(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The sermon of Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. So on the surface, what we have going on here, and remember that all this stuff really happened, so this is not just some story or some idle tale, this is all backed in history, and it's in the Bible, so we could be admonished by it. But also, as we've seen going through the book of Genesis, there's a lot of things that are underneath the surface that, and especially in the story of Joseph from, you know, basically from chapter 37 on, or 37 that it skips to 39, but anyway, there's been a lot of parallels with Christ and Joseph, and there's also parallels with Judah and Christ, and in this chapter it's no different, but just on the surface, what we see, remember last chapter, what happened was Joseph is testing his brothers, so he finally gets them to, they kind of admit that for the sins that they've committed against Joseph, this is why all these things were happening to them, but in reality, they don't know it's Joseph that's putting them through all these tests, and basically just seeing how they're going to react once they're persecuted, and really, they react in a pretty much a good way, except for the fact that they're saying, well, you know, they kind of overstepped their, the things that they should be saying and things they shouldn't be saying, and I kind of preach about that, how they said, well, let the person who's, you know, who has the cup in his bag be put to death and all of us will be your servants, and it's like, well, you might not want to say that because the cup is in his bag, and then what are you going to do, so, but basically they kind of put themselves, they bind themselves under this curse by saying that, and so really they are at the will of Joseph because they, well, and they just think that he's, you know, this high up person in Egypt, which he is, but they don't realize still to this point that this is the brother that they sold into slavery, the brother that they talked about murdering, the brother that they told their dad was dead and killed by a beast, and also the same brother that they sold to the Midianites who sold them into Egypt, and we're going to get, in this story, it's just a great story, it's kind of wrapping up this part of the story line where, you know, basically Joseph finally just dispenses with all the games he's kind of playing with them and toying with them a little bit here and reveals himself to them, and I kind of see that Joseph, he wants to forgive his brothers, you know, not everybody in this situation will be that forgiving, there's a lot of times when a family member will mess somebody over like this, they'll never talk to them again, they'll never have anything to do with them again, and unfortunately a lot of times brothers and sisters grow up together, I'm talking about literal siblings, or cousins even, and grow up together and something happens later on in life where they just, you know, just can't stand that person anymore and they just don't want anything to do with them anymore, and it seems like Joseph wants to have a relationship more with Benjamin, but he does care about his other brothers, and it's very clear in this chapter that he does love them, he does care about them, of course he's asking more about his dad, he hasn't seen his dad in many years since, you know, when he walked away and his dad sent him to go see how his brothers were doing, that's the last time that they've seen him when he was, he was 17 years old when that happened, he was just a young lad, and he was persecuted for doing right, if you remember he was revealing the dreams that he was having about how, you know, and then revealing to his dad that they were not acting like they should be, and they didn't like him, his brothers hated him, they couldn't even stand the sound of his voice, when they saw him coming, they plotted against him to kill him, but now you have the tables being turned and Joseph has all the power, and he told them in the dream, that he had this dream that they were going to bow before him, and we've seen in the previous chapters how three times now they've bowed before Joseph, and when he first dreamed that dream, even their dad was a little bit upset about it, he says, are me and your mother going to bow before you too? And he was angry with them, but he still kept that in his heart, that prophecy in his heart, and so Joseph here, he has an attitude of, you know, not wanting to pay them back necessarily, he wants to forgive them, and so he's seeing how they respond to his test, and I think they respond fairly well for the most part, and it seems as if they realize that their sins have caught up with them, and I think that they probably do feel bad for what they did, and just the way they responded and said, hey, you can kill my kids if we don't come back, that was one of the other dumb things that was said by Reuben, but Judas said, let it be placed upon me, the blame upon me forever if I bring him not back to you, which was a picture of Christ putting the sins of himself upon the world upon himself. So he kind of has this attitude here of, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, which is the same attitude that Christ had when he was crucified, even though they've really messed him over, Joseph sees things for how they are, he's looking at the spiritual aspect of what's happened to him up until this point, because a lot of people would have been whining about all the things that were done to them, and they would say, well I have PTSD from the time when my brother sold me into slavery, and they lied to my dad, and that's why I'm in the mess that I'm in right now, and I went to prison for no reason, I didn't do anything wrong, and I was falsely accused of trying to rape my master's wife, and all this other stuff, but in reality God was just setting him up to be able to do what? To save much people alive, that's what the whole purpose of God doing that for, and obviously the Messiah comes from this line of people, it comes from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also Judah, and then so on and so forth, so he did this also to save the posterity of Jacob, to save Israel alive, and to keep them preserved, and so there's physical pictures here of preservation, but there's also spiritual pictures here of preservation, and so look at verse number one, the Bible says, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all of them that stood by him, and he cried, cause every man to go out from me, and there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren, and he wept aloud, and the Egyptians, and the house of Pharaoh heard, and Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. Now pay very special attention to the things that Joseph says here, so Joseph reveals, he decides to reveal himself to his brethren, and he's weeping, and they're standing there, and they're like, okay, this is basically the governor of Egypt, now he's saying he's our brother, they think that their brother's dead, right? They really honestly do, I think they do think he's dead, and Jacob thinks he's dead, and so like Christ, his disciples thought he was dead, cause if you think about it, this is the children of Israel, this is basically the eleven, right here, just like there was only eleven left when Jesus was resurrected, but they all didn't believe necessarily right away either, as we kind of saw in the stories this morning, like the women came and told them, hey, he's alive, and they didn't think that he, you know, that Jesus had to come in and show himself to them, and reveal himself to them also, right? So Joseph made himself known to his brethren, and he says, I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren, notice this part, and his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. So troubled at his presence. Now turn to Luke chapter 24 verse 36, and this is the thing that I thought was so cool when I was studying for this sermon, and maybe you don't think it's as cool as I do, but I think it's really cool, so, as long as I think it's cool, that's all that matters, I'm just joking. But anyway, listen to what Jesus says here, and then think about how Joseph is revealing himself to the 11, and how he reveals himself to his brothers. Look at what Jesus says, look at what it says about Jesus there, in 24 verse 36, it says, and as they thus spake, Jesus stood himself in the midst of them and said, peace be unto you, but they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen his spirit. So, just like Joseph's brothers were troubled at the presence of Joseph, the disciples were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen his spirit, so they were also freaked out. So you see the parallel there, now look at what it says in verse 38, and he said unto them, why are ye troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? So Jesus basically says, so Joseph's brothers are troubled at his presence, and then you see Jesus saying, why are you troubled? His presence also troubled the disciples, and so that's what I thought was just so cool, it is totally a parallel, and I don't see how, you can't see that that's a parallel of Joseph revealing himself unto his brothers, they're troubled at his presence, why? Because they think he's dead, they think that he's anybody but Joseph, and just like when, you know, and obviously there's different things going on here, but they are troubled at the presence of Christ and they think he's a spirit, they don't think that it's really Jesus bodily resurrected from the dead. And what does it mean to be troubled? Showing distress or anxiety or to cause distress or anxiety. So Joseph's brothers were definitely filled with trouble and anxiety over seeing Joseph standing before them just like the disciples were troubled at the presence of Jesus, just appearing in the midst of them. It said, as he thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them. And so it's kind of a similar revealing, they're both freaked out in both situations, and it literally says the same thing, troubled. Why are you troubled? They were troubled at his presence. Look at verse 39 in Luke chapter 24, it says, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself handle me in sea, for his spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me to have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and of honeycomb and they took it and did eat before him. So we read those scriptures this morning, here's another one, and it says in verse 44, And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me. So Jesus tells them the things that are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me, that these things had to be fulfilled. Now think about the situation with Joseph, you know, there wasn't some prophecy necessarily based, you know, that Joseph was going to go through all this stuff and then he was going to end up being the leader, but here's the thing, God still had a plan that was set in motion, that was behind the scenes that other people did not see, but Joseph sees it now for what it really is. He sees it as God's plan and providence to save much people alive, just like God the Father had a plan to bring forth the Messiah and he prophesied about him in the Old Testament, in the law of Moses, which Genesis is kind of considered part of the law of Moses. I mean, you would have to say that in Genesis, Jesus Christ is pictured a lot in the book of Genesis. And even from the very beginning, he is in the first three verses. God said, Let there be light, and there was light, right? So, just very interesting how God just weaves these things in and out through the Bible for us to see and, you know, obviously the primary interpretation is always good, but there's also that hidden, it's not hidden, but it's a spiritual application that you have to apply sometimes in the Scriptures to see what God is showing you. And, you know, sometimes it takes a little bit of study reading the Bible many times to see stuff like that, but you are going to find stuff like that if you read the Bible, anybody can find it, right? It's not just the pastors, anybody can find these nuggets of truth in the Bible, but, and then it says, and then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. So, Jesus Christ tells them that all this stuff had to happen, that the words, you know, he told them all this stuff, but it seemed like sometimes they just didn't get what he was saying, right? And now it's like Jesus kind of unlocks the key to their understanding of all these Scriptures, and as you go through the latter books in the New Testament and in the book of Acts, you can see that they say, and then they remembered the Scripture that said, you know, like whatever that Scripture was, you know, and they even remember, you know, the house, the zeal of thine house had eaten me up, they remembered Scriptures like that. So, in the book of Genesis, and you know, I'm sure I've missed stuff here, I'm sure like last week I was talking to some of the guys after church and they were showing me some, or just saying some stuff that was pretty cool that I didn't get, so maybe some other time we'll get to go through some of that and find some of these other nuggets, and the more you read the Bible, the more you're going to find stuff, and especially if you're looking for it, you're looking for that spiritual application, and you know, we're supposed to walk in the Spirit, aren't we? So, to find spiritual application in the Bible is something that we should do, and we, you know, and not everything is something, you know, you've got to be able to read the Bible for what it says, obviously, and a lot of stuff, just naturally the primary application is a spiritual application, but when you go through the historical books and things like that, you're going to have to dig a little bit to find some of these nugget type things, but I was thinking about this, that the, so Joseph and he had his eleven brothers with him, and in the end when Christ resurrected, he only had eleven of his disciples with him. They were called, the 12th says, even in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that he revealed himself, you know, that he appeared to the 12 also, but it's counting, you know, it's just calling them the 12th because that's basically what they were called, but it's funny that it's still really 11 and 11 because the 12th is Joseph that's in the story, so it's just an interesting comparison when you think about that. So the 12 tribes, I mean do you think it's a coincidence that there's 12 tribes of Israel and that there's 12 apostles? That's not a coincidence, you know, so the 12 apostles are like, you know, the spiritual version or the, you know, the spiritual version of the New Testament children of Israel, because we who are saved are the children of Israel now, we are the Israel of God, and so God's chosen people are saved people, and he chose those specific people for a purpose, and one of them was the devil. So, but it's just really interesting how that interchanges here in Genesis, the book of Genesis and talking about these 12 apostles, and then you have the 12, I mean the 12 children of Israel and then the 12 apostles, excuse me. So anyway, like remember in this morning when I was reading in Matthew 28 earlier that the 11 disciples worshiped Jesus when he appeared to them, but the 12 or the 11 brothers of Joseph also worshiped him. So it's just some interesting parallels, but see Joseph wasn't, it says they did obeisance to Joseph, so they bowed down to him as a ruler, but they weren't necessarily worshiping him, but it's still a picture of Christ, so in the New Testament. So let's look at Genesis chapter 45 verse 4, it says, And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you, and they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. So see, Joseph understands exactly what's going on here. He understands the whole purpose, you know, of what his being sent there was, because obviously Joseph is a prophet. Joseph dreamed dreams and God spoke to him in dreams. He was a prophet and he prophesied. So look at Matthew chapter 26, turn over to Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26 verse number 52, the Bible says, Then said Jesus unto them, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? So basically Jesus is kind of saying, hey, the Scriptures have to be fulfilled. You know, right now I could pray for all these legions of angels to come and rescue me, and you know, he could just speak a word and all of them would die. I mean in reality, that's what he's going to do when he comes back. He just, I mean, it says he's going to destroy them with the sword of his mouth, what do you think that means? You know, the sword of his mouth is the word of, you know, the word of God is his sword, and all he has to do is speak in light forms, all he has to do is say die and things die. So literally, that's how much power he has, he can just say die and everybody just dies. So Jesus is saying, you know, just like Joseph's saying, hey don't be angry with yourself, these things had to happen for life to be preserved, and Jesus here in Matthew 26 is saying, hey, you know, put your sword up in your place and, you know, don't worry about it. If I really wanted to get out of this, I could just send all these angels to come and rescue me. But he says, then how shall the Scriptures be fulfilled? In verse 55 it says, in that same hour, said Jesus to the multitudes, are you come out against me as a thief of swords and staves to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, then all the disciples forsook him and fled. So, I mean, just like Joseph's brethren forsook him, the apostles also forsook Jesus, didn't they? If you really think about it, there's a parallel there, because they did forsake Jesus. They could have stayed with him and said we're going to die with him or whatever, but the funny thing is that very Scripture itself is a fulfillment of Scripture, that they were going to forsake Jesus and flee, and that Peter would deny him three times. And so if you think about the parallel of it, you know, he's saying don't beat yourself up, God did this for a purpose. He's talking about Joseph, God did this for a purpose. You know, God made all this come to pass, but at the same time, you know, Jesus wasn't mad at his disciples when they left. You know, it was probably a rational thought that they had, but I mean, they just, men are weak. That's the real point. Both groups of eleven are weak. You know, they forsook Joseph and wanted nothing to do with him or his prophecies, they turned their backs on him, they sold him into slavery, and Joseph's like, you know, don't be upset about that. You know, you didn't really, you're not the one that really did this to me. There was a plan in place that caused all this stuff to happen, and Jesus is kind of telling the disciples the same thing here. And then he says, you know, I could right now send people to come help me, but I'm not going to do that, because how are the Scriptures going to be fulfilled? And so the Scriptures have to be fulfilled. Every Scripture in the Bible that's a prophecy must come to pass, or God's a liar. And so, God's not a liar, so everything he says is going to come to pass. And so do you see the parallel there where the disciples forsook him and fled? You know, just like the brothers forsook Joseph. And just like Judas, so if you think about Judas, Judah was like Judas in a way, and he was also like Christ in a way. Judah, the name Judas, is basically like the Greek transliteration of the word, of the name Judah. Sorry Judah. Alright, so, I didn't name you. I'm just kidding. It's a good name. But, so the Judah in the Old Testament is, you know, I showed sermons where he is like, he's like Judas, where he says, well go ahead and turn it back to Genesis 37. Turn to Genesis 37, we'll kind of recount what he did here. Because remember in the end, Judah is the one who seems to be the hero of the story, where he's like, you know, I know that Reuben said, you can just kill my sons if I don't bring them back, but he says, hey no, put the blame upon me. Which is like what Christ did. So, but, there was a bad part of, you know, Judah also made himself look like Judas in Genesis 37. Genesis 37 verse 26, it says, and Judas said unto his brethren, what profit is there if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh, and his brethren were content. And if you think about it, Judas did basically the same thing. He's like, I don't need to kill him, I'll just betray him, and I will sell him. And so he did, he sold him for 30, Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And he said, you know, don't let our hands be upon him, but he's our brother. And basically, think about this, Judas, he was a wicked person, but in the end, didn't he try to give back the money? He did, he tried to give back the money, he did repent of his sin that he did, but that's not what saves you. Judas is in hell today. And he said, come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and Judas Iscariot sold Christ's flesh for money. And that's what Judah was trying to do here in Genesis 37. Look what it says in verse 28, it says, then there passed by Midianites merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph onto Egypt. So you have these parallels between Judas and Judah, but then, I mean, so I mean, it can kind of get, the pictures can kind of get confusing a little bit, but I preach a couple sermons about it when, so Judah, you know, basically it shows him the failure of Judah, but then it shows the triumph of Judah, and sometimes, you know, people can be failures in life, and they can be wicked, and then God can intervene in their life and save them, and then they become, you know, children of God and saved and do right. So Judah messed up in the beginning of his life in a lot of different ways, two of his sons were killed because, you know, obviously he probably wasn't raising them right, he went on to his own daughter-in-law thinking that she was a harlot, I mean, he did some bad stuff, but then in the end, he basically showed like a redeemed heart towards the things, because, you know, at one point he's ready, he's wanting to sell Joseph, and that's what they did, and then in another part, he's willing to do anything and put the blame on himself so that the other son doesn't get taken away. Very interesting parallels. Genesis 45, verse 5 says, Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. So, you know, he's basically spelling it out for him. Don't be angry with yourselves, don't be grieved. God did this, God is the one that did it so that life could be preserved, and that's what Christ did for us, is went through all this so that lives could be preserved, so we could have everlasting life, right? John 20, go ahead and turn to Psalm 121, verse 7, I'll read for you John 20, 21. John 20, 21 says, Then said Jesus to them, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. So just like, you know, Joseph was sent, you know, it says God did send me before you to preserve life, and that's exactly what God did with Jesus Christ, is he sent Jesus before them to preserve life also. The Father sent Jesus, and God also sent Joseph to preserve life, there's a parallel there. Jesus came to his own to preserve life, and what does preserve mean? It means to keep something fresh, right? Have you ever heard of like preserves, you know, or like jam, you know, jam use preservatives to keep it good, or just any kind of thing that has preservatives in it, what is it trying to do? Keep that food fresh so that it's edible, right? But when you're talking about preserving, even just preserving the scriptures, is keeping it so that it's still here, like we have a, we don't have to look at some tattered old Bible from 3500 years ago, we can make copies of that, and that preserves that book, the Bible, for however long you, until you wear it out, and then you get another one. But we just continue to print Bibles, and preserve God's Word, and you know, obviously God is making sure that his Word is preserved, but just to preserve things, you know, you could think about preserving life, well that's just saving that life when it was about to die. Psalm 121 verse 7 says, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, and shall preserve thy soul. So it's kind of using preserve in a lot of different ways in this scripture, that's why I picked it, but it says, shall preserve thee from all evil, that means any harm to happen to you, and he shall preserve thy soul. So he can preserve your soul, he can preserve your life, he can preserve bad things from happening to you. It says, the Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forever more. How long is forever more? Well that's last forever, right? Everlasting life, lasts forever, so to preserve is another way of saying that you have everlasting life, and so the parallel here would also be that Joseph, so if you're thinking about on the main application is that he was saving their lives from this famine that's going on, but in a spiritual sense also preserving them and making sure that the next generation is saved and going to heaven. Luke chapter 17 verse 33 says, whosoever shall seek and save his life shall lose it, whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. So basically, if you're willing to throw away the life that means nothing, whatever you're doing that's not sending you to heaven, whatever you're believing in that's not sending you to heaven, and you lose that life and gain eternal life, you know you lose the old life and you actually gain eternal life in a sense. And then 2 Timothy chapter 418 says, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. So preserving could mean to save life, but it also could be talking about, because obviously Paul's not still alive, you know on ice or something, waiting, you know what I mean, it's like he's preserved in a spiritual sense, his life, his soul is preserved in heaven, he's with God the Father, but he says he'll preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. I know Walt Disney thinks he's going to come back to life, but he's not, he's already in hell, he might be frozen in some test tube somewhere or whatever, I think he actually had himself frozen so that when they get the technology, which is never going to happen, unless it's like, I don't know, there's some weird stuff out there they're trying to develop, but I don't think that that's possible, God's not going to allow that to happen, but Walt Disney will never walk this earth again as anything, a robot or anything else. So the only way to preserve your life forever is to be saved. Luke chapter 19 verse 10 says, for the Son of Man is come to seek and save that which is lost. Now turn over to John 10 verse 10, John 10 verse 10, the Bible says the thief cometh not, but to steal and kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. So Christ came to give life and that we might have it more abundantly. How much more abundantly? Well how about forever? That's pretty abundantly, isn't it? So you know, Christ is not one of these thieves that come to kill and steal and destroy. He's the good guy. He's the good shepherd that giveth his life for the sheep. So in Luke 17, 33 says whosoever shall save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. So I don't know, I think I doubled my notes there. Let's turn back to Genesis 45 verse 6. The Bible says for these two years hath the famine been in the land and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest and God sent me before you to preserve you of posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. And so, you know, he's revealing God's plan to them. You know, they might not have seen it that way, but that is exactly how it happened. So like I said, the great plan of God still ultimately prevails over any plan to overthrow him or to destroy mankind and his creation. So the devil's working overtime and he's got his false people in place, but ultimately that plan of God still chugs along on the outside and still happens. You know, and so ultimately the will of God is for man to be saved. Does every man get saved? No, not every man gets saved. Not every woman gets saved, but there's still a plan in place to preserve much people alive and so he's waiting to come back. What's he waiting to come back for? Like where's the, people are like, where's the promise of this coming? Well, it's gonna happen. Don't you worry about that. It's gonna happen and he's left us here to help fulfill that plan. You know, we go out soul wanting, hey, we got one saved today. That's great. Amen. But, you know, obviously we're here. We're here for a purpose. We're, you know, and as things get darker and people get less receptive, you know, we're in a neighborhood today where in times past, you know, people, the fish are jumping in the boat and now it's just like doors are getting slammed in the face. It's like, wow, this is really, really weird to see because I've been someone in this area for like eight years now, if not longer, and I've never seen that area so unreceptive before. People are still getting saved. That's great, but I mean we went out yesterday for quite a while and we didn't have anybody saved in that area and usually you can't walk through one complex without getting multiple people saved. So obviously, and I don't want to damp, you know, rain on your parade or anything. You're going to Detroit next week, some of you, so hopefully there'll be a great report with that. I'm sure there will be, but some places are more receptive than others, you know, but the plan is still in place. God is still on the throne. God is still making things happen and, you know, so look at Romans 8 28. Romans 8 28. He's got a plan. He's got a purpose and nothing is going to stop that from happening. Nothing is going to stop the book of Revelation from happening. It's all still going to happen. It's on His timeline though. It's on His watch just like Joseph didn't necessarily see the things happening in the timeline, but it all came to pass and then when it came to pass, Joseph's like, oh that's what was happening. That's what was going on. That's why I went through all this suffering. You know what, God's people will go through suffering as we fulfill this plan. You're going to go through more suffering than the people that aren't doing anything. I kind of revealed that. We're talking about the Apostle Paul. You know, Paul who did the most was persecuted the most. I mean persecuted continuously through his whole ministry and obviously he was kind of reaping what he was sowing a little bit also because he did those things to other people, but at the same time, you know, he's still going, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, the Bible says. So, if you're not going through persecution and you're living godly in Christ Jesus, just it's going to happen and it might not be someone stoning you outside of the city or something. It might not be that, but it might be something else. It might be your family mocking you and hating you and for some people that would be devastating. For some people it has been devastating. For some people you've already gone through that and you're like, well it doesn't seem so devastating now, but at the time it happened it did seem devastating, didn't it? So, God's people will go through hard things and hopefully not things as hard as the Apostle Paul had to go through, but it just seems like the people that do the most have the most affliction. Romans chapter 8 verse 28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. So, God works all things together for good to them that love God. It doesn't say for all people, for all Christians, it says for those that love God and who are the called according to his purpose. A lot of people will take that verse and apply it to themselves, well they're not even, they don't really love God. They don't show that they love God and maybe they're saved, but maybe they just don't love God. That is possible because it doesn't say you have to love God or you're going to hell, it just says you have to believe in him. You have to have faith in him. Now, most people that believe in him probably do love him, but I'm sure there's some that don't. I'm sure there's some that just don't, are just indifferent. And you know what, all things are not going to necessarily work together for them for good, because they might not love God and they might be called, but they're not doing his purpose. Because God will chasten his children, so how do you reconcile those two thoughts? Because if he's chastening you to death, basically, if you're just one of those people that just has to learn the hard lesson every single time and he just keeps beating you and beating you and beating you and beating you and beating you and then he finally just says, you know what, this person's useless to me, you know, you're done. And he crowns you and sends you home. Well, you know, that's, you don't want to be in that situation, but let me tell you something, that doesn't sound like all things are working together for good to that person. But maybe it's better off that they're in heaven instead of being on earth because they're not being, you know, a bad example here. They're not being the person that steers people away from the faith. See, it's not the Bible doctrine that we preach that steers people away from things. Like, I'll get comments about stuff like that, you're the reason why, you talked about skillet, well, you're the reason why people don't like Christianity. It's like, look, the fact that you like skillet just shows that you don't like Christianity. Come on. Come on, man. No, I'm just kidding. But they like think that skillet is like this, you know, people really hate that video that I have up and it's just, come on. It's so dumb. Skillet, like, they're opening for Ozzy Osbourne, they're opening for Iron Maiden, they're playing with Pantera, and like, that's what he's, in the video, he says, well, that's what, you know, that's the greatest accomplishment that he's ever done. I didn't say that. He said that in the bathroom that he's doing the interview in, by the way. He's doing the interview in a men's restroom, which I think is odd, but, you know, I don't think that, like, even if I did tour with Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne and I opened up shows for them and I was saved, I probably wouldn't say that that's the greatest accomplishment of my life. How about bringing beautiful children into this world? How about having a wife that you love? What's the greatest thing you've ever done? Get married. What's the greatest thing you ever did? Had children. You know, I, how about the greatest thing you ever did? Get saved. Get somebody else saved. But his greatest accomplishment is that he tours with Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne and then they're mad at me. They're like, you clipped that, you clipped that. You need to show the whole thing in entirety, the whole thing. I look, I've watched the whole interview in its entirety and, like, it doesn't make him look any better. They're like, you're just chopping stuff up to make him look bad. It's like, no, he said those things. I didn't make him look bad. He made himself look bad. I'm talking about this Christian rock band called Skillet, alright, and that's, it's just a dumb name for a band anyway. It's like, what are some of the other old Christian bands that used to be heavy metal, like Death Metal or whatever? Not Death Metal, but you know what I'm talking about, like Hard Rock. What was the ones that Beavis and Butthead used to make fun of? The guys, they're like the Christian version rock or whatever. You know what I'm talking about? What was it? Striper. I've never listened to Striper because at the time I listened to Metallica and Pantera. But anyway, that's beside the point. But basically, they're just wannabe rockers that never could make it in the real world, and so they just said, well you know what, why don't you just sign your deal with Satan as a great Christian rock band? Because don't tell me that Skillet is some, you know, how, they're like, well you're saying he shouldn't be, because I said that basically all these people are going to these concerts, and do you think that they actually, you know that Skillet is the reason they're going to worship Jesus at these concerts? Like, well they're still getting the message out, brother. He always says he's a Christian. Listen, that interview, he says the greatest thing he's ever done is toured with those bands who are straight-up satanic. And I don't even know how I got on this subject right now, because it has nothing to do with the sermon. Oh yeah, that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose. Do you think that God's purpose is for you to start a heavy metal rock band and for you to tour with Metallica and Pantera and all these wicked rock bands? Marilyn Manson? The Molester? The Rapist? I mean, just even thinking about that, you know, people are coming out and saying that he did all this stuff to them, and he's tortured all these women and stuff. What did you expect? He calls himself the Antichrist. And you're like hooking up with this guy, like he's so cool. He's weird. He wears makeup to look as freaky as possible. The best concert he ever did is when the thing fell on top of him and almost killed him. That was my favorite part. Marilyn Manson is wicked as hell. What else would you expect? Well, I thought he was a nice boy. I mean, really? Marilyn Manson, you thought he was a nice guy? The guy is a psycho. The guy was like almost 40 years old when he meets this girl that's 16, and nobody thought that was weird? Okay, well, that's what a son of Satan will do. What I'm saying is all things will work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose. So your life, you might be going through hell. Your life, you might be having hard times. Your life, you might be being persecuted. You might be having bad health. You might be having all these things happen to you. Your family turning against you. You know, people mocking you at work. All these other things, but you know what? That's all going to work out to good for you if you love God and you're the called according to His purpose. Just like everything worked out good for Joseph, didn't it? Joseph went through all these hard times. His family turning against him. Being sold as a slave. Being falsely accused. Going to prison. And then, you know, obviously his whole family rejecting him. And then he goes before his brothers who did him dirty, forgives them, and tells them, don't feel bad about what you did. God did this because He wanted to save much people alive. That's a great Christian attitude to have. You know, Joseph was an extremely, you know, righteous man. He was a good man. That's probably why he pictures Christ in so many ways. Hold your finger in Romans 8 28, and let's look back at Genesis 45 verse 8. It says, So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. And He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Think about how this would apply in a parallel to Christ. You know, Christ did all the things that His Father required of Him, and He made Christ the Lord of all His house also. Jesus Christ inherits all things. And guess what? He's the ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Because if you think about it, the land of Egypt pictures the world. So Jesus Christ is going to be the head of all this world when He comes back. He's going to be, you know, El Capitan. He's going to be the Presidente. He's going to be the king of this world. And guess what? We get to be on His team. We get to be with Him. We get to rule and reign with Him. Like, it seems like it's not going to happen, but when we all, when it all happens, we all look at each other like, yeah, you said this was going to happen. The Bible said it was going to happen. Look back to Romans 8 and look at verse 17. Because we are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Look at what it says. And if we are children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together. So because Christ is an heir, Christ is the Son of God, we are also children of God through adoption and we are joint heirs with Christ. So just like Joseph saying, hey, you know, he's about to tell everybody, go get Dad. Don't worry about all your stuff. I got you. I got all the stuff you'll ever need. Hey, I'm going to give you this land in Goshen over here and you get to inherit all the blessings that I have here in Egypt. So just like Joseph was the ruler and governor of all Egypt, well guess what? Christ is going to be the ruler and governor of the whole world. And we get to partake in the blessings that He had. So His brothers who did Him dirty, who were sinful, who rejected Him, they get forgiven and then they get to partake in Goshen and get to raise their cattle and bring their kids and all that stuff. I mean that's a great picture of how we inherit with Christ. I mean what did His brothers do to deserve that forgiveness and that blessing? Nothing. What do we deserve? You know, how do we deserve to have that blessing? We don't. But Christ does it because He loves us and because we have faith in Him and, you know, His brothers to a certain degree had to have faith also, right? They had to have faith and they had to believe what Joseph was saying. So let's move on in the story. Chapter number 45 verse 9 says, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt, come down unto me and tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, thou shalt be near unto me and thy children and thy children's children and thy flocks and thy herds and all thou hast. And there will I nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty. And behold your eyes see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen and you shall haste and bring down my father hither. So I mean I believe that this is probably a picture of the apostles being sent to witness of the glory of Christ. They're saying, hey, show my glory in the land of Canaan. Verse 14 says, And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them. So it wasn't just Benjamin that he cared about. It's obvious he cared about his other brothers too, because he kissed them all and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house saying, Joseph's brethren are coming and it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants. And verse 17, And the Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye, lay your beast and go get you into the land of Canaan and take your father and your household and come unto me and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded this do ye take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come. Also regard not your stuff for the good of the land of Egypt is yours. And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provision for the way so all of them he gave each man changes of raiment but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. So I mean this is probably a wild stab in the dark but I think it's really interesting you know obviously the reason why he loves Benjamin so much is because it's the brother of his mother it's his full-blooded brother right. But I think it's really interesting what tribe did Saul come from? Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin didn't he? And so out of all the apostles that were blessed who was blessed with the most? The Apostle Paul was blessed the most who was Saul who was of the tribe of Benjamin. I mean maybe I'm reaching here but I think it's pretty interesting that Benjamin gets the most accolades of all and just like Saul was the most productive of all the apostles he also probably got the most rewards from Christ what I think but anyway let's move on verse 23. And to his father he sent after this manor ten asses laden with good things of Egypt and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for the father by the way. So he sent his brethren away and they departed and he said unto them see that you fall not out by the way and they went up out of Egypt came into the land of Canaan their Jacob their father and told him saying Joseph is yet alive and he's governor over all the land of Egypt and Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not. I think it's a really interesting verse because you know number one how are they gonna explain to Jacob how all this happened. So how is it that Joseph escaped from the pit with the animal or whatever because remember they they dipped his coat in blood and brought it back to Jacob and had this big old story so I'm sure that it didn't take too too long for Jacob to figure out the truth of the whole matter but at first he didn't believe right because Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not and remember when he first the the ladies first came to the from the tomb to the disciples they didn't believe that Jesus was rose from the dead. Now look at Luke chapter 24 again I know we've gone there lots today let's look at Luke chapter 24 for the last time today it says in verse 6 it says he is not here but he has risen remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again and they remembered his words and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with them which told these things unto the Apostles. So here you get more of the story there's actually multiple women here that come back and tell the disciples the Apostles these things and look at what happened when they told them verse 11 and their words seemed to them as idle tales they believed them not. So the brethren come and tell their dad hey Joseph is alive he's the governor of Egypt and it's like he believed them not and when did they finally believe well when all that stuff you know when all that stuff came to pass that they said was gonna happen then just you know Jacob looked up well I'm getting ahead of myself here but the point is is that you know Jacob didn't believe he didn't believe that Joseph was back from the dead right that's the whole the whole thing and he didn't believe them and so in Mark chapter 16 verse 14 it says afterward he appeared to the eleven as they set at meet and abraded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen them after he was risen so Jesus did get on to the disciples for that because that what they didn't believe just because there are women they're like this is an idle tale I mean it kind of seems legit and I'm just kidding but they're like silly women you don't know anything we're the leaders you know but Jesus Christ loved those women he loved them and he showed himself to them and told them to go tell the disciples I think that's really interesting and they just didn't believe it and he abraded them for their unbelief and their hardness of their hearts because they believed not which had seen them that was risen Genesis 45 verse 27 says and they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived so Jacob heard the words of Joseph and when he saw the actual wagons see he had to see it to believe it right the disciples didn't believe the women they had to see it to believe it and Jesus appeared to them and then they finally got it that's why it's such a blessing that people are saved today because we believe by faith you know it's it's a big deal because I mean that shows just how powerful faith is shows just how powerful that it is that we believe by faith because Jesus said we're blessed because we have not seen and yet we still believe so and when you see great things happen of God it can revive your spirit just like the spirit of Jacob here was revived you know sometimes we can get in a lull in our Christian life sometimes we can get in a lull even in our church life we can get in a lull and soul winning or not great you see just great things aren't necessarily happening or maybe you know 24 people aren't getting saved in our soul in a marathon or whatever it is and it can kind of get you down and it can kind of get your spirit not as revved up as when those fish are jumping in the bow people are getting saved left and right people are getting baptized and you know obviously we all go through lulls in our Christian life and you know work it's hard family gets hard taking care of little ones it's hard coming to church it's hard driving for long distances to church it's hard driving short distances to church it's hard you know the Christian life is it does have some ups and downs but see Jacob you know he is a great man of God but he's in a lull in his life he's upset why because he thinks his son is dead Simeon's bound and you know then also his other son Benjamin is captured and he just thinks everything is done he thinks that all these things are going wrong in his life and why you know he even tells Pharaoh later on few and evil have the days of my the life of my life been but really you know Jacob's life was a great life because you know what Jacob is saved and Jacob is a powerful name he's called Israel because with with God he has power and he's a prince of God and so turn to Luke chapter 7 verse 18 see our spirits can revive when we start seeing people get saved maybe you haven't got someone saved in a long time and you get somebody saved that can revive your spirit hey when prayers are answered in your life those things can revive your spirit when you get victories over sin that you're dealing with those things can revive your spirit when you go through persecution you're on the backside of that and the persecution starts to get a little bit less that can revive your spirit when powerful sermons change your heart in your life that can be a revival to your spirit but let me tell you something folks you know not the Christian life is that I you know we always say this it's easy to say but the Christian life can get hard it can get to be like you're just like you know it's time to make the doughnuts Groundhog's Day it's just like the same thing over and over again but we ought not to have that attitude you know don't let the life get sucked out of you you know we should have times where we have great revival in our spirit and hey maybe maybe not everything's going right in your life right now but you know what your your life can be revived get out there and do some work for God stop being selfish and do something for someone beside yourself you know Jesus others you know if Jesus is the most important thing in your life then act like it and believe it and then hey why don't you start thinking about somebody else beside yourself and maybe you won't be so downtrodden and in the dumps maybe when you do things for Jesus when you do things for others then you can take care of yourself and you know just like Jacob had his his life revived his spirit revived within him why because great things happen in his life here he is an old man and at the end of his life is like hey guess what God had your son preserved this whole time and guess what he wants to come he wants you to come see him and come visit with the whole family take all the grandkids and all that stuff and come and see him and Joseph gets excited I mean not Joseph but Jacob gets excited about that had you turned to Luke 7 verse 18 it says and disciples of John showed him all these things and John calling unto him who of his disciples talking about John the Baptist sent them to Jesus saying art thou he that should come or look we for another when the men were come unto him they said John the Baptist has sent us unto thee saying art thou he that should come or look we for another so what's going on here is that John's in prison John's in the dumps and John is about to be beheaded not too long after this things are going bad he sends his messengers to Jesus to find out hey you know because he's obviously he's doubting here John the Baptist the voice crying in the wilderness one of the greatest men and the greatest man born among women in the Bible is down in the dumps he's doubting things he's doubting his Christian life he's like why is everything all this happening to me I need to send somebody to Jesus and find out whether he's really the person I think he is even after baptizing him and seeing all the great works that Jesus did afterwards it says that in that same hour talking about Jesus he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits and to many that were blind he gave sight then Jesus answered said unto them go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard how that the blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised to the poor the gospel is preached and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me I think the problem with a lot of Christians is sometimes they get offended sometimes their prayers don't get answered the way they want them to get answered things in life don't work out the way you think that they should but remember God is not a genie in a bottle he's not gonna give you everything that you asked for maybe you don't need that maybe you're asking for something to miss he's just saying no but don't be a little baby about it and just fall on the ground and kick your feet and go we don't want to serve God anymore this is too hard that's what happens although I've seen that happen so many times the Christian is just like hey get up off the ground quit throwing a fit and serve God because you know what the lame are still being raised from the are raised from the dead the lame are still walking again people are still getting saved the gospel is still getting preached but you know the problem is is that some Christians have just given up on the works and stop doing them and they start getting self focused on their own self and their own problems they forget that there's a bigger picture out there folks and that's why Jesus takes his time and he just like hears all the infirmities he hears these plagues he passed out spirits in front of them and many a blind he gave sight to and he's just saying all this to John he's like hey you know what all this great stuff is still happening maybe it's not you know maybe it seems bleak and dark for you right now but you know what your spirit needs to be revived and may quit looking at all the bad things that are going on to you and start looking at the things that are happening that are positive there's a lot of positive things happening and you're in a you're in a church is positive you know it might seem negative but the negative two negatives equal positive no I'm just kidding but well look you know don't start getting down on the dumps and thing and I just want to help you if you're going through a lull or something like that you know it's it's good to remember that we're we got a big picture to look at and there's a big plan that God has and you all are important to that plan so we need you here in church we need you to study the Word of God we need everybody to be soldier like I know ladies that soldiering is not necessarily what you want to do but it's a different kind of soldiering you know raise those children to be arrows in the quiver and to be the next generation of warriors that defend you know against the enemies at the gates and men be the leaders that you need to be you know just do what God asks and he's gonna make all things work together too good for you because you love God and you're the call according to his purpose but if you get away from his purpose you get away from the call that's when things are gonna start to go wrong but things can still go wrong even if you're doing everything right they're like well what's the point then Pastor Thompson the point is you got to keep going you got to keep getting up you got to keep coming to church you got to keep fighting the fight and though you're weary you know what if you're weary ask God for strength ask God to help you ask God to give you energy that you need to keep fighting because he'll give it to you he'll you'll mount up light like Eagles and they'll be able to run and not to walk you know when you think that you've just drained your whole battery then just ask God for help what do you think he can't give you energy you think he can't give you help of course he can and he can revive your spirit just like he revived Jacob's spirit by great things happening in his life you know what if you keep serving God great things are gonna happen in your life is every day gonna be like a bowl of cherries not necessarily but is that what God promised that every day was gonna be like a bowl of cherries no and you might not like cherries but I do but anyway let's finish up here Luke or Genesis 45.8 says and Israel said it is enough Joseph my son is yet alive I will go and see him before I die and so Joseph believes that his son is alive after thinking he's dead this whole time and he said it's enough I'll go and see him before he dies you know it's enough that Jesus died that he died for me amen and it's enough that he rose from the dead for me it's enough and you know what I want to go see him every time I can I want to meet with him anytime I can because he's alive I believe he's alive I don't think he died I think he died but I don't think he stayed dead okay he rose from the dead all right sorry about that that was a Biden gaffe all right but anyway listen I want I want y'all to be encouraged and just keep on fighting and serving the Lord and you know if your soul needs to be revived if your spirit needs to be revived then just remember John one of the greatest men the whole Bible he got discouraged too but I believe that he was encouraged by the message that Jesus gave back to him so let's all do our best to go out and do something great for God this week and let's just continue to serve the Lord together and then I always pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much for this great chapter in the Bible Lord all the great pictures that it tells us about mainly your son the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord we're just so thankful for the scriptures how you guide us and how your word is like a lamp that guides us the light that shines in a dark place and we thank you Lord so much for all the people that are faithful in our church Lord pray that you just bless them and keep them as they go home and we go our separate ways it's in Jesus name we pray amen