Good morning. Good to see you. If you’ve got a Bible, go ahead and go with me to Romans chapter eight. We’re going to get right to it. The title of this message is “All Things for Good” (Romans 8:28), and it is taken directly from the text. Let’s read verse 28. We’re not going to do any review because we have a really large narrative we’re going to cut through this morning, it says this, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” “Those who love God, all things work together for good.” So, we have to ask this question: What does “all things” mean? “All things” means “all things”. Pretty clear, huh? Let’s bow in prayer. No, it means “all things”. And you say, “Well, what about bad things?” All things. “Well, what about so-so things?” All things. “What about stupid things?” All things. “What about my stupid things?” All things. All things work together for good. And people say, “Well, aren’t there any circumstances that can be seen as ultimately bad?” Yes. Well, there are things that are bad, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be for your bad. In the end, God works all things together for good, those who love Him and those who are called according to His purpose.
We see this in doctrine here, but what helps, and God knows this, obviously He knows everything, is the narratives that He provides, whether they’re in the Old Testament or the New, that we can see it lived out. It’s like the ability to peek behind the curtain of the divine mind, and to see how God actually does this in someone’s life, and so we want to do that with Joseph in the Old Testament. Now you probably remember Joseph was one of 12 sons born to Jacob, who was later changed his name. His name was changed to Israel, so he has 12 sons, and those end up being you know the 12 tribes of Israel, correct? But the narrative of how they ended up in a place where the nation could become what it was destined to become, it was of divine design. In fact, God was behind the scenes in the orchestration of it, as well as the facilitation of it, so you have a scenario here where you have the second to the youngest is Joseph, and he was born to Israel when Israel was quite old. He already had 10 other sons, and then Joseph had one younger brother named Benjamin, and the Bible is very clear that the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have been passed down to these sons. They knew that God had said He was going to make a nation out of Abraham and his lineage, and so that’s the expectation: is God’s going to do something, and we have a big part in it. They were still pretty, really, really close to Abraham in terms of the time frame, right? So, who knows what they were raised with? But they were certainly raised with an understanding that they were God’s chosen people because they absolutely were.
We pick up this story in Genesis 37:3-8. I’m going to do it kind of media res, so you’re going to get the narrative just kind of drop in the middle right here. It says this. It says, “Now Israel.” We know that’s Jacob, right? “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a robe of many colors.” Now the Bible is not giving commentary on the fact that he loves this son more than the others. He’s just simply saying this is the way it was. I, you know, you might have different feelings about that. You might say, “Well, that’s not right. You should love all your kids the same.” I get it. I’d fall in line with that. But this is the narrative right here. He’s letting us know he had a special love for Joseph, and so he gives him a special gift. Verse four goes on. It says, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers (oh) they hated him, and they could not speak peacefully to him.” Think about that. When you can’t even have a decent conversation with someone because you hate them so much. They hate him, and it’s only because they recognize the jealousy from their heart is that “Why doesn’t Dad love me as much?” And so, Joseph is taking heat. He didn’t do anything to earn it per se. He was just loved by his father, and so his brothers hate him. We could really say for no reason. Verse five, it goes on. It says, “Now Joseph had a dream.” Okay, now let’s pause real quick and just understand, not all dreams are from God, but this dream is. This dream is both of the dreams he has. They’re from God. Why? How do we know? Because God takes credit for them, and Joseph ascribes them to God, and they turn out to come true. They were prophetic in nature. So please don’t think that just because you have a dream that’s God speaking directly to you. Sometimes it’s pizza. “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.” So, swinging a miss on that one, right? Like, “Hey, I had a dream.” “Oh, we hate you more now.” Okay. The problem with it wasn’t that he had a dream. It wasn’t that he told him. It’s the context of it and the content. “He said to them (verse six) ‘Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field.’” What is a sheave? Well, you go to harvest something, you gather it together, and you tie it into bundles, and they stand up like that. And then you can come around and you can gather them up later. He says, “‘We were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.’” Right? I mean, I’ve known the story for God 40 something years, and I’m like, that seems audacious, but all he’s doing is saying, “This is a dream I had.” “And his brothers said to him, ‘Are you indeed to reign over us, or are you indeed to rule over us?’ So, they hated him even more for his dream and for his words.” Then, if you know the story, he tells another dream, and it actually includes his parents bowing down in front of him, and everybody’s offended. And so, you go to Genesis 37:11. It says, “And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.” Now let me just ask you this: Has he done anything yet wrong? No. Now was he a sinner? Yes. Did he need Messiah to save him? Yes, absolutely. But he has done nothing wrong. He’s simply being loved by his father, and God is interacting with him. Okay. Now I know this is native, literal, grammatical, historical. Yes, but it’s exemplary. It’s an example for us to be able to see this and see behind the curtain that sometimes, for no cause of your own, for no reason or fault of you, you end up persecuted and hated. It just happens that way sometimes. It doesn’t mean that you’re not loved, nor does it mean that the promises of God to you related to your life and your future aren’t true. It’s a false teaching that if you know are really loved by God and you have enough faith that somehow everything will work out perfectly for you. That’s an absolute lie. Show me one person in the Bible that that would be true for. Certainly not our Lord. He laid His life down after they hated Him so much. What about all the apostles except for one, were martyred for their faith, and John was certainly persecuted, though he wasn’t martyred.
So, what happens is, in this condition, somehow Joseph ends up a leader. He has a mind that is able to organize. He’s gifted in a sense of administration, and his father uses him that way. He sends him to keep track of the brothers as they’re working. So, he’s kind of got some authority over them, almost circumstantial. And this one time, when his father sends him, he goes and he finds his brothers to see how they’re doing. Now, before he’d had to come back and give bad reports because apparently they were lazy, just the way it is. This time he goes and he’s checking on his brothers in a kind of a faraway place. Genesis 37:18 says, “And they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.” Okay, they hate him. They hate him more. They hate him even more. Now they’re going to kill him because they’re jealous. You with me? So, what they do? Look at Genesis 37:23-24. “So, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore, and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.” Then what do they do? They start discussing. “How do we kill him?” We’re going to do this. Well, God’s providential care over Joseph has one of the brothers intercede for him and says, “Let’s don’t kill him.” And then providentially, look at Genesis 37:28, “Then Midianite traders passed by.” Here comes a caravan of traitors that are Midianites, “And they drew (this is his brothers) Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit.” And what did they do? They sold him. I want you to notice. They drew him up out of the pit and they sold him. You remember that, okay? “To the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver, and they (that’s the Ishmaelites they) took him to Egypt.” They take him from his home, from his father, from his mother, from his dear little brother, from the promises that he had, from the favor that he had, from the gift that he had been given. They take him and they take him to the most powerful empire in the world. Surely the promises can’t come to pass now. And all for doing what? All for being loved by his father and being diligent in his work. That’s it. That’s all he did. There’s none of the reason. Then the Midianites take him. Well, I’ll get to that here in a moment. I don’t want to forget this. Look at what the brothers do in Genesis 37:31-32. “Then they (that’s his brothers) took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood, and they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, ‘This we have found. Please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.’” I would argue they didn’t just hate Joseph; they hated their father as well, because this devastated him, this is his beloved son, and he believes that he’s been torn by a beast, and so he’s lamenting. His heart is broken, and he says, “My hairs will go down to the grave without peace.” He says, “My life is basically ruined because this has happened.”
Genesis 37:36, “Meanwhile, (back at the caravan) the Midianites had sold him (they sold Joseph) in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.” So, he gets into Egypt and he’s sold to one of the most powerful people in the world, a military leader within Egypt, and he becomes his servant, he becomes his slave. Now that looks pretty bad, but then it kind of starts to improve a little bit. Go to Genesis 39:3-8a. “His master (that’s Potiphar) saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands, so Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.” I’m telling you, the kid was sharp everywhere he went. By the way, he was 17 when this happened, 17 years old, just a young man. But boy, he’s diligent. He’s obviously got a lot going for him because he’s able to take responsibility and impress his employer. Verse five says, “From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and field.” Can we agree Joseph’s blessed? He is. He’s a blessed man. Two things can be true at once. He’s favored and blessed of God, and he’s still a slave working in Potiphar’s house. You see that? All things in these things, all things, not some things, not only good things, all things. I would call this bad things. Look, let’s say it this way: If you’re a slave and you get promoted, you’re still a slave, right? For all the good that can come, you’re in that moment you are enslaved. This is not a good scenario at all. Verse six says, “So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food that he ate. (Then the Bible chooses to add this) Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.” Family, if the Bible says you’re good looking, you’re good looking. Like, oh, that’s awesome, that’s kind of a perk. Oh is it? That backfires too. Verse seven, “After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’” She’s not after a nap. Now this was before the Ten Commandments. There was no “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” at least not codified. So, what did Joseph do? We’ll look at the beginning of verse eight, “But he refused…” Why did he refuse? There wasn’t the law written, right? Couldn’t he have said to himself, “Hey, maybe I deserve this. Well, maybe if the wife likes me too, man, this could only get better. I’ll have just great job security; they can never fire me. In fact, I might be able to blackmail her.” There’s all kinds of deviant plots that could have been spun out of nothing, but he refuses. Why? Well, two reasons: because he loves God, and he’s honoring his master. That’s called a man of integrity. This is a man of honor. I mean, surely things are going to go well for him because he’s only done the right thing? Is that what you’ve been taught? Have you been taught that? Maybe you’ve been taught that passively. Maybe when you look at somebody who’s struggling and who’s hurting and who’s weak, or who isn’t successful in some areas, or who’s going through trial, maybe you look down on them and you go, “Oh well, you know, what must you do?” There’s no telling what she’s done or what he’s done because you know God’s paying him back. This is the most blessed person in Israel. And here, what here’s what happened. Genesis 39:11-20, “But one day, when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house were there in the house, she caught him by the garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.” As the saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” and she has been jolted, man, and she’s mad. He’s completely innocent, but she does this, “And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, (she’s talking about her husband) he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us (“to make sport with us,” in the literal Hebrew). He came into to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that, I lifted up my voice and cried out. He left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.’” Boldface lie, character assassination-that is an absolute false accusation. “Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home.” So, she just stages it and stays there. “And she told him the same story, saying, ‘The Hebrew servant whom you have brought in among us came into me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.’ As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him. ‘This is the way your servant treated me.’ His anger was kindled.” I bet. Husbands, what would you do? This is a powerful guy. This is a military commander of the most powerful army on earth, and he feels like I did this guy a real favor. “I let him work here. I’ve given him all responsibility. I trusted this guy.” Verse 20 says, “And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in the prison.” From bad to worse, to worse yet to better to worse still, he’s in prison. This was not a good place to go. This was not a United States, you know, correctional facility. This is a pit. This is a terrible place to go. And the weirdest thing happens. He goes to prison, and he gets promoted. Doesn’t that sound dumb? Like you’re still in prison, but what the jailer does is he finds out anything he delegates to Joseph works really well. It’s just he has good rapport with the people. He’s able to lead. He’s able to keep them accountable. And the jailer ends up turning all the jail over to him. You might be thinking, “I bet Joseph was really happy.” Are you kidding? He’s in jail, but he gets promoted, and he does it for a set time that’s not stated. We only know the total of the years that he spends in jail at the end. But I’ll tell you this: things seem dark. I’ll prove it to you later in the psalm. Things seem dark. He’s got shackles on his ankles and he’s got a collar of iron around his neck. Bible says so. There he is in prison. Things are going well because he’s blessed. He’s blessed, and he’s in prison.
All things, really, all things, all things. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God. That’s Him, and called according to His purpose, that Him. And if you’re in Christ, that’s you. This is a picture, a summary picture. Yes, it’s of one man, but the principles are overlapping. This is God dealing with His people, and then one night everything kind of changes. He doesn’t have a dream, but two other guys do. Two men wake up and they want to tell their dream to somebody. So, who do they go to? They go to the guy who’s running the jail, and they tell him their dreams. And one guy is a baker, and he tells him his dream. And the other guy is a cup is a cup bearer. They’re both servants of the Pharaoh, and I don’t know what they did, but that must have been some horrible bread he baked to get thrown into prison. And the cup bearer, he might have spilled. Maybe he got drunk and he spilled on him. I don’t know. But they’re in prison, and Joseph interprets the dreams, and he tells the baker, “You’re gonna be released out of the prison and they’re gonna kill you.” And he tells the cupbearer “You’re gonna be released out of the prison and they’re gonna reinstate you and you’re gonna hand the cup to Pharaoh again. You’re gonna get your job back. You’re gonna stand next to Pharaoh and you’re gonna hand him his cup.” Some believe he might have been the poison taster. In other words, you’re gonna be right by Pharaoh’s ear. So, what does he tell him to do? Look at Genesis 40:14-15, “‘Only remember me (he says this to the cupbearer, only remember me) when it is well with you. Please do me the kindness. (Could you just mention me to Pharaoh) And so get me out of this house.’” Please just say something, right? You know, “Yere’s your cup. Hey, there’s a real good guy in prison. He interprets dreams. His name is Joseph. He’s a Hebrew. Oh, he didn’t rape her.” He goes on. He says, “‘For I indeed was stolen out of the hand of the out of the land of Hebrews, and here I also have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.’” “I’m here, and I’m not guilty. I didn’t do anything wrong.” He’s pleading his case. He helps this man by a supernatural gifting. Look at Genesis 40:23, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” And he forgot him for two more years.
Can you imagine how dark those years were? “God, You spoke to me and You gave me dreams, and I’ve been persecuted for it, and I came here and I’ve done my best job, and I get accused of trying to hit on this guy’s wife. I get thrown in prison. I’m doing my best job, and here I am. I help these guys out because of the gift you’ve given me, and now they’ve forgotten all about me.” It’s been two years ever since. All things, all things. These things, these things. Your things? Yes. My things? Yes. If we are in Christ, this is a promise. This is the assurance that we are under God’s sovereign, almighty hand, and He finishes what He starts, and you’re safe in Him. Even in the middle of this, some of you guys are in the middle of stuff like this, and you know who you’re thinking of right now. He or she, you probably remember the who, what, when, where, and why. You say, “I didn’t deserve that. I feel like I got that out of nowhere. God. You know what? What’s the deal?” Right? You ever had that prayer? Do you ever go a month and not where you’re almost like? “I thought as Your kid, it would be you know a little smoother ride.” No, it’s bumpy.
Historically speaking, two years pass after the cup bearer gets out, and then in one night everything changes. One night, the pharaoh has two dreams. He dreams. Let me ask you a question: Where do the dreams come from? They came from God. Now, does that mean every one of your dreams comes from God? Please don’t think that. Sometimes it’s pizza, right? But these did because we’re getting to look inside of this. Pharaoh has two dreams, and when he has those dreams, what does he do? He well, he calls everybody. He wakes everybody up. Basically, hey, get the magicians, get the wise men, get the soothsayers, bring them all in here. He tells them his dreams, and nobody can give him the interpretation. And then suddenly the cup bearer remembers. Oh yeah, like isn’t that a person you’d remember who prophesied your future to you? And he says, “Wait a minute, I know a guy. He’s in the prison, and he interprets dreams.” Genesis 41:14-16, “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit.” Do you know how fast God can move? That fast. You say, “Why didn’t He do it earlier?” You’ll see in a moment. You’ll see in a few moments. But let me just assure you, this delay was not a denial, and it was for Joseph’s good, and it was for God’s glory. I don’t remember who I first heard say this, so I can’t give proper credit: “But God is never late, but He passes up all kinds of opportunities to be early.” It’s only funny when it’s not you, right? “And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.’ Joseph answered Pharaoh, ‘It is not in me. (So, he doesn’t take credit. He doesn’t take glory. We’re seeing a humble man) God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.’” And so, Pharaoh tells him the dreams. Joseph explains what they mean. It means there’s going to be seven years of plenty in the land of Egypt. There’s going to be bumper crops for seven years, and then follow the seven years of plenty. There’s going to be seven years of famine. And everybody in the land of Egypt is going to die, and so you better do something about it because God’s showing you what’s going to happen in the future. And then Joseph gets to give a suggestion. Pharaoh’s like, “What should I do?” Basically, he says, “Well, it’d be really good if you had a man who knew how to lead things.” I’m paraphrasing. “I don’t know maybe somebody that cleaned up the jail. You need someone who can organize this thing, because what I would suggest is you take 1/5 of all the of all the reaping that happens year over, and you store them in strategic locations throughout the kingdom, so that when the famine hits, people can come to Egypt and buy grain, and then you know you’ll get the money, and then eventually you get the cattle, and then eventually you get their land. You’ll become more wealthy, and they will survive. If only you had someone who could run the show.” Genesis 41:38-40, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’” He’s now second in command. Out of nowhere.
You say, “But why didn’t it time out differently?” Because the divine mind of God knows what He’s doing, and He knows when He wants to do it, and this is all for His good. And listen, it’s not because there’s a happy ending, but because God is trailing a narrative all the way through your Bible and all the way through your life if you’re in Christ. And what’s the narrative? That’s something Joseph couldn’t see. God had promised to make Abraham a great nation, right? And Isaac and Jacob as well. They saw that lineage, but what God didn’t want to do is He didn’t want to grow that nation in the middle of the Canaanites. He didn’t want to do that. Why? Because the cultures would have interacted. So, He wanted to take them and put them in a safe place, protected by a huge kingdom where they could grow up for 400 years until persecution came, and then He had a deliverer that He would prepare and send and remove them, all pointing to the line of Messiah. That one day, all of this chain, we’d be able to stand back and look at it and go, “Glory to God! Look how He orders all things for good.” But then we look at our life and we say, “Yeah, but not this. And Chick Fil A is closed on Sunday, Pastor, and it’s hard.”
So fast forward, they store up all the grain, bumper crops, and so they have more grain than they’ll need to cover the next seven years. The famine comes. The famine comes. Now, who sent the famine? Circumstance or God? God did. Prove it to you in a minute. God sent the famine. It was by His divine design and through His divine decree. He knew exactly what He was going to do because what He wanted to do is He wanted to cause the 10 sons plus the youngest son, 11, and Israel to come and be safe in Egypt. This is how He worked this plan. Now you might be smart, but that’s omni that’s omniscient genius, and He did it this way. So, the famine hits. Joseph’s 40 years old now because it would be 13 years after he was thrown in the pit. Look at Genesis 42:5-6, “Thus, the sons of Israel.” Remember these guys? Remember these nice guys you wouldn’t want your kids hanging out with? Murderers, aren’t they? “Now the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for famine was in the land of Canaan.” So, the whole place was bad, even nations that were separate. Famine was huge. Verse six, “Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land, and Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.” You hearing this? It’s happening. It’s literally happening. Now we’re going to see what measure of man this actually is, right? What does Joseph do? Well, let’s be honest. He kind of punks them. He sends them out with grain, but he also has guys put all their money back in their pouches, so they feel like maybe we’re going to get arrested. They go and they eat it all, and then Jacob sends them back. Israel sends them back. This time he says, “I want to see your younger brother,” so he you know sends them. They get the younger brother. They put he puts his cup inside the younger brother in Benjamin’s side saddle, right? And like, “Oh my gosh, we’re going to die.” And he works this all of this drama up for them. It’s actually kind of funny. And in the midst of it, they say this. Look at Genesis 42:21. “Then they said to one another, ‘In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.’” “All this stuff, bad stuff, is happening to us. God’s getting even with us.” That’s what they think. They were both wrong. They’re wrong on both accounts, no truth at all. So, what they do is they bring Benjamin in, and Joseph gets to see his younger brother. This is Genesis 43:29-30, “And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, ‘Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me. God be gracious to you, my son!’ Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber, and he wept there.” You think so? The one you’ve loved and you’ve missed. They don’t know who they’re dealing with, do they? No, he hasn’t revealed himself yet. They just think he’s somebody who’s Pharaoh’s friend, and he does all the work.
And when he finally decides to reveal himself to them, it’s not what we would expect. Because I don’t know about you, but me and my flesh, I’d have been like, “It’s me, boys. And guess where you’re going? You’re going to prison.” It’s not how it works, because God has done a supernatural change in a man’s heart. Listen, through the through the through the good hard thing he went through. Here’s where he shows himself to his brothers. This is Genesis 45:1-5, Genesis 45:7-9, and Genesis 45:14-15. “Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. (In other words, the emotion is just overwhelming him.) He cried, ‘Make everyone go out from me!’ So, no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. (It’s just him and his brothers) And he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard it. (This man is bawling his eyes out) And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed.” Yeah, there’s other terms at his presence. “So, Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near, and he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. (But he doesn’t end there. He makes his next statements) And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me, but God sent me.’” What? Two things can be true at once. God is sovereign, and man is accountable. God is sovereign and providential over all things, and man makes choices. One does not disqualify the other. He says, “You sold me, but God sent me.” In other words, you were doing the very thing God wanted you to do, even though it was horrible, even though it was hard, even though it was trying, all things, these things, all things, because he loved God, he’s called according to his purpose. He goes on and he says, “‘And God sent me.’” Look at this, “‘And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors.’” The famine came. It was God’s way of bringing them in, and so He sends a man ahead of them. So, verse eight, “‘So, it was not (this will bake your noodle, it was not) you who sent me here.” But don’t you remember all the times they did it? They did it, they did it, they did it, they did do it. And I don’t know who you’re thinking of, but they did do it to you, and it doesn’t mean it was a good thing. It could have been a bad thing. The thing is still bad, but God is able to take even those things and work them together for your good. No one will be in heaven looking back and saying, “That was a terrible thing.” Every one of us will look back on our life if we’re in heaven with Jesus and with the church. We’re going to be looking back, saying the same thing: “It was all for the good. He worked it all for the good. Glory to Him.” Because what happened? “It got me here.” “‘It was not you that sent me here, but God. He’s made me a father of Pharaoh, a lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.’” God did that. He doesn’t say Pharaoh did it. He says God did it. He knows where to give the credit, doesn’t he? You see how he’s a humble man. He’s not taking credit. He’s not getting glory. This is a picture of a real disciple through a New Testament lens. And then he says this, “‘This hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me, Lord of all Egypt, come down to me and do not tarry.’” Then, Genesis 45:14-15, “Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that, his brothers talked with him.” He kissed all his brothers. What in the world happened in that jail? What happened in a horrible time for this sweetness to come out? How hard did the grape have to be pressed until the wine could be taken? How crushed did the olive have to be until the oil was good to use? He works all things. They go and get his dad. They bring him to Goshen, which, by the way, was the most fertile land. Joseph said, “Can they go to Goshen?” They said, “Yes.” Well watered, separate yet together under the protection. Joseph hears about it, Genesis 46:29, “Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel, his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.” Ah. 17 years later, Israel died, and it’s a beautiful picture of symmetry in the divine plan, because for the first 17 years of the narrative, Israel was caring for Joseph and loved him, and for the last 17 years of the narrative, Joseph is caring for his father Israel. He’s able to close his eyes in death. It was a wonderful, wonderful gift to both of them. Joseph is now 56 years old, and the brothers get nervous.
Genesis 50:15-20, “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.’” How about you? Would you be suspicious? I could see how they could easily reason that Dad’s no longer in the way. It won’t hurt Dad’s feelings if I kill you. “So, they sent a message to Joseph saying, ‘Your father gave this command before he died: (He didn’t, it’s a lie) Say to Joseph, ‘Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you. And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” He cried when they said it. He didn’t say, “You idiots! I know he didn’t say that. He would have told me to my face.” But he cries over them. Why? Because he loves them, and he has compassion on them, and he’s not wanting them to feel this shame and this terror and this fear. How did that get accomplished? I wonder. It got accomplished in the crucible of the trial that he went through, and it resulted in this good. “His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear. Am I in the place of God?’” No. There’s no payback coming. I don’t owe you anything. Why, Joseph? Because Joseph was now broken, and Joseph was now meek, and Joseph was now absolutely tender. And this is a true picture of love-the highest place your discipleship will ever go. And Jesus didn’t just say love those who love you. He said something like love your enemies. That’s still scary after 40 years. Verse 20, though, he says this to them: Watch, “‘You meant evil against me, but God meant it for (what? For Romans 8:28) God meant it for good to bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.’” Does “all things” mean “all things”? “All things” means “all things,” and the sweetness of the character of that man that you see at the very end of the narrative is because of what he went through. I’ll prove it to you.
This is Psalm 105, in this component of this piece of the Psalm 105. It’s talking about the famine. It’s talking about Joseph. It’s talking about the prison. Psalm 105:16-19, “When He summoned a famine on the land.” This is God speaking about God. Who brought the famine? God brought the famine, “And He broke all supply of bread.” If you’re here and you’re going, “Well, my God will never bring a famine.” Sorry, your God’s not the God of the Bible. Trade up. God did it. God did it, and He did it for a specific purpose to bring His people into Egypt. So later, 400 years later, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Look at verse 17, “He had sent a man, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.” How did He send him? Through good circumstances or through bad circumstances? He sold. He did it through bad circumstances. He worked it all together for good. “All things” means “all things”. This is a narrative. Yes, it’s not you, but it applies to you if you are in Christ. He doesn’t love you less than He loved Joseph. In fact, I’m going to say something that might freak you out. He doesn’t love you less than He loves Jesus. If you are in Christ, He loves you as Christ. He sees you as Christ. You are as justified before Him as Christ. See, but I still stumble, struggle, and sin. Yes, and you have an Intercessor who is your Advocate before the throne of God, and you’ll always have Him faithful. And you have an Intercessor inside of you that’s praying for you, that’s taking your prayers and making them perfect on the way up. We would say, and He’ll one day bring you all the way to glory. He’s going to finish what He started. There’s no regrets in here. Verse seven, verse 18 and 19. It says this of him. Look at this. “His feet were hurt with fetters, and his neck was put in a collar of iron.” There he is leading in the prison, and he’s in pain. And what happens when he’s in the fetters? What happens when the things around him? What happens in the darkest part of his life? Is it good things? It is good things. Look at verse 19, finally, until he was in those fetters and he had that collar, “Until what He (that is God) had said came to pass, (because it was God who spoke the dream, Until what He had said had come to pass, look at this) the word of the Lord( that was the promise) tested him.” “Sarap” in the Hebrew, it means to fuse, to melt the crucible, refine, to purify. That’s what that means. “he Word of the Lord purified him. Why? Because he had a promise, and all the circumstances went against it, and that caused the turmoil in his heart to have to deal with the sovereignty of God, to have to receive the dealings of God, and accept that God was over all. And if God was going to bring it about, God was going to have to do it. He can’t get himself out of jail. What about you? In the crucible, in the refining, what about us when we have the sorrow, when we have the hardship, when we go through the trial, when we go through the persecution? Are we able to look at it and say, “It’s all under my God’s hand, and ultimately it’s going to ultimately be for my good.” Even though it’s extremely bad, and that causes our heart to be tried, tested, refined, purified, so that we start dealing in a sweeter way, and we say it takes that to grow up in love.
If God says it does, it does, and if it’s Him, it’s good, because the narrative extends past Joseph, doesn’t it? Because there was another Son who was beloved by His Father. He too was sent by His Father. He too was envied by His own people, who He was sent to, and they too conspired to put Him to death. He was betrayed by a loved one for 30 pieces of silver. He was falsely accused of crimes He did not commit. He was placed in the prison of the dead, which is the grave. But He was brought out from that prison at the exact moment and seated at the right hand of a throne. And He made provision for those who actually hated Him. He calls still to His enemies. He forgives them and provides them with eternal life. He gives them His Holy Spirit, and one day He will return for them to take them to their home with Him. Jesus is the greater Joseph. You guys, let’s say it this way: Jesus’ crucifixion was the worst bad thing that had ever happened or ever will happen. It was the worst thing. It was the slaughter of the innocent, sinless Son of God, the worst thing that ever happened, and it resulted in the best thing for God’s people, didn’t it? Salvation, forgiveness, atonement, mercy, grace, hope, total regeneration, new creation came out of that bad. The God who did that is still able to do that with us. Praise His name.
In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:21 describes it this way: “For our sake, (look at that, “for our sake, He did it for us) He (that is God the Father) made Him (that is God the Son, Jesus) He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin (in other words, He put our sin on Him on the cross) so that in Him we might become the very righteousness of God.” Did a good thing come out of a bad thing? You bet it did. Take it to the bank. This is fact. Romans 8:28, one last time, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to His purpose.” I’ll say it to you one last time, every saint will one day look back on their lives and say, “It was all for my good, and God will get the glory.”
KEYWORDS
All Things, Romans 8:28, God’s Purpose, Joseph, Egypt, Dreams, Divine Design, Providence, Sovereignty, Famine, Integrity, Suffering, Redemption, Character, Refining, Jesus, Salvation, Grace, Good, Gospel, Cross, Sarap, Non-Denominational Church, Churches In Sherman TX, Sherman Churches, Bible Churches, Churches In Grayson County, TX
Speaker
Steve LeBlanc