Well, I invite you to take your Bible. Invite you to take your Bible and we’ll turn to Genesis 41, and we’ll want to read together verses 25 through 40. Genesis 41:25-40. I’m going to preach tonight on the subject, Ready for Anything, as we continue on in our series of sermons in the life and times of Joseph. We’re cutting into the narrative, Joseph has been ushered into Pharaoh’s presence. Pharaoh stands before him scratching his head, wanting someone to tell him the meaning of the dreams that have confused his mind and intrigued his heart.
We read in verse 25, “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams are one. And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh, God has shown Pharaoh what he’s about to do. Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt. But after them, seven years of famine will arise. And all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will deplete the land. So the plenty will not be known in the land, because of the famine following for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice, because the thing is established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass.”
“Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”
So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘In so much as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne, will I be greater than you.” Well we trust God blesses us as we come to study and grasp His word as we’ve read it tonight.
There’s an old story about a monastery high up on a cliff, and the only way to access this monastery was by climbing into a basket and being pulled towards the monastery by a rope. On one particular day, a man prepared to climb into the basket. And as he did, he saw that the rope was rather frail, which gave him some anxiety. And so he paused, he looked at the monk who was operating the basket, and he asked this question, “How often do you replace the rope?” To which the monk replied, “Every time it breaks.”
I’m not sure that’s the answer he wanted to hear. I’m not sure that allayed his anxiety, but it does raise an issue. Waiting until something breaks is not always the best policy. Rather than playing catch-up to time and things, you and I may be better served to think ahead, work ahead, so that we might get ahead of today’s problems and tomorrow’s possibilities. Baden Powell, the Founder of the Boy Scouts, was onto something, wasn’t it, when he taught an emerging generation of boys to be prepared. Baden Powell wanted to raise up a generation of young men who were physically strong, morally courageous, socially well-adjusted, and his motto was, Be Prepared.
In fact, on one occasion, he was asked by someone, “Be prepared for what?” To which Baden Powell replied, “Why, for any old thing.” And you and I want to be prepared for any old thing. Life requires that you and I be ready for anything at any time. You see, life never stays the way it is. I hope you’ve learned that by now. If not, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening someday. Life does not remain the way it is. But if you stay the way you are and life doesn’t stay the way it is, you’re falling behind. And you and I must hear the admonition of Baden Powell, Be Prepared. Don’t wait until something breaks down.
In fact, this is a principle and a pattern that you’ll find in the world of man and you’ll find in the kingdom of animals, as far as the word is concerned. We have a great illustration of our principle. We see it as a pattern worked out in the life of Noah. What do we read in Hebrews 11:7 concerning Noah? Here’s what we read. Having been warned of God about the impending flood, we read, “Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household.” There’s the principle. Noah didn’t wait till it rained. Noah didn’t wait for something to break. He was prepared. He was aggressive and thoughtful, and he anticipated and adjusted to life’s unfolding circumstances, as God gave him the inside scoop.
We have this principle and pattern not only in the world of man, but in the kingdom of animals. How many times are we told in the Book of Proverbs to go and study the ant? And one of the reasons you want to study the ant according to Proverbs 6:6-7 is, “Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander or overseer or ruler.” It doesn’t wait to do something until someone tells it to do it. It takes its own initiative, it’s self-starting. “It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and it gathers its food in winter.”
There is the same principle, the same pattern. This anticipating and adjusting to life as it comes rushing at us with all its variables, all its challenges, all its different computations. And I want us to learn tonight in a very practical way, that principle as it’s fleshed out and worked out in the life of Joseph. Tonight’s rather unusual, it’s not going to be very heady, not going to be very doctrinal or theological. It’s going to be very practical, somewhat topical, which isn’t altogether my motif. But you know what? We can jump over this passage of Scriptures. We see Joseph interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, and then he has to tell this king, this potentate, this monarch that he needs to get ready for what follows.
We’ve just read the passage. Joseph has interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and he’s told him, “You know what? Egypt was in for seven severe years of famine, following seven years of good harvest. The famine would come on the heels of a period of abundance. There would be this turnaround, this downturn.” And Joseph says, “You need to get ready.” And then he maps out a plan, which initially involves in those years of plenty and abundance, 20% of the harvest needs to get set aside. The national GDP needs to be set aside 20% over the seven years preparing for the transition from years of plenty to years of poverty. “We need to be ready,” says Joseph. And I think there’s lessons for us to learn, so hang in. I think there’s some good things for you and I to pick up here.
First thing I want us to notice, and I’ve already kind of touched on it, is a principle that is perpetual. We’re going to look at a principle that is perpetual. Then we’re going to look at a plan that is practical, and then we’re going to look at a point that is personal, but let’s just establish the principle that’s to be taken from this text, and it’s simply this. Here’s the principle, and you can go to the bank with this. Life at so times will become this story for you. Feast will be followed by famine. That’s just a principle. This is something that’s true about life. The sunshine of success can so easily be blotted out by the clouds of a crisis.
Life sometimes treats us like the seesaw in the children’s playground. One moment you’re up, and the next minute you come down with a bump, that’s rather sore in one part of your body. And you know that that’s a principle that’s worked out. Joseph warns the Egyptians that that’s going to come true for them. Look at verse 29 again in chapter 41. “Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt. But after them, seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt and the famine will deplete the land.” You see a principle here? And I’ll argue to you, that’s a principle that’s perpetual. This wasn’t just locked away in the past. This didn’t just happen once to a particular people at a particular time. I think if you study history, I think as you turn back the pages of your own life, you’re going to find this principle to be perpetually true.
Life doesn’t stay even. The good times don’t last forever. That’s a principle that’s perpetual. Doesn’t Job have to remind his wife of that, as he chastises her? She watches him react to the unfolding disaster that’s their life, and she can’t believe that he’s holding on those integrity. She can’t believe he’s still going to church and worshiping God. She’s done with God. How can God be good and allow all this to happen? Let’s just curse Him and be done with this. And Job says, “You’re speaking a foolish woman. You’re speaking like a Godless woman. Shut it up.” Now, he actually doesn’t say that. Maybe that was me last week, I don’t know. But he says, “Enough of that, enough of that.” And what does he say? “Having received good from the Lord, shall we not also receive evil?” Better translated, bad or adversity.
See the principle again? Okay, yeah, we went through a time when it was all rosy and things were good, but that’s not this time. And we got to suck it up, we got to adjust. We got to realize that’s life on planet earth. Again, you see that principle in Philippians 4, don’t you? Where Paul tells us that, “You know what? Thank you for the gift,” he says to the Philippians in chapter four and verse 11, “And I’m thankful for it, but I want you to know that you know what? Whether you’d have given it or not given it, I’ve learned in all kinds of circumstances to be content.”
“Now you have added to my practical experience, which is a good thing, but I’ve learned in whatsoever stood, I’m to be content.” He uses a word there, kind of carries the idea of content, sufficient. “I’ve learned a sufficiency in God.” And he goes on to say, “Well I’ve learned a contentment, and I know what it is to have plenty and I know what it is to be in poverty.” Paul is saying, “I’ve experienced that all the ebbs and flow of life that tides come in with blessing, and it has receded and left me at a state of barrenness. But God is sufficient and Christ pours His strength into me.” Do you see the principle?
I don’t think it’s just true of this time and this people. I think this is a principle that’s perpetual. And write it down, isn’t it so apropos? That the times of feasting are often followed by the times of famine. The times of plenty give way to times of poverty. Successes can be followed by failures. Ups can be followed by downs. When we lived in the Midwest, the people used to say to us, “Pastor, if you don’t like the weather, just wait a while,” ’cause it was almost changing in Ohio, all the time. We didn’t get long streaks of sunshine. We certainly get long streaks of winter, but it was generally true. “Well pastor, if you don’t like the weather, just wait a while.” And that’s true of life. So many changing weather patterns in each of our lives.
In fact, I thought about this principle, I don’t want to get lost in this, but I thought about, you know, this principle holds true. Think about the economic world, right? How often have we watched boom give way to bust? We’re experiencing that right now. And when I lived in Britain, we saw the boom in the ’80s under Margaret Thatcher and give way to the bust under the 90s under John Major. We all know that economies are not unlike a roller coaster. There’s ups and downs, there’s highs and there’re lows, and boom gives way to bust. Men have gone to bed millionaires, and woke up the next morning with hardly two pennies to rub together.
Feasting giving way to famine. The market goes up and down, and that’s a principle that’s so true. The gravy train sometimes comes to its terminus. It’s true in the natural world. Day is chased by night. Light is succeeded by darkness. Summer’s long days are followed by the shorter days of winter, when the opportunity for leisure and labor is limited. The fruitfulness of summer is gobbled up by the lean and barren months of winter. It’s true in the physical world. Whether we look at our intellect, our physical strength or the time available to us, famine gives way or feasting gives way to famine.
Think about time just an example. The young person thinks he’s got globs of time and the road of life stretches out before him without an end in sight. And each day seems long, providing plenty of time to squander and play. But then there comes that point abruptly one day at the end of high school when you can’t awaken up to the thought, you know what? A quarter of life has passed. And before you know it, the kids are up and out, and you look at yourself and go, “Can you believe it? It’s past halftime.” And then, time really starts speeding up, and you realize that the feast is now turning to famine. And all those years that seem to be there in abundance are now in short supply, and the end is beginning to come into view. That’s life. It’s true economically, naturally, physically, soft and true spiritually.
Sometimes feasting can give away the famine. On the micro and a macro level, sometimes you find yourself in a certain situation in life and you have access to a great church with a healthy body life and there’s bible studies galore, and the worship engages your heart and mind and blesses your soul. And then you have to transfer maybe to somewhere and you know what? The choices are limited and the experience not so good. Or as in the cases I’ve seen with some of the missionaries in the churches I’ve pastored, they leave home and they leave vibrant ministries and sitting under expositional preaching and the vibrancy of Christian fellowship, and they find themselves beyond the back of nowhere, and craving for the CDs from home or shortwave radio to get into Transworld to hear the word of God and the feasting has turned to famine. And they long for those times of festive fellowship, and signed and solid preaching upon which their souls could feed.
On the macro level, can we look at countries? Maybe we’re beginning to look at our own, where the Word of God was unfettered and unbound. And yet we see the tide receding, we see the landscape changing. We see the soul of a nation weathering, and its heritage and its history being tossed aside and the blessings of God being unwelcome. I think of the United Kingdom and its history, and I think of Europe and the work of the Reformation and the pulpits that thundered with the gospel. Now I think that in many a church in England, it’s no more than a bingo hall. I saw the latest statistic that said, in several years, there’ll be more mosque-going Muslims in England than there will be church-going people. In the land of England, the home of Spurgeon and Wesley and Lloyd-Jones and the land of Scotland and Knox?
That’s bad and Europe’s even worse. In the land of Germany and France, where once Luther preached and Calvin expounded, is it any wonder that in the 2005 Shepherds Conference, Dr. R.C. Sproul finished a message on justification by faith, and told us about a visit he had recently made to the Reformation Wall in Geneva were inscribed these words, “After the darkness, light.” But he bemoaned the fact looking to the west and then looking at home, and he said, “Man, I fear that our generation will rewrite that, and it will be no longer after the darkness, light. It will be after the light, darkness.” Are we not watching that? Can we not say increasingly of our own land and lands beyond this land, [inaudible 00:20:40], there’s a famine in the land, but it’s a famine of the Word. Do we not sometimes understand Gideon’s complaint when he meets the ends of the Lord and says, “You know what? If God’s for us then what’s up? And where be all the miracles our fathers talked about?”
Countries can go through spiritual recessions, and we need to pray for God to revive His people and pour out His spirit in a magnanimous measure. But a principle that’s perpetual, I think you get it. But often in life, sometimes in ministry, you find that you move from feast to famine, from plenty to poverty, from darkness to light, from success to failure, from easy-going to tough-going. That’s the principle that’s perpetual. It comes from the tax. We not only see a principle that’s perpetual, we see a plan that is practical.
With the monarch’s full backing, Joseph sets in motion a plan that would practically meet the needs of the Nation of Israel. He’s on to something here. He says, “You know what? I’m going to tell you what’s up. Seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of poverty. That’s the thin cows eating the fat cows. That’s the thin heads of grain swallowing up the fat heads of grain. And if that’s going to happen, here’s what I suggest,” and he gives them a plan. And it rings true in the mind and in the heart of Pharaoh. And in unbeknownst to Joseph, he talks himself into a job, all in the providence and sovereignty of God.
The point that comes out of this, the whole intent of the plan which we’ll look at very briefly, is that Joseph is saying, “You know what? Surpluses ought not to be wasted. Surpluses ought not to be wasted. During those seven years of plenty, there ought not to be this mindless splurging.” Okay? Waste not, want not. That’s what Joseph’s driving at here. In fact, that’s a point we see, don’t we, in the two feedings we read about in the Gospels? Have you ever noticed that after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus orders his disciples to what? To gather up the leftovers. Now we’re not told what he did with them, but there’s certainly got to be a purpose in the gathering up of the leftovers. I don’t think they were thrown away. Do you? Waste not, want not.
Again, a dozen baskets are gathered when we read about the feeding of the 4,000. Or sorry, seven baskets are gathered. From that 12 from the 5,00, seven from the 4,000. The point being if we were to apply that reality, that the blessings of life, the blessings of health and intellect and strength and spiritual heritage were never meant to be wasted. Youth is never meant to be wasted. The blessings of God materially are not meant to be mindlessly wasted. Our spiritual heritage is not to be thrown away thoughtlessly. We’ve got to conserve, we’ve got to preserve. We’ve got the plan. We’ve got to think ahead for the limitations of tomorrow.
You won’t be young forever. Spiritual battles will come, and we’ve got the stockpile. That’s Joseph’s point, isn’t it? Verse 34, “Let Pharaoh do this.” Chapter 41, “Let him appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years, and let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be as the reserve for the land for the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”
Now let me just quickly take you through Joseph’s plan. There are kind of three chapters to the story, three stages to the plan. There’s what he does before the famine, there’s what he does during the famine and there’s what he does after the famine. Let’s just mark that. Here in the passage I just read, we have what he does initially before the famine. Joseph collects one-fifth of the yield of every year during that seven years of plenty. Now from what we can tell, that’s probably double the usual tax, or what was due to the government. And the people were being warned that they needed to tighten their belts. 20% of the harvest was to be stored.
Now when I first read that, I go, “But hold on, the math doesn’t add up for me. 20% over seven years, it’s like 140% of one good year. Is that enough for the next seven years?” In some of the research and background, we’ve got to realize that even in a normal year, a good year in Egypt, we’re told that when the Nile overflowed at banks and created fertile farming ground, that they often had crops to the point where they often exported more than even their own national consumption. But it seems to be that these seven years of plenty are years of superabundance. So in a good year, their crops and their harvest often exceeded what they needed. And we know these are super good years that are coming up, and Joseph has them take 20% of that and set it aside each year.
I think there may be also a little bit of thinking here. He didn’t want the people getting up in arms. And you know what? Maybe when they buy into the plan, the whole thought of giving 20% is something they can live with. Something beyond that might be a little bit difficult. I’m not sure Joseph would’ve got away with what some of our politicians are getting away, with 40% of your income going to the government. But he starts, and this is preparing for bad years, 20%. And he was a master strategist. If you read in verses 46 to 49, you’re going to read that he goes about the land establishing collection points in key areas. 46, “Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, went throughout the land of Egypt. Now in the seven plentiful years, the ground brought forth abundantly. So he gathered all the food.”
Now when I read all the food, that’s all the food of the fifth of the harvest that he had established. It’s not the whole crop. “So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and laid up the food in the cities. He laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. And Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting for it was immeasurable.”
Now just one other little practical point here. I started asking myself this, why didn’t the people do this themselves? Or why didn’t Joseph encourage them to do this themselves? And you know what? Sadly, I think we have to conclude that despite the warnings that they may have been given, it’s a human propensity, they would’ve probably failed to store up for the tough years that lay ahead, for that rainy day. It is a human trait. It’s something we all battle against. We’ve watched it be played out in the last few years within our own economy. When the heady days of the market being in boom and housing prices skyrocketing, people have a tough time postponing satisfaction of looking a little bit ahead and realizing, you know what? If I just knock my head against the wall for one minute, I realize it’s not going to be like this for an awful long time. We can see 15% every year on our house in terms of interest and increase.
In fact, people in the Midwest were looking out west going, “Are these people nuts out on the West Coast? Do they not realize? Just do the math. It’s not going to work, and we’re all going to suffer.” And I remember sitting at breakfast one day in Mimi’s Cafe in Santa Clarita with a man I had the privilege of being part of bringing him to Christ. A young man who actually became the Lord mayor of Santa Clarita. Wonderful young man by the name of Cameron Smyth, who continues to be in politics. I think he’s up in Sacramento at the moment. And I remember looking at him, I was living in Ohio at the time in the Rust Belt, and I knew things were tough in the Midwest and people were tightening their belts and watching their pennies. And I come back out to Santa Clarita where I lived, and Hummers galore and then all these fancy cars. And I go, “How do they do it?” And I remember his answer, he says, “Every one of the cars that are passing, I’ll guarantee you, eight out of 10 are one payment away from disaster.”
And there’s this human trait, we don’t as much as we should set aside for the rainy day. We’re often like the horse with its blinders on, and its head in a bag of oats. We just lose all sense of perspective. We’re like a kid with pocket money, we’ve all been there, Friday. As soon as it gets into the pocket, in five minutes, it’s burning a hole and you’re down to the sweetie shop or the candy shop. And before you can say Jack Robinson, it’s gone. And we’ve always got to fight that trait. In fact, the Census Bureau reported just a few years ago that 50% of American homes have less than $1,200 in savings. That’s scary.
It was happening back then, happens now. And I think that’s why Joseph takes the initiative, because you’d like to think that people would govern themselves. But in some cases, they don’t govern themselves wisely, and Joseph sets about a plan and we could go in different directions. In fact, I remember taking a class at Master’s College in biblical counseling with Dr. Wayne Mack, and he was an Egyptian slave master. He worked as hard, and I remember we were kind of moaning one day about the workload and all of that. But I also remember, he said, “You know what? There’s much of this class you can actually find in books and on the internet, and you can actually teach it yourself, but you won’t, and that’s why you’re here. So let’s get on with the class and there’s no more of the belly aching.” And you get that kind of idea, sometimes left to ourselves, we’re not as good a masters of our own appetites and desires as we should be.
Initially before the famine, let’s put 20% aside. Now, continually during the famine, when the famine strikes, Joseph opens the granaries. Read about this in verse 55 and following, and the people come up. “So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, do.’ The famine was all over the face of the earth and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. So all the countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the lands.” So Joseph begins to give the food to the people.
At first they’re able to buy that grain with the money that probably has come from those good years. But you’ll read in chapter 47, I’m not going to turn there for the sake of time, but chapter 47:13-21, a year or so into it, they run out of money. And what we read about then is that they have to exchange their cattle, their livestock for food. Then they run out of their livestock, and in the next year, they sell themselves into, kind of they’re indentured to Pharaoh and they sell their lands. That’s what happens during the famine. And so by the end of the famine, virtually all the people in Egypt are indentured to Pharaoh and all the lands are under government control.
Then after the famine, Joseph allows the people to work their former land. He provides them seed for sowing, and then in return, he then exacts from them one-fifth of the harvest for Pharaoh. You read about that in chapter 47:23-26. That’s the plan. We’ve looked at a principle that’s practical. We’ve looked at a plan, our principle that’s perpetual. We’ve looked at a plan that’s practical. Now, before I move to the last thought, couple of things. We got to address a question that’s been raised. Is Joseph one of those heartless capitalists? And many people have read this text and go, “How can this guy cash in on people’s problems and perplexities?” You know what? You look at that and go, “Wow, this Joseph kind of the henchman for Pharaoh, and before it’s all done, he’s turned a whole nation into indentured servants to Pharaoh.”
I think that’s unfair, and I’ll tell you why. Because in every case, in every case, there was no exploitation. The full value of the grain was charged equally and fairly. There was an equity went on. There was a fair exchange that went on. There’s no real exploitation going on. And in fact, when he took their livestock, he did them a favor and he certainly did the nation a favor, because if the livestock had have been left in the hands of the people, they wouldn’t have been able to sustain the life of the livestock, which would’ve been a national disaster. After the drought, he returns the cattle is the assumption, and he returns the land to a great deal, and they farm it. And it seems a moderate rent, doesn’t it? At one-fifth of the harvest, considering all, but here’s the best argument.
If you go to Genesis 47:25, here’s what you read. This is the words of the people, that they had no sense of getting diddled or shortchanged. “They said, ‘You have saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my Lord and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” I don’t think that’s groveling. I think that’s genuine gratitude. They look and they go, “You know what? Without you Joseph, your plan, this would’ve been an utter disaster.”
Now, before we leave that thought, I think again, we said as we looked at the principle of feast turning to famine and we look at the plan, we establish that surpluses are not to be wasted. And just write that down, surpluses are not to be wasted. Don’t throw away those good times in life or those years of surplus, an evident blessing from God. Don’t waste the surplus. Use it, invest it, think beyond it. I mean, every marriage is going to start in a surplus, and that surplus mustn’t be wasted, because there will come years when the marriage will flat-line and romance will weaken. And what you’ve got to do in the good years of marriage is lay a good foundation. Patterns of friendship and love and intimacy that will take you through the tougher times.
Don’t waste the surplus. Use those early years and establish good patterns. Think things out. Define the roles. Understand the expectations. Serve and love and anticipate that it could well be after many good years will come some challenges. Everything starts in a surplus, marriage does. Don’t waste a surplus. Don’t take it for granted. Think about that parenting begins in a surplus. I mean for most situations, our kids begin by adoring us. They’re dependent upon us. Use those early years, don’t miss them if you’re a mother. They’re so critical.
Pour yourself into that child, mom and dad together, building an intimate relationship with that child, because they will become an adolescent and they won’t change into these scary little creatures. But don’t waste the surplus. Take those early years and set patterns that will act as barriers to keep them in the straight and narrow, and help them get through those years of adolescence and help them to maintain that relationship. They can survive all the challenges. Parenting begins in surplus. Marriage begins in surplus. Your walk with Christ begins in surplus, doesn’t it? Those early days, and you just can’t get enough of the word of God and you want to tell everybody that you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. And you can’t believe they don’t know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
In those early days, learn the discipline of prayer and learn the elements of good Bible study, and learn what a good church looks like. And stay in it and stay committed to it, because as we saw in the Book of the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, the surplus can give way to some challenges and years of famine. And hopefully, you know why you haven’t wasted that surplus, and you can get back to doing the first works and get back to loving Christ like you did at the first.
It’s a very simple point, don’t waste the surplus. Don’t take the surplus for granted. Think beyond the surplus. Jesus condemns a man, doesn’t he, in the parables for being passive. Jesus has no time for somebody that takes everything for granted. You know the story in Matthew 25:14-30, how some of the servants were given an investment from their master, and two of them do well with it, multiply it and use it well and invest it well and are thoughtful. And there’s this one guy just sits on it. And Jesus said, “He’s a wicked servant.” And it’s interesting, Jesus is condemning passivity and taking things for granted, and thinking things will just stay the way they are, and the status quo is acceptable. Life doesn’t stay the way it is. And if you stay the way you are and life doesn’t stay the way it is, you’re going to fall behind.
I came across an interesting illustration a while ago in Steve Farrar’s book, The Y2K Crisis. Remember that? The crisis that never was a crisis. And then, he tells the story of Noel Borja, who was set to become the youngest millionaire in the Philippines. And when his grandfather died, the will stated that he had left Noel Borja as the sole heir of $160 million estate. But there was a qualification with it. Borja had to respond in 30 days to the executor of the estate to receive the inheritance. And he never did receive the letter, and he never did inherit the inheritance, and I’ll tell you why. Because Noel Borja never bothered to give the post office a change of address when he moved. And his negligence kept him from receiving a letter that cost him $160 million.
That may be a little unusual, but negligence, not being prepared and thoughtful will cost you, because the gravy train won’t last forever and life won’t stay the same, and the good times won’t keep rolling. Feast will turn the famine. That’s the principle, and you better have a plan. You better think ahead. You better not waste the surpluses. You better not be indecisive and passive when it comes to your marriage and your walk with God and your relationship with your kids. Brings us to a last thought, a point that is personal. And here, I’m just applying and in some of the ways I got to be careful, I don’t repeat here, but I want to make a point that is personal.
I want to apply this, this whole thought of the principle and the plan, and I want to go quickly in two directions. I want to go to two ends of the spectrum. Let’s apply this point to the young, and let’s apply this point to the old, ready for anything at any time, ready for what follows. If you’re young here tonight, then you better be ready for the unfolding of life. And if you’re old here tonight, then you better be ready for the in-folding of life.
Let’s just talk a moment about being ready for the unfolding of life. We read in Genesis 41:46 that, “Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh.” That’s relatively young. And Joseph steps into a situation crafted by God’s providence, and he takes his opportunity. We’ll see this when we look at him as a leader, it’s astounding. I mean, he’s just stepped out of prison, and now he’s got a plan that’s national in its dimensions and proportions. Where did that come from? Because this young man developed in character and competency. He was ready, he was able, he was willing, and we’ll see how that’s possible at all. But I just want you to see what strikes me about Joseph is he’s ready for the unfolding of life.
Now we’re into a new chapter in his life, an astounding part of the script that God has for him, and he makes the most of it. And I think there’s just a tremendous challenge from Joseph and just from this principle and this plan. It’s a point we need to apply. This young man was up for all that life threw at him. And God gave us a generation of young people who are ready for the unfolding of life, because they’ve got boundless energy, they’ve got mental agility, they’ve got fresh ideas, they’ve got expansive vision, they’ve got unique talents. Hopefully, they’ve got spiritual vitality. It’s a unique time in a person’s life, and that surplus, all those good things mustn’t be wasted. They must be put to good use.
Someone has said that you can only be young once, but you can be immature indefinitely. And I know it’s easy to kind of rat on the younger generation, but I was interested to read an article just recently in a book written by Robert Wuthnow about his own generation. The book is called After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion. And he said this, “Our grandparents built and our parents boomed, but my generation tinkers.” He said, “Tinkering is not all bad. This generation’s very creative. They’re good at putting things together and improvising and specializing, and pulling people together from a thousand different places.” But he says this, “Tinkering also means indecision, contradiction, instability. We’re seeking a generation of young people. We’re watching a generation of young people grow up who tinker with doctrine, tinker with churches, tinker with girlfriends, boyfriends, tinker with college majors, tinker living in and out of their parents’ basement, tinker with spiritual practices no matter how irreconcilable or divergent.”
“We’re not consistent,” he says. “We’re not stable, we don’t stick with anything. We aren’t sure we’re making the right decisions. Most of the time, we can’t even make decisions.” Now before we buy into just this rant, there is some statistical analysis that backs up what he’s saying. Of course, every generation of young people have liked to tinker and waste away certain days in their life. That’s part of being young, that’s part of youthfulness. But you know what? A few years ago, the coming of age was 30.
The statistics tell us, listen to this, in 1960, 77% of women and 65% of men completed all the major transitions into adulthood by age 30. These transitions included leaving home, finishing school, becoming financially independent, getting married, and having a child. By 2000, only 46% of women completed this transition by age 30, and only 31% of men. It’s stunning for me to think that last than a third of men my age are done with school, out of house, married with kids, and have a job that pays the bills. He says, really here what we have got is prolonged adolescence. The new coming of age is 40. That’s just unacceptable, isn’t it?
You know what? If your [inaudible 00:49:57] past-time, at 30 as playing video games, it’s time to grow up and get out of your mom’s basement. Get a job, get an education, get a wife, raise a family, leave a legacy. Do something with your life. That’s the normal pattern of God’s purposes and plans for mankind. That’s the point. And youth, teenage years and into the 20s is the time for good habits and eating and sleep and money management and exercise and relationships and all of that.
I know it’s changed days and there’s so many great things, but I think my father left school when he was 15 for the factories of Belfast. And he was expected to bring the bacon home to his mother, and pay for his room and the food and the stay. And then when he met my mother and settled down, they started to save as much as they could. They didn’t buy anything on credit. They only bought what they could afford. And it took them years to get their house to a place that was nice and homely. But isn’t that the stages and progressions of life? And you got to work your way there and you got to get there by your 30, so you can be raising your kids and thinking about the next stage in life.
We’ve got real problems, and I think this principle challenges us in that area. A man came rushing up to a ferry, breathless after running at a terrific pace. But he got there just as the gate-man shut the door in his face. And a bystander who’d watched it all said, “You didn’t run fast enough.” To which the man replied, “Oh, I ran fast enough. I just didn’t start on time.” Start on time young people. Think about this principle. At 30, Joseph emerges, ready to embrace the unfolding of life.
Time’s gone. So I’ll cut the last point down to the bare minimum. We need to be ready for the in-folding of life. If the young people need to be ready for the unfolding of life, older people need to be ready for the in-folding of life. Okay? You’re so far down the road that the road that never seemed to have an end, you now see an end. And you should be thinking about that, because according to Isaiah 40, men and women are just like, “The flower of the field that fades and the grass that weathers.” Life is going by so swiftly. And therefore, you and I, according to Psalm 90, we’ve got to, “Number our days and apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
We’ve got to be constantly meditating upon our death. That’s a good thing, the Puritans did that. Our Protestant fathers did that. It’s passé or inappropriate for our generation. But one of the old Puritans talked about the fact that Joseph of Arimathea had his tomb in his garden, which was a constant reminder to him that life would end and this was his destiny. And therefore, every choice he made, every dollar he spent, every day he lived was lived with the end in view. And that will bring us, I think, to be more sober and more eternally focused and more Christ-centered, more Bible-based and not which we do. So that when we get to the end of our days, we’re ready, ready for death.
Are you ready for death? Because it’s coming. The feast that is life will give way to that famine, in the sense that life will be taken from us physically speaking. And we need to live with that day in mind, so we can get to a place like Paul, where he says what to Timothy? “I’m ready to depart. I’ve finished the race. I’ve kept the faith. I’ve fulfilled the ministry and I have reason to believe that there’s a crown laid up for me which Jesus, the Righteous Judge shall give me.” And I think Paul could say that because of a decision one day, when he came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, was brought to an end of himself, put his confidence in the righteousness of Christ and the work that He accomplished on the cross.
There was a decision one day that led to a dedication every day, as Paul gave himself to the will of God and the work of God. And because of that one decision and those many days of dedication, he got to a place in his life where he could say, “I’m ready.” Let’s get ready for life, ’cause it’s unfolding, and that’s especially true if we’re young. And let’s get ready for death as it’s coming, and that’s especially true of those of us that are getting older.
Catherine Booth, and I’m done, married the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth. She spent a great deal of her time alongside her husband and seeking to improve the position of women and children in society. She was a gifted speaker in and of her own right. She wasn’t a strong child, and in her last years, she suffered from ill health and ultimately would be taken by cancer. These were her last words or some of her last words. “The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over. Do not be concerned about dying. Go on living well, and the dying will be right. Go on living well and the dying will be right.” That’s how you get ready for death. You live well.
I hope that that’s been helpful. Ready for Anything at any time, that’s what we’ve got to work at. If you stay the way you are, you’re going to be in trouble, because life doesn’t stay the way it is. So get ready for what follows tomorrow and the day after that, whether you’re young or old. Let’s pray.
Lord, we thank You for the reminder tonight. A reminder that we see work done every day in an anthill, as the ant gathers in the summer for the winter that’s approaching. We saw it fleshed out in the life of Noah, as he built an ark in the middle of a desert with not a cloud in sight. Lord, we need to realize and embrace the thought that famine follows feast. And shall we not receive bad from the Lord as we have received good, Lord help us to live victoriously in days of adversity. Help us to live uncomplainingly in days of poverty.
Lord, help us in the early years to embrace the unfolding of life, and be ready for marriage and be ready to take on a house payment, and be ready to be the parent we need to be. Help us to step up and embrace our roles and responsibilities in life. We don’t want to live in perpetual adolescence. God help us as parents to train our children for that. And Lord, we realize that life so quickly gobbles up our time and our strength and all our dreams. Help us, O God, to approach our deaths by living right and by redeeming the time. For we ask and pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.