Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10163 - Every Part of Your Life Matters - Genesis 50

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#10163 - Every Part of Your Life Matters - Genesis 50 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:04
Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Welcome to our midweek Bible study.
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We finished the book of Genesis today and so let's jump in Was
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in Fredericksburg, VA this last week.
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I was invited to come to a A20 year and celebration service for
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the pastor. Pastor Mark and his wife Dorothy
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have served faithfully and their family for 20 plus years in
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Fredericksburg, VA And you know what it did the first day we
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arrived. Yeah.
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It snowed. Yes, unbelievable.
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So I told Everett, all travel January, February, March has to
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go West, not east in the winter. But it was a great time.
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We celebrated. I put together a special Bible
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study in honor of of this man. I I I talked about the longevity
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and what it takes. Maybe one day I'll share it
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here. This particular message of the
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longevity and what kind of battles.
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And I was just thinking as we were praying, pray for me
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because I I'm teaching at a conference in March in Tucson.
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I have the privilege of teaching there and just have a great
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relationship with the pastor and the church there.
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And so I'm going to be teaching on a a Bible study on.
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I think it's suffering and the minister or something like that
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suffering. So it's a familiar topic for me,
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but I not, I don't want to share a familiar message so you can
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pray for me as I've got some ideas.
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I was even jotting some things down, not jotting them like
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writing them down, but I spoke them into my phone on the way in
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the office this morning, just thinking about what that group
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what we need to hear. I'll probably bring it back and
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teach it here as well. But just really, the idea that I
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had is like if somebody told me if my pastor sat down in my
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office and told me all that I was going to suffer, stepping
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into ministry, I don't think I would have done it.
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I think I would not have done it.
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I think I would have been a coward or I would have been
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fearful or I would have said I need another church that doesn't
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suffer like that. You know, because that's not how
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I read the Bible yet. And and so I just, I think it's
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going to be something along those lines because you know
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what? God doesn't sit you down and
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tell you what you're going to suffer.
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You don't know. That's why he, Jesus, teaches us
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to count the cost, to deny yourself, take up the cross,
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follow him. Because he's not going to tell
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you. Because if he told you, you,
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let's just say he gave you 20 years of your life and he told
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you year 10 would be this, you'd go 9 1/2 years and then you
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peace out. So I don't want to year 10.
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And So what? God wants us to walk by faith,
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and faith requires trust and endurance and obedience.
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And so you can just pray for me. That's in March, come early
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March. But I'm putting together right
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now. I'm just kind of really thinking
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about it, praying through it, asking the Lord to give a good.
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And one of the things they're going to do this year with the
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conference, which I thought was an amazing idea, is they're
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actually going to take all the Bible studies.
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And there's going to be a book publisher there and an editor
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and they're going to take all the studies and they're going to
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edit it into a book. So all of that, I think this is
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going to be a great resource. I was telling Pastor Robert when
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we talked about it, I'm like, man, Robert, you've been doing
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this thing for 20 plus years. Can you imagine if you had 20
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plus books of all these conferences that we've done?
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And and so the timing is right, you know, always right.
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But Pastor Skip Heitzik will be there and and some neat the
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guys. So it's a privilege even to be
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serving alongside of them. So pray for me, Lord, we we are
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here today asking for your Holy Spirit to take this last chapter
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and kind of tie things up for us but not really tie it up.
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Just minister to our hearts Lord and strengthen us as we finish a
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chapter, finish a book, but then move on to a new book.
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Just like life, we we have a chapter that closes, but then we
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open to a new one or we finish a book and we open a new one.
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That's life. We have some openings and
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Closings. We have seasons.
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And so even today our season in Genesis is over.
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But you're going to open up something new in Exodus.
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So bless your word tonight as we are here.
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That's all we have is now. And we pray God that you would
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use this time in a glorious way. In Jesus name.
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Amen. Amen.
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Take your Bibles, Open them to Genesis Chapter 50.
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Genesis Chapter 50. The title of our Bible study is
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Every Part of Your Life Matters. Every Part of Your life matters.
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It was just over two years ago that we opened our bibles to
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Genesis. Chapter one, verse one.
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Just about two years, 63 studies.
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It's taken us to get through the book of Genesis. 50 chapters of
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powerful insights and truths that lay the foundation for the
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entire Bible. It's an important book.
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Understanding Genesis is fundamental to understanding the
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rest of the Bible all the way to the end.
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In Revelation chapter 22, verse 21, and you'll recall Genesis.
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The word means beginnings, and we learned a lot of beginnings
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with the beginning of the universe, of man, of marriage,
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of sin, of evil, of religion, of races, nations, murder, love,
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grace, a lot of beginnings, a lot of firsts.
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We covered in the book of Genesis about 2500 years of
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human history. Basically, Genesis is divided
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into two sections, events and people.
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There are four events, Creation, the Fall of Man, the Flood, and
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then the nations. There are four key people,
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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
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And it's interesting to see that God spent very little time on
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Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and Nations, although a lot of
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people want to spend much of their life on that.
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The Bible doesn't spend that much time, very little time, but
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it's spent a huge amount of time on these other men, specifically
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Joseph like a real spotlight on his life.
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Joseph's been called the most Christ like man in the Bible or
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the strongest type of Christ in the Bible.
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And it's no coincidence that we've seen the same imbalance in
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the New Testament with the life of Jesus. 89 chapters in the
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Gospels, 4 cover the 1st 30 years of his life and 27 deal
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with the last 8 days of his life.
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Why? Because of the plan and purpose
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of God in redemption and what God is doing in his in his life.
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Through him we've learned that the Bible is a book of
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redemption. Not science, not history or
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geology or even anthropology. But the goal of the Bible is to
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reveal God's great love and grace through his son Jesus
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Christ. When you read the Bible, you
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need to look for Jesus. As you're reading it, you need
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to look for him in the Old Testament, looking forward and
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obviously in the New Testament, seeing the fulfillment of his
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life, Genesis closes. Now it's interesting too, with
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Genesis opens up with life but ends with death.
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What happened? What happened from the pristine
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garden and the life of fellowship and intimacy that
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Adam and Eve enjoyed with God to now death after death after
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death after death after death. And we know what happened.
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Sin happened and rebellion. The effects of sin and rebellion
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are still with us today in Genesis.
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Today will end with this great and dynamic family scene.
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Jacob, surrounded by his twelve sons and pronounces blessings on
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them. And then he dies at the ripe old
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age of 147. All of his struggles over, all
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the wrestling, over all the scheming, conniving, all the
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brawling. Jacob would now spend eternity
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with his great God and Savior. Notice now in verse one of
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chapter 50. Then Joseph fell on his father's
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face and wept over him and kissed him.
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And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to
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embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed
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Israel. 40 days were required for him, for the such are the
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days required for those who are embalmed, and the Egyptians
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mourned for him 70 days. Jacob would have a very
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elaborate funeral in Egypt as Joseph being second in command
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and after the emotional thrust of their loss, Joseph orders
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that his father be embalmed 40 day process.
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All of Egypt would mourn. There's a great love and care
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for this family through Joseph the blessings of Joseph just
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like it was prophesied. Notice verse 4.
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When the days of his mourning were passed, Joseph spoke to the
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household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your
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eyes, please speak. In the hearing of Pharaoh
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saying, my father made me swear, saying, behold, I'm dying in my
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grave, which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.
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There you shall bury me. Now therefore, please let me go
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up and bury my father, and I will come back.
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And Pharaoh said, go up and bury your father As he made you swear
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Joseph wants to honor his father's request.
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And so he asked Pharaoh for permission.
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And he gets it. He tells him go and do it.
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It's very clear that by now Joseph is well respected.
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God used Joseph to save the world physically.
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Really the the worldwide famine God brought Joseph to Pharaoh
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and of course Pharaoh only cares about Egypt.
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But God used Joseph to bless Pharaoh and the rest of the
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world. There's great favor that he has
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with this ruler. It's evident also that he is
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sensitive in his relationship to Pharaoh.
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There's a sensitivity in his life to in his request.
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He doesn't demand it. He.
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He asks. He asks, Notice again, he comes
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to Pharaoh and notice in verse four he comes and he says, Now,
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if I've found favor in your eyes, even as I'm reading that
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and as I was studying and putting it together, if I found
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favor in your eyes, of course he's found favor in his eyes.
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This is a way in our English language to convey this humility
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upon him and the the respect for the position that Pharaoh's in.
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And he says, if I found favor in your eyes, I want to fulfill I
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know this is my dad and and you really don't have anything to do
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with my dad, but I want to honor my dad's word.
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I want to bury him where he wants and then notice at verse
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five, I love this, he says, My father made me swear that to put
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me in the grave which I dug myself there you shall bury me.
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And then he says at the end, therefore, let me go and notice
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I'll come back. It reminded me in another time
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in the scriptures of a man in a high position of authority, but
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also second to in authority, Nehemiah.
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Remember Nehemiah? He he knows that his request
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could go very, very bad, but he prays real quick and he's very
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respectful to his leader and he leaves the rest to the Lord.
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Let me just say that's a wise way to operate with your boss or
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with those in authority over you.
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That you are respectful and kind, that you take into account
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their role and their position in your life.
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You ask, and then you leave it to the Lord.
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It really shouldn't be said about a believer that she is
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manipulative or working the system or a variety of ways.
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That's really not from the Lord. That's your flesh.
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That's not the spirit. The spirit would give you in a
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relationship with them, whether you like them or not or whether
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you have. You know, when you think a
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relationship, don't think you necessarily have to be best
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friends. The basic relationship that you
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have and I have is there's a there's someone in authority
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over me and I'm not. That's the baseline.
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And that we respect these these positions and these people in
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the positions as the Lord leads. And I love this because Joseph
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also demonstrates to us good communication.
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Hey, this is what I want to do, but I'm going to come back.
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Here's my word. I want to honor my dad, but I'm
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going to come back. And there's good communication
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if you're taking notes. We don't have time to develop
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this, but I like this. I picked that up along the way
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somewhere. Good communication has three
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things. Three things for the believer.
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Spirituality, sensitivity and simplicity.
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Spirituality that we be in tune with the spirit of God that
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we're walking in the spirit. Good communication.
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Secondly, sensitivity, that we're careful in what we say and
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then simplicity, that we say what we mean and mean what we
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say. And we could develop that into a
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three-part Bible study, just in and of itself.
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But spiritually, you're a man or woman of prayer.
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You're seeking the Lord of what to say?
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You say it, then. Secondly, you are sensitive in
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understanding the person that you're speaking to and you're
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careful what you say. You just don't.
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Well, you know, I'm just got to let it all go.
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I just can't take it anymore and I just got to let it all go.
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Well, you know, that really isn't from the Lord.
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Some things should be said, but some things don't need to be
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said, said. And that comes from being a
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spiritual man and then being sensitive to the situation.
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And I think the sensitivity here, you know, in life of
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Joseph, we already know he's demonstrated he's a spiritual
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man. And then the sensitivity here is
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that it's important that Pharaoh knows that when he leaves he's
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coming back, that he's committed to his role and his position and
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he's not looking for a way out. And then thirdly, the third part
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of good communication is keep it simple.
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And I think of what Jesus said. Let your yes be yes, Nothing
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more than that. You don't need to swear by
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anything or anyone. Just say what you mean and mean
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what you say. That's the mark of a true
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believer. And good communication it
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because communication is so important.
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I I like to share with those that serve with me.
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You cannot over communicate with me.
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You can't. It's just not possible.
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And even if you think you are, you probably won't.
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It's OK. Communicate.
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The more I know, the more I can pray for the better information
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I have, the better decisions I can make as a leader.
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It's just simple. I communicate what you know,
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what you see. And it's like, don't let me make
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the decision I share in my in my ministry.
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Let me make the decision if it's important because oh, you know,
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I won't tell you anything. It's not that important.
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Well, how do you know if what's important to me and what's not
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important to me? Well, how do you know what I've
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been? You might be.
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I like to say this. You might be the last puzzle
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piece that I've been waiting for.
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Well tell me if I am. I can't tell you if you are.
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But if you're communicating with me and regularly, just tell me
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just just keeping me up to date. Keep me up to date.
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What's going on in the church? What's going on with the
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ministries that you're a part of the people you've been serving,
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What's happening in your family? Who knows what you're going to
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share with me. But I do know this.
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I'll be praying about it. I'll be thinking about it and
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then the Holy Spirit will bring it to my remembrance when it's
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necessary. You just never.
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You can't over communicate. I would say that 80%, and I'm
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pulling a number out of the air, but a high percentage of of our
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problems are directly related to a lack of or miscommunication.
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Anybody want to aim in that and you just think of the things
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going on, you know, the things you wish you knew.
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Is this a lack of or a miscommunication?
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We don't say things or we say things the wrong way or we don't
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speak directly to the person. That's a big deal.
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On the church. We don't speak directly to a
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person. We speak about them instead of
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speak to them. Then never God never honours
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that. We don't ask questions.
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We don't answer questions. You know, silly things like we
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don't answer our emails, we don't return our phone calls.
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Like the enemy loves that kind of stuff.
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And we're believers. There's a higher standard in our
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relationship to the Almighty God.
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And this, this little piece caught my mind.
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Joseph said I'll be back. Why?
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Because he knew Pharaoh. He knew Pharaoh in it.
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He knew that this would help Pharaoh make the white right
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decision. He could trust him.
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I'm reminded of that time in I think it was the parable of the
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the talents where the unprofitable servant, instead of
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investing what he was been given or being faithful to what he was
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given. Remember he had the one talent.
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He went and buried it. Remember he buried it.
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So when the master came back, he dug it up and say here it is
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exactly what you gave me is what I'm giving you.
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And the response of the master was what?
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Why did you do that? You, you, you didn't even put it
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in the bank, and basically he was rebuking him for being
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unfaithful. But in the explanation, or the
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reason, or what we would often say is the excuse of the
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unprofitable servant. The excuse was he said something
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like this. I knew you were a hard man, and
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that was his mistake. His mistake was coming to the
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wrong conclusion about his master, which led him to some
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fearful response. And oh, if I don't bring back at
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least what I instead he was given great trust and great
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authority, and he misused it because he misjudged his master.
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And good communication is so important because
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miscommunication, you know, it's not always the worst.
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Sometimes it just fuels honest mistakes and difficulties and
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misunderstandings. And the enemy just loves to
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divide. That's why I love that phrase.
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In Proverbs chapter 25, you can jot it down.
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In verse 11, there's that phrase, a word fitly spoken.
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That's another way to describe good communication, a word fitly
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spoken. You can pray for that.
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You can just start asking. God make me a better
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communicator. I I not only want to communicate
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well, but I also want to listen well so that there is a good
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exchange of information and not more misunderstanding.
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So I like that verse six is the Pharaoh says go for it, verse 7.
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So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all
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the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the
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elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the House of Joseph,
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his brothers, his father's house.
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Only their little ones and their flocks and their herds they left
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in the land of Goshen, Verse nine.
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There went up with them both Chariots and horsemen, and it
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was a very great gathering. Then they came to the threshing
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floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned
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there with a great and very solemn lamentation.
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He observed 7 days of mourning for his father.
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And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the
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mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said this is a
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grievous morning of all the Egyptians.
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Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond
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the Jordan Pharaoh, sent a large group with Joseph, blessed him
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and encouraged him horsemen and Chariots in a great gathering.
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They had all to bury Jacob, taking a similar route that
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would later would be taken as the nation leaves Egypt for
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good. In the Exodus which we'll be
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studying soon enough, they set out along the Red Sea and struck
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out the Sinai Peninsula, long up the Dead Sea, up into Jordan,
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the threshing floor of Atad. They camp there seven days and
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they mourn their. Some more, and the local people
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were astonished, came to conclusions.
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Just a very emotional time, as with any memorial, just a very
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charged emotional, sad time. Verse 12.
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So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
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Just such an honorable thing to honor your parents where it's
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where you can. You know that this is the end.
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You know you have. In Exodus 20, we're going to
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learn about honoring your mother and father.
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But here's the end. An honorable thing for a dad
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that was hard to live with. And I had a dad that was
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difficult. Challenging verse 13 His sons
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carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in The
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Cave in the field of Makkalah before mammary, which Abraham
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bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite, his property
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for a burial place. And after he had buried his
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father, Joseph returned to Egypt.
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He and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his
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father. That's what God is looking for
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in sons and daughters. Faithfulness do we do just as we
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were commanded, you know, just thinking of our heavenly Father.
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Now, you know, the Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 32, I will run
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in the course of your commandments where you shall
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enlarge my heart. I mean, it's just such a great
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place to be. When you think of your
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relationship with the Father, You may not be able to do this
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with your earthly father, but God can enable you to do this
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with your heavenly Father. I mean, you think about it, it's
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even if you said it out loud, sometimes we just have to, The
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way we're living right now, we just got to say it out loud.
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Like, let's just say some of you are like, well, you know, I run
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in some of God's commandments, but the ones I don't like, I
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don't do, oh man, you know, just say it out loud.
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It's just like, what do you hear yourself?
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You know, if you talk to somebody, instead of saying it,
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you're like, have you, do you hear yourself because you're
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just, like, numb to the reality? No, I'm going to run on all
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these commandments. Or, you know, I'm just such a
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compromiser. I kind of pretend when I go to
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church, everybody thinks I'm a spiritual man, but I'm just
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really a compromiser like, bro. Like if you say out loud the
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kind of life that you're living, I mean, you can look in the
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mirror and go, you know what, I run in the course.
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I love the Lord. I want to serve him with all my
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life. And there's always people come
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because you're not perfect. You you don't know the half of
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it. You know you don't know that,
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but you don't understand my heart.
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I want the Lord in my life. I desire it, and I'm not a
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compromiser. I'm not a game player.
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I'm not just trying to do some of what God tells me.
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It's not like I'm not trying to do with the things I like that
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God commands me. I want to do justice.
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That's just such a great you might want to mark that mark
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that in your Bibles his sons did for him just as he commanded
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them. And to have the Father say that
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about us. His daughters did just what he
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asked what he commanded. Faithful servants.
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I don't know exactly what it is, but some actually among us
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listening to me right now and, you know, might even be tuned
23:12
out of me right now, just enduring the time so you can do
23:15
whatever you really want to do, you know?
23:16
But listen, some actually among us believe, some listening on
23:20
the radio right now, you actually have convinced yourself
23:23
that partial obedience pleases God.
23:27
I don't know where you got that from.
23:28
I don't know. I mean, your flesh or you got
23:31
away with something, maybe, And you think it's no big deal, but
23:33
you're convinced that partial obedience is OK.
23:37
Like, he really receives your excuses.
23:41
I mean, you don't think that way about your dentist, you know.
23:43
Well, you know, that's OK, Dennis.
23:44
Just do half the job and then, you know, you can head out and
23:47
leave your mouth all jacked up. No, nobody.
23:50
You know, you go, you take your car to a mechanic.
23:51
Yeah, just fix it halfway. I don't care.
23:53
I'll pay you full price. Like in your life you don't live
23:56
that way. But in your relationship with
23:58
God, you know, I'll just God half.
23:59
And that's fine. No, it's not fine.
24:03
It's not OK. So much of our time as pastors
24:07
and leaders in spiritual discipleship, you know what some
24:10
call counselling? It's not counselling.
24:12
It's discipleship. We're teaching you how to follow
24:14
Jesus. We're helping you conform, be
24:17
conformed into the image of Christ.
24:18
So the only tool we have is the Bible with the Holy Spirit in
24:23
us. Anything else?
24:24
Human wisdom, human ideas. Like that's not going to be the
24:28
power of the Spirit of God through his Word.
24:31
And I know many people kind of minimize it.
24:33
Well, you know, the Bible's not enough.
24:34
And I get it. There's some practical things
24:36
that might be helpful or medicines that might minister to
24:40
your body. I get it.
24:41
But don't you ever let anybody convince you that the Bible and
24:45
the Holy Spirit isn't sufficient to bring life change in your
24:47
life? It is.
24:49
It is sufficient. It is the tool that has been
24:52
used. Why?
24:52
Why is it now, in just the last 100 years, all of a sudden the
24:55
Bible's not important anymore? Now you don't need the Bible.
24:58
You need this. No.
25:00
The Bible's sufficient. Trusted.
25:02
Maybe the problem about the Bible and not being effective in
25:05
your life is you don't trust the Bible.
25:07
So in your counsel your decide you you know you would have to
25:10
call it counseling because it's not really discipleship.
25:12
Because only discipleship happens with the Bible.
25:15
Discipleship doesn't happen with another book.
25:18
It's only as that book gets you back into the Bible and allows
25:22
you to understand, you know for example if you're carrying heavy
25:24
hurt today. Heavy hurt.
25:27
The Bible says that God heals. That's what the Bible says.
25:34
So the real question is not whether God heals or not.
25:40
The Bible says that. The real question is, do you
25:44
believe it? That's the real question.
25:49
Do you believe God in His word and then choose to live what you
25:53
believe? Because so much of spiritual
25:56
discipleship is spent trying to convince you that the Word of
26:00
God is true. Just believe the Word, obey it,
26:07
act on it, run in the course of God's commandments.
26:10
Oh no, no. And you'll hear.
26:11
Oh no, I've tried that. Now, this isn't something you
26:13
try. This is what you do.
26:16
I didn't ask you to try it. Like you're taking a test drive
26:20
of a car around the block trying to decide if you really want it
26:23
or not. That's not the Bible is not to
26:25
be test driven, it's to be done. That's why in the Book of
26:32
Revelation when Jesus is writing his little post, it notes to the
26:35
churches, what does he tell Ephesus?
26:36
He goes, here's your problem, You guys started out so well and
26:39
look at you now. What has happened in just, you
26:42
know, 30 to 40 years? What's happened when he wrote
26:45
the book of when Holy Spirit through Paul wrote the book of
26:47
Ephesians. You guys are so rich.
26:49
With every spiritual blessing you're killing it.
26:51
It's amazing. He's put on the spiritual armor.
26:54
Just go for it. You know who God is.
26:55
You just just run, run, run. Now in Revelation, Jesus now
27:00
gets involved and he writes, man, you know what your problem
27:03
is? You've left your first love.
27:07
That's what happened. And so all that's yours is not
27:11
being lived out because you've walked away from that love
27:14
relationship with Jesus. And what does he say?
27:16
He says to repent. That's a Bible word.
27:23
That's not a counseling word. That's a Bible word.
27:27
Because repentance is deeper than change.
27:30
It's not behavior modification. Because, you know, we could tell
27:35
you just do this, do this, do this, and you can change your
27:37
behavior and never have a heart change.
27:39
Repentance gets to the heart of the matter.
27:41
Where your sin is not against each other.
27:43
You know your marriage issue. The marriage issue isn't a isn't
27:46
a horizontal issue, it's a vertical issue.
27:49
It's a hard issue. And So what does God do?
27:52
He says come back to me, Repent. Understand that what's happening
27:57
in your life with all these broken relationships and such is
28:00
actually related to me. Repent really before repentance,
28:06
he says. Remember, remember from where
28:08
you have fallen, repent and go back and do the 1st works.
28:13
So that memory means that there was a time in your life like the
28:16
church in Ephesus that it was much better than it is today.
28:21
Where as a new believer. I don't know how you were as a
28:24
new believer, but I'll tell you how I was.
28:26
When I heard something in the Bible, I did it.
28:29
I didn't measure it. I didn't explain it away.
28:32
I didn't drop some Christianese. I didn't even know Christianese.
28:34
I didn't even know. I didn't know any words.
28:37
So like a pastor said to do something.
28:38
Hey, you know, go go to your parents and ask for their
28:40
forgiveness. Oh, I know I need to.
28:42
I was such a horrible kid. Mom, please.
28:45
I beg you, forgive me. Oh, son, I've already forgiven
28:47
you. But it wasn't for her.
28:48
It was for me. I need to learn how to obey.
28:53
I need to learn the habit of reading the Bible and doing it
28:56
and trusting it and letting God work the outcome because we're
28:59
so outcome oriented like so. I'm going to do the Bible.
29:03
If I do it then I'll get what I no, no, no that's don't worry
29:06
about what you're going to get, just do it well.
29:10
But if I do that then this will happen.
29:12
Don't don't worry about what will happen, just do it.
29:16
Remember from where you have fallen and repent and then go
29:22
back and repeat the 1st works. So much of biblical
29:29
discipleship, spiritual discipleship is trying to
29:32
convince you. Even so much of Bible's teaching
29:36
is to convince you. You can trust the God of the
29:39
Bible. You can trust him with your
29:41
life. You can trust what the word
29:44
says. When I hear a partial obedience,
29:48
you know I can't help but think of King Saul.
29:51
King Saul had such great potential, but because of his
29:56
half heartedness, his life ends in disaster.
30:00
So be careful in your obedience. Remember from where you've
30:03
fallen, repent. Let this be said of you.
30:06
That's right in the margins. Lord, make me this person that
30:09
his sons, or for you your daughter, his daughters.
30:12
That's me did for my Father in heaven, just as he commanded.
30:17
Like I want that to be the perspective of my life.
30:21
I want my life to reflect even what Joseph did in the human
30:26
realm. Verse 15 now so we wind down.
30:29
It says when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead,
30:33
they said perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay
30:37
us for all the evil which we did to him.
30:41
And then for for those of us that have studied verse by
30:44
verse, we say what is is there? Are you guys serious?
30:52
But they are serious. Yes, they are serious.
30:55
A few of these studies ago we learned that it can be difficult
30:58
to forgive. But we also learned that it can
31:02
be difficult to receive forgiveness, not just give it,
31:06
but to receive it. Because then there's
31:07
condemnation and regret and and it's both sides of forgiveness
31:11
can be very challenging. And here's Joseph brothers
31:14
totally misunderstanding Joseph. They totally misunderstand them
31:18
and don't miss this. In their misunderstanding, the
31:22
end result is they slander him and you go ahead.
31:27
What do you see that we'll notice?
31:29
Perhaps Joseph will hate us. What are you What are you
31:31
talking about? He hasn't demonstrated any kind
31:34
of hatred to you guys. Why would you say he's going to
31:37
hate you and and he'll repay us for all the evil which we did.
31:42
So basically they're saying, you know, oh, you know, whatever's
31:45
going on internally, And I'll explain that in a second.
31:47
But their response is, you know, Joseph is evil.
31:50
He's going to be evil, just like us.
31:52
And that's not what they experienced with Joseph.
31:54
They were forgiven, as we learned week after week, they
32:01
slandered him. And after all the kindness, all
32:03
the goodness, all the tears, all the mourning, oh, Joseph, our
32:06
brother's going to kill us. And it looks like they never
32:09
really repented of their sin. Their guilt is so heavy.
32:17
In the Hebrew, you know, the word repent speaks of regret and
32:21
deep apology and compassion. When we come to the New
32:24
Testament, the word repent means to change your mind and change
32:28
your direction. It looks like the brothers never
32:31
really changed. They just went along with the
32:35
program. But Joseph here, he's slandered.
32:39
He's accused. He looks at his brother, maybe
32:43
shakes his head a little bit. In verse 16 it says they sent
32:48
messengers to Joseph saying before your father died, he
32:51
commanded saying Thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please
32:55
forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they
32:58
did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass
33:01
of the servants of the God of your Father.
33:03
And Joseph wept when they spoke to him, and his brothers also
33:08
went and fell down before his face and said, behold, we are
33:11
your servants. And Joseph said, do not be
33:14
afraid, for am I in the place of God?
33:18
They're wicked thoughts internally behind his back.
33:22
But man, they're still so much division.
33:28
Their sin has these consequences.
33:30
And again, you have pastors here that beg you not to sin because
33:35
you might get out of the sin, you might end the sin, you might
33:39
repent of the sin. And for that we're grateful.
33:41
But then there's the consequences.
33:45
There's always consequences. And so we know we've been around
33:50
long enough. And I mean anyone that's been
33:52
walking with the Lord for any length of time understands this
33:54
concept of consequences and it there are consequences.
33:59
They're living with this deep seated fear and fear of man and
34:04
man. They look at Joseph, he's just
34:05
as bad as us. No, he's not bad like you at all
34:08
actually. He's so different than you guys.
34:13
But they're they're giving, you know, they're projecting, if you
34:15
will, then their own issues on someone else and has nothing to
34:19
do with Joseph. It's their problem.
34:22
May have to deal with it and you know there's no prayer here.
34:27
There's no wisdom from God. There's there's just it's just
34:30
all it's just all their humanity trying to manipulate the
34:35
situation. And Joseph he just looks and he
34:37
says look, I'm not God. I know that I'm not God.
34:45
I I see the significance of their lack of repentance and I'm
34:51
like, no, Lord, we want full repentance in our lives.
34:54
Notice in verse 20. Now you might want to mark this
34:57
circle. It it is the Romans 828 of the
35:01
Old Testament. The summary of Joseph's life.
35:05
He says I'm not God. And As for you guys, you meant
35:08
evil against me. And that's what he's
35:11
acknowledging that they had. They meant evil against him for
35:13
sure. They wanted to kill him, sold
35:15
him as a slave. But God meant it for good in
35:19
order to bring it about as it This is this day to save many
35:23
people alive. Now, therefore, don't be afraid.
35:26
I will provide for you and your little ones.
35:28
And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
35:32
Here's what I see here. Joseph's very close to the heart
35:35
of God. This is the heart of God.
35:36
Genesis 5020. He means good.
35:40
How is it that Joseph doesn't take things into his hands and
35:43
vengeance and all the things we've studied in previous?
35:45
Because he's close to the heart of God.
35:48
What is God's heart for his brothers?
35:50
What is God's heart for Joseph? What is God's heart for you?
35:52
What is God's heart for me? To extend grace and love and
35:56
mercy to us. It doesn't minimize our sin,
36:00
doesn't let us get away with it, doesn't pretend it didn't
36:02
happen. That's what Joseph says.
36:03
As for you, you meant evil against me, but you know God's
36:06
using it. God's using it.
36:10
The heart of God was to bless and to help and to protect
36:13
Joseph. And you know, if Joseph was
36:16
living through the New Testament, I would think this
36:19
his his highlight wouldn't be Genesis 50, verse 20.
36:22
His highlight would be Romans 828.
36:24
Let me read it to you. It says, and we know that all
36:27
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who
36:30
are called according to his purpose.
36:33
And let me just say some of you, it's hard for you to believe
36:35
that because you misunderstand a couple words Here you read
36:39
Romans chapter 8, verse 28 is that we know all things are good
36:43
and that's not what it says. All things are not good living
36:48
in this world. Most things are not good.
36:52
Tainted and touched by sin. So he's not saying all things
36:55
are good. He he's saying that there are
36:58
difficulties. But what?
37:01
The second thing that's misread here is you read not.
37:05
We know all things. You read it as well.
37:07
I know some things. I know some things.
37:10
There's some things that God's going to work together, because
37:13
I've seen this before and I've seen this, and I've got a friend
37:15
that got through that and I and so some things, but not this
37:18
thing. And you got to really wrestle
37:21
with trusting God for even that thing.
37:27
Not just some things, Not just a few things.
37:31
Even Joseph in his life. You know, was it all things?
37:34
Was God working together? Yeah, because they meant evil.
37:37
But God meant good. And he brought it about as it is
37:40
this day. For what?
37:41
To save many people alive. And when you see your life in
37:45
the hands of God, your perspective changes.
37:50
It's all things. Work together for the good, for
37:52
those who love God, to those who are called according to his
37:54
purpose. All things.
37:56
God is working together. Do I understand why God does it
38:00
this way? I don't.
38:02
Do I understand how God does this?
38:05
I don't. Do I understand why God takes a
38:10
long time sometime? I know I don't, but God never
38:14
calls me to understand those things.
38:16
He calls me to trust Him. He calls me to himself.
38:22
He wants me not to solve all my problems and fix everything.
38:25
What He wants me to do is be close to his heart.
38:28
Because when I'm close to his heart, I'm going to sound and
38:32
act like him. And that's Joseph right here.
38:37
When you're close to the heart of God, you're going to sound
38:40
and act like him. I know you guys meant it for
38:43
evil, but God meant it for good. And God gets the last word.
38:47
He always has the final word. It's never man.
38:51
It's never pain. It's never sin.
38:53
It's never slander. It's never gossip.
38:56
It's never manipulation. It's never abuse.
38:58
It's never any of those things. God always gets the last word.
39:03
If you choose to believe that he's working all things together
39:05
for the good, you'll enjoy it. If you choose not to believe all
39:10
things work together for the good that God's working, then
39:12
you will be miserable and you'll take things in your own hands.
39:17
And you what? How many?
39:18
I'm not going to ask for hands, but I can ask, and certainly
39:21
there would be quite a response. I promise you that.
39:24
How many of you tried to take things into your own hands and
39:26
made things worse? And you go, oh man, yes.
39:30
And we learned that when we were studying verse by verse with
39:32
David. Remember how many times he had a
39:34
chance to take Saul out. But he trusted and he's the king
39:41
in the appointed time of the Lord.
39:43
Now in verse 22 it says so Joseph dwelt in Egypt, and he
39:51
and his father's household. Joseph lived 110 years.
39:56
Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation.
39:59
The children of Maker and the son of Manasseh were also
40:02
brought up on Joseph's knees. And Joseph said to his brethren,
40:06
I'm dying, but God will surely visit you and bring you out of
40:08
this land to the land of of which he swore to Abraham, to
40:12
Isaac and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath from the
40:15
children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you and you
40:18
shall carry up my bones from here.
40:20
So Joseph died. Being 110 years old.
40:23
They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
40:28
And that's the end. We start within the beginning
40:31
God created and we end. Joseph died from life to death,
40:37
and no doubt Joseph, those last years of his life were
40:41
fulfilling. We're encouraging what a grandpa
40:44
he must have been as he enjoyed this part of his life.
40:47
No doubt he would have shared his stories.
40:50
He would have given gifts. He would have taken these kiddos
40:52
on walks, pushed them around on swings, and enjoyed their life,
40:58
taking all of the pain that he experienced to disciple another
41:02
generation to tell them about the faithfulness of God and the
41:07
goodness of God. Not only that, but he'd share
41:09
about Cain and Abel and Noah and the flood, the tower of Babel.
41:14
He'd talk about his dad and his grandpa and his great grandpa,
41:18
and his dying encouragement was to point his family to the Lord
41:21
and his faithful promises. God will surely visit you.
41:28
That is what happens when you don't let bitterness take root
41:31
in your life. You don't know what's up ahead.
41:35
You don't know what God has in store and your present
41:39
bitterness are ashes. God can bring beauty from ashes.
41:43
The Bible says we even sing that song.
41:46
Joseph was entombed in Egypt, but he makes sure that that when
41:50
they go to the promised land that they don't leave them
41:52
there. Remember in Hebrews Chapter 11,
41:54
verse 22, by faith Joseph when he was dying, made mention of
41:58
this departure to the children of Israel and gave construct
42:02
instructions concerning his bones.
42:05
You can read ahead but it'll take a few chapters.
42:07
But in Exodus chapter 13 you see the fulfillment.
42:13
You see the fulfillment. They honor Joseph in his
42:15
request. Genesis, a book with great
42:19
beginnings comes to a close in the beginning God.
42:24
It ends with Joseph died and again, Joseph being that type of
42:29
Christ. Joseph picturing the death that
42:34
Jesus would make would have many years later.
42:36
Messiah's on the way. Yes, he's on the way.
42:42
Even though it ends with death. The Bible doesn't end in death,
42:45
but in resurrection there is hope and there's a victory by
42:51
faith in Jesus. So, Father, we thank you for
42:54
your word today and for the study in Genesis.
42:57
It's been rich and fulfilling. It's been encouraging, it's been
43:01
challenging, it's been helpful, It's been life giving.
43:09
But Lord, I pray that you would have your way with us, that we
43:15
would not, that we would not shy back or or or pull back from
43:22
you, Lord, but we would press in.
43:27
We would press on and we would press toward that high calling
43:34
of that we have in Christ Jesus Lord.
43:39
We acknowledge to you our need to respond to what we've
43:45
learned. We acknowledge to you, God, our
43:47
need to believe. Acknowledge to you God, that
43:52
your work that you want to do in our lives is so often held back
43:56
by our flesh, by our resistance, by our hardness, by our self
44:05
selflessness or self centeredness.
44:08
And I just pray you would release women tonight from their
44:11
hard heartedness and their selfishness.
44:14
I pray God you would release men tonight from their resistance
44:19
and their pride. I pray God that you would
44:23
restore the years that the locust has eaten by faith in
44:29
people's lives. Tonight, I pray God that you
44:33
would for the one or the two or the 100 or whoever that is
44:38
calling you're calling back to their first love before it's too
44:41
late, that they would remember and repent and repeat.
44:47
I pray God that you would, as only you can, move among us
44:54
through the teaching of your Word and forgive us for the vain
44:57
imaginations and forgive us for the for believing the empty
45:02
philosophies of this world. Forgive us, Lord, for putting
45:06
our knowledge and wisdom above your knowledge and wisdom and
45:11
not trusting in the sufficiency of your Word and not taking
45:17
people all the way to the cross. It's just, Lord, forgive us that
45:22
we might learn to die to ourselves.
45:24
It's all the way to the Cross, and I know that the closer we
45:27
get this is going to be harder and harder and harder.
45:30
People aren't going to like that message.
45:32
They're going to fight it resistant.
45:33
They're going to be angry, They're going to misunderstand.
45:36
But we commit ourselves to you, Lord, a faithful God, and that
45:40
you'll teach us how to do it empathetically and
45:42
compassionately and carefully, with agape.
45:47
Truly, we would have that love flowing from you, not just
45:50
settling for filet O love, just human and friendships.
45:55
And I just pray for those that choose friendship over
45:58
relationship with you. If their decisions they're
46:01
making right now is just because they want to be friends and they
46:03
have a fear of man, kind of like these brothers, you know,
46:05
they're going to totally Jack Joseph up because they care
46:08
about each other too much. Instead of caring about you.
46:11
They're fearful, they've got the fear of man and it brings a
46:14
snare. So I just pray God, even
46:16
prophetically in this prayer that you would unleash victory
46:20
and freedom and that it would be matched by humility and
46:24
brokenness and repentance. Today in Jesus name, Amen.
46:30
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
46:33
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
46:36
prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
46:41
That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
46:47
entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
46:51
online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
46:56
Church app. Be blessed as You Worship Jesus
46:59
this week.