Teach the next lesson that I would be teaching on Wednesday night. Last week, last Wednesday night, we dealt with Jacob. So tonight we're dealing with Joseph. I'll say this, before I begin, I even told Nick, I said, well, as I listen to Sister Judy teach her class about Joseph, I said, well, I'm preaching on Joseph tonight as well. So you won't miss anything. And as we go to Genesis 37, I will say this. Well, I don't have to say it. I got a call today about Kenny. Sorry, man, from someone that's in the college, y'all wouldn't know, said, man, you've got the best signing school teacher I think I've ever heard. And said, he's got your, and I wasn't able to listen to his message, but at the very end when the kids were playing, and we finished a couple minutes before him, so my man didn't like it, I'll go back and hear it. He said, man, he sounds just like you. He said, no, he's just practicing. And he made no apology. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go back and listen to it. But Sister Judy does a great job as well. She's not on Facebook. But I mean this. I do not give false flattery. I don't enjoy flattering anyone but myself anyway. So I don't give out false flattery. But we do have two of the best Sunday school teachers that I've ever. I mean, as skillful as Kenny is in the word, and they said, he's better at exegeting the scriptures than most pastors, yeah? And Sister Judy is as good at exegeting the scriptures, that's a big word, but she teaches the Bible to those kids in a way that they can get it. And we thank the Lord for that. If those out there listening, if you want to come to hear the Bible taught, you can come to Rypatch. You know, because the Bible is going to be taught whether the preacher teaches it or not. But that is our desire. Let's read. We'll be doing a lot of reading tonight. We'll try to keep it short. We won't go as long as Brother Walker tonight. But Genesis 37, verse 1. And Jacob dwelt, Genesis 37, verse 1, and Jacob dwelt wherein dwelt in the land wherein his father was stranger in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons of Baal and with the sons of of Zippah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph. more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more, and said unto them, Hear, I pray thee, this dream which I have dreamed. For behold, we are binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaves rose and also stood upright. Behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obstinance to my sheaves, or bowed down to my sheaves. Literally, he paid respect to it. And his brethren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or, he will, he will. Reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for the dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream. and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obstinance to me. And behold, he told it to his father and his brethren, and his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I, thy mother and thy brethren, indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth? And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same. We see here that this was more of a Bible study tonight, and we're going to read a lot of scripture if time permits. If not, we'll skip through it and tell the story and give you the reference. But Joseph, we see, was the favorite child of his father. Now, I'm going to say this, I've been around, I'm old enough to say this, being around a lot of families, especially those that have larger amount of children. Parents have their favorites, but don't let the other kids know about it. Seriously. And there was someone at the school up there that said, oh, I haven't met your brother. And I told him, it didn't bother me. I said to him, I said, Philip was dad's favorite. I mean, he was. But God spoke to Joseph through these dreams. Now, I have read in a lot of philosophy through the years, and I think it's pretty true, it's pretty sound here. Dream big and tell no one. Plan big and tell no one. The fact of the matter is, is people aren't going to grab on to your dream. They're not going to see your goal and your ambition. You think they're going to love you and support you, even your family, but no. Most of the time, they won't love and support your dream, your goal. So just go about doing it slowly. Because it builds envy and it built envy in this family. I don't know Joseph's attitude in all of this. The Bible doesn't impugn his attitude. I mean, he came out and said it. I think it was of the Lord that he said it, obviously. He may have had an attitude. He may have been a little haughty in the way he said it. He may have said it as humbly as anybody. I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us that. But it does tell us that God spoke to Joseph through dreams now a lot of times people through the years have asked the questions been asked here And we've been trying to deal with this in this Old Testament study. How exactly did God speak to people? Well the Bible tells us in Hebrews God who in sundry times in the past spoke unto us in divers or many multifaceted different ways. There's not one way God spoke to people. before the written word. Some he spoke to directly, some he spoke to through dreams, some he spoke to through that still small voice, if you will, some he spoke to through putting out a fleece or different things. God spoke in many different ways, but let me say this, God always knows how to speak to his people. And God is speaking to Joseph in dreams. He is telling him of what is yet to come. Look with me now here in verse 21. Well, let's skip here to actually, let's look here at verse 19. And they said one to another, behold, this dreamer cometh. And so they're mocking him. He's sent out to the field. Well, I mean, the brothers have to work in the field and Joseph got to stay in the house. And here comes the dreamer. Here comes the favorite. And verse 20, come now therefore and let us slay him or kill him and cast him into some pit and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed not blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him. to his father again. Now Reuben said let's not kill him, let's just teach him a lesson. And throw him in this pit. Reuben's desire was to later, after they taught him a lesson, however long that was in Reuben's mind, to deliver him back to the father. But what we find here, and we've got a pot of peas. Sometimes we put different alliteration because it makes it rememberable. The first thing that we see here in Joseph's life as he is going is the pit. They have thrown him in the pit. They cast him down because he dreamed. But then later on, one said, let's not kill him, let's sell him. And in this chapter, they take him out of the pit and they sell him to the Ishmaelites. Now, that right there is rough in itself. Who knows what these Ishmaelites are going to do? But we find what these Ishmaelites, and I'm going to go quick through this narrative because I want you to think about something. There's more chapters about Joseph than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob combined. Joseph takes up mostly in Genesis. Now, there is a lot of parallels between Joseph and the Lord Jesus. Some will argue he was a type of Christ. Some will argue he wasn't a type of Christ. The New Testament doesn't tell us exactly that he was a type of Christ. Stephen may have in his sermon, but they sell him that God, after he has got this lofty dream, and what does he do? He goes out faithfully, obeys his father, to bring bread to his brethren. I can make parallels with the Lord Jesus all night, but that's not the point here. And then what happens? Look with me and these Ishmaelites take him, chapter 39, verse one, and Joseph was brought down to Egypt, these Ishmaelites take him to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, and so he's like the head general of the guard of Pharaoh, An Egyptian bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph. Notice that saying. None of this is happening out of God's control. This is all happening in God's control. He's been thrown into the pit by his jealous brothers, sold into slavery. Now he is going into Potiphar's house, the second page. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, that's in Potiphar's sight, and that word grace there is favor. He became his favorite real quick. And he served him and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had to put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. Notice with me, he blessed this Egyptian for Joseph's sake. You know, whether the lost world recognizes it or not, I believe with all my heart, I can't prove it biblically other than scriptures like I just read, that one of the reasons why America is so blessed is not because we're so perfect, it's because God's people dwell here. Now God's people dwell in a lot of nations. But it seems like the more and the more, Bible says any nation who makes God the Lord, the Lord will bless them. But it also says that the nation that forgets God shall be turned into hell. i mean that's the scripture but the but the point here is is now god is blessing him in potiphar's house and he is prosperous and he is he has favor with man proverbs says it's a man's ways please the lord he'll even cause his enemies to be at peace with him uh... now here he has favor i mean why wouldn't he everything he touches turns to gold, everything he does, reproduces. Let me say this, God gives us blessings. And we ought to thank God for our blessings, all of our blessings. You know, I mean, whoever the lowest income is in the room, you're still in the top 1% of the world's wealthiest people. We ought to be thankful for the blessings of God. And here, it was prosperity. Now, I'm gonna say this, and I mean it. We have allowed the Charismatics and the Pentecostals to get the doctrine that God blesses and prospers His people and take it to a ridiculous heresy, but John in the New Testament says, I pray you prosper as your soul prospers. God wants his people to give testimony. He wants to multiply you. He wants to help you. I remember many years ago, a pastor in a larger church told me, he said, I used to pray that God would send a millionaire to our church, because some other churches have millionaires that were given and doing different things. He said, man, Lord, send me a millionaire. Send me a millionaire. And he said, then I started praying, Lord, make one of my men a millionaire that can handle it. I'm not saying that that's the ultimate, but I'm saying God has a different direction for everybody's life. And in Joseph's life, he's going to show forth his mighty hand by everything Joseph touches prospering. That's not the will of God for everybody's life. But it is for some of his people. See, that's where the charismatic goes wrong. They'd say, it's for everybody. No, no, no. God maketh rich, and he maketh poor. But we find that in Potiphar's house, he is blessed. But then sin comes a knocking, and comes a knocking every day. Day after day, Potiphar's wife just threw herself at Joseph, and he flees. And he, and one day she's really just, she ain't going to hint about it. She ain't, you know, she starts off, you read this chapter, you know, she's asking, but boy, she, she not asking in this, in this last incident. She's, she's grabbing a hold of him. And so what does he do? He flees. Look at verse 12 of this chapter. And she caught him by the garment, saying, lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled out. And fled and got him out. Got him out. He got out of there. He moved. The Bible, James tells us to flee lust. Sometimes we can withstand, sometimes we can't. The best thing to do is flee. That's what Joseph does. But now for a second time, Joseph has left his garment in someone else's hand that laid hands on him for him to be lied on. First time is when they grabbed his coat of many colors and ripped it up and poured the blood of an animal on it and said, I guess this is all we could find, daddy. I guess a beast got him. And now he takes that garment, and he takes it, and she takes it and says, look, you know, hell has no fury like a woman scorned. And she said, oh, he tried to rape me. He tried to force himself on me. So she starts screaming and yelling with the garment. They come in. She's holding the garment, lying on him. Now he has been, he has no faults of his own, he has been cast into the pit, no faults of his own, he is now prospering in Potiphar's house, there's another P if you want, because everything he touches his old wife prospers. And now he's been lied on, slandered. Circumstantial evidence. So we see what happens, look with me in verse 20 of chapter 39. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison. Here's your third P. He goes from the pit to Potiphar's house to prison. And Joseph and his master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison. This wasn't just a common jail. This was a place where the king, Pharaoh, and the hierarchy put their prisoners. Now, I'm going to say this. I can't prove this, but I think this. I don't think Potiphar completely believed his wife. Because if he did, he would have killed him. So I think a man knows his wife. We'll put it that way. I think he knew what kind of woman she was. And I think he probably saw her the way she was looking at Joseph when he come in. So I can't prove it, but the fact that he didn't kill him after causing a disgrace like this would lend to that thought. But now that he's in prison, what happens? Look at verse 21. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper or the guard of the prison. Even though all this injustice is happening to him, God is continuing to bless him with his presence and with his favor so Joseph doesn't completely break under the circumstances. The Lord was with him. And we can deal with a whole lot if we know that the Lord is with us. He's in prison, but the Lord's in prison with him. Look with me in verse 22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners. Now Joseph's in charge of the prison. He was the top slave in Potiphar's house. Now he's the deputy warden. Now he's the assistant to the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison to Joseph's hand, all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. I mean, he made out the work detail. I mean, when they got up, when they ate, I mean, Joseph was the guy that was running the schedule. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. You know, in prisons, even then, you know, I don't think they were making license plates, but they were doing something to earn their keep. And now they're doing some kind of routine labor, and Joseph's over top of it, and now businesses are booming. Whatever they're making, whatever they're doing, it's prospering under the hand of Joseph. The school of hard knocks. God is preparing a leader. You know, I've heard many a great leader or those that are dealing with how to move into leadership and different things speak about we all need five things and one, of course, is certainty, but one is uncertainty. We need pressure before accomplishment. Because the fact of the matter is, someone was talking the other day, they were joking, they said, have you noticed how Donald Trump's the only president that hasn't aged in the White House? Everybody else goes in looking young and chipper and they come out. One joke said he's a vampire. But he said, yeah, man, I don't know about this guy. He's almost 80 years old and eats McDonald's all day, every day. I mean, he's just a different beast altogether. But anybody that's been in middle management up realizes that the higher you fly is determined mainly on one thing. How much pressure can you take? That's it. How much pressure can you take? There's certain people that just wilt under pressure. You put them in a spot and they just, they're great at what they did, then you put them in another spot where they're responsible for others and it's just too much pressure. God knows that. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before God would use him to lead his people. Even Jesus, our Savior, spent 40 days in the wilderness without food and water. Teddy Roosevelt's son was a general under George Patton. He was decorated and most people don't realize how accomplished Teddy Roosevelt's son, Teddy Jr., was under Patton's army. As a young man, he was working in the field one day when one of his college buddies came up to the house to visit him, and his dad was president at the time. And he said, and the young man said, now if my dad was president, he wouldn't have me working in the fields. He said, if my dad was your dad, he would. Roosevelt came from privilege and even Teddy himself was kind of guarded and sheltered because he was asthmatic as a child, his father Teddy Senior, but then when he got older he said I've got to go out and he made his way with the Rough Riders and different ones that would prepare him. Alright parents, there's time to take the training wheels off. Now, mamas instinctively are about making sure their little babies don't get hurt and protecting their little babies. That's why we need daddies that are going to allow them to skin up their knees from time to time. But then after their knees are skinned, mama can kiss them and give them a cookie. But they've got to be allowed to do that. And one of the reasons why I hear so often, many people say, where are the people of ambition? And where are, you know, why do we got 40-year-olds living in their parents' basements? And why do we have children that are, why is there no ambition amongst the younger generation? Well, they don't have to be ambitious. They don't have to be ambitious. That's the role of a dad. My dad worked from morning to night. But when I was 12 years old, he looked at me and he said, son, I'm going to do something for you that I can't do myself. Now, we had worked in the same job. He dropped us off in the summertime as young kids working in the fields on my pet paw's tobacco farm. I mean, I remember getting whipped in the garden long before I was ever in kindergarten for playing and not weeding. But at 12 years old, he gave me over to a combat man, fellow that was in the sign business and said you're going to help him. And all that summer at 12 years old, 12 years old, I was in the parking lot at the back of that big sign shop cutting up signs with cutting torches for scrap metal and different things. Can you imagine giving a 12-year-old the job of handing him a grinder, a metal grinder, and a cutting torch today at 12? Now, it isn't that I'm so great, it's we were taught responsibility that we're not giving to the next generation. I was one of many. At 15, I drove my motorcycle, which wasn't allowed. But we got it anyway, because I paid for it. And I remember I worked in a cabinet shop for a man named Ron Conyers. And he built custom cabinets. And after school during the fall until basketball season stopped, I would roll in there about 4 o'clock and go in the finish shop. And Ron would hand me the keys. And I had keys to the shop, and then I would be there all night long finishing out solid cherry and mahogany and walnut cabinets. Can you imagine giving that to a 15-year-old today to go in there and take care of a $10,000, $15,000 kitchen, and we're talking about $10,000 or $15,000 in the 80s? You'd buy a house for that in the 80s. No. I wasn't special. It was the way our generation was forged, and many of y'all know it. I thank God for you that put your children to work now. Why we got problems with preachers wilting under pressure? Oh, I can't handle it. But if you get jokes and says, he knows too many preachers that's got to play golf to get over the nervousness of preaching on God's peace on Sunday. When I decided to go to Bible college, of course my dad was part of it and so when the registrar gave it to me and I looked at it and I saw my English classes and my basic general classes and then I looked down and each one of my classes, Johnny Thompson was written beside it. It didn't have anybody but him. And I said, why just him? And he said, well, for one reason. You're an audible learner, Rob. And he's our best lecturer. You'll remember his stuff. You'll learn more. And it'll ease you into the water. But you know, maybe sometime he was also a decorated World War II fighter pilot. And those men really didn't care about your feelings when you misspoke. They weren't there to make you feel better about yourself. They were there to make you better. We all need the school of hard knocks. And God is shaping Joseph. Look with me here in chapter 42. I gotta move now. I didn't even plan all that. I'm sorry, chapter 41. And it came to pass. And so Joseph is now in the prison. You know the story about Joseph telling the dream to the different prisoners? The one guy said, I'll remember you when I get up there. But you know what happens? He forgets all about him. He don't say nothing to him until something else happens. Chapter 41. And it came, verse 1, and it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river, and behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored king or cows, fat-fleshed, And they fed in a meadow. And behold, a seven other king came up after them out of the river, ill-favored, lean-fleshed, and stood upon the brink of the river. And the ill-favored, lean-fleshed king did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kings. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept, and he dreamed a second dream. Behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, and ranked in good. And behold, seven thin ears blasted, with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled and all, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men therefore. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler, unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was wroth with his servant, and put him in the ward, or prison, in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief banker. I didn't find the candlestick maker, though. I'm sorry. Anyway, he dreamed a dream in one night, and I, he, we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dream to each man according To his dream he did interpret Now skip down with me instead of giving commentary We're just going to kind of read this part of the story they make application skip down with me to verse 25 They bring Joseph out to him Well, bring the guy here. Verse 25, and Joseph said unto Pharaoh, the dream of Pharaoh is won, and God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. Now, I want to say this, and then we'll skip down here in a minute. Joseph gives God the glory for all of his wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh. And Joseph gave God the glory for his interpretation of the dream to the prisoners when he was yet in prison. God had gifted him, but he gave the glory to God for his gift. And when God gifts you, you ought to give Him the glory for His gift. Look with me now in verse 29. Behold, there came seven years of great plenty, he's interpreting the dream, of great plenty throughout all the land. So the seven fat cows or the seven fat ears are seven years of plenty. I mean, the barns are going to run over. And there shall rise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land. Now skip down with me to verse 38. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, can we find such a one as this man in whom the Spirit of God is? Evil lost king knew God was speaking through this man. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, for as much as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Boy, he said that right. There's no one as discerning as you. There's no one as wise as you. And even Pharaoh, the heathen king, gave God the credit, said, because of the God in you, you're the wisest, most discreet man I've ever met. Verse 40, thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. Now he's in the palace. He goes from the pit to Potiphar's house, to prison, and now he's in the palace. Now he is showing forth the same character that he showed his brothers. God gave me that dream, and they hated him for it. But God prospered him in Potiphar's house until, but he was, hey, if I had a servant as prosperous as Joseph, I wouldn't be telling everybody. And so God's got to promote him. So God promotes him through two years of prison stay. So where he can sit with the butler, the chief manservant, if you will, of the king. And he saw that God was with him. And now Pharaoh is seeing that God is with him. Skip down with me to verse 54. And the seven years of dearth, or drought, or famine began to come according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all the lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread. The famine was in all the lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread. Why? Because God had a man in Egypt. And Joseph in this chapter, and you can read down through the rest of the chapter, we don't, well look with me here, we'll give you one more here. Verse 55, and when all the land of Egypt was famished, now Egypt's in famine. The people cried unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph what he saith to you do. Now, you can read the rest of it. Joseph was in charge of the food bank and starvation. It's going to take a man that's been through the pressure of the betrayal of his brothers, and the slander of a despiteful woman, and the improper imprisonment, and the score of hard knocks, if you will. And he decides who lives and who dies. He decides who eats and who goes hungry. Joseph is the physical savior of the world Now skip with me to chapter 45 We'll go through this quick and I may have to now we'll read it Now I want to see, lastly, the perspective that brought pardon. The perspective that brought pardon. Chapter 45, verse 1. Jim Joseph could not refrain himself. His brothers has come because they're starving. You know it. He's played a little game with them back and forth about their other brother. He wants his other brother there, Benjamin. And all that's going on, but there comes a point where Joseph just can't do it anymore. He's come out in the Egyptian royal garb, and they painted their faces, and he has on everything else. They don't recognize him. He's got wife and kids and everything. And he speaks as an Egyptian. But Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, caused every man to go out from him. That's all the Egyptians. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brother. Now here's the man that tried to kill him. And then the best of alternatives was, I'll sell him off into slavery. If it wasn't for God being with him, He would be starving like the rest of them, or he would be a field hand the rest of his life. And he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in 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. I'll be scared to death. The cat got your tongue? Yeah, the big cat got your tongue. And Joseph said unto his brother, 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 yourself that you sold me hither or here. For God did send me before you to preserve life. When you're talking about a godly perspective, now how did he get that kind of godly perspective? Because God was with him. Because God was with him. Look at verse seven. And God sent me before you to preserve you a prosperity in the earth. Hey, this whole thing is about God. You know what? God said he gonna save the children of Israel, that you're gonna have children and children and children and children. And God sent me to save the nation. God sent me to save the family. God sent me to save your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. in the earth to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God, that he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and lord over his house. He's like the Secretary of State, if you will, and ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Now, skip over with me to chapter 50. Let me try to close this down here. His father did come. They rejoiced. He even introduced them to Pharaoh. Here's my daddy and my brothers. And boy, they just said, well, they're going to be a part here. As long as Joseph was alive, him and his brothers were treated almost like royalty. Now, I didn't say vice president because if Pharaoh died, he wasn't going to be Pharaoh. The Secretary of State is about the best. He's in control of the cabinet, if you will. But look with me here in verse 7. And Joseph went up to bury his father. Now, his father has died. after he's been there a while, and with him up all the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt. This is, hey, this is a state funeral now. This is high class. I mean, all the palace is mourning the death of Jacob. Can you imagine that? And all the house of Joseph, his brethren, and his father's house, only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen." No need to take the young'uns, all right? Look with me now in verse 15. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph, pre-adventure, hate us. and will certainly requite us all evil which we did unto him." We're in trouble now, boys. Joseph played good while daddy was alive, but now daddy's dead. He coming. He gonna exact revenge on us. I think I would have thought that too. I mean this man is in control of the whole nation. There's nobody greater in Egypt but Pharaoh. All you got to do is snap his fingers and they're gone. Was Joseph just putting it on for his daddy? Well, look with me in verse 20. I think verse 20 can summarize the whole book of Genesis. from after the fall. But as for you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. No. He knew God. He had spent time with God. He had the presence of God. We don't know if God spoke to him audibly or not, but we know that God worked within his spirit and God gave him dreams about things. We know that he had the presence and the prosperity of God. Joseph understood, hey, I'm being sold into slavery. I'm sure he was down and out and cried and everything. I'm sure Joseph, when he went to, now he had been sheltered by his mom and dad. He ain't never had to do a whole lot of hard work. He ain't had to do a whole lot. But then when he gets into Bonhoeffer's house, I think even Joseph said, man, this is beyond what I can do. God is prospering this thing. Then he goes to jail. And he becomes in charge of the whole thing under the warden. And now whatever they're working in prison is prospering. Now he gets brought out of prison, and he is put in charge of everything, and he's the only one to interpret this dream. God is sending a famine into the land, and now Joseph is in control. He's been under the pressure of all that he's been under. I mean, who best to judge whether a man is a liar before him, a crook, a snake, an outcast, or a genuine man to know how much bread he needs than Joseph? Who is wiser than Joseph? Pharaoh says. God's spirit dwells in this man. That's a lost man. Saying that of Joseph. Joseph has the power of God upon him, the prosperity of God upon him, and I don't think Joseph is just whimsically saying this. Joseph knew it. No, God, you meant it bad. Don't beat yourself up. Joseph was 17 at the time, and his brothers probably weren't that much older than him. We're just a bunch of dumb kids and you were jealous and you threw me in a pit You didn't know what you were doing, but but out of your jealousy and out of your evil intention God has minutes for good I Remember years ago My former pastor and brother, Fugate, had a rally. We filled up a minor league baseball stadium. About 7,000 people. We had a patriotic rally one year. And they lied on him in the press. They took, they miscontextualized everything he said. Made him out to be something he wasn't. I'm not going to say he was Major League discouraged, but he was, he usually took things in stride and I looked at him and I said, well you know what they say, bad advertisement is still advertisement. And you know the next Sunday, that thing, they had all kinds, people showed up from everywhere. And there were protesters on the street. And there was all kinds of men that were in there that said, we know not to believe the Herald-Leader. And he went from a membership, he went from a regular church attendance of about 400 to about 1,400 just over that negative press. We won't get behind a man like this. You know, the press meant it for evil. government if we're good. How many times in so many different ways in the ministry and in life that we find out that people, you know, Some more, through the years, it always happens. I mean, if you can't deal with this, then you ain't cut for the cloth for the ministry. Through the years, people have said, well, so-and-so is hating on you, and they're telling people. I hope they tell everybody. I mean that. I hope that my name is in their mouth to everybody. I hope they lie on me to everybody. Because some people will show up and say, we want to figure this out. Any advertisement is good advertisement. I've seen it happen in churches. I know a man that there was a younger pastor that came into the area, and he was jealous, boy, he was jealous, and he kept warning his church. He had a church of about 300 people. He kept warning his church. So-and-so was going to lead them in heresy. He wasn't going to lead them in heresy. He was just, he was a new generation, and there were a lot of new things that he was bringing about, nothing heretical. Oh, he's horrible, he's horrible, he's horrible. He lost half his church to him. He showed up to see how bad it was, found out his man preaching the book. He's bitter, he's happy. What I'm saying to you is I could go all night with illustration after story of illustration, both in my personal life. I remember the day that I walked into H.H. Gregg. I was at Bible College in Lexington, Kentucky, and I drove Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to H.H. Gregg in Indiana. That was an hour and a half drive one way, and I worked there Three days a week and they kept trying to get me to become the manager because we had about 40 salesperson people and I was always in the top 10 and I was part-time and And they brought somebody else in who just had the general manager. He just hated me He just hated me because I was a Christian he hated me because I was off on Sundays and nobody else was going to be off on Sundays and And then he said, catch him coming in. Because the other manager understood I was driving, and sometimes I clock in about five minutes late at the most. They understand going through all that traffic. But he didn't understand. He said, you catch him the third time we're firing. But they never warned me. And so that third time, Mike comes out. Mike Roberts comes out and says, you're fired, Robert. I knew Mike didn't do it. I said, Hoffman. He said, all I know is you're fired. I said, he don't have the guts to do it himself. So I left. I left. Six months later, I get the phone call on my cell phone. Is this Rob? Yeah. Hey, it's Mike. What you doing, Mike? Did you get rid of the manager? They make you manager, you want to hire me back? He said, no, I got the job. I'm now over a Merrill Loan Mortgage Corporation as a Lexington manager and I want to hire you back. And I said, well, you already fired me. He said, that's all right. I want to hire you back. I want to hire you in here. Here's the gig. And I tell you what, one of the best paying jobs I ever had in my life. You know what? He said, you have haunted me for six months. I couldn't stand firing you. Matter of fact, I started looking around, and I got a job. Two months, I said, I can't deal with this guy, the manager. He got a job, and they promoted him from a loan officer to a thing. Point is, God will fight your battles for you better than you can. They fight your battles better than you can. You just keep on with God. And I made twice as much, actually probably three times as much, working for Mike at a marathon than I ever did selling at HH Gregg Appliances. You know, God was just promoting me. And he did, he said, I started looking for a job after I fired you. I said, no way, I'm working for this guy. If it'll do that to him, he'll do it to me. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Just keep a good spirit about it, stay in the presence of the Lord, and what men use for evil, God will prosper and bless us in. And we gotta thank the Lord for that. All right, let's be dismissed now in prayer. Brother Keith, if you would, would you dismiss?