The Triumphal Procession
Notes
Transcript
Handout
There was this Hell's Angel riding down the road on his motorcycle last winter. He was wearing a leather jacket that had a broken zipper. He finally stopped the bike and thought to himself, "Man, I can't drive anymore with the cold air hitting me in my chest." So he decided to put the coat on backwards to block the air from hitting him. He continued driving and came around a bend in the road, lost control and wrecked, coincidentally, right in front of Boudreaux's house. Boudreaux happened to see what happened, and called the State Police to report the accident. The Trooper on the phone asked him, "Is the guy showing any sign of life?" "Well," Boudreaux told him, "He was until I turned his head around the right way!
In the last two messages, we have been finding rich parallels between the life of Joseph and the Christian walk.
In the first sermon, we talked about the Promise, which is the fact of God’s promise to you and I -- God’s word to us about our good destination. We also talked about the Process, which is the impossible journey towards that promise, which includes suffering, and how the Promise and the Process can be in tension with each other.
Two weeks ago, we talked about Perfection, which is God’s goal for the Process… the priceless treasure of mature, Godly character that can ONLY be acquired through the Process. We got to see how all of Joseph’s horrific trials and suffering are preparing him to be the man God has called him to be.
But for now, Joseph is still in prison. We ended last week with the chilling verse at the end of chapter 40. Let's take a look at that again, and the first verse in chapter 41.
23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. 1 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River.
1. The Process Involves Waiting
1. The Process Involves Waiting
At the time of Joseph’s interaction with the Cup Bearer, Joseph had been in prison about 10 years. This is the only time we see Joseph advocating for himself. It almost feels like he is becoming desperate for help. Back in Genesis 40:14–15 “ And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.””
He may have felt like this was his best and last chance to get out of prison.
What happens? God allowed Joseph to remain in prison 2 more years. This would be disappointing and could have been a dark time for Joseph. He was so close to a change of fate but it just slipped away.
Do you think Joseph got tired of waiting? Of course he did. He probably wondered why 10 years wasn’t long enough for God to leave him there. What was God doing that this cherry on top of an extra 2 years was necessary? I don’t know about you, but I would be just a little disappointed.
A God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and all loving would not allow suffering without a good reason.
A God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and all loving would not allow suffering without a good reason.
There is always a why, even when we don’t know what that why is. In a Biblical worldview, suffering always has a purpose. This is one of the most difficult things to accept in our Christian walk, and it most likely the most contested point in our thought life.
God has a purpose for allowing those last two years of imprisonment for Joseph that, on it’s face, just seems cruel. Maybe it was the last blow to Joseph’s self sufficiency as he watches his one attempt to deliver himself fail. Maybe this is the moment when Joseph said in his heart, “Whether you leave me in here the rest of my life or get me out, Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
We don’t get to see what happens in the dark prison behind the scenes scripture gives us. We don’t see what’s going on in his heart. We don’t get to see Joseph screaming and whimpering out to God as he tries to come to grips with the heavy hand of God.
But we can be sure that God has a good reason. He is forging Joseph into the man who would rule an empire, but the best reason is to bring Him Glory and us maximum benefit.
He is preparing Joseph to rescue his people from the coming destruction. He is also creating a story that would teach Christians for centuries.
God’s glory, Joseph’s benefit, our benefit.
God’s glory, Joseph’s benefit, our benefit.
All that’s happening to Joseph is for God’s glory and His benefit and ultimately for our benefit.
Do you ever get tired of waiting? Have you waited for years, only to turn the corner and find no end in sight? Have all of your attempts to remove the mountain in your path been epic failures?
It could be because the end of you is the beginning of God.
He will take you to the tomb whose only escape is resurrection. He will be your deliverer, not you. He will not give His glory to someone else. So we have to turn to God.
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.
You see God waiting… until the day when the time is right… the day, the hour, the second… when he will save you and obliterate any remnant of the notion that we can save ourselves.
And He will make you whole, and free, and nothing short of that.
Illustration of character building time
When I went to work in BR at OLOL, I needed to learn how to run departments in a hospital. When I left training, I thought I was ready, but I wasn’t. Working 16 hour days for the 1.5 years I was there… 7 days a week made everything else seem easier.
Seminary - I went into seminary thinking I knew a lot. I came out of seminary knowing there is so much more to learn about the Lord and how to follow him than I could even imagine. I had lots of reading in multiple books per class. I had practicums in a mental hospital. I wrote papers… lots of papers. It was a time of learning, but also a time of humbling. Why? to prepare me for what God wanted me to do.
Pharaoh’s Dreams free Joseph
Pharaoh’s Dreams free Joseph
2 In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. 3 Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. 4 Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up. 5 But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. 6 Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. 7 And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.
Pharaoh’s has two dreams, the first in which 7 healthy cows are eaten by 7 sick looking cows. The 2nd dream is where 7 healthy looking ears of corn are eaten by 7 diseased ears of corn.
This bothers Pharoah so he calls all of his wise men and asks them to interpret the dream, but none of them can.
Now, unbeknownst to Joseph, God is setting up the events that will lead, not only to his release from prison, but far more than that. In an instant, he is about to become the 2nd most powerful person in all of Egypt and really the world at that time.
Pharoah is being prepared to receive rescue from the God of Joseph.
First he goes to the representatives of the other false gods. All of those advisors fail to interpret the dreams.
His false gods had to fail in order for him to be ready for the real
His false gods had to fail in order for him to be ready for the real
… for the living God to save him.
If you think about it, we are the same. It’s really an act of mercy that God allows all the other false gods or idols (money, success, power, technology, or relationships) to fail us so that we will turn to him. He doesn’t allow anything to successfully take his place.
think of a time when some of these failed so that God could come save us
When I was working on YFC, I could not even pretend to put a personal budget together. It would not work. It never matched. But God would always come through.
3. The Cupbearer finally remembers Joseph.
3. The Cupbearer finally remembers Joseph.
After Pharaoh’s advisors fail him, the chief cupbearer comes out of the woodwork and tells Pharoah about the dream he had and how Joseph interpreted it.
9 Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. 10 “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. 11 One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. 12 There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. 13 And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”
Pharoah, the most powerful man on earth tells Joseph that he has heard that he can interpret dreams. Can you imagine with me the temptation that Joseph must have experienced to promote himself to this man… so that Pharoah would see him as worthy to be set free.
But Joseph responds differently than most of us would. He says, it’s not me. What kind of person stands in front of a ruler and contradicts him with his first words out of his mouth? What kind of person stands with boldness and faith in front of the ruler who has their future in his hands?
I’ll tell you who. The person who has been perfected by God’s process, and who has held to God’s promises in the darkness of the pit.
Betrayal by his brothers, years of slavery, false accusations, a decade of imprisonment; all the years of torment and injustice have forged a man with nothing to lose, and with only God to gain.
He says, it’s not in me. I have nothing but the God who never left me.
Now, after baking this masterpiece inside the oven of adversity, the timer goes off, and God removes His delicious , steaming loaf of awesomeness. The Procession is beginning. The great unveiling of glory. Joseph gives all the glory straight to God. He says that it’s not him but that God will give him a favorable answer.
The process is painful and God’s perfection is costly. But there is a Procession.
The process is painful and God’s perfection is costly. But there is a Procession.
Look at 2 CO 2:14
14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.
The idea of a triumphal procession comes from the Romans who after a military victory would parade their ranks and their prisoners along with the spoils of war through the streets in front of a cheering crowd.
God is about to make a show of Joseph. He is about to unveil the beautiful result of the painful process. Remember, Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and at the proper time, He will exalt you.
There is a humbling and their is an exaltation.
4. God uses Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s Dreams.
4. God uses Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s Dreams.
Pharaoh tells Joseph the dreams and Joseph, full of the Holy Spirit of God interprets the dreams. He tells Pharaoh that there are 7 years of plenty coming followed by 7 years of horrible famine.
But Joseph doesn’t stop with the interpretation. He also proposes the solution. Look at Gen 41:33-36
33 “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. 34 Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. 35 Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. 36 That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”
Think about this for a moment. God has not only been preparing Joseph, he has prepared Pharoah to receive help from a Hebrew slave and convict.
God not only prepared Joseph, but He prepared Pharoah.
God not only prepared Joseph, but He prepared Pharoah.
Notice also, Joseph doesn’t put himself forward as the solution to the problem. He does not try to lift himself up, he leaves that to God so he leaves his fate in the hands of Pharaoh… really in the hands of God.
6 Don’t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great. 7 It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace. Just because you’ve seen something,
In many situations, we are tempted to believe that we are at the mercy of other humans… our bosses, a judge, a ruler, an election, an economy… but we are not. We are in God’s hands.
This means that we can quit striving for position like the world does. Of course we are to work and should work hard, but we don’t strive. Striving comes from thinking that I need to be in control of the outcome.
Rest, peace and provision all come from trusting God, not from our striving.
Rest, peace and provision all come from trusting God, not from our striving.
This principle has worked well for me. I don’t have to put myself forward. If I will stay faithful to the Lord, if I trust God, if I remain humble, He will promote me at the right time at the right place. We always need to cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us.
So let me ask,
Do you believe your times are in His hands?
Do you believe your times are in His hands?
Do you believe that He cares for you? sees you? has a plan and purpose for your life? Do you really want to strive for things outside of His provision? Sometimes the hardest and best work is stepping back and being quiet as an act of faith.
Conclusion
37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.” 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. 43 Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.” 45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah. He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt. 46 He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt.
Joseph has been through the process and now this is the Procession. Now is the proper time of God’s exaltation of his faithful servant.
What God has done in secret inside the heart of Joseph, He now puts on display to the world. This is the unveiling of a form of perfection that only comes from suffering.
Picture this Hebrew slave and convict, rising in the wave of God’s Providence, taken to impossible heights by the tide of God’s irresistible grace.
This is the same providence that gave Joseph his dreams of one day being exalted… that caused so much strife in his family. This is the same providence that sent him to Egypt as a slave, and the same providence that held him in prison for 12 years.
This is the current of that same Holy River that surrounds your life and mine, holding us for a time, and one day gushing us upwards and outwards in a waterfall of glory. And then the cycle will begin again.
Who is like God, who puts this filthy foreigner, slave, and convict in the king's chariot and makes everyone bow to him? Who is like God who makes this pagan Pharaoh exalt the name and wisdom of Yahweh?
Joseph’s precession is your procession, both in this life and the next.
Joseph’s precession is your procession, both in this life and the next.
It’s the story of your life in Jesus Christ and a story of your coming vindication. God will exalt those whom He has humbled.
I want to give you an even greater assurance that your life is not only the painful Process, but it is also the Procession, the exaltation, the glorification.
God intends to bake you in the oven of adversity until his divine timer goes off. And then it's time to pull you out of the oven, steaming and delicious, and make a show of his handiwork.
It's about him, and not about you, which is the best news I could possibly give you. Because it means that however jealous God is over his own glory, that's how jealous he is over your life coming to fruition as a conduit of his glory.
8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
God is the greatest farmer who ever lived. He is cultivating the fruit of your life with relentless dedication, on the good days, on the bad days, on the days of devastation. He is relentless in his obsession to bring you into your inheritance of joy and effectiveness.
You don't feel like all these glorious things are true and happening. Feelings have a purpose, but they were never meant to be your compass to glory. Glory is the compass for your feelings. Fill your eyes and heart and mind with the dazzling glory from God's infinitely good intentions towards you.
Look at the Procession of Joseph, and know that your time is coming. In this life, and the next. God has yoked his glory to the glorification of his saints. And in so doing, he is giving every saint an impenetrable assurance.
If you are a disciple, you will bear his fruit. And if you bear his fruit, you will bring him glory. And none of this can be done without his Promise, his Process, and his Perfection, all of which have been freely given to you.
And this, simply this, is why you live and breathe: To bring glory to the glorious one. There is no greater calling, and there is no greater joy than our joyful participation in the glory of God. Your life is the vehicle, and that’s the destination.
In one sense, this is cyclical, as we see in the life of Joseph: Promise to Process to Perfection to Procession.
In another sense, the Procession is always happening. “Praise be to God who ALWAYS leads us in triumphal procession.” By faith, we can apprehend the fact of victory, even in the face of failure.
What do I mean? I mean that, unlike the time of Joseph, we have a Messiah who has already come, and who has completed the full redemptive work on our behalf. “Be of good cheer,” says the Son of God, “for I have overcome the world.” That victory is past tense, not future tense. This means that we can, by faith, apprehend a sense of victory, even in the pit. Not just a promise to come, but a promise that has already come. That’s why he ALWAYS causes us to triumph.
ILLUSTRATION:
Snowboarders get two runs in the Olympics, competing for gold in the finals. In 2010, legendary snowboarder Shaun White went last, and on his first run, his score was much higher than anyone else's first run or second run score. In other words, he made his own second run TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. He had already won the gold by the time the last of his competitors had given his best in vain.
For his second run, Shaun White could have slid down the half pipe on his stomach, or he could have skipped it entirely. He would still have ended up wearing the gold medal around his neck.
Before his second run, he and his team had already begun celebrating. He had the biggest, dumbest smile pasted on his face. Suddenly, his coach grabbed Shaun White's face in his hands, looked him in the eye, and said:
"Do whatever you want on this one. Whatever you want. This is your run."
His words were filled with breathless excitement, exhilaration, absolute joy. It was like he was saying, "Just do what you were made for."
Shaun White plunged into his second run with ecstatic intensity. He was a joy to watch, precision and flight, like when you scream as loud as you can but the wind is so loud you can't even hear yourself.
He finished with some kind of Triple Mega McTwist-licious Madness move that had never been seen before. His second score was higher than his first.
I say to you today that you and I are on the second run! Jesus already ran the first on our behalf, and won the gold. Your entire life is the victory lap for a victory that you didn’t win, but a victory that is yours, nonetheless.
Your entire life is the Procession, intended to show the manifold goodness of God to principalities and powers in the invisible high places.
Lift your head up. You are a king, a queen, a priest. Live like you are on the winning team, even when it looks like you are losing. Breathe deeply of the goodness of God, and breathe out, relax your shoulders, and let Him parade you through wind and rain and sunny days, making a triumphal procession out of our undeserving lives. Not so you can throw your snowboard away and be an underachiever. God forbid! But so you can pick it up and do what you were made for. Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart!
Prayer
“Lord, thank you that we get to come together today to worship you and understand more about your glorious intentions towards us. I thank you, Lord, that you have ordained to glorify your great name through the church. Help us to see the beauty and splendor of your glory today, so that our hearts can praise you with wonder and awe. Give us a greater appreciation of your love towards us, and the victories we will experience, as we yield to your Process, achieve the treasures of Perfection, and move forward into the time of Procession.”
Salvation prayer