Genesis chapter 40. I tell you, every time we sing that song, come thou fount, and above all else, my heart burns within me to see Christ lifted up. And as we approach the Old Testament, right now I am not just approaching old stories, old Jewish stories. Right now what we're seeing is shadows of Christ, foreshadows of Christ, pointing us to his redemption, specifically today his humiliation and his exaltation. Last week we continued our Joseph journey and we saw that Joseph was thrown into prison based on an accusation of sexual assault by Potiphar's wife. He did not actually assault her, but since she could not have him, she wanted to destroy him. And so, accuse him of sexual assault, and he is thrown in prison. Now today, the question is, how is God's providence working in Joseph's life while he is in prison? While he is in prison. And this is a theme we are continuing to repeat in this Joseph narrative. that these seemingly unfortunate circumstances are not an indication that God is not at work in Joseph's life. And that should be a great comfort to us. So these two chapters, I want to deal with two chapters today. This is a big chunk of scripture, 40 and 41. They detail the shift from the lowest point in Joseph's life to the highest point in Joseph's life. This is Joseph's state of humiliation and Joseph's state of exaltation in chapter 40 and 41. Now this is certainly not going to be a be like Joseph message today. I think we've heard enough of those in evangelicalism. As if the whole Bible were just about how, you know, as if this story here were about how, you know, you've got to go down to get up first. And it's just this platitude that can be applied to business and anything else. The story here, the account in Scripture is about how God has providentially worked through the ups and downs and unfortunate circumstances of Joseph's life to keep his covenant promises to his people. So Joseph is a vessel that God is using to keep alive the people of the covenant. And that's how the story ends up in Genesis 50. However, having said that, having said that this is not a Be Like Joseph message, there are ways in which Joseph exemplifies godly character in this passage. He is a prototype of the godliness that we see most fully in the God-Man, Jesus Christ. And therefore, I want to see that Joseph stands in the stream of godliness, which is most fully expressed in Jesus Christ. So I want you to, as we look through this passage, I want you to do today, look and see how God's providence on the one hand is working in Joseph's life. And number two, how Joseph does have and maintains a God word mentality throughout the life of his difficulty trials resulting in a redemptive redemptively oriented exaltation in his life. So, chapter 40, what happens to Joseph when he was thrown into prison? Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers. and 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, and they continued for some time in custody. Now, the cupbearer and baker, that sounds like menial work. You're bearing the cup, you're giving the goblet to the king, and you're baking foods. It sounds like, yeah, this is not that important. But actually, these were positions of great authority in a kingdom. Because if you wanted to kill a king, you would poison his food or you would poison his drink. So therefore, the cup bearer and the baker actually had rank. And it seems that the cup bearer would have been a position that was in charge of everything. From the harvesting of the grapes to the giving of the wine to the king. So where are the grapes coming from? Who's handling those grapes? How was the wine made? He would probably be overseeing that whole process, and then delivering it to the king himself. The same thing with the baker. Where are we getting the grains from? He's overseeing the process, and finally he's giving it to the king. So, these were actually positions of fairly high rank in a kingdom, in an ancient kingdom. Now, we're not told exactly what they did, why they're thrown in prison. We don't know if it was a fly in Pharaoh's wine or sand in his bread. We're not sure, but we do know that the offense was great enough for them to be thrown in prison. So, Joseph in custody with two men, and one night they both have a dream. And one night they both dreamed, and 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? And 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 cubbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, in my dream, there was a vine before me. And on the vine, there were branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth and clusters ripened into grapes. And 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. Three branches are three days. In three days Joseph 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 cup-bearer. Only remember me when it goes 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 burrs were eating it out of the basket on my head." And Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation. 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. Here we see Joseph emerging as a prophet, an interpreter of dreams. The one thing here that we see Exemplifying his prophetic gifting is not only in the fact that he interprets the dreams, but in whom he believes is the source of the interpretation in verse 5. And one night they both dreamed the cupbearer. I'm sorry, not verse 5, verse 8. He says, do not interpretations belong to God. So Joseph does not draw attention to himself as the source of insight when he's actually giving the interpretation. Joseph stands as an interpreter of God's revelation. He's an interpreter, not the source, but the interpreter of God's revelation. And that is what a prophet is. Very interesting, there's an old Puritan book on preaching. And the title is called The Art of Prophesying. I always like that title because his point is preaching is prophesying, not in the sense of foretelling the future, but foretelling God's word. And in this church, we are not getting up on the pulpit. I'm not getting on the pulpit here. For any man who comes after me, is not getting up on the pulpit here and sharing insights that arise from them. What we're committed to in this church is the art of prophesying. We are going to simply interpret what God has revealed, clearly expose what God has revealed in his word. That's why we're committed to expository preaching, meaning we go through a passage of the Bible, This is the Word of God. So therefore, we're going to go through passages of Scripture, and we're going to expose the meaning of that Word, and show how it is helpful, an encouragement, a rebuke, or a command to God's people. And ultimately, we see all the promises of God fulfilled in Christ Jesus. This is why, I mean, the prophets were interpreters. The priests were to teach the law of the Lord. Paul tells Timothy, preach the word. The Greek commission is to make disciples, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. So men, women, brothers and sisters, what we're doing here in this church is we are interpreting God's revelation to us. And we're bringing, And I know I've said this before, sometimes it almost slightly annoys me when we talk about how does this apply to me? How does the Bible apply to me? And yes, we do need to apply the scripture. But more fundamentally, what I'm looking for is how do we apply ourselves to the commands of scripture? So this is what we're doing. We are interpreting God's revelation. So, he is the gift of a prophet, and that gift of a prophet is confirmed by the fact that he is acknowledging God as the source of his insight, and the fact that he's interpreting dreams, and now the third fact, that the dreams, the interpretation of the dreams actually come true, verse 20. On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, by the way, That's how you know a true prophet, because many men, especially in more charismatic circles, have predicted the end of the world or the rise of this and that. If it doesn't come true on the date they said it would, that means that that's a false prophet and that we should not listen to that kind of person. 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 cup-bearer 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. So what Joseph has prophesied has come to pass. The cupbearer is restored to his position. The baker is killed and hanged. And although Joseph said, please remember me when you enter the kingdom. This man forgets. So in prison, Joseph is a an interpreter of dreams. And that's very clear. Now, this chapter kind of sets up what's going to happen now. He's in prison. He interprets the dreams. The cupbearer forgets completely about him, and then what happens in verse 1 of chapter 41? After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. Stop right there for a minute. After two whole years, Joseph, at this point, has been a slave or in prison, I believe, for 13 years in Egypt. And we're not even sure how long he was in prison before the two years he was forgotten. So years in prison. I want you to know how slowly God's providence seems to work in our lives. God's providence and preparation is a very slow process. He called Moses when he was 80 years old and actually sent him out into the wilderness when he was 40 and used him when he was 80 years old. That is a lot of slowness in God's presence. It's slowness to us, but it's not slowness to God. And that's exactly what Peter said. He says, don't count the providence of God as slowness, but God is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach redemption. So choose to live at God's pace of providence. Joseph had to be in the prison for two whole years before he was even remembered. So if we outpace God's providence, we're going to be frustrated at God, frustrated ourselves, feel like God is not working. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. This is the lot he's given you right now. And I think we see in scripture, the best place to be is a humble submission, a trusting posture, where you are right now, and at the proper time. He will lift you up. He will lift you up. And that's what Peter says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. And when the time is right, when the time is right, he will exalt you in whatever that form, that exaltation will be. You, the exaltation will definitely be a redemptive purpose. We're not just talking about, um, attaining positions. We're talking about being useful to God. So humble yourself in the mighty hand of God, and when the time is right, He will exalt you. Joseph or Pharaoh has this dream and behold verse two there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump and they fed in 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 and thin cows ate up the seven attractive plump cows and Pharaoh awoke And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, the 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 thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke. And behold, it was a dream. So in the morning, his spirit was troubled. And he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer 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. And 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 chief baker was hanged. Now, what is peculiar about Pharaoh's dream here, obviously, is imagine thin, ugly cows. You can see their ribs. They're yellowed, and they're sickly, and they come out of the Nile. And these attractive, white, happy cows and the thin, ugly cows open up their mouth in an ugly attempt to swallow up the big plump cows, and they do, and they swallow up the big plump cows, and they're just as thin as before, and just as ugly as before. That's a very strange dream. Same thing with the corn. It was good corn, and then corn blighted by the east wind took over. So what do these things mean? Have you ever been disturbed by a dream before? I've woken up very disturbed by dreams before. So I kind of, I know this feeling of having this sense of what was that? So he has these peculiar and disturbing dreams and this prompts the cub bearer finally to remember Joseph after two years. Finally, he remembers Joseph and says, oh yeah, there is a dream interpreter in jail. Maybe that would help you. Now we come to the point where Joseph will be brought out of the prison cell and presented before Pharaoh. Verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And 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. And Joseph answered to Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. Then Pharaoh interprets the dream, or he tells the dream. Ugly cows, yellowed, sickly, come in, open up their mouth, swallow up these other cows. The same thing happens with the healthy grain. What is the story? Can you interpret? Verse 25, Joseph does give his interpretation. The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that 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. And there will come seven years of plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. But after them, there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by the reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God. And God will shortly bring it about. The most significant thing that happens in that section that I just read is not that Joseph interpreted the dream to Pharaoh. But as I see it, the most significant thing that happens is the manner in which he interprets it. Here we are after Joseph has spent years as a slave and then in prison. Finally he's called out of prison and he is presented before who is at this time the most powerful man on earth. This is the time to show his worth, his value. This is the time for him to show that he is somebody unique and special. This is his time to shine and establish himself on the biggest, this is the biggest stage of his life. This is the biggest moment of his life. And he can demonstrate with cool and calm collectedness how he is useful to Pharaoh. And he can get out of prison. Yet, notice his language in verse 16. It is not in me. It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable interpretation, or he will, some versions read, he will interpret to Pharaoh, he will reveal to Pharaoh the well-being that will come before him. Verse 25, God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. Verse 32, God has shown Pharaoh. So there is a self-emptying in Joseph. He is on the biggest stage of his life and he intentionally shifts the attention away from himself and to God as the source of revelation. So at the first opportunity to promote himself, Joseph demonstrates a God-centered humility, pointing away from himself, away from himself, and to God as a source of revelation, making it abundantly clear that he is not the source of his own insight. Brothers and sisters, it is in this way that Joseph is a prototype of the kind of person whom God is pleased to use. And the prophets stand in line with this kind of self-emptying, God-pointing kind of declaration. Listen to how Daniel Acts very similarly to Joseph does here. Daniel, in Daniel 2.30, when he is also brought to interpret dreams, he says, Not because of any wisdom that I have, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind. So there's a pointing away, pointing away from yourself and to God. How about the Apostle Paul in Romans 15, 18? For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished. through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed. It's not me, it's what Christ has accomplished through me. So as I see it, the kind of men and women that the Lord uses in his kingdom are the kind of people who are free from anxious self-promotion. They are not glory hounds looking to promote themselves, looking to point to themselves as the source of insight and revelation or power or usefulness. These men point away from themselves. They empty themselves and they are thereby filled with a greater measure of Christ. I believe that those in whom God's power is pleased to reside is those in whom there is a self-emptying. So here's a frame of mind to keep in mind. Am I the kind of person, am I acting out of anxious self-promotion or Do I have a God wordness? Do I have a God wordness and an otherness? About my life and about my actions and in this way, this is the way of the kingdom. Here is the secret of power in God's kingdom. Because you see the qualities of Christ in this, that Philippians 2 passage which we refer to so much because it's so poignant. who was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be clung to. What did he do? He emptied himself and took on the form of a servant. May we be a church of people, men and women, who empty themselves. Empty themselves and take on the form of servants. Empty myself of my contents, my pride, my ambitions, I'll circle back to this, but notice the only dreams Joseph had was the ones God had gave him. That's the way to empty yourself. Attach your highest expectation and ambitions to God's own ambitions and expectations. May your kingdom come. May your will be done. This is how all your dreams can come true. It's how all your dreams can come true if your dreams become God's will. Then they're sure to become true. So in God's economy, the way upward is downward. It's a self-emptying. Before honor is humility, the proverb says. And we see that exemplified in Joseph's life. And it is not surprising then It is not surprising that the very next movement of this account is a movement towards exaltation. Verse 33. 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 one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years and let them gather all the food for these years that are coming and store 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 is 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 to the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand, and put it in Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride on his second chariot. And they called out before him, bow the knee. Thus they 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 a hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph. Let me pause there for a second. So Pharaoh exalts Joseph to be vice regent of Egypt, and he gives them his ring of authentication. As it's well known, the kings would have a ring that creates a seal on melted wax to show that this is the authentication of the king. So by giving him this ring, He is entrusting Joseph with authority in the affairs of Egypt. If you've ever seen the Disney Aladdin, Jafar. You know Jafar from Disney Aladdin? That's what Joseph is here. He's vice regent or vizier. So he is the vizier or vice regent of all of Egypt. Then the story takes a peculiar turn here, and as Christians and even Jews have read this before, there's something uncomfortable about what's going on here. See if you can discern what might be uncomfortable in this situation. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zephanath-Paneah. And he gave in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, priest of An. So Joseph went over all the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered into 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 the food of the seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be counted. And before the year of famine came two sons. Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of An, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the first Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship in my father's house. The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. What might be uncomfortable about this, and I think is rarely even pointed out, is that Joseph is married. First of all, his name is changed from his Hebrew name Joseph to an Egyptian name. So he's thereby his his Hebrew identity is being altered. What what Pharaoh is doing is assimilating him into Egypt. by changing his name. Not only that, but then Pharaoh gives Joseph the daughter of a pagan priest of the sun god Ra. Ra was the sun god. And so now Joseph's name is changed. His wife is the daughter of the priest of Ra. Then he has children with her. So the question is, has Joseph not only lost his Hebrew identity, but has he lost his faith through this exaltation in the covenant God? Now, we really don't know for sure at this point. That becomes clear in chapter 20, I think, or chapter 50. But I think we can have confidence that Joseph kept faith in God's covenant promises and kept faith, the faith of his father Abraham. Why? Because he gives his children Hebrew names, not Egyptian names. He gives them Hebrew names, Manasseh and Ephraim, which become tribes in Egypt, or in Israel. And he continues to reference God throughout his time. God has made me prosper in the land of my affliction. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. So he continues in the faith of his fathers. And finally, in chapter 50, he will request to be buried back in the promised land. He will request that his bones be brought back to the promised land. And this shows, I think, that Joseph was in the land of Egypt, but he was not of the land of Egypt. Yes, his name was changed. Yes, he was given a wife of a pagan priest, but he kept the faith of Abraham. And at the very end of his life, he would ask that his bones be buried in the land of promise. And we have this mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 22, by faith, by faith, at the end of his life Joseph made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. So by faith. So I think we can have confidence that Joseph kept the faith of his covenant father Abraham Then, after this happens, the nations are given food because of the wisdom of a child of Abraham. 53. 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. And there was famine in all the lands, but in all the lands of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Joseph for bread. And Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, go to Joseph and do what he tells you. 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. Well, what we have here is God's covenant promises to Abraham beginning to take shape. All the nations are beginning to be blessed in the life of Joseph. Not through Egypt, but through Joseph. In you, in your offspring, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And even if it's in rudimentary form, we see these covenant promises beginning to take shape so that the Lord is blessing the nations and giving his covenant people life because of an offspring of Abraham. I mean, roiling under this is Christ. I mean. The the. Reformers talked about something called the doctors doctrine of the census plan or. of the Old Testament, the fuller meaning of the Old Testament. Now, we read this story and then we close our Bible, but really there's a fuller sense and that sense is Christ. And sometimes you could draw very thin parallels, very thin parallels that don't really make aren't obvious or intended Holy Spirit intended connections, but You do see in this passage Joseph being a prototype of Christ who? was went into a state of humiliation and was brought into a state of exaltation and I mean, he was he was imprisoned with two thieves, almost just like Christ was crucified on the cross with two thieves. Very interesting parallels. And I don't mean to say that they're all equally valid, but they there are parallels that are very interesting parallels. But what I want to do is just close out with two points, two points. Number one, I think we see something of God's providence, how God's providence works. God's providence is working through the circumstances of Joseph's life, not in spite of, but through the circumstances. So if Joseph was not enslaved, he would not have been wrongfully imprisoned. If he was not wrongfully imprisoned, he would not have had the chance to interpret dreams. If he had not had the chance to interpret dreams, he would not have been exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh. If he had not been exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh, then he would not have been able to keep alive the covenant people or all the nations at this point. So I think we see, here's another example of the fact that God does not make all things occur, but he does work all things together for his intended purposes. So he is sovereign over everything that happens. So these circumstances don't mean that God was not with Joseph. They don't mean that. Nor does it mean that God wasn't active in Joseph's life, although one might think that. That I've been enslaved, I'm in prison, I'm going through such awful and hard things, not even because of anything I did. This is not an indication that God is not with you or for you in Christ. Nothing, as I said last week, nothing separates you from the love of God. And all things, we are told, are working together for good, for those who trust the Lord. And I think we can take great comfort in that. What you need to do, what I need to do, is choose to trust the promises of God, that He is working in these things, and then humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, knowing when the time is right, He will lift you up. The second thing we should note about this passage is we see, again, in God's economy, how God decides to exalt, how exaltation works in God's economy. There is always a humiliation before there is an exaltation. If God is going to use someone, he will humble them. Joseph was thrown in a pit, thrown in prison, and then was exalted to become useful to God. So in God's economy, humility always comes before exaltation. Proverbs 15.33 says, The fear of the Lord is the instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. So you see this pattern, humility coming before honor in God's kingdom. And you see that redemption itself was accomplished with this same framework of humility before honor. Turn with me to that familiar passage in Philippians 2. Philippians 2. have this mind among you which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not account equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So you see this state of humiliation and state of exaltation even in the framework of redemption itself accomplished by Christ. And as disciples of Christ, We follow Christ's pattern of humility before honor. That's why Peter says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and when the time is right, he will exalt you. So, I want to encourage you today to submit yourself under the good, loving, and wise providence of God, to humble yourself. Accept the lot that the Lord has given you for now. Ask in prayer what you might need from Him. Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you. But instead of grumbling and complaining, instead of railing at God, which is for some reason fashionable today, Humble yourself unto the mighty hand of God, and when the time is right, He might use you. And we know that He will glorify us with Jesus Christ. So, humble yourself unto the mighty hand of God. I want to ask our brother Gary and Ray to come up, for today is