Sermon Series by Rev. Richard Jones

rec0429-112721

Standing for God in a Godless Culture

1 Kings 16:23 – 17:9 (ESV)

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

1 Kings 16:23-28 (ESV)
²³  In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah.
²⁴  He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
²⁵  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.
²⁶  For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.
²⁷  Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
²⁸  And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

1 Corinthians 5:6 (ESV)
⁶  Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

BOUND TO BAAL

1 Kings 16:29-33 (ESV)
²⁹  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
³⁰  And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
³¹  And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.
³²  He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.
³³  And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Leviticus 26:1-6 (ESV)
¹  “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.
²  You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
³  “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,
⁴  then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
⁵  Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.
⁶  I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.

Deuteronomy 28:15-24 (ESV)
¹⁵  “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
¹⁶  Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
¹⁷  Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
¹⁸  Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
¹⁹  Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
²⁰  “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
²¹  The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
²²  The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
²³  And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.
²⁴  The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

REVELATION ABOUT RAIN

1 Kings 17:1-9 (ESV)
¹  Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
²  And the word of the LORD came to him:
³  “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
⁴  You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
⁵  So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.
⁶  And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
⁷  And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
⁸  Then the word of the LORD came to him,
⁹  “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV)
³¹  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ”˜What shall we eat?”™ or ”˜What shall we drink?”™ or ”˜What shall we wear?”™
³²  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
³³  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones

rec0415-112148

An Interview with Nicodemus 

(Part 2)

John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21 (ESV)
¹⁶  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁷  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
¹⁸  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
²¹  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

A PERSONAL TEXT

John 3:16 (ESV)
¹⁶  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

A PURPOSE TEXT

John 3:17 (ESV)
¹⁷  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

2 Peter 3:8-9 (ESV)
⁸  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
⁹  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Ezekiel 33:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰  “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ”˜Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?”™
¹¹  Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

A PAINFUL TEXT

John 3:18 (ESV)
¹⁸  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Romans 8:1 (ESV)
¹  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:4-5 (ESV)
⁴  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God”™s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
⁵  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God”™s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
²⁸  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 25:41 (ESV)
⁴¹  “Then he will say to those on his left, ”˜Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

John 1:10-12 (ESV)
¹⁰  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
¹¹  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
¹²  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

A PENETRATING TEXT

John 3:19-20 (ESV)
¹⁹  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

A POSITIVE TEXT

John 3:21 (ESV)
²¹  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Isaiah 55:6-7 (ESV)
⁶  “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
⁷  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones

rec0408-112213

An Interview with Nicodemus

(Part 1)

John 3:1-15

John 3:1-15 (ESV)
¹  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
²  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
³  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother”™s womb and be born?”
⁵  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
⁶  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷  Do not marvel that I said to you, ”˜You must be born again.”™
⁸  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
⁹  Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰  Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
¹¹  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
¹²  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
¹³  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
¹⁴  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
¹⁴  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Titus 3:4-5 (ESV)
⁴  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
⁵  he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Ezekiel 36:24-28 (ESV)
²⁴  I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
²⁵  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
²⁶  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
²⁷  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
²⁸  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Numbers 21:4-9 (ESV)
⁴  From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.
⁵  And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”
⁶  Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
⁷  And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸  And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
⁹  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Sermon Series by Rev. Richard Jones

rec0325-112530

Tough to Reconcile

                                                      Genesis  Chapters 42-45                                                        (various texts)

HUNGER DRIVE

 Genesis 42:1-17 (ESV)
¹  When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
²  And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”
³  So ten of Joseph”™s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
⁴  But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph”™s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.
⁵  Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
⁶  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.
⁷  Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
⁸  And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
⁹  And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
¹⁰  They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food.
¹¹  We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
¹²  He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.”
¹³  And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”
¹⁴  But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies.
¹⁵  By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
¹⁶  Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”
¹⁷  And he put them all together in custody for three days.

TRUTH EXPOSED

Genesis 42:18-26 (ESV)
¹⁸  On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:
¹⁹  if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households,
²⁰  and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.
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.”
²²  And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”
²³  They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.
²⁴  Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
²⁵  And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man”™s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
²⁶  Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.

LATE START

Genesis 43:1-10 (ESV)
¹  Now the famine was severe in the land.
²  And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”
³  But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ”˜You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.”™
⁴  If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
⁵  But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ”˜You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.”™”
⁶  Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?”
⁷  They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ”˜Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?”™ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ”˜Bring your brother down”™?”
⁸  And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
⁹  I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
¹⁰  If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

UNEXPECTED INVITATION

Genesis 43:15-25 (ESV)
¹⁵  So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
¹⁶  When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.”
¹⁷  The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph”™s house.
¹⁸  And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph”™s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.”
¹⁹  So they went up to the steward of Joseph”™s house and spoke with him at the door of the house,
²⁰  and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food.
²¹  And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man”™s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us,
²²  and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”
²³  He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
²⁴  And when the man had brought the men into Joseph”™s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder,
²⁵  they prepared the present for Joseph”™s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

STRANGE LUNCH

Genesis 43:26-34 (ESV)
²⁶  When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.
²⁷  And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”
²⁸  They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.
²⁹  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!”
³⁰  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 wept there.
³¹  Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.”
³²  They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
³³  And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement.
³⁴  Portions were taken to them from Joseph”™s table, but Benjamin”™s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

CHOSEN TEST

Genesis 44:1-13 (ESV)
¹  Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men”™s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man”™s money in the mouth of his sack,
²  and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.
³  As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.
⁴  They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ”˜Why have you repaid evil for good?
⁵  Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.”™”
⁶  When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.
⁷  They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
⁸  Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord”™s house?
⁹  Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord”™s servants.”
¹⁰  He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”
¹¹  Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
¹²  And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin”™s sack.
¹³  Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

JUDAH’S PLEA

Genesis 44:30-34 (ESV)
³⁰  “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy”™s life,
³¹  as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
³²  For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ”˜If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.”™
³³  Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
³⁴  For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

FAMILY SHOCK

Genesis 45:1-15 (ESV)
¹  Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
²  And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
³  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 at his presence.
⁴  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.
⁵  And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
⁶  For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
⁷  And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
⁸  So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
⁹  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; do not tarry.
¹⁰  You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children”™s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
¹¹  There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.”™
¹²  And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
¹³  You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
¹⁴  Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin”™s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
¹⁵  And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)
²⁸  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Application:

– There cannot be reconciliation without repentance.

-The reconciliation could only be possible because of  love.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (ESV)
¹⁸  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
¹⁹  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Sermon Series by Rev. Richard Jones

rec0318-112629

“From Prison to the Palace”

Genesis 41

DREAMING OF COWS

Genesis 41:1-8 (ESV)
¹  After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
²  and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass.
³  And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
⁴  And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
⁵  And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
⁶  And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.
⁷  And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
⁸  So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

OOPS, I FORGOT

Genesis 41:9-13 (ESV)
⁹  Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today.
¹⁰  When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,
¹¹  we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation.
¹²  A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream.
¹³  And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

PRISON TO THE PALACE

Genesis 41:14-24 (ESV)
¹⁴  Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
¹⁵  And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
¹⁶  Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
¹⁷  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile.
¹⁸  Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.
¹⁹  Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.
²⁰  And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows,
²¹  but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke.
²²  I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good.
²³  Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them,
²⁴  and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

REVELATION OF THE FUTURE

Genesis 41:25-36 (ESV)
²⁵  Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
²⁶  The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.
²⁷  The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.
²⁸  It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
²⁹  There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,
³⁰  but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
³¹  and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe.
³²  And the doubling of Pharaoh”™s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
³³  Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
³⁴  Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.
³⁵  And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
³⁶  That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

PROMOTION TO POWER

Genesis 41:37-45 (ESV)
³⁷  This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.
³⁸  And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
³⁹  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.
⁴⁰  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.”
⁴¹  And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
⁴²  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph”™s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.
⁴³  And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.
⁴⁴  Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
⁴⁵  And Pharaoh called Joseph”™s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)
¹  The king”™s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

FOOD AND CHILDREN

Genesis 41:46-52 (ESV)
⁴⁶  Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
⁴⁷  During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly,
⁴⁸  and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it.
⁴⁹  And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
⁵⁰  Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him.
⁵¹  Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father”™s house.”
⁵²  The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Ephesians 3:13-19 (ESV)
¹³  So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
¹⁴  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
¹⁵  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
¹⁶  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
¹⁷  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith””that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
¹⁸  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
¹⁹  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

BREAD IN EGYPT

Genesis 41:53-57 (ESV)
⁵³  The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end,
⁵⁴  and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
⁵⁵  When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.”
⁵⁶  So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
⁵⁷  Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
⁸  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
⁹  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

His sovereignty is our certainty.

Sermon series by Rev Richard Jones

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“Falsely Accused and Quickly Forgotten”

Genesis 39 & 40

FALSELY ACCUSED

Genesis 39:1-6a (ESV)
¹  Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
²  The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
³  His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
⁴  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.
⁵  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.
⁶  So he left all that he had in Joseph”™s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Genesis 39:6b-10 (ESV)
⁶  Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
⁷  And after a time his master”™s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
⁸  But he refused and said to his master”™s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.
⁹  He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
¹⁰  And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

Proverbs 23:26-28 (ESV)
²⁶  My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
²⁷  For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
²⁸  She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

Genesis 39:11-15 (ESV)
¹¹  But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,
¹²  she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.
¹³  And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house,
¹⁴  she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
¹⁵  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.”

2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV)
²²  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Genesis 39:16-20 (ESV)
¹⁶  Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home,
¹⁷  and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.
¹⁸  But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
¹⁹  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.
²⁰  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 prison.

Genesis 39:21-23 (ESV)
²¹  But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
²²  And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
²³  The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph”™s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

QUICKLY FORGOTTEN

Genesis 40:1-4 (ESV)
¹  Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt.
²  And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
³  and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.
⁴  The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

Genesis 40:5-8 (ESV)
⁵  And one night they both dreamed””the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison””each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation.
⁶  When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.
⁷  So he asked Pharaoh”™s officers who were with him in custody in his master”™s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?”
⁸  They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

Genesis 40:9-15 (ESV)
⁹  So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me,
¹⁰  and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes.
¹¹  Pharaoh”™s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh”™s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh”™s hand.”
¹²  Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.
¹³  In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh”™s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer.
¹⁴  Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.
¹⁵  For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

Genesis 40:16-19 (ESV)
¹⁶  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head,
¹⁷  and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.”
¹⁸  And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days.
¹⁹  In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head””from you!””and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

Genesis 40:20-23 (ESV)
²⁰  On the third day, which was Pharaoh”™s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
²¹  He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh”™s hand.
²²  But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
²³  Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Sermon Series by Rev. Richard Jones

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“IN THE PIT OF REJECTION”

Genesis 37

JACKET OF JEALOUSY

Genesis 37:1-4 (ESV)
¹  Jacob lived in the land of his father”™s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
²  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father”™s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
³  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.
⁴  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

DREAMS OF DESTINY

Genesis 37:5-11 (ESV)
⁵  Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.
⁶  He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed:
⁷  Behold, 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.”
⁸  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 dreams and for his words.
⁹  Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
¹⁰  But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
¹¹  And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

PLOT FOR PUNISHMENT

Genesis 37:12-20 (ESV)
¹²  Now his brothers went to pasture their father”™s flock near Shechem.
¹³  And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”
¹⁴  So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
¹⁵  And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?”
¹⁶  “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”
¹⁷  And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ”˜Let us go to Dothan.”™” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
¹⁸  They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.
¹⁹  They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.
²⁰  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

RESCUED BY REUBEN

Genesis 37:21-24 (ESV)
²¹  But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”
²²  And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”””that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.
²³  So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore.
²⁴  And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)
²⁸  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

SILVER FOR SLAVERY

Genesis 37:25-28 (ESV)
²⁵  Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
²⁶  Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
²⁷  Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.
²⁸  Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

DRAMA OF DECEPTION

Genesis 37:29-35 (ESV)
²⁹  When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes
³⁰  and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?”
³¹  Then they took Joseph”™s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
³²  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.”
³³  And he identified it and said, “It is my son”™s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”
³⁴  Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
³⁵  All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

BLOCK OF BEWILDERMENT

Genesis 37:36 (ESV)
³⁶  Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Isaiah 53:2-6 (ESV)
²  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
³  He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned””every one””to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Matthew 27:45-46 (ESV)
⁴⁵  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
⁴⁶  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Hebrews 10:19-23 (ESV)
¹⁹  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
²⁰  by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
²¹  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
²²  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
²³  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.