Grace 6

Introduction

We’re going to be back in Genesis chapter 39 today, as we continue our series on Grace….and more specifically, our emphasis on Finding Grace.

We’ve been focusing in on examples of those who found Grace….and what we can learn from them, so that we can have more grace in our lives.

We began back in Genesis chapter 6 verse 8, where we saw that the bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And in that message, we pointed out how we all Need Grace. Hebrews 4:16 says that we may find grace to help in our time of need.

We saw in the example of Lot in Genesis chapter 19, that Grace is undeserved. We can’t earn grace….it’s a gift of God….that magnifies His mercy towards us.

In Genesis chapters 33 and 34, we saw that Jacob, even after he had lied and deceived and taken advantage of his brother Esau….he was able to find grace in his sight.

Last week, we looked at the example of Joseph, and how after he was sold into slavery by his brothers….even while working as a servant in the house of Potiphar….Joseph found grace in Potiphar’s sight. And we are going to continue our study of Joseph today. And as we do, we will see the identifiers of a grace-filled life.

Transition If you’ll find Genesis chapter 39 in your bibles once again.

Last week, we spent most of our time focusing i on the first three verses, and today, we’re going to look a little bit farther into the text, to see three more key thoughts related to Grace, as demonstrated in the life of Joseph.

So if you’re able to, I’ll invite you to stand with me out of the honor of the reading of God’s Word as we read the first 12 verses together.

Text:

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Prayer

Introduction

We find our key phrase there in verse 4- where it says- Joseph found grace in his sight.

Last week, we saw three key thoughts….related to Finding Grace.

First, we saw- the Presence of the Lord.

Verse 2 says- the Lord was with Joseph.

And that’s true for all of us who are saved. We saw all the promises in the bible, about how God is with us. God said- I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says that God will be with you, He will not fail you, He will not forsake you.

And what we saw was that that promise is a key to living a grace-filled life.

A key indicator of a grace-filled life, is God’s Presence in your life.

We saw that being prosperous is another indicator of a grace-filled life....because God’s Presence in your life is demonstrated by how much better you make other people’s lives.

Other people’s lives are improved by having someone, with God’s presence, in their lives.

And thirdly, last week, we saw that grace-filled people make an impression on others.

We saw how, either good or bad....we make an impression on others.

And in verse 3, it says that Potiphar SAW that the Lord was with him.

And the point that we emphasized was that....the people God has placed in your life....they see something about you too.

And they either see God’s Presence in your life, or they see His Absence from your life.

Joseph wasn’t identified as a grace-filled person because he went to church.

Joseph wasn’t identified as a grace-filled person because he was a Christian.

Joseph was identified as a grace-filled person, because he didn’t have to say anything to convince others that he really had a relationship with God. Verse 2 says that Potiphar Saw that, and that he perceived that for himself.

And the challenge that we left off with, for us, is to live our lives in such a way that Our lives speak for themselves. Where people can observe us and look at our lives and see God’s fingerprints all over us.

Where we don’t have to go around talking about being Christians or going to church….not that we should be ashamed of those things.

But if you have to talk about being a Christian or going to church all the time so that people know that you have a relationship with God….that might be an indicator that you don’t have much of God’s Presence in your life that is visible to other people.

If you don’t have areas of your life that people can look at and say about you….that you make their life better.

I think all of us want more of God’s power in our lives.

I think we all want to be a blessing to others.

And in order to live grace-filled lives, we have to get more of God’s Presence in our life. And that’s what we’re going to look at today.

We’re going to be focusing on, a thought I’ve simply entitled: The Promotion of Joseph.

And as we look to this text, we’re going to focus on not only How God promoted Joseph, but Why God promoted Joseph. And as we look at those two key thoughts, we will find some very powerful and very practical applications for us to consider for our own lives.

Transition

Last week, we saw God’s Presence Joseph’s life.

We saw how God Prospered Joseph.

And we saw how Potipher Perceived that something was different about Joseph- that God was with him and guiding him.

And we will begin by looking back at verse 4, and we see our key thought today which is....

The Promotion of Joseph

Scriptural Support: If you’ll look back at verse 4 it says-

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

Argument

Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s palace guard, gave Joseph authority over his entire house, and everything that he was entrusted with.

Explanation

And why did that happen?

How did that happen?

Why did Joseph get promoted....from a lowly servant....to the highest authority under Potiphar’s command?

God promotes grace-filled people.

Let me say that again, because it’s going to be a key recurring thought today- God promotes grace-filled people.

We need to remember that, even though Potiphar was the individual that gave Joseph this position, Joseph’s promotion came from God.

Proverbs 21:1 says “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever he will.”

Proverbs 16:9 says “A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.”

Proverbs 20:24 says “Man’s goings are of the Lord”

Only an all-knowing God....all-wise God....can take a situation where Joseph has been betrayed by his family. Lied about. Sold off into slavery.

And bring something good out of it.

When people betray us and turn their backs on us.

When people lie about us and slander our character, we might be tempted to ask- Why is God letting this happen?

Why is he allowing me to face all these injustices?

And we need to be reminded of what God tells us in His Word- Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

God says....I have plan for your life. I have had a plan for you, before you were formed in the womb. And my plan....is always for good.

Now up to this point, there’s not a whole lot from Joseph’s story that seems that encouraging.

As soon as he hears from God through dreams, his brothers throw him into a pit.

Then, it goes from bad to worse, as he goes from being in the pit, to being sold as a slave.

But look what happens.

God promotes grace-filled people.

He moves as only He can....to move in hearts. To move in lives....to promote those who live grace-filled lives.

He promoted Joseph from the pit....to being in Pharoah’s palace guard.

He promoted Joseph from being a servant....to being in authority over all that was in Potiphar’s hand.

Down in verse 20, we see Joseph promoted again.

He had been thrown in prison because Potiphar’s wife lied about him and accused him of something he didn’t do, but look what happens.

Verse 21 says- the Lord was with him....he had God’s Presence. And verse 21 says that God moved in the heart of the prison keeper, and he elevated Joseph to a position of authority there in the prison.

Personal Application

So we’ve seen God’s promotion of Joseph the past two weeks.

God has promoted him above his brothers, and even over his parents.

God promoted him over the rest of Potiphar’s servants.

God promoted him over the rest of the prison.

And later on, we will see God promote Joseph over the nation of Egypt; ascending to second in command to only Pharoah himself.

Now the question I want you to think about is this- Do you want to be Promoted by God?

Not in a proud way.

Not in the sense that you want to get a bunch of attention and receive recognition from other people….

But do you want God to look at your life….and say- you’re doing a good job.

You’re stewarding your life well.

Like in the parable of the talents….when Jesus said in Matthew 25:21- thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.

Is that something you want? Is that even something you’ve ever thought about?

I’ll be honest.

And God knows my heart.

I pray that God would promote me. Not so that I can become well-known….but I would be humbled and honored if God would promote me to a place where I could be entrusted with more, because he’s judged me to be faithful with what He’s given me so far.

I would be honored….if God looked at my life and said….he’s not perfect. Not by a long shot.

I but know that I can trust him with more.

I know that I can give him more. I know that I can Promote him….because I know that He will promote Me.

If that’s your heart....would you raise your hand real quick? If you’d say....I’m not trying to become popular or anything like that....but I want God to look at my life and be pleased and know that He can trust me with more.

Then we have to see....God promotes grace-filled people.

Grace-filled people are unmistakably marked by God’s Presence.

Verse 3 says that Potiphar recognized that the Lord was with Joseph, and that’s what prompted Joseph’s promotion.

So our first point answers the first question- What did God do? He promoted Joseph.

And next, we’ll see the reasons why.

Transition

God Promoted Joseph because....

Joseph was Productive

Scriptural Support

In the beginning of verse 4, Joseph found grace in Potiphar’s sight.

At the end of the verse, Joseph gets Promoted.

And if that’s your heart today. To be Promoted to a place and position of being used by God to accomplish awesome things for him….we have to notice something.

There’s something important that happens before Joseph is promoted.

If you’ll look what happens in between being identified as a Grace-filled person and Receiving the Promotion it says- Joseph served him.

Argument

God promotes productive people.

Now, I’m not going to go off on a tangent about some of the people at your work place that may have gotten promotions that weren’t all that productive, because I’m sure we’ve all seen some people get promotions or special treatment and think- What’s that all about?

But what we have to ask is this- Would you rather be promoted by your boss or by God?

And if you say- which I hope you would- I’d rather be promoted by God- then we see from the example of Joseph....that God promotes productive people.

Explanation

And, biblically speaking....God expects us to be productive.

Now, I won’t ask you how many Christians you happen to know that aren’t as productive as they should be.

We’ve all met some lazy Christians. Maybe if we’re honest, we’d admit....there have been times when we haven’t been as productive as we should be. It’s human nature to slough off when people aren’t looking or take advantage when we’re not being watched closely, and a lot of people do it.

A lot of people work hard and look busy when the boss is around, but are gossipping or on their phones when nobody’s watching them.

But the thing is....God’s not going to bless that.

You might get fit right in and have everyone think you’re a good worker, you might even get promoted by your supervisors but what we see here is that God promotes productive people.

In verse 2, it says that Joseph was prosperous.

In verse 4, it says that Joseph was serving. And God promoted Joseph....because he was productive.

Personal Application

If you answered that question earlier and said- I want to be promoted by God. I want Him to look at my life and know that He can trust me with more.

Can I show you something….that is clear, not only from this passage, but all throughout Scriptures.

God will not promote you in the future, if you’re not serving Him now.

God will not provide you with more….if you’re not being productive with what you have right now.

So for all of us who raised our hands just a minute ago….and said- I want God to use me in amazing ways.

I want His blessing on my life.

I want His Promotion on my life.

Let me ask you….are you productive for God right now?

Are you serving Him now?

Because we see here in this text- God does not Promote people, just for showing up.

God does not Promote people, just because they’re Christians.

God Promoted Joseph….because Joseph has God’s Presence in his life.

God Promoted Joseph….because He was prosperous. He was productive. God promoted Joseph because he was serving.

Ask yourself this….why would God promote a person….who comes to church. Or calls themself a Christian. But isn’t actually productive in serving God?

And the answer is- He won’t.

Joseph didn’t get promoted for just showing up at Potiphar’s house each day.

Joseph was Promoted, based on What He Did in Potiphar’s house each day.

So when we think about that thought of Promotion, we have to ask ourselves- what do we do to serve God?

How do you serve God?

We see in verse 5 that Joseph served Potiphar. And that led to promotion.

We see all throughout the bible that God promotes productive people.

All throughout the bible, we see that God uses and Promotes people who are serving.

In 1 Kings chapter 19, God called Elisha, while he was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen.

God promoted David when he was serving as a shepherd.

God promoted Moses, when he was faithfully attending to the flocks of his father in law.

God promoted the disciples when they were busy as fishermen.

Jesus promoted tax collectors who had proved themselves to be honest and productive.

And when we think about the process by which God promotes people, let’s turn over to Acts chapter 13.

And what we will see….is the process by which God chooses to promote those in their service to Him.

In Acts 13:2 it says-

“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”

Did you see that?

God had a special purpose for Barnabas and Saul.

God had a plan to Promote them….but notice when He promoted them-

When they demonstrated productivity.

While they were serving.

They were already faithfully ministering to the Lord.

They were serving in the temple.

They were sharing the gospel.

And when God saw them ministering. When He saw them serving.

Then, He promoted them.

And if we want to be Promoted by God. To be humbly used by God to do amazing things for Him….we need to consider our own current service to God.

Because God promotes productive people.

Transition

So we’ve seen in our text that God promoted Joseph. And we see the first reason why- because Joseph was productive. And we see another reason why God promoted Joseph- because....

Joseph made a Positive Impact

Scriptural Support

If you’ll look at verse 5, we see-

Genesis 39:5 “And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.”

Argument

We saw this last week, as an identifier of grace-filled people: that grace-filled people make other people’s lives better.

But I want to look at this thought again today, from a different perspective.

Not only do grace-filled people make other’s lives better....God promotes people whom He knows will make others’ lives better.

Explanation

Other people recognized that Joseph was a grace-filled person. Potiphar SAW that the Lord was with him.

But grace-filled people are not only recognized by others....they are set apart for a special purpose by God.

We mentioned last week, how God blessed Abraham, to be a blessing to others.

And when we look at the life of Joseph, we see that God promoted Joseph because God could trust Joseph to make other people’s lives better.

And whe we look what it says in verse 5.

It says that the Lord blessed Potiphar’s house….for Joseph’s sake.

It says the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field.

And listen, God knows who He can trust....that if He blesses them, they will bless others.

Personal Application

In James chapter 4 verse 3 it says- Some people are saved, but they’re not focused on making anybody else’s lives better.

It says that sometimes, Christians pray....in a way....that God won’t answer.

They ask God to bless them....but He refuses?

Why? Because they ask amiss. That they may consume it upon their own lusts.

But a grace-filled person....will be promoted by God.

Because a grace-filled person....isn’t focused on their own wants or wishes. Or how to make their own live’s better.

A grace-filled person is focused on being a blessing to others.

And what we see from the life of Joseph is that God promotes people, who will use their blessings to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

And look- the story of Joseph is powerful because it’s so practical.

We see here that Joseph had proven himself to be a grace-filled person.

No matter where he went, he was productive. It didn’t matter if he was in Potiphar’s house or in the prison, Joseph was productive.

It didn’t matter where he was, Joseph was focused on making other peoples’ lives better.

And I love how practical this is.

This begins with Joseph making a positive impact on Potiphar and his family.

To making a positive impact on the prison keeper and the prison community.

To being rejoined with his brothers and father and making a positive impact on their lives.

To being in a position of second in command in all of Egypt, to make a positive impact on the entire nation.

And what I love about this so much....is the practical progression.

If you want to be promoted and used by God to do amazing things- and I believe that God wants that from us.

Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

But those great and mighty things that we want to be used for in the future....starts by being productive and making a positive impact where we are now.

If I’m not living a grace-filled life and making a positive impact the way God wants me to in my home and in my family, I shouldn’t expect God to promote my impact and influence for Him in other areas.

If I’m not serving the way I could be....I shouldn’t expect God to entrust me with more.

But we see from the life of Joseph:

God promotes grace-filled people.

And He does that....because they’ve demonstrated faithfulness and productivity, no matter the circumstances in which they find themselves.

And God promotes grace-filled people because God trusts them to make a positive impact on others.

Transition

There are a few quotes that really spoke to me as I thought about this message.

Anna Taylor said-

“Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life, you can barely remember what life was like without them.”

An anonymous author said-

“Success is not measured in the amount of dollars you make, but the amount of lives you impact.”

Jackie Robinson-

“A life is not important except in the impact it makes on others.”

I would encourage you today, as we study the life of Joseph....to be a grace-filled person that God uses to make a beautiful impact on others.

To judge your success by the lives that you impact.

That is what is most important.

There are a lot of people in the world. There are even a lot of Christians in the world. But only grace-filled people live their lives with a focus on being used by God to make other people’s lives a better place.

Be like Joseph.

Be one of those people.

Conclusion