and then they don't look any better for having eaten well. It was such a terror that Pharaoh wakes up. So think of the idea of dream here, like a vision, an apocalyptic vision, Pharaoh understands something really important is going to happen. The next part of it, there's seven ears of grain. They grow up in one or one stalk grows up, seven ears grow on it, which is strange. That's not normally how it works. Super abundant. And then a skinny, seedless, empty stalk grows up and does what every seedless, empty stalk does, it eats the grain. So again, bizarre scene. So you have these. I don't know what kind of terrible tooth grasses eating the other grasses like this is so surreal. This is so strange. Pharaoh recognizes, you know, it wasn't that I was in a fight with, you know, with the local officials. I wasn't in a fight with my wife. Like something ominous has happened. He has gotten a vision. So he wakes up. His spirit is troubled. He recognizes this is of something of Kingdom and international importance, Pharaoh. Had a class of priests. Here they're translated as magicians. The New American Standard translates them as soothsayers. There's a technical word for a dream magician. That's what is happening here. They can interpret dreams. He calls his magicians and calls his wise men, and nobody can, nobody can interpret them. Don't think of illusionist. When you think of magician, think of demonically controlled sorcerers who have no idea what this means. They were probably used to making up interpretations. But they didn't do it here. If we look back when Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer and Baker in verse eight, chapter 40, verse eight, Joseph says to them, Do not interpretations belong to God. God reveals. God empowers, and that's what he did back in chapter 40. God reveals. God empowers Joseph to interpret, and God brings his word to pass. It's at this point the chief cup bearer steps forward. We get the idea. Shyly. I don't want to mention my offenses to Pharaoh, because I'd like to keep my head. Yeah, but I know a guy. That's the whole point here. I know a guy we were in jail, and this Hebrew comes after the baker and I had our dreams, verse 13, as he interpreted to us. So it came about. I know a guy who can interpret dreams. Pharaoh is like, Well, none of you can do it. So bring him in the supernatural dream. This vision illustrates that God is working and God is revealing he is the one orchestrating some heavy Omen, some prediction about the future. God's behind the scenes, and now God takes the front seat. One of the first things that you do to handle success properly is to understand God's the sovereign mover behind the scenes, and very often in front of the scenes. He's the sovereign mover. He is working. Did Joseph have a great sense of importance by being a dream interpreter? No, I think of it this way, when you get your place right, I'm gonna set this up. I have some Legos in my office for kids who come and play. So if I take that little Lego man right there, and I take my camera and I take a little picture of the Lego man, and I get up like this, he is huge, and everything behind him is small. But is that correct? It's only perspective,
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what you have to see as Pharaoh has the dreams is that Pharaoh is like a little Lego man. He is not really the mover. Joseph is just a little Lego man. He is not really the mover. It's like setting it down here, putting it in perspective, and y'all in the back can't even see him. Can you? Nope, can't see him. Isn't that a good place to be when you start thinking of your success or what's going on in your life, circumstances have happened to you, or you have followed a course of action and you've gotten some success. Step back, God's the sovereign mover the circumstances that I'm in, the situation that I'm in, the abilities that I have. Joseph didn't count his ability to interpret dreams, something that he innately had. God is the one who's doing this. Us. This chapter is about potential government upheaval and economic chaos. This is a boom and bust chapter, seven years of a boom followed by the worst bust the world has ever seen, and God is the mover behind all of it. Look to the sovereign mover number two, keep your focus on God's revelation. Keep your focus on God's revelation. You can trust the Lord, because he reveals himself and his plans and his will. This chapter is really important to Israel crossing into the promised land. They're told to follow Joshua, to go into the Promised Land and fight against the Canaanite enemies. They need to know that God is the one who is working according to his promise. One of the reasons why they can trust God is that God reveals Himself, and you can trust His revelation because he can promise and fulfill. Here's one of the greatest examples in Genesis. You can keep your focus on God's revelation. Pharaoh says to Joseph, he calls him up, cleans him up. Set before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, I've had a dream, and there's no one who can interpret it. I've heard it said that you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it Joseph's answer. It's not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. God will do it, Joseph, I find it curious. What does he do? He interprets the dream. So what does Joseph mean? God's going to give it to you. So tell it to me. You. Aren't you going to interpret it? What's Joseph saying that ability didn't come from me. God gave me that. He didn't say, Oh no, I couldn't do that. Who am I? I am just a worm. I shouldn't interpret dreams. He didn't shy away from it. He said, Well, God's going to give it to you. He's equipped me to do that. Tell me your dream. And so he does. He goes through the scene. He exaggerates. He expands about how terrible the dream was. Gives even more terrifying details, Lion like skinny cows tackling and devouring the fat cows and still looking terrible, Joseph has an answer verse 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. How did Joseph answer his sudden success? He didn't consider himself part of the magician class. He didn't consider himself as one specially trained to understand visions God's going to reveal to Pharaoh. God has revealed to Pharaoh so he talks about the seven years of abundance and the seven years of famine. Verse 28 again. Notice what. Notice what Joseph says it is, as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do, the doubling this verse 32 the doubling of Pharaoh's dreams, means that the thing is fixed by God. God will shortly bring it about. God's revealing. God is working. God is showing. You need to heed what God is saying, and there's a bit of bravery or courage for Joseph, Pharaoh thought he was a god. All of the Egyptians thought that Pharaoh was a god. Pharaoh thought he had a special relationship with the gods of Egypt, and yet, only the God was speaking. It's a bold move, trusting God's revelation. He tells him, God's going to bring a time of plenty, and he will bring a time of judgment, God, not mankind is in control of nature. God not mankind is in control of the economy. God not mankind is in control of the government. Joseph success suggests a clear and coherent plan to tax 20% of the harvests, store them all over the land for easy distribution and to protect them until they're needed. Now, notice the revelation was given and Joseph acted appropriately. The Toby who's running the Wednesday night's plan, says they had a national savings plan. This was a emergency savings fund being set up at a national level. Wouldn't that be interest? Interesting if governments did that today? It's not how we do it today. Do you know how you make the world really interested in your success? Borrow a lot of money, borrow so much money that they have to make it so that you succeed. That's the That's the American way. It's not what they did here. God's over the kingdom. God's over the economy, and what happens is a recognition that they need to get in line with God's revelation. Kent Hughes writes it this way. Thus we are here confronted with the premise upon which all biblical history rests. Kings do not make history. Rather, God uses them to affect history. End quote. God is the one to trust. He's the sovereign mover who reveals his will. You can trust the rest of God's revelation, because when God predicted, God fulfilled his plan, I
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Daniel the prophet, when he was before Nebuchadnezzar was asked to interpret a dream, Daniel is the one who said this. God changes times and seasons. He removes kings. Kings and Seth up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him. Then Daniel erupts and prays before Nebuchadnezzar to You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the Kings matter. God is the one who reveals, because God is the sovereign mover, and you can trust that revelation. So why can I trust the will of God about all the practical parts of my life that God's Word speaks to because over the biggest and over the smallest, God's word proves true. We come to the third, keep your focus on the sovereign mover. Keep your focus on his revelation. Third, keep your focus on God's task. What does Joseph immediately go about doing? Well, first he's he's exalted to His place, and then he sets out his task, the stories. This is where the rags to riches story is so satisfying. It's so satisfying right here, because it's a classic rags to riches he's going from pit to Prime Minister in in a matter of hours, the proposal seen this verse, 37 proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God, which I think Pharaoh simply means. Can we find a man who is divinely empowered and inspired. We know that the Spirit of God is really working in him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I'm not sure Pharaoh knew that, but he's acknowledging this is a work of God. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house and all my people shall order themselves as you command only as regard the throne will I be greater than you? God is clearly at work. Pharaoh knows it. His servants know it. Joseph knows what to do. Joseph goes from humiliation to exaltation, the classic storyline of the Bible. Out of weakness God produces strength. The details are really impressive. Back in chapter 37 Joseph's dressed by his father in fine garments, what's typically called Joseph's robe of many what colors and that signified that he is going to act like the first born, which his brothers hated. They rejected him. They stripped him of his robe. They threw him in a pit. He was taken out as a slave. He Jesus. He was sold into potiphar's house. He was elevated because he was able and capable as an administrator, but he was tempted by potiphar's wife. He was stripped of a robe, again, if we're thinking of the other story that goes with us. Comparison between Judah and Joseph. Joseph acts faithfully in jail, while Judah acts unfaithfully as a father, so worldly is Judah that he finds a prostitute who ends up being his daughter in law. Ooh and she she gets from him a signet ring and a necklace with what the signet ring would have held on. Look at this verse, 42 Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He made him ride in the second chariot. Remember, Joseph has had a dream about ruling. He was told twice that he was going to be a place of authority, they called out before him bow the knee. Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Then Joseph was married into one of the priestly families in the city of on which gave him credibility. Joseph wasn't validated. Here. He was vindicated. The prophecy is coming true. His affliction, his injustice, now, his success have all been orchestrated by God. God, what did he do? What did he do? At Thiry, he's the prime minister of Egypt. He was faithful. The author, Moses, gives us a bunch of these details. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, he gathered up all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt, put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. He went about his task. How do you handle success? Go about the task as a faithful steward. Go about the task as a faithful steward. When I compare Joseph and Daniel to Moses, who had his anger issues, Joshua who had his prayerlessness, David who had his Bathsheba Solomon, who had 1000 wives and concubines, massive failures after massive success. Joseph is faithful. Why is Joseph faithful? We find it back in 39 when he is in jail, when he's under Potiphar, when he's in jail, God was with him. He recognized the success he had, and so did Potiphar. So did the jailer recognize that God is with him. It's God's sovereign power, God's faithfulness to His promises, God's goodness and warning of the coming judgment the nation could prepare. Egypt would be preserved. The world would be preserved. I He focused on the task, not on the privilege. Well, that's just one chapter. Let's find out what he does with his brothers. If you want to know how faithful he is, let's see what he thinks of himself in comparison to his brothers. Be exciting to read that in the coming weeks. In the interpretation of this section, we find something really important at the end, we finally need to realize this. What Joseph did all along was focus on God's grace, which is what you need to do when you have success. You need to focus on grace. You need to recognize what God has sovereignly given you, what his goodness has given you. You find out, in this case, in the naming, you focus on Grace. Verse 50, just before the famine came, it says two sons were born to Joseph. Remember naming in Genesis, like naming in much of the Bible is really important. It tells what the person is thinking about God and His circumstances. He calls the first born Manasseh, saying for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house for 13 years, Joseph lived under affliction. Remember, at year 11 he has the vision, or he interprets the visions of the baker and the cup bearer. And he says, Get me out of here. And for two more years, he waits. He wanted to be free from his affliction. He was treated with the greatest injustice, and he recognizes that he has been an instrument in God's hands. He has missed his father and his household tremendously, and now with this blessing, it's as if the hardship and the loss of my family has gone to the back of my mind, he recognizes God's grace. And having received a son, and having received this privilege, his second son, he names Ephraim, verse 52 the name of the second he called Ephraim for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
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What a joy, son number two. But doesn't it speak of more has Joseph not only had two sons, but through Joseph's. Life. Merchants are coming from all over the world because their lands are going to be under famine and now the abundance of the land, when, when you think about just this, this reality, seven years of abundance, 20% was taken and the 20% was sufficient to supply the entire land and the known world with enough grain to survive the next How big was the 100% if 20% helps everybody survive for seven years. It's a number. It's an amount beyond comprehension. And Joseph could look back at the storehouses full of grain and say, What grace God has made me fruitful. All the suffering is drifted to the back of my mind. He acknowledges that it's all privilege, all grace, the fruitfulness comes from the hand of God. Now there's a gnawing question almost everybody has had. Joseph has handled his suffering and success with faithfulness. You're sitting there saying, but I have not handled either my suffering or my success. Well, not every time, perhaps what if I haven't handled my suffering with anything but bitterness, hostility, inward focus, personal retreat. I've closed in. I have not been Joseph. Joseph got up every morning and he went to the prisoners. How you guys doing today? The baker and the cup bearer, like we just had horrible dreams. Tell me about him. I want to help you. He both ached and acted he ached about his situation, but he acted because he knew God's grace. I haven't done that. If you're a person who says I haven't handled my suffering, well, maybe you're saying I haven't had my success. Handled my success? Well, either I've gotten proud, I've gotten demanding, I've let myself believe the press report about me. I'm amazing, and everybody needs to start treating me like it. I think it's good time at this point, just you're sitting there, look over to the person next to you, say, what's appropriate, hey, Lego man, like, you just need, you just need somebody in your life who says, like, hey Lego woman, you're really not all that great. You're just a Lego woman. You're just a Lego man. You're not all that great.
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If you've failed at your suffering and you've failed at your success, you're in great company, because who are the rest of the characters in Genesis like they're more like us. I mean, remember in Genesis, Noah was called by God and went in the boat was preserved. He gets out of the ark, He plants a vineyard. He gets drunk, and he exposes himself to his son, who Abraham lied about his wife twice to cover his own skin. Isaac lied about Rebekah once Jacob, which means deceiver, has a few episodes of faithfulness. And they were all instruments of God. Every one of them were still instruments of God for those episodes of faith and even what is the through line to the whole story, God's grace and promises, God's grace and promises. Why is Joseph successful? God's grace and promises? What do we do with all the other failures? God continues his through line to his good purposes, because of his grace and promises. He. You can be an instrument of God. Very often it's it's to say, Well, I did this wrong. Let me tell you about it. I have some ideas how you can avoid that. Sometimes your failures are instruments to help others not have the same failures. And here you are at a new situation, and you might not have a track record of handling your success as well. Now you have an example,
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their identity, their well being, their sense of peace all the way through to Joseph, were not in their success, but in the precious promises of God. Joseph's well being rested in the promises of God. Joseph sets us up for Jesus Christ. What if we haven't handled our success, or what if we haven't handled our failure? Well, you're just in a group that's commonly called sinners. Joseph sets us up for Jesus, Christ, God taking on flesh, who during His earthly life, prophesied of his own cross and his resurrection four different times to His disciples dismay, and according to the Father's plan, he makes the steady march to Jerusalem. He is arrested, he is crucified, and on the cross, he pays the debt of sin for all his own and according to plan, God raises him from the dead. Jesus is the sinless Son crucified, raised seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the mover of kings and nations and the gospel marches forward doing due to the King's power. Do you want to live your next few years with your labors as dust and ashes blowing in the wind? Or do you want to live with your labors being a sweet act of worship to your God and Savior. You need to repent of seeking validation from your success proving you need to repent from trying to prove you're not your parent, you're not your brothers. And Joseph could have been tempted like that, right? Proving to yourself, proving yourself to yourself, I can really do it, making success an idol and an obsession. No, you need to repent of those things, and you need to entrust yourself to the success of Jesus, Christ, crucified, risen and reigning, trying to be faithful. Try to be faithful. Something's really helpful here. You can write this down as little acrostic bigs. It makes a word, hopefully you can remember it. They are also the people that play really close to the basket for Gonzaga, the bigs, girls and guys both like the bigs, B, beloved, beloved.
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I am who I am because God loved me when I was a sinner.
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I am who I am because God loved me when I was a sinner.
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God so showed his love for us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. When we get to Ephesians, we're going to spend weeks on understanding who you are in Christ, so you don't have to live by the validation of other people.
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Somebody needs to yell out low T from last week while I try to contain my emotions. Instrument, I instrument. I'm an instrument in the redeemer's hands. I'm not the Redeemer, I'm not my own Redeemer, I'm not somebody else's Redeemer. I'm an instrument. I'm. Privileged little Lego Man or Lego woman. They make those two grace, gee, I was gifted. I am gifted. You are gifted, but you still need help. So whatever abilities you have that now God tells you to go use. Don't shrink back from them. I'm just a little Lego man. I wouldn't presume to do anything for the Lord. No, you're gifted, but you need help. Grace. Finally, s steward, since all my success belongs to him, I must steward it for the good of the people around me, for the glory of God who made me, I must steward it bigs beloved instruments, dependent on Grace acting as a steward. Let's pray, Father, thank You for stories like this. You are in control of all of the nations, and you always have been. We need a story like this to remember that you are really orchestrating things, and we put our confidence in all kinds of other things, like government or economies or our personal abilities, but really our confidence is in you. If we seek you first and your kingdom, all the things that we need will be added to us. So I pray that you would do a work in faith, Bible Church, because there's work for us to do. Help us do it faithfully, understanding our role and your role, exalting you in yours and trusting you in yours. Christ's name.
Dr. Dan Jarms is lead pastor at Faith Bible Church in Spokane Washington, as well as associate dean at The Master's Seminary in Spokane. He has been married for over 30 years to Linda, and has three adult children. He earned his B.A. in English at the Master’s College, B.Ed. at Eastern Washington University, M.Div and D.Min in Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary. His other interests include NCAA basketball, woodworking, and art.
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