We find Joseph in two characters in the house of Potiphar: first as a
servant and a slave, one who is trusted and loved, but still entirely a
servant; second, as master. Potiphar made him overseer over his house and
his lands, and all that he had, so that we read afterward that he left
everything in his hands, and he knew of nothing except the bread that
came upon his table. I want to call your attention to Joseph as a type of
Christ. We sometimes speak in the Christian life, of entire surrender, and
rightly, and here we have a beautiful illustration of what it is. First,
Joseph was in Potiphar's house to serve him and to help him, and he did
that, and Potiphar learned to trust him, so that he said, "All that I have
I will give into his hands." Now, that is exactly what is to take place
with a great many Christians. They know Christ, they trust Him, they love
Him, but He is not Master, He is a sort of helper. When there is trouble
they come to Him, when they sin they ask Him for pardon in His precious
blood, when they are in darkness they cry to Him; but often and often they
live according to their own will, and they seek help from themselves. But
how blessed is the man who comes and, like Potiphar, says, "I will give
up everything to Jesus!" There are many who have accepted Christ as
their Lord, but have never yet come to the final, absolute surrender of
everything. Christians, if you want perfect rest, abiding joy, strength to
work for God, oh, come and learn from that poor heathen Egyptian what you
ought to do. He saw that God was with Joseph and he said, "I will give up
my house to him." Oh, learn you to do that. There are some who have
never yet accepted Christ, some who are seeking after Him, thirsting and
hungering, but they do not know how to find Him.
Let me direct your attention to four thoughts regarding this surrender to
Christ: First, its motives; second, its measures; third, its blessedness;
lastly, its duration.
First of all, its motives. What moved Potiphar to do this? I think the
answer is very easy: he was a trusted servant of the king and he had the
king's work to take care of, and he very likely could not take care of
his own house. All his time and attention were required at the court of
Pharaoh. He had his duty there; he was in high honor; but his own house got
neglected. Very likely he had had other overseers, one slave appointed to
rule the others, and perhaps that one had been unfaithful, or dishonest,
and somehow his house was not as he would have it. So he buys another
slave, just as he had formerly done, but in this case he sees what he had
never seen before. There is something unusual about the man. He walks
so humbly, he serves so faithfully and so lovingly, and withal so
successfully. Potiphar begins to look into the reason for this, and finally
concludes that God is with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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