"Forsaken And Forgotten... But Not Forever" | June 13, 2021

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today let's stand together we sing about the god who saved our voice jesus says jesus says [Music] [Music] jesus says [Music] jesus says [Music] jesus said [Music] jesus says [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh he says [Music] and every chain will break and every chain will break declare his praise [Music] foreign the lamb that was [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] our god is [Music] oh [Music] oh god who can stop the lord almighty who can stop the lord almighty [Music] [Music] oh no one who can stop [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] praise his name today the lion and the lamb you may be seated well it is so good to see each of you for worship this morning here at first baptist dallas we welcome you and we welcome our guests joining us both here in the room as well as on our eye campus guest we have a very special gift just for you it's our pastors a place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the hope of eternity and also we have our choir's latest cd all for your glory some of the great songs we sing each and every week for worship here at first dallas guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you're going to find and close this guest card please take the time to fill it out at the end of the service take it with you to the welcome center just outside these main worship center doors our staff is waiting there we can't wait to meet you you'll exchange your completed card for your gifts today and our staff will answer any questions you might have regarding our church now if you can't make it to the welcome center you'll find some orange boxes on your way out just simply slip the card in one of those and we will mail you a copy of your gift guest joining us on icampus just follow that link on your screen to access your gift as well again so good to see each of you this morning lots of exciting events are taking place here at first baptist dallas let's all take a look together at the screen thank you so much for worshiping with us today i want to encourage you to become an icampus i member from wherever you are in the world we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas when you do so today we will send you daily devotionals from our pastor dr robert jeffress the digital edition of pathway magazine great encouraging equipping resources delivered straight to your inbox each and every month as well as an icampus imember certificate to commemorate this special day we love you guys so much we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas so join us today as an icampus i member to do so simply visit firstdallas.org forward slash free gift now let's join right back in live with the remainder of today's service good morning we are so thankful to be in worship with you we have an exciting season ahead and want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday june 20th dr jeffers will interview radio hosts columnist and author todd starnes about his brand new devotional daily biscuit devotions with a draw as part of worship girls age five and over are invited to enjoy the glitz glamour and excitement with dad at the 2021 daddy daughter red carpet gala on friday june 25th register now for a night complete with a delicious meal tasty desserts fun activities and friendly competitions then celebrate our freedom as americans and our freedom in christ on freedom sunday june 27th we will enjoy powerful worship and patriotic music with the first dallas choir and orchestra and a special message from our guest speaker david barton as we go into the busy months ahead please help us make room for our guests and families with young children by parking in one of our two brand new parking garages providence or saint paul finally it's good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizing stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you are not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit first alice.org events and simon when we have an opportunity to read god's word together and today we're reading from first peter chapter one verses six through nine and reading the new american standard bible version of that you'll see those words on the screen here in the worship center and for eye campus as well now you know this is one of those kind of familiar passages that if we're not careful we'll read right through it and not grasp the meanings i want to i want to mention five words and maybe that will help elevate this verse in our hearts the proof faith praise glory and honor and now to honor the reading of god's word would you stand with me as we read first peter chapter one beginning with verse six ending with verse nine in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be bound to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of jesus christ and though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy and expressible and full of glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls not a great passage powerful for us today well let's keep standing and continue our worship time [Music] together [Music] the moon and stars they wept the morning was dead the savior of the world was his body on the cross his blood poured out for us the weight of every curse [Music] the son of god [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is praise you for what you've done for us we sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah [Music] we sing hallelujah we sing [Music] we hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is alive we praise the lord hallelujah you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor comes now to lead us good morning as we continue our time this morning you'll have your opportunity to leave your ties and offerings in the box it as you exit the worship center you can also give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but right now during this time of commitment i'll invite you to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together heavenly father we glorify your holy name this morning we praise you as the lord almighty you are awesome in power sovereign over heaven and earth and yet you love us you're gracious and compassionate and merciful to us lord though we face tests and trials and troubles in this world you promise that you go with us and you will never forsake us and so we thank you for your presence as we reflect on your goodness lord we're reminded that you've established all of our days you knew us before we were born you knew our sins our faults our failures our shortcomings and yet you still sent your only son jesus christ to come to this earth to lay down his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins lord we praise you for our salvation for redeeming us and reconciling us to you for calling us to this community of faith charging us to love one another in obedience to you lord and so it's with grateful hearts that this morning we give to you our tithes and our offerings as we worship you and we praise you and we proclaim our love for you and we pray this in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please me there is [Music] [Music] me [Music] uh [Music] me [Music] [Music] ladies [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] gloria for me [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] my gloria [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] aren't they tremendous thank you so much tyler brenson joe harden and first dallas choir and orchestra that's the highlight of my week getting to listen to them every sunday well we're so glad to welcome the multitude of you who have joined us not only in our day one worship service but also who are watching at first dallas i campus and also on pathway to victory we're so delighted to have you with us worshiping this morning one of my jobs when i was in college was to be an announcer on our local radio station and part of the requirements of any radio station was occasionally we had to conduct a test of the emergency broadcast system now you heard those on the radio or watched them on television the announcer comes on and says this is a test of the emergency broadcasting system for the next 60 seconds this station will conduct a test of the emergency broadcast system and then you hear that annoying now you may wonder what's going on why that beep is going on well we're behind the scenes fiddling knobs playing like we know what we're doing and finally at the end the announcer comes back on and says this concludes our test of the emergency broadcast system we've now returned to regular programming you know i've often thought wouldn't it be nice if before we went through a major catastrophe in our life there would be a voice from heaven that shouted out this is a test of your faith for the next 60 days your life is going to be absolutely miserable this is only a test and then after we got through that catastrophe that same announcer from heaven would say this concludes your test your life will now return to normal it doesn't work that way does it instead many times as james says we are ambushed out of nowhere by a family catastrophe by a medical emergency by a financial reversal by the loss of a job we go through this maelstrom of misery and we wonder when if ever is it going to be over it's only when we get to the end of it we're able to look back and see you know what god had something to do with that god somehow used that for good you know somebody said it well god's will is best seen in the rearview mirror it's only when you look back many times that you can see the hand of god philip yancey once wrote faith means believing in advance would only make sense in reverse today we're going to look at a storm that joseph experienced at the time he couldn't make sense of why it was happening he wondered how long it would continue but only at the end was he able to look back and see the hand of god he thought he had been forsaken and forgotten by god but he discovered it wasn't forever if you have your bibles turn to genesis chapter 39. remember we saw so far in joseph's life he was betrayed by his brothers sold as a slave to egypt he ends up in potiphar's household who was the captain of the bodyguard he rose to a place of prominence became the steward the overseer over this egyptians uh officials entire household it was a great promotion a recognition of joseph's dedication and then one day remember what happened mrs potiphar put the moves on joseph now you know it's easy for us today to look at those who fall into sexual sin and say oh i can't believe they did that i can't believe they did that i would never do such a thing for joseph to say no that was an easy thing after all he was a hebrew he was a child of the covenant that was an easy thing there's no excuse for falling into sin whatsoever if you have that self-righteous attitude it may be because you've never met potiphar's wife before or yet and for you ladies out there maybe you haven't met joseph yet well-built and handsome is how the bible describes him never say never paul said in first corinthians 10 let him who thinks he stands take heed be careful lest he fall joseph said no to the great temptation and he said how could i do such an evil thing and sin against god what a great passing of that test joseph you would think should have been vindicated for his act of righteousness saying no to potiphar's wife but instead of being vindicated he was incarcerated he got falsely accused of rape and he was thrown into jail and that's where we pick up the story in verse 20. look at genesis 39 20. so joseph's master that is potiphar took him and put him into the jail and the place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in jail what was he doing in jail he could have been having a first-class pity party for himself god i don't understand i'm one of your children i'm a part of a prominent family and yet you allowed my brothers to betray me you allowed me to be sold as a slave into this foreign pagan country and now i'm accused of rape that i didn't commit and i'm incarcerated where are you god have you ever asked that question god where are you when i need you the most you know what the answer to your question is it's the same answer that the scripture gives for joseph look at verse 21 but the lord was with joseph god was with joseph just as he's with you right now even when you can't feel him or seal him he hasn't moved he is still with you god was with joseph and he extended kindness to him and he gave him favor inside of the chief jailer the chief jailer committed to joseph's charge all over the all over all the prisoners who were in the jail so that whatever was done he was responsible for it the chief jailer didn't supervise anything under joseph's charge because the lord was with joseph and whatever he did the lord made to prosper do those words sound familiar that's exactly what we read when joseph was sold to potiphar he was just like any other slave but he immediately distinguished himself among the other slaves he worked extra hard and he caught the eye of potiphar who made him and promoted him to chief over his entire household and now we see the same thing here joseph is thrown into jail he's not any different than any of the other prisoners until he starts acting differently when he's given a little task he does it with excellence and the more he works the more he's noticed by his boss until again he's promoted to the top cream always rises to the top it just always does now i want to stop here and give you an important point a principle about success that you find throughout the bible and it's a principle that only truly successful people understand and if you're watching in day one today especially if you're a student or young adult i want you to write this down but it's true for all of us here's the principle success is not determined by our position it's determined by our disposition let me say that again our success is not determined by our position it's determined by our disposition so many people are under the illusion that if only i had this title if only i had this position i could be truly successful i'll become successful when i'm recognized when i'm promoted when i have that title no it doesn't work that way successful people are successful not because of their position but their disposition their inner attitude to put it bluntly they're not allergic to hard work successful people work hard and it doesn't matter what they're doing whether they're the chairman of the board of apple or whether they're carrying out the waste of an inmate in a jail like joseph was doing stephen solomon the president and ceo at one point of kentucky medical insurance company says hard work means working hard and smart as trite as it may sound there is no free lunch many people sit around and wait for things to happen they wait for their luck to change the successful go out and make their future not wait for it to be handed to them stephen wolf the former ceo of united airlines said it this way as thomas edison said there is no substitute for hard work you can be incredibly intelligent and retain more details than an almanac but if you're not willing to put in the hours your success if you achieve any will be short-lived i know some of you are thinking robert where are you getting all of that that sounds like a bunch of positive thinking mumbo jumbo no it comes straight from the pages of scripture listen to proverbs 18 verse 16 a person's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men or proverbs 29 29 22 29 do you see a person skilled in his work he will stand before kings he will not stand before obscure men so many times in the book of proverbs there's a comment about those who work diligently the diligently diligent versus the lazy success is not determined by our position it's our disposition some of you watching or here in our worship center right now maybe you're a student in high school or college and you're working as hard as you can but frankly you're not getting the recognition you're not getting the scholarships the awards and you wonder why keep on remember success is determined not by your position but your disposition maybe you're working at your job you're doing everything the boss asked you to do but it seems like other people are getting the promotion or maybe you're a pastor or a staff member watching and you're serving in obscurity you you think nobody notices well first of all whether you're a student an employee a church staff member god is watching we do our work diligently as unto the lord for it is the lord god whom we serve ultimately it's god's approval that matters but it's also true that when you work hard other people notice as well see daryl flood out here the uh owner of this big nationwide moving company daryl i bet you notice when an employee works especially hard and he doesn't stay in that position long you raise him you promote him because people who work hard and with integrity are a rare commodity in today's world again a man's gift makes room for him and will bring him before great men that was true about joseph it didn't matter where you put him he always did his work diligently and he rose to the top now what's interesting is it is while he was at the job while he was working that god started to work supernaturally in his life by bringing two men into contact with joseph look at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 40. then it came about that's always a signal in scripture that god's about to do something then it came about after these things that the cup bearer and the baker for the king of egypt offended their lord the king of egypt pharaoh was furious with his two officials the chief cup bearer and the chief baker now what's going on there the cup bearer was a very important position in the days of the bible the cup bearer was the one to taste the wine before the king had it if it was poisoned the cupbearer was the first to find out so he was a trusted servant in pharaoh's court and then you had the baker he was in charge of the food and so according to this description both the cup bearer and the baker did something to cause pharaoh to blow a gasket we don't know what it was maybe the cup bearer dropped a glass of wine on pharaoh's expensive persian rug jay vernon mcgee supposes that maybe the baker burned the biscuits that morning we don't know what happened but it was enough to set pharaoh off and pharaoh was furious with his two officials the chief cup bearer and the chief baker now what in the world does that have to do with our main story joseph here's what i want you to understand sometimes sometimes god is using people and circumstances totally unknown to you to work out a plan for your life when you don't even know it god is working in the lives of strange people in a strange city in a strange location to bring about a humongous change that is about to come into your life when i read these words i think about luke chapter 2 written a thousand years later remember how it starts now it came about that a decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be taxed caesar octavian sitting there on the throne in rome makes a taxing decision but little did caesar know that his decision would cause a poor couple he had never met to travel to a little village he had never heard of so that the wife could give birth to the savior of the world jesus christ history many times turns on small events you know i think about that truth in my own life i remember so well one tuesday afternoon april of 1984. i was here at church as a youth minister sitting in a staff meeting that usually went on endlessly it seemed like but on that day dr chris will said we've got to cut the meeting short today because i have to leave to go to the first baptist church of eastern texas to dedicate their new worship center tonight and i remember so well my thought when i heard that i thought eastland texas i've never heard of eastland texas but i am so glad i don't live in a place called eastland texas little did i know at that point that the wheels were starting to turn for the circumstances that would cause me a year later to become the pastor preaching in that new worship center in eastland texas we served there for seven years and after we had a few holy subtractions early on from the church the church took off and grew and we had a wonderful time there but after our seventh anniversary we'd had our seventh anniversary celebration in the fellowship hall and after everybody left i turned to amy and i said this is our last one isn't it she said yeah this will be our last one we had no reason to think we were leaving or going anywhere nobody had called us recently but we just had that sense god was doing something not long after that i got a telephone call and this uh guy on the phone introduced himself he was the chairman of a pastor search committee of the largest baptist church in another state big church big television ministry he called me and said we'd like to come to eastland and talk to you about becoming our pastor and so we arranged a date and they came on a on a sunday now i'm going to let you in on a little secret when a pastor knows a pastor search committee is coming that he's interested in he's interested in he'll do everything to make sure he puts his best foot forward you know making sure the church is clean and looks great and the music is fantastic he has his best suit on you know everything you know to try to impress that committee so we went through all of that we had a great service they walked over to our parsonage after the service and we sat down to visit and they said now we'd like to arrange a sunday for you to come preach in view of a call to be our pastor i said well that's kind of quick i said shouldn't we at least come up and visit the church and you all have a meeting to make sure this is what you want to do they said well okay if that's what what you want us to do we'll go back and we'll call you this week with the date we come up with well the next day came and went no phone call the next day came and went no phone call finally the whole week passed not a word out of that committee i thought well that's that so the next monday morning my telephone rings another voice on the phone this is harold warren the voice said i'm the search committee chairman for the first baptist church in wichita falls and we'd like to come talk to you about becoming our pastor i thought here we go again here we go again i said i imagine you want to come listen to me preach he said no not really we've heard you enough they were in the church the same sunday as that other committee i had no knowledge of whatsoever we thought we were getting ready for one group it was another group he said no we want to go ahead and talk to you about arranging time for you to come preach in view of a call i said well when do you want to talk he said what about right now we'll get in the church van and come down and see you this afternoon and they hopped in the van and off they came and we spent all night talking and so forth and finally in a short period of time we came to be the pastor of the first baptist church in wichita falls the original chairman of that other search committee called me one day he said where have you been i said what do you mean he said we've been trying to get hold of you we got delayed but we're ready for you to come be our pastor i said too late god has intervened and put us where he wants us to be now i share that with you to say sometimes god is working with people you don't know and cities you've never heard of to bring about the circumstances that will bring a great change in your life when you're sleeping god is working he's always at work and that's exactly what he was doing in joseph's life look at what happened in verses three and four so he that is the jailer put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard in the same place where joseph was in prison just by chance the cup bearer and the baker are placed in the same prison and the captain of the bodyguard put joseph in charge of them and he took care of them and they were in confinement for some time now look at verse 5. then the cup bearer and the baker of the king who were confined in jail both had a dream the same night each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation the next week we're going to talk about dreams does god speak to dreams can he lead you through dreams we'll talk about that next time but this apparently was a dream from god because it turned out to be true when joseph came to them in the morning and observed them behold he noticed they were dejected and he asked these officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house why are your faces so sad today they said to him we have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it now in that day if you had a dream and you wanted an interpretation if you were a pagan there were all kind of astrologers on the street psychics who would for the right price give you a so-called interpretation of your dream it was kind of the ancient version of the psychic psychic friends hotline you know you call up and tell the psychic uh what you experienced and they'll give you an interpretation it was a sham but people fell for it and these two officials were distraught because they were in jail they couldn't pay anybody to interpret their dream so they said to joseph if we have had a dream and there's no one to interpret it then joseph said to them do not interpretations belong to god here he is pointing people to god so tell it to me please why because god had given joseph the ability to interpret dreams now this is a remarkable response when you think about how joseph could have responded when they told him about dreams he could have said cynically oh dreams i used to believe in dreams i had a dream one time that i was going to rule over my family and look what happened to me now that's just probably what you ate before you went to bed last night don't listen to that or he could have said even if he believed it were true why should i use my god-given gift to help you all i did that one time it landed me here in jail i don't think so anymore if god wants to interpret your dream he can use somebody else to do so but no you know it's interesting from this point through the rest of joseph's life you never find any bitterness or resentment god is molding him he's testing him he's teaching him that he is in charge of his life instead he offers to interpret the dream and so both men have their dreams interpreted look the cup bearer said okay joseph here's my drink see if you can do anything with it there was this uh vine this grapevine with three branches on it and it was producing uh some luscious grapes and i squeeze the grapes into pharaoh's cup now what does that mean joseph said oh that's very clear the three grapes okay in three days pharaoh's gonna restore you to your original position you're going to be serving pharaoh again in just three days well you can imagine the cup bearer was ecstatic and joseph only added this word he said when you do come into the king's presence remember me for i was in the land of the hebrews and kidnapped and unjustly put there just remember me when you come into the kingdom cupbearer now some people want to criticize joseph for saying that they want to say well there's old joseph again resorting to his old ways trying to manipulate circumstances toward himself no there's nothing wrong there's nothing wrong with you using every avenue every opportunity you have for success you know in ecclesiastes 11 verse 1 solomon said cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days in other words send out as many ships as you can if you're looking for a job send out as many resumes use as many contacts as you possibly can nothing wrong with that just remember that god has the final say in everything it's ultimately what god wants there was nothing wrong with what joseph did the cub bearer said sure joseph i'll i'll remember you and he went back to his cell and started packing his bags the baker said me next mean axe do my dream do my dream what was your dream and the baker says well i had this dream that i was carrying three baskets on my head filled with bread and baked goods and the birds came and ate the bread from the baskets on my head what does that mean joseph said are you sure you want to know he said yeah yeah i want to know well in three days you're going to be released from prison and pharaoh is going to hang you and the birds are going to eat your flesh now you see something of joseph's integrity here he could have told the baker anything he wanted to hear but he felt compelled to deliver to him what god had really said what happened look at verse 20. thus it came about on the third day which was pharaoh's birthday that he made a feast for all of his servants it was pharaoh's birthday party you can just see the slaves rolling their eyes as they get that memo it's pharaoh's birthday come dressed and ready to party and they thought oh another one of those boring birthday parties they thought it was going to be like any other birthday party but it wasn't pharaoh was in a good mood he made a feast for all of his servants and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants he sent for their release he released them and he stored the chief cup bearer to his office and he put the cup into pharaoh's hand but he hanged the chief baker just as joseph had interpreted to them yet the chief cup bearer did not remember joseph but he forgot him just as god had predicted in three days both men were released one was elevated the other became bird food but it all happened according to the dreams but notice that last statement the chief cupbearer did not remember joseph now i want you to place yourself in joseph sandals for just a moment imagine you're in prison you get up the next morning just like any other morning and you hear the chief jailer shouting out baker cupbearer front and center we got a memo from the palace today pharaoh wants to see you can you imagine the hope that must have welled up in joseph's heart god can be trusted this is actually what is happening three days later just like god promised it was going to happen if they're being released it means shortly i'm about to be released as well and so they take off the cup bearer and the baker out of the prison and what does joseph do i mean he's back in his cell packing his bags as well because he knows as soon as the cupbearer gets there he's going to remember joseph before pharaoh the day passes nighttime comes no word joseph rationalizes in his mind well maybe pharaoh was busy and didn't have time to talk to the cup bearer today but tomorrow i'm sure is the day the next day comes and goes no word from the court the next day days turned into weeks nothing weeks turn into months months turn into years and joseph finally remembers and realizes he has been forgotten he has been forsaken he has been left in this damp prison perhaps for the rest of his life have you ever felt that way maybe you feel that way right now you're in a prison house of testing of suffering and there's no end in sight if that's true of you or if it is going to be true of you at some time in the future i want you to remember four truths about god's testing that will sustain you when there seems to be no end to your testing inside four things i want you to remember first of all remember god's sovereignty god's sovereignty god is in control that's what god's sovereignty means he reigns over all he's in control whatever circumstance you're in right now did not take god by surprise because god actually planned it it's part of his purpose for your life god is in control as somebody said there is nothing that comes into the life of a child of god that has not been first sifted through the perfect and loving will of god this week i was being interviewed by a man who's writing a book on the life of my mentor dr howard hendricks from dallas seminary the late howard hendricks and on the zoom call was prof hendrick's wife jean christian woman listens to our service every sunday and we were talking about prof hendrix and this writer asked me said you know what is it that made him tick how do you explain his remarkable life and influence and i pointed back to an episode in his life from more than 20 years ago he had gone into the doctor's office for the removal of a small skin cancer on his face eight hours later they were still finding cancer cells and eventually he was going to have to go through major invasive surgery to his skull the surgery was so dangerous they told him it could affect his eyes and ears and even brain he was threatened with the possibility of losing his sight his hearing his ability to function and when the doctor delivered that news to prof hendrix he took his wife's hand and he said honey either god is sovereign or he isn't and if he isn't we're all in deep trouble i'm coming down on the side that god is suffering when you go through that male stream of misery that time of testing you have to be convinced first of all god is sovereignty this event is not in your life by accident secondly remember god's sufficiency god's sufficiency second corinthians 1 4 tell us that god comforts us that word literally means strengthens us in our affliction so that we might be able to comfort others who are in the same affliction notice where he strengthens us not when we're out of the affliction but through in that affliction paul had his own time of suffering remember he had some unnamed thorn in the flesh probably some physical problem three times he asked god to remove it god said no my grace is sufficient for you god's grace was sufficient just as it's sufficient for you it's not sufficient for tomorrow or the next day or the next year god's sufficiency is like nana it's for this day and this day only thirdly remember god's timetable fact is it may seem endless to you what you're going through but god doesn't operate according to our schedule he operates according to his own schedule ecclesiastes 3 11 says god has made everything appropriate in his times remember on god's schedule god's timetable nothing is ever too long or too short late or early everything happens according to it his appointed time joseph would spend two monotonous years in that prison but on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year a day that had been written on god's calendar before the foundation of the world on that day the prison door flung open and god said enough the same thing's going to happen to you one day god's going to say enough finally don't forget god's purpose god's purpose what you're experiencing right now is not without purpose think about what would have happened had the cup bearer remembered joseph to pharaoh the next day he had told pharaoh about this great injustice and pharaoh was still in a festive mood after his birth they said oh bring that guy up here i'm ready to pardon him let him go and say he had done that to joseph joseph in a few days would have been halfway back to canaan to be reunited with his family that sounds good but the problem was he would not have been in the place he needed to be two years later to interpret pharaoh's dream an interpretation that would not only impact joseph and egypt but the entire world as well remember god has something he's doing when you can't see what he's doing he has a great worldwide purpose but joseph god was also doing something in joseph's life as well he was refining him strengthening him to be the person god wanted him to be if you don't remember anything else i say today i want you to remember this god is much more interested in what is happening in you than in what is happening to you god is much more interested in what is happening in you than what's happening to you think about it what adverse circumstance are you facing right now that god couldn't change in an instant if you wanted to if he hasn't changed it yet he's got a purpose not just a worldwide purpose but a purpose in your life what is he doing paul wrote it this way a thousand years later and we know that god causes all things to work together for good to those who love god who are called according to his purpose what is the good god is using this negative circumstance to accomplish in your life it's not your immediate vindication or your release from problems the good is in romans 8 29 the next verse for whom god foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that's what god's doing in your life right now he is making you more like jesus christ and the way he does that the way he does it in your life in my life is not through the easy things it's in the hard things of life what god was doing in joseph's life making him more like christ is exactly the same thing he's doing in your life right now let's bow together in a word of prayer for many of you listening right now god has worked out the circumstances of your life to bring you to this place at this very moment where you could trust in jesus christ as your savior it's no accident you tuned in to this eye campus or this television broadcast that you're in day one or here in our worship center god has brought you here to hear this message so that you could receive the forgiveness that god wants to give you through christ you know in hebrews 13 5 god said i will never leave you nor forsake you that's a wonderful promise but it's a promise reserved for the children of god for those who know christ as their savior and today if you would like that assurance that you are a child of god and that god is going to work everything in your life for good wherever you are i want to invite you to pray this prayer in your heart to god knowing that he's listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know that i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to spend the rest of my life following you in jesus name amen today if you prayed that prayer and you're watching on our eye campus i want to encourage you to go to the top of the screen right now and click on that link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ as soon as you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send you this week about what it means to live now that you are a christian for those of you here in our worship center or in day one i want to invite you to take out this card and record a response some kind of response on this card if you prayed that prayer with me just a moment ago i want you to check that third box that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ and i'll send you the same material we're going to send our online friends right now maybe you're a guest today would like to know that you're here you can check that box maybe you'd like to know more about the many ministries of first baptist dallas you can check the second box maybe you'd like to join the church i'm told there are a number here today who are ready to join our church it's so easy these days all you have to do is check that final box i'd like to join first baptist dallas today regardless of the number of boxes you check when you have completed this card if you would go by the welcome center on the way out and you can exchange your card for a copy of my book the place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the light of eternity if you don't want to check stop by the welcome center just drop it in one of the receptacles on the way out we'll send you the book in the mail this week again those of you online go to the top of the screen right now and click on that link well thank you so much for being here today next sunday is father's day and i'll have another message from the life of joseph and we're also going to welcome our friend todd starnes a good friend of our church and he is going to be here and i'm going to interview him about what's happening in the world but also about his new devotional book our daily biscuit is the title of it has a southern appeal there but you'll want to come and hear todd next week as well we'll look forward to seeing you then let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor let's worship together [Music] lift your voice and see this is my story this is this is my story this is [Music] well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through uh scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas icampus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the eye campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing and improve first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] do [Music] [Applause] good morning and welcome to worship that first baptist dallas today church let's stand together [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music] says jesus says jesus says jesus says [Music] jesus let's put our hands together [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus said jesus says jesus [Applause] oh he saves today jesus our savior forever king of [Music] and every chain will break and every chain will break as broken hearts declare his praise [Music] [Music] you our god is the lamb the lamb that was [Music] oh open up the gates make way before the kingdom [Music] is our god [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] we declare together who can stop the lord almighty who can stop the lord almighty who can stop the lord [Music] who can stop the lord [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] praise his name this morning amen incredible worship church you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the baptistery we have sisters coming for baptism this morning first this is abby simmons um abby's been excited about her baptism she couldn't wait and she prayed to receive christ at home about two months ago and today she's here to follow the lord in believer's baptism abby because you have trusted christ as your lord and savior and in obedience to the lord's command i now baptize you my sister in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ and likeness of his death raised to walk and in new way of life [Applause] and this is kate siemens kate also prayed to receive christ about two months ago and today she's here to follow the lord in believer's baptism kate because you have trusted christ as your lord and savior and in obedience to the lord's lord in obedience to the lord's obedience and now baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ and likeness of his death raised to walk and in the way of life [Applause] praise the lord as we say earlier jesus saves we praise his name today we welcome everyone to worship that first baptist dallas and if you are a guest with us we have some special gifts for you we have our pastors a place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the hope of eternity we also have our choir's latest cd all for your glory some of the great songs we sing in worship each and every week and guess as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you're going to find and close this guest card please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the conclusion of the service take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff can't wait to meet you and for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church if you can't make it to the welcome center you'll find some orange receptacles on your way out just simply slip this card in one of those and we will mail you a copy of your gift guest joining us on icampus just follow that link on your screen to access your gift as well again so good to see each of you for worship this morning lots of exciting events taking place here at first baptist dallas let's all take a look together at the screen thank you so much for worshiping with us today i want to encourage you to become an eye campus i member from wherever you are in the world we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas when you do so today we will send you daily devotionals from our pastor dr robert jeffress the digital edition of pathway magazine great encouraging equipping resources delivered straight to your inbox each and every month as well as an icampus imember certificate to commemorate this special day we love you guys so much we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas so join us today as an eye campus i member to do so simply visit firstdallas.org forward slash free gift now let's join right back in live with the remainder of today's service good morning we are so thankful to be in worship with you we have an exciting season ahead and want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday june 20th dr jeffers will interview radio hosts columnist and author todd starnes about his brand new devotional daily biscuit devotions with a draw as part of worship girls age five and over are invited to enjoy the glitz glamour and excitement with dad at the 2021 daddy daughter red carpet gala on friday june 25th register now for a night complete with a delicious meal tasty desserts fun activities and friendly competitions then celebrate our freedom as americans and our freedom in christ on freedom sunday june 27th we will enjoy powerful worship and patriotic music with the first dallas choir and orchestra and a special message from our guest speaker david barton as we go into the busy months ahead please help us make room for our guests and families with young children by parking in one of our two brand new parking garages providence or saint paul finally it's good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizing stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you are not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit first alice.org events it's our opportunity now to read god's word together as a church family and today we're reading from first peter chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. we'll read from the new american standard bible and those will be the words you'll see on the screen here in the worship center and also for our eye campus folks as well you know this is one of those passages that is rather familiar to us and if we're not careful we'll read right through a passage and not really let it sink into our heart so i want to point out five words that maybe will help cement what god wants to say to us today the words are proof faith praise glory and honor you'll see those words come up in the passage now speaking of honor let's stand to honor the reading of god's word first peter chapter one beginning with verse six ending with verse nine in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of jesus christ and though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy and expressible and full of glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls not a great passage may god honor the reading of his word keep standing as we continue our worship time together [Music] the moon and stars they went the morning sun was dead the savior of the world was falling his body on the cross his blood poured out for us the weight of every curse [Music] [Music] of is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] we is you for what you've done for us we sing sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah we sing [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] is we see [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] amen great worship you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor now comes to lead us good morning as we continue our time of worship through our giving this morning you'll have the opportunity to leave your ties and offerings in the boxes as you exit the service this morning or you can give online anytime at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but during this time of commitment i'll invite you as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together heavenly father we praise you this morning we glorify your holy name we praise you as the lord almighty you are awesome in power you reign sovereignly over the heaven and the earth and yet you love us you know us you pour out your compassion and your grace and your mercy on each one of us lord we are reminded as we reflect on your goodness to us that we even as we go through these tests and trials and troubles of our daily lives lord you are with us and you never leave us nor forsake us and you have made that promise to us lord we're reminded that you've established our days even before we were born and though you know our sins and our faults and our failures and our shortcomings you still sent your only son jesus christ to give his life as an atoning sacrifice for us that we might be redeemed and we might be reconciled to you lord you have called us to this place you've called us to love one another in christian community and in obedience to you and so we worship you together lord we praise your name we commit our lives to you and we proclaim our love for you and we pray this in the saving name of jesus christ amen [Music] [Music] um [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] me there is for me [Music] me [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] [Applause] time [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] aren't they great thank you so much joe harden and tyler brenson and marvelous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today we want to welcome the multitude of you who are worshiping with us from all 195 countries around the world on our first dallas high campus and the literally millions of you who are worshiping with us or listening on pathway to victory on radio and television we're so glad you joined us today when i was in college one of my jobs was to be an announcer on our local radio station kwbu in waco and part of the requirements of any radio station is every few months the fcc requires you to do a test of the emergency broadcast system you probably heard those on radio or seen those on television the announcer comes on and he says this is a test of the emergency broadcast system for the next 60 seconds the station will conduct a test in accordance with fcc regulations this is only a test and then you hear that annoying [Music] now you probably wondered what's going on during that beep well i'll tell you we're fiddling with the controls playing like we know what we're doing behind the scenes there but the end the announcer comes back on and says this has concluded our test of the emergency broadcast system we now return to regular programming you know i've often thought how nice it would be if before we go into a major catastrophe in our life there would be an announcer in heaven who said this is a test of your faith for the next 60 days your life is going to be absolutely miserable this is only a test and then you go through whatever you're going through and at the end when it was over the announcer from heaven would say this concludes god's test of your life your life will now return to normal wouldn't that be nice if that kind of thing would happen has it ever happened to any of you certainly hasn't happened to me in fact what usually happens is we're sailing along through life very nicely things are going our way when out of nowhere we get ambushed by a catastrophe or catastrophes it may be a health crisis maybe a disruption in our family a financial reversal a job lost and suddenly we find ourselves in a maelstrom of misery and we wonder how long is this going to last perhaps you've been in that situation as well the fact is it's only when we get through that maelstrom of misery that we're able to look back and say oh now i see what god was up to you know somebody has said god's will is best seen in the rear view mirror it's only when you're able to look back that many times you're able to see the hand of god philip yancey the noted author says faith means believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse perhaps you've been there joseph was there today we're going to look at an event in joseph's life that seemingly came out of nowhere but only years later was he able to look back and see the hand of god when he was in this time of testing he thought god had forsaken him forgotten him forever if you have your bibles i want you to turn to genesis chapter 39. remember where joseph is joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and he left him in the pit he was sold to these slave traders who sold him after they'd taken him to egypt to potiphar the chief of pharaoh's bodyguard and while he was there he was raised to a level of prominence and he became steward over potiphar's household and then one day mrs potiphar made the moves on joseph and he was tempted she came to him and said lie with me lie with me and he refused that temptation and instead of being vindicated by god he was incarcerated by potiphar you know that's where we find him in verse 20. so joseph's master took him and put him into jail and the place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was still there in the jail i mean what was potter for what was joseph doing in jail he could have been having a first class pity party for himself if he had wanted to lord look at all i've done for you you allowed me to be betrayed by my brothers sold into slavery taken to this foreign land that doesn't recognize you whatsoever did i complain no i never complained instead i did my work the best i could and potiphar exalted me and i did my work enthusiastically as unto you but what did i get for all my effort to be falsely accused by potiphar's wife and look where i am right now where are you god have you ever asked that question you've done the best you know how to do you've haven't been perfect but you've tried to please god and instead god hasn't rewarded you instead he's allowed catastrophe to come into your life and you're asking the question where are you god where was god look at what the bible says in verse 21 but the lord was with joseph god hadn't gone anyplace he was right with joseph in the same way he had always been with joseph and he's with you right now as well hebrews 13 5 god says i promise i will never leave you or desert you when you can't see his hand when you don't know what god is up to you can still cling to the promise that god is with you just like he was with joseph look at verse 21 again but the lord was with joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer the chief jailer committed to joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail so that whatever was done there he was responsible for it the chief jailer didn't supervise anything under joseph's charge because the lord was with him and whatever joseph did the lord made to prosper here joseph is thrown into prison and he rises to a place of prominence and it says the chief jailer didn't have to worry about any of the details of running the jail he trusted everything to joseph does that sound familiar to you that's just what had happened when joseph was sold to potiphar when he became a member of potiphar's household he was just like any other slave but there was something about joseph that was different he distinguished himself with potiphar in such a way that he became in charge of everything in potiphar's household now here's an important principle i want every one of you to remember it's a principle about success it's a principle that only truly successful people understand and it's this write it down success is not determined by our position success is determined by our disposition let me say it again success is not determined by our position it's determined by our disposition so many people erroneously think if only i could have this title if only i got this promotion if only i received this recognition then i could truly be successful but as long as i'm stuck where i am i'll never be successful that is the attitude of losers success is not the result of a title or position steve salman the former president and ceo of kentucky medical insurance says quote hard work means working hard and hard and smart as trite as it might sound there is no free lunch many people sit around and wait for things to happen they wait for their luck to change the successful go out and make their future not wait for it to be handed to them or listen to steve wolf former chairman and ceo of united airlines as thomas edison said there is no substitute for hard work you can be incredibly intelligent and retain more details than an almanac but if you're not willing to put in the hours your success if you achieve any will be short-lived now i know what some of you are thinking you're thinking robert this sounds like a lot of positive thinking mumbo jumbo where do you get that in the bible i'm so glad you asked jot this down proverbs 18 verse 16 a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men proverbs 22 29 do you see a man skilled in his work he will stand before kings he will not stand before obscure men translated cream always rises to the top it always does there are some of you watching this broadcast or you're here in our worship center maybe you're a student in high school college you're studying hard you're making the best grades you can but nobody recognizes you it's other people who get the awards and get the scholarships maybe you're an employee at a company and you put in extra hours but the boss never seems to notice other people get the promotions maybe some of you who are watching you're a pastor you're a church staff member and you're serving in obscurity remember it is ultimately god whom we serve do your work enthusiastically as unto the lord it is the lord god whom you serve ultimately whether anybody notices or not is not the issue god notices and he rewards but the principle here is that most of the time maybe not every time most of the time other people eventually notice what you do as well and if you do your work excellently you go above and beyond you are such a rare commodity in today's work world world you will receive a promotion that's exactly what joseph did he worked hard and same thing is true for us it doesn't matter whether we're the chairman of the apple company or our job is to take out an inmate's waste from the jail as was joseph's responsibility cream rises to the top now look at chapter 40 verse 1. it was while joseph was working hard look at this then it came about after these things anytime you see that phrase that's a code for god's getting ready to do something then it came after these things that the cup bearer and the baker for the king of egypt offended their lord the king of egypt pharaoh was furious with his two officials the chief cup bearer and the chief baker now this sounds like a totally unrelated story meanwhile while joseph is working hard pharaoh is blowing a gasket over what what two of his employees did now the chief cupbearer was the person who tasted the wine before the king had it if the wine was poisoned it was the cup bearer who would be the first to find out that was his job the chief baker well he was in charge of food preparation for pharaoh pharaoh got angry at both of them we don't know why maybe the cup bearer dropped a glass of wine and ruined pharaoh's persian rug jay vernon mcgee says maybe the baker burned the biscuits that morning we don't know what it was but whatever it was it infuriated pharaoh what in the world does that have to do with joseph never forget this god is always working even when you can't see it right now there are people you've never heard of who have never met you or you've met them who are working in a location you're unfamiliar with who are going to bring about a set of circumstances that will impact your life forever you know when i read this story and think about that truth i think about luke chapter 2 remember how luke 2 opens and it came to pass that a decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be taxed here a half a continent away from israel was octavian the roman emperor making a decree about taxes for the roman empire little did that caesar know that his actions would cause a poor couple he had never met to travel to a little village he had never heard of to give birth to the savior of the world history often turns on seemingly small and unrelated events that's true in your life and my life god is always working can i just give you a personal illustration of that i remember so well a tuesday afternoon in april of 1984. when i was here on staff as the youth minister and we were in our staff meeting and uh dr chris will said we're going to have to cut the meeting short this afternoon because i have to drive to eastland texas to dedicate the new sanctuary of the first baptist church in eastland and i remember like it was yesterday my thought at that moment i thought to myself i've never heard of eastland texas but i thank god i don't live there one year later i didn't know god was setting an emotion even that afternoon the events that would lead me one year later to be preaching in that new sanctuary and to become the pastor of first baptist church of eastland texas we served there for seven years had a great time the church grew god blessed and we had just celebrated our seventh anniversary there and amy and i were standing by the trash can in the fellowship hall where everybody had thrown their empty plates and we were standing there and after the last person went through the receiving line i turned to amy and i said this was our last one here wasn't it and she said yep it's our last one there wasn't any problem any reason to think that nobody had been calling us or anything but we just had a sense god was up to something and a few months later we got a telephone call and the man on the end of the phone said i'm so and so i'm chairman of the pastor search committee and he mentioned the church it was the largest baptist church in another state big television ministry big church and he said we'd like to talk to you about becoming our pastor so i said well when do you want to come so we arranged a sunday and they came down and brought the search committee now i'll let you in on a secret when pastors know that there's a search committee coming that they care about they do everything they can to put their best foot forward make sure you know the church looks nice the grass is mountain mode and uh every body looks good and the choir is doing its good music i mean you know people want to put make a good impression so we did that that day and i looked out as i preached and there was that search committee and so afterwards they came over to our parsonage to meet with us and the chairman of the committee said now we'd like to arrange a sunday for you and amy to come to our church and to preach in view of a call to become our pastor i said wait a minute that just seems a little rushed i mean shouldn't you all meet and talk some more about it and maybe we set up a time that we could come and look at the church just on our own he said well okay if that's what you want to do but we'll call you this week and tell you when we want you to come i said okay monday came no phone call tuesday came no phone call wednesday thursday friday the whole week passed i never heard a word from them i thought well that's that next monday my telephone rings the person on the other end of the line said uh this is harold warren i'm chairman of the search committee for the first baptist church in wichita falls texas and we'd like to talk to you about coming to be our pastor i thought here we go again i said i suppose you want to come hear me preach he said no not really we've been in your church three times already and the last time had been that sunday when the other committee here we thought that was the group that we were uh ministering to and talking to but god did something completely different so i said well when do you want to come he said what about this afternoon i said well okay so they loaded up in their church band from wichita falls and drove to eastman we spent the evening with them and very soon we became the pastor of that church about a week later i got a telephone call from the chairman of that first search committee he said where have you been i said what do you mean said we have been trying to get hold of you and we couldn't get a hold of you we want you as our pastor i said too late i said god did something else he had his place someplace else now my only reason in telling you that was we had no idea what god was up to at the time god was working through people we didn't know in cities we didn't know to bring about his will for our life and he's doing the same thing with you right now while you're sleeping god is working he's working out a perfect plan for your life and that's what he was doing with joseph the fact is this spat was going on in pharaoh's court joseph knew nothing about it he was in prison but look at verse three so the jailer put the baker the cup bearer in confinement and the house of the captain of the bodyguard in the jail the same place where joseph was imprisoned there are no coincidences in god's plan and the captain of the bodyguard put joseph in charge of them and he took care of them and they were in confinement for some time now look at verse five then the cup bearer and the baker who were confined in jail both had a dream the very same night each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation now next sunday we're going to talk about dreams does god still speak through dreams today well he did then and that's for sure if you had the right interpretation so when joseph came to them in the morning and observed these two men who had had the dreams behold they were dejected so he asked the officials why are your faces so sad today verse 8 then they said to him we have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it i mean the fact is and that day if you had a dream and you wanted an interpretation there were all kind of astrologers and soothsayers on the streets and you could pay a fee tell your dream to them and they would give you the quote interpretation it was like a version of psychic friends hotline you know you call up and tell these shysters what went on in your life and they play like they have an interpretation well that's what you would do in egypt the only problem is they were in jail there was nobody they could pay to interpret their dream so they said to joseph we're sad because we had a dream and there is no one to interpret it then joseph said to them do not interpretations belong to god tell it to me please i think that's such a fascinating response you know joseph could have been very bitter at this point after falsely being imprisoned when they told him oh we've had a dream and we need somebody to interpret it joseph could have said dreams i used to believe in dreams i had one when i was 17 that i was going to rule over my brothers and family and look where it landed me or joseph could have said let god interpret your dreams for you but i'm not going to do his work for him look at how he's treated me his servant thrown me here in prison for something i didn't do now if god wants somebody to interpret your dream he'll have to get somebody else i'm out of business but he didn't do that in fact one thing you notice from this point on joseph never utters one word of bitterness or resentment about his past god is training joseph teaching him to trust him instead he offers to be god's spokesman so these two officials share their dreams with joseph first of all the cup bearer the cupbearer says joseph here's my dream i dreamed that i saw a a grapevine with three branches on it and each branch had luscious grapes and i squeezed the grapes into pharaoh's cup what does that mean joseph's oh that's easy three days from now you're going to be released from this prison and you're going to be restored to your position in pharaoh's household the only thing i'm asking you is when that happens not if it happens when it happens remember me to pharaoh telling my story of how i'm here unjustly that covers oh joseph i could never forget you well the baker was excited when he heard this he said me next me next joseph interpret my dream he said okay what does your dream mean here's what it means there were three baskets the the baker says are three baskets on my head with white bread in them miss beards i think and there are also some baked goods in them and some birds came and started eating out of the baskets what does it mean joseph said do you want to know do you really want to know he said yes i want to know he said well here's what it means in three days you're going to be released pharaoh's going to hang you on a tree and the birds are going to eat your flesh sorry i asked the baker said not really but i'm sure that's what he thought now here's something about joseph's integrity at this very point joseph could have told the baker whatever he wanted to hear to make him feel good but he was a spokesman for god he felt an obligation to tell him the truth so what happened after he interpreted those dreams look at verse 20. then it came about on the third day which was pharaoh's birthday that they made a feast for all of his servants now this happened year after year pharaoh's birthday party you can see the servants rolling the eyes when they get the memo in their inbox that morning it's pharaoh's birthday today everybody come to the party they didn't think anything special was going to happen but this day pharaoh was feeling especially festive and so the bible says he 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 office and put the cup into pharaoh's hand he released two men from prison one man he exalted the cub bearer but he hanged the chief baker just as joseph had interpreted to them and he became bird food i know that doesn't say that but that's what happened to him now look at verse 23 yet the chief cupbearer did not remember joseph but forgot him just think about it just as god had prophesied through joseph three days these two men are released now i want you to put yourself in joseph sandals for just a moment imagine you're joseph you've given this prophecy to these two men three days later at the crack of dawn you're joseph you're in the prison cell and you hear the voice of the chief jailer baker cupbearer front and center i've got a message from the palace joseph's overhearing all of this he hears the chief jailer says we've got a memo that says you're to be in pharaoh's court in one hour get your stuff and let's go can you imagine the hope that must have welled up in joseph's heart when he heard that these three men these two men were being released after three days just as he had predicted i'm sure joseph started to get his stuff ready to go for surely his release was coming in the next couple of hours the day passes night comes joseph hears nothing he rationalizes to himself well maybe the cup bearer uh didn't have a chance to talk to pharaoh today it's his birthday after all i'm sure he'll talk to him tomorrow the next day comes and goes no word from the palace days turn into weeks weeks turn into months months evolve into years and joseph is stuck in that dark damp prison thinking he'll never get out he feels like god has forsaken him forgotten him forever i want to pause here and talk to some of you who feel like you are stuck in the prison house of testing you're going through a problem and you're wondering is any end in sight is this going to go on forever and ever and ever maybe you cry out to god and the heavens are silent and you're beginning to doubt god's love care or even his existence if that's true of you and if it's not now it will be true of you at some point in your life let me share with you four timeless truths to remember when you are experiencing testing in your life first of all remember god's sovereignty what does god's sovereignty mean sovereign means rules god rules over all simply put god is in control of your life what is happening to you right now is no accident god not only knew about it ahead of time he planned it ahead of time there's nothing that comes into the life of a child of god that has not been sifted through the loving and perfect will of god that's what god's sovereignty means god is in control of your life this week i was interviewed by a man who's writing a book on one of my mentors dr howard hendricks dr hendricks for many years was the professor at dallas theological seminary and so the author was interviewing me and on the zoom call was profendrick's widow gene hendricks who still listens to our service every sunday and this author was asking me about what made howard hendricks tick he impacted so much of christendom through his students what was his secret and i related in an incident of something that had happened in his life more than 20 years ago he had gone into the doctor's office for the removal of a small skin cancer on his face eight hours later they were still finding more and more cancer cells and they said the only chance he had to survive was very invasive surgery that would go into his skull such a surgery threatened his eyes his ears his brain he was faced with the very real prospect of losing his sight his hearing even the function of his brain and when pressed about what he was going to do he took his wife gene's hand and said honey either god is sovereign or he's not and if he's not we're all in deep trouble but i'm gonna come down on the side that he is suffering you'll never make it through your time of testing until you come down on the side that god really is in control don't forget god's sovereignty secondly remember god's sufficiency second corinthians 1 4 tells us that god comforts us literally he strengthens us and strengthens us in all of our afflictions so that we can strengthen others with the same strength we have received from god god strengthens us not in some of our sufferings but in all of our affliction paul experienced that himself remember he suffered from that thorn in the flesh we don't know what it was some kind of physical malady and paul said in second corinthians 12 he prayed for the lord three times to remove that physical suffering but each time god said no my grace is sufficient for you and that's true for you and me god's grace is sufficient not for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow like manna it's good for today and today only god gives us that strength as we need it thirdly don't forget god's timetable god doesn't operate according to our schedule have you found that out on god's timetable nothing is too long or too short too early or too late instead ecclesiastes 3 11 says god has made everything appropriate in his time for joseph his period of testing was two monotonous years he spent in that prison he thought it would never end but on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year that had been written in indelible ink on god's calendar before the foundation of the world at that precise moment joseph's prison door was opened and god said enough and the same thing is going to happen to you at some undetermined point in the future written on god's calendar god's going to say enough your test is over don't forget god's timetable and finally when in that time of testing don't forget god's purpose god had a reason for not freeing joseph earlier just imagine what would have happened had the cup bearer remembered joseph and presented his case to pharaoh and pharaoh feeling especially uh excited over his birth they said i'm gonna pardon this guy and i'm gonna pardon him today let him go what would have happened joseph would have been hightailing it back to canaan to be reunited with his family and if he had been released and left and gone back to canaan he would not have been in the place he needed to be two years later to interpret this dream of pharaohs that we're going to look at next time an interpretation made by joseph that would not only impact pharaoh it would impact the entire world that would impact you and me even today god had a purpose a worldwide purpose he was working through joseph's testing but there was also something else going on jose god was not only doing something in the world through joseph's imprisonment he was doing something in joseph's life as well if you don't hear one other thing i say today remember this god is much more interested in what is happening in you than what is happening to you god is much more interested in what is happening in you than what's happening to you think about this what difficulty are you experiencing right now that god couldn't change or end in an instant if he wanted to couldn't he do that he could say that's it over no god can change your circumstances what he's interested in is what's going on in your heart right now remember the promise in romans 8 28 and we know that god causes all things to work together for good to those who love god who are called according to his purpose every circumstance in our life including that test you're going through right now is working together for good what is the good thing he's working it together for it's not your comfort it's not your vindication it's not your deliverance verse 29 the next verse says for whom god foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son jesus christ what god is doing in you right now through this trial is making you more like his son jesus christ have you discovered it's through the difficult times that our character is sharpened and refined not through the easy times that's what god is doing he's shaping you into the image of yours of his son that's what god was doing in joseph's life through his test and that's what god is doing right now in your life through this test let's bow together in a word of prayer i'm going to ask that nobody move or leave for any reason there are some of you who are already christians maybe you're in that maelstrom of misery wondering if it's ever going to end the most important thing you could do right now is to say god i'm trusting you i don't understand but i'm trusting you give me your grace to make it through today and then again tomorrow and the next day i am trusting you right now would you give god that vote of confidence today there are some of you today you've come to our church you've tuned into this broadcast not by accident god has brought you to this moment of this hour of this day for one reason and that is to offer you the gift of salvation the forgiveness of your sins the only people who can claim the promise that god will never leave them or desert them are those who are children of god who have been forgiven by god by trusting in christ as their savior today if you would like to have the assurance that one day when you die god's going to welcome you into heaven i want to encourage you right now to receive that free gift of forgiveness how do you receive it by praying a simple prayer like this to god if this is the desire of your heart whether you're here or watching would you pray this prayer with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen for those of you watching online if you prayed that prayer with me and you really meant it with all of your heart would you go to the top of the screen and click on the link that says i prayed the prayer with dr jeffress as soon as you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send to you this week about what it means to live as a christian so don't wait a moment longer right now go to the top of the screen and click that link i prayed the prayer now for those of you here in our worship center let me encourage you to take out your card and your bulletin and if you're a guest today let me encourage you to check that box if you prayed the prayer with me you can pray check that third box i prayed the prayer and i'll send you the same material this week we're sending our online friends maybe you'd like more information about the many ministries of our church you can check that second box maybe like in our first service there are many of you who would like to join our church we've made it so simple all you have to do is check this final box i'd like to join first baptist dallas today and when you do that we'll be in contact with you this week and processing your membership now when you finished uh filling out the card whether it's multiple boxes you've checked take this card take it to the welcome center right outside the worship center and we'll exchange your card for a copy of my hardback book a place called heaven devotional if you don't want to stop at the welcome center you can deposit this and one of the receptacles on your way out will process your card and get you a copy of the book this week thank you so much for doing that now next sunday is father's day and i'll have another message from the life of joseph i'm also going to interview our good friend todd starnes radio talk show host show host great christian he's written a brand new devotional book our daily biscuit you've heard of our daily bread this is our daily biscuit and he's going to talk about that but also talk about what's happening in our country right now from a christian viewpoint so i hope you'll be here to hear todd starnes and then a message from the life of joseph next week thanks so much for being here today hope you have a great week in the lord we'll look forward to seeing you next sunday let's stand together as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor let's worship together going out singing his praise this is my story this is my story this is [Music] is [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas eye campus you

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Length: 179min 20sec (10760 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021