Welcome to the Power For Life. This broadcast brings to you a message of life-changing revival in the Holy Spirit. We pray that today's program will help to spur you on to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life. Now here with today's message is Tom Hill. Someone has described the Bible as a book that gives to us a revelation of Jesus Christ. And they have said, and rightly so, that on virtually every page of the scripture, there is something that is described about the Lord Jesus. And that description may come in the form of a prophecy, in some instances, speaking forward, making a prediction about the Lord Jesus. Another way in which the scriptures talk about Him is by picture, or by some kind of parable, or example that gives us a portrayal of the Lord Jesus. we find in the Old Testament that there are numerous pictures that talk about the Lord Jesus. Sometimes they are people, sometimes they are things that are within the tabernacle. Well, today I want us to examine a person who pictures the Lord Jesus, who in his life gives us an example of the Lord Jesus who was to come, so that this person was not only a picture, but was also a kind of a prophecy. a prediction of what the Lord Jesus would be like. And that person is Joseph. Perhaps you've heard of Joseph as described for us in the Old Testament. Joseph was the favorite son of his father Jacob. And he was treated as a special child, often is treated, given special benefits. And his brothers did not like him. In fact, the Bible tells us that they hated Joseph. One day they sold him as a slave into Egypt to get rid of him because they didn't want him pestering him any longer. While in Egypt, Joseph rose to the rank of a very prominent person in the house of his master, Potiphar. Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to commit sexual immorality with her and he resisted and turned the other way. She brought charges against him as having tried to rape her and he was sent off to prison on the false charges. While in prison, he again rose in power and authority in prison and became the head and director of all of the prison under the person who was the director of the prison itself. Joseph was second in command. While in prison, there were two men who were sent to prison by the Pharaoh. One was the baker, and the other was the butler. Two people who worked personally for the Pharaoh. While they were in prison, they had dreams, and their dreams were very disturbing, and they could not resolve the dreams that they had. Joseph interpreted their dreams, and they came true. I want us to examine today that little part of Joseph's time in prison. That time when he interpreted the dreams for the butler and the baker. For they give to us a picture of the Lord Jesus. And how the Lord Jesus wants to work in our lives. How he wants to work in your life. And we see it by picture, by the example of Joseph. The example is taken from Genesis chapter 40. Genesis chapter 40 is a fairly lengthy chapter, so I will not take the time to read all of the chapter. But as we come to a pertinent passage, I'll read the verses that specifically apply to the issue and the concept that I want you to understand. But they have to do with the butler and the baker who are in prison, and they have dreams, and Joseph helps them. and it's taken from Genesis chapter 40. And from this example, I want us to see two things about the Lord Jesus and what He wants to accomplish in my life and what He wants to accomplish in your life. And I pray that the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see Jesus and to understand Him today, perhaps in a new way, and that you might find the Spirit of God bringing these truths into your life and changing you as a result of your knowing, understanding and believing the truth and applying them in your life. The first thing I want you to notice about Joseph and then Jesus is the fact that Joseph reached out to people who were in need. Now, here was Joseph himself in prison. and we might describe him as a person in need, and rightly so. However, while he was in prison, and that's part of the reason perhaps why he rose in authority and prestige in the prison, he reached out to people who were in need themselves. And I want you to notice how it happened. It's in Genesis chapter 40, starting in verse number five, I've already told you that the butler and the baker for pharaoh are in prison and then we start in verse number five and it says this and they dreamed a dream both of them each man his dream in one night each man according to the interpretation of his own dream the butler and the baker of the king of egypt which were bound in prison and joseph came into them in the morning and looked upon them and behold they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his Lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sad today? Now here's a picture of Joseph himself in need, and yet as he's going about his daily duties and routine in the prison, he comes upon the butler and the baker and he notices that they're sad. He notices there's something different about them than what he had noticed in days previously. He notices that they're sad. There's a look in their face and in their eye that calls out to Joseph and says, Joseph, something is wrong. And Joseph looked at them and he saw that there was something disturbing them. And he stops and he turns to them and he said, what's the matter, guys? Why are you sad? What has happened that has caused you to be so disturbed and upset as I see you this morning? Joseph took the time to reach out to those that he observed about him who were in great need. That's the picture of the Lord Jesus Himself. The Scriptures describe for us the Lord Jesus Himself in those exact same terms. that it was the Lord Jesus who reached out to people who were in need. And the Scriptures give us abundant evidence that this was Jesus' pattern. This is why He came, to reach out to people like you and like me. And I want us to look at a few verses that describe the Lord Jesus as reaching out to people who are in need. Perhaps that describes you today. Perhaps you are somewhat like this butler and baker. You're disturbed, you're upset, you're confused, and the pressures of life have come in upon you. And if I could see your face, perhaps I would even say as Joseph did, why are you sad? Well, the Lord Jesus himself sees that. And I want you to see the Lord Jesus as reaching out to people like you who are in need. First, I want us to notice a couple of verses that are general in their nature. where they talk about the Lord Jesus reaching out to people. And then I want us to notice some specific kinds of people that Jesus reached out to help. The first ones I want you to notice are really general in their nature, that describe for us the Lord as a basic aspect of His character and nature, reaching out to people who are in need. The first one is taken from Luke chapter 1, verse number 79, It's talking about the Lord Jesus who is yet to be born, and it's describing the Lord Jesus and what He is going to be like. And it says He is going to give light to them who are in darkness and in the shadow of death, to be a guide for our feet on the way of peace. Sounds like someone reaching out to people in need, doesn't it? Those who are in darkness, those who are in the darkness of death. Those who need guidance and direction. Jesus is going to come to give light and direction. And then we notice a little further on in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verse number 18, we read another example of the Lord Jesus Himself, describing what His ministry was going to be like. We find in Luke, chapter 4, verse 18, He's reading and He says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, and to preach deliverance to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are bruised." So, the Lord Jesus recognized that the purpose he was sent to fulfill was to reach out to people who were in need. Perhaps that describes you today. You are someone who would admit and would recognize your need. You need someone like the Lord Jesus to reach out to you and to help you. You're broken-hearted. You're in darkness. You need direction. The Lord Jesus came to reach out to people like you. Now I want us to notice some specific references, a little more specific than these, of where the Lord Jesus had compassion upon people, and the kinds of people on whom He had compassion. Perhaps it will describe you today, and you will see the Lord Jesus in a new picture and a new way in your life. The first one we find in Matthew chapter 9, where it says that the Lord Jesus had compassion. 936. It says, And when the Lord Jesus saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Here's a picture of the Lord Jesus having compassion and reaching out to those who are confused, those who are directionless, Those who don't know what's happening in life and why are these things coming into me and into my experience? And you're confused and you don't understand what's happening. The Lord Jesus looks down upon those who are like sheep without a shepherd. And it says He had compassion upon them. Could that describe you today? As confused and needing to feel and to sense the compassion of the Lord Jesus in your life? That's one of the ways the Lord Jesus reaches out is to those who are confused and disturbed and distraught about life's circumstances. We find another example also in the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 14, verse number 14. We find the compassion again of the Lord Jesus. And it says this, And Jesus went forth, and he saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. We find numerous references in scripture about the Lord Jesus healing those who were sick. And I want to present to you today the Lord Jesus is the healer. There are things that the Lord Jesus can do that no human being can. I can look back in experiences in my own life when God healed me. took away disease and sickness that no physician could treat. God simply miraculously healed me, touched my body, gave me health in the midst of sickness. I want to present to you today the Lord Jesus is the healer. Could it be today that the Lord Jesus would look down upon you and your sickness and your need and would reach out to you today and heal you? Healing comes by faith. It comes by faith in the Lord Jesus. He is the healer. He could bring about perhaps in your life today what no physician is able to do. Could it be that today might be a day that God would heal you and would reach out and touch your body, restore it to health in the midst of sickness and illness? The Lord Jesus is the healer. And I would urge you today, if you are in the midst of illness and sickness, to call upon the Lord Jesus. Perhaps today He might bring to you health and strength and renew you physically in a way that no physician can. The Lord Jesus reached out to those who were sick and ill. Could it be that today He would reach out to you? Call upon Him. Ask Him to heal and to restore your body. perhaps today would be the day that he would bring health to you. We find another example of the Lord Jesus reaching out to people who are in need in the Gospel of Matthew, just over a couple pages from the reference we just read in Matthew chapter 15, where we again read of the Lord Jesus having compassion. Matthew 15, verse number 32. And Jesus called his disciples and said unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." Here's a picture, an example of the Lord Jesus having compassion upon those who have basic human needs. Basic human needs like food, like clothing, like housing, like work. God has compassion upon people like that. And perhaps today that describes you, where you are in need of basic human necessities. Food, clothing, a job, a house, a home, a place to live. The Lord Jesus seeks people like you. Could it be that today the Lord Jesus would have compassion upon you and provide and meet your physical, basic human needs? It's to examples like this that the Lord was sent. He had compassion upon people and He reached out to them in their need. Could it be that today you have some needs similar to what we've described and read from Scriptures? and that you find yourself needing supernatural help? Could it be that the Lord Jesus would come today and provide that supernatural help for you? Well, how do we get these needs met? How are they satisfied? We find them, again, give an example for us, in the life of Joseph. And they point out for us what the Lord Jesus does. We return back to our example of Joseph because he gives us the basis and the foundation of what the Lord Jesus does, and I want you to see it in picture form, and then we'll see the verification of that truth about the Lord Jesus. After he looked at them and he saw that they were sad, they responded to him and said, We have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dream." Well, here's the picture. Here's the setting. The two men respond back to Joseph and they say, yeah, we are upset. We are confused. We are concerned. We've had a dream. Each of us have had a dream and we cannot understand it. Not only that, there is nobody here to help. We're cut off from the diviners of Egypt. We're cut off from all of the magicians who might possibly help us. I have no means of help. I'm hopeless. Joseph came to them and he described to them the one in whom there is all hope, and that's God himself. And he turned to them and he said, listen, you don't need a diviner, you don't need an interpreter, you don't need some kind of special human help. What you need is God. God is the one who can interpret dreams. Tell me your dream. And so the baker and the butler relate their dream to Joseph, and God gives to Joseph the ability to interpret their dream, and He explains it to them. And that's the balance of the chapter 40 of Genesis. What's the point I'm making here for you to see? The point is this. Joseph saw their need, but he saw the fact of their true need. Their true need was a spiritual need. It was something that no human being could satisfy and explain and resolve. It was something that only God Himself could answer. And He took them to God and God provided for them the answer. How does that then apply to the life of the Lord Jesus? Well, it applies in every way. Because it was the Lord Jesus who, when he looked down upon humans and he saw and had compassion upon them, he saw their real need. Oh yes, there were some superficial needs like we discussed. There was discouragement, there was blindness, there was confusion, there was human needs, some of the basic human needs that needed to be met. There was illness that needed healing. But through all of that, the Lord Jesus saw the real, deeper, most important need, and it's a spiritual need. It's a need that no human can satisfy nor resolve. There is no one on earth who can come along and do and provide for you what God Himself alone can provide. And the Lord Jesus came to meet that deeper spiritual need that you have and that I have. And the Scriptures give us very clear evidence of that truth. that the Lord Jesus came, yes, to have compassion on those who were in need and to satisfy those needs according to the will of the Father, but His real deeper purpose was to satisfy the underlying deeper spiritual needs of mankind that only He could satisfy and meet. I want you to notice how the Lord Jesus points this out on numerous occasions in Scripture, and it tells us very clearly His purpose and design in meeting the spiritual needs of men. We find, for example, in Luke chapter 19, verse number 10, it talks about the Lord Jesus making this statement. He says, For I am come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Lord Jesus came to seek people, perhaps like you, who are lost today, spiritually speaking. Oh, you know your address. You know the city in which you live. You know your home and your family. But I'm talking here about a spiritual need. Spiritually, it may be today that you are lost. You don't know God. You've never called upon the Lord Jesus. It's you. to you that the scripture makes reference that says that the Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Talking about that deeper spiritual need that mankind has and perhaps might describe your spiritual condition today. We find also in Matthew chapter 20 where the Lord Jesus said, I am come to give my life as a ransom for many. He came to die. His purpose and intent was to give up his life that in dying upon the cross he might pay the penalty of sin for sinners like you and like me. That he might pay our ransom. That we might be bought back out of sin. That we might once again become related to God the Father and have peace with Him. and be reconciled back to a holy God. He came to give himself a ransom, again speaking to that deeper underlying spiritual need of men. We find also the Lord Jesus making reference to the fact in Luke chapter 15, he gives it by parable. He talks about sheep. And he says, which one of you having a hundred sheep? And if one of those sheep is lost, you'll leave the ninety and nine in safety and you'll go out and you'll look for that one sheep that's lost, to bring it back into the fold that you might have all one hundred. Again, speaking of the Lord Jesus, seeking after that which was lost, like a lost sheep. Coming out and searching and calling out to the one who was lost. Well, the Scriptures give us many kinds of references like these that describe for us the Lord Jesus seeking after us, calling out to us. Matthew 9 gives us another one where he says, I am not come to call the righteous, those who call themselves good, I'm come to call those who are sinners, to call them to myself. And then we read further on in the book of Matthew chapter 11, the Lord Jesus issues that great call in which he gives to you today. Come unto me. Come unto me, he says, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Could it be that we have described you today from Scripture? Someone who not only has what we would call physical human needs, But in addition, there is that deeper underlying spiritual need that you know exists in your life. To you today, the Lord Jesus calls out this verse. And let me give it to you again, in case you missed it the first time. The Lord Jesus says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Could it be that today the Lord Jesus is calling out to you? You find yourself in need and He is calling out to you and He says, come to Me. I'll give you rest. The call of the Lord Jesus doesn't always come when we want it to. It comes at His time. It comes as He passes by. It comes when He senses in His heart that it is the opportune moment to reach out to you, to help you. and maybe this is the first day you've ever heard Him call to you, then I would urge you today to come to Jesus. Come unto Him as He has called to you, and you will find at His hand rest, just as He promised. He will meet that deeper underlying spiritual need that you have. Why He came is to call people like you to Himself. that he might give unto you rest. I pray that the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see and your ears to hear the voice of Jesus today. As he calls out to you, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come unto him today and find his promise true. Find it true in your own experience. I can tell you that it's true in mine. And I know many people who have responded to the call of Jesus and they too have found His promise true. I would encourage you to experience the reality in your own life today. As the Lord Jesus calls out to you, come unto Him and find the rest that only He can give and will give when you come.