Don't look to anything but Christ. That's the message of the gospel to sinners. And sinners love that, I tell you. That is nothing that gives me greater peace and joy and thankfulness in my heart than to know that by God's purpose and by God's word, by God's delight, we are given God's command and God's grace to look only to Christ. And so that's what this is going to be about. We're going to read the entire chapter, but before we do, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. It's so glorious to see in the events of these men's lives and in the men themselves your grace towards us as sinners and how you saved us from our sins for Christ's sake alone. And we pray, Lord, we would see in these few verses here that we're about to read how we, as sinners, are given warrant from Your Word to look only to the Lord Jesus Christ and help us in so looking find all of our salvation and all of our peace and delight in Him and our hope for glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Genesis 39 verse 1 says, And Joseph, Remember, he was thrown into a pit by his brothers, and then they sold him to these Ishmaelites. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, and Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And then, listen carefully, and the Lord was with Joseph. And he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had was put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left, Potiphar, left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught that he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person and well favored. And it came to pass, after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. And he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called to the men of her house, And spake to them, saying, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her until his lord came home. And she spake unto him, to Potiphar, that is, according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought to us, came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, these lying words, Which she spake to him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. And he was there in the prison. And the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him. And that which he did, Joseph, the Lord made it to prosper. Now, we've seen in this life of Joseph, we've seen the life, really, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph is held up to us as a beautiful picture, but a very transparent picture of the Lord Jesus Himself. And so, when we look at these texts of Scripture, remember what the New Testament says, that the prophets of old The Spirit of Christ was in them when it testified of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. And so here Joseph himself is a prophet. Remember, God gave him dreams. He spoke those dreams to his brethren. It was about what God was going to do. He brought God's word to his brethren. And his brethren, of course, hated him. And that's why he's here, sold into the master's house, Potiphar. He bought Joseph as a slave from the Ishmaelites, who had bought him from his brethren. His brethren hated him. His brethren envied Him. His brethren plotted and conspired against Him to put Him to death. But in God's will and purpose, they didn't put Him to death, but they sold Him to Egypt so that He could be a living type of our Lord Jesus. He went down into the pit without water, brought up out of the pit, They never even gave attention to him. When he cried, they ignored his crying, and he was brought up out of that pit and sold to these men who were strangers to the Hebrews. And he comes to this place in Egypt. Now, we could go through this first verse here. We spent a lot of time on it. I just want to point out some highlights here. First, it was God's will that Joseph go to Egypt. Second, it was God's will that he be brought down to Egypt. Down in humiliation and suffering. Down in the affliction of being in prison for a crime he didn't commit. That was God's will. And it was God's will that by being brought down, He would save His brethren, those who hated Him and envied Him and actually sold Him there. It was God's will to do all this by Joseph because it was God's eternal will to save His people from their sins by His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one He favored. It was God's will to save His brethren by their wickedness It was God's will to make their wickedness known in the way they treated Joseph. And it was God's will to make Joseph's goodness known by the way Joseph reacted to them, by what he did to them. He obeyed his father, though he was tempted by Potiphar's wife, Daly. He never sinned against God in all these things. And it was God's will to show that when Joseph was persecuted wrongly by his brethren for his own moral uprightness, that he did not seek retribution against them for their persecution. When he suffered, he didn't threaten them. When he was reviled, he did not revile them again. Just like our Lord Jesus Christ, when he suffered, he didn't threaten. When he was reviled, he didn't revile again. When he was persecuted, he entrusted himself to the will of God. This is what Joseph teaches us. It was Joseph's love and God's purpose to make his love known for his brethren that exalted him in our eyes and so we see our Savior's love for us even though we hated him and despised him and rejected him. He suffered. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And it was God's will to make known Joseph's faithfulness to his God and to his brethren, to show that in all of his affliction that he trusted God. And that it was God's will to make known His grace, that He would save His brethren, though they were so undeserving. All these things we see plainly in the life of Joseph. And so many things like that. But I want you to notice how... And so that's in the first verse here. Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Egypt is a place associated with idolatry in Scripture. The Israelites, while they were in Egypt, served idols, the idols of the Egyptians. Egypt is a place of bondage, bondage to sin. Pharaoh, remember, held them in bondage. He's a type of Satan who holds all of humanity in bondage to sin because of their wickedness. They sold themselves. So all these things teach us about the wickedness of Egypt, and yet Joseph was brought down to Egypt because the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and he was brought down. He was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death. That by his sufferings and death for his people, he would bring them to God. And so we see that in the first verse. But in the second verse it says, of Genesis 39, it says, And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And keep reading, it says, "...and Joseph found grace in his sight." So Potiphar, who was Joseph's master that bought him as a slave, Potiphar took a special delight and favor towards Joseph. And it says, "...he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into Joseph's hand. And it came to pass from that time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had..." Now listen, "...that the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake." And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field." So God blessed Potiphar, an Egyptian, for Joseph's sake. That's an amazing truth of Scripture. And here we see our Lord Jesus Christ. Who was Potiphar? He was an Egyptian. What was Egypt? It was a land of sin and slavery to sin, bondage. God delivered his people out of it. And yet here's an Egyptian who saw in Joseph something that God was with him. When his brethren saw Joseph, they despised and hated and envied him and persecuted him. But when this Egyptian saw Joseph, He admired him, and he saw the Lord was with him. And God blessed the Egyptian, this stranger, this one who was associated with a nation that was under the curse of God. God blessed that stranger's house for Joseph's sake. And God blesses us. who are outside by our birth, by our ancestry, we're outside of the nation of Israel. We have no part in that nation, that physical nation, but God has blessed us for one reason, and for one reason only, for Christ's sake. The Lord was with him, and his master saw. Now, I want you to consider how the Lord blessed this man for Christ's sake, or for Joseph's sake, which is teaching us how the Lord blesses us for Christ's sake. Look at Ephesians. I want you to look at a couple of verses with me. God blesses us with salvation for one reason only. It's for His sake. For the Lord's sake. Ephesians chapter 1 shows this to us. If you can turn there, it says in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." That means for Christ's sake. Not for our sake. "...according as he hath chosen us in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world." So we didn't have anything to do with that choice. God made the choice. And this is why He chose us in Christ. That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Before God the Father, we would be holy and without blame because of what Christ would do. And that place before God would be in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Now listen, this is why God did it. According to the good pleasure of His will. Not our will, His will. And why? For what purpose was God's will? To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in Christ. As God's sons, the beloved sons of God, were accepted for Christ's sake. Look at the same book, Ephesians chapter 4. He says in verse 32, Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." God has blessed us. God chose us in Christ. He blessed us in Christ. He predestinated us to be holy and without blame for what Christ would do. And He gave us all these things in Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace, because it seemed good to Him. He has forgiven us. entirely for Christ's sake. Do you know that God does not need to find a reason in you or me to bless us? He doesn't have to look for a reason. In fact, He doesn't look for a reason in us to bless us. He only looks to Christ. That's the good news of the Gospel. That God has chosen and well favored His Son and appointed Him to be the Mediator, the One who stands for His people and answers God for all that God requires of them, Christ answers. And all that God demands in justice against them, the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied for that. He doesn't look to us for anything. Does that give you peace? Does that make you trust Christ alone? Does that give you confidence in God's grace and in His love? Does it make your heart run out to Him in love? Does it make you look upon God's promises in Christ and upon God and Christ's work? And look away from yourself and see that all that God desires and all that God takes pleasure in, He finds in Christ and He finds it in Christ for His people. Do you see that your salvation is dependent upon Him and not on your own ability, not on your own goodness? But that, in fact, He saves you in spite of what you are, in spite of what you do. This is the message of scripture. For Christ's sake. God has saved his people for his sake. He looks for no reason in us. In fact, in spite of us, he looks for reasons found only in God. That's what these scriptures teach in Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 4. That God saves us for Christ's sake. That draws me to him. It says in John 6, 44 that Jesus said, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him or drag him. He drags us with the cords of love. By his Spirit, he shows Christ to us. And he teaches us that God accepts us for Christ's sake alone. And this is throughout scripture. I could take you to many places, but let me take you to one in Psalm chapter 51. Remember David, King David? Well favored by God, but he sinned a great sin when he was tempted and committed adultery with Bathsheba. Unlike Joseph, he sinned. In Psalm 51, this is what David says. Notice how he prays. He says in Psalm 51.1, have mercy upon me, O God. Not according to my righteousness, but he says, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. You see, David prays the only effective way that we can pray, Lord, do it for your own sake. for your tender mercies' sake, for the multitude of your mercies, for your loving kindness' sake." Look at Daniel chapter 9. This is also taught in Daniel chapter 9. Daniel prayed a long prayer in Daniel 9. I highly recommend that you read Daniel chapter 9. But look at verse 16. In the middle of his prayer, as Daniel is confessing his sins and the sins of his people, lamenting the fact that it was by God's promise that He would deliver them to their enemies because of their sins, and He had done that. And now He's praying, and He says in verse 16, He says, look at verse 15, Daniel 9, 15, Now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renowned as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee, let thine anger be turned. I'm sorry, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem. Do it for your righteousness sake. Find a way to turn away your anger from us for your righteousness sake. Lord, you have all the wisdom. It's not impossible for you to do for us what's impossible for men. To save us for your righteousness sake. It seems contradictory that he would pray that way, but it's the only way we can pray. Do it for your sake. Look at verse 18. He says, O my God, incline thine ear, and hear, open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city, which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. We pray that God would do it for Christ's sake, for His sake, for His name's sake. Look at Ezekiel chapter 20. This is a powerful. Truth God conveys to us, sinners, you will not be saved for any reason but the Lord's sake. It'll be for the Lord's sake that He saves us. It'll be for the Lord's sake that He blesses us. In the first nine verses of Ezekiel 20, the prophet rehearses what happened while the people were in Egypt. While they were living in Egypt, they were idolaters. And God told them, put away your idols. But they rebelled against His voice. And it says, It says in Ezekiel 20, verse 8, But they rebelled against me, and they would not hearken to me. They did not every man cast away the abomination of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish mine anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. Even while they were there, God said, I'm going to punish you for your sins while you're in Egypt. But then listen, but The Lord says, "...I wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen among whom they were, and whose eyes I made Myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt." You see God did it? Why did God do it? For His name's sake. Look at verse 14. He repeats this over and over. He says, "...but I wrought for my name's sake that it should not be polluted before the heathen in whose sight I brought them out." And in verse 17, "...nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness." And then verse 22, "...nevertheless I withdrew mine hand and wrought for my name's sake that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen." And then look at verse 44. And this is a long chapter and he sums up all their history and he says in verse 44, "...and you shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for My namesake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings. O you house of Israel, saith the Lord." You see how God saves? He saves us for His namesake. To the praise of the glory of His grace. For Christ's sake He forgives us. According to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, David prayed." And here, do it for the Lord's, do it for your name's sake, Lord. Daniel prayed that way, do it for your sake, Lord. Have mercy upon us for your name's sake. According to your, find the reason, not in us, there's no reason in us, there's only cause for condemnation, but save us for Christ's sake. And so that's the message The first message we see in Genesis chapter 39. Turn back to Genesis 39 now, if you would, please. In Genesis 39, we see, first of all, that God saves and blesses for his name's sake, for Joseph's sake in Egypt. He delivered Joseph's brethren When they came down to Egypt, he raised Joseph up for this very purpose. Even by their wickedness, Joseph was brought to Egypt and God did it with an eternal purpose to save them for Joseph's sake. That was God's will, and that's why Christ saves us. And then the next thing we see in Genesis 39 is the faith that God gives us in Christ. The faith God gives us in Christ. And we see that in these two men. First in Potiphar, and then in the prison keeper, the keeper of the prison. So, I want you to see this first of all in verse 2. It says, "...the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian." And then verse 3. Notice the words. "...and his master saw that the Lord was with him." He saw. That means he perceived. He understood. He was convinced and persuaded that the God of Israel was with Joseph. He knew the God of Israel because he had heard, perhaps, of the God of the Hebrews. And he saw that God was with Joseph. You see, faith, first of all, is seeing, is perceiving the truth, the testimony that God has given us concerning His Son. Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph. Believers see that God was in Christ. And that was God's purpose. And so, we see this throughout this chapter. We'll see it again. in the Prison Keeper. But in John chapter 20 verse 31, the Gospel of John, John writes this, he says, These things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name, because faith is seeing Christ. These things were written to tell us about Christ, about his life, and about his sufferings, and about his death, and about his resurrection, and his ascension to glory. In Christ we see, what do we see in the life of Christ? The God, the Son of God came into this world. He was born of a virgin. He was made under the law and he lived his life among men. And he did only good for men's bodies and souls. What was his name, what was the title that he gave himself? That he was the friend, in fact his enemies gave him this title and he loved that title. He was the friend of publicans and sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see in him, like Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. We see in Christ's life that God was with him. That God blessed him. God gave him his spirit without measure. And he went about doing good. Healing men's souls. Healing their bodies. Casting out devils. Raising them from the dead. Teaching them the gospel. Setting the captives free. Healing the broken hearted. Preaching the gospel to the poor. That's what Christ did. And then, after a life of perfect obedience, in love to his Father and for his people, he subjected himself to the false accusations and the beatings and the suffering. that they deserved in their place in order to answer God for them and to receive from God all blessings for them. And so Potiphar, like the believer, saw in Joseph, we see in Christ what God says about his son. That's the first thing about faith, is that it is seeing. Seeing what God has done. In 2 Peter, in chapter 2, I'm sorry, chapter 1 of 2 Peter, in verse 2, it says, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is not believing in God without a definition of God. Faith is not just believing in Jesus without understanding who Jesus is and what he did, where he is now, and what he's doing. What God's will is. Faith is believing the testimony of God. He has revealed concerning His Son, who Christ is, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Anointed, Prophet, Priest, and King, the One who saves His people from their sins. And He does it by Himself, and so faith sees Christ. It sees that He's the only One who can save me. And faith understands that God saves His people for Christ's sake. That's the first thing about faith. Take a look at Hebrews chapter 11. There's one verse there. I want to take you to the New Testament to show you a couple things about faith. And we see them in the life of Potiphar and the life of the prison keeper. Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph. We see that God was with Christ. We see what God has said about him. About what he did. And we see these things because of God's revelation. Hebrews chapter 11. It says in verse 13. of Hebrews 11. These all died in faith. They died. These is Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. They all died in faith. Not having received the promises. But listen. This is God's definition of their faith. But having seen them. God says they saw them. Not with eyes. Not with physical eyes. But with the eyes of faith. Not only did they see them, but they were persuaded of them. They were convinced. God convinced them. Where does this persuasion come from? Do we drum it up? Do we work it up of ourselves? I'm going to get myself convinced this is so. No. If you have faith, if God has given you sight, if He's persuaded you, you know that it didn't come from you. Faith is seeing, faith is persuasion, but it doesn't come from us. Faith is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9. And so we see what faith is here. It's seeing, it's being persuaded. And Joseph, I mean Potiphar was persuaded that God was with Joseph. And so he saw this. He saw that he was with him. Now Joseph was a servant in Potiphar's house. Remember he was sold as a servant? So we see something here about the object of Potiphar's faith. He saw that God was with Joseph. But in what way? In what way was God with Joseph? He was with Joseph while he was serving Potiphar. And then later, the jailer also observed Joseph and saw that God was with him. And he committed all the prisoners into Joseph's hand. And God blessed Joseph and all that he did there. And so the prison keeper also saw this and he was persuaded to commit everything into Joseph's hand. But while Joseph served Potiphar, he was a servant. And while he was in the prison, he was afflicted in suffering. wrongly for crimes he didn't commit. And so in his service as a servant and in his suffering is the way that Potiphar and the prison keeper saw Joseph. And so we see here that God gives us faith to see Christ as a servant of God. To serve God and to serve his people, to bring them to God by the sacrifice of himself. The sufferings, his own sufferings. Jesus said in Matthew 20, 28, I didn't come to be served. But I came to serve and to give my life a ransom for many." That's Matthew 20, 28. He came to serve. He made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of a man and the form of a servant. And as a servant, he obeyed God even unto death. Though he were a son, Hebrews 5, 8, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. What obedience? My father has commanded me to lay down my life for the sheep. I'm going to lay down my life for the sheep. And he laid it down. And he took it up again because he completed that work. He served God for his people. And he served his people like the servant in Exodus 21, 2-6. He loved his father. He loved his wife. He loved his master, his wife, and his children. And he would not go out free. God's law was within his heart. He came to fulfill God's eternal will. It was always His will to do this. He wanted to do it and He did it voluntarily from a heart, with a glad heart. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and God, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave Himself cheerfully for the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and now is set down on the right hand of God. All these things point to the fact that Christ served God in His sufferings and He served His people by saving them. And that's the object of our faith, Christ. and him crucified. These two men saw that God was with Joseph in his trouble. Remember the thief on the cross? The thief on the cross is perhaps the most amazing example of God-given faith in all of Scripture. Here he is, dying. for sins he committed, next to the Lord Jesus Christ, dying, not for sins he committed, but for the sins of his people. And the thief was given eyes to see him in his suffering. And he said, Lord, the Lord is on the cross. Lord, remember me. Which pointed to the fact that he knew he was going to die and rise again. Lord, remember me. The thieves Entire peace and rest in dying for his own sins was that the Lord Jesus Christ would remember him. What about you? If Christ remembers you, is anything else needed? The psalmist in Psalm 106 says it this way. I'm going to read this to you. Psalm 106 and verse 4 and 5. The thief on the cross asked the Lord Jesus to remember him. And listen to what the psalmist says. He says, remember me. Psalm 106 verse 4. Remember me, O Lord. with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people. Oh, visit me with thy salvation." And verse 5 of Psalm 106, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and all chosen in him. That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation. that I may glory with thine inheritance." Your people are your inheritance. I want to glory with them in your salvation. Visit me. Have mercy. Remember me with that same favor in the thief on the cross, seeing Christ crucified, suffering willingly, and praying for those who crucified Him. Father, forgive them. He says, Lord, remember me with the same favor that you have unto your people. Visit me with your salvation. If you remember me, nothing else is needed. If you mention my name to the Father, that's all I need, to be remembered by my advocate, who answered in his life and in his death for me. And so these men sought Joseph in his sufferings. And then, thirdly, we see about faith that faith is the gift of God. Remember, look back at Genesis chapter 39 and verse 4. It says, And Joseph found grace, or favor, in the sight of Potiphar, and he served him. And then, in the same chapter, Genesis chapter 39, he says in verse 21, and the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. So faith not only sees Christ and sees him as a servant suffering in obedience to God for his people in love, But faith is the gift of God. It doesn't come from us. God gives it out of His grace. He gave it to these men. He gave them a favor through the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know that that's what God does for you. The king's heart, it says in Proverbs 21.1, is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turns it whithersoever he will. And so the heart of man is in the hands of God, and he can give faith to a stony heart like mine. I know, because he did. And so if you have faith, you know like Lydia in Acts 16, the Lord opened her heart. He opened her heart and showed her his grace. And so Joseph found favor in the sight of his master Potiphar and in the sight of the prison keeper because God caused them to look upon him with favor and delight. Faith is based on seeing. It's based on an understanding. And it's God-given. And it sees Christ and Him crucified. Look at 2 Timothy 1. I'll take you to this verse. See what the Apostle Paul said about himself. And about this faith that God gave to him. 2 Timothy. Timothy is after Thessalonians. And Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 says this, in verse 12. He says, in verse 11, 2 Timothy chapter 1, he says, Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know, Paul says, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." Paul was completely convinced and persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ was able to keep all that he had committed to Him. Look at Romans chapter 4, he says this. He says in Romans 4, that Abraham, in verse 20, when he was 99 years old, and he didn't have a son, but God had promised him one, and he believed God. He says in verse 20 of Romans 4, that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. You see what faith is? It's seeing, it's this persuasion, it's God given. And what is this persuasion? What was Abraham persuaded of? What was Paul persuaded of? What was Sarah persuaded of? She judged him faithful who had promised. They were persuaded that what God promised, God was able also to perform. Isn't that what faith is? Are you persuaded? Are you convinced? Has God convinced you and persuaded you that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to save you for no reason found in you and without your help? Have you seen yourself utterly helpless to do one thing to help Him? In fact, do you see that anything you do to help Him would actually interfere with His purpose of grace? Because if it's of grace, it's all of grace. And it's none of works. So we have to ask ourselves this question. Has God persuaded me that Christ is enough? That He is able to save me by Himself without my help? God gives that persuasion. He convinces us and persuades us. Now, looking back at Genesis chapter 39 again, I want to point out a couple more things here before we quit. About these two men and their faith, their trust in Joseph, which is our faith in Christ. He says here in verse 2, Genesis 39, And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master, the Egyptian, and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. God made everything that Joseph did prosper. And a little later in verse 5, it says that God blessed the Egyptian's house and everything, even in the field, for Joseph's sake, and he made everything that he had to prosper in Joseph's hand." This word, prosper, you know what it means? It means to be successful. Everything Joseph set his hand to do was successful. God made it successful. In Isaiah chapter 53, where that great prophecy of what Christ would do, is given. It says, it pleased the Lord, in verse 10 of Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to bruise Christ. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, and he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. You know what that's speaking about? That's speaking about the success of the Lord Jesus Christ. Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph, saw him in his service as a servant, according to the will of God. The prison keeper saw him in his suffering and affliction. And they saw that God made everything he did to prosper. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot fail. Everything he intended to do, he did. Do you believe that whatever the Lord Jesus Christ did was successful? That it prospered in his hand because the Lord was with him and made it to prosper? Do you believe it? Do you believe him? Do you believe that He must be successful? If He died on the cross, bearing the sins of His people, and that He by Himself purged our sins and made atonement on that one day, and that He rose from the dead because atonement had been made, do you believe that He actually made atonement for the sins of His people? And that there can be no sins left because God put them on Him? And He stood in their room, guilty, with their guilt and their shame, and in their place, under the wrath of God, instead of them, receiving for them what they deserve. Do you believe that He was successful in that? Do you believe that His resurrection proves that He was successful? That His sacrifice for sins was actually accepted? And that nothing else is needed? to make you holy but His blood and righteousness." Do you believe that? Do you believe that you don't have to provide anything and that God doesn't have to look to you? He doesn't have to look to your past or your present or to what you will be someday, but that He only looks to His Son. Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ's obedience is the righteousness that's able to cover the nakedness of your disobedience and your total lack of obedience and spiritual works so that you don't need anything else to justify you before God but what he finds in Christ? Has God persuaded you that? Do you believe that if the Lord Jesus represents you to the Father, you must be saved? That if He mentions your name, that if He intercedes for you, that that is all of your salvation? Look at Romans chapter 8. May God persuade us. May He give us this sight of Jesus, our heavenly Joseph. To see that God put everything into His hand and made it successful in His hand. That He actually, truly saved His people and that all of them for whom He died will be in glory. Because, for one reason, because He died for them. Look at Romans chapter 8. It says in verse 30, Moreover, whom He did predestinate, this is speaking about God the Father, whom He did predestinate before time, them He also called in time. And whom He called in time, them He also justified. He had justified them in His Son before time, and justified them at the cross, but He made them know it in time. and whom he justified them he also glorified." Already! When? When he glorified his son. What shall we then say to these things? What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? We just sang, O grave, where is thy victory? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Before the world began, in time, and for eternity. Who? Stand up and say it. If you have anything to say. It is God that justifieth. Verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? And here's the answer. The only answer God has to give. It is Christ that died. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. That's my only hope. That's all of my confidence. That's my only assurance and peace before God. It's all my joy and all of my salvation that what God sees in His Son and receives from His Son is enough to save this sinner for eternity. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again. Because when He died, He fully put away sin. And death is the wage of sin. It's the payment God gives to those who labor in sin. And yet Christ was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement, the beating of our peace was put upon Him. for us, in our place, in our room, in our stead. And then, He's risen again. He's even at the right hand of God, exalted, given all dominion and authority forever and ever over heaven and earth. And guess what He's doing? "...who also maketh intercession for us." He there mentions His people for whom He died, presents Himself to the satisfaction of God, to the glory of God. The praise of saints and angels, there he is. Do you believe him? That's what faith believes. Where there's faith, there's knowledge and persuasion. That he's able to do, and by his substitutionary life, that if he represented me before the Father in his death, then I stand perfect forever. by his one offering of himself to God, never to be repeated once for all. Hebrews 10, 14, by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are made holy by his blood, them that are sanctified by the electing choice of God. And then, finally, I want to look at this with you. Notice, it says here in Genesis 39, In verse 4, and Joseph found grace in Potiphar's sight, and Joseph served him, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house, and listen, and all that he had, Potiphar, all that Potiphar had, he put into Joseph's hand. And then look over at verse 21. And the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it." Joseph was the doer of it. And the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, Because the Lord was with Joseph, and that which he did, Joseph, the Lord made it to prosper. You see what faith is? Faith commits everything for my eternal salvation, all of my acceptance before God, all of my righteousness. Faith doesn't look to anything that is mine, but doesn't even know, doesn't even take an account of what is mine. Because faith takes God's Word about who Christ is and what He's done and finds all of what God has for sinners in Him. My all is in Christ. Faith doesn't take an account of its repentance, or its remorse, or its reform, or its sorrow, or even its faith. Faith doesn't look to my understanding or any of those things, those subjective things. Faith looks outside of itself to what God has said about His Son and says, there is my all. That's what faith does. And Potiphar and the prison keeper put everything into Joseph's hand, didn't even take an account. They were dependent entirely on what God did with Joseph and what He did for them for Joseph's sake. Though these men were Egyptians, though they were not his brethren, though they were in themselves evil, it was entirely up to Joseph to take care of these lawbreakers, these prisoners, these lawfully imprisoned prisoners who were under the sentence of God's judgment. And so the Lord Jesus Christ took care of all my enemies, my sins. I am myself my greatest enemy. And God sees divides between my sins and the salvation of my soul. And He predestinated me to become His Son by Jesus Christ and gave Him for me and accepted Him for me. And there, there I see it. I'm persuaded that everything a sinner has is in Christ and I put it all into His hands. I don't have anything to put into His hands except what God has said. And so I say with David, Lord, do as you have said. I have no money. If I had it, I couldn't bring it. It wouldn't do me any good to try to repay. It would be an insult to your grace to try to do anything except to look to Christ and there take and find a light in what God has done in His Son. So I'm looking to the Lord Jesus Christ 100 percent. Not my works, but His works. My faith is not in my doing, it is in His doing. Faith is not in my seeing, it's in what God saw in Him. Faith is not in anything about me, it's in all what God thinks about Him. And then it says, all that they did there, all the prisoners did there, He was the doer of it. Isn't that an amazing phrase? All that the prisoners did in prison, Joseph was the doer of it. What does that mean? What does it mean? It means that faith looks to Christ and trusts God to see that all Christ did in His life and death on the cross is all that I did before God. God sees Him and says that's all that they did. And all that we did is not accounted to us, but all that He did is put to our account. All that we did was laid to His charge and all that He did was credited to us. That's an amazing transfer. He was made sin for us. He who knew no sin, that we who knew no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God in Him. For His sake, God receives us. He looks to Him. What an amazing display of God's salvation in Christ for us. Let's pray. O Lord, we pray, receive Christ's answer as our complete answer, and help us never to look to ourselves, but to Him only. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.