1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:04,840 I signed my name on the dotted line for a building. 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:05,680 So. 3 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,680 (audience cheering) 4 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,040 We started renovation last week 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:15,500 and it's gonna be a while. 6 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:18,440 It's gonna be like eating an elephant, 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,240 one board at a time. 8 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:25,240 So we'll be over on First Street. 9 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,080 It's the old, many of you know it. 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,560 Hopefully you repented to that, 11 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:31,640 but it's the old Planet Doom, right? 12 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:32,860 Dr. Slaughters. 13 00:00:32,860 --> 00:00:36,000 Next to Bolero. 14 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,720 So you bowlers, you know, come to church and go through. 15 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,280 No. 16 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:46,280 So we have no idea what the projected opening is. 17 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,560 So we're gonna try to do it in phases 18 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,160 and get in there as soon as possible. 19 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,520 There's a possibility of before Christmas, but not likely. 20 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,420 Probably more like January to June somewhere. 21 00:00:59,580 --> 00:01:02,260 (audience laughing) 22 00:01:02,260 --> 00:01:05,760 So please be praying because the Lord moves mountains 23 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,460 and concrete and all kinds of stuff. 24 00:01:08,460 --> 00:01:11,840 So, yes. 25 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,500 Full Draw Construction is kind of our guy. 26 00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:20,220 So be praying for the company and the workers 27 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:21,860 and all that stuff. 28 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:25,420 And there will be more information to come. 29 00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:27,940 So with that, if you, 30 00:01:27,940 --> 00:01:30,800 did I forget something? 31 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:36,860 If you have your Bible, please turn to Genesis chapter 47. 32 00:01:36,860 --> 00:01:43,460 And going through this last week, 33 00:01:43,460 --> 00:01:48,860 I came up with a title, "What Are You Hungry For?" 34 00:01:48,860 --> 00:01:54,100 And we're obviously, they're still in a famine here 35 00:01:54,100 --> 00:01:58,380 in the book of Genesis as Joseph, God supernaturally 36 00:01:58,380 --> 00:02:03,380 puts Joseph in a position where he can literally save 37 00:02:03,380 --> 00:02:05,900 and provide for the whole world. 38 00:02:05,900 --> 00:02:08,860 And so beautiful picture of our Lord 39 00:02:08,860 --> 00:02:10,340 and the savior Jesus Christ. 40 00:02:10,340 --> 00:02:13,180 And I hope that that's what you're hungry for 41 00:02:13,180 --> 00:02:15,340 because I know the older I get, 42 00:02:15,340 --> 00:02:18,340 the more I wanna hunger for him. 43 00:02:18,340 --> 00:02:19,180 Do I always? 44 00:02:19,180 --> 00:02:20,620 No, I don't. 45 00:02:20,620 --> 00:02:25,620 And so I think Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount 46 00:02:25,620 --> 00:02:28,240 there in Matthew chapter six, it says, 47 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,740 "Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness 48 00:02:31,740 --> 00:02:33,260 will be filled." 49 00:02:33,260 --> 00:02:37,360 And so you have to ask yourself, what is it that drives me? 50 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,340 What is it that moves me and motivates me 51 00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:43,900 to do the things I do, to live the life that I'm living? 52 00:02:43,900 --> 00:02:47,480 And so hopefully today, 53 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,060 maybe the Lord will speak to your heart. 54 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:52,540 And so before we're gonna start in verse 13, 55 00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:54,100 but before we do, let's pray. 56 00:02:54,100 --> 00:02:59,100 Father, thank you for your word that is a powerful tool, 57 00:02:59,100 --> 00:03:02,520 Lord, it is as Job said, 58 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:07,080 it is better than our necessary food, Lord, 59 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,420 that it truly nourishes our soul 60 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:12,280 and gives us wisdom that is from above. 61 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,280 That is, Lord, it's so much all we need, Lord, 62 00:03:17,940 --> 00:03:22,100 to be successful in this life, Lord, as your people, 63 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:24,940 to draw near to you, to hear your words, 64 00:03:24,940 --> 00:03:28,940 to be willing to yield, Lord, and to be peaceable 65 00:03:28,940 --> 00:03:31,980 and to be those who truly example 66 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:33,620 the life of Christ Jesus, Lord. 67 00:03:33,620 --> 00:03:36,100 So we just ask that you would teach us today 68 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:38,460 by your Holy Spirit, and we pray it 69 00:03:38,460 --> 00:03:40,820 in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus. 70 00:03:40,820 --> 00:03:42,300 Amen. 71 00:03:42,300 --> 00:03:43,140 Amen. 72 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:51,180 So like Jesus, Joseph, like Jesus, 73 00:03:51,180 --> 00:03:53,480 has provided for his family. 74 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,940 Philippians 4.19 says, "And my God will supply 75 00:03:55,940 --> 00:03:58,800 "every need of yours according to his riches and glory 76 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,040 "in Christ Jesus." 77 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,340 And that's what Jesus provides for us. 78 00:04:03,340 --> 00:04:05,740 And Joseph is that beautiful type, 79 00:04:05,740 --> 00:04:08,140 not only providing for his family, right? 80 00:04:08,140 --> 00:04:12,780 Jesus didn't just come to save his own people, the Jews, 81 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:15,820 but he does say that he came for the Jew first. 82 00:04:15,820 --> 00:04:19,740 And that we would be on the tail end of that as Gentiles. 83 00:04:19,740 --> 00:04:24,380 But he came to save us and to provide a way for us 84 00:04:24,380 --> 00:04:27,720 to get out of this life smelling like a rose. 85 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,320 And praise God, right? 86 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:32,180 'Cause I don't know about you, 87 00:04:32,180 --> 00:04:34,540 but I don't smell like a rose very often. 88 00:04:34,540 --> 00:04:40,260 And so to have the Lord make that way for me, I know, 89 00:04:40,260 --> 00:04:43,660 is actually overwhelming at times. 90 00:04:43,660 --> 00:04:48,660 And so we got through where Joseph had brought Jacob 91 00:04:48,660 --> 00:04:51,380 and his brothers before Pharaoh. 92 00:04:51,380 --> 00:04:54,620 He gave them jobs and the best of the land. 93 00:04:54,620 --> 00:04:56,320 And in verse 13, it says, 94 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,320 "And now there was no bread in all the land, 95 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,880 "for the famine was very severe, 96 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,280 "so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan 97 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,720 "languished because of the famine. 98 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,620 "And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found 99 00:05:11,620 --> 00:05:14,500 "in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan 100 00:05:14,500 --> 00:05:16,900 "for the grain which they bought. 101 00:05:16,900 --> 00:05:20,100 "And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 102 00:05:20,100 --> 00:05:23,540 "And so when the money failed in the land of Egypt 103 00:05:23,540 --> 00:05:25,020 "and in the land of Canaan, 104 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:28,080 "all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, 105 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,240 "Give us bread for why should we die in your presence? 106 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,620 "For the money has failed." 107 00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:39,260 And this is getting bad. 108 00:05:39,260 --> 00:05:41,300 This is getting really bad. 109 00:05:41,300 --> 00:05:46,300 And I don't know, I've heard different commentators 110 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:52,620 and economists and journalists talking about some stuff 111 00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:56,060 going on in our country that it might get bad. 112 00:05:56,060 --> 00:05:58,940 You know, the Bible says that the prudent 113 00:05:58,940 --> 00:06:01,900 sees trouble coming and prepares for it. 114 00:06:01,900 --> 00:06:06,560 And so I think that there's some preparation in order 115 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,480 for us as believers just to just be wise. 116 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,140 One of those things would be try to get out of debt. 117 00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:15,200 Try to dissolve your debt. 118 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,700 And or as I tell my wife, I says, 119 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:19,560 I want to attack our debt. 120 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,160 I mean, with a vengeance, right? 121 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:23,440 And get out of debt. 122 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,200 These people we're gonna see that debt comes to them 123 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,520 because things are so hard. 124 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:36,540 I think we're seeing a lot of similarities 125 00:06:36,540 --> 00:06:38,840 and even in our own culture today. 126 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:43,060 But they notice Joseph's wisdom 127 00:06:43,060 --> 00:06:46,660 in managing this whole situation, 128 00:06:46,660 --> 00:06:49,340 they came to him with money. 129 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:52,640 He takes all of it and he gives it to Pharaoh, right? 130 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,080 He's not pat in his own pocket. 131 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:59,460 You know, he's not living in a multimillion dollar mansion. 132 00:06:59,460 --> 00:07:04,460 He is being wise with the position that God has given him 133 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,820 because Joseph has this overwhelming sense 134 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:14,760 that God has him in the place for such a time as this. 135 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,300 Do you have that sense? 136 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:20,000 Wherever you're at, it might be with your neighbors. 137 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,040 It might be with the place that you work at. 138 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,480 God has called you for such a time as this to be there 139 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,600 and to be a representative and to be a voice 140 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,560 and to be about his business. 141 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,560 And so Joseph is not concerning himself with himself. 142 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,520 He's concerned with the people 143 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,240 and with the leader of the country 144 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:43,880 because the leader of the country 145 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:45,920 has put him in this position. 146 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:50,300 And so there was no bread in the land 147 00:07:50,300 --> 00:07:53,940 except what Joseph had control over. 148 00:07:53,940 --> 00:07:57,960 He was the most powerful man. 149 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,020 He had all the food. 150 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,760 There are three things that you and I need physically 151 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,760 to survive, right? 152 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,920 And going without one of them is certain death. 153 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,500 And those things are air, right? 154 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:15,040 I don't know how long you can live without air. 155 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,400 I know it's not very long, right? 156 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,480 Water, right? 157 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,280 Depending on the conditions could be a week, two weeks, 158 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,980 three weeks, probably at the max or food. 159 00:08:26,980 --> 00:08:29,920 Those things, we need those things, right? 160 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,640 Just to physically survive. 161 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,000 And here they are in this place 162 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,280 where one of them is very scarce and that is food. 163 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:39,740 They have air and water, 164 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:44,640 but food is the thing that everybody is focused on. 165 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,600 You know, we Americans, we don't get this. 166 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,160 I remember reading a book. 167 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,720 I read a biography of Abraham Lincoln. 168 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,720 And just to let us know how tough it was, 169 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,360 even in America, back in the time when Lincoln was young 170 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,780 and even before he was running for office, 171 00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:10,460 in the winter time, all he ate, his only food was corn. 172 00:09:10,460 --> 00:09:16,460 He was a bonafide corn-fed boy from Illinois. 173 00:09:16,460 --> 00:09:20,400 But that's all he ate. 174 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,760 All winter long, all he had was corn. 175 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,360 If they got a turkey or some venison, 176 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,360 they would add that to it. 177 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,320 But if you know about Lincoln, 178 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,320 he did not like to kill animals. 179 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,760 And so corn, could you imagine? 180 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,480 Cornbread, corn mash, right? 181 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:47,620 Boiled corn, fried corn, baked corn. (laughs) 182 00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:52,400 I mean, I'm just like, 183 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,880 I know people that would shrivel up and die, right? 184 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,360 If they had to eat corn all the time. 185 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:01,600 But it was tough. 186 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,800 And these people, they're glad to get the corn 187 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,920 'cause it's the only thing that is keeping them alive. 188 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:14,800 And so, you know, we just take all this stuff for granted 189 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,720 until you don't have it, right? 190 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,100 You take my air away from me for a while, you know, 191 00:10:20,100 --> 00:10:23,440 before I pass out, it's gonna get pretty violent, right? 192 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:25,180 'Cause I'm gonna seek some air. 193 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,080 I was there when our friend Wilbur Botthoff 194 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,640 went home to be with the Lord. 195 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,000 And he was struggling for air. 196 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,780 And it's a terrifying thing, right? 197 00:10:40,780 --> 00:10:45,000 To be struggling for something that you need that badly. 198 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,000 And finally, they gave him enough sedation 199 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,440 where he could leave peacefully, but it was terrifying. 200 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,440 It was terrifying to watch. 201 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:02,680 And yet this starving to death is a very slow process. 202 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:08,380 And so Joseph, his stewardship and wisdom is displayed 203 00:11:08,380 --> 00:11:14,200 in verses 14 and 15 there, where it says, 204 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,400 "And he gathered up all the money that was found 205 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,740 "in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan 206 00:11:18,740 --> 00:11:20,680 "for the grain which they bought. 207 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:23,160 "And Joseph brought the money to Pharaoh." 208 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,240 And so he was honest, he was trustworthy 209 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:32,060 to take care of the money that came in 210 00:11:32,060 --> 00:11:34,880 from all the food that they had. 211 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,980 And so he does his job. 212 00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:41,220 He does his job. 213 00:11:41,220 --> 00:11:44,220 That's kind of a rarity today, isn't it? 214 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:48,400 I talk to business owners all the time about getting workers. 215 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:49,960 Nobody wants to do their job. 216 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,680 Just go to work, show up, give an honest day's work 217 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:56,680 for an honest day's pay. 218 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:01,680 And it's like people are immune to it. 219 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:03,800 They don't wanna do it. 220 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,160 And it's so wrong. 221 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:12,160 And we see this Joseph, what an incredible example he is. 222 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:17,160 He's not just a man pleaser, right? 223 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,780 Some of us work pretty hard when the boss is around, right? 224 00:12:20,780 --> 00:12:22,660 Because he's watching. 225 00:12:22,660 --> 00:12:25,940 Colossians 3, 22 says, "Bon servants, obey in all things 226 00:12:25,940 --> 00:12:27,840 "your masters according to the flesh, 227 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,200 "not with eye service as men pleasers, 228 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,620 "but in sincerity of heart, fearing God." 229 00:12:35,620 --> 00:12:37,480 Joseph took it to heart. 230 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,620 He knew that God was watching him. 231 00:12:39,620 --> 00:12:41,720 Do you know God's watching you? 232 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,560 He knows, he knows it all. 233 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:46,640 He knows the attitude of our heart. 234 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,080 We can work hard with the wrong attitude 235 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,560 and be a stench to the Lord in heaven. 236 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,260 Whatever you do in word or deed, 237 00:12:54,260 --> 00:12:58,060 do it as unto the Lord, the Bible says, right? 238 00:12:58,060 --> 00:12:59,980 And it's really an attitude. 239 00:12:59,980 --> 00:13:07,800 And so Joseph is taking this pretty seriously, right? 240 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,480 No doubt, literally the weight of the world 241 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,660 and being in control of all the food source in the world 242 00:13:15,660 --> 00:13:17,040 is on his shoulders. 243 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:22,040 And if he fails, people are in trouble. 244 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:27,520 You know, I've really never heard that much about, 245 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,960 you know, people that are in control of food. 246 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,100 We're sure hearing about it a lot lately, aren't we? 247 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:36,120 Right? 248 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:41,120 And when you look back, right, you look back in history 249 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,340 and you think, you know, that's a scary thought 250 00:13:44,340 --> 00:13:48,080 that someone, one person would have power 251 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,120 of all the food in the world. 252 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:55,020 And yet you hear stuff coming from the World Economic Forum 253 00:13:55,020 --> 00:13:58,500 and the UN and stuff about food 254 00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:00,260 and how they wanna control things 255 00:14:00,260 --> 00:14:03,520 and how they wanna do away with cattle and sheep 256 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,080 and it's like, not. 257 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,940 I mean, and that's what happened in history. 258 00:14:14,940 --> 00:14:16,780 Stalin starved people to death. 259 00:14:16,780 --> 00:14:19,140 Mao starved people to death. 260 00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:23,680 Kim Jong-un is starving people to death. 261 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,660 Hitler and the Holocaust, many of the Jews, 262 00:14:25,660 --> 00:14:28,380 they died of starvation. 263 00:14:28,380 --> 00:14:29,980 Do you imagine starving to death? 264 00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:35,180 And yet we see what hunger does to people 265 00:14:35,180 --> 00:14:37,880 in the Old Testament in the time of the judges. 266 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,540 When people, they were eating their own children. 267 00:14:40,540 --> 00:14:42,480 Women were eating their own afterbirth. 268 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:47,840 It wasn't bad if it was cooked right, but. 269 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:57,420 Okay, just had to lighten it up a little. 270 00:14:57,420 --> 00:15:04,060 Tastes like chicken, not. 271 00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:07,400 (congregation laughing) 272 00:15:08,780 --> 00:15:10,860 (laughs) 273 00:15:10,860 --> 00:15:13,180 Okay. 274 00:15:13,180 --> 00:15:22,060 But I mean, what would we do? 275 00:15:22,060 --> 00:15:25,180 Praise God we got the South Fork, we can go catch some fish. 276 00:15:25,180 --> 00:15:27,600 I mean, if, you know. 277 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,180 There's free spuds out here. 278 00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:32,620 I'd take the guys up on it, you just never know. 279 00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:33,440 You know? 280 00:15:37,700 --> 00:15:42,420 But I'm, this guy's responsibility, no doubt, 281 00:15:42,420 --> 00:15:46,200 it had to be pretty weighty on him, you know? 282 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,160 And there in verse 15, something, it's powerful. 283 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,220 It says, "The money runs out, we can't buy food. 284 00:15:54,220 --> 00:15:59,220 Their hunger was causing them to plead with Joseph." 285 00:15:59,220 --> 00:16:03,000 And that phrase just kind of gets you there 286 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,180 at the end of verse 15. 287 00:16:04,180 --> 00:16:06,100 It's powerful. 288 00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:08,200 The money has failed. 289 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,260 The money has failed. 290 00:16:11,260 --> 00:16:12,620 Your money will fail you. 291 00:16:12,620 --> 00:16:18,700 Right, the Bible talks a lot about money. 292 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:23,720 Peter in Acts chapter eight there, 293 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,820 when he's talking to Simon, the sorcerer, 294 00:16:26,820 --> 00:16:30,740 who thought he could buy the Holy Spirit. 295 00:16:30,740 --> 00:16:33,540 And he said, "Your money perish with you." 296 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,080 Right, your money's gonna perish. 297 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,260 Your silver and your gold, it's gonna rot. 298 00:16:40,260 --> 00:16:45,260 So be careful not to put your trust in it. 299 00:16:45,260 --> 00:16:54,080 And Jesus makes it clear that money is a rival 300 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,860 to who he is as Lord, right? 301 00:16:58,860 --> 00:17:00,500 He talks about it. 302 00:17:00,500 --> 00:17:03,700 And I'm just gonna read this in Matthew chapter six, 303 00:17:03,700 --> 00:17:07,720 verses 19 through 24, where Jesus, he says, 304 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,680 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, 305 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,820 where moth and rust destroy, 306 00:17:13,820 --> 00:17:16,820 and where thieves break in and steal. 307 00:17:16,820 --> 00:17:20,680 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 308 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,320 where neither moth nor rust destroys, 309 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,940 where thieves do not break in and steal. 310 00:17:25,940 --> 00:17:30,540 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 311 00:17:31,420 --> 00:17:33,780 And so many people, their treasure, 312 00:17:33,780 --> 00:17:35,700 you talk to my friend, Maury Miller, 313 00:17:35,700 --> 00:17:40,820 about being a, you know, he's kind of a stockbroker 314 00:17:40,820 --> 00:17:42,540 and takes care of people that way. 315 00:17:42,540 --> 00:17:47,460 And when the market dumps like 800 to a thousand points, 316 00:17:47,460 --> 00:17:50,300 I mean, his phone blows up. 317 00:17:50,300 --> 00:17:54,460 People have put their trust in their investments, 318 00:17:54,460 --> 00:17:56,720 in their silver and their gold. 319 00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:02,300 Don't do that, because if you're doing that, 320 00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:03,760 that is your master. 321 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:08,860 The money will fail you, just like it failed these people. 322 00:18:08,860 --> 00:18:12,780 It failed these people 'cause they ran out. 323 00:18:12,780 --> 00:18:16,060 He goes on and says, "Listen, the lamp of the body 324 00:18:16,060 --> 00:18:18,900 is the eye, if therefore your eye is good, 325 00:18:18,900 --> 00:18:21,600 your whole body will be full of light." 326 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,980 Which brings us back to our beginning question, 327 00:18:24,980 --> 00:18:26,940 what are you hungry for? 328 00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:29,380 Financially, what are you hungry for? 329 00:18:29,380 --> 00:18:31,260 But if your eye is bad, 330 00:18:31,260 --> 00:18:34,020 your whole body will be full of darkness. 331 00:18:34,020 --> 00:18:37,100 If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, 332 00:18:37,100 --> 00:18:39,220 how great is that darkness? 333 00:18:39,220 --> 00:18:41,460 He's talking about financial things here. 334 00:18:41,460 --> 00:18:45,660 Pleasures and riches and the cares of this life. 335 00:18:45,660 --> 00:18:49,080 Jesus talked about it in the parable of the sower. 336 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,840 It's a darkness. 337 00:18:53,460 --> 00:18:58,460 And then he kind of gives us a punchline in verse 24. 338 00:18:58,460 --> 00:19:02,060 No one can serve two masters. 339 00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:08,280 For he, for either he will hate the one and love the other, 340 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,500 or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. 341 00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:14,560 You cannot serve God and mammon. 342 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,260 Folks, listen. 343 00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:25,100 Finances are a great servant. 344 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:27,840 They're a horrific master. 345 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:35,340 And I mean, you know, you can plan, you can store up, 346 00:19:35,340 --> 00:19:37,600 you can do what you want, 347 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,280 but just know that it all grows wings and flies away, right? 348 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:48,420 And in Proverbs 23, verse five tells us, 349 00:19:48,420 --> 00:19:51,580 "Will you set your eyes on that which is not? 350 00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:54,820 For riches certainly make themselves wings 351 00:19:54,820 --> 00:19:57,900 and they fly away like an eagle toward heaven." 352 00:19:57,900 --> 00:19:59,340 And just, there it goes. 353 00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:04,380 It's kind of like us, it's just a vapor. 354 00:20:04,380 --> 00:20:07,220 Don't put your trust in it, right? 355 00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:10,800 And that's what the Psalmist writes in Psalm 62. 356 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,260 "If riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 357 00:20:14,260 --> 00:20:18,820 Will the money is gone." 358 00:20:18,820 --> 00:20:22,540 And so these people are in a pickle. 359 00:20:22,540 --> 00:20:23,540 They don't know what to do. 360 00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:25,480 They have no way to buy food. 361 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:33,940 And they come to Joseph and say, "You gotta help us." 362 00:20:33,940 --> 00:20:37,220 Joseph, get tongue tied. 363 00:20:37,220 --> 00:20:40,020 Joseph was the man with the plan, right? 364 00:20:40,020 --> 00:20:43,360 And he was prepared and it's good to prepare, right? 365 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:47,180 That verse that I mentioned in the opening 366 00:20:47,180 --> 00:20:48,980 was Proverbs 27, 12 said, 367 00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:51,080 "The prudent sees evil and hides himself, 368 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,860 but the naive proceed and pay the penalty." 369 00:20:53,860 --> 00:20:58,700 So we live in a time when it's important to be wise, 370 00:20:58,700 --> 00:21:03,180 be wise with what God has given you, but also be generous. 371 00:21:03,180 --> 00:21:06,840 God's never called us to not be generous 372 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,100 and become tightwads. 373 00:21:11,340 --> 00:21:15,180 Because the old saying is true, you can't out give him, 374 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:21,060 but the Lord is our security. 375 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:23,580 God is my security, right? 376 00:21:23,580 --> 00:21:25,160 I don't have to worry. 377 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:26,900 If the bank account gets low, 378 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:29,180 if I've done it foolishly, then that's on me. 379 00:21:29,180 --> 00:21:31,440 But if it's just because I'm trying to live, 380 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,600 hey, God will provide. 381 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:34,760 Do you believe that? 382 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:40,740 And so, because time and chance happens to everybody. 383 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,040 How come somebody wins the lottery 384 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,300 and a lot of people don't? 385 00:21:44,300 --> 00:21:49,580 The people that you read about that's won the lottery, 386 00:21:49,580 --> 00:21:52,480 man, it's just like, oh, I wish I'd never won it. 387 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,980 I didn't know so many people thought, had my name. 388 00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:57,340 They thought, and I'm related to so many people. 389 00:21:57,340 --> 00:21:59,720 They just, everybody wants a handout. 390 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:04,540 And if God wants to bless you, he'll bless you. 391 00:22:04,540 --> 00:22:08,800 Finances has always been something real scary to me 392 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,380 because I realized that I don't appreciate it, right? 393 00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:15,340 I don't appreciate gifts. 394 00:22:15,340 --> 00:22:18,480 You don't appreciate it. 395 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:25,060 And then pretty soon you spiral down and then you expect it. 396 00:22:25,060 --> 00:22:28,220 You have this entitlement mentality. 397 00:22:28,220 --> 00:22:30,740 That's why we're in the pickle that we're in today. 398 00:22:30,740 --> 00:22:32,180 Do you realize that the national debt 399 00:22:32,180 --> 00:22:33,520 is over a trillion dollars? 400 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,020 National consumer debt, national consumer debt 401 00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:41,560 with two or three years ago, it was like at 68 billion. 402 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:42,980 Now it's over a trillion. 403 00:22:42,980 --> 00:22:47,820 God is our security. 404 00:22:47,820 --> 00:22:49,660 And if God wants to raise us up, he will. 405 00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:53,740 Ecclesiastes 9-11 says, "I returned and saw under the sun 406 00:22:53,740 --> 00:22:55,140 that the race is not to the swift, 407 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:57,920 nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, 408 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,220 nor riches to men of understanding, 409 00:23:01,220 --> 00:23:04,480 nor favor to men of skill, 410 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,920 but time and chance happened all." 411 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,040 (congregation murmuring) 412 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:11,760 And that's why so many people have a hard time 413 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:12,740 with the Bible verse that says, 414 00:23:12,740 --> 00:23:14,800 "Rejoice with those who rejoice 415 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:16,500 and mourn with those who mourn." 416 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:19,400 We don't have a hard time mourning with those who mourn, 417 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:20,660 but we have a hard time rejoicing 418 00:23:20,660 --> 00:23:22,200 with those who win the lottery. 419 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,600 Well, why they? 420 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:27,800 How come they? 421 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:32,780 Isn't that just like us? 422 00:23:32,780 --> 00:23:34,780 We're terrible. 423 00:23:34,780 --> 00:23:35,680 We really are. 424 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:36,520 We're terrible. 425 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:45,180 And so it goes from bad to worse. 426 00:23:45,180 --> 00:23:47,820 Not only did they run out of money, 427 00:23:47,820 --> 00:23:52,620 but here in verse 16, right, it gets worse. 428 00:23:52,620 --> 00:23:54,580 And Joseph, it says, "Then Joseph said, 429 00:23:54,580 --> 00:23:56,680 give your livestock and I will give you bread 430 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,020 for your livestock if the money is gone." 431 00:23:59,020 --> 00:24:02,220 And so they brought their livestock to Joseph 432 00:24:02,220 --> 00:24:05,280 and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, 433 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,960 the flocks, the cattle, the herds, and for the donkeys. 434 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,880 Thus he fed them with the bread in exchange 435 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,940 for all their livestock in that year. 436 00:24:13,940 --> 00:24:16,560 And when that year had ended, gets worse, 437 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,760 they came to him the next year and said to him, 438 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,720 "We will not hide from my Lord that our money is gone. 439 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,880 My Lord has also our herds of livestock. 440 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,460 There is nothing left in the sight of my Lord, 441 00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:33,200 but our bodies and our lands. 442 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,680 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land, 443 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,580 by us and our land for bread? 444 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:45,520 And we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh. 445 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:50,520 Give us seed that we may live and not die, 446 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,300 that the land may not be desolate. 447 00:24:53,300 --> 00:24:58,300 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, 448 00:24:58,300 --> 00:25:01,400 for every man of the Egyptians sold his field 449 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,040 because the famine was severe upon them. 450 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,120 And so the land became Pharaoh's. 451 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:09,760 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities 452 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,800 from one end of the border of Egypt to the other end, 453 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,760 only the land of the priests he did not buy. 454 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,740 For the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, 455 00:25:19,740 --> 00:25:22,700 and they ate their rations, which Pharaoh gave them. 456 00:25:22,700 --> 00:25:25,200 Therefore they did not sell their lands. 457 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,180 Then Joseph said to the people, 458 00:25:27,180 --> 00:25:30,840 "Indeed, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. 459 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:35,080 Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land, 460 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,320 and it shall come to pass in the harvest 461 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,240 that you shall give one fifth to Pharaoh, 462 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:45,700 and four fifths shall be your own as seed for the field 463 00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:49,980 and for your food for those of your household 464 00:25:49,980 --> 00:25:51,320 and for the food of the little ones." 465 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,940 And so they said, "You have saved our lives. 466 00:25:54,940 --> 00:25:57,120 Let us find favor in your sight, my Lord, 467 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,560 and we will be Pharaoh's servants." 468 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,580 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day 469 00:26:03,580 --> 00:26:06,320 that Pharaoh should have one fifth 470 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,520 except for the land of the priests only, 471 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,220 which did not become Pharaoh's. 472 00:26:12,220 --> 00:26:17,220 And so now Pharaoh has everything, absolutely everything. 473 00:26:17,220 --> 00:26:21,060 So he institutes a barter system. 474 00:26:21,060 --> 00:26:25,120 You don't get anything, you don't get nothing for nothing, 475 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:27,080 something for nothing, that's how it goes, isn't it? 476 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,760 You don't get something for nothing, and that's just, 477 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,940 you know, that's just the way it was. 478 00:26:32,940 --> 00:26:34,040 You don't, I mean, 479 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:40,280 they didn't have homeless problems back then, right? 480 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,640 If people were in debt, they would go to a debtor's prison 481 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:45,700 and have to pay. 482 00:26:45,700 --> 00:26:48,960 So no doubt he's asking, 483 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,320 "Hey, what do you guys got in value?" 484 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:52,580 Money's gone. 485 00:26:52,580 --> 00:26:56,420 Well, we got livestock, livestock, horses, 486 00:26:57,300 --> 00:26:59,200 right, it's first on the list. 487 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,760 It's interesting for you Bible students, 488 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,220 this is the first mention of horses in the Bible, 489 00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:06,120 first mention. 490 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:11,860 And it is interesting that if you look up today, 491 00:27:11,860 --> 00:27:16,860 the primo Arab breed is from Egypt. 492 00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:22,220 And I've been around a few Egyptian Arabs 493 00:27:22,220 --> 00:27:24,680 and I don't like Arabs, but they are a bigger, 494 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,620 stronger horse than the little bitty things. 495 00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:30,280 But just a side note. 496 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:35,260 But flocks, sheep, goats, cattle, whatever you had, 497 00:27:35,260 --> 00:27:36,440 he'd trade you. 498 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:37,600 Now if they was poor, 499 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,460 you'd probably only get a half a bushel 500 00:27:40,460 --> 00:27:43,340 instead of a full bushel if they was fat. 501 00:27:43,340 --> 00:27:46,620 But no doubt he had some kind of a value system 502 00:27:46,620 --> 00:27:50,300 that he used and people could come 503 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:53,160 and they could trade their livestock for food. 504 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,160 And so, second Thessalonians talks about it, 505 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,080 it says, "For even when we were with you," 506 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,640 this is Paul talking, "we commanded you this, 507 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,980 if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." 508 00:28:06,980 --> 00:28:09,580 So that whole culture, the mindset of that culture, 509 00:28:09,580 --> 00:28:10,980 you don't work, you don't eat. 510 00:28:10,980 --> 00:28:13,660 That's just part of it. 511 00:28:13,660 --> 00:28:18,660 You do what you can do and there's no freebies. 512 00:28:20,620 --> 00:28:23,080 And that's just, I think, you know, 513 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:26,600 that's why our government is so off the rails 514 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,140 in all this free stuff that they've given people 515 00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:31,480 and now no one wants to work, right? 516 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,360 So you don't work, you don't eat. 517 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,820 And so these guys were, they had to. 518 00:28:35,820 --> 00:28:40,240 They had to trade their animals. 519 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,120 And in verse 18 and 19, 520 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:47,280 they sell themselves. 521 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,960 Slavery, we sure hear a lot about slavery. 522 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:58,400 I'd like to invite you to watch a film. 523 00:28:58,400 --> 00:28:59,700 I don't do that very often, 524 00:28:59,700 --> 00:29:04,220 but Matt Walsh did a film called "Am I a Racist?" 525 00:29:04,220 --> 00:29:06,740 You should watch that film 526 00:29:06,740 --> 00:29:12,800 'cause one of his team members was a man of color. 527 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:20,520 And so he thought he would ask the lady who was woke 528 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,740 and totally into this thing. 529 00:29:23,740 --> 00:29:27,320 She goes, "Well, you should pay him some reparations then." 530 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:28,920 She says, "Well, I only got 30 bucks." 531 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,560 And he goes, and the guy on his team goes, 532 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,240 "I'll never turn down cash." 533 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,040 Do you guys know what the reparations thing is? 534 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:38,140 Anyway, it's crazy. 535 00:29:38,140 --> 00:29:42,540 It is absolutely nuts, but slavery is, 536 00:29:42,540 --> 00:29:45,860 say slavery has always been a part of humanity. 537 00:29:45,860 --> 00:29:46,860 It just has. 538 00:29:46,860 --> 00:29:52,020 There's been, there's white slaves, black slaves, 539 00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:53,340 every color you can imagine, 540 00:29:53,340 --> 00:29:57,260 every people group has experienced slavery. 541 00:29:57,260 --> 00:30:02,900 And in our country, they just take one portion of that 542 00:30:02,900 --> 00:30:06,900 and run with it and create all kinds of chaos. 543 00:30:06,900 --> 00:30:10,280 And now they're trying to convince us 544 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,840 if your skin is lighter colored, you're a racist. 545 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,720 That's a lie. 546 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:17,860 That's just not true. 547 00:30:17,860 --> 00:30:23,320 I worked with a guy, he was, his mom was white, 548 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,020 his dad was white, he was very dark. 549 00:30:26,020 --> 00:30:28,720 And people kept calling him Hispanic. 550 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,020 He goes, "No, I'm not Hispanic, I'm white." 551 00:30:31,020 --> 00:30:34,740 Yeah, but you don't look white. 552 00:30:34,740 --> 00:30:39,480 Listen, we're all just people. 553 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,940 We all bleed the same blood, right? 554 00:30:41,940 --> 00:30:45,160 In fact, the Bible says that God took one blood 555 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:46,700 and made all the nations. 556 00:30:46,700 --> 00:30:49,860 We're all the same. 557 00:30:49,860 --> 00:30:54,000 But these people sold them, 558 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,200 had to sell themselves to actually eat, right? 559 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:03,060 And so they tell him, "Go ahead and buy us, 560 00:31:03,060 --> 00:31:05,240 we'll sell ourselves." 561 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,340 In the law, we see this happening 562 00:31:07,340 --> 00:31:09,400 in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, 563 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,180 that there were concessions for people 564 00:31:11,180 --> 00:31:13,000 that they got in debt and got in trouble, 565 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,880 they could sell themselves and then have an out, 566 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,520 where the most popular one that many of you have heard 567 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,600 is probably in Exodus chapter 21, right? 568 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,200 When a Hebrew had a slave, 569 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,760 he could only keep him for six years. 570 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,340 At the end of six years, he could choose to leave. 571 00:31:30,340 --> 00:31:37,880 And no doubt receive a wage and get paid. 572 00:31:38,380 --> 00:31:43,380 But this is where they're at in a place of being enslaved. 573 00:31:43,380 --> 00:31:50,520 And Pharaoh has all the land, he owns everything. 574 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,880 They are noticed though, it is interesting 575 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:59,880 that he doesn't totally put all of them in total bondage. 576 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:05,940 They do have some freedoms. 577 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:09,040 But this is the fulfillment 578 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:13,400 because Pharaoh gets all the money, all the land, 579 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,360 and this is God's promise to Abraham 580 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:18,860 there in Genesis chapter 12. 581 00:32:18,860 --> 00:32:20,700 It's a fulfillment of that. 582 00:32:20,700 --> 00:32:22,920 When Pharaoh gets all this stuff, 583 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,880 Pharaoh is kind to Jacob and his family, 584 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,520 gives them Goshen, we read in the last chapter, 585 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,480 and now Pharaoh gets everything. 586 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,500 Just like God told Abraham what would happen. 587 00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:39,580 Those who bless you, I will bless. 588 00:32:39,580 --> 00:32:42,640 Those who curse you, I will curse. 589 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:47,060 We're seeing that today, you guys, right? 590 00:32:47,060 --> 00:32:49,420 It's still true today. 591 00:32:49,420 --> 00:32:51,320 But almost 4,000 years later, 592 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,040 that statement that God made to the patriarch Abraham 593 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:56,300 is still true today. 594 00:32:56,300 --> 00:32:58,320 Whoever blesses you, I will bless. 595 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,060 Whoever curses you, I will curse. 596 00:33:01,060 --> 00:33:02,880 Now this Pharaoh was nice, 597 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,780 but we're gonna see a Pharaoh come later 598 00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:07,000 that's not nice at all, right? 599 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,060 Because this really opens the door for them to be 600 00:33:10,060 --> 00:33:13,440 those slaves for 400 years there in Egypt. 601 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,960 But it started good, right? 602 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:19,500 Which proves the point 603 00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:26,840 that man is desperately wicked. 604 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:32,320 Because of Joseph, because of Jacob, Pharaoh gets it all. 605 00:33:33,180 --> 00:33:38,180 So too, because of Jesus, you and I get it all, right? 606 00:33:38,180 --> 00:33:40,100 We get it all. 607 00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:44,160 Just like Pharaoh received all these blessings 608 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,120 and all this stuff, right? 609 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,380 Hebrews chapter one, verses one and two said, 610 00:33:48,380 --> 00:33:51,400 "God, who at various times and in various ways, 611 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,760 spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, 612 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,940 has in these last days spoken to us by his son, 613 00:33:57,940 --> 00:34:00,540 whom he has appointed heir of all things, 614 00:34:00,540 --> 00:34:04,000 through whom also he made the worlds." 615 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,580 So Jesus is the heir of all things. 616 00:34:06,580 --> 00:34:12,780 And then Romans tells us, right? 617 00:34:12,780 --> 00:34:20,020 That the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit 618 00:34:20,020 --> 00:34:22,060 that we are children of God. 619 00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:26,320 And if children then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. 620 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,960 So because Jesus gets it all and we're joint heirs with him, 621 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:31,300 we get it all. 622 00:34:31,300 --> 00:34:33,440 We're blessed because of him. 623 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,160 All you gotta do is come to him. 624 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:41,100 If you haven't done that yet, would you just please 625 00:34:41,100 --> 00:34:46,540 come to Jesus and experience this blessing 626 00:34:46,540 --> 00:34:51,340 that God has bestowed here upon Pharaoh, 627 00:34:51,340 --> 00:34:53,660 but also bestows upon us. 628 00:34:53,660 --> 00:34:58,960 And then Paul goes on there in Romans, 629 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:01,520 anywhere he says, "For I consider that the sufferings 630 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,360 of this present time are not worthy to be compared 631 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,960 with the glory which shall be revealed in us." 632 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:11,900 It's gonna be a glorious thing when we get all the booty. 633 00:35:11,900 --> 00:35:13,100 We get it all. 634 00:35:13,100 --> 00:35:14,980 Now you may not get it here. 635 00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:16,800 You might be in poverty here. 636 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:21,080 And I think we have to be okay with that. 637 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,080 But you're gonna get it there when you're with him. 638 00:35:27,420 --> 00:35:29,960 And it's but yet just a little while. 639 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:34,520 Now it is interesting in verse 22 that the priests, 640 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,000 it says, right, that the, 641 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,900 "Only the land of the priests he did not buy. 642 00:35:39,900 --> 00:35:42,660 For the priest had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh." 643 00:35:42,660 --> 00:35:43,800 So they didn't have to. 644 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,640 They were already on Pharaoh's payroll. 645 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,800 So he was giving them the rations that he had, 646 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:52,040 the rations of food. 647 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:53,740 So they didn't have to, so they kinda, 648 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:57,740 they got blessed. 649 00:35:57,740 --> 00:36:03,920 The New Testament tells us you're not to muzzle the ox 650 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:05,180 that treads out the grain. 651 00:36:05,180 --> 00:36:08,320 They're speaking of pastors there. 652 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:10,620 Boo. 653 00:36:10,620 --> 00:36:17,400 Or beast of bird and donkeys, hee-haw, right, there we are. 654 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,300 But it's a blessing. 655 00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:23,100 It's a blessing to share the word of God. 656 00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:26,400 It is truly, truly a blessing. 657 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,280 Yes, it's a calling, but it's also a blessing. 658 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,280 And so in verses 23 and 24, it says, 659 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:34,520 "Then Joseph said to the people, 660 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,660 "Indeed, I have bought you and your land 661 00:36:37,660 --> 00:36:39,020 "this day for Pharaoh. 662 00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:43,900 "Look, here is seed for you and you shall sow the land." 663 00:36:43,900 --> 00:36:49,860 So Joseph is such a benevolent leader. 664 00:36:49,860 --> 00:36:53,700 He's basically a dictator, right? 665 00:36:53,700 --> 00:36:55,540 He's got all the seed. 666 00:36:55,540 --> 00:36:57,580 And so these guys that have sold their land, 667 00:36:57,580 --> 00:36:59,480 they sold themselves, the Lord, 668 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,340 Joseph here, a picture of the Lord, 669 00:37:01,340 --> 00:37:02,720 gives it back to him, says, here's your seed. 670 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:03,880 You go sow your land. 671 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,380 And then whatever you grow, 672 00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:09,060 whatever you grow, you give 20% to Pharaoh 673 00:37:09,060 --> 00:37:10,480 and you keep 80%. 674 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,860 Hey, that's a good deal, right? 675 00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:14,720 Even in the Middle East, scholars say 676 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:19,160 that the tax that they had on the people was over 33%. 677 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:24,900 And these guys sold themselves and their land. 678 00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:26,200 They didn't even own it. 679 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:27,800 They didn't even own themselves. 680 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,300 Does that remind you of something? 681 00:37:31,300 --> 00:37:35,080 Bible students, Paul tells us, 682 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,440 you are not your own, 683 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,060 but you were bought with a price, right? 684 00:37:41,060 --> 00:37:44,860 You were bought with a price, the blood of Christ Jesus. 685 00:37:44,860 --> 00:37:51,160 But he is this benevolent leader of a country. 686 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,560 Incredible. 687 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:58,400 No doubt the people have to be moved by this, right? 688 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:03,300 Some people you read, they're just critical. 689 00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:06,400 Oh, Joseph, he should have just gave them back their land 690 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:07,920 and he should have, he should have. 691 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,720 No, he shouldn't have, right? 692 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:14,580 He was wise, he was smart, he was fair. 693 00:38:14,580 --> 00:38:19,860 And so, 694 00:38:20,860 --> 00:38:22,600 the bottom line was, 695 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:29,940 they had a master that they could trust, right? 696 00:38:29,940 --> 00:38:32,440 That's the bottom line for us too, folks. 697 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,540 We have a master that we can trust. 698 00:38:35,540 --> 00:38:39,040 Joseph was an extremely benevolent master. 699 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,820 Jesus is an extremely benevolent master. 700 00:38:42,820 --> 00:38:49,020 Because listen, there's two masters that are in the Bible. 701 00:38:49,380 --> 00:38:53,480 There's two masters vying for your service and mine, right? 702 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:59,700 There's two masters, the Lord Jesus and your own sin. 703 00:38:59,700 --> 00:39:04,560 'Cause Jesus said, "Anyone who sins is a slave to it." 704 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:05,400 Right? 705 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:06,460 It's your master. 706 00:39:06,460 --> 00:39:07,740 It masters you. 707 00:39:07,740 --> 00:39:13,640 And that's, "Its desire is for you," he told Cain, 708 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,640 there after he killed Abel, right? 709 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:20,140 Sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you. 710 00:39:20,140 --> 00:39:23,520 Who do you serve? 711 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,660 Which one are you hungry for the most? 712 00:39:26,660 --> 00:39:30,120 The master of sinfulness or the master Jesus? 713 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:34,960 And whichever one you're hungry for 714 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,060 is the one that you're gonna be pursuing. 715 00:39:38,060 --> 00:39:43,200 Jesus told us, right? 716 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:44,560 You're gonna love one. 717 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,140 You're gonna hate the other. 718 00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:47,640 The choices are yours. 719 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:53,040 These guys come and says, "You have saved our life." 720 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:54,680 They recognize salvation. 721 00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,040 Salvation was in Joseph. 722 00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,980 He saved their lives. 723 00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:04,060 I'm sure they gave that 20% with a spring in their step. 724 00:40:04,060 --> 00:40:06,180 "We're alive, we have food." 725 00:40:06,180 --> 00:40:08,500 Not only that, but we're making a profit. 726 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:19,920 But how can we deny Christ 727 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:21,580 when he is the one that saved us? 728 00:40:21,580 --> 00:40:23,580 Right? 729 00:40:23,580 --> 00:40:29,760 How can we deny him and serve our own sinful selfishness? 730 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:36,500 Jesus saved us just like Joseph saved 731 00:40:36,500 --> 00:40:40,040 all of the known world at that time. 732 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:45,040 You know, when there's a person in leadership, 733 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,040 the Bible tells us in Proverbs, 734 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,640 it says, "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice." 735 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:52,120 Right? 736 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:56,220 And I don't know that we see that much around the world, 737 00:40:56,220 --> 00:40:59,820 but back in the 1990s, there was a king in Jordan. 738 00:40:59,820 --> 00:41:01,560 His name was King Hussein. 739 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:03,520 And so when James Babani was here, 740 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:05,860 the guy from Iraq that came and spoke, 741 00:41:05,860 --> 00:41:08,640 I talked about him because when they were going 742 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,360 through their refugee, they were refugees in Jordan 743 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:13,600 in the 90s. 744 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,680 And I said, "I heard some stories about King Hussein." 745 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:18,700 He said, "Oh my gosh." 746 00:41:18,700 --> 00:41:21,740 He said, "King Hussein was unbelievable. 747 00:41:21,740 --> 00:41:25,080 "The people worshiped him," which is not right. 748 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,620 "But the people worshiped him because he was so benevolent. 749 00:41:28,620 --> 00:41:30,120 "He was so loving." 750 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,520 They had a huge snowstorm he told me about 751 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:34,620 up in the hills there in Jordan. 752 00:41:34,620 --> 00:41:38,760 "Him and his whole administrative team went up there 753 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:42,840 "with scoop shovels and began shoveling the sidewalks." 754 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:45,640 This is the king of the country doing this. 755 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:49,600 And the people were, they loved him. 756 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,440 They did not despise their leader. 757 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:53,340 They loved him. 758 00:41:53,340 --> 00:41:54,640 Why? 759 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,640 Because he first loved them. 760 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:58,340 He showed them love. 761 00:41:58,340 --> 00:41:59,780 He showed them concern. 762 00:42:01,420 --> 00:42:06,180 How much greater has our Lord showed us that love 763 00:42:06,180 --> 00:42:09,480 and our concern by going to Calvary's cross for us? 764 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:13,120 So what you hungry for? 765 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,860 If you think about this in your own mind, right? 766 00:42:15,860 --> 00:42:20,340 Success, success in finance, maybe success in your family. 767 00:42:20,340 --> 00:42:23,200 I know, I think every man worth his salt 768 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:25,900 wants to be a successful husband to his wife 769 00:42:25,900 --> 00:42:28,740 and a successful dad to his children. 770 00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:35,920 Maybe education, maybe a success in a position and power. 771 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:40,220 What about spiritual success? 772 00:42:40,220 --> 00:42:41,920 Is that something you're hungry for? 773 00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,360 Because it's attainable. 774 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:48,320 Some of this stuff here, I just, that's beyond me. 775 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:54,440 But that for me is attainable to be spiritually successful. 776 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:55,600 And so it is with you. 777 00:42:57,140 --> 00:43:02,140 All we gotta do is enact Matthew chapter six, verse 33 778 00:43:02,140 --> 00:43:04,480 into our lives and you'll be successful 779 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,880 because Jesus promises it, right? 780 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:10,540 Matthew 6, 33, many of you have memorized this verse. 781 00:43:10,540 --> 00:43:12,320 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God 782 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:13,560 "and his righteousness." 783 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:15,460 All these things will be added unto you. 784 00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:18,780 I don't have to chase after or fret 785 00:43:18,780 --> 00:43:23,800 about my investment portfolio or my retirement account. 786 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,760 I don't have to fret about that 787 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:27,260 'cause it can come or go. 788 00:43:27,260 --> 00:43:28,960 My God is still God. 789 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:32,560 That's what I wanna be hungry for. 790 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:38,000 Friend of mine and I were talking this week 791 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:44,040 and he was telling me about a message he had heard 792 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:49,040 where people sincerely, truly hunger or seek joy. 793 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,960 They want joy. 794 00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,460 I just want joy in my life, right? 795 00:43:54,460 --> 00:43:56,400 We might name it peace. 796 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,500 Just want to be loved, right? 797 00:44:00,500 --> 00:44:06,400 But he says when we can't find true joy, 798 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,080 now the Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord 799 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,280 is our strength, right? 800 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,840 That we have this hope and joy from knowing him 801 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:15,920 and we know our end that it's good. 802 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:19,320 And there's this joy that just settles in to our life. 803 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:20,240 That's the joy of the Lord. 804 00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:21,880 The Bible says it's our strength. 805 00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:23,820 It's not necessarily happiness 806 00:44:23,820 --> 00:44:27,560 because you can have joy being in a dungeon 807 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:31,560 or being persecuted even to death. 808 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:37,800 But what people do if they can't have true joy, 809 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,100 then they settle, listen, for pleasure. 810 00:44:41,100 --> 00:44:44,400 Then they settle for pleasure. 811 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:49,820 And that's a scary thing to me 812 00:44:49,820 --> 00:44:51,180 because I know I'm bent that way. 813 00:44:51,180 --> 00:44:53,080 I think we're all bent that way. 814 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:54,960 Well, I like this. 815 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:56,120 This is nice. 816 00:44:56,120 --> 00:45:00,260 But it's not genuine. 817 00:45:00,260 --> 00:45:01,400 It's fleeting. 818 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:03,460 It doesn't satisfy. 819 00:45:03,460 --> 00:45:06,920 Jesus condemns it when he talks about the soils there again. 820 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,800 The pleasures of this life, they snare us. 821 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:19,680 It's all summed up, I think, in Galatians chapter five 822 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,820 when Paul talks about the contrast between those two things, 823 00:45:25,820 --> 00:45:29,360 walking in the flesh and walking in the spirit. 824 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:31,520 And so in Galatians chapter five, 825 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:35,920 I'm just gonna close today by reading through this 826 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,920 and just listen up. 827 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:40,760 If you wanna turn there, it's Galatians five 828 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:43,640 and I'll start reading in verse 16. 829 00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:47,840 And it says, "I say then, walk in the spirit 830 00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:50,980 and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. 831 00:45:50,980 --> 00:45:53,340 For the flesh lusts against the spirit 832 00:45:53,340 --> 00:45:55,540 and the spirit against the flesh. 833 00:45:55,540 --> 00:45:58,320 And these are contrary to one another 834 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:01,880 so that you do not do the things that you wish. 835 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,080 But if you are led by the spirit, 836 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:06,420 you are not under the law. 837 00:46:06,420 --> 00:46:10,000 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are," 838 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:11,500 and here's this list. 839 00:46:11,500 --> 00:46:15,940 "And this is what walking in the flesh leads to. 840 00:46:15,940 --> 00:46:20,040 For all of us seeking pleasures in this life 841 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,040 is adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 842 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,740 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, 843 00:46:25,740 --> 00:46:28,580 jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, 844 00:46:28,580 --> 00:46:32,580 dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, 845 00:46:32,580 --> 00:46:35,820 revelries and the like of which I tell you beforehand, 846 00:46:35,820 --> 00:46:37,880 just as I told you in time past 847 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:39,860 that those who practice such things 848 00:46:39,860 --> 00:46:42,500 will not inherit the kingdom of God." 849 00:46:42,500 --> 00:46:49,660 Those who live in this lifestyle, 850 00:46:49,660 --> 00:46:52,100 notice it says practice. 851 00:46:52,100 --> 00:46:55,480 Now all of us has probably done these things. 852 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:57,280 Maybe some of us, even this week. 853 00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:01,740 But is that what you practice? 854 00:47:01,740 --> 00:47:05,520 It's just consistent. 855 00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:06,760 That's what defines you. 856 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,520 I don't think that's what it's talking about 857 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,520 but I'm thinking it's when people are headlong 858 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:15,560 into walking in the flesh and refuse to walk in the spirit, 859 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,800 they said, "Will not inherit the kingdom of God." 860 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:19,640 Will not. 861 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:27,900 And so praise God that Paul does not leave us there 862 00:47:27,900 --> 00:47:29,700 but he gives us incredible hope 863 00:47:29,700 --> 00:47:32,320 when he continues into verse 22. 864 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:36,820 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, 865 00:47:36,820 --> 00:47:39,580 long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 866 00:47:39,580 --> 00:47:41,080 gentleness, self-control. 867 00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:43,620 Against such there is no law." 868 00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:52,160 And so success spiritually is having God come 869 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:54,060 and live his life through you. 870 00:47:54,060 --> 00:47:57,140 You throw your hands in the air. 871 00:47:57,140 --> 00:47:58,700 I throw my hands in the air, 872 00:47:58,700 --> 00:48:00,140 say, "Lord, here I am. 873 00:48:00,140 --> 00:48:02,380 Help me to be your vessel." 874 00:48:02,380 --> 00:48:07,380 And hold this life very loosely, very loosely. 875 00:48:07,380 --> 00:48:12,680 Because things come and go, people come and go. 876 00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:26,780 So in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, 877 00:48:26,780 --> 00:48:31,420 our hunger is satisfied. 878 00:48:31,420 --> 00:48:34,560 John 6 35 says, "I am the bread of life. 879 00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:36,660 He who comes to me shall never hunger. 880 00:48:36,660 --> 00:48:41,140 And he who believes in me shall never thirst." 881 00:48:43,340 --> 00:48:45,340 This is what satisfies our hunger. 882 00:48:45,340 --> 00:48:49,240 Now, that's in the here and now. 883 00:48:49,240 --> 00:48:51,600 Check out what's happening in the future. 884 00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:53,440 Revelation 7 verse 15. 885 00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:56,980 "Therefore, they are before the throne of God," 886 00:48:56,980 --> 00:48:58,520 that'd be you and me, 887 00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,380 "and serve him day and night in his temple. 888 00:49:01,380 --> 00:49:04,520 And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 889 00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:08,820 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. 890 00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:11,660 The sun shall not strike them nor any heat 891 00:49:11,660 --> 00:49:14,220 for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne 892 00:49:14,220 --> 00:49:15,900 will shepherd them and lead them 893 00:49:15,900 --> 00:49:17,520 to living fountains of water. 894 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:21,740 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." 895 00:49:21,740 --> 00:49:24,760 Every tear. 896 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,500 And I know we have shed some tears just in this fellowship 897 00:49:28,500 --> 00:49:30,500 over the last couple of years, 898 00:49:30,500 --> 00:49:35,020 losing loved ones and heartache and brokenness, 899 00:49:35,020 --> 00:49:40,020 and yet our hope, our hunger should be for heaven. 900 00:49:40,020 --> 00:49:42,480 Amen? 901 00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:43,320 Let's pray. 902 00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,720 Lord, thank you for the promise of heaven, 903 00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:51,020 Lord, that you truly satisfy our every need. 904 00:49:51,020 --> 00:49:55,500 Lord, may we not look to our own resources, 905 00:49:55,500 --> 00:49:57,240 Lord, our own bank accounts. 906 00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:01,840 May we not even look to others in this life, 907 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:03,240 but may we only look to you, 908 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:06,340 the author and the finisher of our faith, 909 00:50:06,340 --> 00:50:10,520 the one who is able to do abundantly above 910 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:12,580 all that we could ask or think. 911 00:50:12,580 --> 00:50:14,680 Lord, you direct our steps. 912 00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:17,420 Yes, time and chance happens to us all, 913 00:50:17,420 --> 00:50:20,500 but you're right in the middle of that time and that chance. 914 00:50:20,500 --> 00:50:23,820 And so we just praise you and we can rest in the fact 915 00:50:23,820 --> 00:50:28,700 that you're gonna get us out of in through hard times. 916 00:50:28,700 --> 00:50:31,400 And Lord, there's a sense in our world today 917 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:32,980 that those might be coming. 918 00:50:32,980 --> 00:50:35,640 And so Father, I just pray that you would help us. 919 00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:39,420 Give us wisdom in these days, Lord, that we would prepare, 920 00:50:39,420 --> 00:50:44,020 that we would walk before our God in a way of integrity, 921 00:50:44,020 --> 00:50:45,880 in a way that is an incredible witness 922 00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:48,860 just as we see in this man, Joseph's life. 923 00:50:48,860 --> 00:50:52,800 Lord, we love you and we praise you for the promise 924 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:55,000 and the hope that you have, 925 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:57,100 the future that you have for us. 926 00:50:57,100 --> 00:50:59,000 So may we find ourselves, Lord, 927 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,800 just truly, truly hungering for that, Lord, 928 00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:07,480 that those who hunger for righteousness will be filled. 929 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:11,440 So fill our cup, we pray in Jesus' mighty name, amen. 930 00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:12,940 If you need prayer, 931 00:51:12,940 --> 00:51:14,620 prayer team's gonna be over here to the right. 932 00:51:14,620 --> 00:51:16,720 God bless you, have a great week in Jesus. 933 00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:19,320 (gentle music) 934 00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:23,920 [music fades out]