CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES
3 – JOSEPH
This morning, we’re continuing our sermon series on “CLOSE ENCOUNTERS” and we’ve been talking about the great heroes of the Bible who’ve had close encounters with God, and how that no matter…
--who you are
--what you’ve done
--the mistakes you’ve made
--the pain you’re enduring
--the heartaches and the heartbreaks
You too, can have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God
And this sermon series has an URGENCY to it, friend, because if there’s ever been a time to know God Almighty more…
--deeply
--intimately
--personally
If there’s ever been a time for us to have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God, it’s now!
And…
--in our first message, we talked about Adam
--last week, we talked about Abraham
--next week, we’re going to be talking about MOSES
But this morning, we will be looking at the life of Joseph
Now, there’s no doubt that Joseph was one of the great heroes in the Bible
Someone said recently that in the day we live, we have a lot of STARS…
--super stars
--music stars
--movie stars
We have a lot of STARS, but very few HEROES
Well, Joseph is one of our heroes this morning, and most importantly, we’re going to see how he had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God
Let’s read…
• Genesis 37:5-11 ( KJV ) 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him
• Genesis 45:9 ( KJV ) 9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
INTRODUCTION
When you think of the life of Joseph, TWO THINGS immediately grab you
One is…
A. The similarities between Joseph and Jesus our Lord
There is never any mention that Joseph sinned and of course, Jesus never sinned
Joseph was his father’s most beloved son, and Jesus was His Father’s most beloved son, for on the day he was baptized, the Bible says…
Matthew 3:17 ( KJV ) 17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Joseph was sent by his father to look for his brothers, Jesus was sent by his Father to seek and save the lost
Judah, Joseph’s brother, sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver
Judas, Jesus disciple, sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
Joseph was let down in a pit and raised again
Jesus was let down in a pit of death and was raised again
Joseph became ruler of the world and one day, Jesus will rule this world from sea to shining sea
So, the first thing we see in Joseph is Jesus
And the second thing that grabs you about Joseph is not only the similarities between Jesus and Joseph, but, secondly…
B. Joseph never performed a miracle
He never…
--raised the dead
--brought mighty signs and wonders
--spoke in tongues
--cast out demons
But he did become Prime Minister, and although we never read of Joseph performing supernatural miracles, his contribution to the plan of God was just as spiritual
And there are so many people today who think unless you’re…
--casting out devils
--doing miracle
--a tele-evangelist
--a pastor
That you’re not doing a whole lot important
But I’ve got news for you, God needs some…
--accountants
--engineers
--doctors
--lawyers
And when Joseph was running Egypt and saving the world, it wasn’t the gift of tongues and interpretation that helped him, it was old-fashioned math and accounting!
And without question, God used Joseph mightily
And so this morning, I want us to look at the life of Joseph and I want us to see how he hand CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD
And it all started with a DREAM
And so, first of all, let’s talk about phase one…
1. THE DREAM
The Bible tells us…
Genesis 37:5 ( KJV ) 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him…
You talk about a close encounter – God gave him a dream
And I want you to know this morning that God is still giving dreams to his people
And as I look out across this congregation this morning, I see people who have great dreams from God
Dreams…
--of a healthy body
--of a fulfilling marriage
--of a family (like me and Darnell)
--seeing your family saved
I have a dream for this church
And there’s nothing wrong with having a God-inspired dream
For the Bible tells us
Acts 2:17 ( KJV ) 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
In other words, God is still giving dreams
Now, when I talk about dreams, I’m not talking about DAYDREAMING
I’m not talking about IMAGINING THINGS
Daydreaming is when you imagine yourself winning the lottery
It reminds me of a little boy who had a vivid imagination, he said…
"Momma, momma, there's a bear in the yard." It scared mother to death and she ran to the window and looked out and there was a little dog in the front yard. She said, "Son, you have lied to me. Go on up to your room and tell the Lord what you said to me. And don't come down until you talk to the Lord." The little boy went upstairs and very soon he was back down at the supper table. Mother said, "Son, did you tell the Lord what you told me?" he said, "Yes, momma, I did." "Did you tell the Lord that you said there was a bear in the yard and it was a dog?" "Yes, I did, momma." She said, "What did God tell you?" he said, "Momma, God told me not to feel bad about it, He thought it was a bear, too, the first time He looked out that window." Vivid imaginations!
No, I’m not talking about vivid imaginations, but there are God-given dreams
And there’s some of you who’ve lost your dream
You’re going through some rough places and nothing seems to be going right
You think…
--I’ll never start that business
--I’ll never have a happy marriage and a home
--I’ll never see my loved ones saved!
But I hear the Lord saying this morning IT’S TIME TO DREAM AGAIN!
For if He gives it to you, then it will come to pass!
So, the first things I want you to see about Joseph is THE DREAM
Tell somebody, I HAVE A DREAM!
But not only is there the DREAM phase of Joseph’s life, but secondly,
2. THE NIGHTMARE
There is, in Joseph’s life, not only THE DREAM PHASE, but also THE NIGHTMARE phase
And there are two acts to the nightmare drama…
1. ACT 1
And you know what happened, Joseph told his brothers his dream and they didn’t like it at all
--it was a dream that their grain bowed to his
--it was a dream that the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed to him
And they did not like the implications of that dream!
And one day, his brothers were out away working and Joseph’s father said, “Go find them and see where they are.”
And so, Joseph went out looking for them and he ran across a man who said, they are over in that direction
And isn’t that just like the Lord, he always sends someone along to point us in the right direction…
--common people
--un-named people
--parents, pastors, family
And so as he approaches them, they see him coming and here’s what they say…
Genesis 37:19 ( KJV ) 19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
I hope they say that about…
--me and this church
--you
--our young people
--our seniors!
And so they decided to kill him and so they threw him into a pit while they decided what to do
And I want us to think for a moment: WHO’S IN THAT PIT?
--the dreamer
--the future prime minister
FOLKS: God never promised that it would be easy
You’ll have to go through the PIT before the PALACE
And then from the pit, he was sold into slavery
And then he was sold to Potiphar
And there’s a key phrase that I want you to see
Genesis 39:2 (KJV) 2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
And I want you to know that He’s with you this morning!
He said, “I’ll never leave nor forsake you!”
And he was sold to Potiphar, but evidently, Joseph proved himself faithful and submitted and rose to be Potiphar’s chief steward
NOTE: There’s something to be said to obeying a bad boss
John Bevere has been teaching us about this!
But then, Pohtiphar’s wife came on to Joseph
And it had to be very difficult, Joseph was a young man full of energy, and no doubt Potiphar’s wife was an Egyptian beauty
And the Bible says she came on to him day after day which tells me we are constantly tempted
But Joseph, like the Energizer bunny, kept refusing, and refusing, and refusing
And then one day, he fled and she accused him of rape and Joseph was thrown into prison!
Which brings us to the nightmare...
B. ACT 2
Just when things were going good and comfortable, Joseph is thrown into the dungeon
It must have been horrible
But, guess what –
Genesis 39:21 ( KJV ) 21But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
And evidently, God gave him favor and then Joseph became the chief prisoner!
And the butler and the baker of Pharaoh were thrown into prison
And Joseph makes a statement that I find quite interesting –
Genesis 40:7 ( KJV ) 7And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
I want to ask that question to some of you today!
Why look so sad?
--Jesus is on the throne
--I may be in the prison, but I’m headed for a palace in glory!
--the joy of the Lord is my strength!
And so the two men tell them about there dreams and Joseph interprets them
Let me tell you something – Joseph could have had the attitude, “I couldn’t care less.”
So many times we think we’re the only ones with problems
But he listened, and those dreams were interpreted to a tee
And that tells me that Joseph did what he did with just an audience of TWO!
There are some who can’t preach unless it’s 100 or more
But when you’ve got the goods, you do what you do if there’s only one or two
Because promotion comes when you’re faithful to the small things!
But despite all of that, the baker forgot Joseph and it wasn’t until two years later that Pharaoh had a dream and the baker said, there is a man who interprets dreams
And Joseph gets a summons
I’ve talked about…
--the dream
--the nightmare (act 1, act 2)
But now, let me close with…
3. A NEW DAY
Because in 24 hours, everything changed!
One minute…
--he was a prison, the next Prime Minister
--he was broke, busted, and disgusted, the next the 2nd wealthiest man in the world
Don’t you give up on the dream because anything can happen
And you know what, this is really a picture of salvation, because one day, I was headed to hell, the next, I was seated in heavenly places
One day, I was lost, but in a moment, I was found!
From the pit to the palace
And my friend that’s the way it is with God
Don’t you give up on the dream
Don’t you give in to temptation
Don’t let the devil tell you that you’re forgotten
It’s a new day!
You’re about to have close encounters with God like never before!
And remember Joseph’s brothers, they came to him afraid that he was going to have revenge!
Genesis 50:20 ( KJV ) 20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
YOU MEANT THIS FOR EVIL, BUT GOD FOR GOOD!!!
It’s the Old Testament principle of Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28 ( KJV ) 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
It reminds me of this story Demingo Pacheco…
On May 11, 1996, Demingo Pacheco had a major problem. He was on a tight schedule to catch his plane out of Miami when the left rear tire of his Cadillac blew out on the Palmetto Expressway. For more than hour he sweated under that broiling Florida sun changing that tire. Just as he finished changing the tire, he got a call on his portable phone. It was his mother. She said, "Where are you?" He said, "I'm stuck on the freeway, having just hanged a flat tire, and I have missed my flight." She shouted, "Turn on your radio and thank God. The plane you that you were going to be on just crashed in the Everglades." Demingo Pacheco would have been aboard ValuJet Flight 592 except for that flat tire.
IN CLOSING
How many of you have a dream?
How many of you have been hurt by family?
How many of you it seems you’re in a night mare, act 1 or act 2?
You can have close encounters with God
Genesis 45:9 ( KJV ) Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
God has made Jesus Lord, come down and get saved today and tarry not!
Let’s pray!
