Prison Break

Announcer: Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. We're going to discover with Joseph that God uses prison in his life and often painful experiences in our own life to break us and then to make us His own. It is a spiritual breakout. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how God can use adversity in your life. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, Prison Break.
Jack Graham: Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 39. We are in a series of messages on the life of Joseph. We are telling the story of Joseph. The last time we were with Joseph, he was standing for righteousness in the onslaught of Potiphar's wife, who sought to seduce him. And yet Joseph stood for righteousness. He did the right thing, which is another good reason to remind you that it is always right to do what is right. Never right to do wrong, never wrong to do right. But sometimes in doing right, we find ourselves punished or even persecuted. And that was the case of Joseph. It is as though no good deed goes unpunished in his life. Because in his resistance to the seduction of this slanderous woman, he found himself unjustly accused of rape and put in prison. Can you imagine Joseph's state of mind at this point? Just about the time he thinks he's getting to the end of this long road in darkness where his dreams have seemingly disappeared, yet strong in his heart, he finds himself at bottom, at the bottom again. And maybe he was wondering like some people are wondering today, just where is the bottom? Or maybe he was asking what many of us ask at the bottom. God, where are you? Are you here? Where is God when life seems to be so unfair? Where is God for goodness' sake? While Joseph is in jail, he did not deserve jail. He responds beautifully. You know, breaking points in life can make us bitter or can make us better. Well, when we know when God shuts one door, he opens another, we can respond appropriately. You know, there is an entire section in the Bible known as the prison epistles. Letters written from prison. Can you imagine the vacuum of our Christian faith had not Paul responded in faith in prison and given us those prison letters, those prison epistles that substantiate most of the New Testament? John himself on the island of Patmos was a prisoner when he gave us the book of Revelation. Others who found themselves in prison and yet discovered in adversity that they could advance in their faith. What do we learn in adversity? What do we learn in the dungeon? Let's read beginning in chapter 39, verse 20. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph. That's the key factor. If he was asking at this point, God, where are you? God showed up in the darkness of this dungeon. The Lord was with him and showed him, watch this, steadfast love. We are never, ever separated from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. His steadfast love chases us down and pursues us even in the painful, dreadful dungeons of life. He was there, but the steadfast love of God was with him and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Here we go again. God gives him favor because God had given him a future. And God's hand is guiding him and therefore because of the successful spiritual man Joseph, he has favor in the sight of the prison keeper and the prison keeper put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. And whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. And the keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, watch this, the Lord made it succeed. He is advancing even in adversity. Have you stopped to think lately about how God uses crisis and difficulty and prison dark dungeon experiences in our life? Adversity? Several ways he does that. One, in adversity God gets our attention. We can be rocking and rolling through life and feeling like we've got it all together and then seemingly everything gets out of control. And we wonder what happened. It seems to me as I'm looking around that there are more people who are trying to figure things out today than ever before. A great deal of suffering, and I'm not just talking about the financial crisis, the economic issues, but as a pastor, I think I'm seeing as much suffering and pain and difficulty as I've ever seen in all these years. And so often the pain is intensified because we're trying to fix things. We're trying to figure things out. We can't control our circumstances and so our circumstances control us. So adversity reminds us that we're not in control and that we desperately need the presence of God in our life. That's what Joseph experienced. God may use some dark day or night in your life to wake you up, to get your attention and to draw you closer to him. Then he uses adversity to develop maturity in our lives. That's what First Peter tells us when we're told that God uses the trials and tests of life to build us stronger, to purify and strengthen our faith, to develop our maturity. He uses adversity in life to prune off the dead wood and to purify our hearts and to cut away the dead and sometimes the cuts are very deep and painful. But God uses adversity to take out the dead and the dry wood so that we can be fruitful and faithful with him. God uses adversity to teach us to obey him and trust him. The Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 119 verses 67 and 71. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. The Psalmist was on his way living his own life, doing his own thing and then the crisis came, affliction came. And that brought him to obedience to Christ. Verse 71 said, it is good for me that I was afflicted that I may learn your statutes. And just as in Joseph's case, thrown in prison, left there alone, you may find yourself in a bad place in your life. And yet God is afflicting you in some way, sending adversity in your life or allowing adversity, and you know in Joseph's case, it wasn't some sin in his life. It wasn't because he did the wrong thing that he was in jail. He did the right thing and he was in jail. But God allows the adversity to come to train us in obedience and in faith, to trust him more. Another way God uses adversity is he teaches us to persevere. This is a generation that quits very easily. Quit on life, quit on their relationships, quit on their marriage, kids quit on their parents and vice-versa. And when their dreams are dashed and their hopes are shattered, people just throw in the towel and give up. When you look at Joseph's life you must admire his determination to dream on. His perseverance in the middle of this pain. And God uses this kind of endurance to build character in our lives. I tell you another way that God uses the dungeon adversity in our life, it reminds us to give thanks in all circumstances. In fact, First Thessalonians 5:18 says, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks. It doesn't say in everything feel thankful, but it says in everything, in every circumstance in life, give thanks. When you read the Bible and the great stories of the Bible you see this again and again. For example, in the story of Jonah, when Jonah rebelled against God, went 180 degrees in the wrong direction, running from the will of God. He was bigoted and angry and he ran from the will of God and you know the story how that great fish swallowed him and the Bible says in the belly of that fish, he began to praise God and give thanks. And it was after he praised God and gave thanks that the fish regurgitated him and even though he's got seaweed hanging out his ears, he learned that in the crisis of life, it's always time to give thanks. I think of Paul and Silas in jail at Philippi. Again, not for doing the wrong thing but for sharing their faith and preaching Christ and the Gospel. They end up in a jail in stocks and bonds and the Bible says at midnight, they are singing and praising God. Not whining and complaining about their circumstances, knowing that God was in control of their lives and the conditions and circumstances of their lives, they are praising God. And as a result of their praise those prison walls came down. Praise in the midst of pain tears down prison walls. It's a spiritual breakthrough in our lives. Adversity reminds us to give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ. Whatever your circumstances may be, you can praise God that he is in control. And be confident, you say I don't feel it, well then faith it. Believe it. Give thanks. Offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
Announcer: You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Prison Break. Did you know that you can join Dr. Graham for his daily devotion? It's a study of God's word that will help you grow in your faith, encourage you in your walk with Christ and show you how to navigate through the challenges of life. To sign up, text DEVO to 59789 and begin receiving Dr. Graham's devotional every day. Again, text DEVO to 59789. Every day, people around the world are hearing the truth of Jesus Christ through PowerPoint's broadcast, podcast, television ministry and digital outreach. Often during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. And friends like you help make that ministry possible. That's why this month we want to say thank you for your gift of $10 or more by sending you Dr. Jack Graham's book, Destiny. In this encouraging resource, Dr. Graham walks through the life of Joseph to show how God is always working even through painful and confusing circumstances to accomplish his greater purpose. To give your gift and request your copy, text OCT to 59789. That's OCT, as in October, to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, Prison Break.
Jack Graham: One other word and that is adversity is preparation for a better future, a better day. That's what happened to Joseph as we're going to see in just a moment. His adversity was merely an advancement in his life. God was preparing him in prison for something greater and the experiences in prison became the launching pad for his life and his dreams. That brings us to episode two which I'm simply going to call dreams. Look again in your Bibles at chapter 40 and verse 1. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them and he attended them. They continued for some time in his custody and one night they both dreamed, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the prison, each his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. Now, these two men, officials of the household of Pharaoh, one a cupbearer who was a primary assistant to the king because the king needed somebody to taste the drink and to make sure that it wasn't poisoned. And so this was a trusted associate. Also the baker who would have been sort of the chief of staff, maybe the chief chef of all of Pharaoh's food. These guys did something wrong. We don't know exactly what, but it enraged the king. You didn't have to do a lot in those days. Maybe he didn't like the taste of the drink. Maybe he didn't like the bread. I don't know. But they end up in prison and they are assigned to Joseph who is overseeing everything by now. And these two men while they were there had two crazy dreams. It concerned their future. What was going to happen to them. And so they were sad. Notice down in verse 6 when Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in the master's house, why are your faces downcast today? Notice that Joseph in prison is not sullen or withdrawn or depressed or defeated. He is not just aloof and alone to himself. He's reaching out to somebody else in the midst of his own pain and his own struggle, his own suffering. He notices that these two men are troubled. He said what's wrong? Why do you look so sad? They explained their dreams to him. These dreams that they experienced there in prison which I said really regarded their future. The cupbearer's dream had a good result, a good ending. And as Joseph interpreted it, the cupbearer would be reconnected back in the palace with the Pharaoh, he would be released from prison and back in his former position. So the baker's thinking, that's good. Until he hears the interpretation of the dream. And Joseph told him, your dream means that you're going to hang for your offense. Not good. Well, it happened just as Joseph said. The baker was hanged, the cupbearer went back and on his way out the door, Joseph said, look, remember me when you get back in and present my case to Pharaoh. Now, some have criticized Joseph for sort of taking things into his own hands here. But he shows his humanness. He's trusting God but he's also making if he can an appeal to Pharaoh. This is what Paul did when Paul was under arrest, he appealed to Caesar. And so Joseph appeals through this friend. He's blessed this friend, he's encouraged this friend, he's given this friend his get out of jail free card. And he said remember me. Verses 14 and 15, chapter 40. Only remember me when it is well with you and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh and so get me out of this house or prison. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit. Reasonable request wouldn't you think? And I will say that ultimately this guy came through and God does put people in our lives in the circumstances that he is controlling, in the network of our friends, in the companionship, even new people we meet. God may bring somebody into your life today. You find yourself in a big pit. You find yourself facing adversity and you wonder how you're going to get out. Well God may bring somebody into your life this very day who will be the key to getting you out and through. But the third episode is disappointment. I think this is maybe the one of the saddest chapters in the Bible because we're told down in chapter 40 and verse 23. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him. If you look in your Bibles as I'm looking at mine right now, there's a separation of course between chapters, not original in the giving of the Scriptures but in the outlining of the Scriptures, there's a chapter distinction here. The end of chapter 40 and then the beginning of chapter 41. At the beginning of chapter 41, if you would look at it, it says, after two whole years Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. And we'll get to that in the next message. But I want you to look at that white space between verse 23 of chapter 40 and verse 1 of chapter 41. Just look at that white space, that little space in your Bible right now. For you it's nothing. Just a white space. But for Joseph, it was two more long, long years in jail, in prison for something he didn't do. Think about that. What disappointment. When the cupbearer left no doubt for several days afterward, every time somebody unlocked the door where Joseph was incarcerated, he went running to the door thinking, this is my prison break. I'm out of here. Only to be disappointed. And the days turned into weeks. And from running to the door looking for his exit, he begins to walk. To no avail. And then after days he just looks and then after months and months, he doesn't even run or walk or look. He is forgotten by man. That happens a lot. Disappointments when people disappoint us. Happens in our homes. Someone promised you at an altar of marriage that they would be true to you and faithful to you but forgot their promises. Someone you loaned them some money and they said I'll pay you back. But oh they forgot. And you were disappointed. You raised your children and your children, you gave them a lot, you gave them your best and your children have forgotten to be grateful. Some of you grew up in homes where you were mistreated or even abused. I can't tell you how many people I deal with on a regular basis whose parents promised to be good dads and good moms but they didn't keep their promises. I guarantee you if you are disappointed by the broken promises of humans, you can be absolutely confident that God never forgets.