Gen 41:16, Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer." 
We now come to a most basic, albeit necessary, reality for all those who are God’s people. We find it expressed by Joseph to Pharaoh in this passage. It is the fact that we are not capable of doing, saying, understanding, or applying any of God’s truth of our own accord. It is not in us. It is all by the work of God, through His indwelling Holy Spirit that we are saved, that we are His Chosen People, that our lives can show forth the full testimony of His work of grace and mercy and truth and holiness. 
Joseph knew and proclaimed the truth that all power and understanding and wisdom and strength were God’s to use as He so determined. Even when Joseph was dealing with the cup bearer and baker’s dreams, being but fellow prisoners with Joseph, he made known to them the fact that it is only God Who could interpret their dreams. Gen 40:8, Then they said to him, "We have 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." 
	Then, much much later, after Joseph’s family was brought into the safety of Egypt, his brothers were all in fear of what Joseph might do to them. They were bowing before him, cowering in anticipation that they would soon be punished for the manner of their ill-treatment of this one who was now the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. At that point, with every physical resource at his disposal, Joseph encouraged his brothers with the fact that God was the One who ruled and overruled. He explained that what they had meant as the means of ridding themselves of their troublesome sibling, God, in His Sovereignty and grace, had used to bring His people into that protected haven. Gen 50:19+20, But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? "And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 
	Joseph is but one example of the knowledge that God’s sovereignty and power and wisdom are His Alone to display for His plan and purpose in the lives of the inhabitants of the earth. Joseph had that certain knowledge that he was unable to do anything apart from the ministry of God’s interpretation of the dreams and God’s abundant grace in all the dealings of mankind. This young man was not so conceited and so arrogant as to claim any power unto himself in any measure. He, rather, declared to both king and servant that God was the only source by whom all would come into clarity of being. 
	We want to see this same truth evidenced in another Old Testament youth this morning. Please turn to the Book of Daniel as we will be reading a portion of it together. As we consider Daniel, we should be, as well struck with the fact that his experiences with the king’s dream paralleled that of Joseph. One difference, however, was that Daniel was brought before King Nebuchadnezzar not only for the interpretation of the king’s dream but to relate the specific dream to the king. Nebuchadnezzar refused to tell his wise men and magicians what the dream was but demanded that they declare to him both the dream and its interpretation. 
	Faced with this seemingly impossible task, and knowing that the consequence of failure was death, Daniel gathered together with his Hebrew friends to seek the Lord as we read in Dan 2:17-23. Dan 2:17-23, Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, in order that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; Daniel answered and said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. "And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding. "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. "To Thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For Thou hast given me wisdom and power; Even now Thou hast made known to me what we requested of Thee, For Thou hast made known to us the king's matter." 
	Notice that when faced with the impossible, Daniel and his friends went to the Lord in prayer, trusting Him to do all that was necessary for His own glory in the situation. There was an absolute certainty that all wisdom and power belong to God. Without God’s intervention, there was no way that Daniel and his friends would survive to declare the goodness and the mercy of God. They would have been utterly destroyed by the impossible task that was foisted upon them. In God, Alone, lay all the power and the wisdom to declare to the king both the dream and its interpretation.  
	All wisdom comes from God and is used for His purposes in the affairs of mankind. God is the One who sets kings on the throne and removes them as He so wills. All the plans and the schemes of men, no matter what their station and power and wealth are under the mighty hand of God’s sovereignty to bring all such plots and conspiracies to naught as God so wills and chooses. 
	This is a most important realization that needs to be established in our hearts. We are so apt to scheme and to plan and to plot that which we want to do or think that we ought to do to earn some manner of right standing before God. Then, when we fail, or when God blows against our plans, we panic and we become sullen in depression thinking that we are no longer worthy of the love of God. We think that His love toward us is based on those things that we try to do for Him, and this is utterly ridiculous. 
All the wisdom of mankind coupled with all of man’s best intentions will never have any place before God! He does not need us to do anything to earn or to try to deserve His love. It is freely given in Jesus Christ and will never be taken away from us. We are loved simply because God, in His infinite wisdom and grace and mercy, through His Omnipotence manifested in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, chooses to love us. Period! 
We need to quit trying to do things by our own power and sense of self-righteousness. Of course, as He leads us, we obey. But even that power of obedience is by the Holy Spirit operating within our beings to show forth the wisdom of God in our lives. We cannot obey by our own means. It will never happen. It is only as God gives us the strength and the desire and the heart of obedience that we will do exactly that which pleases Him. 
In that, we need to so honor Him with the declaration that He, Alone, is able to do all that is necessary in our lives. He, Alone, is the source of all wisdom. He, Alone, gives the power to live the life that we have on this earth. He, Alone, is the means of meeting each day’s trials and tribulations with all joy and anticipation to watch His overruling power in operation. He, Alone, is to be proclaimed as the triumphant and majestic source of all that is good and holy and righteous on this earth.
Daniel made this fact very clear as he stood before King Nebuchadnezzar and declared that what the king wanted was entirely and utterly impossible to even the wisest of men. Only God could make known and reveal the mystery of the king’s dream. Dan 2:27+28, Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. 
	Daniel was not afraid to tell King Nebuchadnezzar the truth because he knew that it was God Who had revealed it to Daniel. God had chosen to show Nebuchadnezzar a vision of the coming kingdom of Christ and God had made that revelation known to Daniel. He did not claim any powers unto himself. He did not try to present his own wisdom or understanding or discernment. Daniel simply told Nebuchadnezzar what God had shown him and counted on God to be the salvation of those Hebrew men. 
	The further reality of this faithful declaration of Daniel unto King Nebuchadnezzar was that the king saw that there was a difference in the God of Israel. The king was used to all the various gods and idols that were part of each of the nations’ heritages that he had conquered. There were countless scores of beliefs and religious and pagan practices that Nebuchadnezzar permitted to continue in the lands of his conquest. He did so because he was savvy enough to know that he could better control the vast multitudes of those subjugated people by allowing them to hold onto their basic beliefs and rituals. 
	So, when faced with the proclamation of Daniel that it was the God of the Hebrew’s Who had so made known what was absolutely and utterly impossible to all the others, Nebuchadnezzar voiced a most startling and telling statement to Daniel. Dan 2:47, The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery." 
	Here, as well, we see that what was beyond all the efforts of man, God performed to perfection in the heart of this king. None of the other wise men and prophets and priests of those pagan gods could make a difference in the heart of this ruler. It was singularly the work of God, through the ministry of Daniel’s declaration of God’s supremacy and authority that caused this monarch to pronounce that the God of the Hebrews was and is, in fact, …God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries… 
	A deep impression was made in the core intellect of this sovereign ruler of the nations that caused him to acknowledge the Lord God Almighty as real and as the living deity to Whom all others were in subjection. From this point onward, King Nebuchadnezzar faced the Lord God and had severe dealings with God in terms of the very point of our current study. He was exalting himself and all the work that he had done, even to the point of building a golden statue of himself to which all had to bow down. Because the three Hebrews would not dishonor the True and Living God, they were thrown into the fiery burning furnace. When the king looked into that furnace, he was amazed at the fact that the three were not only still alive, but were walking with a fourth man, as of the Son of God. 
	It is at that point, in the Book of Daniel, that we have the following words of the king recorded. Dan 4:1-3, Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: "May your peace abound! "It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. "How great are His signs, And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation. God had made Himself known to the king in a manner that would soon show all the folly and the recklessness that seeking to receive honor for works that we do will always have in our lives. 
This was one of the greatest kings of the ancient world, possibly of all time in terms of the building of an empire that spanned the known world. The architecture and the lavishness of his cities were beyond all comparison in terms of the tools and engineering feats of that day. He gathered together all the wisest of men and ruled with an unparalleled authority. It was in the midst of all this greatness and superiority of knowledge and intellect and wisdom that King Nebuchadnezzar was brought to his knees before God, Almighty. 
Dan 4:30-32, "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.' 
	As King Nebuchadnezzar later related for all to read and understand in Dan 4:34-37, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 
	Just as with the greatest of rulers throughout history, each of us must come face to face with the fact that the works of our hands amount to nothing in the plan and purpose of God. He is the One Who acts in accordance with all that He desires. He manifests His way in our lives and in the lives of all. Lord willing, we will take this reality into the New Testament as we continue next week. So be it!
Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer." Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Matt 12:18-21. "Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. "He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. "A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory. "And in His name the Gentiles will hope." Amen.