Voice of the Nazarene 10-26-25

Voice of the Nazarene 10-26-25

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Ray, coming to you from North Central Ohio. We share with you the voice of the Nazarene. A week by week, venture into the Word of God, sponsored by the Bucyrus Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our pastor, Reverend Ray La Salle, and the voice of the Nazarene.

Pastor Ray LaSalle: 0:17

I believe God's presence is here. This makes the third time that I've attempted in these 33 years to do a series on Joseph and trying not to overlap those other times has worked me to death. I'm moving off of Joseph soon, but we've been talking about overcoming an overcoming series. We're now to the prison. Overcoming prison. He will spend 13 years locked up, and it wasn't a five star prison either. Back to the matter, if you read over in the Psalms, it talks literally about him being in chains and fetters. And while we make it appear that he's just in charge of everything, and everything is smooth, he's kind to everyone, and he does things and he serves, but he's in he's in chains. It's not easy. And during that time, there are two characters that he meets and he interprets dreams. I don't do dreams much unless I eat cabbage. But he he deals with the butler and a baker, and he explains to them, during this period, the prison period, their dreams. And my text this morning is Genesis, 39 verse, 20, and Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison. Lady had schemed against him and lied on him, and he's taken and put into prison. Now do you recall the dreams that Joseph had? He dreamed that he was the chief and there would be other little sheaves that would bow down to him. He dreamed about the sun and the moon and the 11 stars and how they would all pay homage. And maybe you're remembering some dreams that you've had. How's that working out for you some of the dreams you had when you were young in life and and you thought somewhere out there you would find your way. And did you make it, or did you fail to overcome in some areas? And you missed your dream? Well, it's not all over. Life's not over yet. You're still above the sod and and God has something he wants to put into your heart, but maybe, like Joseph, your dream didn't seem to include a little hussy that would lie on you and derail your life for 13 years. Maybe you never dreamed somebody would tell a lie and it would sidetrack mess with your life and kill your hopes and damage your influence, and maybe, maybe he hadn't be he'd already lived down one lie that had been told to his father about him for over 20 years, that it looked like it would never be straightened out. It would always be believed and and and he worried that his dad would die thinking that he had been killed by an animal. And you wonder, why do people twist the truth, prevaricate and besmirch people, and how that can go on for years and never get straightened out and even continue to be believed, and people will live and die believing a lie on you. Well, I don't think Joseph included in his dream being sold into slavery. That wasn't a story he was telling his brothers when he was trying to explain his dreams, or that he'd be light on. And I doubt if Joseph realized that he'd be in prison waiting for 1256, 1011, 1213, years, that wasn't in his dream. It wasn't in his plan. And perhaps you're finding a lot of things in your life wasn't a part of your plan and part of your dreams, and now you're maybe in a spot in life where you can't seem to jump start things, you don't have enough connections, and you can't get out of the ruts, and you may be in a prison of your own making. Sometimes poor decisions will kind of put us in a prison for a while. Sometimes a death can it? Can just set our life back. You might have life all planned out, and suddenly you get divorce papers filed and put in your hands, and everything seems to go to pot. I think sometimes health issues. Can cripple our hopes. I think sometimes finances can bottleneck our dreams. If you talk about prison and all of that, you ought to talk to Jonah sometime. Remember, he made a bad decision, went the wrong way. And did you know in the second chapter, in verse six, here's what he says, the earth with its bars was around me forever, but he said that you redeemed me out of the pit, almost a similar story. Now it's interesting that Potiphar his wife, and I'm hoping you have a good background knowledge of this passage that she had had the hots for Joseph, and when turned down, she kept repeating, Joseph tried to force himself on me. She repeated that over and over. I think some people think if they repeat a lie enough times, pretty soon it becomes the truth. I don't know, and what she accused him of was exactly what she was guilty of. She said he was immoral and he wasn't, but she said he was, but she was the fact of the matter. And what are we going to do when we do the right thing and then we suffer wrong, wrongly after we've done our best to do what's right? What are you going to do when someone lies about you and others believe it, because it happened to Joseph? Joseph was innocent, and yet he suffered for many years. And what do you do when that suffering continues? I mean, just a little dose. Okay, we get over it. I mean, after, you know, Mama kisses the injury and puts a band aid on it. Life goes on, but when it goes on for years and it's always a sore years in prison, are we still going to serve God? That's my question. Many people think that when God delivers me out of this prison, then I'll do something great for God. No, we're conquerors when we ride in the prison of our existence. Do something that's great because we just are faithful doing what we're called to do. And did you know that Joseph never got bitter at God or at the Egyptians or even his brothers watch with scrutiny the man whose will has been crossed, whose hopes have been dashed, and the Spirit that He shows at that point will determine the character of that man that stands out so strongly to me about Joseph under pressure. Watch with scrutiny the spirit that a person shows. Now I want to go back to the little story here with the lady before he got into prison. The Bible said, here he left his garment, and then it repeats it when she saw he left his garment, then it said she showed his garment. Okay, you got that? That's in chapter 39 I want to show you something about Satan. He's not very creative. What got Joseph throwing into the pit? Anybody know the Bible said they saw him afar off. What was it they saw about him? It was that coat, that stupid coat. It just caught everybody's attention. Must have been fluorescent colors, and then what got him thrown into prison. It was that stupid coat. Again. It was another one, but it was a coat. I'll guarantee you one thing, if you ever see Joseph wearing a coat. It'll be a hot day. I don't care if it's 20 below zero. You couldn't get Joseph. You need a coat or your coat? No, no, I don't wear coats anymore. He'd had about all he wanted. Now here's why I'm saying this about Satan. Once Satan finds out your weakness, what it is, whether it's gossiping, carrying grudges, pornography, gambling, whatever it is. Once he finds out what, he always comes back and uses the same thing. He never tries to fit anything new. Find your weak area, and you better start guarding it. And I told you, if it's donuts, don't keep going around the block checking to see if there's a parking spot in front of the donut shop. Don't keep tempting yourself. The devil already knows how to get you, and he knows that one area. Now, I was talking to someone a couple weeks ago and and they said they had been in church for a long time, and I was in another city, and I said, Well, how long the other said, it's been about five years. I said, what happened? Said we got offended at church. Well, the devil knows what to use, doesn't he? Some of us are too thin skinned. I like what Jackie Robinson said, If. First black baseball player. He said, I can't help but God made my skin this color, but I sure do wish he'd have made it thicker. And there's been many times I wished I had thicker skin than what I've had. But here's this. I said, Well, you got offended at church? Yeah. I said, did you ever get offended at Kroger's? No. I said, What about McDonald why is it we only get offended at church, and it's never at McDonald's? Well, they said, I have been I said, Well, did you go back to McDonald's? I'm sure you did. And I'm simply saying the devil knows what it takes to get us he wants to get us out of the teaching of the Word. He wants us out of the fellowship of the brethren, and he wants us out of corporate worship. So let's go back to our story now. Genesis says the Bible opens up with this Introduction In the beginning God, God's at the start of everything. So every time you read about a story or an event in the Bible, always start with God. He's the sovereign being behind it all. So before you hunt up Joseph or any other characters, start off in the beginning God. You see God sees the whole picture, and God knew he had a race of people that he didn't want to become extinct. And he knew he had to get him from here on down into the land of Egypt. And and before he does all of that, he's got to get his man ahead of time down there in Egypt. And so here's the story of Joseph, and that's where you pick it up, little pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, they all begin to fit together. And Joseph will have to be moved around a bit. There will have to be a famine. Some brothers will have to get hungry, need some food, and God's at work. And maybe God's at work in your life, even more than you realize now, I'm in full agreement with the sovereign will of God, that God has the right to move our lives around on the great chessboard of what's going on. But I believe out and beyond all of that, I believe that God is personally involved in our lives and has an interest in you and what's going on in your thinking and in your heart of hearts, and I believe that God's aware if he sees a sparrow fall from the sky, he knows how our marriages are going, and he knows how broken hearted you are over some things that are happening even among your children. God's aware while he's in seeing the big picture, he also is involved in developing your character. So here's Joseph. Did he have any weaknesses? I suppose everybody does, don't you, suppose except me and you. But I wonder about you sometimes. Now, here's Joseph. He He comes up on these two guys, this baker and this Butler and, and he's trying to mind his own business, but he sees they're sad and tears are going down their cheeks, and they're broken hearted. And he asked, what's wrong? And, and you know, if you ask a woman, she'll tell you, organ going out, you know, an organ recite recital, she'll tell you, sometimes, some guys will, I don't ask anybody too much, how's things going. They might tell me. And so the butler and and the baker begin to tell him, and he says, Well, let me, let me interpret your dream. But he said, When you get out of here, I want you to remember me. Remember that little statement? That's what he says in Genesis, 40, verse 14, remember me. And watch how many times he uses the word me in this verse. And I think he missed it here. He said, Remember me when it's well with you, and please show kindness to me. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. And I think when he said that, I think God said, oops, two more years you've been in prison 11, but you haven't learned all of your lessons yet. When you start hinting and manipulating, just add two more years to your sentence. Just think about it sometime. And the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. But I believe he could have been released about that time if he hadn't got involved in all that. But I want to move on. I want to talk to you about some lessons out of the story today. Number one, obedience doesn't always lead to worldly blessings, and we see it so clearly. With Joseph, he did everything right. He refused her seductive advances. He refused to try to be in the room with her. He tried over and over, never to be alone with her, not to sit next to her. He knew what was going on, and he didn't want to fit with her plan. Man, even to the point that he fled, leaving his garment behind, but he was still wound up being thrown into prison. Now, there's a teaching that's been floating around over the last some years, more recent than ever, and it's just floating all over the place, that if you believe enough and, and if you just have faith enough and and if you can blab it, you can probably grab it, and that everything's going to work out in your life. But the problem is, I've seen throughout the Scripture so many who have stood firm but still had great difficulties in life, and they tried to do everything right, but things went wrong. I thought about Stephen when he stood up to preach, they stoned him to death. Let them tell that on their next TV broadcast, hello and what about what about the apostles? Nearly all of them died a very painful death as a result of their obedience, Jesus even told us that we would have difficulties in the world, and instead of great blessings, it may be exact opposite of that. And then lesson number two, your circumstances are a part of God's plan. We see it again in the life of Joseph, God was going to be taking his people into Egypt for a period of time, for the 400 years, he would be begin to grow that people into an innumerable crowd. And a part of that plan had to do with Joseph, on a small scale, being in prison for a while, to line him up to become second in command, and it may be during that time that Joseph fell all alone. Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like you've been abandoned? You ever feel like life's out of control and you just can't find the steering wheel anymore? Well, Romans 828, I believe was at work in the life of Joseph, it says, And the Lord was with Joseph, chapter 39 verse 21 and showed him mercy, gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Those are good words, aren't they? And here's lesson number three, God shows steadfast love to his children. He loves us, and we see that as God showed him favor with the warden, verse 23 and all he did, the Lord made to prosper. And in all of those moments in prison, God showed steadfast love and favor. And remember Romans 828, and we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose. Then look on down in verse 35 who can separate us from that love, that love of Christ and Paul even lifts off all these things that might would separate us things that maybe would cause us to doubt God's love in our life, he said, Shall tribulation, shall distress, shall persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword. Can any of those things separate us from the love of God? In Christ, Jesus. And then he goes on in verse 37 he said, Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors. We're talking about the Conqueror series. We're more than conquerors through him that loves us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord, and I'm here to say to you Christians today, there's nothing that can separate you from the love of God. The only thing that could make you get away from God is pure choice. You'd have to choose God never overrides the power of volition. You have the power to choose. Angels in heaven did, and third of them sinned. Adam chose to sin and be put out of the garden. Samson, the strongest man ever lived, chose to sin. Solomon, the wisest man, followed the folly of his heart. Paul said, I take heed after having preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. Nothing can separate us from the love of God except the power to choose. Now go back to Joseph, hundreds of miles from his homeland, lied on sold out by his brothers, locked up in a foreign prison, but not a thing could separate him, not a thing. Let me tell you something. Anybody likes sunshine? Well, it's a wonderful thing on a clear summer day to walk outside and look up and feel the warmth and to see the brightness of the sun and watch it shine off of leaves. Leaves and ripple off the waters, the sun, the warm, the bright light of sun. But you know, there are days that you can go outside and the sun is obscured by clouds. Does it mean the sun is not there? No, it's still there. You don't see it as clearly. You may not feel it as much, but it's still there. Fact, no matter you walk all, you walk out on a dark midnight and if there's any pale moon up yonder, it's a reflection, reflecting the sun back. And even at night, we're reminded the sun's still there. I want to tell you on the darkest hours of our life when it seems like things have fallen apart. I want you to know that God's near. You may have just placed a loved one beneath the sod, but I want you to know God is near. You may have gotten a bad doctor's report. And you walk out and your head is swimming and you can't even seem to get your balance, and you get in your car, and you sit there for a moment, and suddenly you sense God is there with you in the car. God is always at work fulfilling his plan. And you see this in chapter 40, verse one. It came to pass after these things that the Butler of the king of Egypt and his Baker had offended their Lord, the King of Egypt and Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers and against the chief of the bakers. Now, evidently there had been a conspiracy to poison the wine given to Pharaoh and somehow or another. I don't know how it happened, but somebody must have started a rumor that these are the culprits, these are the suspects. And so the baker and the butler are separated out and they're sent down to the captain of the guard. Now, you know who that was, don't you? Who's that Captain of the Guard? You know? Right? It's not the keeper of the warden, the captain of the guard. Let me just read it to you back in the 39th chapter, Genesis, verse one, it says Potiphar was captain of the guard. I just saw this. He's still in touch, in contact with Joseph. Fact, no matter, I've been convinced all these years that nobody knew his wife like Potiphar did. He had to know what kind of a woman she was. He knew that probably Joseph was innocent. But to keep any kind of integrity and to keep faith for the rest of the servants, he had to throw this boy, 17 years of age, into prison, where he had rocked over the years. And so it says the they put these two, the butler and the baker, in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them, and they continued a season in the war. Now they'd held very responsible jobs in Pharaoh's court. Fact, they weren't just a butler and a baker. They were the chief butler, Chief Baker in all of the land, and both of these guys have dreams, and God is using these dreams to advance his plan. And it's kind of interesting to me that these dreams came in pairs, one pair after another. Did you ever notice that? Why? I'm not sure. I know Joseph had two dreams. You remember about the sheaves, and then about the sun, stars and the moon. And now we've got a butler and a baker each had a dream. That's two more dreams together on the same night. And then right after that, you'll find that Pharaoh, in chapter 41 had a dream. And again, in verse five, he again fell asleep and dreamed a second dream. Two dreams. Now in verse nine, one of these men tells his dream to Joseph and said to him, in my dream, behold, a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth the ripe grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And Joseph immediately explained the interpretations come from God. I'm not the master of interpretation, only God. Now I have to talk to God about it. And then he said those three branches represents, in three days, you're going to be restored to Butler. Then that's what he said when you get out. Remember me. Fact, man, I like that. So while I read it again, I wish somebody would remember me, too. Once in a while, how about you only remember me when he goes. Well with you, and please show me loving kindness by remembering me to Pharaoh, getting me out of this place, for I was, in fact, stolen from the land of the Hebrews. He didn't blame his brothers, and even here, I've done nothing that they should put me into the pit. Now, since the dream had gone so well with the Butler, the baker, decided he had a good outcome. I'll just check out my my dream. And he said it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all of his servants and lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief butler, or Baker, rather, among His servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butler ship again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand, and he hanged the chief baker. This dream not going so good, is it? He's running out of breath. And Joseph had interpreted them, and yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him two years Joseph was forgotten by the butler, but I want you to know he wasn't forgotten by God, and neither are you. You're not forgotten. I didn't know just what's going on in your life, but you're not forgotten. You need to know that. And then here's lesson number four, be faithful where you are. If conditions don't seem to change, don't get better. Be faithful where you are. That's what Joseph's life was all about. He simply was faithful down there at potiphar's house, worked his way to the top in prison, faithful, again, worked his way to the top. Some people just kind of seem to bounce around. If you ever notice that, they just bounce from pillar to post. They bounce from one bad relationship into another bad relationship. They bounce from this job to that job, and they bounce from this marriage to that marriage. And it just seems like they're going from one thing, and there's something to be said about just being faithful by being faithful. So let's, let's close down. We've got a baker. We've got a butler. The Baker's job was to bake the bread, and the butler's job was to serve the blood red wine. That brings us to communion, if you remember the story about Joseph, not another man at all of divine writ more like Christ in the Old Testament than Joseph. One day, Joseph stood before his brothers and said, I am Joseph. There will be a day at the close of the tribulational period when Jesus is going to reveal himself to his Jewish brother and say, I'm Jesus, whom you crucified, just as I'm Joseph, your brother that you sold. And now here's a here's Joseph, that's most Christ like man, and he's standing there. And here's the baker serving the bread. Here's the butler serving the blood red

Unknown: 28:00

wine. Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with B and C's pastor Ray la salle. For more information regarding B and C, visit Bucyrus nazarene.org, you.