How many are ready for God's Word? Do I have
permission to preach tonight? Praise Jesus. I'm
going to preach tonight. I will tell you something.
That trip to Auschwitz -Birkenau, and I know
that with Dennis and Linda, I don't pronounce
it right, but I'll do my best. But anyway, it
was a life -changing experience. For me, I wept
many, many times in those three or four hours
that I was there. And it had a very impactful,
simply because, not because I'm really, you know,
that I want to look at evil things. It's just
that sometimes in America, we have a tendency
to live in a bubble. And because we have a tendency
to live in a bubble, we don't realize how evil
evil is. And that is why I feel like our call,
the call of the church, is to destroy the works
of the enemy. Can I hear an amen for that right
now? Listen, I want you to turn with me to the
book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 15, verse 15.
I'm going to read out of the NIV tonight in a
moment, but it's going to take me a few minutes
to go there. I'm going to mention something that
over the last couple of months, you know, it
was probably two months ago, at our home, we
have a large living room kitchen. and then there's
like a den, and then there's another bedroom,
and that den that is kind of my prayer room,
my library, is where I sit and I study and work
on my calendar, do everything I do in that room.
And Meliana, you know, she rarely comes in there.
It's not that it's off limits. There's no door.
She can walk right in anytime, but usually she's
in the living room or the kitchen, and I got
up to get a bottle of water, and I walk out in
the living room, and she's crying. She's, and
my wife doesn't cry very much. She's not that,
she's not sensitive, but that's not like her
nature, and she was crying, and I said, honey,
why are you crying? What had happened is, because
in our world, in our circle, in our prophetic
circle, there has been an attack, and there has
been an attack and abuse on the prophetic. Where
different ministers and ministries, before they
go to a church, they would study the social media,
the Facebook, the Instagram, a person's profile.
Excuse me, my wife needs the language. A person's
profile. They would then write some highlights
down. And then what they would do is rather than
being led by the Spirit of God, Sister Linda,
this is exactly what they did. They would tell
people their address, where they were born, all
these kinds of things. Not based on the word
of knowledge or on prophetic gift, but based
on information that they got from social media.
Come on. And my wife... We found that out. My
wife was weeping because they showed a video
of a lady who really believed that this was a
word from the Lord and was weeping and had traveled
all across the country, but all it was is something
of information given by that minister. from a
leader. And I don't want to mention names tonight,
but I will tell you something right now. When
Miliana shared that, that grieved me. That grieved
me deeply. Because, you know, where's the fear
of God? Where's the fear of God? Where's the
fear of God? That God's people are not meant
to be abused. Come on. They're not meant to be.
And then where emotionally are you fractured
that you've got to make up a prophetic word to
prove that you hear from God? You either hear
from God or you don't. You follow what I'm saying?
And so I went into an in -depth study of the
life of Joseph, and the Lord said this to me.
He says, I want to raise up Joseph -like prophets
in this generation. I want to raise up Joseph
-like prophets in this generation. And when I
look at this, in a moment, I'm going to get to
Genesis 15, chapter 50, verse 15. Before I do
that, I'm going to have to lay some groundwork
of where I'm going tonight. And because I look
at Joseph's life, and it seems like, no, it's
not like a life I want to live, but it's a very
powerful one because you think about this. You
know that our warfare, the warfare that we have,
the things that we go, sometimes isn't what happens
outside the home or outside the church. It's
on the inside. That many times the warfare is
not on the outside, it's on the inside. The attack,
not necessarily from the outside, but on the
inside. And what do they attack on the inside?
They attack the dream. The dream from God, the
God dream. And in Joseph's case, And he didn't
get attacked by the Amalekites or another nation.
It was his own brothers that were jealous of
his dream. And I have to say something to you.
When I look at Joseph's brothers, you know, whom
God actually birthed the tribes of Israel out
of, these guys were a mess. I would have kicked
them out of my church. Come on. I would have
kicked Judah out of my church. I would have kicked
Reuben out of the church. I would have kicked
Levi out of the church. I would have kicked them
all out of my church because these guys are a
mess. I would never ever want to even have any
dealings with these people. They simply, one
of the things that they did to Joseph is, you
know, because they don't like his dream, they
want to kill him. Reuben says, let's not kill
him. Let's throw him in a pit. Come on. You know,
and then sell him to Ishmaelite slaves, right?
So they got to somehow prove, you know, because
they got to tell their father Jacob, you know,
where's Joseph? So they've got to make up a lie.
And so they actually take his coat of many colors.
They cut it up and they dip it in goat's blood.
Come on. And because they don't have DNA testing
in those days, they can't prove, they can't tell
between goat's blood and human blood. And they
present the coat of many colors to their father,
Jacob, and watch him weep over a lie. You've
got to be messed up psychologically. You've got
to be twisted in your conscience to let something
like that. There must be a depth of bitterness
and hatred that you would allow your own father
to weep for a lie. Come on. And Joseph experiences
this. And then, Joseph, what happens, ladies
and gentlemen? And then, of course, he gets sold
into slavery. And then all of a sudden Potiphar,
they bought him. God raises him up. God blesses
him in Potiphar's house. And then he's accused
of raping a woman he never touched. You know
what I'm saying? And it is like, I mean, what
God? You got a target on this guy? You got a
target on this guy? Because every time he tries
to do something right, he gets attacked. And
then we find him in the prison. We find him in
prison. And I'm thinking in my mind, there's
something I need to share with this body. Here's
what set Joseph apart. It's not that he suffered
personal attack. It's not that he suffered attack
from the family. It's not that he was mistreated
or misrepresented or even accused of things that
he didn't do. That happens to every single person
at one level or another. The thing that set him
apart is this. Here he was in a prison. And he
could have just sat back and said, listen, is
this what I get for serving God? Is this what
I get for doing everything? Is this what I get
for standing for morality? Is this what I get
for getting a dream? I didn't make up this dream.
You are the one that gave me the dream. Is this
what I get for doing everything right? Come on.
He could have wallowed in his change and wallowed
in his bitterness and wallowed in resentment,
ladies and gentlemen. But this is what set Joseph
apart. And God, and we're not a large crowd tonight,
but God wants to set every single person in this
house apart. That we're not like everybody else.
Come on. We go through the same things, but we
react a lot differently than everybody else.
Come on. Here he is sitting. Actually, Psalms
says that he was in a dungeon. He was in chains.
He was locked up with fetters. I mean, he was
suffering. But what I love about Joseph is this
one thing. Here in the middle of his prison,
he still served. Come on, church. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? And this is something we have
to understand, young people. There are moments
when we feel like we're in emotional prison,
in a physical prison, in a spiritual prison.
But here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
still serve when I'm in the prison. Are you hearing
me? You're hearing me? Because we all find ourselves,
I'm going to serve when I'm depressed. I'm going
to serve. Kathy was at church today. She just
lost her husband. Come on. I'm going to serve
when I'm grieving. Come on. I'm going to serve
when I'm suffering. I'm going to serve when I'm
going through something. Come on. Because what
happens is if I only serve when things go well,
then my serving is conditional. But I'm going
to serve in the middle of my pain. I'm going
to serve in the middle of my sorrow. And I'm
going to serve when I don't understand. I'm still
going to serve. I'm going to serve people because
how you serve God is to serve people. It's how
you serve God. Because we think that worship
is just lifting our hands, listening to Pastor
Darren saying, I can do that all night. But really,
there's another form of worship is learning how
to serve when I'm suffering. And here he is suffering,
but he's got this prophetic gift that he's carrying.
He's got this ability to dream and this ability
to interpret dreams and ability to hear from
God. Because a lot of people want to serve in
the palace, but they don't want to serve in the
prison. Oh, come on. You follow what I'm saying?
They want to serve on the platform, but they
don't want to serve in the children's church.
I'm just telling you. I'm not talking about this
church. I'm talking about the church down the
street. Come on. You know what I'm saying? I
want to serve in Lincoln, but I don't want to
serve in Petersburg. Come on. You know what I'm
saying? Think about this. I want to serve when
it's comfortable. I want to serve when I get
appreciated. I want to serve when I get an offering.
I want to serve when I get accolades. I want
to serve when I get affirmed. But not Joseph.
Because if Joseph served based on conditions,
he would have never interpreted the dream from
the baker and the cupbearer. But he decided to
serve. Because I can tell you something. I have
found this out. I get healed when I serve. I
get excited when I serve. Pastor Darren mentioned
about people being weary. Sometimes I get weary.
Even Jesus got weary from the journey when he
journeyed before he met the woman at the well.
It says that Jesus was weary from the journey.
It's not a sin to be weary. You're human when
you're weary. But what made him come alive, what
made him come alive is not the miles of walking
all day. What made him come alive when that woman
came alive that he served. Come on, are you hearing
me? Because I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen,
the way spiritual boredom, worriness, all the
things that we struggle with, that this is what
happens. It's cured when I serve. Come on. Now,
Joseph decides to serve the cupbearer and the
baker. And, of course, he gives the baker the
word. It comes to pass the baker is murdered,
died. He's died in prison. Then the cupbearer
is released just like Joseph prophesied. And
when he was walking out of prison, Joseph says
to the cupbearer, remember me. But he's not remembered.
At that moment, you could have shut down. Because
you've got to ask yourself this question. Am
I serving to be remembered? Or am I serving to
love people? I'm serving to love people. Not
whether I'm remembered or not. Whether you forget
me, it doesn't matter because God does not forget.
You follow me? So at that moment, but there's
something I know that I love about this whole
narrative. And I'll get to Genesis 50 in a moment.
But even though the cupbearer had forgotten him,
his dad thought he was dead. There was a God
that remembered him. And God puts the king asleep.
And God puts Pharaoh asleep. And when he puts
Pharaoh asleep, With Pharaoh, with all his access
to his wise men and his prophetic voices that
he has access to, nobody can interpret the dream
of Pharaoh. Until it gets to be so, so intense
that the cupbearer opens his mouth and says to
the Pharaoh, oh king, forgive me. Because while
I was in prison, come on, I met. A Hebrew slave.
Everybody say a Hebrew slave. Interesting. Because
this is exactly what I know. You know that people
in this room, people in the world, sometimes
when they're desperate to hear from God, they
don't care where you came from. They don't care
about your background. Because when I was in
D .C., when they asked me to prophesy over them,
they didn't ask me where I was from. They didn't
know I was an ex -con. Come on. They didn't know
that I was in jail. All they knew is they heard
that I hear from God and they wanted me to prophesy
over them. Church, I pray that we would get a
reputation. Oh, come on. That we would get a
reputation in this community and all the other
churches that you get a reputation that we hear
from God. Come on. You follow what I'm saying?
Because right now, we need a reputation that
we hear from God. Because right now, I'm telling
you, especially on the West Coast, and I'm out
on the West Coast a lot more than I am out here
in the Midwest or the South or the East Coast.
I'm on the West Coast the most. And out on the
West Coast, people are questioning the reality
because of what happened in Bethel, what's happened
in all this prophetic movement. But I'm going
to tell you, there are men and women that stand
for righteousness and hear from God. Come on.
And so, show the cupbearers why there was a Hebrew
slave. And he told me, he told me the dream,
and everything he said came to pass. Oh, come
on. Very powerful. Pharaoh is so desperate, even
though culturally Egyptians don't like Hebrews,
especially a slave, especially someone in prison.
He didn't care, and he immediately brings Joseph
out. And there's something about this moment
where now Joseph is standing before Pharaoh.
Now, there's no promise of release. There's no
promise of redemption. There's no promise of
justice. And he hears Pharaoh say, I heard it
said of you. Everybody said that. I heard it
said of you. I don't always agree when people
say, I don't care what you think. I don't always
agree with that statement. Because I want it
said of me. Now, notice where this comes from.
This does not come from a brother. This does
not come from a father. It doesn't come within
the household. It comes from a leader, a king
of a nation. It comes from the world. Because
we've got to ask ourselves, what is the world
saying about the church right now? Are you following
what I'm saying? Does the church have a reputation
that they hear from God? Come on. Unfortunately,
they don't right now. But Paul made mention,
and I want you to write this scripture down,
and I don't want to mess this up, so I'm going
to turn there, and I'm going to read it because
it is actually, Meliana, one of the most powerful
statements in scripture. And it says, And Ephesians
chapter 3, ladies and gentlemen, verse 10, and
it says this. It's so powerful that through the
church. Everybody say through the church. Everybody
say through the church. It didn't say through
the government. It didn't say through the education.
It said through the church. I got there. Praise
God. It says, to this intent that now the manifold
wisdom of God. Everybody say the manifold wisdom
of God. How many want to release the manifold
wisdom of God? Now, listen what Paul says. This
is a promise. To the intent that now the manifold
wisdom of God be made known by the church. It
didn't say by Trump. Didn't say by Biden. Didn't
say by Illinois. It didn't say by some leader.
It said by the church. That the wisdom of God,
the manifold wisdom of God would be made known
through the church. Now let me ask you right
now, is the wisdom of God being made known through
the church right now, today? Because honestly,
Meliana, who I don't go on social media, but
she's now my journalist, my reporter, my newscaster.
But right now, even much of the church is embattled
over false prophecy and the reality of the prophetic.
That doesn't sound like the manifold wisdom of
God being made known through the church. Listen,
it's his intent that the manifold wisdom of God
would be known through the church to the principalities
and powers in heavenly places. Oh, I get fired
up with that. I get really fired up with that.
So that is why Pharaoh said to Joseph, I heard
it said of you. Come on. I heard it said of you
that when you hear a dream, you can interpret
it. What's being said about us? What's being
said about us? Come on. Not what's being said
by our spouses or our immediate family, but what's
being said by the world. I want the community.
What is being said about faith assembly in the
community? I want the community and I want my
brother's church over there downtown and all
the churches that are representing what's being
said about your home church. That it said, oh
yeah, I heard it said of you. That when you hear
a dream, you can interpret it. That you hear
from God. Is there anybody that want to demonstrate
the manifold wisdom of God to this generation?
I heard it said of you. That when you hear a
dream, you can interpret it. Now, when he said
that, You've got to understand something. Joseph
has gone through hell, literally, 13 years of
it. He's been thrown in a pit, lied by his brothers,
abused, misrepresented by an evil woman, and
now he's standing before Pharaoh. And the ball
is in his court. He's now given permission by
the most powerful man of an empire that could
change his life overnight. You know why I know
that Joseph is a real prophet? You know why I
know he's not false? Because you know what a
false prophet would do? Oh yeah, I can really
hear from God. I've got this reputation. But
before I hear from God, I want you to go arrest
my brothers. Before I hear from God, I want you
to put Potiphar's wife in prison. And then what
I want you to do is I want you to set me up with
a mansion in Maui. Come on. And then I want a
private plane. Then I'll interpret your dream.
Joseph didn't do any of that. Come on. Because
he understood, freely have I received, freely
do I give. Come on, you follow what I'm saying?
That I'm not going to prostitute the gift. The
gift's not for sale. The gift is not for my own
gain. I'm here to serve you. Come on, whether
you release me from prison or not, whether you
do something for me or not is not the issue.
You are a tormented soul that need to hear from
God. God's given me this gift, and I'm going
to serve you whether I have to go to prison,
back to prison or not. Are you hearing what I'm
saying, ladies and gentlemen? See, that's the
kind of people God wants to raise up. That you
can't buy me. I'm not for sale. Because my integrity
is more important than my promotion. Come on.
Oh, come on. And so, and then all of a sudden
when he says that, he says, yes. He says it.
Here's the thing. He says, I can't. That's what
he says. I can't. That's his first response.
I can't. I get that. What do you mean you can't?
You know, I can't. That's what he says. I cannot
do it. That's what he says. But then he says,
but God will. Everybody say, I can't, but God
will. Church, when I say I can't, but God will,
I don't have to look at Facebook to get a prophetic
word. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I can
prophesy, but God will. I can't give a word of
knowledge, but God will. I can't heal anybody,
but God will. I can't walk in a word of wisdom,
but God will. Oh, come on. I'm just going to
be an open vessel because I know that if I'm
willing, He's willing to use me in the middle
of my brokenness, in the middle of my prison,
in the middle of my struggle. Can I get an amen
right now? There's going to be an impartation
tonight in this room. I can't, but God will.
And God did. With Joseph not knowing that there
was going to be a promotion or not. He interpreted
the dream before he was given an offer. But listen
to this. At that moment, he not only interprets
the dream, He gives Pharaoh a strategy to save
the nation. Because not only do I need a prophecy,
I need the strategy how to fulfill the prophetic
word. You follow what I'm saying? Because people
can prophesy, oh, you're going to have this great
ministry, or you're going to have this, or you're
going to do this. But how? Give me the practical
ways of how to. And what set Joseph apart of
any... any prophet in human history, and they
were great throughout Scripture, what set him
apart is that he not only gave Pharaoh the word,
he gave Pharaoh the how -to implement it to save
his nation. Oh, come on. And when he did that,
Pharaoh and his men are sitting there stunned.
Come on. And because he looks at him in one second,
he says, what is he doing in a dungeon? I'm going
to bring him out of the dungeon. I'm going to
put him in the palace and make him the prime
minister of this nation. Come on. Just like that.
Something happened. Because, and I'm going to
get to Genesis 50, verse 15. I am. It takes me
a few minutes. But he also gave Joseph a wife.
Please don't forget what I'm going to tell you.
And Joseph has two sons. And in Genesis 41, verse
15, it says, Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh
and said, it's because God made me forget all
my troubles and all my father's household. That
spoke to me. Because I'm sure around here, And
some of you who have been to church for a long
time, you've heard messages about forgiveness.
About forgiving our sister or our brother. That
it's very, very important. I believe I'm still
married after 41 years because of the power of
forgiveness. Come on. Honestly. You forgive your
spouse. You forgive those that hurt you. We all
know that. But I've recently become aware of
something, because has this ever happened to
you? Where you've been in a conflict with somebody,
and all of a sudden, in the middle of that conflict,
they bring up something out of your past. Has
that ever happened to anybody in the room? Of
course, the rest of you are lying. Come on. This
happened to me, you know. That, oh, I thought
you forgave me. But then when there was a conflict,
something out of your past in the conversation
was brought to surface. Well, when I see that,
and I see a person do that, this is exactly what
goes through my mind. Because, see, we talk about
forgiveness, and we should. But we don't talk
about forgetting. Because forgiveness doesn't
mean, Pastor Darren, I'm sorry. Or he doesn't
mean, Father John, I'm sorry. I calculated. We
made a mistake this morning. 1998 is when we
met. That's, what, 28 years ago. That's a long
time. I don't think we've had a conflict in 28
years. We might have. You know, that's good.
Right, that I'm aware of. Come on. Yeah, go camping
with me. Go camping with me, he just said. Come
on. Then we're going to have a conflict. Yeah,
that's probably because he showed me in the storm.
And I was making my wife jealous because there
was northern lights. He should have gone with
me, you know. But anyway. We have conflict with
people. In the midst of the conflict, in the
midst of the argument, there's something out
of your past they say. And doesn't that kind
of shock you? Because what's the first thing
you think? Well, I thought you forgave me. See,
what's amazing about Joseph is what made him
such a dynamic leader. Not only did God give
him the ability to forgive his brothers, because
when he became prime minister, he didn't go after
his brothers, and he didn't go after Potiphar's
wife. What made him such a powerful voice and
leader... Is his ability. See God doesn't wipe
away our memory. He still had those memories.
Of being thrown in the pit. He still had those
memories of being in prison. He still had those
memories of going to court. And being accused.
God doesn't erase our memory. But what happens
is. This is exactly what happens. What happens
is, ladies and gentlemen, God gives us the ability
that it's not rehearsing in our mind every time
there's a conflict because we really have already
settled it in our soul. We really have forgiven
and we really have forgotten. And I feel like
there's someone here tonight. I don't know who
you are, but God wants to give you a gift. That
same gift that Joseph who had the ability to
forgive and forget all his troubles in his father's
house. God wants to do that to you. Come on.
Because we've all had trouble. We've all had
trouble in our past. We may even have trouble
in our present. But there's a God of heaven that
forgives and causes us to forget that we don't
walk around looking for revenge. We don't walk
walking to get even. We don't walk around to
get back. And that leads me now after 31 minutes
to my text. And I don't have time to go into
the rest of the narrative of Joseph's life because
there's so much. But listen to this. Genesis
50 verse 15. He restores the brothers. But listen
to this. It says, when Joseph's brothers saw
that their father was dead, they said, perhaps
Joseph will hate us. And may actually repay us
for all the evil which we did to him. Oh, come
on. Church, when I read that, when I read that,
and I've read it before. It's not that I haven't
read it, but I didn't read it. I read it, but
it didn't register. I read it, but there was
no revelation until recently. And this is exactly
what went through my mind. This is exactly what
I want to communicate these few verses that I
have in the time remaining here tonight. That
here are people who have been forgiven. There
was no indication that Joseph did everything
in his power. Everything within his rulership
to take care of his brothers. But they assume.
That as long as Jacob's alive, they're protected.
But now that the father is removed, Joseph is
not going to protect them anymore. He's going
to punish them. Church, that means that they
never felt forgiven. They never knew that they
were truly forgiven. So now that they believe
that they've never truly been forgiven, now they're
walking around with guilt. Now, can you imagine?
Now, now they've actually have become men. They
have become people who have not come to grips
with their past. They haven't forgiven themselves.
And because they haven't forgiven themselves,
they assume that Joseph hasn't forgiven them
either. Now church, if I had more time, this
is exactly what I'd do because there's a theological
term called Christology. It's where we look at
Old Testament characters like Abraham and Moses
and others and David, and we connect them that
they are types of Christ. Well, when you look
at that statement, Christology, Joseph is the
perfect type. Here was Israel who was forgiven.
Come on. Here were people that were forgiven.
And there's people sitting in churches that God
has already forgiven, but they're still not free.
Come on. God has already redeemed them from their
past, but they're still not walking in freedom.
They're still in a place of condemnation. They're
still in a place of guilt of what they have done
or what they are doing. I want to tell you that's
a lie. Come on. That's a lie. And they assume
that the only reason they're still alive is because
of someone else. Can I tell you something right
now? Everybody in this room who has accepted
Christ as your Savior is fully forgiven and fully
redeemed and fully restored. Can I hear an amen
right now? I have things that I'm ashamed of.
I have things in my past that I can't repeat
over this microphone. But there is something
called the blood of Jesus. There is something
called the Christ of Jesus. There is something
that he did that redeemed me from my past. You
may have not forgiven me, but he forgave me.
Come on. They're thinking. They're actually living
a lie. They're actually. They have outward freedom,
but inward bondage. But listen to this. So they
sent word to Joseph saying, your father has left
these instructions before he died. Oh, can I
tell you that Jacob never left. instructions
to the brothers. They made that up. Why do people
lie? Why do you lie? Why do I lie? You know why
we lie? Self -preservation. We think that the
lie is going to protect us. Which is a lie. It's
the truth that sets us free, not the lie. So
in order to, for their own self -protection and
preservation, they decide to lie. And when I
hear, when I find out people who lie, it's because
they're more afraid of the truth. And that's
what we call deception. Come on. They're deceived,
thinking that, well, I'll make up this lie and
that will protect me. Which that's not the way
of the kingdom. So, here's the moment now. Because
they can't imagine, they can't imagine living
in a place where there's no revenge. There's
no, you know what, I've already forgiven you.
You're freely forgiven. They can't imagine that.
Because then this is what it says in verse 17
of Genesis 50. Very, very powerful. This is what
you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive
your brothers their sins and the wrongs they
committed in treating you so badly. Now, please
forgive the sins of the servants of the God of
your father. Now, listen to this. This has changed
my life. When their message came to him, Joseph
wept. Say it with me, Joseph wept. Say it again,
Joseph wept. Let's be honest. The brothers were
the problem. Get over it, guys. You're making
up lies. You've been fully restored. I brought
your family out of Palestine. I've provided for
you. There's nothing that I have done to harm
you. Come on. And now you're thinking I'm going
to hurt you. And Joseph weeps. And when I've
read that in the past, I'm assuming that He's
weeping over his brother's condition. And that
is partly true. Because honestly, I do want to
be the kind of leader, the kind of prophet that
weeps over people that are hurting. I can't not
acknowledge the fact that this is what they think.
That I don't want to be insensitive to their
need for redemption and forgiveness. Come on.
Even though that all forgiveness and redemption
has already been paid for. He weeps. But I've
never seen this before. I don't believe, Dennis,
that Joseph just wept for his brothers. I believe
Joseph wept for himself. And I'll tell you why.
I believe because, see, Joseph's the leader.
How many leaders in the house? How many leaders
in the house? Everybody should raise your hand.
You're leading somebody. You're leading something.
See, we're leaders. We're leaders. And see, as
a leader, this is why I believe Joseph Webb.
As a leader, I believe Joseph was not only weeping
for his brothers, but he's weeping himself because
this is exactly what's going through his mind,
I believe. That what kind of leader am I? What
kind of person am I? What kind of brother am
I? What kind of prophet am I? What kind of prime
minister am I that all of a sudden that you don't
feel forgiven? What have I projected? What have
I said through my body language, through my words,
or through my silence that you're now walking
around with a chip on your shoulder? He weeps.
And I think that sometimes what happens is that
we don't weep enough. We don't cry out enough.
Because let me just tell you right now. I'm weeping
for Iran. Come on. I'm weeping for Venezuela.
I'm weeping for the nations of the earth. Come
on. Because I have a friend of mine who is in
northern acquaintance of ours. He's a missionary.
And he's in northern Iraq. He's smuggling Bibles
into Iran. Come on. He's in harm's way. He's
ISIS. The Kurds are protecting him. And it's
absolutely crazy. And people get all upset that
we attacked Iran because of our gas prices. Come
on. That our gas went up. How terrible. What
a terrible leader. But do you realize that you're
not going to hear this on the news. My friend
told, I heard this, that 80 ,000 Iranians that
wanted freedom were murdered by the government.
Are you hearing what I'm saying, ladies and gentlemen?
And everybody's up in arms. And you know what?
That's an injustice. Come on, are you hearing
me? When is the last time we weeped for the injustice?
When was the last time? But people are all upset
about gas prices. Come on. We've got to put things
in perspective, ladies and gentlemen. We're talking
about human life here. I don't, I don't, I mean,
I travel a lot. It's expensive. It's hard. It's
hard for Americans. I get it. But at the end
of the day, we're more upset about our convenience
than we are the death of our brother or our sister.
Where are the tears of the prophet? Where will
we weep like Joseph? And so Joseph weeps. And
when he weeps, this is exactly what happens.
He weeps. Verse 18. His brothers then come and
throw themselves down before him. We are your
slaves, they said. But you have to understand,
Joseph doesn't want them to be his slaves. I
want you to be my brother. You know what I appreciate
about Pastor Darren Palmer? and Pastor Cammie
Palmer is they didn't come to Lincoln to raise
up a congregation to fulfill their vision. They
came to Lincoln to serve. The congregation, our
congregation aren't our slaves. They're our brothers
and our sisters. Yes, we have a hierarchy of
honoring the pastor in leadership and the five
-fold ministry that God sends. But people aren't
slaves to respond to every one of my whims. Come
on. You follow what I'm saying? And they bow
down and say, we are slaves. And I love what
Joseph does. Because you know what I'm saying?
Because you have that kind of power that Joseph
has. You can easily get corrupted by that kind
of power. Because power can corrupt people. In
fact, when people, you never know how people
will react until they're given power. And what
set Joseph apart, here he was given power. Pharaoh
wasn't running the nation. Pharaoh wasn't running
anything. He was just worried about what he was
going to eat that night. Joseph was doing everything.
But Joseph did not use the power, his power to
corrupt people or for his own gain. And that
says that he was a righteous man. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Because the church wants power,
Darren. But guess what? Are we going to use that
power for our own permission? Or are we going
to use that power to serve other people? Can
I hear an amen right now? So at that moment,
he says to them, but Joseph said, don't be afraid.
Am I in a place of God? Because you think about
this. This is what grieves me, Miliana, about
the prophetic movement and what's happening.
You know, and a lot of times these certain prophets
that I won't mention, that they've elevated them
in the place of God. And I do believe in honoring
the five -fold ministry. Next week we have a
man who's got a Ph .D. from AGTS. He's in the
office of a teacher. We will elevate him. We
will bless him. We're going to take care of him
as he's coming to our church because they don't
need a prophet. We're a very prophetic church.
Everybody prophesies. It's a very, very prophetic
church. Everybody that comes in the room just
is prophesying. I get that. And we need that
type of thing. But we didn't need another prophet
to come to our church. We need a teacher. Because
I want the church to be well -rounded. I need
a teacher because I need a teacher to correct
my theology sometimes or keep me right on track.
Come on. Are you hearing what I'm saying? That's
why we bring the five -fold ministry in. But
ladies and gentlemen, I love what Joseph said.
He said, am I in the place of God? In other words,
because he had an opportunity as a prime minister
and as a leader to escalate people's guilt. Can
I say this to you? Over the almost five years
now that my wife and I have pastored this church
in Tucson, we've had conflict. In fact, we've...
Called leaders over to our home. We brought correction.
I don't really like that. I think Meliana, if
there was a tenth spiritual gift, Meliana would
have the gift of correction. You know what I
mean. And so anyway, she corrects me every day.
Come on here. But I do the same thing. I want
to just make her, she wants to make me better
and I want to make her better. But anyhow, there's
an opportunity for Joseph to escalate the brother's
guilt. Because I found this out. When people
are in a place of vulnerability and guilty and
feel condemnation, do we escalate their guilt
or do we alleviate it? And great leaders, and
I've been around some great leaders, they don't
escalate the person's guilt. They look for a
moment to redeem them from their guilt. Can I
hear an amen? And that's what he did. He said,
am I in the place of God? But listen to this.
But you, because in other words, he acknowledges
their wrongdoing, but he refuses to weaponize
it. Because if you do something wrong to me,
I can weaponize that against you. And we do have,
and this is why I do not like what's happening
in the body of Christ from Eliana. Something
was at fault. Then this is what bothers me. It's
not that certain false prophets or prophets have
gotten exposed. I get that. God will do that.
But I'm worried about the ministries that have
exposed them. Come on. Are you hearing what I'm
saying? And they've exposed them to the world
or exposed them to the rest of the church because
what they have done is they have used what they've
done wrong as a weapon against them not to see
them redeemed and restored. Come on. I'm worried
about them. Nobody knew you on social media.
You didn't have a platform. You didn't have a
YouTube channel. You had nothing. You were just
sitting in a pew twiddling your thumbs, and now
so -and -so sins, and now you have a million
views on your YouTube channel because someone
else has sinned. So that means you have to continue
to make up content in order to get a platform.
Instead of going to the Word of God and doing
what the Word of God says, love covers a multitude
of sins. If your brother sins, go to him. If
he doesn't repent, then go bring a brother. If
they don't repent, then go bring him before the
whole church. Come on. Instead of doing Matthew
18, 18. And so what happens, what I love about
Joseph is Joseph doesn't use what his brothers
did. He acknowledges the wrongdoing but doesn't
weaponize it. Come on. And how many understand
that that's how we are to be? Can I hear an amen
right now? Now, notice this. He says this. You
intended to harm me, but God intended for the
good to accomplish what is now being done, the
saving of many lives. What God meant for evil,
God turned it around for good. Last verse. So
then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you.
This is amazing. Don't be afraid. I will provide
for you. And he reassured them and spoke kindly
to them. Don't forget what I'm going to tell
you. How many have ever had a conflict with someone?
Thank you for being honest. Almost all of you
raised your hand except the two teenagers over
here. They must be perfect. But I want to tell
you something. When conflict is not fun, I don't
enjoy it. I think Meliana likes it, but I don't
like it. I'm teasing her. How many know that
when there is conflict and you have to face someone
that you have to talk about things to? Difficult,
what we call difficult conversation. How many
know that the emotional temperature in the room
is pretty intense? It's not like Darren on the
piano soaking in the presence of God. Come on.
It's not like that. It's intense because it's
as if the emotional temperature is way sky high.
Come on. It's been my experience over my short,
I'm going to be 64 in September, and Malian and
I will be, it'll be next year that we'll have
been 30 years traveling and we'll be in ministry
full time now for 30 years. It'll be next year.
And it's been my experience because how many
want to be great leaders? How many want to be
a great leader? I mean, you want to be a great
leader. I want to be not only a great leader,
I want to be a great father. I want to be a great
husband. I not only want to be a great communicator,
I want to be great in everything that God called
me to do. Are you following what I'm saying?
And I've discovered something. I've witnessed
something, especially with my spiritual father,
Dr. James Morocco, who has 900 church plants
now and a $40 million budget. That's what ran
through their ministry last year. But what Joseph
does when he says to them, don't be afraid. I
will provide for you and your children and reassured
them and spoke kindly to them. Now, they're guilty.
They did wrong. They know that. But what Joseph
does is he lowers the emotional temperature in
the room. Because I've tried this. I've done
this with my wife. It works. When the emotional
temperature rose up, And usually because I did
something wrong. Come on. Or she misunderstood
or assumed something. I've noticed that it really
works because the natural thing is to get defensive.
And the natural thing is to defend your right.
Come on. You're wrong, I'm right. That usually
doesn't go anywhere. That doesn't work out very
well. But when you lower the emotional temperature
in the room, all of a sudden, you and the person
that you're in conflict with or has a conflict
with you starts to think clearly. And everything
changes. That's why Joseph reassured them and
spoke kindly. To them. Oh my gosh. Because this
is the thing. If you were here this morning and
during my sermon, I mentioned that Saul went
and sought a medium. You were in the big metropolis
of Petersburg doing what God called you to do.
Serving. When Meliana was using that example
of Saul going to see a medium, my wife, because
of her broken English, some of you that weren't
here this morning, you know what she said from
the pulpit? Media! They went and saw a media.
And I'm sitting there, and now I want a conflict.
Come on. So I can't do that. I can't correct
her in front of the church. And so I walked up
with my iPad with the scripture so she could
read it. And I pointed to it. And then I sat
back down. I said, oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. You know,
because English is her second language. Then
I went back. And looked up the root word for
medium. And the root word for medium, brother,
is media. And in my wife's broken English, she
was originally right. Come on. She had the right
interpretation. And I can tell you this. The
media is not going to lower the emotional temperature
in the room. And what we need in America is more
prophetic voices and more people that hear from
God that know how to walk in a room and lower
the temperature. In order to speak kindly to
people, to treat them with dignity, honor, and
respect, and change the atmosphere so people
can think clearly. Can I hear an amen right now?
How many in the house believe God spoke to you
tonight? Raise your hand right now. Lift your
hands toward heaven all over the house tonight.
Father, we thank you for your word. It's a lamp
unto our feet, and it is a light upon our path.
I thank you for what you're doing even right
now by the power of the Holy Spirit.