Uncategorized Wednesday Sermon by Rev, DR. Willy Mutiso

HOW I BECAME A GREAT MAN.

MESSAGE: HOW I BECAME A GREAT MAN.

TEXT: GENESIS 39:20- 21

 

If you were to ask Joseph, “How did you become such a great success?” Perhaps he would have told you this following story of how God used seven tragic things in his life to make him a great man. After being placed into the position of the most important person in the world at only 30 years of age. If you were to ask Joseph “How did you become such a great success?” he would give you the seven events which happened to his life. The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” It is amazing how God uses tragedy to build people making them successful. Let us consider:-

  1. Tragedy number 1. THE DEATH OF MY MOTHER-Gen. 35:19

“And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

  • When Joseph was just a young boy, his mother Rachel died while giving birth to his younger brother Benjamin.
  • Jacob really loved Rachel, he served his father-in-law fourteen years for her hand in marriage.
  • Joseph lived in a dysfunctional home and dysfunctional homes produce abnormal children psychologically.
  • Jacob had four wives, but his favorite was Rachel, now she was gone.
  • Polygamy families produce a lot of sibling competition, favoritism, hatred and intrigues.
  • The question is “How could the death of Joseph’s mother contribute to Joseph’s success?-Rom. 8:28.
  • Answer: I learned…… The love of my father.
  • When Rachel died, Jacob poured out his love on Rachel’s son, Joseph.
  • He made him a coat of many colors. Joseph became the beloved of his father.
  • Benjamin his younger brother also became the beloved of the Lord.
  1. Tragedy number 2. MY BROTHERS HATED ME-Gen. 37:4.

“And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.”

  • How could God use this hatred for good?
  • Answer:
  • I learned…. The love of God.
  • When people hate you, turn to the love of God.
  • In his loneliness, Joseph would seek out the one who would love him. The one who stick closer than a brother!
  • When your brothers and sisters won’t talk to you, you soon learn to talk to the only one who will listen.
  • Joseph would learn the intimacy of Christ.
  1. Tragedy number 3. I HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

“And they took him and cast him into a pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.”

  • When Joseph was sent from his father to see how his brothers were doing in the field, they saw him coming with his coat of many colors a great way off. They devised a plan to take his life. He was stripped of his coat and thrown into a pit without water.
  • How could God use this near death experience in the life of Joseph for good?
  • Answer:
  • I learned…. The brevity of life.
  • No doubt young Joseph have done some severe thinking about eternity on the day of his near death experience. Where would he go if he would have died that day? What had he accomplished for God in his short life?
  1. Tragedy number 4. I WAS SOLD INTO SLAVERY-Gen. 37:28.

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

  • Instead of taking his life, the brothers of Joseph sold him into slavery.
  • How could God use this tragic experience to develop the character of Joseph?
  • Answer:
  • I learned…. To live a disciplined life.
  • As a slave you learn to obey. A person cannot become a success without discipline in their lives.
  • Joseph learned to obey his master, Potiphar. When he was approached daily by the wife of Potiphar to go to bed with him, he had learned enough discipline to say “NO” to his fleshly desires, and to leave her holding his coat as he fled from the house.
  1. Tragedy number 5. I WAS LIED ABOUT AND LOST MY REPUTATION-Gen. 39:17.

“And she spoke unto him according to these words saying, The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me.”

  • Potipher’s wife lied about Joseph. She accused him of trying to rape her. How could God use this experience to help shape Joseph’s character?
  • Answer:
  • I learned-You overcome wrong by living right.
  • When people say that you are no good, live right and prove them wrong! God knows the truth.
  • The truth will always win out.
  1. Tragedy number 6. I WAS SENTENCED TO PRISON WITHOUT TRIAL-Gen. 39:20

“And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison.”

  • It was no just any prison. It was the prison where the king’s prisoners were kept (state prisoners).
  • It was in this place that Joseph would help interpret the dreams of the king’s baker and the king’s butler.
  • How could being sent to prison be used of God in developing the character of Joseph?
  • Answer:
  • I learned… to cherish freedom.
  • When you have lost it all, you learn to appreciate the liberties of life. It is Christ who sets us free from the life of sin and death.
  1. Tragedy number 7. I WAS FORGOTTEN ABOUT-Gen. 40:23.

“Yet did the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.

  • After assisting the butler with the interpretation of his dream, Joseph pleaded, “REMEMBER ME.”
  • But the butler forgot. What a terrible thing to be forgotten about as you live day by day within the walls of a prison.
  • Can you imagine how terrible of a place hell must be!
  • How could God use being forgotten about to develop the character of Joseph?
  • Answer:
  • I learned…. To not forget the forgotten.
  • Joseph would be in a position to help those who were hungry and in great need during the time of the famine.
  • We too have been made a city set upon a hill. God wants us to become the salt of the world.

CONCLUSION

  • What is it that God is trying to teach you?
  • Perhaps you have been going through some tragic experience in your life.
  • Remember God has a plan for the world.
  • God would use Joseph to bring Israel to Egypt so that God could show to Israel his mighty power to bring them out again.
  • Joseph’s life was a part of God’s bigger plan.
  • God has a plan for your life too!!
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Rev, DR. Willy Mutiso

Rev, Dr. Willy Mutiso is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Athiriver. He is widely known for his practical and dynamic teaching style which helps people apply the timeless truths of Scripture to their everyday lives.

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