Let's pray together. Our Father, our hearts thrill at many of these truths, and we do start each day with brand new mercy from you. And we come to the end of each day, and we want our hearts to sing of your mercy freshly like the offertory. We pray that when morning breaks in the skies, our heart would awake and want to cry, may Jesus Christ be praised. So, Father, we rejoice that we have a God who's merciful. We have a Savior in Christ. We have truth in your Word. And so our hearts thrill at those words we prayed to you, that, Father, you would take truth and shape and fashion us in your likeness, that our eyes would see your majestic love and authority, and that words of power would not fail, but would prevail over the unbelief that is still even in our hearts. Would You renew our minds? Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us. God, let us rise above the manward attitude of this age and be Godward people changed by truth, by grace standing on Your promises, by faith walking with You. Father, will You speak through Your truth till Your church is built and the earth is filled with Your glory? Father, we pray for You to work for Your own in your own glory, in your own namesake, through your word this morning. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 41. Genesis, chapter 41. Thank you, Lauren and Allie and Christi, for your ministry and music to our hearts. Genesis chapter 41. Last week we saw that there was a clash of worldviews in Pharaoh's court. We were challenged by Joseph's courage to speak truth about God in the midst of a situation, in the midst of a nation hostile to his worldview. And now we're going to continue in that same story but with very different emphases. Joseph told Pharaoh that God had determined to send seven years of great blessing on Egypt and that God had also determined to send seven years of great famine. And that was the meaning of the two parts of Pharaoh's two dreams. And Pharaoh needed to appoint someone to oversee the preparations for the seven years of famine. So now let's pick up the story in chapter 41, verse 37. Now, this proposal that Joseph gave to Pharaoh seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. Then Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find a man like this in whom is a divine spirit? So Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are." We'll stop there for now. Verse 38, can we find a man like this in whom is a divine spirit? Almost every other translation takes that in its little more literal sense. Can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God?" That's what Pharaoh said. And there's no way to know how much or more likely how little Pharaoh understood when he said that, but he was right. The Spirit of God was at work in Joseph and Pharaoh was seeing it. And the Spirit of God is in you if you have been born again and saved by the power of God. I think that we can see here in Genesis 41 the fruit of the Spirit in Joseph's life. And I recognize there are differences in the work of the Spirit before and after the coming of Christ in Pentecost, but we still see the fruit of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit in Joseph's life. And every genuinely saved person has the Spirit of God in them, and so the fruit of the Spirit can be seen. It can be seen increasing in that life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those things are like a Bible test of the genuineness of a person's regeneration. They characterize the life of one who has the Spirit of God in them, and these things characterize Joseph. So, let's keep reading this story. I'll note some things we need to know about this passage, but I especially want to look for the fruit of the Spirit in Joseph's life. Verse 40, Pharaoh continues, "'You shall be over my house, and according to your command, all my people shall do homage.'" Literally something like, according to your mouth, all my people will kiss, which probably means they will something like kiss the dust in submission to whatever comes out of your mouth. And he says at the end of verse 40, "'Only in the throne I will be greater than you.' And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "'See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt, Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and clothed them in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot and they proclaimed before him, bow the knee or possibly make way. And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission, no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt, which is obviously a little bit of hyperbole, but he means that every activity in Egypt is going to have to meet your approval. He gives him his signet ring, giving Joseph the sign of complete authority. The elegant linen and the gold were the trappings of a ruler. So, Joseph really is something like second in command in Egypt. And by the way, it's interesting, the archaeology has found that this is not the only time that Hebrews or Semitic people, found their way to the upper levels of the Egyptian courts. This is not the only time something like this happened. Verse 45, Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphonath-Paneah, and he gave him Asanath, the daughter of Potipharot, priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. It's difficult to know the meaning of the name Pharaoh gives Joseph. Because we're working through two language hoops now. We're going back to Hebrew and from Hebrew to Egyptian. So we've got our work cut out for us. And I'm not sure we have a good explanation of the meaning of his name. But I think the reason for his name change is obvious. The vice president of the country was just appointed and it's not an Egyptian. And so Pharaoh's got his work cut out to help the people of Egypt be willing to accept this man. So he changes his name to an Egyptian name and gives him an Egyptian marriage. And there's just a little note at the end of verse 45 that grabs my attention as one responsible for leadership. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. At the end of verse 46, Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. And this is just a very small thing. But as a leader, this strikes me as an important show of kindness or goodness that Joseph was a leader in touch with his people. knowing that he was going to have to make some radical decisions that people weren't going to like, he was not content to sit in his office and manage from a distance. He knew that serious leadership would require relationship and that when he made those hard decisions, those hard decisions would need to come from a person who had personal contact with the people, not from a bureaucrat tucked away in an office somewhere. And so Joseph immediately goes out into the land and that's That's a small but important demonstration of Joseph's kindness and goodness and love for those people. And one of the reasons that grabs my attention is because I know that temptation, this temptation in church, and I know this temptation in my family. And we have this, guys, we want to lead, but we want to kind of lead from a distance. We want to make decisions at arm's length. And the people under our leadership are often saying, if he just understood, he wouldn't be making those decisions. If he would just listen to us, he wouldn't be making those decisions. And so, it's a small thing, but I appreciate the fact that Joseph immediately got out in the land with those people. But more importantly, in verse 46, we are told, now Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Do you remember the last time reference we had in Joseph's life? One other place we were told Joseph's age, and that was when the story began, And we were told he was 17. So now, 30. That means 13 years of suffering. Hated, sold, a slave, lied about, a prisoner. That's been Joseph's life for 13 years. And years that we would call, many would consider, the prime years of your life. These are the years when you've still got your health and you've still got your strength and you still think you know everything. And life is great when you're 17 to 30. I hit 30 this fall, if I can remember right. And Joseph spent 17 to 30 in suffering that I can't even imagine. Sold and sent away to a different country, serving as a slave, then lied about and thrown into prison with, as we saw before from Psalm 105, fetters on his feet and pain as they bound his neck Then, forgotten in prison, this has been Joseph's life. And part of the fruit of the Spirit, in American Standard, uses the word patience. Endurance, long-suffering, not only with other people, but also with the situations God chooses to place you into. And often we are impatient, and we tell God He doesn't know what He was doing. And if only we were in charge, we would get ourselves out of this trial, and we would do it really fast. Only the Spirit of God can produce patient endurance when trials wear on. Thirteen years for a single young man in the depth of trials. And the fruit of the Spirit is patience. A calm confidence in God's wisdom, God's love, God's timing. Now, verse 47. During the seven years of plenty, the land brought forth abundantly. So, he gathered all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and placed the food in the cities. He placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. Thus, Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure. Now, before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, a priest of On, bore to him. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." Like every detail in this passage, the names of these children are important. God wanted us to know. Remember that Joseph's wife was a gift from Pharaoh and was the daughter of an Egyptian priest. Remember that Joseph's wife was a gift from Pharaoh and was the daughter of an Egyptian priest. I think you have this nagging question about Joseph's faith. Some people, I've mentioned before, some people come to the story of Joseph and see in Joseph a type of Christ. And so they can see no wrong in him. And they don't even ask questions. But when I look at Joseph's life, I see a person, a normal human being. I see a man who was faithful to God and in whose heart God's grace was doing a great work. But we don't have to set Joseph up as a perfect man. He wasn't. And especially as you read this chapter, there are things in my mind that are like little red flags that go up. like should he have accepted the homage of the people bowing the knee. And that's probably fine. We do things of unusual respect when someone in great authority comes. But of course your mind runs to Daniel and the stand they took. And then he marries an Egyptian priest's daughter and my mind says, Was he supposed to do that? And God doesn't comment. God just gives us those facts and on we go. So there's no real reason speculating about that. But for me, there's a little sense in which I have this nagging question about Joseph's faith. After all these years and all these trials and all that he's been through and all this time away from anybody who believed in Jehovah, you realize Joseph is probably the only person that he has had contact with for 13 years who believes what he believes. Can you imagine that? not knowing another single person who believes what you believe. And so, I wonder if his suffering has drawn him away from God, or his dramatic promotion has drawn him away from God, or like Solomon, his Egyptian wife has drawn him away from God. And so, it is especially important that we have the naming of these boys. And if you have had children, you know that the naming of children can be an important and A time that requires some tact, because in-laws will swear they don't care, but you know full well they do care. And not only do his in-laws care, and remember who his in-laws are. Father-in-law is an idolatrous priest. Where did he get his wife from? Pharaoh gave her to him. So the ruler of the land's got a little interest in these kids. One of the priests in the land has quite an interest in these kids. And so it is rather significant that Joseph names them with Hebrew names that express his trust in Jehovah. The second name in verse 52 is especially important. God has made me fruitful. God has made me fruitful. You know, Joseph has just experienced one of the... I'm not an expert on history, but it has to be one of the most dramatic promotions recorded in world history. The guy went from the state penitentiary to the White House in the same day. You might think we got a lot of people in the White House who need to be in the state penitentiary, but that's not the point. This is a dramatic promotion from nobody to second in the land. And Pharaoh took off the sign of his authority that could allow him to do whatever he wanted and put it on Joseph's finger. And he started the day in jail. What a great time for pride. What a great opportunity to just forget about God. Listen to the warning of Deuteronomy 8 about when God does good to you. Deuteronomy 8 says, Beware, lest you say in your heart, My power and the strength of My hand made Me this wealth. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers. You know, suffering and blessing are both times when Satan loves to snare a man. You can curse God when things are hard or forget God when things are good. And Joseph could have done either one. But here, Joseph, when naming his children, says, I'm not special in the land because I'm something special. I am special in the land because God is special. Because God has made me fruitful. And the fruit of the Spirit that jumps out to me here is, the New American Standard Translation is the word gentleness. But you remember when we were in Matthew 5.5 and we talked about the same word in the third beatitude, this is the word that means meekness or humility. And we said this word means, it essentially means not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. It means thinking realistically about yourself. But if I got a promotion like Joseph did, I think there would be quite a temptation to think differently about myself. It is a fruit of the Spirit of God to be able to go from the penitentiary to the White House and give all the credit to God and still be meek and humble and not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Let's keep going. Verse 53. When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, Then there was famine in all the lands. But in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, you shall do. When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe in all the earth. By the way, we also have record from archaeology of other famines in Egypt and the severity of what it meant for them when the Nile did not do what it needed to do to get their crops watered. And we have record of cannibalism in Egypt during time of famine. It was that severe and that serious. And again, it's simple, but you notice here that Joseph is faithfully doing his job. This is a hard job. He had to spend seven years persuading people to set aside a large portion of what they were producing from their fields. And you know how hard it is for people to get Americans to save. Imagine, imagine saying, all right, I want 20% from everybody and you've got to, it's the law and see what happens. So I guess we could talk about taxes, but I'm sure they had other taxes before this was introduced. He's got a hard job and he's just faithful. He pulls it off. And I know that's a simple thing, but that's not a simple thing. Remember when he was a teenager in his father's house? And what did he do? He was faithful to what his dad told him to do, even though it meant danger for him. When he was in Potiphar's house, he was faithful with all of Potiphar's things, even a perfect temptation. He was faithful to Potiphar's things. When he was in jail, despite the unfairness and the pain of prison, he was faithful there. And now exalted to second in the land, he is faithful there. And guess what one of the fruits of the Spirit is? Faithfulness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. Proverbs 20, verse 6, has a very interesting line. Many a man, or several translations say most men, proclaim their own goodness, their own faithfulness. But a faithful man, who can find? Who can find a faithful man? Faithful in trial. Faithful in blessing. Faithful when it was fair and faithful when it wasn't. Faithful when it made sense and faithful when it didn't. You think those 13 years God had been getting them ready for this moment? He had gone through a time of preparation. That's what had happened. I had a teacher in college and seminary who used to say to us preacher boys, When you think you're going to be a pastor and you're in school, you have a couple of temptations. One is the fear that there will never be a place for you. The other is the prideful desire to be in a really important place. I think every college student or seminary student battles with the desire to have a big church and be somebody special. And we had a professor who always used to tell us there is a prepared place for a prepared man. You worry about being a prepared man and God will worry about the prepared place for that man. Luke 16.10 says, He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much. Or as the NIV paraphrases it, whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted also with much. Whoever is faithful in Potiphar's house will probably be faithful in the palace. He who is faithful even in jail will probably be faithful over the whole land of Egypt. God had prepared Joseph through times that tested his faithfulness, times that produced endurance and proven character like we saw in Romans 5. More than 13 years of faithfulness in little things prepared Joseph for faithfulness in very big things. And God might have you in a time of preparation right now. You may be frustrated. You may not be able to figure out why things aren't changing. Why things don't seem to go your way, you may be fed up with the unfairness, but maybe God is preparing you. And your job now is to be faithful. There's no guarantee of an earthly promotion like Joseph's, but those who are faithful through God's time of preparation find that there is a prepared place for a prepared man or a prepared woman. So we've just seen several aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in Joseph's life. Goodness, kindness, patience, gentleness or meekness, faithfulness. And as I read Genesis 41, one of the very simple questions that stuck out to me was, do people see the fruit of the Spirit in my life like Pharaoh saw it in Joseph? Is it evident? Whether they understand it or not, can they see the evidence that the Spirit of God is in me? Now, let's move on because there is more going on here than just these things. It's easy to get so caught up in the story of Joseph that you forget the larger story in Genesis. the story of God's covenant faithfulness. And when you get to chapter 42, it starts with these words, Now, Jacob. Did you forget about him? It's easy to forget about him when you get into the Joseph story, and you completely lose, you forget all about Jacob. Wait a second. There's a main storyline here that we almost forgot about. Read with me, chapter 42, verses 1-5. Now, Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt. And Jacob said to his sons, have you ever said this to your kids? What are you looking at one another for? Why are you staring at one another? He said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from that place so that we may live and not die. Do you think he meant that? So that we may live and not die. Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, I am afraid that harm may befall him. Why couldn't he trust those other ten brothers? What was the issue? So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. In Genesis 41, the story of the famine and Joseph is interesting, but it gets really serious when we find out it spread to Palestine. when we find out that Jacob's family was in a life or death situation. They were literally going to starve to death if they didn't get help. Remember that the book of Genesis hinges on chapters 12, 15, and 17, where we have God's covenant promises to Abraham. A covenant that would ultimately lead to the Messiah and the blessing of all the nations of the world through this Savior. But one challenge after another has threatened that promise. Abraham and Sarah couldn't have children until God worked a miracle. Then Ishmael was a threat to Isaac, the heir. Then God told Abraham to sacrifice the heir. Then how are they going to find a non-Canaanite wife for Isaac? Then Isaac and Rebekah couldn't have children. Then Esau wants to kill Jacob, the next heir. Then how are they going to find a non-Canaanite wife for Jacob? Then Jacob finally gets married and Rachel's barren. Then Esau brings a small army to meet Jacob when he comes back home. And now Jacob's family is about to starve to death. And think about this. Were it not for the miracle God had been working in Egypt for 13 years, they would have starved to death because there would have been no grain in Egypt either. Right? Without Joseph, there would have been no grain in Egypt either because through those seven years of plenty, they would not have known what was coming next. They would not have prepared like that and they would have died had God not done what He was doing for 13 years in Egypt. So, we need to see that Genesis 41 is ultimately a story about Joseph It's a story about God's covenant faithfulness. You know, we talked about Joseph's faithfulness, but I, using my little Bible software, you know, I search for the word faithful and just skimming through references and looking for things I wanted to pull into this. You know what you find real quickly? For every, I'm making up this ratio, but for every one time the Bible talks about man's faithfulness or exhorts us to faithfulness, there are ten times where it talks about God's faithfulness. God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. It's from end to end in Scripture. All that God did to prepare Joseph for 13 years and then bring about this dramatic rise to power, it wasn't so that Joseph would make for a feel-good rags-to-riches story. It wasn't so Andrew Lloyd Webber could have an opera that made it big on Broadway for however many years. God was being faithful to his promises to this family to make a great nation of Abraham's descendants and bring the Messiah, a Savior, You see what God was doing? God was bringing that family to Egypt to grow them into a nation, to bring them out. And did you see it in our scripture reading today? Did you see the exodus? Did you catch that in Psalm 66? Come and see the works of God who is awesome in his deeds toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land. They passed through the river on foot. Therefore, let us rejoice in him. What's that? That's the exodus. That's God bringing His people out of Egypt because His people in Egypt and being brought out of Egypt ends up being the great type in Scripture of our salvation. What was God doing for 13 years in Egypt? He was preparing to protect His nation and grow His nation so that He could bring the Messiah as our Savior. Now, did Joseph know that as he bounced along on a camel's back on the way to Egypt as a slave? Did Joseph Know that when he was in fetters and his neck was hurt with iron in prison? Did he know that when the cupbearer forgot about him? And so Habakkuk and Paul say, the just, the righteous shall live by what? Faith. And faith that is seen is not faith, Paul tells us. That's not faith if you see it. Faith is taking what you know about God and having a confident expectation that God will be faithful. And that's what got Joseph through those 13 years. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we know what our God is like. We know He's faithful. We know that He works all things together for good for those who love God. We know that heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away. We know that He who calls us is faithful and He will bring it to pass. And so we gladly trust Him, whether in a prison or in the palace. Do you? Are you prone to forget God and suffering, curse God and suffering? Are you prone to forget God and blessing? Or do you gladly trust Him whether it's prison or palace? Whether it's feast or famine? This is the theme of the Joseph story. There's a God of providence. There's a God who controls all things to fulfill His purposes. And you can trust Him. He will remain faithful. And if we are faithless, He will remain faithful. So you be faithful to Him. Let's close in prayer. Before I pray, I just want to challenge you Number one, to rejoice in the faithfulness of God. Have you praised Him for His faithfulness? Like we sang, when morning gilds the skies, when sunrise comes, and a new day starts, does your heart awake and have any desire to cry, may Jesus Christ be praised. Is there anything in your heart that says, I have a faithful God whose mercies are new every morning, and for that I cannot help but praise Him. He is worthy of our praise for His faithfulness to His covenant. But secondly, we need to think about our faithfulness to Him. What is it? What does it take to make us be unfaithful? Does it take a little trial? Some suffering? Some pain? Some loss of sleep? Some loss of income? Some pain relationships? What does it take to get us to do what Job's wife told him to do, and that is curse God. Or is it blessing? Is that how we are suckered and pulled away from faithfulness? Is it when things are good that we say, yeah, my strength and my power have gotten me this wealth? Are we faithful in prison? Are we faithful in palace? Are we faithful when endurance is tested? It is not in us. You are not able to be faithful. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit of God. And as you are in the Word, and in prayer, and with God's people, and fed truth, and walk in submission to the Spirit, you will find the Spirit producing faithfulness in you. But maybe today you need to say, God, I have not been faithful. Suffering has drawn me away from You, or success has pulled me away from You, And Father, I want to be faithful to You. And I pray that the Spirit in me would produce faithfulness in my life. Heavenly Father, we pray that You would so fill us with joy in Your faithfulness that we would, when morning breaks, awake and want to say, may Jesus Christ be praised because He, and His mercies are new this morning. And Father, as we rejoice in that, I believe Your Spirit will produce faithfulness in us. And we ask for that. We ask You to make us faithful people. Wherever You place us, however long You place us there, whatever the circumstances, I pray that we would be faithful to You. And that other people would see the evidence of the Spirit of God in us. Thank You for Christ. Thank You for Jesus. Thank you for protecting that nation to send the Messiah to be our Savior. We praise you for Him. I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.