Forgetting Trouble...

Alright, we're looking again at Genesis and we're walking through the story of Joseph. This week's sermon, I am assuming, is going to be challenging to hear because it's going to be challenging for me to preach. So, bear with me and let us show each other grace as we study a very difficult topic and that is God's role in our suffering. This week's sermon really would go better with the event we were remembering last week, 9-11. We're going to look at the classic question, why do bad things happen to good people? Well, kind of. It's really all a matter of how good is the first question you ask. And that's really not a good question, because I disagree with one of the premises outright, because Scripture says no one is good, no not one. So we need to reformulate that question. We need to think about how to ask that question that's getting at the problem of suffering and evil from a Christian perspective. Why does God bless sinful people? That's an important question to ask as Christians. Why does God bless sinful people? Real Christian way of asking that question, assuming we are all sinful. Why does God, why is God faithful to us? Why is God patient with us? More so, I think the question we're really asking this morning is how does God use bad things for his good purpose? That's really the focus of our study this morning. That's the real question. How does God use bad things for his good purpose? And when I say bad things, I am referring to emotional, physical and relational pain. This morning, we're going to see how God uses bad things to correct, strengthen and build up His people to fulfill His plan, which is for our good. As we saw in Judah and Tamar, in chapter 38, God took that child from prostitution and incest. And from that child, he brought the Savior. God is able to use evil and sin even as part of his plan of salvation. This morning, the message is simply this. God is sovereign over our suffering and our salvation. God is sovereign over our suffering and our salvation. We're going to walk through the story. It's a fairly simple, straightforward story. And the main focus is on some dreams. Now, remember, Joseph is the dreamer. Back when he had the fancy coat and he was at home with his brothers and his father, he had some dreams. And when he talked about those dreams, those dreams had him thrown into prison. Now, while in prison, God is going to bring some dreams to other people that are going to not only free him from prison, but establish Him as the most powerful man in the world. God's good gospel. Let's look to chapter 40. And really, we should start in chapter 39, about verse 19. To help us get some context. As we get into chapter 40, I want you to listen for the threes. There are sets of threes. Of course, there are three days, there are three branches. But then we're going to see that the verbs and the nouns that come in the form of threes, especially in verses 10 and 11. So be listening for that, because that's important for our story this morning. Our first point this morning as we walk through the scenes before we get to the application, and our scenes are easy. Chapter 40, Joseph is forgotten. Chapter 41, Joseph is remembered. Pretty simple outline this morning. The list began in verse 19 of chapter 39. 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. 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. This is the beauty of the gospel. But the Lord was with Joseph. That's the foundation of everything else that's going to take place. The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the house, of the prison. 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. 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. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. In the prison where Joseph was confined, the captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them. And he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. And one night, they both dreamed. Now, if you were with us last week, there's a parallel there. Remember, Potiphar's wife kept tempting every day. And then one day, The great lie took place. There's a parallel here. He was attending them continually. 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 dreamed with his own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house. Why are your faces downcast today? 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 and bless you, dear brother. So the chief cupbearer told his dream to the Joseph and said to him, in my dream, there was a vine before me and on the vine there were three branches, and as soon as it budded, Its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened in the grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. Then Joseph said to him, This is its interpretation. The three branches are three days. 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. 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. 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." 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, 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. And Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. 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. 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. And he restored the chief cupbearer to his position. And he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand, and he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." Now, remember, Joseph, as he's already alluded to here, he's almost murdered by his brothers. They decide it'd be better to sell him, that way they at least get a profit for him. He's then taken in. He's wrongly accused. He's falsely accused of approaching Potiphar's wife. He's put in prison under false pretenses. And now, he's forgotten. The guy can't get a break. The guy continues to go through hardships and suffering. The story gives us two servants of the king, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. Now, these men would have been extremely well trusted servants in the household. They're the ones that are closest to the Pharaoh. They're the ones closest to the king. They could poison him. They have to be well acquainted. And the assumption may be the most probable that there was a threat to Pharaoh and he blamed these two men. And it's possible that because of the dreams and the interpretations, the cupbearer was innocent and the baker was guilty. Again, it's focused on one night. Joseph has all authority. And then one night, these two men have a dream and they're troubled. Joseph walks out and he can see there's something wrong. What's troubling you? We've had dreams and Joseph makes it very clear that He knows God is with Him, and that's why He is successful. This is a great confession. Do not interpretations belong to God. I do not have a source of authority other than God Himself. I do not have anything within me without God that can help you. But God has made me His prophet. God has made me His interpreter. So let me hear your dreams. This reveals a great faith in God, a dependence upon God. This is his secret to success, his secret to his best life in prison. There's two dreamers, the cupbearer is blessed and the baker is cursed. Both happen in three days. Pharaoh is going to have a big celebration for his party. And it's interesting, he lifts up the head of the cupbearer. Now, you can look at this, Psalm 110 also uses this language. The great victor over sin and death, his head is lifted up. The head lifting up as a symbol is a symbolic of a victor or symbolic of comfort. When your head is lifted up, you are comforted by God. You are risen victorious. Well, this is in contrast to the baker whose head is lifted off. Very blunt language here. One has his head lifted up. In victory and comfort, the other one has his head lifted off, being hanged. Yet, Joseph is forgotten. He does not receive a break. God does not deliver him, even though he has performed this good deed for this man through God's power. So, Joseph is forgotten. Let's look at chapter 41. This is a longer reading. Here, we're going to see that Joseph is remembered. Now, you're going to want to listen for the word behold. It's saying, hey, listen to this. It's drawing attention to specific instances. The focus is on the listen here and what follows is important. Here, Chapter 41. After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump and they fed in the reed grass 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 and the ugly thin cows ate up the servant the seven attractive plump cows and Pharaoh woke and he fell asleep and dreamed a second time and behold Seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 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. Then the Chief Cutbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servant and put me and the Chief Baker in custody in the house of the Captain of the Guard, we dreamed on the same night. He and I, each having a dream with his own interpretation. 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. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged. 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. 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. Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 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. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows. 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. I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears, weathered thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 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. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years. And the seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one. 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. It is as I told you, Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. 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, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and sent him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers of the land and take one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years 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. 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 famine. This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servant, Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall overwhelm my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set over all the land of Egypt. See, I set you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring in 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. And he made him ride in his second chariot. They called out before him, bow the knee. Thus, he set over, set him over all the land of Egypt. 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. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zephaniah, and he gave him in marriage to Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, the priest of On. And so Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years, the earth produced abundantly. 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 field around it. 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. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, priest of Aon, bore them to him. 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. The name of the second he called Ephraim. For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. For seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end. And the seven years of famine began to come. As Joseph had said, there was a famine in all the land, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, Go tell Joseph what he says to you, do. And 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. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain because the famine was severe in all the earth." Here we see Joseph remembered. Joseph exalted. Joseph becomes the most powerful man in all the world because of God's good plan of salvation for his people. Two whole years pass by. Joseph spends at least 13 years of his life in either prison or in slavery. And here, after the long wait, God provides Pharaoh two dreams. One with the cows, one with the grains. And as you heard already, the ugly in sin or the blighted in sin, they eat up the plump, representing seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. It's interesting how Joseph is so clearly dependent upon God. It is not in me, but God will give the answer. In verse 16, dreams are the same. They reveal to you what God is about to do. As I have told you, so God has told you what He is going to do. Verse 28, it is certain because the dreams are double. Now, this is interesting. Because oftentimes in Scripture, God will say, I'm going to send a famine. I'm going to send real hardship. And the goal is repentance. If we were to look over, you don't have to look now, it's a simple verse, but look up Jeremiah 18, eight later. There he gives a conditional clause, if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I plan to bring on it. Sometimes God brings hardships to threaten us so that we will repent of sin. This is not like that. God has brought a double dream to make it clear. I have determined I'm going to do it. There's nothing you can do to stop it because it is what I need to do to bring about the bigger plan. There's no opportunity for repentance to stop the famine. But there is the opportunity to plan ahead for the famine. And God has blessed Joseph the perfect opportunity to show himself to be the wise interpreter, the man filled with the Spirit of God. And so, Pharaoh gives him everything. Remember in the Judah story when Judah gives over his signet ring? That's like your credit card. He gives him authority to make every transaction, buying and selling, In the name of Pharaoh, he gives him his signet ring. He gives him a new wardrobe. He puts another garment over him. Remember how garments have been used over and over again in this story. Joseph's garment is ripped off of him. And now he has a new garment that's royal again. And then he gets a gold chain. I don't know how to interpret that. What's amazing, he has authority over everything. Now, I didn't see anybody comment on this, but my observation of this is God has used an Israelite to make Egypt what God had planned Israel to be all along. All the world is going to come to Egypt so that they can see God's hand at work. God has elevated this Hebrew to be leader of the Egyptians, the evil people. If you're from the Exodus, the Egyptians are not supposed to in any way be helpful or nice. They're always the people opposed to God. But here God has used a Hebrew dependent upon him, elevated him to the head of the Egyptians. And now all the nations are going to come to Egypt. When we know, though, the ultimate plan of God is for all the nations to come to Israel because there they will hear the word of God and could believe God. Now, it's very important, these names of the children. Joseph forgets his trouble. Thirteen years in either prison or slavery, being abused by his family, being abused by his master's wife. He had reasons to shake his fist at God. He had reasons to say, God, what are you doing? But we never hear that in the story. Because I don't think it takes place. We hear His faithfulness. We hear His dependence. And then we hear these two names, how sweet these confessions are. Manasseh, because God has made me forget my hardship. He now sees God's perfect plan. He now sees God's deliverance. He now sees what God is doing. And so, He's able to forget His hardship. And secondly, because God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. Again, this is astounding. A son hated by the rest of the family, sold into slavery, lied about, put in prison, put in slavery. Now the leader of the known world. Well, let's move to applications. The story is fairly straightforward. We have a dreamer and then we have some dreams and we have Joseph exalted. If we look at this, our first application is a thick, weighty, long one. We must trust God and His good purpose in our suffering. We must trust God and His good purpose in our suffering. Now notice what happens. God says, I'm going to send the famine. God puts the dream in Pharaoh's head. God does all of this. God's going to send seven years of famine to bring about his plan, just as God had revealed it to Pharaoh and Joseph. This means God has sent the famine, which is going to hurt people, which is going to cause suffering even in the house of Israel for the purpose of exalting Joseph and accomplishing his will. This is just one of many hardships that Joseph has had to suffer. Now, the question is this. Is God allowing this to happen? Is God permitting this to happen? Or is God truly causing this to happen? How sovereign is God over our suffering? How personally present is God in our suffering? At the very least, we have to say that the God who is with Joseph is allowing these hardships to take place. He's using these hardships to take place. But I believe also God is proactively intending these hardships to take place. Here we're dealing with the problem of evil. Let's consider two kinds of evil. Let's parse this out so we make sure we're talking about the same thing here. Let's first think about natural evil. Natural evil are tornadoes, hurricanes, natural disasters. We call these evil because they're destructive. We see the damage that takes place. They're not evil in the same sense as the other category, moral evil. Moral evil is rebellion against God and other human beings. It's an intentional, volitional evil. Natural evil, those are the things we see happening in the world that cause destruction. And we believe God is sovereign over them. We believe God chooses to stop letting the rain fall on the faithful and the wicked. He does so for a purpose. He is just and He is good in causing the famine. It establishes Joseph over the people of Israel, people of Egypt, and will save Israel. Now the key thing to remember here God does cause this to happen. It's a natural evil. He brings it about. He is sovereign and is good and just in this. But it does not mean He is the author of evil. This will be more helpful as we think about moral evil. This is moral evil. It is every evil act that man does against himself, that men do against each other, and most of all, that we do against God. Moral evil is that sin that we do against one another when we're hurting each other. It's sin that we do that hurts ourselves. And it's sin that obviously we do in rebellion against God. It's amazing about God as he revealed himself in Scripture, as he revealed himself especially in Genesis 37 through 50. God uses evil for good. It's amazing. God uses evil for good. It shows his absolute sovereignty. It shows his absolute goodness. It shows his absolute power. Because he's using evil for good without being the cause of evil. He is the Lord over evil because he directs it. It's very important. He directs evil. He does not cause sin. He does not tempt us, according to James. But he's able to take our sin. and direct it for His good purpose. Now, here we've got to get into what is our will, what is God's role in that. There are two extremes. One extreme is this. We're sovereign. We do whatever we want, however we want to do it. I don't like that view because that means God's always playing dodgeball. God's always reacting and acting and reacting and acting. He's not really sovereign over anything. No, we do not do exactly what we want to do however we want to do it. God's common grace protects us from doing what we really would do without His hand upon us. The other view would be that God determines everything. This is hard determinism. Well, this will make us robots if we do not have real choice. I don't think either one of these options are correct. I believe we have a middle position. It's called compatibilism. Our will is compatible with His will. We intend evil and then He uses that evil. See, evil comes from our hearts. It bubbles up from our sinful nature and comes out of our mouth and out of our actions. And God is sovereign in proactively intending it at times and also directing it so that it accomplishes His purpose. He's able to direct sin. Potiphar's wife was permitted by God to tempt Joseph. And God used that temptation to fulfill his perfect plan to put him in the prison so that when the cupbearer and the baker are in there, he has a reputation with them. So that when God brings the famine and the dream of which to Pharaoh, Joseph is called upon. It's God's perfect plan. His plan and his will are accomplished despite our sin and even through our sin. He does not call sin, but He does sometimes proactively intend it, and He always directs it. If you have a question about this, this is just something I practice that I think we all should do. It's a hard question. This is a hard topic. I want you to have to think about this more. I'm not saying everything there is to be said, but we have a question. Let's go to the cross. The cross is with the clearest revelation of God. Let's go to the cross. God uses the evil sin of the high priests and the Pharisees who want to kill Jesus. He uses Pilate and his moral dilemma over should he give them Barabbas or should he give Jesus. He uses the crowds and calling for Barabbas instead of Jesus. He uses all of that sin to bring about our salvation. That's a good purpose and a good plan that we are very thankful for. We are thankful that Jesus Christ died on the cross, but God had to use all the sin of even Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, to bring about that good purpose. Friends, it's fascinating. In the midst of our suffering, in the midst of our evil, in the midst of our own sin, God is working. to bring about his good purpose and his good plan, even the plan to save us. Let's think about this more in the sense that does God intend and direct our pain and suffering? Well, I had a couple of people question last week's quote, and it was somebody else that said this, but I'm affirming it. A.W. Tozer said this, it is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. And Joseph is the perfect picture of this. He is blessed greatly because God has hurt him. Or to use more biblical language, God has disciplined him to make him obedient, to make him a lover of God, to make him a submissive son. God had to prepare him. You don't go to war before you go to boot camp. You're broken, you're trained, you're established, and then God establishes you and blesses you. So, does God actively hurt people? Well, again, as a principal, I like to go to the cross. Here's the key question. Did the Father actively pour out His wrath on the Son who is undeserving? Did the Father intentionally and proactively pour out wrath on the Son who did not deserve that wrath? Was Jesus really sinless and innocent? And yet, did He suffer a sinner's death? You see, in the story, Matthew 26, we get Jesus' side of this. In the garden, He tells the disciples, My soul is sorrowful, even to death. And then He prays, My Father, If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. You see him pleading, but yet submitting. My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. He's sweating blood. He's weeping. He's going to his father. Is there any other way? Have you ever thought about the father's part of the conversation, that is? We see that deep emotion from the Son. How emotional do you think the Father's response to that is? My Son, there is no other way. We planned this from the very beginning. They are lost without you. You have to go. I don't want to punish you. You are undeserving of any and every part of the rest, but you have to go. The Father intentionally leaves the Son to die on the cross. And there, the Father pours out our wrath on Him. The Father intentionally hurts the Son for our good, for His bigger plan, so that we can put our faith in Him and be saved from those sins. Friends, He did not keep the Son from punishment. He did not keep the Son from punishment that He did not deserve. Why would we think He's going to keep us from discipline that we do deserve? Why would we expect that God is only to give us candy when the Son had to drink the wrath for our sin? My friends, our sin is completely forgiven in Christ. That's the beautiful part of the Father intentionally giving Him all of our wrath. It's completely forgiven. But we're still rebellious in our hearts. The gospel is about forgiveness. The gospel is about the assurance you can have in Jesus Christ to be forgiven. But it isn't just about forgiveness. He wants us to be made whole again. He wants us to love him. He wants us to be obedient to him. He wants us to submit to him. And as all of us know who have children, this doesn't come naturally. All of us, period, know that this does not come naturally. God disciplines those He loves. God forgives our sins, but He still has to correct our desires, our behaviors, our patterns. Sometimes God uses the carrot. Sometimes God draws us in with a delight. But oftentimes, God uses the stick to correct us. and to discipline us. God proactively poured out a unique suffering on the Son. We must see that the Father proactively allows suffering in us to discipline us and to disciple us. As His children, we should expect suffering. We should expect suffering. First, because we're going to suffer in this world because it's fallen. We're going to suffer because if you look to the left, you look to the right, you look in the mirror, you're going to see three sinners. As you relate to one another, you're going to stand against one another. We hurt each other. That's what we do. Even with the best intention, we hurt each other. There's going to be suffering because we are all sinners and we're all going to be sitting against one another. We'll also suffer because of natural evil. This world is fallen and there are tornadoes, there are hurricanes, there are natural disasters. We will also suffer because as adopted children in Christ, we are called to participate in the suffering of Christ. We are called to rejoice in that participation in the suffering of Christ. Really, everyone's going to suffer relationships, but that one is specific for Christians. Because we are supposed to be participating in the suffering of Christ. The last one is also particularly specific for Christians. We will sever because the Father disciplines us because He loves us. His discipline is necessarily painful for a season. Here are the words of Hebrews 12, 7 through 11. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children, and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father or spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them. But He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. But later, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." That reminds me of Joseph in naming his children there. I have forgotten my affliction. I have forgotten. My pain, because you have helped me forget and made me fruitful. The Father disciplines those He loves. Hebrews 12 is actually based on Proverbs chapter 3. I encourage you to read 1 through 12, but hear verses 9 to the end. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with your firstfruits of all your produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, Do not despise the Lord's discipline or be wary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves him who he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. He disciplines us for our good. We know it's good because God does it. God doesn't do evil things. God doesn't do sinful things. He doesn't tempt us. When God Disciplines us it's for our good. He brings the carrot instead of the stick Because we have stiff necks Again does God actively hurt people in one sense absolutely not God never brings pain for the sake of pain God does not delight in our pain and God does not delight in violence. God does not delight in torture. God does not delight in pain. He delights in our love. He delights in our obedience. He delights in our submission. But He knows that with our stiff necks and our hard hearts, He needs to discipline us so that we are obedient and submissive to Him. So, as we ask if God hurts deeply. Well, it's not because he just wants to hurt us. He hurts us deeply so that we will accomplish pure joy. God is proactively disciplining us. The key question is, how do we respond? The purpose of his discipline is to love us and to help us love him. So, look through Joseph's life. He suffered greatly. He was hurt deeply. And it was all for the purpose Of God. His suffering had a bigger purpose, and as we reflect upon his suffering and how God ordained all these things for him, we have to realize. That's comforting to us. It's comforting because God is sovereign over all of our suffering. I realize this may be uncomfortable. To talk about God disciplining his people. But I think it actually should be a great comfort. I think this is extremely comforting because it means that our sufferings, while they may seem meaningless and even hopeless, they are part of God's plan. Every possible suffering, every pain is intended by God for our good. Romans 8, 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. Everything that happens to us, every possible pain and suffering, God is intending and directing it to our good for His purpose. Right before that, Paul says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. You see, our sufferings, our pain, they're for God's glory. Therefore, our growth in godliness. Therefore, an ultimate end, so that when we see God face-to-face, we can see what He was doing and why it happened. But we may never see it as clear as we will when we see the Father face-to-face. See, God doesn't allow accidents. All things work together for our good. All things work according to His purpose. He's not a passive observer. He's not. He's not surprised. He's involved in our suffering and he's seeking to bring about from it our good. He's not caught off guard. He's not distant. Remember the key phrase in this. God was with Joseph. He is present with us in our suffering to comfort us, to lead us. He is present in our suffering to bring about His perfect plan. God brought moral evil into Joseph's life. He directed moral evil into his life so that He could establish him as a Savior of Israel. Let's turn to our second application and it is simple. God is sovereign over our salvation. Joseph is established as a leader of the world. He's brought through numerous trials, he's brought through numerous problems, but here God has established him as a leader. Now, let's get a bigger picture of what's happening. We've all seen either the movie Prince of Egypt or you've read Exodus. I'm assuming everyone in the room. We know where this is going. God has sent Joseph into Egypt, not only so that he can save his family from the famine. But you see, Egypt's this nice little incubator. The Egyptians don't like foreigners, especially foreigners who herd sheep. They think sheep and goats are dirty, and so they don't have anything to do with the Israelites. When Israel comes in, they are given the choicest lot of land because Joseph's in charge. He sets off the land of Goshen, the rich land, so that the Israelites, they grow in number, they grow in power, they're even going to grow in wealth. See, this is a perfect plan of God. God uses Egypt, Israel's greatest enemy, to protect them for a season so that God can make them numerous. You see, this is how the whole plan works. And then, so God can show that He is the mighty God, the one true God and the delivering God. It gets better. Because God not only gives them the most choice land, God only makes them great in number. But then God, after Pharaoh forgets Joseph, He hardens Pharaoh's heart. He allows Pharaoh to abuse his people, to enslave Israel. to kill their firstborn so that God can wrestle Egypt into submission to prove that all those other gods they claim are gods, they're not true gods. He is the one true God. He wrestles Egypt to prove to Israel, I am your God, Yahweh, the one and only, the Deliverer. It's a bigger picture. God is orchestrating all of this for His big plan of salvation. Of course, we see the same sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Again, we have to go to the cross. God uses Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. The priests and the Pharisees who plotted to kill Jesus. Pilate and his mortal lemma. The crowd calling for Barabbas. He uses all of these sinners to bring about His plan of salvation. See, the beauty of... Romans 8, when it says nothing can separate us from the Father's love. Romans 8 also says nothing can separate us from the Father's love. The beauty of this is that I typically think it's always in the present, but we can look throughout all Scripture and we can see that nothing has stopped God from accomplishing His purpose. He's never acting and then over and then reacting. He's always intentionally bringing out His one plan from before time began. This is comforting, friends. We must trust him in the midst of our trouble to bring about his goodwill. Suffering is painful for a season. Some of us have gone through great suffering, some of us have gone through little suffering. In the midst of suffering that you've either gone through or are in or will be in, you must trust God. You must look to God who orchestrates things like this story with Joseph, like the cross of Jesus Christ. And look at it and realize that God always works all things for the good of his people. All things work together for us. He is good. His intentions will be good, even if painful for a season. Be weary of straying. from the narrow path, because he will use discipline to bring us back. But when he is disciplining us, we have to ask, what is God's good purpose in this? Friends, one of the truest marks of a Christian is this. They persevere in suffering. Paul calls us to not avoid suffering, to not flee from suffering, to not avoid it at all costs, but to rejoice in it. Paul delighted in suffering because it allowed him to experience the cross of Christ in a new way. He had a divine perspective on suffering. It wasn't just something that was happening to him that was meaningless and hurtful. No, it was God's hand in his life bringing about more godliness, more love, and more obedience. Friends, if you're suffering this morning, Don't hide it. Just as I've been preaching, do not hide your sin. The glory of the gospel should cause us to confess our sin. The glory of the gospel should cause us to talk about our suffering. We think there's something wrong with telling people, no, things aren't well. I have this physical pain. I've been hurt by this person. I am going through this trial. God has intended us to be a church, to be united, to talk about our trials. and our sufferings together so that we can point each other to Christ. Now, the real sad truth is that many of us have been hurt in the church of Christ. Many of us have either been hurt by an under shepherd or another body. It's difficult and discouraging. We should expect sinners to sin against us. But we should also hope that the church will obey its calling To love one another and to consider others greater than themselves. But the truth is that a lot of Christians, well, they don't live out their calling. They live out their sinful nature. Friends, we have to commit. To loving Christ and obeying him as his body, as members of his body, submitting to his headship. Suffering together. Weeping with one another and rejoicing with one another. I pray that as we, I hope, are all challenged by God's power, that we will reflect and pray and consider our sufferings and how God will use them for our good and His glory. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. God, You are infinite in Your love, Your power. You're infinite in Your ability to accomplish Your will. I pray that we will be challenged to pursue this. To pursue a clearer, better understanding of who You are and what You're doing in our life. To stop trying to flee from suffering, but see how it can be used for our good, so that we love You more. It can be used for Your glory because it's part of Your plan. How we can participate in the sufferings of Christ. Father, who did not even spare His own Son, do not spare us. I pray that we would not be illegitimate children, but that You would discipline us. You would cause us as a body to repent of our individual sins and of our corporate sins. Help us, Lord, to submit to your glorious right hand that watches over us and cares for us. We praise you most of all for Jesus Christ, who is the answer to the problem of evil, who is the cure to the curse, who is the balm and the comfort to our suffering. In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.