Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10160 - God Always Keeps His Promises - Genesis 47

Transcript

#10160 - God Always Keeps His Promises - Genesis 47 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:04
Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
0:08
Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
0:12
To learn more about the many resources available through a
0:14
bounding Grace media or to tune into our live stream services,
0:18
visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free
0:24
Calvary Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
0:27
into our study. Amen.
0:31
Take your Bibles and open them to Genesis chapter 47.
0:35
We are almost at the end of our verse by verse study in the book
0:39
of Genesis. Four more chapters, including
0:42
tonight, and we're right there. We'll pick up right after that
0:45
in the book of Exodus, allowing the first part of the Bible to
0:49
unfold before us. But here we are in Genesis 47.
0:53
In a Bible study that I've entitled, God always keeps his
0:57
promises, something you can hold on to.
1:01
As we come to our end of the study in Genesis, we're reminded
1:04
of God's intervention in a very difficult situation, that God's
1:09
plans are coming together and we're beginning to see the
1:12
bigger picture through the hardships that one family
1:16
experienced. And I was talking with someone
1:18
earlier, earlier today, about the sense that we all have
1:21
family and we all have family difficulties, and we don't
1:25
always know what in the world is happening behind the scenes.
1:29
How could God possibly fix this or use this, or what would be
1:34
the redemptive value in these things?
1:36
But let this true story of Joseph and his family be a
1:41
reminder of the faithfulness of God.
1:43
There is a bigger picture going on that God is using your family
1:47
and mine as broken as they are for His purposes.
1:51
These last few chapters of Genesis deal with Israel in
1:55
Egypt, which is incredible in and of itself.
1:59
Here we see how God LED them there.
2:02
The brothers, remember, sold Joseph, but God sent him there.
2:08
He overrules. Here's the purpose and the
2:11
reason for all the good and all the bad that Joseph had gone
2:14
through in his life. It's not just a view of a
2:18
family, but it's also a view of Joseph.
2:21
We get this magnifying glass on his life and all the
2:25
difficulties that he went through, God working them
2:28
together for good. But it doesn't erase them.
2:32
It's not like the pain went away.
2:34
He moved forward. He moved forward by faith.
2:38
It's the final unveiling of all that God was doing.
2:42
In this case, we see it was for salvation, just like in our
2:45
lives. God prepares us for the place
2:48
that he has prepared for us. So He's working in US, working
2:51
through US, knowing what's up ahead.
2:54
He can prepare us. He knows where we're headed.
2:56
We don't know. We wish we, we sometimes we wish
2:59
we had a book of how it's all going to unfold.
3:01
We don't know. And really we we wouldn't be
3:04
able to handle it as much as you think you would, you wouldn't be
3:06
able to handle it. This is what's going to happen.
3:08
This how you try to. And by the way, on this
3:11
particular day, you're going to experience the worst pain in
3:13
your life. If you were told a month from
3:15
now that you're going to experience the worst situation
3:17
in your life, there would be a part of you, if not a large part
3:21
of you, to try to avoid it. You'd be gone that day or try to
3:24
usurp it, or be on vacation, or you're not answering your phone
3:28
or whatever. And God doesn't reveal his plan
3:31
like that. We live it out, just like those
3:33
in the Bible. God's plan with Joseph, we know,
3:37
has been all about getting Israel and his family to Egypt
3:41
so that a nation could grow there by which Messiah would
3:44
come. God's promise was to be with
3:46
them in the middle of it all. This incredible move of God, of
3:52
the of this nation, of this young family from Canaan to
3:55
Egypt. Not only did he promised that
3:58
he'd be with them, he also promised that he would
4:00
eventually deliver them. And that reminds us, it's
4:05
important. I just want to give you a
4:06
scripture that you can hold on to for those of you that think
4:10
that God doesn't keep his promises because there's a
4:12
situation in your life that's still left open and you think if
4:16
you were God you would have done it this way Or I don't
4:19
understand why God's waiting or any of the real emotions that
4:22
come as we're waiting on God in difficult situations.
4:25
One of them is to begin to think falsely that he doesn't keep his
4:29
promises and hold your place in Genesis.
4:32
Why don't you see it in your Bible?
4:33
Turn over to 2nd Kings or excuse me, First Kings Chapter 8.
4:37
We studied this when we went through First Kings, but I want
4:39
to show you, if you haven't already circled it, you haven't
4:42
already memorized it or underlined it or highlighted it.
4:46
First Kings chapter 8 notice with me in verse 56.
4:51
When you get there, it's easy from Genesis.
4:53
Everything's to the right in your Bible.
4:55
So just a few pages over. First Kings chapter 8, verse 56.
4:59
It says blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people
5:03
Israel according to all that he promised.
5:07
Notice that the rest came because of a promise of God.
5:10
Then he says there has not failed one word of all his good
5:17
promise which he promised through his servant Moses.
5:21
Not one. There hasn't been one promise
5:25
that God has failed to keep. The promises that you're waiting
5:29
upon now are simply the timing of the Lord and what his
5:33
purposes are in fulfilling that promise.
5:36
God promises certain things and we need to stand upon them and
5:40
hold fast as what someone once said.
5:43
God said it, I believe it and that settles it.
5:47
That's the kind of faith that comes through knowing that God
5:50
keeps his promises. Now it's interesting because
5:53
also a parallel lesson as we're studying the book of Genesis is
5:57
what's happening to Israel as a nation happens to us as well on
6:01
a daily basis. God's promised us a lot of
6:03
things, he says. He's you're going to have life.
6:07
He says you're going to have it much more abundantly.
6:09
God promises never to leave or forsake you.
6:11
God says he's going to deliver you.
6:13
He says that you're more than conquerors in Christ.
6:16
He says all sorts of things, that he's going to intervene in
6:19
his life, in your life, because he loves you.
6:21
And So what do we do? We take the posture of watching
6:24
and waiting as we go through life looking for the blessings
6:29
of God. Sometimes in the midst of
6:31
something, we have to look backwards and see past blessings
6:35
because of what's happening right now is so hard.
6:37
We need to look back and go, no, no, no.
6:39
I know it's hard now, but I see the blessings of God in the past
6:43
I remember. Can anybody give me an Amen on
6:45
that? Do you have something you do you
6:47
even, you know, anybody can. Amen.
6:48
Do you have one thing that you go back to regularly, like your
6:52
salvation? How about that one, the great
6:54
work of deliverance, that that you know who you were.
6:57
You tell us who you were, but you know better, you know, and
7:02
you understand what God delivered you from.
7:04
And it's used in times of difficulty.
7:07
You think you know, I know what I'm facing right now is so hard.
7:10
But look what God has done in the past.
7:11
He can do it now. He's faithful today, even as
7:15
he's been faithful in the past. You look back and you see God's
7:19
hand of intervention and you start to go man.
7:22
Yes, He does love me. You begin to believe the
7:25
promises. He is for me and not against me.
7:29
There are even times where you could look back where you fell
7:32
and you fell hard and it hurt and there were consequences.
7:37
And then you remember, But God promised though a man falls
7:39
seven times, he'll rise again and you got up.
7:43
And here you are today, experiencing the faithfulness of
7:46
God. So you see these parallels in
7:49
Genesis, and you learn in Chapter 47 that in Egypt would
7:54
be all sorts of important lessons for the children of
7:59
Israel. One of them would be to learn to
8:01
live a separated life that is God's will for you.
8:05
We haven't. We'll get to chapter 47.
8:07
Stick with me. I won't turn over to 2nd
8:09
Corinthians chapter 6. I believe it's important for us
8:13
to read this because God has called you to a separated life.
8:16
And you say, pastor, what do you mean by that?
8:18
Well, let me just read it to you and you can hear it from God's
8:21
voice yourself. In Second Corinthians, in
8:24
chapter 6 and verse 11, listen Paul's writing inspired by the
8:28
Holy Spirit and he says, oh Corinthians, we've spoken openly
8:31
to you. Our heart is wide open.
8:34
You are not restricted by us, but you're restricted by your
8:39
own affections. Now in return for the same, I
8:42
speak to his children, You also be open.
8:45
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
8:49
For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?
8:53
And what communion has light with darkness?
8:55
And what accord has Christ with Bel, Belial?
8:59
Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
9:02
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
9:06
For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said.
9:10
I will dwell in them and walk among them.
9:13
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
9:16
Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the
9:22
Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and
9:24
I will receive you. I will be a father to you and
9:28
your and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord
9:32
Almighty. I've done studies on this in
9:34
depth, but it's enough to say that there is a distinction
9:38
between the believer and the unbeliever.
9:40
There is a distinction between a follower of Christ and someone
9:44
who doesn't follow Christ, and it's lived out through a
9:47
separated life. It's interesting because God
9:49
calls us both to a separated life but also a life of
9:54
infiltration. So the separation is not like
9:57
moving to the mountains, to some monastery or something.
9:59
So you can have a little holy huddle, little Christian clique
10:02
that you can hang out with forever and never interface with
10:05
the world. But as you've learned, you need
10:07
the world. You need the world.
10:10
You need the world in such a way that it becomes a mission field
10:13
for you. But you know the world needs you
10:16
because there's no gospel to go forward without those that have
10:20
the gospel of peace on their shoes.
10:22
And we need both. The world keeps us on our knees
10:25
now. We now don't must understand the
10:27
words I choose. I didn't say we want the world
10:30
but we need the world Keeps us on our knees, keeps us knocking
10:33
on heaven's door seeking his face asking God to intervene.
10:37
But the world needs us as well, until he's ready to remove us
10:42
through the rapture of the church.
10:43
Pick up with me now with all that Genesis 47 verse one it
10:46
says. Then Joseph went and told
10:48
Pharaoh, and said, my father and my brothers, their flocks and
10:52
their herds and all that they possess have come from the land
10:55
of Canaan, and indeed they're in the land of Goshen.
10:58
Now he took five men from among his brothers and presented them
11:02
to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his
11:04
brothers, what's your occupation?
11:06
And they said to Pharaoh, your servants are shepherds, both we
11:10
and also our fathers. Why did they say that?
11:12
Twofold #1, They were shepherds #2 Joseph told him to do that.
11:18
He prepped them for this meeting, got him ready for it.
11:21
Verse four. And they said to Pharaoh, we've
11:23
come to sojourn in the land because your servants have no
11:26
pasture for their flocks. For the famine is severe in the
11:29
land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your
11:31
servants dwell on the land of Goshen.
11:34
Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your
11:36
brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you
11:40
have your father, your brothers dwell.
11:42
Notice in the best of the land. Let them dwell on the land of
11:46
Goshen, which was incredibly fertile, perfect, perfect ground
11:51
for them. And if you know any competent
11:53
men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my
11:56
livestock. He takes five of his brothers to
11:59
meet Pharaoh. They tell him they're shepherds.
12:02
And Joseph noticed was so well respected that Pharaoh wanted
12:05
the best for his brothers and the best of his brothers to
12:10
watch over his livestock. It came because of the testimony
12:13
of Joseph. Your testimony matters, church,
12:17
your testimony, how people view you and see you and hear you is
12:23
important in this world. Why?
12:25
Because the Bible says that man looks at the outward and God
12:30
looks at the heart. And So what do believers do?
12:32
A lot of Christians will say, well, you know, you don't know
12:34
my heart, brother. You don't know my heart.
12:35
Yeah, I can't get to your heart because I can't get past all the
12:38
nonsense on the outside. And it's asking for something
12:42
that can't happen. It's like you can know anyone's
12:44
heart, but you can see someone's life.
12:47
You can see someone's life. Your testimony is so important.
12:50
It's not just for you and the gospel.
12:52
It's for your brothers and for your sisters.
12:54
I mean, think about it. Think about the testimony that
12:57
the church has had over the years because of the failure of
13:00
believers, because of our failure.
13:03
And it's unfortunate that sometimes that failure is not
13:05
just stumbling and falling down. It's hypocritical living.
13:09
It's talking out of both sides of your mouth.
13:12
It's being one thing with the brothers and sisters and
13:15
something completely other in the world where you've tarnished
13:19
the reputation of Jesus Christ and you've tarnished your own
13:23
name, your own reputation, and you've tarnished the church by
13:27
which you represent. You know, you give out those
13:31
stickers and license plate frames.
13:32
Look, if you're not going to live for the Lord, take them off
13:34
your car. We don't want to tarnish the
13:37
name of the church. We want it to represent a place
13:39
where, yeah, we're not perfect and we're we're going through it
13:42
and we're stumbling and following, but we don't want to
13:44
live hypocritically to push somebody.
13:47
I mean, think about that. Pushing someone away from the
13:51
things of God. And I've been around town for
13:52
enough, and we've been giving this stuff out for a long time.
13:55
I have a few stories I can share of personal interactions with
13:59
people, with stickers from this church.
14:02
I'm not going to share them now, but they're not encouraging.
14:05
It's not right that you don't pay attention to your testimony,
14:09
and it's not right for believers to live hypocritical lives.
14:13
Joseph's life was so much, so filled with integrity that on
14:19
the testimony of Joseph's life, Pharaoh said, hey, the the best.
14:25
I want to don't give me all your brothers, but give me the best
14:27
of your brothers. Take care of my livestock
14:30
because I've seen how God blesses you.
14:33
And if they're connected to you in any way, I want them
14:35
connected to me. Jot it down.
14:37
In Proverbs chapter 16 and verse seven, it says when a man's ways
14:41
please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with
14:45
him. Isn't that great?
14:47
It's a promise from the Lord. Here's a key here.
14:49
You ready? You want to know how to live a
14:50
life that's not hypocritical. A life where has a real
14:54
testimony. I mean, again, a testimony
14:56
that's not perfect, Obviously that that's even a cop out in
14:59
and of itself, isn't it? Well, you know I'm not perfect.
15:02
What are you talking about? What?
15:05
Why what? Just stop being a liar.
15:06
That's all we want. We don't want perfection.
15:08
Just stop lying. Just stop being deceitful.
15:12
Just stop gossiping. Just stop giving saying you're
15:15
going to be somewhere and not showing up.
15:16
Like we're not saying be perfect.
15:18
Just stop some of the obvious things in your life because it
15:22
harms and tarnishes the name of Jesus Christ and you and the
15:26
church you go to and Christianity.
15:28
But here's the key, even as even as you examine yourself, here's
15:32
the key. This is it's so easy.
15:34
Just live a life seeking to please God.
15:39
That's the way. Just live a life wanting to
15:42
please the Lord, wanting to know his heart for your life.
15:45
Make it your number one goal in life to be right with God.
15:48
Jesus would put it this way. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
15:53
and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto
15:56
you. You don't have to make a list of
15:57
all your failures and all your sins and all your problems and
16:00
oh I don't know, I can't. Just please the Lord and he will
16:04
advocate on your behalf. Be careful that you don't fall
16:08
into the most common trap when it comes to living life in the
16:13
public, and that is trying to please man.
16:15
If any of you have tried to please man, you know it's
16:18
impossible emphasizing every single syllable in that word.
16:23
It's impossible, but it's not impossible to please the Lord.
16:29
It's not impossible. He enables you to people you
16:32
don't know what angle they're coming from, or what kind of day
16:34
they had or what you're going to say.
16:36
You try to calculate your words. Let's say you just have two
16:38
people in front of you and you've got to say something and
16:41
you're calculating your words for person A.
16:44
And so you save for person A. But then now you tick off person
16:47
B and then you recalculate and then you start, OK, no.
16:51
And you tell something to the opposite to person B.
16:53
And now A is mad at you. And then you recalculate and you
16:56
tick them both off and you just don't know what to do.
16:58
And you start living your life to please man.
17:01
That the the Bible says that pleasing man brings a snare, but
17:06
when you make it your aim to please the Lord, he can make
17:09
even your enemies be at peace with you.
17:11
You don't need to worry about it.
17:13
So much time is wasted trying to please man and fearing what
17:17
others think. Concerned with the opinions and
17:20
other. I know some of us deal with that
17:22
far more than others. It may not be a big issue for
17:24
you even on a large scale, could be just on a small scale
17:27
episodically. Nonetheless, it's just better to
17:30
seek to please the Lord and not worry about what people think,
17:34
because God will take care of you and watch your back.
17:38
And you can seek him first. He'll honor you there and meet
17:40
you there. Notice verse 7 now.
17:42
Joseph then brought in his father Jacob and set him before
17:45
Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
17:48
What a sight that must have been.
17:50
This guy is just a guy from from Canaan.
17:53
He's a sheep, sheep reader, you know, a shepherd taking care of
17:58
livestock. He is the in the mind of the
18:01
Egyptians, the lowest of the lowest class of people.
18:05
And look what God has done. He brings Jacob before Pharaoh,
18:09
and Jacob blesses him because of the favor of God upon his life.
18:14
Don't you want that kind of favor?
18:16
I want that kind of favor. Not for myself.
18:19
Not so I could be written in the Bible.
18:20
I just want to be in situations where I'm shocked that I'm in
18:24
that situation because it was only from the Lord.
18:27
I didn't manipulate it. I didn't move it.
18:29
I didn't try it. I didn't even want it, except
18:32
that I sought to please the Lord.
18:34
Jacob here, he's at home. Where was he At home.
18:36
Grieving, sad, Worried, anxious. Remember we learned last time
18:42
season of his life. Where was he at?
18:44
Everything's against me. Everything's against me.
18:46
Everything's against me. And boom, where's he at?
18:49
The number one man that rules the world.
18:52
He's in his presence and he's in a place, if you could use this
18:56
of authority over Pharaoh, giving him God's blessing upon
19:00
his life, that had to be shocking.
19:02
That's one of those moments. I'm sure you had them where
19:05
you're like there, but you're kind of watching yourself there
19:08
and you're like, I can't. What is this is this is too
19:11
much. And I want that.
19:14
And that comes from the favor of God.
19:16
It's the grace of God. It's not because of our merits
19:19
or our good behavior or, you know, one day you can earn this.
19:23
It's not that at all. It's the favor of God.
19:26
Notice in verse 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, how old are you?
19:30
And Jacob said to Pharaoh the days of the years of my
19:33
pilgrimage are 130 years. He's basically saying I'm an old
19:37
man. Few and evil have been the days
19:40
of the years of my life, and they've not attained to the days
19:45
and the years of the life of my father's in the days of their
19:48
pilgrimage. And so Jacob blessed Pharaoh and
19:53
went out from before them. And Joseph situated his father
19:58
and his brothers gave them a possession in the land of Egypt
20:01
and the best of the land. Don't miss that this is the
20:04
favor. God's hand is all over this.
20:08
God was leading them into a place of favor.
20:12
But the place of favor didn't come without a lot of pain and
20:16
suffering. Image you found that to be true.
20:19
The people you see there's experiencing the blessings of
20:21
God. But it's not like they were born
20:23
that way. Everybody faces difficulties and
20:26
trials. Everybody.
20:28
And everybody deals with them differently.
20:30
And Jacob, here he is before Pharaoh.
20:33
And man, how quickly things change for this man.
20:38
It's one of the things I pray in my life.
20:39
I know that when change comes, it's going to come quick and
20:42
it's going to come unexpected. It's just things can happen so
20:46
quickly. Just a few months ago, Jacob was
20:49
worrying about his family literally dying of starvation,
20:53
grieving the loss of his son from for years, but then also
20:57
grieving the loss of his favorite son.
20:59
Like dealing with the loss of his wife, like so much going on.
21:04
But how things have changed. He stands before Pharaoh and
21:08
answers his questions. He's 130 years old and I love
21:12
it. If you notice in the text I
21:14
love, it's interesting how he describes his age.
21:17
First, he's not ashamed of being old.
21:20
He's not ashamed of being old. He knows that with age comes
21:23
wisdom and experience and respect.
21:26
So those of you, I'm not going to call you old, but you know
21:29
that you're old. Thank you for staying steady for
21:32
us and being a beacon and a lighthouse.
21:35
That we can see that it is possible to walk with the Lord
21:39
for many years. Thank you very much.
21:41
Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your commitment.
21:44
Thank you for your strength. Thank you for relying upon the
21:47
Lord. Thank you for your stories.
21:49
Thank you for your testimonies. Thank you.
21:52
We need you. The the story is not over
21:55
because you standing before Pharaoh.
21:57
I'm 130 years old, but I'm telling her there's more than
22:00
the Lord has for you. I don't think anyone here is 130
22:04
years old, but if you were, the Lord has more for you.
22:07
He's not ashamed of his age. Unfortunately, our culture
22:11
really looks down on people that gets older.
22:14
And that's not the Church's heart.
22:15
It's not God's heart for you. You have so much to offer the
22:18
body of Christ, so offer it. Be in the Spirit.
22:21
But here's the thing. You got to be old in the spirit.
22:24
We don't want you old and all, cranky, OK?
22:26
No crankiness. And we don't want you old and in
22:29
the flesh. And we don't want you old
22:31
walking around like you think you know it all.
22:33
We need you old in the Lord. That's where you're effective.
22:38
That's where you're helpful. That's where you're needed.
22:42
That's where you're wanted. You're to be what the Bible
22:45
speaks of as elders. The strange thing about being
22:48
elders and being older, and I don't mean the office of elder,
22:51
but I mean being older in the body of Christ, is you just
22:54
don't know when you become old until you are.
22:57
And you're like, oh, I guess I am one of them, Yes.
23:01
But the good news is, is that you can get there in the spirit
23:05
and age doesn't become an issue for you anymore because you're
23:08
just serving the Lord. That's the key.
23:12
And you don't want to look down on the youth, because I know a
23:14
lot of changes happen in a church.
23:15
A lot of changes happen in our church as we adjust to the
23:18
culture, we adjust to the ways we adjust to technology.
23:21
And you're just like, Oh no, that's not the way I was.
23:24
And then you can really get really upset.
23:26
But you got to understand there's other generations coming
23:29
behind you. And you had your day.
23:32
You had your day. There was a season when you were
23:35
the young one in the church and all the decisions were made for
23:38
you and and we say yes, Amen because that's why we favor
23:41
change right when they're made in our favor.
23:43
Amen. But you got to remember one of
23:46
the reasons why God has multi generations in a church is for
23:50
the sake of blessing for all generations, that those babies
23:53
in the nursery are just as important as you and your latter
23:57
age, equally important in the sight of God.
24:00
And so you got to be careful. You just got to walk in the
24:02
spirit because we need you. But we also need every
24:06
generation, no matter the age, being open and ready to serve
24:12
them in Jesus name. So #1 he's not ashamed #2 notice
24:15
he first measures his life in days.
24:18
He says the days of the years. I like that because the Bible
24:23
talks us to teach us to know our days.
24:26
We we need to understand that it's today.
24:30
That's most important, but days do add up to years.
24:33
Then the third thing I notice, and he's describes himself, is
24:36
he describes himself as a Pilgrim, his life and his age,
24:40
as a pilgrimage, the world he recognizes that he's just
24:45
passing through. In Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 13,
24:48
remember it says these all died in faith, not having received
24:53
the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of
24:57
them, embraced them and confessed that they were
25:00
strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
25:06
Remember that church you're just passing through like Jacob.
25:09
We need to understand that this world is not our home.
25:14
We must grasp it. In first John chapter 2 and
25:18
verse 15, it says do not love the world or the things in the
25:22
world. If anyone loves the world, the
25:24
love of the Father is not in him.
25:26
For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
25:29
the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father but is of this
25:34
world. And have you noticed that where
25:37
your home is, that's usually where your mind is, Where your
25:43
home is, that's where your mind is.
25:45
I mean, if you think about it, unless you're a contractor or
25:47
anything, so, you know, get the illustration the way I deliver
25:50
it. But rarely do you go to Home
25:52
Depot and buy things to fix your neighbour's house.
25:55
I mean, maybe they ask occasionally, but I'm just think
25:57
about you go to Home Depot, you're not going.
25:59
Well, I don't even go to Home Depot.
26:01
Marie does. So when Marie goes to Home Depot
26:03
or to Lowe's, she's not buying stuff to fix our neighbour's
26:06
house, She's fixing something in our house.
26:07
Do you guys see the same in your, like, you?
26:10
Unless you're helping someone, like when you're thinking about
26:12
your house, you're thinking about what's needed there.
26:15
You're primarily thinking about your family, the discipline of
26:19
your kids. You know, you can't go next door
26:21
and discipline your neighbor's kids.
26:23
They're not your kids. You're going to get a visit
26:26
pretty quickly. It's like, what are you doing?
26:28
I'm spanking your kids, bro, because you won't do it.
26:31
Oh, really? You know, it's you know how
26:33
that's going to end? Not very well.
26:35
Your mind is occupied with your home, and if the world is all
26:40
you live for, your mind is occupied by this world.
26:45
And you, even the world, has created tools.
26:49
They've created computer programs, They're creating new
26:53
technology to keep us fixated on this world, on things that don't
27:00
matter. They keep you, you know, the you
27:05
think of social media as an example.
27:07
They the way things work is designed to keep you on it as
27:11
long as possible. Did you know that?
27:14
That's the essence of it, to keep you on as long as possible.
27:17
Why? Because then you'll see the most
27:19
ads, it's purely monetary, so they can separate us from our
27:24
money. But they've got some really
27:27
intelligent men and women working behind the scenes.
27:30
Even as I'm speaking right now, tweaking the program and the
27:35
algorithm based on the last time you were on.
27:39
So they could keep you a little bit longer and a little bit
27:41
longer and a little bit longer. This world fixated on this
27:45
world. So what is, you know, if I think
27:47
of Instagram, it's pretty much the only thing I'm on now these
27:49
days. But when you think of Instagram,
27:51
what is Instagram but but a tool that you get insights on other
27:56
people's lives and maybe some funny things for here and there,
27:59
but the way that they see like you see what you're looking at.
28:02
They the enemy uses social media to get you covetous and envious
28:09
and upset. I mean you're you're there and
28:12
you were barely able to warm up your your leftovers and you know
28:16
and you're looking at it and it's just the ugliest thing.
28:19
There's never in a million years will you ever take a picture of
28:22
that and post it. But it's the food you got and
28:25
that's what God has provided and you just thank God for it.
28:28
So as you're eating with one hand, you pull out and your
28:31
friend posted the most amazing cheese.
28:34
But you've never, ever seen a cheeseburger like that.
28:39
And for just a brief second, you're dissatisfied with the
28:43
food that you just asked. Thank God for.
28:46
I know it doesn't seem like a big deal.
28:48
It seems like a silly illustration, but do that 1000
28:51
times a year and tell me what it does to your mind. 100 times a
28:57
month, 50 times a week. You don't think that's going to
29:01
affect your mind. And then you combine that and
29:04
this is just life. This is just the way we've been
29:07
over the years, but just life. And then you combine that with a
29:10
life that isn't feeding on God's word.
29:15
And you don't even have 50 verses in your heart that you
29:17
can combat that nonsense or you're not.
29:20
Like it's first thing on the phone, first thing on the phone,
29:23
and you avoid the word. You don't think that's going to
29:25
have a spiritual effect. This is not some pastor telling
29:27
you how to live. I'm just telling you how you
29:30
already live mini listening to me, you don't think that's going
29:33
to have effect? The Bible says if we sow to the
29:36
flesh, we're going to reap corruption, and the flesh
29:40
involves envy. It involves covetousness.
29:46
And we we should be wise enough to know we start our day in the
29:49
word. We live our day in the Word.
29:52
We're in a perpetual state of prayer.
29:54
And truly, if we have thanked God for the food before us, then
29:59
we should mean it and be happy for your friend that just
30:04
happened to have the most exhilarating hamburger or steak
30:08
or whatever it is just to be happy.
30:12
And if it's not your friend, there's some restaurant up there
30:14
put giving you the perfect picture of something.
30:17
It's like, oh, it would be nice that it would be nice where your
30:21
home is. If this world is your home and
30:25
this is it, you're chasing after the things of this world, then
30:30
it's going to get all of your attention and it's going to get
30:33
all of your investment. But if you live for eternity, as
30:37
we mentioned earlier, to please the Lord, then you can stand
30:40
before even Pharaoh and go, you know what, the days, the years
30:43
of my life, just a pilgrimage. I'm just passing through in a
30:47
very veiled way. I don't know if Jacob realizes
30:49
it or not because I don't think it is hard he ever intended to
30:51
stay in Egypt. Personally, I don't think that
30:54
was his knowing the history of Egypt throughout his family.
30:57
It's it's hasn't been good. So maybe in a veiled way he's
31:01
even reminding himself as good as it gets in Egypt, it's not my
31:04
home. The promised land is Canaan.
31:06
It's not here. And we got to remind ourselves
31:09
of the promises of God and speak the truth.
31:12
Let it come out of our mouths. And I'm just passing through and
31:16
I'm not living for today. Verse 11.
31:18
Now notice it says. And Joseph situated.
31:20
His father and his brothers gave them a possession in the land of
31:24
Egypt, the best of the land and the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh
31:29
had commanded. Then Joseph provided his father,
31:33
his brothers, and his father's household with bread, according
31:36
to the number and their families.
31:37
And now there was no bread in all the land, so the famine's
31:40
getting worse. If they would have stayed in
31:43
Canaan, it was getting worse. Now there's no bread in all the
31:46
land, and the famine was very severe, so that the land of
31:50
Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished because of the
31:54
famine, and we covered this in previous Bible studies.
31:58
But famine was a serious, very serious worldwide situation.
32:03
And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land
32:06
of Egypt, in the land of Canaan, for the grain which was brought,
32:09
which they bought. And Joseph brought the money
32:12
into Pharaoh's house. So when the money failed in the
32:16
land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came
32:20
to Joseph and said give us bread for why should we die in your
32:24
presence? For the money has failed.
32:26
Don't want to develop it, don't want to spend time because we're
32:29
running out of time. But I I think it's enough to be
32:32
said, Let the Bible say what it says.
32:35
Money fails, money fails. You could be the head of a
32:43
country and have all the available resources and still
32:48
come to this place where money fails.
32:50
You can't trust in riches. Remember that guy that Jesus
32:53
talked about? Maybe I will develop a little
32:55
bit. Remember that guy that Jesus
32:57
talked about where he spoke about how I'm so rich?
33:00
I'm going to build myself some barns.
33:02
I'm going to make room for everything that I have.
33:04
And then, and the voice was, Don't you know that I'm going to
33:07
require your soul from you tonight?
33:09
You can build your your you can build your silos, and you can
33:13
fill them with money and resources.
33:15
But your soul still belongs to God, and he can hold you
33:19
accountable at any moment. So money fails here.
33:22
You might want to mark that you trust in money.
33:26
Not going to be reliable forever.
33:29
Notice the money failed in the land of Egypt.
33:32
And verse 16. Joseph said give your livestock
33:35
and I'll give you bread for your livestock if the money is gone.
33:38
And so they brought their livestock to Joseph and Joseph
33:40
gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the
33:43
cattle, the herds, the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in
33:47
exchange for all their livestock that year.
33:50
Verse 18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next
33:53
year and said, we'll not hide from my Lord that all our money
33:56
is gone. My Lord also has our herds and
33:59
our livestock. There's nothing left in the
34:03
sight of my Lord but our bodies and our lands.
34:06
Why should we die before your eyes?
34:09
Both we and our land by us. That's how severe the famine was
34:14
by us and our land for bread. And we and our land will be your
34:18
servants of Pharaoh, give us seed, that we may live and not
34:21
die, that the land may not be desolate.
34:24
And Joseph brought bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh.
34:28
For every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the
34:31
famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaohs.
34:36
And As for the people, he moved them into the cities from one
34:39
end of the borders of Egypt to the other.
34:41
Only the land of priests he did not buy.
34:44
For the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and
34:48
they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them.
34:50
Therefore they did not sell their lands, just like it was
34:54
predicted. The famine got worse, All the
34:58
money is gone. They're beginning to barter,
35:01
even offer themselves as slaves. They bring all their livestock
35:05
and Joseph collects it all for Pharaoh.
35:08
Notice again in verse 23. Then Joseph said to the people,
35:13
Indeed, I brought you and your land this day for Pharaoh, Look,
35:17
here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land, and it shall
35:22
come to pass, verse 24 in the harvest, that you shall give 1/5
35:26
of Pharaoh, 4/5 shall be your own, as seed for the field, and
35:30
for your food, for those of your household, and as food for your
35:34
little ones. So they said, you have saved our
35:36
lives. Let us find favor in the sight
35:38
of my Lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
35:41
Verse 26. And Joseph made it a law over
35:43
the land of Egypt to this day that Pharaoh should have 1/5,
35:47
except for the land of the priests only, which did not
35:51
become Pharaohs. The people were moved into the
35:53
cities, probably to make it easier to distribute the food.
35:56
He turned them into farmers, assessed across the board a 20%
36:01
annual tithe, if you want to call it that, or assessment on
36:04
the harvest and their response in verse 25.
36:07
You've saved our lives. We would rather have this and be
36:10
alive than the alternative. And there's a few lessons here
36:15
that as we close out that I want to share with you.
36:17
First of all, looking at this situation and the difficulty
36:21
that's there first is you need to understand that it is this
36:27
cry that they have to. Pharaoh is very similar to our
36:32
cry to Jesus where we look to him and say you've saved our
36:35
lives and we have become your servants In this, they become a
36:40
type of our relationship, but not the way that Pharaoh does.
36:44
Here he says, man, as Joseph is administrating the the
36:51
situation, you know, he requires a very big hefty price.
36:57
But you know, Jesus isn't as interested in what you have as
37:00
in who you are. And I know sometimes pastors and
37:03
churches and false teachers even, they get it all wrong and
37:06
they make it. They make it sound like the only
37:08
thing God is interested in is in your money.
37:11
As if God doesn't have anything and he'd be broke without you.
37:15
But what God's interested is in you, In you.
37:20
He loves you. That's why in the room today,
37:24
whether there are millionaires among us or someone that's
37:28
$1,000,000 in debt, the love of God is equal to each of you,
37:33
because God loves you. And you've got to remember that.
37:37
It's important that we remember the mercy of God, that our cry
37:41
is to Jesus and not to man. Man is not your salvation.
37:48
Our commitment of what He's done in our lives is we'll serve you
37:51
all the days of our life. We commit to you, Jesus.
37:56
Of course, a famine will get you to that place very easily.
38:00
I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but many times people
38:03
darken the doors of a church because of some crisis, like a
38:07
famine. Famines will get to you, get you
38:10
to that place very, very quickly.
38:13
And I pray if you're listening to me and you're in great
38:15
crisis, that you will cry to the Lord.
38:17
He is your only help. A famine can get you to the Lord
38:24
or you can fall under the weight of the difficulty.
38:28
You can voluntarily surrender your heart to Jesus, or you
38:30
could keep fighting because it's not famine so much that's
38:35
common. You know, hunger and it's family
38:37
difficulties, or it's financial difficulties, or it's just
38:41
difficulties, Difficulties with the kids, we didn't know what
38:43
was going to happen, difficulties at work.
38:47
And I find that many believers over the years are what we would
38:50
call Fairweather friends. Kind of like, you know,
38:53
Fairweather fans of different football teams.
38:56
They're, they're fair weather fans of Jesus or friends of
38:59
Jesus, where as long as things are going well, they're going to
39:02
be worshippers of God. But as soon as things get tough,
39:05
you know, it's like why, Lord, I can't believe it.
39:07
I'm so mad at you. I'm going to go back to the
39:09
bottle. I'm going to go back to my
39:10
friends. This doesn't work for me.
39:12
I'm going to go back to the world until another famine hits.
39:15
Remember the prodigal son? It's when he came to the end of
39:18
himself. And what was it that fine one of
39:20
the final straws that was brought in his life?
39:23
Famine, scarcity. But I'll tell you you'll find if
39:29
you come by faith to Jesus, you will find out that he is a true
39:33
friend through all the storms in life.
39:35
You don't need to be a fair weather friend.
39:37
You can be in any weather friend of Jesus.
39:40
That's his commitment to you, whether it's stormy or sunshine.
39:45
God is faithful. And our response to Jesus again,
39:49
a second thing I want to show you is this becomes a type of
39:52
our relationship with them, but far greater than Pharaoh.
39:55
But our response to him is to give.
39:58
We become generous men and women because of the generosity of
40:02
God. We become generous men and
40:05
women. I mean for some of you, you may
40:07
share a testimony like me, but like God, he turned on something
40:12
and added something to my life that wasn't there previously.
40:16
I mean, he's done a lot of things, but one of them is this
40:18
sense where Jesus says he just tells you straight up it is
40:21
better to give than to receive. And once you tap into that, you
40:26
just start being happy for people.
40:28
You start being happy when you give.
40:30
You're not expecting anything in return.
40:32
And that's how it is with us and the Lord.
40:35
I mean in Genesis 28 earlier Jacob promised 10%.
40:38
Here in Genesis 47 the Egyptians are required to give 20%.
40:43
And Luke chapter 19. Remember Zacchaeus, the safe tax
40:47
collector? He promised 50% of all the
40:51
failure that he had. And then in Mark chapter 12 the
40:54
widow gave out of everything. That's the work of God in our
41:00
hearts. And here we are.
41:02
And pastors do all the time. And I I mention it as well, but
41:04
the Lord's going to have to take care of it.
41:06
But pastors all the time just surprise that people don't give
41:08
to the Lord. I don't understand it.
41:12
I, I, I mean, I understand it theologically.
41:14
You're just not tapped into the generosity of God.
41:17
You just don't understand truly yet what God has done in your
41:21
life. You're just not there yet.
41:25
I'm not entirely sure why, but God will get you there.
41:29
God will get you there. It took a while for me, for
41:31
sure, Coming from the world and living for myself and running up
41:36
major debts and being in debt. It took a while for me to
41:39
understand that this spiritual principle of giving, and I don't
41:43
just mean giving like giving to the church, is one of those
41:45
gimmies I like to call gimmies. It's it's giving to giving of
41:49
your tithes and offerings to your local church is one of the
41:52
easiest things you can do. It is one of the easiest things.
41:57
It is so convenient and easy. Each time you get increase,
42:03
you're to give from the increase that easy.
42:07
And in our church you can use the offering boxes.
42:09
You can go online you there's a lot of different you can bring
42:12
your pennies in if you want to the table it doesn't like like
42:15
it's so easy. What's harder is to learn to be
42:19
a generous person in a loveless world.
42:22
You'll never get it until you learn how to be faithful in the
42:25
easy things. And you wonder, man, why am I so
42:29
stingy and why am I so like why do I hold back.
42:32
And maybe it's just this. Maybe it's just your heart of
42:37
giving just then, the easy one on the Gimme where it's not even
42:42
measured. You just have a generosity about
42:45
you and used to learn. As Pastor Chuck Smith taught us,
42:50
he had heard it somewhere else. He adopted it.
42:52
He just said, you know, somebody had heard in a Bible study.
42:55
He said you cannot outgive God. And then he sought to live that
42:58
way. And Pastor Chuck Smith said you
43:00
know what? That's how I want to live my
43:01
life. I just want to see this in my
43:03
life. I don't want to out give God,
43:04
out give God. And from all outward appearances
43:07
in that man's life, he never out gave God.
43:10
God entrusted that man with resources that this church here
43:14
has benefited from over the years that we have had the
43:17
benefit at no cost to us, How the Lord blessed us through that
43:21
man. And so that generosity, it just
43:23
it is so different from the world.
43:25
It's so different. And when you tap into it, even
43:30
at the end, like you say, well, how much are we supposed to give
43:33
God? Look, just give as God.
43:35
Purpose is in your heart, like that's the key, and you start
43:38
from everything and work your way down.
43:41
It's like when we're negotiating things for the church, we always
43:43
start at zero and work our way up because it's God's money.
43:47
We want to be faithful with it. Well, when it comes to giving
43:49
yourself to God, start with everything and then let the Lord
43:52
work it out for you and you'll just find it'll be a blessed
43:55
place. But you know, I find those that
43:57
aren't givers, those that aren't faithful in the giving, they
43:59
never have enough for anything, just never have enough for
44:03
anything. It's always an issue in their
44:05
life. And I'm not me.
44:06
I'm not even speaking to the years Marie and I had so many
44:09
years. Just man, I don't know how we're
44:12
going to make it or what we're going to do or whatever.
44:13
It's not. I'm not even talking about not
44:15
working. I'm not even talking about not
44:17
having resource. I'm talking about the spiritual
44:19
principle, where there's no abundance because there's no
44:22
faithfulness. And it could be in a lot of
44:25
things, not just money, it could be in helping people.
44:30
I was just thinking this the other day where, you know,
44:32
there's a season, There was a season early on in the church,
44:35
in this church, and I'm friends with other churches, where
44:38
people would just donate their services.
44:39
They just, hey, I do that and does the church need anything?
44:42
And we go, yeah, man, we got this to fix and not to fix.
44:45
But then over the years, it's all about, well, you know, I'll
44:48
give you a 1% discount, like, wait, wait, wait a minute.
44:51
Is this your church? Yeah, it's my church.
44:53
Well, what do you mean, discount?
44:55
Why don't you just come and help?
44:56
You know, you know, I like. Well, we'll pay for it if we
45:01
have to. But why can't you just use your
45:04
gifts and talents? For the Lord is any given to you
45:07
to begin with? And you, it's times like this,
45:10
especially on the radio. Oh, must be a difficult time in
45:12
the church. It's not.
45:15
Especially. And if you're having a hard time
45:16
with what I just said, you should go back to your prayer
45:18
closet and just seek the Lord. Because I could tell you, here
45:22
you come, and you need a pastor. We're not going to charge you
45:24
for it. You need to sit down and wrestle
45:27
with somebody. We're not going to charge you
45:28
for it. We're not going to have you fill
45:30
out. You're listening.
45:31
From Missouri. You can drive all the way out
45:33
here. You can come here.
45:34
We'll sit down with you for free.
45:36
Pastors will make time for you. They'll rearrange their schedule
45:39
to meet with you. Why?
45:40
Because freely we receive, freely we give.
45:44
The Lord is so faithful to us. And so here, famine has brought
45:47
them to a place where they don't have a choice.
45:50
You know, some cults. That's how they do money.
45:52
You don't have a choice. You want to be in a cult?
45:54
Bring your 1099 or whatever W2 in.
45:57
You'll see what you make. And this is what you will give.
45:59
Not a commitment. We'll take it right off the top.
46:03
But God's not a cult. He's a God of love.
46:05
That motivates by love. He's not going to push you,
46:08
press you. Neither are we.
46:10
Because I always like to remind, you know, when something great
46:13
with something happens, some great thing happens.
46:16
We can all rejoice because this is our church family.
46:20
But if you don't participate, it's going to be hard for you to
46:23
rejoice, isn't it? It's almost like, oh, that's
46:26
good that you guys did that because I'm not really walking
46:29
with the Lord right now, which the Holy Spirit will use.
46:34
Like, why not? It's so easy to walk with me.
46:36
I've made every way for you. Just come back to me.
46:40
I want you to enjoy me. I want you to live for me.
46:43
And giving is just a little bit of it.
46:45
So notice we'll close up here. Israel Dwelt in the land of
46:47
Egypt, verse 27, in the country of Goshen, which was extremely
46:51
fertile. They had possessions there, and
46:54
again look at the promise fulfilled.
46:57
They grew and multiplied exceedingly.
47:00
Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, so the link of Jacob's
47:03
life was 147 years. When the time drew near that
47:07
Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If I
47:11
found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my
47:13
thigh and deal kindly and truly with me.
47:18
Please don't bury me in Egypt. Let me lie with my father's You
47:22
shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in the burial place.
47:25
And he said, I'll do as you've said, honorable son.
47:27
But this is one of the reasons among many where I don't think
47:30
Jacob ever wanted to stay in Egypt like he'd do it.
47:34
He believed it was from God, but he didn't want to stay.
47:36
Verse 31. And then he said, swear to me
47:39
and he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the
47:42
head of the bed. Jacob knows the land of Canaan
47:47
was the promised and not Egypt, and he wants to be buried at
47:52
home. For 17 years, Joseph was cared
47:57
for, for the family. Jacob was taken care of by
48:02
Joseph. You know, Joseph was taken care
48:05
of and nurtured by Jacob. He was sold.
48:07
And then in return, Now Jacob is in the care of his son for 17
48:11
years. I thought that was a cool little
48:13
insight. There's a spiritual principle
48:16
that's so encouraging, but it can be hard to believe.
48:19
But it covers those years, and this is the scripture I want to
48:22
end with. It covers those years that we
48:25
lost. Some of us lost a lot of years
48:28
living for the world. I want to show you a verse God
48:30
gave me early on in my walk in Joel Chapter 2.
48:33
Would you turn over there with me, Joel, Chapter 2?
48:37
You've lost some years and you know, the holidays got you
48:40
thinking about it. And you're just kind of, you
48:42
know, dealing with regret and dealing with issues.
48:46
I want to give you a verse you can hold on to, maybe one that
48:49
you can even memorize, but it's so good.
48:54
Joel, Chapter 2, some of you are in the middle of this right now.
49:00
It says in verse 12. Now therefore says the Lord,
49:04
turn to me with all your heart with fasting.
49:07
There it is again weeping, and with mourning rend your heart
49:11
and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God.
49:15
For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great
49:20
kindness, and he relents from doing harm.
49:26
God is ready to receive you back today.
49:29
And he loves to restore. He loves to renew.
49:33
He loves to give back the years that the locust has eaten.
49:38
That's the work of Jesus Christ, He says later in verse 28.
49:42
It shall come to pass afterward that I'll pour out my spirit on
49:45
all flesh. And your sons and your daughters
49:48
will prophecy. And your old men shall dream
49:51
dreams. And your young men shall see
49:54
visions. And on my menservants.
49:56
On my maidservants. I will pour out my spirit in
50:00
those days. Do you know what days he's
50:02
referring to today? Because you Bible students know
50:07
from our study in the Book of Acts This is what happened on
50:11
the day of Pentecost. This fulfillment and another
50:15
place in Joel. God promises to restore to you
50:19
the ears that were eaten away by the locust taking good care of
50:23
you and making sure that you know that he's a God that keeps
50:27
his promises. So God, we just pray right now
50:31
that we would receive the promises that you give to us on
50:35
this last midweek Bible study of the year that we remember that,
50:40
yeah, sometimes it requires a little Egypt experience, but you
50:45
only because you brought us there to protect us from
50:47
something worse. And God, we pray for a
50:51
restorative work of your Holy Spirit in our lives, that you
50:56
would do the work that you would have willing vessels.
51:05
And we do want to be live surrendered lives.
51:07
That's the answer. We want that surrendered life.
51:12
So help us God. We could get so routine and so
51:15
religious and just miss out another year.
51:20
Want to be able to see these years, the days of the years of
51:23
my pilgrimage. They haven't been easy, Jacob
51:28
says. But here I am, blessing you.
51:31
Imagine that. What do you have in store for
51:34
your church today? God, we want it, and we want to
51:39
be the people that please you. We pray that in Jesus name.
51:44
Amen. We pray that you've been
51:46
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
51:49
sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer.
51:52
Call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
52:01
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
52:04
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
52:10
or download our free Calvary Church app.
52:12
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.