Yeah. Yeah. and an Good morning, everybody. If you could find your seats, we'll start right away here. So this morning for our call to worship, we'll be reading Psalm 72. If you want to open up there in your Bibles. Psalm 72 of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son. May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people and the hills in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like the showers that water the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound till the moon be no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him. For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy and saves the lives of the needy from oppression and violence. He redeems their life and precious is their blood in His sight. Long may He live. May gold of Sheba be given to Him. May prayer be made for Him continually and blessings invoked for Him all the day. May there be abundance of grain in the land, on the tops of the mountains may it wave, may its fruit be like Lebanon, and may people blossom in the cities. May the grass of the field, like the grass of the field, may his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun. May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. As I was kind of reading up on this psalm, there was kind of this discussion whether it was Solomon that wrote this or David that wrote this. But Jewish people would understand this to be written by David for Solomon, but they would also point to this as being a messianic text. They would point to this as ultimately being pointed to their true King in Christ. And when we take that into mind, it really gives you a lot more hope. I know these past couple weeks, even Charles preached on it last week, where there's so much going on. We can look at our own leaders, whether it's not only just our government, but whether it was maybe previous church leaders or the church people that have hurt you, or maybe it's leadership in the home that should be established that has hurt you or done some things wrong. But here we have, give the king your justice, oh God, so we have a true king who is not unjust. We have leaders now that are going to do unjust things. that they're not righteous. They will do unrighteous things. They will not defend the cause of the poor and the people. But we get to come here and worship a God that is all those things. We don't get to worship a God that just 90% of the time gets it right but will upset us. He is perfectly just and perfectly righteous. So when we read this psalm and when we sing today, let's take that into mind that we have a God that we can worship that is truly all these things. That we can put our hope in that. So when it says that, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things, let's keep that in our minds as we sing today. So let's just pray quickly before we worship. Our Father and our glorious God, we thank you so much for this opportunity to come to you. As we learn, even just today in Sunday school, the importance of your Sabbath, of coming together like this to worship you and to glorify you and to honor you, we pray we come with hearts that can look towards what this text tells us about you. that we don't have to pray and hope that our God is going to be just. We know you are just. We don't have to pray and hope that you will be righteous. We know you are righteous. We do not have to pray and hope that you will maybe help those in need. You will help those in need. So Lord, we pray today as our worship, as we lift it up to you, as this congregation lifts it up to you. May it be just as the sacrifices were in the old days. They would be a sweet aroma to you. We pray that this is a sweet sound to your ear. So Lord, we pray together as a church as we come to you to worship you and glorify you for the wondrous things that you have done. And that we can truly say as a united church, blessed be your name. We lift this prayer up to you. In the name of your son Jesus, amen. Good morning, everyone. I invite you to stand. Thank you, Matt. That was a good word. Oh, great God of highest heaven, you occupy my lowly heart. Oh it all and reign supreme. Conquer every rebel power. What an awesome prayer. Let's sing it together. O great God, the highest head, occupied by the lowly heart, You have loved and purchased me. Make me yours forevermore. I was blinded by my sin. ♪ I know your love will reign ♪ ♪ And I'll taste your heaven's joys ♪ ♪ When your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Opened up the world to me ♪ ♪ Through the gospel of your sound ♪ ♪ Give me endless hope and peace ♪ ♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪ Clean my heart and guard my soul from the evils that come ♪ You are worthy to be praised with my every thought and deed. Oh, great God, who art in heaven, glorify your name through me. You are worthy. Last week in my message, I mentioned this song. And as I picked songs this week, I thought, you know what? We need to sing this. ♪ O'er the nation's reach, in the tribes and flocks ♪ I will one day reign over all, so I will not fear, for His truth remains, and my God is the Ancient of Days. ♪ For him the drive in his hand ♪ Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, the dread of night overwhelms my soul. He is here with me. I am God alone. Oh, His love is sure, and He knows my name. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. God above, dear heavenly Lord, is on high in His heaven. All the glory I will trust in his name. For my God is the Ancient of Ages. Though I may not see what the future brings, ♪ Watch and wait for the Savior's plea ♪ ♪ Let thy joy complete standing face to face ♪ ♪ In the presence of the Angels and the Saints ♪ ♪ While in the ignoring of time in His hands ♪ ♪ All His prowess shall remain and ever stand ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name ♪ My God is the Ancient of Days. Good morning and welcome brothers and sisters in Christ. Good morning and welcome everyone here this morning. A special welcome to our guests this morning. Some of you for maybe the first time or maybe one of the first few times with us. And we pray that it won't merely be a blessing to be with believers, with Christians, but that you will meet with Christ today. that He will satisfy your hearts and that His grace would just so overwhelm you and strengthen you this morning. So I'd like to cover off a few announcements before moving on. But first of all, there's the Lord's table today and we're looking forward to remembering the Lord his death and his giving of his life for us and is coming again for us. And if you are a guest this morning with us and your desire is to partake with us, we do ask that you come speak to the elders before you do so. We want to make ourselves available and the reason is we want to make sure that As it's so important that we celebrate the Lord's table and honor the Lord in his death and that we do so in a worthy manner, we want to hear your reasons for desiring to partake and how you basically have come to know and love the Lord. So do come talk to us, we ask, before you partake. So if you haven't done so, let it pass the day. But our desire is to share with you and to also fellowship with the table. So please come talk to us. Just a note on the annual general meeting of last week. went over just some things around the budget, and that was sent out, and by God's grace, the church ratified that with total unity, 100% was the vote, and we're very thankful for that. As we see the Lord working, the Lord directing, we just pray that the Lord will continue to build up and maintain the unity of this body of believers. So, reminder on the library. It's out in the foyer over there. And there will be people at the library there, Cheryl and Deanne, and who else? Julia Entz. Julia Entz as well there. So talk to them before you take books, before you sign up. We're trying to make sure that everything is done in an orderly manner there. And then there's a workday next Saturday. starting at 8 a.m., and there will be lunch provided, and there's some details on our church website, lethbridgebaptist.org, and just, not org, .ca? .com, okay, we are right up there on the status chart of the websites there, so. Just an encouragement too, we were really blessed to have a focused time of prayer this past week and that is really our desire every week because we know that we need the Lord. So you're encouraged to attend a prayer meeting. This week we'll be having our regular arrangement of prayer meeting either in Lethbridge or there will be a GoToMeeting prayer meeting as well. But there will also be plans to rejoin in prayer in a special time and maybe a little bit more localized places, as we did this past week, soon. Because we need to see God's face in this time. And then I'd like to ask Deanne if she could come up and give an announcement as well. Good morning, everyone. The March newsletter is coming out today. So make sure you get it before you leave. And if you should miss it, please go on the website because it's all there. We have all the newsletters and we also have the lessons from the Book of Luke. So if you miss a time and you didn't get a lesson, study notes, then please go there. It's all there for you. This March, we're celebrating two other women from our church who founded our church. We're celebrating Dini. And we're celebrating Cheryl. And so if you're interested to hear their story, it's just marvelous to hear their journey and get to know them a little bit better. So make sure you have some time to read that through. Also, make sure that if you're thinking that the Luke study is well on its way and it's too late, it's not too late. We have lots of places where you can study it from. And we'll get you a book if you're interested. But please join. We're starting Lesson 5. Now one thing about the Lesson 5 is that it's really hitting a lot of major events. And if you would like to do a little bit deeper study on these particular events in Luke 9, then I made up a parallel of the Synoptic Gospels. So Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Kind of work together, it would seem. They talk about the similar things. So I've made kind of a parallel passage. So if you'd like to get it, it will be on the table underneath the many books by the library there. And just kind of see for yourself, how did each man, how did they write? A little bit adding here, or maybe didn't mention this. It's a really interesting study to see, the feeding of the 5,000. the transfiguration. It's very interesting to see what each man decided to talk about and I think it will add to your study as well if you're studying the Book of Luke with us. I also want to chat a little bit about the library. Kids, you still need to have your mom and dad or somebody come and help you check out. I'm sorry to say we don't have as many kids' books as we would like. So those of you who have some kids' books at home or you have some good ideas or you have some money in your pocket and you'd like to be able to come and help us, buy some more kids books because they are really going off the shelves, especially the chapter books. So if you're interested in that, come and see Cheryl and I, we have some good ideas. We also have some other ideas. Today, I'd like to promote the devotional books that we have in the library. I've come across these really great books and if you want to know more just ask Anita and Paula because they love them too. They're short devotional books on different aspects of our lives and they have been very helpful and we have about 10 different topics on these devotional books. We also have a really great book by Nancy Guthrie. And I know that as we go through times and we have people who pass or we have people who are grieving, we often wonder what can I say to them? How can I encourage them? What do I need to do to come alongside somebody who's grieving? So she's written a great book called What Grieving People Wish You Knew. And it's a great book to help you understand. And then for young moms and you're thinking that this week and this month is driving you crazy, Glenna Marshall has written a book called Everyday Faithfulness. She's a mother of numerous children and she suffers from a chronic illness, but she also is able to say, women, this is what you can do to keep your spiritual life alive. So I encourage you to read our letter. It's going to come out. You know, we have a great system of girls spreading throughout the church, giving out the letter. So I hope you can pick it up today. I think you'll find it quite rewarding. Thank you so much, sister, for your work. And I'm just so excited to see this library get off the ground and be a blessing to many people. All right. Well, last week we had just such a joy watching three people get baptized. And that baptism means many things. It's so profound. One of the things it means is that they identify with Christ as He died and rose again. And that means they identify with His body. It's, we're excited to just officialize their welcome into our membership this morning. So I'd like to ask the Tequitas and Teasons and Tamara up as well. And we'll ask you to sign the church covenant. And then I'm gonna get the elders to come up and we'll pray for them as well. Does anybody have a spare? Oh, we do have spare pens, great. Nathan, Judy, and Tamara. Okay, guys, I got Tamara, yours here, if you wanna sign two copies. And then, oops, sorry. Judy and Nathan, I've got yours in the middle there. And then, yes, on the bottom there. Okay, take it. So the church covenant that Tamara and Judy and Nathan and Nancy and Jacob are signing, it's not this scary document saying all the bad things we do if they misbehave. It's not. What it is is a recognition of our bond of unity that we commit to one another in Grace Community Church It's based on what the scripture outlines for how church members should be members one of another, should serve one another, should use their gifts for one another, and should seek to worship and glorify and extend the Church of Christ together. And we're just so blessed to see more brothers and sisters being added to this number and just want to add as an encouragement, if you desire to join with us and to be with us and work with us, in Grace Community Church, we'd encourage you to pursue membership. But what it means this morning is we just want to commit you to the Lord, first of all, and then also express our commitment to you and recognize your commitment to us as a family, the family of Christ. And so we're going to pray, and we're going to ask that the Lord just blesses you and pours out His Spirit upon you as you serve and are served in this church. So let's pray. Lord, you have promised that you would be with us. Till you come, you will keep us together in this church. And Father, as you have seen fit to bring Jacob, and Nancy, and Judy, and Nathan, and Tamara, into membership with us. Lord, we pray that you would be faithful to them through this church family, and that they would be faithful to you through this church family. Father, I pray for each one of them that they would grow and learn more of you. They would also grow and learn about how you've gifted them to serve you. in the church and through the church. And Father, I pray that you would help us all to be faithful to your mission and to proclaim Christ together. I pray that this would be a special day, but it would just be an expression of their constant everyday life with you and with us as a church family. Pour out your spirit upon us all, and especially upon We thank you for that. We thank you that you're building your church and that we will be spending eternity together. Lord, we pray all these things in the name of your son who brings us and binds us together. Amen. Well, it's a privilege now to read our consecutive reading in the Gospel of Matthew. And we're in Matthew chapter 24. And we're in that part of Jesus' words in ministry where he speaks of the coming of the Son of Man. This is not His first coming, but it's His second coming. And He is laying out what will happen between the time He's speaking and that day. And how we are to live, how He wants His people to live in light of that day. So listen carefully for Jesus' imperatives as He gives them. I'm going to start Matthew 24 verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from all the four winds from one end of heaven to the other." Sometimes these days, especially for those of you who may have lived through the Cold War and the threat of nuclear disaster in the world, we wonder, you know, how close is that doomsday clock? And in reality, you know, humanly speaking, we could be as close as ever. But Jesus has told us how to think because He is exactly in charge. Nothing happens off plan with the Lord Jesus. And there will be great terror Great fear. You see how people respond in earthquakes or some huge natural disaster. It's just completely almost mind-numbing fear. But we know something is happening that should not cause us as God's people to fear, but rather to look with longing and joy. Our Jesus is coming on the clouds with power and great glory, and he's coming for us. So let's remember that. I'll continue in verse 32. From the fig tree, learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see all these things, know that He is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day the Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, He would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his Master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his Master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. And at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So Jesus speaks with great urgency here. He gives His disciples some very clear imperatives. He says, learn the lesson of the fig tree. When you see all these things, know that He is near. And then He says, there will be an unexpected hour, so be ready. Stay awake. Be faithful. Be doing what Jesus wants us to do. Be obedient to his commands and don't grow complacent. And how we ought to watch and pray that we are in that place that is ready for Christ to come. We know from this chapter and others in the scripture that Jesus' prophecy is meant to give us an attitude or to teach us an attitude of vigilance, watching and praying, and faithfulness. And that's been the watchword of the church ever since Jesus ascended to heaven, that He is coming soon. And today we are proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes. And we need to proclaim the Lord and His gospel until He comes. So let's be faithful as a church. Let's remind each other and provoke one another to love and good works until He comes. And pray for grace that God would give us that faithfulness. And He has promised to do so. We may be confident in God's grace for us today. You know? Today, when this world just seems to be tottering on a precipice of human disaster, we trust in God's grace. And I don't know what your circumstances are, what your week's been like, what you're facing. Some of us have been living on the edge. But God's grace is enough, and He will keep us. He will hold us. And let's be watching and praying for His return. As for the reading of God's Word, let's bow our heads together now and let's pray. Pray that God would just speak to us His faithful Word this morning. Father, as we come to You this day, of March 2022, so long after you spoke those words that you are coming soon, that we are to be watching and praying. Father, give us grace to watch and pray like never before. We see so many of these things happening, Father. It looks like the fig tree is putting out its leaves. and that You are at the very gates. Father, would You work in us? We confess that in our hearts and in our sin we are prone to complacency, prone to thinking that You are delaying Your coming, because humanly speaking it's been so long already. But Lord, help us to take heed to Your words And to know also that one day with You, it is a thousand years with us is but one day for You, Lord. It's not been a long time for You. And Father, help us to be faithful. Work in us, Lord. Encourage our hearts. Help us to look to the glorious coming of our Savior, the one who died for us and is coming to redeem and ransom us for all eternity. That day of great salvation for us. Help us to long urgently for your coming. And may our worship today be an expression of that. I pray, Father, as our brother comes and preaches to us from your Word, that your Spirit would fill him. That he would have a fresh sense of you moving and working in his heart as he expresses the mystery of the gospel. And Father, grant us all to tremble and to rejoice at your word. And Lord, may it not be only a worship that sticks with us until we leave this place, Father, but I pray that every aspect of our lives even in this week to come would be just shaped and changed and conformed to Christ as a result of hearing your word even today. Father, we ask that you would be with the Church of Christ around the world. In many places there is suffering and trouble and trial, persecution. And Lord, our hearts are particularly burdened as we see the reports from Ukraine. And I pray, Father, that you would be with the believers there and that you would comfort our brothers and sisters by these very same words, that you are coming and that we are to lift up our heads and look with eager expectation for your return. Father, I pray, would you protect and just cover them with your shield and would your word be exceedingly precious to them and Lord would you perhaps even bring some of those brothers who decide to flee from Ukraine to places where they may spread the gospel and further your kingdom wherever they go Lord. I pray have mercy upon them. Father, I pray have mercy on our land, which although it heralds itself as a land where freedom and dignity are valued, we see in so many ways where these things are not being held up. But Lord, I pray that the true freedom and dignity that comes from the gospel, that comes from knowing Christ would be running forward, that even as external freedoms are eroded, Lord, that the spiritual freedom would just be growing because You are conquering hearts and setting men free from sin and death. Lord, I pray, that you would be near to those who are in trouble and in need among us this morning. Father, we think of the Chris family. Lord, I pray that you would bring them healing and strength, even as they're not with us this morning. Father, and so many others, Lord, that just are having great difficulty. I pray, Father, would you hear and answer prayer, and you would encourage and strengthen our faith. Lord, you remind us that even if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, it can move mountains in your name. And Father, hear and answer our prayers and work in our lives. Remind us once again that you are the mighty, omnipotent God. Father, we're often greatly burdened by our temporal and physical health and needs, but Father, help us to be burdened and earnestly seeking your face for our spiritual needs, the needs of our own lives and the needs of our children, Father, for salvation, the needs of the gospel, and the advance of your kingdom, Father, help us to be bringing these things and storming the throne of grace, that souls would be saved. And Father, I pray that even this morning, Your Word would conquer dead hearts, would give life where before there was none, would grant faith where there was only unbelief. Lord, grant a revival. Grant a revival, a new life in Christ. Strengthen Your people. equip them to do your will. Lord, we do ask that you would continue to be with the work in Saskatchewan, where our brother Peter is working, Lord, and Kevin at Moose Mountain. We pray that you would just grant great fruitfulness there as well. Strengthen that work, Lord. We lay ourselves before you now. We thank you so much for This day, this opportunity to gather together. We thank You for this body of believers, Lord, that You've brought from so many places in southern Alberta. And Lord, I thank You for all the guests here, Father. I pray that You'd touch and bless their hearts. You'd strengthen their faith as well. We just want to ask all these things in the name of Your Son, who You have promised to honor as we pray in His name. In Jesus' name, Amen. Before Ryan preaches, we're going to sing two more songs. So please stand. When peace like a river ♪ Thou shalt see hills grow ♪ ♪ But ever, my God, Thou hast taught me to say ♪ ♪ It is well, it is well with my soul ♪ He is well with my soul. He is well. He is well with my soul. ♪ This blessed assurance control ♪ ♪ That Christ has regarded my helplessness' sake ♪ ♪ And has shed His own blood for my soul ♪ It is well. It is well. In my soul. In my soul. It is well. It is well. In my soul. I sing o'er the hills. He's nailed to the cross. Can I bear him no more? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. ♪ In my soul ♪ ♪ In my soul ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ It is well with my soul ♪ ♪ O Lord, peace the day ♪ ♪ When my grave shall be set free ♪ ♪ As we roll back, as we roll ♪ ♪ The drops shall resound ♪ ♪ And the Lord shall descend ♪ ♪ Even so, it is well with my soul ♪ It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. Amen. Holy words. Let's go to hear the Spirit of God into our hearts. Holy Grail, come preserve for our glory. Oh, let me each in verse embark. Words of life, words of hope, give us strength. ♪ Ancient words will guide us home ♪ ♪ Ancient words that were true ♪ ♪ Changing me and changing you ♪ ♪ We have come with open hearts, oh, and the ancient words are true ♪ ♪ Holy words of our faith ♪ ♪ And they drown to the sea ♪ ♪ Bring to us your sacrifice ♪ ♪ Holy the people birth of Christ ♪ ♪ Holy words of preserve ♪ ♪ For our love in this world ♪ ♪ May resound with God's own heart ♪ ♪ Oh, let the ancient words impart ♪ ♪ Ancient words never true ♪ ♪ Changing me and changing you ♪ With open hearts, O let the ancient words impart. Ancient words ever true, changing me and changing you. We have come with open hearts, Lord, and each with words impart. Let me see that. Well, good morning if you're able. You can open up your Bibles to Genesis chapter 40. As we continue on through the story or the account of God's working in the life of Joseph. And when you found it, please stand for the reading of God's word. It's a shorter chapter. Genesis chapter 40, hear God's word. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against the Lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. And one night they both dreamed, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison. Each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in the master's house, why are your faces downcast today? They said to him, we have had dreams and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me. So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, in my dream there was a vine before me and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. Then Joseph said to him, this is its interpretation. The three branches are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews. And here also, I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also had a dream. There were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket, there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh. But the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head. And Joseph answered and said, this is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh from you. On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph. but forgot him. Please remain standing as we pray. Father, we are so thankful for your word and now we would ask for the illuminating power and ministry of the Holy Spirit to take perhaps what is a very familiar story and Lord show us from it what you were not only trying to communicate to the original audience but even for us this day. And we pray, Lord, that this dream and its interpretation about judgment and deliverance and third day and your covenant faithfulness to your hurting saints, Lord, would be not only a warning to unbelievers, but Lord, a place of refuge and a reminder, Lord, of your goodness to your saints who are hurting and wondering what in the world is going on. Father, we just pray now, minister to every heart as you see fit. Father, I ask that you would help me to stay on track. We pray that your word would clearly and powerfully be not only explained, but Lord even applied, that we would leave here transformed and that our lives would be radically different as we go out into this fallen pit of a world. Lord, we ask for your blessing on the reading and now on the proclamation of your word. Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. We'll be working through three parts of this chapter. And don't write them down. This is just to keep me on track. But if I were to break up this chapter, it would be as follows. First, two more roommates, verses one to four. Second, two more dreams, verses five to 22. And lastly, two more years, verse 23. Twos, there's lots of doublings in the book of Genesis. And I've tried to be not only witty, but intentional with my points. Two more roommates, two more dreams, two more years. And of course, God is sovereign over all of these. So let's just get right into the text. No fancy introduction this morning. Two more roommates. Verse one. Now it happened. The SV doesn't translate that correctly. I mentioned last week that in chapter 39, 15 times this verb was used. Now it happened, or in the old King James, and it came to pass. Those are trigger words to remind us that God is on his throne, that nothing happens haphazardly. Nothing is by chance. This isn't luck or serendipity. This is God sovereignly working and moving and accomplishing His purposes, not only in Joseph's life, but also for the world. Sometimes we forget that. Literally it says, and it was, after these things, or more literally, after these words or happenings. Well, what happenings? after Joseph, in response to his fidelity and faithfulness to God, was wrongly accused by Potiphar's wife, and he was, as it were, demoted from Potiphar's house to Potiphar's prison. After these things, what things? After Joseph's faithfulness. And this just reminds us that God does move in a mysterious way. This counters the lie that is perpetrated in so many movements in evangelicalism. Come to Jesus and everything will be good for you and happy and prosperous. You'll be healthy and wealthy and you'll walk around and you'll skip and you'll never have another sad day in your life. You'll never, as one of God's children, be thrown into a pit. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, as we see at the very end of chapter 39, that whether Joseph is in the pit that his brothers throw him into, same Hebrew word for cistern, or the pit of prison, God is with him and God is prospering him. God is causing him to succeed. Meaning what? God's definition of success is different than most evangelical pastors. You'll have your big house with your retirement package, no persecution, you'll have everything happy, and all your dreams will come true. That's not what we see in the book of Genesis or in the life of Joseph. No, rather like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we're going to see that God is working through them and that God is refining them because he has a purpose for them. Those whom God uses powerfully, he often tries deeply. That's just how it works. I think Calvin is the one who said that what God is doing is he's polishing Joseph for the position he has for him in the future. He's polishing him. Sandpaper doesn't feel good. But God is preparing Joseph for mighty things, and Joseph will need to make sure that he keeps his eyes on the Lord. So after these things, or after these words, and that's important, because the original audience would say, after what things? Words, God's word, God's promise. He's not forgotten his promise to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. Joseph needs to remember that. You need to remember that if you find yourself in a pit. After these things, after these words, God is sovereign. He is not only sovereign over what is happening, he's sovereignly with you in what is happening. In my little notebook that I'm working in, I underlined a lot of the king and pharaoh. Because you remember, according to Joseph's dream, that somehow, someway, his brothers are going to bow before him. And he's going to have a place, as it were, of a high position. And again, I think this is Voddie Bauckham, and he was saying that all these bad things that are happening in Joseph's life are actually moving him to where he needs to be. Now, we don't like how God is moving, but he is moving. Joseph from the land of Canaan, to the cistern, to the Ishmaelites, to Potiphar's house, to the prison, and eventually over and over and over we're saying, Pharaoh, the king. We're going to see in the next chapter that Joseph's going to be actually positioned. He's going to move from Canaan to the king through all these trying circumstances. And God is sovereign over all of them. So let's look at these two more roommates. We're told here that the king of Egypt put two men into Joseph's presence, or into the prison where Joseph was. It says here in verse one that they committed an offense. And that's an okay translation, but it misses a play on words from chapter 39. It's the exact same, so go back to chapter 39. And look in verse 9, it's the exact same Hebrew word. Let's see if we can guess it. Okay, because you have these two people in prison because of this word, and you have Joseph in prison not because of this word. Let's just see. This is to keep you from falling asleep. Joseph, in response to the seductress, says, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? That's the exact same word. Chata. Chapter 40, these two men, Chathad, they sinned against Pharaoh. So Joseph doesn't sin, and he's in the pit. These two men sin, and they are in the pits. And the reason I'm doing this is because I hope to set up the picture of three men One who's innocent, two who are guilty, one who is unjustly in the pit, one who is delivered, and one who is judged. Maybe you can see where I'm going there, and I think that's an intentionality, by the way. I don't think that's eisegeting into the text. You've got three people, as it were, being judged under the king. One should not be there. He's never sinned. Two have. One believes the word of promise, of revelation, and is delivered on the third day, and the other, he is judged. But let's save that for later. So we got these two characters, and they have committed an offense, or I would translate, sinned, against their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry. Different Hebrew word, but the same idea. Potiphar is angry with Joseph for no good reason, right? Here's the innocent one. Potiphar's angry, Joseph thrown into the pit. Pharaoh angry, and throws these two men into the pit. I love Moses' storytelling, by the way. Maybe it's just me. I love to take time and look for all of these little patterns and all of these repetitions. Because we're comparing and contrasting the unjust suffering of the innocent one with the just suffering of the guilty ones. So they're called two officers. One of them, if you're following in the Bible, is the chief cupbearer, and the other is the chief baker. You might think, oh, they just work in the kitchen, not a place of significance. Nothing could be further from the truth. These were probably men of high position in Pharaoh's guard, if you will. And they work under, it would happen, Potiphar. Potiphar is the chief executioner, He's the head executioner, the head butcher, if you will. Well, these two are now the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. And as Potiphar puts Joseph into his prison, this is Potiphar's prison, by the way, which makes me wonder if he really believed his wife's story. But let's keep going. You've got the chief cupbearer, chief baker. Why would they be important? If you've read the book of Nehemiah, he was also a cup bearer. He's the wine taster. Why is that important? Because Pharaoh likes good wine? Maybe. But also because people would try to kill or poison the king. And so, Pharaoh needed to have trustworthy men, confidants if you will, who'd be willing to die for him. And be willing to make sure that all the ingredients coming in, whether food or drink, were not a threat to the throne. And so it's not just anyone who's insignificant. These are very significant men that Pharaoh knew intimately. So that if one of them perhaps was delivered, he would have an inside friendship with Pharaoh and perhaps could introduce Joseph to him. if he would only remember Joseph. So here are the two new roommates, and I use that word tongue-in-cheek, no, they're jailmates. Now, what they did against Pharaoh, we don't know, but he flew into a rage, that's the Hebrew verb, and so I don't think it's insignificant. I think what these two tried to do was significant enough for Pharaoh to throw them into Potiphar's prison. And perhaps they're there just while they're doing an investigation, You know, maybe they froze their bank accounts for a bit until they could find out a little more information about them. You know, see what the press has to say, and then see if they're really guilty. Verse three it says, and he put them into custody. That's the Hebrew word gave. And that's important, because as I said last week, every time you see they were put into prison, I want you to see behind the putting of Potiphar, or the putting of Pharaoh, is the giving of God. God, in his goodness, is giving, he's gracing Joseph. Potiphar, under God's sovereign but gracious hand, gives Joseph into prison. And sometime after God's gracious and sovereign hand causes Pharaoh to put these men into the same jail, just by luck, where Joseph is. Are you guys tracking with me? Good, you don't look like it, but I'll trust that your nodding heads say that you are. He put them or he gave them into custody in the house of the captain of the guard. You keep saying, how do you know it's Potiphar's house? Because in chapter 37, verse 36, the captain of the guard is Potiphar himself. Potiphar knows where Joseph is. And I think Potiphar loves Joseph. He saw Joseph's chesed, his faithfulness, his kindness, his reliability. And so he says, I'm gonna kind of assuage my wife and her wandering and eyes and her lying mouth, and I'll not kill you, but I'll put you into prison. And then it just happens that Pharaoh himself now puts these two men into Potiphar's prison where Joseph is. He was confined. The captain of the guard, I'm taking that to be Potiphar. Maybe not, maybe he was succeeded, but I agree with Calvin that this is Potiphar. He appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. Exact same Hebrew word as what Joseph did to Potiphar. Joseph attended Potiphar. Now Joseph is attending these men. Why do you say that? Because no matter what, Joseph is being faithful wherever he is. He's not bemoaning his circumstances. He's not like me, pity party. Something bad happens to Ryan, I don't want to help anyone. I want them to notice how much my life sucks, and I want them to minister to me. That's not the blessing of Genesis 12. So here is Joseph, and he remains faithful. He was faithful to Potiphar, and if he was me, he'd be tempted to say this, I serve God? This is what I get? I'm done. He would sound like the sons of Asaph in Psalm 73. Hey, I've served, is this my reward? No. As we will see, because he is perhaps, and I would say most likely, meditating on these ancient words, or God's promises to him, he's able actually to live a radically different life in the circumstances he finds himself. And so we've got now the chief cupbearer, the chief baker, and Joseph, and probably a slew of other prisoners. Now, I don't want you to read this the way I've always read this. We always just read it so quickly and sequentially. Joseph's put in prison. They come. They don't get to know him at all. They tell him his dreams. That's probably not what happened. Right, you'll see. Sometime after this. Sometime after this. Joseph may have been in prison with these guys for some time. Maybe days or weeks or months even. We don't know. But it's not like, hey Joseph, here's your new roommates. Next day they have a dream, next day he tells them. No, I would imagine that they're getting to know him, and he's getting to know them. See, in Egypt, having a dream was not like us. It's like, ah, this crazy dream, let's laugh about it. No, for them, they saw dreams as prophetic. And as we're gonna see next chapter, that they had professional dream interpreters. I read this in a commentary, but they have dream commentaries. The way I run to a commentary when I don't know what the text is saying, they would run to professionals who had dream commentaries. And so I would say that these men who were close to Pharaoh are becoming close to Joseph, and they trust him. You don't just tell your dreams to anybody. This isn't a charismatic church which is like telling everybody their dreams. No, right away they need to trust this guy. Is this guy trustworthy? And I would say, absolutely. So here they are, continuing for some time in custody. And that's that word, and it just happened. Telling each other where they're from, and why they're there, perhaps. Let's move, though, from Joseph's roommates, the two of them, to their dreams, the two of them. And one night, they both dreamed. The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled." Interesting. Joseph is very different from the young men of our age. Joseph's probably about 28 years old. And he has not been taught to be obsessed with himself. Just so you know, we're living in a world where it's all about me. Let me tell you about me. Self-actualization. Self-autonomy. Self, self, self, self, self. And here's Joseph, unfairly lied about, unfairly sold into slavery, unfairly everything, sitting in a pit. And he sees them. And I think that's something to slow down and think about. Joseph has an outward perspective. And the reason he has an outward perspective is because he has an upward perspective. Imagine again, just put yourself in Joseph's sandals. Just imagine this is you. This is how I think. If it was me, I'd be like, I don't care about them. Why don't they ask me why my face is dejected? Maybe Joseph's face wasn't dejected. Be careful of watching VeggieTales and all these things that interpret that. It's never in the text that Joseph is this bemoaning little brat who's questioning God. Now maybe he did, but that's not the picture Moses presents. Every time Joseph opens his mouth, God is on his lips, you'll see that. I wrote down all these 39, 10, 41, 16, 28, 32, 51, 43, 29, 45, five, almost every time Joseph talks to somebody, he's talking about God. I don't know if he's the little suck that we often think he is, you know, with the quivering lip. I think he understands God's sovereignty and he's trying to figure out what is God doing in this. And because he's not focused on his problems, but maybe more focused on God's word, he's able actually to be a blessing to others and to minister to them. And I thought that was worth maybe mentioning, because I think some of us struggle with the latter. We come to church, and we're so consumed about what's going on in our life, we forget that maybe there's other people who are hurting. So they both have a dream. The dreams come from God. Even to unbelievers? Yeah, God's not just sovereign over believers. One of the most beautiful prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ comes through a man named Balaam. Balaam. I don't take him to be a believer. Especially when you read about him in 2 Peter and Jude. So it just happens then. that these two men who just so happen to be put into the same prison that Joseph just so happened to be in, they dream. And it's a double dream. And as Roussevalky says, when you see the doubling, it shows that God is directing history. Not Pharaoh, not the gods of Egypt, not chance, not blind, pitiless indifference. God. God can move the heart of all kings. the king of Russia, the prime minister of Canada, he can do it all. And he is actually, to bring about his purpose. And so because God's purpose is actually to save Joseph, so that he would be able to save Judah, through whom Messiah would come, he brings these two guys into prison, and after some time it happens, they both have a dream. They both have a dream on the same night, And they both tell Joseph about their dreams because he saw that they were troubled. I don't like that word. I like dejected. Right? That would be me in prison. Ryan, why are you so sad? It's like the guy who used to come here and I quit asking him how he was doing. Because every time I asked him how he was doing, I had to listen for like 20 minutes. about his sob stories. Well, that's these two guys, that's me. Joseph's not like that. He came to them and he saw their faces were dejected, that they were troubled. So he asked them, do you do that? You're like, oh man, I'm gonna be like Ryan. I see their faces dejected. Let's go for lunch, honey. Maybe ask them, what ills you? Not saying now, let's keep on. When Joseph came in the morning, he saw that they were troubled, so he asked Pharaoh's officers, why are your faces downcast? And they said to him, we have dreamed dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. So they're not sad about their dreams, they're sad because they don't know what those dreams mean. And remember, they're in jail by Pharaoh, because they've probably done something that will cause them to perhaps be killed. It's not like a parking ticket. And they're wondering what in the world is happening. Joseph says this. See, this is where Joseph talks. How you doing? This. Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me. He says the same thing to Pharaoh. He doesn't say, you know what, sucks that you had a dream. I'm just gonna go wallow a bit. No, Joseph's been put there to be a blessing. And as he says later to Pharaoh, or as Daniel says to the king in Babylon, it's not me. There's a God who is ruling all things. The God who gives dreams is able to interpret them. This is narrative, not normative. But God is going to now reveal the future through this revelation. So the cupbearer told his dream to Joseph. In my dream, I'm in verse 9, behold, a vine before me. Lots of threes happening now. You've got three branches. You've got three verbs. You've got three everythings. So here's this picture of this branch, and it's got fruit on it. And he's wondering what in the world that means. I would. I never remember my dreams, but if I could, I'd wanna know what in the world is this dream about? Verse 11. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, I took the grapes and I pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and I placed it in his hand. And Joseph says, probably without even waiting, this is its interpretation. The three branches are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to office and you will place his cup into his hand as formerly when you were his cup bearer. And then he sneaks this in. Only remember me when it goes well with you. And please show me chesed and remember me to Pharaoh. And so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of Hebrews. And here also I have done nothing that we should put me into the pit. And so right away, Joseph, as it were, is letting this cupbearer know what's going to happen. That God is revealing to him what is going to happen. In three days, he's going to be lifted up. He's gonna be restored. His head will be lifted up, Psalm 3. How's it go, Psalm 33. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. Or the ESV says, the lifter of my head. Okay, and so this is this picture of having dignity restored. He's in this pit of shame, and even God now is saying, in three days, you will be restored. And then he says here, listen to his words, listen to Joseph's words after the interpretation. He says, only remember me when it is well with you. And it doesn't seem like much. I don't know, is that why you picked it as well with my soul, Charles? He says, only remember me when it is well with you. And the Hebrew here is what you call prophetic perfect, where Joseph knows it's going to happen. He's not like, if it is okay with you, Just saying when it is well with you. I so am convinced, I know God is going to do this. Please remember me. When what I have said or what God has said happens, remember me. And show me steadfast love. Put it in your margins. This is more than kindness. It's the same Hebrew word as in 3921, but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love. That's why you should, you know, when you're looking at a translation, try to be consistent, because you think kindness isn't steadfast love, it's the same Hebrew word. Okay, and this is going to lead to an application, so bear with me. Although this man fails to show Joseph steadfast love, We know that God continues to show Joseph steadfast love. You have to have that in the back of your mind. And the Hebrew of chapter 39 is that God is extending. It's rarely used. So here's Joseph in the pit. And just imagine if you're in the pit and it's got like the walls that you can't climb and you can't like scale it up like a ninja. And someone, they extend down their hand to help you. Well, Joseph's in the pit and God extends down his hand or you'd say extends to him is covenant love. And it doesn't get Joseph out of the pit immediately, but his extended steadfast love helps him in the pit. And I thought of a bunch of proverbs, maybe I'll quote them later. I'll quote one of them now. It says, what is desired in a man is steadfast love. Do you understand that if you put all your hope in men, they may let you down? Like another proverb said, it's like a rotting tooth or a slipping foot. You're not as reliable as you'd like. This cupbearer is not a reliable man. If Joseph is banging his hope on this cupbearer, he's going to be sadly disappointed. But thankfully he's not. He's banking his hope not on the steadfast love or kindness of Mr. Cupbearer, but rather, he's banking his hope and deliverance upon the steadfast love, the loving kindness of Yahweh, the one who shows it, or more literally, extends it. He stoops. Do you understand that in the gospel? God's like, here, climb up here to the area of steadfast love. He actually stoops down, and he extends his hand in the hyphal. He extends it to where we're at. That's a steadfast love. And I can only trust that you are doing that this morning, and if not, by His grace, He will show you the beauty of Christ, and you will put your hope in His steadfast love. So here's the interpretation. Basically, three days, it's all good. Three days, you'll be restored. Three days, not only will you be delivered, your head will be lifted up. You'll have that place of prominence. Notice what he doesn't say. Verse 15, for I indeed was stolen out of the land of Hebrews. One, he's letting them know, if you've wondered about my accent, it's because I'm a Hebrew. They're probably wondering, where do you think he's from? It's like when I go down to Indiana, they're like, you have a strange accent. I'm like, no, you got a strange accent. I don't say y'all after every five words. And so they're wondering where, and he says, I was stolen out of the land of Hebrew. If you want to know what my accent's from, I'm an Ivory, right? I'm a Hebrew. And I was stolen, or literally you could say stolen, stolen. It's emphatic in the Hebrew. One translation says, I was kidnapped, unfairly kidnapped. I was stolen out of the land of Hebrews. That's all he says about his brothers. He doesn't say, all those scoundrels, those stinkers. They play it all nice to you. Remember, they change their face. Hey, Joseph, come on over. Haha, got you. Right? He's not mulling over. He's not focusing. He's not brewing and stewing on what they did to him. He just says that I was kidnapped. And I heard this from another sermon, and I'm actually going to take from that pastor some application. If you were in prison, and you were wrongfully put there, unfairly put there, what would you be stewing on? And there's actually some ABAD example, and I'm not gonna name names, but on YouTube, there's a pastor who keeps getting arrested. He just never stops talking about all the wrong things. Always trashing. And I think it's a disservice as a Christian, and especially as a pastor, that I rarely hear anything about God come out of his lips. He may or may not be, I don't know his mind or his heart. But it seems like he's stewing on all the wrong things and I don't see that in Joseph. There's no slander or gossip about his brothers. He just says, I was stolen indeed out of the land of Hebrews. And then he goes on to say, and here also I've done nothing. I think he's talking about Potiphar's wife. He has no ill names that he gives to her. He doesn't call her a lying seductress. Why? Because I would say he's actually focusing on all the right things. He's keeping his eye heavenward. Philippians chapter 3, forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue to press on. But if you go to chapter 3, verse 12, it says that God brought us to himself for something. So the reason God arrested us is that we might arrest after. It's very emphatic. And I think that's what Joseph's doing. Instead of focusing on all the wrongs that have happened to him, he's saying, Lord, what are you doing in this? I'm going to trust you. You promised through these dreams, and you also promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Please don't think that Joseph didn't know those promises. Joseph knew Genesis 12, and 15, and 17, and 22, and 26, and 35. He knew all those promises. And I would say, though he doesn't have a full canon like we have, That's all of scriptures, please don't think he has a cannon that he's gonna shoot himself out of prison with. He doesn't have the totality of scriptures, and yet he's focusing on the revelation that God has given him, including this dream. And so it says in Isaiah 26, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusts in thee. Trust in Yahweh, for he is a rock. He's not a rotten tooth or a slipping foot, he's a firm foundation. Paul says that he keeps his eyes heavenward for the upward call of God in Christ. And so I put in my notes here, because I'm very bad at application, what do you focus on? Maybe you're in a pit. Maybe you're in a trial. Maybe you're wondering what God is doing. But what are you focusing on? Are you remembering God's covenant love? That all things, not just merely happen for your good, He is causing all things to happen for your good. Are you looking through your trials through that perspective? That He's polishing you, refining you. Right, we love the promise, you began a good work in you. Yeah, He will bring it to completion, you know how? Through hardships and trials. And so Joseph, though he's thousands of years removed from James, he would say, I count it all joy when I fall into, meet various trials. Why? Because they are perfecting me. They're completing me, that I might be perfect, complete, and lacking nothing. And so I have in my notes, if we're not thinking, meditating about God's patterns and promises, It's easy to become cynical and jaded. Think of all the patterns in Genesis. God makes a promise to Abram and he makes him wait. He's 99 years old before Sarah becomes pregnant. Isaac has to wait because Rebecca, she cannot, right? Jacob has to wait. Why would Joseph not have to? This is how God often deals with his people. He makes them wait. But he's also thinking on the promises. Joseph knows that somehow, someway, that the seed of the woman, who is traced through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he's a son of Jacob, is somehow going to be a blessing to the world. And though he doesn't know fully, he knows that I am here as a seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be a blessing. And that changes how he sees himself. I'm gonna be a blessing in prison. Can you imagine that? I'm gonna be a blessing in my suffering. I'm gonna be a blessing in my singleness. I'm gonna be a blessing in my fill in the blank. Because I don't exist for myself. God calls us to himself for the world. What comes out of Joseph's mouth? What is already in his heart. Luke 6, 45. I love how the NIV translate it. The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Ever heard the illustration of the shaking bottle? This is from Paul David Tripp and Mr. Lane, I forget his first name, Timothy Lane, I think. And some guys say, ah, that person makes me so angry. They do these things and I erupt. And the illustration is, is no. The fact that you're full of, if you have an empty bottle and you shake it, will water come out? No. What the bottle is full of will come out when it is agitated or shaken. Here's Joseph being shaken, and what comes out of his mouth? Vitriol? Anger? Bitterness? Unforgiveness? Service. Why? Because I would say Joseph is actually meditating. Blessed is the man. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of? scorners or scoffers, but his chafetz, his delight is in the law of Yahweh, and in his law he meditates day and night. That's a wonderful word for meditate. You can meditate on all the wrong things. That's Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate on a vain thing? You're gonna meditate on the vain things or on God's law. Back to Psalm 1. He is, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit, Genesis 1 and 2, in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does, he prospers. Maybe I'm reading into that. If you have a problem with that, you can email a man named Jim Hamilton, because I listened to his sermon, and that's what he talked about. Here's Joseph in the pit, asks for their dreams because he sees their faces are dejected, and he seeks to be a blessing to them. He's not full of self-pity. He's not self-consumed. He's not inward-focused. Rather, he is outward-focused because he is upward-focused. I think that's a bumper sticker. The reason why you're probably not focused on others is because you're so preoccupied with yourself. And the answer is not to look outward. Right, Sharon looked upward. Right, with Sodom and Sodom's school. How do you love your neighbor as yourself? First, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. And how do you increase your love for him? He pours out his love into our heart by the Holy Spirit as we remember. This chapter's all about remembering or forgetting. Joseph's being forgotten. and yet he's remembering God's goodness. And so out of his heart, his mouth speaks. His mouth speaks God's revelatory word. Joseph is not seeking his own. Last year, Cliff had a couple of us memorize 1 Corinthians 13. I would encourage you to do the same, by the way. And of course, it's fulfilled in Christ, but it also is how we love. Love does not seek its own. The ESV says, does not insist on its own way. I don't like that translation. Love does not seek its own. And because Joseph is so over brimming with the love of God, focused on God's promises, he's able now to seek the good of others. Out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks and probably his hands serve. He's attending to them. Could you imagine what a church would look like that? Could you imagine what a light to the world we would be? So here's Joseph. He's a prisoner, but he's a faithful prisoner. He doesn't say, I'll be faithful to God when I get out of this trial. That's how most of us think, right? When this happens, then I'll start being faithful. You may never get out of the pit. So wherever you find yourself, ask God to fill you with his love, that you'd be so focused on him that you could then, instead of focusing on yourself, you can look and say, are there faces dejected that I can serve, that I can minister God's word to? Well, let's look at the second dream quickly. So Joseph sees their face. And my guess is that when Joseph interprets to the cupbearer, his face is no longer dejected, but he's probably got a big smile on his face. So now Joseph sees their dejected face, and now the baker sees probably the happy face of his cohort. And he's like, well, I like dreams and interpretations too. When he saw that the interpretation was favorable, or literally just tov, good. I also had a dream. Behold, three cake baskets on my head. So lots of threes again. Three cake baskets, three verbs, three days. Unfortunately, Joseph adds an important word. You too will be lifted up. But it will be from you. What? Yeah, your head will be lifted up. Look at verse 19. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head. The exact same Hebrew, except the addition, from you. And hang you on a tree. And if that's not bad enough, the birds will eat the flesh from you. Not a favorable interpretation. Which reminds me of 2 Timothy 4.2. Timothy, in the presence of God, and in the presence of Christ Jesus, and even his holy angels. Does anyone know what 2 Timothy 4.2 says? Preach the word, in season and out of season. The NAE translates it when it's favorable and when it's not. This is Joseph. Remember his situation. Someone who knows Pharaoh very intimately now asks you, what does God say about me? God says about you that you have three days and then you will be executed. Now quickly, quickly. Is that clock working? I'm borrowing this from Alistair Begg. He breaks this up. It's good preaching, but it's not exegetical. But he has a series called My Times Are in Your Hands, and he has a section called Lessons from the Pit. And though I don't agree with how he gets to it, he does say something interesting. In quoting the old Puritan commentator, Lawson, he says that God in his grace gives something to the baker that we don't have the luxury of having. He knows that three days you're going to die, whereas you don't know when you will. You might die going home from church today. Now we don't know how this man reacted and what he did for the next three days, but in God's mercy even, saying that you're going to die soon, I would say you should get your house in order. You don't know when you're going to die. I wish I could say, you know, 38 years, you got 58, You might not have 58 seconds. And so I'll quickly isageate the sin here. I would say to you, knowing God's judgment upon all who die in their sins apart from Christ, what are you going to do? Will you live in your sins? God's word comes true. Isaiah 55, I wrote in my notes. It will come to pass, as surely as these dreams which God gave, which Joseph interpreted, came to pass, so you will die. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, judgment. Mercy is offered in one dream, judgment is promised in the other. And so Joseph's interpretation is faithful, even if it's not as optimistic. Joseph is showing chesed not only to the cupbearer, he's showing chesed to the baker. Why? He who flatters with his lips is an enemy. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Mr. Baker, your days are numbered. You got three days. You better get right with God. If not only is your demise inevitable, it's going to be Unspeakable. He's going to lift your head off you. He's going to get his head cut off. And I'm not going to get into all the pagan religion of Egypt. You can look at my notes for that. I've got it all on my computer. But they're going to cut off his head and they're probably going to put him on a post. Like on a pike. Because that's what they did back then. Like we think of public hangings like, you know, in the times of the Puritans and stuff. No, they're going to cut off his head, hang him on a pike, publicly and they're gonna let the birds, what's the birds about? It's a sign in the Bible not only of judgment, but the Egyptians believed that this way there'd be no hope for him in the afterlife. Birds will eat the flesh from you. On the third day, verse 20, And it has that verb again, and it happened, or now it was, that on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, or perhaps anniversary, we don't know, he made a feast. This is a drinking banquet for all the servants. And what God said would happen, happened. Both of them had their heads lifted up. One was restored to his place of nobility and service, and the other was decapitated, placed on a pole, and gorged upon by birds. God's word will come true. Verse 23, not the whole verse 23, but he hanged the chief baker and that word as, as Joseph had interpreted to them. His word will not return void. Close. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. It wasn't like whoops, a moment of aloofness. This was cold-hearted and callous. I'm not gonna mention this guy. Everything's happy and good for me. I'm gonna rock the boat. Pharaoh seems to be one of those guys who blows up over the smallest of things. And so it says the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Was Joseph forgotten in the pit? Oh good, yes and no. Perhaps forgotten by the cup bearer. Is he forgotten by God? Absolutely not. Quickly, quickly, quickly, turn to Isaiah 49. On this fancy Bible with three ribbons in it and it's wonderful for preaching. It's very similar to Isaiah 40. were the people of Israel who, as it were, are in a pit, a bore. And before Daryl gets to it, there's nothing boring about being in prison. The Hebrew word for pit is bore, if you missed it. And here they are wondering, God, what are you doing? Are you not powerful? Do you not care? Now Isaiah 40 says, I am powerful. Isaiah 49 says, I care. 49, 14, but Zion said, Yahweh has forsaken me. And Adonai, or the Lord, has forgotten me. Sometimes we feel like that. Can a woman forget her infant and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. So you might forget that, but you might remember in the song, my name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart. God has not forgotten Joseph. His eyes on the sparrow, how much more the eyes upon Joseph. So two points, two applications. Turn to Luke 23. We have another scene, maybe not a literal pit, but a cross which signifies all that the pit pointed towards. Go and read the Old Testament and see the connotations of pit, it's Sheol, a place of torment and judgment. We have three men now, not in a prison, but on a hill. One is innocent to have sinned. Verse 39, and one of the criminals hanging was there blaspheming him, saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other answered and rebuking him said, do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying to him, I love the tense, It's the ongoing repetition. He was saying to Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. So here we have again, unfaithful men forgetting, not remembering. Why do I say this? Because Jesus will not forget those who belong to him. Even those who have sinned grievously against Him. Who deserve judgment and condemnation. He will remember you. I pray that you will remember that when you're in the pit. The cupbearer is not faithful to remember. Oh how different Jesus is. Second point. Moses talks about third day a lot. There's a third day that Abraham looked up and he saw deliverance. Remember the goat? Not a lamb, but a goat. Three days. Three days here, and then deliverance. Exodus 19 and 20, in covenantal terms, on the third day, they come before Yahweh. So Moses isn't saying, here's resurrection, beep, beep, beep, beep, you know, blinking lights. But I would say already that Moses is beginning to lay the foundation of Jesus' resurrection from the dead on the third day. And this is not eisegetic. Because in 1 Corinthians 15 it says, not only did the Old Testament talk about the suffering of the Messiah, but that he would be raised on the third day. Have you ever found anywhere in the Old Testament where it says, on the third day? I would say that Paul's looking at this, and he's saying, though Moses is not saying a one-to-one, he's laying the foundation of deliverance on the third day. You can see this in Hosea chapter six, which contrasts the fickle, unfaithful love of humanity with God's covenant love, and how on the third day, they will be raised again and delivered. And so what I'm saying here is that we're already beginning to see the foundation of release and redemption and salvation on the third day. Because it's not enough to believe that Jesus died. You must also believe, says 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 10, that God raised him from the dead on the third day. Have you? Last little point that we'll see next time. The innocent one wrongly punished will go on to reign. God's purposes will not be thwarted no matter what. No matter how terrible or tragic things may be, things that should never happen, happen, God is using them to bring his salvation, and he is causing them to bring his kingdom into this world. In Joseph, in Christ, ultimately, and now through his church. So how will you respond as you're in your pit, as you're suffering, maybe justly or unjustly? And it may come. I don't know if you see what's happening in the world, but it may come. And Joseph is acting with steadfast love. Why? Because he has been acted upon in steadfast love. You having a hard time loving others, forgiving others, serving others? It's because you're forgetting. And instead you need to remember that you've been loved with an everlasting love. You have been forgiven and you have been redeemed because Christ rose on the third day. I think that's enough. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful for all of your goodness to us and that Jesus Christ truly is the yes and the amen to all of your promises. And Father, I would just cry out this morning that if there's anyone who needs to be forgiven, that they, like the insurrectionists, the thief on the cross, would come to their senses and realize that they deserve punishment. But they also can be delivered if they trust in the innocent, righteous sufferer, the Lord Jesus Christ. That all of their sins would be imputed to His account and His righteousness to their account. Father, I just pray that you would help us to continue to trust you. That we would keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. That we'd be very leery of focusing on the wrongs done to us. and trying to control the uncontrollable. Father, would you just help us to be faithful where you have us, irrespective of where you have placed us. And now, Lord, as we remember what Christ has done in the Lord's table, I ask that you would help us to remember this week that he is coming to judge the living and the dead, that he who escaped the pit will rescue us from ours one day. Lord, we love you, and we thank you, and we ask that you'd be glorified even this morning and afternoon. In Jesus' name, amen.