Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10153 - Know The Lord is With You - Genesis 41

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#10153 - Know The Lord is With You - Genesis 41 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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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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Take your Bibles. Open them to Genesis chapter 41.
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Genesis chapter 41. We're going to pick up where we
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left off last time. I've entitled our Bible study.
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Know the Lord is with you. Know the Lord is with you.
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Joseph is learning, no matter what he's facing, that God is
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with him. Chapter 41 We have Joseph's life
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about to take a wonderful turn for the good.
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He doesn't know it. He's going to find out.
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We know ahead of time. Joseph doesn't know it.
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Joseph in his life was despised and hated by his brothers thrown
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into a pit. They were going to kill him, but
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instead they sold him and then he was going to be part of hers.
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Assistant and he excelled and except in.
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The expectation of smooth sailing.
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He's falsely accused of rape and as a result he's thrown into
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prison. It was given the interpretation
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of the dreams and the Butlers remember the Butler was supposed
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to remember him. And as the Butler is released
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from prison, it probably gave Joseph such a great sense of
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encouragement. The days of his incarceration
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are going to come to a close, but he was forgotten.
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And there he sat in prison, where we left him, forgotten and
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alone. And there hasn't been, up to
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this point, much to be excited about in Joseph's life.
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And if he was excited, it was. Soon his feet were knocked out
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from under him. But listen, this is true for
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him, and it's true for you. No matter what, you're
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experiencing, what you're feeling, what you see.
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God has a plan for your life, Joseph.
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God has a plan for Joseph's life.
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There was a reason you might If you're taking notes, you might
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want to jot this down. It's hard to believe in the
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midst when you're sitting in prison, falsely accused, when
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you're at the whim of your brothers and you have all all of
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this. It's hard to see and it's hard
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to believe, but you should jot it down.
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There was a reason and a purpose behind every move in Joseph's
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life from his own lips. Joseph says this Hold your place
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in Genesis 41. Go back to chapter 50.
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We've quoted this, but let's just read it.
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This is later on. Joseph's not quite there yet,
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but he will be, and this is what he says.
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Genesis chapter 50 in verse 20 and if you like to write in your
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Bible is right next to this verse.
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Romans 828. What Romans 828 is in the New
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Testament. Genesis 50 verse 20 is in the
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Old Testament. And Joseph says this is his own
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mouth. The same guy that's hated by his
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brothers. The same guy that's thrown in a
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pit. The same guy that has a death
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sentence. The same guy that's sold as a
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slave. The same guy that's lied about
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and accused of rape. The same guy that's convicted,
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thrown into prison. An innocent man.
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The same guy who is forgotten by the Butler at the end of his of
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this ordeal, He says. But As for you.
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You meant evil against me. I mean even the motives of their
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heart. It just wasn't evil actions.
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These were evil actions from evil hearts.
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You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order
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to in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many
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people alive. We'll get into that verse in our
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later Bible study for sure, but don't mistake this.
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Don't mistake ain't Romans 828 or Genesis 5020 as coming
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easily. It didn't come easily.
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Just like your story, it doesn't come easy.
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It comes through a lot of hardship and pain.
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Joseph living his day, his life, day by day, like you and me,
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living our lives day by day, not knowing what a day's going to
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bring. Not knowing how this thing is
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going to turn out. Not knowing where our hope is
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going to end this side of eternity.
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Of course we have eternity waiting us, and we know the
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fullness of our hope fulfilled in Christ.
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But until then? Until then, we're living by
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faith in the hope of Christ trusting Him.
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He lived day by day, just like you and me.
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But like the Psalmist and Psalm 37 verse 25.
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I love this, the Psalmist says. I've been young and now I'm old.
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And yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken.
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Nor is descendants begging bread.
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He is every ever merciful in lens, and his descendants are
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blessed. You don't have to be old to say
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this. You can be one day older.
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You can be one week older. You can be many years.
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You can be in your 80s, your 90s, a hundred.
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You go, Hey Sonny, I know that to be a fact.
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But you can also be 16 and say you know what?
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You're 15 was hard. It was hard.
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I was younger back then I was 15.
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Now I'm 16 and as 16 I can see the faithfulness of God with my
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16 year old eyes. You can say that by faith.
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You don't need to wait till you're 90 or 100.
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God is faithful. He's ever faithful and merciful,
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day by day. And this is the lesson we'll get
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into the text. But I want to build this for
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you. It's so important.
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You came here to hear the encouragement of the Lord and
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you need to hear this. God will never, ever never
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forsake the righteous. Never.
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He's promised. The faithfulness of God shown to
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Joseph is the same faithfulness he shows to you and me.
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It's the exact same God. Same yesterday, today, and
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forever. What does that mean for us right
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now? It means you can trust Him.
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It's not working out the way you want.
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You're forgotten, Lied about, accused, slandered, mishandled,
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mistreated. Whatever it may be, you can
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trust God through it all. I know you don't know how it's
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going to turn out. Neither do I.
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But today I can trust him. I can settle my heart in him no
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matter what. That every single thing in my
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life can be used and is being used by my Heavenly Father.
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Every single thing we have a greater than Joseph Jesus
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Christ. As I've mentioned in earlier
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studies, Joseph is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ in so
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many ways. I'm going to list a few of them
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for you today, but if you want the full list up to this
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chapter, I think there's 20. I have 20 something of them and
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you can e-mail me and I'll send them to you.
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But here's just a few to consider how Joe, the life of
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Joseph points to the life of Messiah.
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First of all, Joseph was loved by his father.
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We learned that in chapter 37. And what is the Father say of
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Jesus and Matthew? This is my beloved son.
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Joseph's brothers rejected his right to rule over them.
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In Genesis 37, verse 8. The Jews did not believe in
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Jesus Christ. They hated him.
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John Chapter 7. John chapter 15.
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Jesus or Joseph was sold for silver.
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Genesis 37. Jesus What was he sold for
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silver In Matthew 27 All things were entrusted to Joseph in
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Potterfer's house, chapter 39. And what do we learn in John 3?
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All things were given into the hand of Jesus.
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Joseph's brothers don't recognize him.
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Later on, the Jews don't recognize Messiah today as we
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see the foreshadowing. And there's a longer list to
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this, we could go on and on and on As you study very closely and
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if you want it, e-mail me. But in the life of Joseph, we
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see a phenomenal foreshadowing of the Messiah Jesus.
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So when you hear a pastor like me tell you.
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That when you're reading the Bible to look for Jesus.
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Trust us, look for him, look for him in shadowing, look for him
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in prophecy, look for him in reality.
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Because Jesus himself said and behold, in the volume it is in
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the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will,
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oh God. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 7,
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Jesus Christ Messiah is the central focus of the Bible.
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So when you study Joseph. And you fall in love with
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Joseph. And you're so enamored with this
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man and you're so encouraged by his behavior.
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And you're so aspire to be like Joseph.
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You see, that's the quality I want in my life.
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That's what I want to see. You have to understand
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something. It is not Joseph that you are
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aspiring to be like. You are aspiring to be like
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Christ. This is Jesus in the Old
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Testament through the life of Joseph.
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Joseph living out New Testament, New covenant principles before
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Messiah ever comes, and in all your longing and all your desire
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and all your study and all of your action and all of your
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commitment is not to Joseph. It's not to Abraham.
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It's not to Isaac. It's not to Jacob.
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It's to Jesus following him. And here in chapter 41 we have
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an yet another type of Christ and Joseph, and that is his
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exaltation. Joseph in the exaltation he
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experiences is in a picture and a type of the exaltation that
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Jesus has to the right, very right hand of the Father.
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Again, in Chapter 41, if you're taking notes, Joseph moves from
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his test of adversity. Or you could even say his tests
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of adversities in the plural to the test of prosperity.
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I don't know if you realize this, but prosperity is a test
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just as much as adversity can be.
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Now I know we give more attention to adversity because
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it hurts and it's painful and it draws out all these emotions and
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we don't like it. Adversity comes into the
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believer's life to test. The depth of our stability and
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our trust in the Lord. How strong are you?
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You know, I don't know if you noticed this in your life.
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I've certainly noticed in mine where there are seasons and
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times where we're like, man, man, I've got faith, Lord, and
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I'm ready. And you wake up so encouraged
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and then boom, you're tested right on it.
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It's like, oh Lord, the spirit is willing but the flesh is so
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weak. Adversity.
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How strong am I? Will I follow Jesus no matter
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what comes my way? That's easier said than done,
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because I think all of us. If I asked for raising of the
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hands or a clap or a yell, how many wanted follow the Lord
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through every adversity? Yes, Amen.
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Yes, Amen. Except when adversity comes,
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it's not so much yes and Amen. It's all man.
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No. Why now?
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Why me? And especially painful if you
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brought it upon yourself. Where the enemy comes in and
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rushes in like the flood to condemn you and to beat you up
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and to pull you down, and what to ultimately destroy you.
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When all the while the Holy Spirit says no.
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You come to the cross where there's forgiveness, where you
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receive the appropriation once again of the blood of Christ to
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cleanse you from what all your sin, That's where forgiveness is
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found. And I have to say, I've seen
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believer after believer give up. Due to adversity, it was just
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too much. Jesus predicted as much in the
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sowing of seeds you remember. Adversity stumbles so many
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people. But you know prosperity is a
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test too, and it has equal issues.
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Prosperity and success are tests to your very integrity and to
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your honor. Prosperity reaches to the depths
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of who you are and reveals motives of the heart.
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If you study the children of Israel, really any true believer
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along the way, you'll notice so many of them succumb not to
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adversity but to prosperity. It's times of comfort and ease
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which is the most general weakness of the modern church in
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the Western world. And I don't want you to always
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to take the Western world and say, well, you know, if I was
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just in poverty, living in a third world, I'd have a much
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deeper faith. In some ways you may.
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But don't you? This is why it's so valuable.
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You you need to go on short term mission trips.
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You need to take some of you need to follow the call to full
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time mission work. That's just a word from the
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Lord. You got to do it.
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Just step out in faith, do what called God's called you to do,
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and go to the country he's called you to, and be prepared
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and do it. But for many of us, we're going
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to go on short term trips. Why?
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Because it'll take you out of where you are and allow you to
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see the rest of the world. One thing you'll notice that
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even in the depth of third world countries under great
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difficulty, they still have the same problems you do.
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You know why? They're human.
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They have human sin issues. They're just different.
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The Western world, the general issue that we have faced all
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these years, that is slowly, or in some ways much more quickly
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coming to an end is prosperity, comfort and ease, a lack of
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pressure, a lack of challenge, because things have been so good
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and even as we do experience such great prosperity even now,
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in comparison to the rest of the world.
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It has rocked the church to sleep.
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And isn't it true? If you've been rocked to sleep,
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it's adversity will wake you up really quick.
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But we just noticed in our own country, primarily, maybe in our
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own city, perhaps in our own church.
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The last few years, God allowed some significant adversity to
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hit the church known as the pandemic and the restrictions
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and the politics and all of that.
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And some believers did not wake up.
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They're still all to sleep, clinging to prosperity and
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comfort. It took a difficulty to reveal
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our own hearts, right? It reveal where we are in our
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faith and then some of the church.
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And if you're guilty of this, and where I'm guilty of this, it
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only requires repentance. Not condemnation, just
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repentance. God forgive me, but what the
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last few years has done in some believers in some churches.
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Is now. They're literally fighting for
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comfort and ease. It's kind of like your kids.
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You could, you know your babies especially they have
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supernatural powers. They are so strong.
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I mean the babies are the same babies that would hold my finger
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up here while I'm holding them and they're home and I just have
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to pull real fast and they have to let go.
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When they're in the nursery holding onto a toy, they are
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supernaturally strong. I mean, you can drag them around
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the whole, they will not let go. That's what prosperity will do.
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God allows you to have prosperity.
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It's not just the test of adversity, Church.
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There are tests of prosperity as well.
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And if you're not careful adversity you'll let go so
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quickly. Prosperity.
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You will hold on for dear life and pay the consequence for that
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Job learned it was just as a. Things that he brought in, he
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came into this world one way and he'll go out, hey, blessed be
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the name of the Lord, Paul said. The Bible speaks of Paul the
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Apostle man. I needed to learn how to be
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content. I needed to learn how to trust
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in the Lord. I needed to learn to be
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satisfied where I am. And I learned it through much
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and through little. And I learned it's just the Lord
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I was sharing with the brother, right?
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Before I came in texting a pastor that text me some
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encouragement, I've responded with some encouragement.
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I've felt like the Lord put on my heart and I just said this to
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him. I said look bro, this is the
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time to look up and not look back.
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These are the days in which we live.
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We just need to look up and learn the lessons that God has
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for us. Well, with all that in mind,
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pick up with me now in chapter 41 and verse one.
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Then it came to pass at the end of two full years.
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That Pharaoh had a dream and behold, he stood by the river.
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Just pause Here again. Another lesson.
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Reading the Bible. These are two full years in
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relationship to who? Joseph.
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Where is Joseph? Rotting in prison.
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Forgotten. So don't want to read over
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things like that. Oh, it's been 2 years.
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Yeah, it's been 2 miserable years, no doubt.
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Or challenging years Or testing years.
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Whatever Joseph experienced, that's the two years.
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The two years where he's waiting, who knows?
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In the first couple weeks, The Baker.
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The Baker. the OR not the Baker, but the Butler.
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The Butler. The Butler.
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The Butler. Yeah, the Butler.
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I don't know. Maybe he forgot about me.
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And at what point did he lose hope completely?
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At what point did he? You know, because there are ways
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in Joseph's life where he is a type of Christ, but he can't be
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a perfect type of Christ because he was human.
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And even if it wasn't Joseph, what?
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It was you. I don't think if I put myself in
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this Joseph's shoes, I think I would get to the place that I
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don't think he's coming back a lot faster than most of you,
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quite frankly. I don't know, maybe we have a
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contest. I can do that in 30 days.
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So I can do it and I can lose hope in 27 days faster.
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No, no. I could do it in 25.
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You know it's like but here he is 2 years Pharaoh had a dream
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and behold he stood by the river.
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And suddenly they came up out of the river, 7 cows, fine looking
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and fat. And they fed in the Meadow and
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behold 7 other cows came up after them out of the river,
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ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the Bank of the
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river. And the ugly and gaunt cows ate
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up the seven fine looking and fat cows.
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So Pharaoh woke. He slept and dreamed a second
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time, and suddenly 7 heads of grain came up on one stalk,
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plump and good and behold 7 thin heads blighted by the east winds
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sprang up after them for seven, and the seven thin heads
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devoured the seven plump and full heads.
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So Pharaoh awoke and indeed it was a dream.
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Couple years of imprisoned Joseph is and Pharaoh has these
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dreams. They're recorded for us.
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Fat and skinny cows, ugly and gaunt ones, eat them up.
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Heads of grain, the east winds, they're all frightening to
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Pharaoh. They dealt with the very
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lifeblood of Egypt, the flocks in the fields.
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But he doesn't understand what they are.
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They got his attention. And when it comes to dreams,
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from time to time I'll get emails or calls, you know?
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Ed, can you do you know what this dream means?
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Do you know what this dream means?
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And most of the time, I have no idea why you're dreaming.
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That weird stuff, Man, I have no idea.
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I really don't. Well, bastard, Don't you believe
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God uses dream? Oh yeah, I absolutely do.
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Dreams on visions, Yes, but don't you ever forget this.
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God has spoken in times past by the prophets, but in these last
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days he's spoken by his son, Jesus Christ.
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Jesus is the final word, His interpretation of dreams, or
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even setting aside these weird dreams for the sake of following
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Jesus's most important Don't give your money to someone that
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wrote a book that they know dreams.
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They have no idea. And don't go to someone that
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that finds, that you know, fills up some kind of seminar.
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I will tell you how to interpret dreams.
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They have no ideas. We're going to learn in a
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moment. The interpretation comes from
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the Lord. So any weird dream that you
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have, it's to get your attention on the Lord.
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It's to ask a word from God. It's to be diligent to seek out
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what God is trying to speak to you.
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And even though I don't fully understand, I do know that God
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can use them. I do know that you can draw your
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attention, but I also know it can be the food that you ate
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before you went to bed. It could be the weird thing that
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you watched. It could be your anxieties and
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your worries, and it could be somebody that said something or
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freaked you out, or you watched something on the news.
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And while I'm not always sure where my dream is coming from, I
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am always confident I could turn to the word of God, because I
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know where it came from and I could just lay it before him.
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And some of you, you just need to write it down and get it out
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of your head and move on with your life because I have met on
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occasion. Not very often, but I have met
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on occasion that a dream has wrecked someone's life because
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they get all these weird opinions and everything and they
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just can't get over it, Get over it and get back into the word.
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God will do that. If there's a Joseph to give you
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an interpretation, great. But one thing Ferrell doesn't
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have and doesn't care about is the word of God.
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So the dream was definitely to get Pharaoh's attention on this
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occasion and moving people into the right place and the right
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position. And while I don't always know
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what God is doing in the dream life that you might have or I
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might have, I do know this God's using dreams to move you in the
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right position to get you in the place to receive a word from
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him. So be careful.
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Don't let someone take advantage of you in this area for say now.
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It came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled,
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and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all
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its wise men. He's doing exactly what I just
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told you not to do. And Pharaoh told him his dreams,
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but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
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Pharaoh calls off all the heavy hitters in this occultic realm,
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these elite group. This group was of Egyptian
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priests who studied the stars and dreams, dabbling in the
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occult. Very intelligent, smart men.
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They had this mysterious way of looking into the insights of the
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dark realm. You know, like a broken clock.
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Even false teachers can be right a couple times a day.
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It's like a broken clock, like every time you go through.
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They might be wrong most of the time, but if intentionally,
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they'll guess right. And here they are dabbling in
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the occult. And we meet some of these guys
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later on. Maybe not these exact guys, but
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later on we meet guys just like this who face Moses.
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And they're not as smart as you might seem either, too, because,
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you know, the plagues come. So what do they do?
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They duplicate the plagues. You're like, come on man, if you
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were that smart, you'd get rid of them if you were that
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powerful. And so it's all false, this
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dark, all this stuff. Stay away from the occult.
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Stay away from the Ouija boards. It'll just mess with you.
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And open up a door for the enemy, for the occultic realm.
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Open up a door for the demonic realm to mess with you in deeper
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ways. The answer you're looking for is
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in the Lord, period. Now they were unable to
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interpret the dream and it I'm, I'm startled actually by their
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honesty because Farrell doesn't know what it is.
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So any answer that they give Farrell could receive, but they
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are honest. Darrell, we have no idea.
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Farrell taking the risk of their own life of and also exposing
23:55
the fact that they don't know everything.
23:57
And it's interesting. I don't really have much to say
24:00
on that, except that sometimes unbelievers are more honest than
24:02
believers are, and they're willing to put it all on the
24:06
line just like, I don't know. But there is a biblical reason I
24:10
believe that they don't know the interpretation, not just the
24:13
weakness of their own flesh and their inability.
24:15
They aren't God. They don't know God.
24:17
They don't have access to God. I believe they were unable to
24:20
interpret these dreams because these dreams were not for them.
24:26
They were for a young forgotten man rotting in prison.
24:34
Some things church are reserved just for you, not for anyone
24:41
else. Some events and some situations,
24:45
I think we could say that safely for even church families.
24:49
Some things are reserved for this church to respond to and to
24:53
act upon and to rally around. Not all things, but some things
24:59
where you may navigate through your city that you grew up in.
25:02
You grew up here. And you're like, you know what?
25:03
What about this church? They're doing this over here.
25:05
And the church I came from is doing this over there and this
25:07
over here and this. I know, I'm not sure if we can
25:10
do this and we can have. And you have to realize that
25:12
some things are just reserved for us.
25:14
We're not going to do everything or we're not going to know
25:17
everything. Or you may come to a pastor and
25:19
you like pastor, pastor. What is this?
25:21
And I'm like, I don't know. I literally, what kind of pastor
25:25
are you? You don't know.
25:26
I'm a kind of pastor that doesn't know.
25:29
And I'm going to tell you the truth and not manipulate you and
25:32
take advantage of you in a vulnerable time.
25:34
If I don't know, I'm going to tell you.
25:37
I don't know why. You know, I just don't think I
25:39
can go to a church or the pastor doesn't know everything.
25:41
Well, I guess this is the right church for you.
25:44
And I'll tell you the reason I don't know or the reason God
25:49
won't use me to minister you because the situation in your
25:52
life is for someone else. God's going to use someone else.
25:58
That doesn't mean you have to run away.
25:59
It doesn't mean you have to be mad at the church.
26:01
It means you have to wait on the Lord.
26:05
You interpret that wrongly. Well, you know, God brought me
26:08
in being on the radio and and and having opportunity to serve
26:12
other people. Some people are just convinced
26:14
that I'm the only one that can answer their questions or I'm
26:17
the only one that can help them. And now, by way of radio, once
26:20
again into our own church family.
26:22
I want to assure you I am not the only one that can help you.
26:26
Some of your situations are not for me at all.
26:30
And if I wanted to, I guess in the flesh, I could just take
26:32
advantage. Yeah, Come to me.
26:33
Come to me. I'm the only one.
26:35
I'm the only one. But then, as we've learned in
26:37
the book of Acts, you know, I could end up being like Herod
26:40
and go look at me and everyone's going look at you.
26:42
And then worms eat me up inside and I die.
26:46
And I don't want to live that way.
26:48
I want to point you to the Lord. I mean, believe me in my heart
26:52
of hearts, I want to help. And I wish I had the answer.
26:55
And man, I. But some things are not for me.
26:59
God has allowed situations in your life that God's going to
27:02
bring someone else into your life to minister to or draw you
27:05
closer. And here with these magicians,
27:08
it wasn't for them, It was for Joseph.
27:11
Notice in verse nine, it says. Then the chief Butler spoke to
27:16
Pharaoh. Well, well, well.
27:19
Guess who's got their memory back?
27:22
That's what he says. I remember my fault this day
27:26
when Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody
27:29
in the House of the captain of the guard.
27:31
Both me and the chief Baker, we each dreamed a dream in one
27:35
night. He and I, each of us, dreamed
27:37
according to the interpretation of his own dream.
27:40
And there was this young Hebrew man.
27:42
What's his name? Church.
27:44
Say it. Allah.
27:45
What's his name? Joseph.
27:46
He doesn't even remember his name, but he remembers there was
27:49
a Hebrew man, this young guy. He was there with us.
27:54
He was a servant of the captain of the guard.
27:56
We told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us.
28:00
To each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
28:02
Then it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us.
28:06
Verse 13. So it happened.
28:08
He restored him, restored me to my office, and he hanged him.
28:14
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him
28:19
hastily out of the dungeon and he shaved, changed his clothing
28:24
and came to Pharaoh. Finally, Butler has his memory
28:29
back. Isn't just this the way it
28:33
works? We feel like we're forgotten.
28:38
We think things are never going to change.
28:41
We've been waiting for who knows how long.
28:44
In an instant of time, things change.
28:48
Of course we're praying for that instant of time, but when it
28:50
comes, you're like, it happened so fast.
28:52
Yes, it did, but there was a lot behind the scenes.
28:56
When things change, they change. And what a glorious day for
28:59
Joseph. The door opens and this name is
29:03
called out. Pharaoh wants to see you.
29:07
Now. Of course, depending on your
29:08
personality, that can make you really scared.
29:12
Or let's just say Joseph every day for two years was waiting on
29:15
the Lord expectant. Today's the day, today's day.
29:18
Because there are people. Some of you were like that,
29:20
mighty men and women of faith. You're just so optimistic, so
29:23
filled with faith. So for two years, every day,
29:25
today's the day, Today's the day door opens.
29:27
Today's the day. I knew this was coming.
29:30
Where do you want me to go, Pharaoh?
29:31
Take me to him. I'm ready Now.
29:33
I don't know how it all worked out, but if you're a great woman
29:36
of faith or a great man of faith, we love you.
29:39
We appreciate you. We need you.
29:41
Speak up, for goodness sake. We need to hear your faith.
29:44
We need to see it in action. Share your testimony.
29:47
Show what God has done because it encourages the rest of us.
29:51
Amen. Anybody.
29:52
Amen. Hello.
29:54
I can hear people on the radio louder than in the room.
29:58
We need faith. We need men and women of faith.
30:01
We need to hear the stories that you don't know what to share
30:04
with somebody. You tell them your story of
30:05
God's faithfulness in your life. I mean, if that's really the way
30:08
it went. You give your whole story like
30:10
Joseph and Eagle for two years. I wait everyday.
30:12
I know today's a day, Today's a day, Today's a day, Today's a
30:14
day. I didn't give up on it.
30:16
I trust that you don't know people will doubt you.
30:18
But then you say. But on that last day, guess what
30:19
the door open. They Call My Name.
30:21
I was right and your Faithlessness was wrong.
30:24
No, don't do that. But Joseph could do that.
30:27
You have some of you have that testimony.
30:29
You need to share it more often. It will encourage people.
30:33
Even if you're misunderstood, even if people think you're
30:35
bragging, right. We know you're not bragging.
30:37
We know you're bragging on God's faithfulness because how could
30:40
you even wait two years every day unless God sustains you,
30:44
build you up, and strengthen you?
30:46
Those are good stories to share. The door opens and there he is.
30:51
You know, I I like this too, as this is all unfolding.
30:54
You might even skip over this. But in in verse 14 notice it
31:01
says that Pharaoh sent called Joseph.
31:04
They brought him hastily. It says he shaved, changed his
31:08
clothing and came to Pharaoh. I want you to note that Joseph
31:13
prepared himself. Now there there can be two
31:16
different ways. This is take #1.
31:18
They made him prepared to be in Pharaoh.
31:21
Pharaoh's court. They made him shave.
31:23
They made him change his clothes.
31:25
They made him prepare. This was forced upon him.
31:29
That's a possibility. Hey, Joseph, you're going to see
31:32
Pharaoh. You, you need to be ready to see
31:34
him. And this is the only way he will
31:36
be seen. You cannot see Pharaoh unless
31:38
you shave. Unless you shave off that beard,
31:41
if, unless you change your clothes, you can't see him.
31:44
And he complied. That's one or the 2nd way of
31:48
looking at this is that he did it on.
31:49
He did it himself. He's like, let me prepare
31:51
myself. Nobody needs to tell me to do
31:53
that. I know I'm seeing Pharaoh.
31:55
I'm in no position. I know that the Egyptians value
31:59
cleanliness. They are clean shaven.
32:03
They dress a certain way. Either way, that's not even the
32:09
significant part of this. Here's the significant part, and
32:11
I'll tie it to a new covenant principle you and I must learn.
32:15
Here's the significant part. Here with Joseph, Joseph
32:18
prepared himself to see the Pharaoh.
32:21
He did whatever he needed to do. He didn't compromise.
32:25
But in the likes of Daniel, in the likes of Nehemiah, he made
32:30
himself ready to stand before a king.
32:34
He did what was necessary. Would you turn over to 1st
32:38
Corinthians chapter nine with me, please?
32:40
First Corinthians Chapter 9, because I want you to see this
32:42
out, lived out, this principle lived out in Joseph's life.
32:47
It's something you and I need to learn and grow.
32:49
In. First Corinthians Chapter 9.
32:53
I want you to pick up a bird in verse 19.
32:59
Paul's riding to the church in Corinth, and he says, For though
33:02
I am free from all men, I've made myself a servant to all
33:07
that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a
33:10
Jew that I might win Jews. And to those who are under the
33:12
law as under the law, that I might win those who are under
33:15
the law. To those who are without laws,
33:18
without law, not being without law toward God, but under law
33:21
toward Christ, that I might win those who are without the law.
33:25
To the weak, I became as weak, and I might win the weak.
33:30
And here's the Here's the conclusion of the matter.
33:33
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means
33:37
save some. So if you like to write in your
33:39
Bible, circle the keywords here. All, all, all.
33:44
I became all things to all men that I might all mean by all
33:48
means save some. Now I do this for the Gospel's
33:52
sake, and not that I may be a partaker of it with you.
33:58
Paul's being accused of of compromise here, of being wishy
34:01
washy, of being a chameleon. And the accusation came toward
34:07
Paul that he was doing it to serve himself, to take advantage
34:11
of people. And So what does Paul do is with
34:13
you guys. Let me tell you something.
34:15
My whole life is to reach people for the gospel.
34:19
That's why I was born. That's why God apprehended me.
34:22
He could go all the way back to his testimony, right?
34:23
This you don't understand who you're talking to.
34:26
I think you forgot, he might say, the time I spent with you
34:29
guys, how God used me to see the church planted and all you not
34:34
for everybody. I'm not going to give you my
34:35
whole story. I'm just going to tell you this.
34:36
You're right. I've become all things to all
34:40
people. You're right to the Jews.
34:41
I'm going to be, I'm going to think of the Jews more than
34:43
myself so I could reach them. To the weak people I met.
34:46
I'm going to emphasize my weaknesses so I can connect with
34:50
them. So I might win some to to the
34:52
gentile to this. It doesn't matter who I'm trying
34:56
to reach. Let me just tell you, I'm
34:58
willing to do whatever I can short of sin to reach them.
35:04
Joseph, I'll prepare myself to be for before Farrell because I
35:09
mean, again, we know Joseph by now, so it's not fair to
35:13
associate this to him particularly.
35:16
But if you pull back just a little bit and think, you know,
35:18
I'm not going to do that, you can't tell me what to do.
35:21
All right, then don't go see Farrell.
35:22
Fine. I won't see Farrell.
35:23
God will do it some other way, bro.
35:25
God's doing it like this way. Right now.
35:28
You're just so caught up in your pride, in your arrogance, you
35:30
won't go. Just shave.
35:32
No, I can't shave. I just shave, man.
35:35
Change your clothes. No.
35:36
If I'm God's in it, God's going to take me to Faro however I'm
35:39
dressed. Look, it is a great sign of
35:44
maturity in your life and mine. It's a great sign of maturity
35:49
when we are be willing to become all things to all men, not held
35:56
back by all our preconceived religiosity and highmindedness,
36:03
not held back by our judgmentalism and our
36:08
preconceived ideas of what's acceptable.
36:13
Certainly we all have different lines of compromise that we
36:17
won't cross. There are things that we just
36:20
can't do because of our conscience sake.
36:24
But that's not what I'm Speaking of.
36:27
I'm Speaking of this arrogance that so easily creeps into our
36:32
lives as if, what do they call it?
36:34
A better, holier than thou attitude.
36:36
That's how the world sees it. You know they got a phrase for
36:40
it. And here we have a phrase for
36:44
the positive side. We have a phrase where we learn
36:48
how to become all things to all men.
36:51
You know, studies say those that study these things, they've come
36:55
to the conclusion that most new believing Christians have no
37:00
more friends outside the church within two years.
37:05
Some of that is good and you know, you could moving forward
37:09
and no longer running with the same crowd like Peter says, but
37:12
some of it's not so good. So remember, you're in the
37:15
world, but you're not of the world.
37:18
Some of it's not good because your coworkers need you just
37:21
like you need them. Some of it's not good because
37:24
your neighbor, I know whatever they're caught up in, but you
37:26
got to be close enough. You don't have to share in their
37:28
sin, but you got to be close enough when they're ready.
37:32
I mean, what's the sin in baking a pie?
37:34
Well, I guess the only sin is baking a rhubarb pie.
37:36
But other than any other, any other pie, like what's the sin
37:40
And reaching out to your neighbor, What's the sin?
37:42
And blessing your coworker who has a what, What's the sin in
37:45
being a believer, honoring Jesus Christ, showing love to people
37:49
in like, what's the sin and all that.
37:51
Oh no, you don't understand what's happening in the world.
37:54
Like, no, look, it became all things to all men so that I
37:57
might win. The more when your motives are
37:59
right, even with your right motives, sometimes you have
38:01
wrong actions. But you know, God sees the
38:03
heart. We always kind of use or God
38:06
sees your heart like it's negative, but you know it's
38:08
positive too. God knows your heart.
38:13
He knows your desire. He knows what you're going
38:15
after. And even if you went after it
38:17
the wrong way, he can correct that behavior.
38:20
He can say, Oh no, no, daughter, don't do it.
38:22
Not not too far. OK.
38:23
Lord, sorry, sorry. But your heart was so good to
38:27
want to reach them. Your heart was so good to want
38:29
to share with them. Your heart was so good.
38:31
That's what I got. Just he's attracted.
38:34
He's attracted to that heart that is loyal to him.
38:38
Remember that Bible actually says that to the eyes of the
38:40
Lord are going to and fro looking for someone.
38:43
He can show himself strong, whose heart is loyal to him.
38:47
It's so good. It's not compromise.
38:50
It's consideration. It it's not compromise.
38:55
It's humility. Many times the church can.
38:58
We can make so much more progress if we grasp.
39:01
That's where Joseph he doesn't again.
39:02
We know him by now. But he's ready.
39:05
Yeah, I don't want to see Pharrell.
39:06
I'm ready. You don't do whatever it takes
39:08
to see Pharrell. I'll do whatever it takes.
39:10
Notice apart from sin? No, it's pick up with me in
39:13
verse 15. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I
39:16
have dreamed a dream and there's no one who can interpret it.
39:19
But I've heard about you said that you can understand a dream.
39:22
And Joseph answered Pharaoh saying of course I can, I am
39:25
Joseph Dream. Interpreting Incorporated
39:27
Ministries LLC Worldwide event. What does he say?
39:36
It's not me. God will give Pharaoh an answer.
39:40
No peace and such confidence. It's such a bite.
39:45
We get this as we abide in Christ.
39:48
This is ours. You can stand before kings and
39:51
bosses and angry people and just like No, it's not me.
39:54
The Lord's got this all covered. He's going to take care of you,
39:56
Farrell. Ruler of the world, falsely
40:00
imprisoning me, taking advantage of every country for yourself.
40:06
None of that comes up because I know you're trouble, but it's
40:08
not me. God's going to give you the
40:10
peace. And then Pharaoh said to Joseph,
40:13
Behold, in my dream I stood by the Bank of the river.
40:16
Suddenly 7 cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat,
40:19
and they fed in the Meadow. Then behold, 7 other cows came
40:22
up after them, poor and very ugly and gone.
40:25
Such ugliness I've never seen in all the land of Egypt.
40:29
And the gone and ugly cows ate up the first seven and fat cows,
40:32
and they had eaten them up. No one would have known that
40:34
they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the
40:37
beginning. And so I'll look also I saw in
40:41
my dream. Suddenly 7 heads came up on a
40:43
stock full of good. Then behold, 7 heads, withered
40:46
thin and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.
40:49
The thin heads devoured the seven good heads.
40:52
So I told this to the magicians, and there was no one who could
40:55
explain it to me. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh.
41:00
So just get the scene in your holy imagination, your
41:03
sanctified imagination, this prisoner, this Hebrew kid
41:10
standing before the man who rules the world.
41:12
I wonder what it felt like. It must have been humbling.
41:16
I wonder if he was full of emotion.
41:21
You know how you get sometimes where you just want somebody to
41:23
know your story? Like if you just think if
41:26
somebody would hear your story, you'd get some kind of
41:28
compassion because you haven't had any.
41:31
If someone just heard your side of the story, you know
41:33
everyone's heard the other side. But if someone just hear your
41:35
side and somebody would just have compassion on you, Just see
41:40
it the way you see it. Give you a hug, wipe out your
41:43
tears. Wonder if Joseph was filled with
41:45
emotion. Just man wanting to get his
41:48
story out. You have.
41:49
No, you don't know what it took for me to be here before you,
41:52
Pharaoh. You have no idea who's standing
41:54
before you. This kid from prison.
41:57
I'm more than just some kid from prison.
41:59
You got mad. You don't know where I come
42:01
from, what I've been going through.
42:02
And but he doesn't do that. He doesn't share.
42:08
He's he's got his eyes on the prize.
42:10
You know what? This is an occasion for God to
42:14
speak to the known ruler of the world in a very real way, Josh
42:19
Joseph saying it's not about me. Although I think all of us would
42:24
stand before Farrell thinking this is about me, this is about
42:26
me, This is about me. This is about me.
42:28
It's all about me. It's going to be about me.
42:30
Finally, finally, it's me, me, me.
42:32
But Joseph, he gives us that That's erection tonight.
42:38
That nobody needs to hear your story.
42:41
The Lord knows it's not about you.
42:46
It's an occasion for God to be glorified.
42:49
The answer is from him, Pharaoh. I'm not a big dream interpreter.
42:55
Which could have sent him right back to prison, you know.
42:57
Well, then, who the heck you are?
42:58
You get on. I need a dream interpreter.
43:01
Goodbye. Nothing like that.
43:04
He's confident in the Lord. Humble, maybe a little
43:08
intimidated. But how's he standing here?
43:12
He's standing here in his faithful integrity.
43:15
That's why your character's so important, you know, it's more
43:17
important what people think about you.
43:19
But so many of us, we care more about what people think about us
43:22
than what God does. God knows your integrity, your
43:25
integrity of heart is more important than your reputation.
43:30
That's what people are going to try to do.
43:31
They're going to try to assassinate your reputation.
43:33
They're going to try to smear a smear campaign to make people
43:36
think you know in the get get get people thinking weird.
43:39
But you know you stand not by your reputation but by your
43:42
integrity, by who you are, not by why people think you are now.
43:49
It's always a joyous thing when people think what you are is
43:51
what you really are. But that's not the world we live
43:54
in. That is not the sense soaked
43:58
world. So how do you have peace?
44:00
How do you stand before Pharaoh? How do you wait two years in
44:03
prison? How do you sit in a pit?
44:06
How do you face adversity? How do you handle prosperity,
44:10
integrity, a depth of relationship in Christ?
44:18
God. Joseph knew that God was with
44:22
him, and he told Pharaoh that he knew it.
44:27
It's a really a big turning point in Joseph's life.
44:30
From this point on, he won't see prison again.
44:33
He'll never be despised by his brothers again.
44:36
He'll gain understanding about all his past.
44:38
It all come. He'll he'll know the he's
44:40
getting the answer not too far from now.
44:42
And then why? What was the turn of events?
44:45
Well, everything turned in Joseph's life.
44:50
This is so amazing. It's so not.
44:52
We think we have it all figured out.
44:54
We think we know how God, we're Bible students and we pray and
44:57
we go to church and we think we just know the ways of God.
44:59
And we forget the Bible says that God's ways are not our
45:03
ways. We forget that the whole turning
45:08
point in Joseph's life was through an unbelieving king and
45:15
a couple weird dreams. Don't you agree?
45:17
They were weird dreams. Why?
45:21
Because the Bible says you can jot it down.
45:25
This is why you read the Proverbs Everyday Church chapter
45:29
a day 31. Proverbs, there's a chapter for
45:32
you today. Here's in chapter 21.
45:34
In verse one, the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like
45:39
the rivers of water, and he turns it wherever he wishes.
45:44
King's Presidents, parents, bosses, whoever's in charge of
45:54
your life, God can move their hearts in an instant if it
46:01
accomplishes His will. Let me put a different let me
46:04
change my language there. God will move that person's
46:08
heart when it is His will. That's what you can trust in.
46:16
Well, with no hesitation, check this out.
46:18
Joseph has the answer. God.
46:19
So fast. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The
46:22
dreams Pharaoh have are one. God has shown Pharaoh what he's
46:27
about to do. The seven good cows are seven
46:30
years, the seven good cows are seven years, and the seven heads
46:36
are seven years. And the dreams are one, and the
46:40
seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven
46:43
years. And the seven empty heads
46:45
blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.
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And this is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh.
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God has shown Pharaoh what he's about to do, and this is where
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we're going to end today. And we'll pick up in our chapter
46:57
next time. But this was a quick answer.
47:01
God was ready just as the last breath was leaving Pharaoh's
47:05
mouth. Joseph has God's answer and you
47:08
know people are mixed up and confused in this world.
47:11
Is that true? Amen or not?
47:12
Let me say it again, people are mixed up and confused in this
47:15
world. Okay, it's true.
47:17
You guys agree with me. Please take this to heart.
47:19
As we leave, the world is filled with mixed up confuse.
47:25
They don't understand why there's evil in the world, even
47:30
participating in it themselves. And they don't understand why
47:35
their kids are hooked on drugs and even participating in it and
47:39
themselves. They can't figure out what's
47:42
going on in Israel. And what about North Korea?
47:47
Oh, and then there's Russia. And what about Ukraine?
47:51
Or what about North Aurora? Or what's happening in Parker?
47:55
What do you mean? I heard that going on in Cherry
47:57
Creek. What's happening?
48:00
And they don't understand it. They have all these preconceived
48:04
ideas like Pharaoh got this dream.
48:09
What's going on? What is happening?
48:12
I get good night's sleep. Everything is under my control.
48:15
I say this and like he has been disrupted.
48:20
When I have the privilege of standing here or at a Funeral
48:24
Home, standing before a filled room at a memorial service, I'm
48:31
I'm faced with hundreds of people that are confused about
48:37
life and death and about eternity.
48:43
They don't know and don't understand and not quite sure,
48:46
and they're confronted with the faith.
48:48
Most of the time I have the privilege of officiating a
48:51
memorial of someone. I know, someone I know their
48:54
faith. I can speak first hand for them,
48:56
and that confuses people because they listen to the testimony
49:01
that I'm sharing and then they compare it to their life and
49:03
they go, well, that's not, that's.
49:05
I know that man too, and that's exactly what I witnessed in him.
49:08
But I've got my own story. But then I look at my own life
49:10
and I wonder what's going on in my life, and they don't know.
49:13
I thought I was going to heaven. I was baptized as a child.
49:15
I grew up in the church. My parents were good people.
49:17
And yeah, we all have our faults.
49:19
But what? What do you mean?
49:20
What do you mean that there's a difference between me and my
49:24
that my loved one? What do you mean?
49:26
There's that. What?
49:27
Why are you even doing the memorial in a church building?
49:29
Why can't we do it? Why?
49:30
Why would? And it's just so mixed up.
49:33
And I have the privilege of explaining to them the truth
49:37
about heaven and hell, the reality of sin and death, the
49:43
power of the blood of Jesus Christ and the God who loves
49:46
them sacrifice his own son for them.
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But you know, I'm not unique in this.
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You got to understand, I share testimonies of my life because
49:58
I'm the only one that lives my life.
50:01
You can't share my story. But you know, you and I, we're
50:04
not very different. We're far less different than
50:06
you really think. Because you have your own
50:09
stories and you have your own places and you have your own
50:13
positions. And you.
50:15
Yeah, OK. You may not stand before
50:17
thousands of people, but does that make you any any less
50:20
significant than me? Absolutely not.
50:24
The one or the 10 or the 20 that God has given to you or the 100
50:27
who knows what that number, They're just as important as the
50:31
privilege that I have. You see, if you don't stand
50:34
before the one or the two, you're unfaithful.
50:38
And if I don't stand before the thousands, I'm unfaithful.
50:41
So what does that make us equal? And my stories, they're not any
50:46
better or worse than yours. They're just my life.
50:49
And believe me, I wish I didn't have some of these stories.
50:51
I wish I could stand there and going.
50:53
I had a perfect life. I never did anything wrong.
50:56
Follow me as I follow Christ and that's that ship sailed and it
51:04
continues to sail. Even as a believer, as I feel
51:07
greatly and as I have issues in my mind and my emotions and my
51:14
grief and my whatever it might be of the day that the enemy
51:17
would trip me up, my adversity, my prosperity, you see the
51:26
people in your life, you are just the right one to reach
51:30
them. Not me.
51:33
If Pastor Ed, if you would just if you would just if I could
51:36
just get them there and talk to you, man, they'll be yeah,
51:39
probably not. It's interesting because people
51:43
will call and say you just have to visit my son, visit my son,
51:45
visit my son. And my question is, you know,
51:47
I'm most likely I'm not able to do it.
51:49
But then if I do get a chance to ask, and I said, does your son
51:52
know that I'm coming? Oh, no, no, no.
51:54
You're going to surprise him. Come on, man.
51:57
You really think that's going to work?
51:59
Did you ask me your son's permission?
52:01
No, actually, I did ask. And he says he hates you and
52:03
never wants to see you. But if you just go, like, no,
52:07
you're the one. But Ed, I've been praying for
52:08
him all this time, and it's not making any difference.
52:10
No, no, no, no. You don't know what God's doing.
52:16
What do you mean? Has made no difference.
52:19
Anybody. If you guys know how to snap, go
52:20
ahead and just snap. If you don't know how to snap,
52:23
trust the person next to you. I know some are snap deficient
52:27
here. That's fine.
52:29
That's how fast God can work. I want you to hear that sound.
52:32
I want you to see your finger do it.
52:33
I want you to pay attention. That's how fast God can work in
52:36
your life. But I'm not the best person to
52:39
reach your family. You're the best person.
52:41
But what Jesus said of prophets without honor except in his own
52:44
home, I know, but you're still the best one.
52:48
You have more access to them. Yes, there's preparation.
52:52
Yes, there's training. Yes, there's practice.
52:54
Yes, there's participation. But what a joy it is to give
52:57
answers for life struggles and situations.
52:59
Somebody comes to you with some deep Bible question.
53:01
Well, you know, I'll just ask pastor No.
53:02
Why don't you look it up? Study it for yourself.
53:06
Get to know the Bible. Buy a Bible difficulty book.
53:10
Get a Bible handbook. Learn how to use Google.
53:13
You know, like like you can study for yourself.
53:16
Learn how to use a concordance. Don't.
53:19
Don't use Google. They'll lead you to a lot of bad
53:22
places. But Luke Blue Letter Bible leads
53:24
you to a good place. Bible Hub leads you to a good
53:27
place. Looking for a Bible difficulty
53:30
book? When Critics Ask by Norman
53:33
Geisler. I think they've changed the
53:34
title, but you can get that one used.
53:36
Best resource on Bible difficulties that I've ever
53:41
read. If you have a better one, buy it
53:44
for me. I'll put it in my library, but
53:46
that's the one. I use it almost every day, even
53:50
if I'm just reading it, to learn about Bible difficulties that
53:53
people made-up along the way. Listen, you may feel ill
53:58
equipped and you may not know much about the Bible yet, and
54:04
you may not know how to answer everyone and you feel
54:06
intimidated and you don't know how to encourage and you don't
54:10
know what to say. Don't forget this.
54:13
Like with Joseph, the Lord is with you.
54:17
That's no small thing. You don't need to go to Bible
54:20
college. You don't need to go to
54:22
seminary. You don't need to be what you
54:25
might consider super smart or whatever it might be.
54:28
You are who you are by the grace of God and you are the right
54:32
one. God is ready.
54:36
Just answer the call, Church, and he'll use you in ways that
54:40
are exceedingly abundantly above all that you can think or ask,
54:45
and then you'll just trip out on your own stories.
54:48
You're listening. Like, I can't believe this is
54:49
amazing. You know why it's amazing?
54:52
Because God is with you. God is with you.
54:57
Let Joseph encourage you and we'll get to the rest next time.
55:00
So, Father, thank you for this word that you give us and and
55:03
the reminder that you are with us and that you are faithful and
55:08
we do feel ill equipped. Lord, I know that you are always
55:11
putting me in situations where I don't know what to do and I
55:13
don't know what to say, and I'm not sure.
55:17
And you're stretching me. Lord, you're reminding me to
55:18
trust you and to hold fast and to to stay steady and not let
55:24
adversity knock me out and not let prosperity knock me out.
55:29
And so not about who I am or who people think I am as much as
55:32
this is about who you know I am and the person you're making me,
55:38
my integrity and my character intact and how it would part of
55:44
me being worked on day by day. And so I just pray over your
55:48
church tonight, God, that you would speak to those with
55:52
character issues, integrity issues, and begin to raise up
55:55
Lord and newness of life in them.
55:57
I pray for those that are being slandered tonight, Lord or
56:00
maligned and the reputations being smeared that you would
56:03
give them strength to persevere. I pray for the illequipped.
56:08
I pray for those that are struggling.
56:10
I pray for those that are studying and growing and taking
56:14
on the opportunity to grow in different ways.
56:17
Then you bless it all. Lord, bless those pressing in
56:21
and bless those not able to press in.
56:25
It's not about who we're not or comparing ourselves with one
56:29
another, only that God, we would follow you.
56:34
I I can't think. I can't help but think of what
56:36
you said to Peter. You said something like what is
56:40
that to you? You follow me?
56:44
And may we learn that principle as we move forward.
56:48
Lord in Jesus name. Amen.
56:52
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
56:55
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
56:58
prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
57:03
And that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
57:09
entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
57:13
online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
57:18
Church app, Be Blessed as You Worship Jesus this week.