WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.750 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:33.299 here. Eight years in the Gideons. Before that, 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:39.380 I was a jail minister at MDC. Before that, I 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:42.079 was a prison minister at Christ for the Nations. 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:47.520 So that's a short summary of who I am and what 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:54.500 I've done. But David declared, the heavens declare 00:00:54.500 --> 00:01:01.450 the glory of God and the firmament. sends his 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:07.150 word day and night, day and night, night and 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:16.030 day. Speech goes throughout. The word of God 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:23.870 is going forth all over the world. And the Gideons 00:01:23.870 --> 00:01:32.640 since 1898 have been a big part of that. In 2024, 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.700 I was watching John Ankerberg. How many of you 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:42.519 know who John Ankerberg is? Yeah. He was interviewing 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:49.239 an astrophysicist by the name of Hugh Ross. Anybody 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:55.359 ever heard of Hugh Ross? Okay. And Hugh Ross 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:00.340 was talking about... some of the theories that 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:06.640 people had and how the universe dispels evolution 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:12.120 or even the Big Bang. But John got to one point 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:19.939 where he asked Hugh Ross, now Hugh, how did you, 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:28.859 you didn't grow up in a Christian family. So 00:02:28.859 --> 00:02:34.939 how did you come to Christ? And Hugh said to 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:43.680 him, you know, it was when I was 17. That's when 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.219 I started thinking about it. And John said, how 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:55.699 did that happen? He said, I ran into a Gideon. 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:01.379 And this Gideon gave me a little New Testament. 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:17.379 And Hugh also, John asked him, how was it that 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:24.120 you became a believer? He said, when I was 19, 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:29.430 I saw another Gideon. And he didn't just give 00:03:29.430 --> 00:03:34.770 me that little New Testament, but he read the 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:40.469 back of it. And it showed me that I was a sinner, 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:44.909 I was separated from Christ, and that I could 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:49.289 receive him by simply inviting him into my heart. 00:03:50.370 --> 00:03:57.650 So you see, our work is in partnership. With 00:03:57.650 --> 00:04:03.189 local evangelical churches, we give out some 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:12.509 30 ,000 scriptures a year. Hotels, UNM campus, 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:19.089 middle school, high schools. We were at La Cueva 00:04:19.089 --> 00:04:25.920 last week. We gave out 170 over there. The week 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:34.579 before, we were at, what I'm saying is simply 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:42.420 that you've got an opportunity to partner with 00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:46.800 us because we print these Bibles, little New 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:52.620 Testaments with the New Testaments and the book 00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:56.920 of Psalms and the book of Proverbs. About $1 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:05.160 .90 piece. And if you are over in India, our 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:11.740 printing press prints it for about $0 .89. So 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.300 I'm going to look forward to sharing more with 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:22.519 you when your pastor has me come back. I just 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:28.920 wanted to say that we're in God's army in this 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:37.139 together. And Jesus comes back after Matthew 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:44.819 24, 14. This gospel shall be preached to all 00:05:44.819 --> 00:05:51.560 the world for a witness. God bless you today. 00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:03.420 Thank you, Ted. Thank God. Let's give Brother 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:05.500 Ted here another round of applause, Joey, because 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:07.259 I'm going to tell you what, I put him Johnny 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:09.759 on the spot to talk for a second before he did 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:13.399 that. So thank you. I've known Ted, goodness, 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:17.160 what, 10 years at least, something like that. 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.620 Yeah, we go back quite a ways. The Gideons are 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:25.339 a wonderful group. We do have these pamphlets. 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:27.319 We have a whole stack of them over here on the 00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:30.279 table. If you'd like to give or support them, 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:38.079 it is a great way to do it. Yes, Molly. Yes, 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.220 amen. Yes, at the cost of our most, absolutely. 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:44.019 I will tell you. These Bibles, they make their 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:46.680 way around the world, literally. You all have 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:49.600 heard me talk about it in the past briefly. When 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:51.860 we deployed, we deployed without a chaplain. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.379 We had no chaplain. So when we got together for 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:59.300 our own Bible study and the worst singing you've 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:03.779 ever heard in your life, we did it with New Testaments 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:05.480 from the Gideons that we got before we deployed. 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.040 That's literally what we used while we were over 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.750 there. So they make their way. into the hands 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:16.050 of people who truly, truly need the work. So 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:19.029 I do encourage everybody to be a friend of the 00:07:19.029 --> 00:07:22.129 Gideons and to support them, you know, however 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:26.490 the Lord puts it on your heart. With that said, 00:07:26.670 --> 00:07:31.949 let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity 00:07:31.949 --> 00:07:36.069 to gather together in praise and worship of you 00:07:36.069 --> 00:07:39.160 again. We ask that you open the eyes of our hearts 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:41.019 and our minds to what you have to speak to us 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.959 today and help us to apply it in our lives as 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:48.220 we leave here. All those people said, amen and 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:50.920 amen. All right, well, welcome everybody. It's 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:52.939 a great way. It's actually quite the surprise 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:55.480 for my brother Ted to be here. It really warmed 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:57.040 my heart. I haven't seen him in a long time. 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.959 So that was great. The last few weeks, we've 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:03.879 been talking about why we should be thankful 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.779 for the bad things that happen in our lives, 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:08.839 not just the good, especially in this period 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:10.759 of thankfulness, right? We've specifically been 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:12.959 talking about how we carry that thorn. We actually 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:16.600 read through that passage itself as part of the 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.420 series. Today, we're actually going to go, we're 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:20.980 still looking at the same thing, but today's 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:22.899 going to be a little bit different style than 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:24.399 what anybody's used to, because today is going 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.779 to be more of... Well, let's just call it what 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:29.740 it is, more of a history lesson. I'm a nerd. 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:33.340 I like this kind of stuff, right? But I promise 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:35.379 you, after we get through it, you will see how 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:38.259 it applies. So bear with me. Like I said, this 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:40.779 is going to be a little different. All right, 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:43.080 we're on the path. This is actually going to 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.460 be how we close out this series. If you've missed 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:47.840 the last couple of weeks, I encourage you to 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.980 go online or go to the podcast, listen to it. 00:08:50.259 --> 00:08:54.610 You know, it will bless you. But this holiday, 00:08:54.769 --> 00:08:56.950 Thanksgiving, this is the quintessential American 00:08:56.950 --> 00:09:00.950 holiday, right? And this is very much, there's 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:02.429 a lot of pomp, there's a lot of circumstance, 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:05.289 there's a lot of tradition that goes with it, 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:10.909 right? Needless to say, all of us have been taught 00:09:10.909 --> 00:09:14.730 the quote -unquote pilgrim version of Thanksgiving. 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:21.269 Am I right? You know, regardless of... any erroneous 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:22.610 teaching that's in there, and we know there's 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.909 been quite a lot, right? And perspectives that 00:09:26.909 --> 00:09:28.649 have been glossed over. Don't worry, I'm not 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:29.909 going to hammer that down your throat today. 00:09:30.889 --> 00:09:32.769 It's not that kind of a history lesson. Instead, 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:35.769 specifically, I'm going to talk to you about 00:09:35.769 --> 00:09:38.950 how God used an Indian, or Native American, if 00:09:38.950 --> 00:09:45.110 you will, all right? But an Indian... whose name 00:09:45.110 --> 00:09:48.169 you're probably going to recognize from the history 00:09:48.169 --> 00:09:49.870 books because it's been told for generations. 00:09:51.250 --> 00:09:54.350 And God used him in a mighty way, although it 00:09:54.350 --> 00:09:58.710 took time for it to be seen. All right. Everybody 00:09:58.710 --> 00:10:00.649 in here, is there anybody in here who hasn't 00:10:00.649 --> 00:10:04.490 heard of the name Squanto? No? Didn't think so. 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:06.629 That's a big name. It goes way back. There's 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:07.970 been movies, there's been books, there's been 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:11.389 cartoons, there's been all sorts of stuff, you 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:16.539 know, built up around Squanto, right? So we're 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:18.019 going to talk a little bit about him, though, 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:19.360 all right? Actually, we're going to talk quite 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.379 a bit about him. Historical accounts, of course, 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:26.480 of his life, they do vary. However, historians 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.480 and scholars alike have all come together on 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:33.840 certain things that they do agree on from his 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:35.620 life and certain things that happen within the 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:40.759 timeline of his life, all right? So 1608, we're 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:45.379 going to go all the way back to here. More than 00:10:45.379 --> 00:10:48.519 a decade before the pilgrims, as we know it, 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.919 actually landed in what they called the New World. 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:56.019 Instead, a group of English traders who were 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:01.899 led by Captain Hunt arrived. And this group who 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:06.279 landed in what we know today as Plymouth, they 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:08.899 came together, they set up camp, and they set 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:14.509 up what appeared to be trade. The Wampanoag Indians 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:18.570 were very trustful. They had no reason not to 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:23.789 be. So they come out looking to trade, looking 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:27.730 to make new friends, to learn new things. And 00:11:27.730 --> 00:11:31.649 unfortunately, it was a trap. Captain Hunt and 00:11:31.649 --> 00:11:35.730 his traders took these Indians, kidnapped them, 00:11:35.809 --> 00:11:38.570 and took them all the way back over the ocean 00:11:38.570 --> 00:11:44.110 to Spain. Squanto. a young boy at the time, being 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:51.070 one of them. After taking them prisoner, he took 00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:54.470 them to Spain and sold them all into slavery. 00:11:56.389 --> 00:12:00.690 But God had a special purpose for Squanto. Very 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:05.169 special. You see, Squanto, when he was sold as 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:08.490 a slave, he was sold to a monk, a Spanish monk. 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:13.309 This monk, he had a good heart. He wanted the 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.330 best that he could provide for this young boy. 00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:19.970 So he took him in. He treated him well. He raised 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:24.169 him up. He taught him English. He taught him 00:12:24.169 --> 00:12:26.429 about Christianity. He taught him about Jesus 00:12:26.429 --> 00:12:32.830 Christ. That's a gift in itself, is it not? And 00:12:32.830 --> 00:12:36.269 as time went by, as the years started to tick 00:12:36.269 --> 00:12:39.950 by, Squanto made his way from Spain all the way 00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:47.149 up through Europe. To England. Especially for 00:12:47.149 --> 00:12:50.289 those days, and especially for a young boy. That's 00:12:50.289 --> 00:12:55.730 quite the travel, isn't it? Quite the path. We 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:57.409 have people here who haven't even made it out 00:12:57.409 --> 00:12:59.090 of our own state, and this guy, he's traveled 00:12:59.090 --> 00:13:06.509 half the world as a teenager. But throughout 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:09.789 his travels, he still had a longing to make it 00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:17.129 home. Once he was in England, he started working 00:13:17.129 --> 00:13:19.870 in the stables with a man by the name of John 00:13:19.870 --> 00:13:23.450 Slaney. Now, John, he sympathized with Squanto. 00:13:23.529 --> 00:13:29.169 He saw something special in him, right? And so 00:13:29.169 --> 00:13:32.889 he understood his hope to return home, and he 00:13:32.889 --> 00:13:34.769 wanted to be able to do what he could to help 00:13:34.769 --> 00:13:37.629 him. So he promised him, like, find a way to 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:41.590 get you on the first boat. We'll do it. We'll 00:13:41.590 --> 00:13:47.669 find a way to get you home. And it is exactly 00:13:47.669 --> 00:13:52.590 what happened. 1619, a decade after Squanto was 00:13:52.590 --> 00:13:56.029 kidnapped, torn from his home, torn from everything 00:13:56.029 --> 00:13:59.009 that he knew, filled with fear, filled with heartbreak. 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:03.490 Having to change his ways, having to adapt and 00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:09.169 overcome or die. He finally, finally returned 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:14.679 to his homeland. But tragedy was still going 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.799 to be a headline in his life at this point. Because 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.039 not only did he make it back to the land he grew 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.600 up on, but he found out that an epidemic had 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.320 gone through the land and everybody that he knew 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:33.639 that was still there was dead and gone. Everything 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.460 he knew of his home was gone. Take a moment and 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:41.080 think about that. That's kind of hard, isn't 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:46.970 it? It weighs heavy on the heart. A decade to 00:14:46.970 --> 00:14:48.490 get home, most people wouldn't have even done 00:14:48.490 --> 00:14:51.250 that. The odds that he defied, the odds were 00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:53.669 not, if you're a gambling person, we'd say it's 00:14:53.669 --> 00:14:56.529 not in his favor, right? The fact that he made 00:14:56.529 --> 00:14:58.190 it over the ocean in the first place without 00:14:58.190 --> 00:15:02.110 dying, that's already a miracle. The fact he 00:15:02.110 --> 00:15:04.509 made it from Spain all the way to England is 00:15:04.509 --> 00:15:07.250 another miracle. The fact that he made it out 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:09.629 of there and back across the ocean, and that 00:15:09.629 --> 00:15:15.110 was a treacherous, treacherous voyage. God's 00:15:15.110 --> 00:15:19.049 at play. But then he comes back. I'm home. I'm 00:15:19.049 --> 00:15:25.929 home. Oh. Where's home? The land's here. But 00:15:25.929 --> 00:15:30.889 everyone's gone. The lands I knew have changed. 00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:37.409 Everything is gone. And everything here is new. 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:42.289 The heartbreak. You think of the heartbreak that 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:43.929 we have just when somebody that we know and we're 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:48.529 close to passes away. And here his entire tribe, 00:15:48.870 --> 00:15:52.370 right? Or his entire village, I should say, gone. 00:15:58.049 --> 00:16:02.350 Why did God let this happen? How would you respond 00:16:02.350 --> 00:16:06.389 to that? What feelings would be seeding through 00:16:06.389 --> 00:16:08.230 you? And I think seeding is an appropriate word. 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:13.169 Well, these are questions that he had, needless 00:16:13.169 --> 00:16:15.850 to say, and about a year later, the answers started 00:16:15.850 --> 00:16:20.409 to show themselves. God at work. Because you 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:23.450 see, a ship full of English families had just 00:16:23.450 --> 00:16:26.330 arrived, and they were looking to settle on the 00:16:26.330 --> 00:16:29.309 exact same land that the Wampanoag had lived 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:34.690 on when Swanto was a child. And upon learning 00:16:34.690 --> 00:16:37.190 of these people coming and looking to set up, 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.980 You could see the Holy Spirit working in him. 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:47.779 Because he went out, he greeted him. Now keep 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:49.299 in mind, especially what was taught at the time, 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.740 here's a savage. They've been taught how brutal 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.440 these guys are. Here's a savage coming, and not 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:55.679 only is he coming, and he's greeting us with 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.779 a smile and his friends, but he's speaking in 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:03.460 our language. He's speaking English. Whoa! What 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:06.839 in the world? And that's exactly what he did. 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.099 He went to them. He greeted them in English. 00:17:13.349 --> 00:17:17.029 And he saw to look after them, to teach them 00:17:17.029 --> 00:17:20.150 the skills that they would need in this new land. 00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:22.950 Pilgrim Governor William Bradford wrote this 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:25.509 in his diary. Squanto became a special instrument 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:28.589 sent of God for our good. He showed us how to 00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:31.809 plant our corn, where to take fish, and to procure 00:17:31.809 --> 00:17:34.970 other commodities. He was also our pilot to bring 00:17:34.970 --> 00:17:38.029 us to unknown places for our profit and never 00:17:38.029 --> 00:17:41.839 left us till he died. When Squanto was bedridden 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.039 and dying of a fever, Bradford also wrote this, 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:49.420 that their Indian friend, quote unquote, desired 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.799 the governor to pray for him that he might go 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:56.880 to the Englishman God in heaven. Amen. Upon his 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.579 death, he bequeathed his possessions to his English 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:07.299 friends as remembrances of his love. He could 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:08.740 have looked to go the other way. He could have 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:10.220 looked to have done a lot of things, but instead, 00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:14.240 he loved on his neighbor. He treated people as 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.720 he wanted to be treated, regardless of what had 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:20.180 happened to him in his past. He didn't hold them 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:22.940 accountable for the actions of others. Instead, 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:27.460 he saw people in need, and he reached out. He 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:31.960 saw people in need, and he reached out. Who but 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.380 God could so miraculously weave together the 00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:39.839 lives of a lonely Indian and struggling English 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:43.000 men and women who had just sat down in this new 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:48.680 land, this new country. And it's easy to take 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:50.779 a look and see the small picture here, right? 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:52.980 We look at this as exactly that. It's a small 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:56.720 piece of our history. But it's actually so much 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.359 bigger. It actually shapes the landscape at that 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:07.869 time, the people at that time. So much more. 00:19:07.910 --> 00:19:10.190 There's a bigger picture. God likes the bigger 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:11.769 picture. That's what he focuses on. It's what 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:14.509 I like to call the long game, right? God likes 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:17.470 the long game. While we're up here and we're 00:19:17.470 --> 00:19:19.150 like, let's see if I can make it in the hole. 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:25.529 God's up there saying, this ain't nothing. Wait 00:19:25.529 --> 00:19:27.269 till you get to the tournament. That's just to 00:19:27.269 --> 00:19:33.470 warm up. Squanto's story while marked in tragedy 00:19:33.470 --> 00:19:38.019 is still quite remarkable. And it truly is something 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:42.299 that points to God using one person to shine 00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:46.160 his glory in a dark land, in a dark place. Because 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:47.960 without Squanto, those people would have suffered, 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:55.099 probably perished. But it's also very easy to 00:19:55.099 --> 00:19:57.460 see how his life draws comparisons from the Bible. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:04.079 On one instant, Job, he lost everything. Everything. 00:20:10.410 --> 00:20:18.329 Absolutely. He regained so much more. But yes, 00:20:18.369 --> 00:20:20.789 Joseph, absolutely. That's where we're going. 00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:24.269 We're going to skim over it. We're not going 00:20:24.269 --> 00:20:25.769 to go into a whole lot because there's a whole 00:20:25.769 --> 00:20:28.150 lot here to unravel. But we're going to look 00:20:28.150 --> 00:20:31.549 at some of the parallels here. All right. The 00:20:31.549 --> 00:20:36.960 story of Joseph, Genesis 37. Joseph was also 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.500 sold into slavery, but used as a special instrument 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:44.359 of God to point the way to his glory and his 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:46.980 greatness. So let's go ahead and let's turn there. 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:49.240 Genesis 37. We're going to start with the first 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:52.359 few verses, verses 1 through 4. So Genesis 37, 00:20:52.700 --> 00:21:00.200 1 through 4. The word says, Now Jacob dwelt in 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.220 the land where his father was a stranger, in 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:06.500 the land of Canaan. This is the story of Jacob. 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:11.660 Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock 00:21:11.660 --> 00:21:15.420 with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons 00:21:15.420 --> 00:21:19.779 of Baha and the sons of Ziba, his father's wives. 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:26.519 And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:31.599 father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:34.660 of his children. because he was the son of his 00:21:34.660 --> 00:21:39.019 old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.180 But when his brothers saw their father loved 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:44.480 him more than all his brothers, they hated him 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:49.160 and could not speak peacefully to him. So like 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:51.980 Squanto, Joseph, he was a young man. He was very 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:54.480 young, a little older than Squanto was, but still. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:58.960 And he lived in a place where he was filled with 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:02.140 joy. He had a family that he loved regardless 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:04.180 of how his brothers treated him. Because let's 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:06.019 face it, you have siblings. Siblings aren't always 00:22:06.019 --> 00:22:09.019 the nicest people, are they? If you're the oldest, 00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:11.900 you know you're just as guilty. Younger siblings 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:15.759 can be just as mean. Even if nobody wants to 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:22.220 admit it. Right? So regardless of his tumultuous 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:23.920 relationship with him, though, he still loved 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:27.299 them. He was still happy to be around them. He's 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:28.839 happy to go out in the fields with them and do 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:30.460 work with them and do all the stuff that a young 00:22:30.460 --> 00:22:34.460 boy should be doing. However, if we drop down 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.220 into verses 27 through 28, we see a change of 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:43.839 events. So Genesis 37, verses 27 through 28, 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:48.680 the word says, Come and let us see him, excuse 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:51.880 me, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:54.119 let our hand be upon him for he is our brother 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:56.799 in our flesh. And his brothers listened. The 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.680 Midianite traders passed by. So their brothers 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.140 pulled up Joseph and lifted him out of the pit 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:06.140 and sold him to Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:09.519 silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. So he 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:13.160 was sold into slavery. Initially, his brothers, 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:14.500 they were looking to kill him. They were jealous. 00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:16.779 They were angry. They wanted him out of the picture. 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:21.940 Luckily, well, I shouldn't say luckily. It was 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:24.490 a blessing. That's already conviction working 00:23:24.490 --> 00:23:25.769 in the heart of one brother saying, no, no, no, 00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:29.369 we can't do that. So they sold him into slavery. 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:32.049 Let me remind you, everybody here has been sold 00:23:32.049 --> 00:23:37.130 into slavery. Everybody here was sold into sin, 00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:42.450 right? We've all had to deal with being slaves 00:23:42.450 --> 00:23:46.450 to sin in our lives. There's nothing we could 00:23:46.450 --> 00:23:49.009 break free of. We needed Jesus in our lives to 00:23:49.009 --> 00:23:53.079 set us free. It's nothing in our works or in 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:58.220 our doing, but in his, in his alone. Joseph, 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.920 he was sold into slavery. Much like Captain Hunt 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:04.819 and his men took these natives and sold them 00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:09.019 into slavery. Slavery was a little bit different 00:24:09.019 --> 00:24:11.700 back then, though. Actually, I shouldn't say 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.000 a little. It was a lot different back then. That's 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.460 a lesson for another time, though. All right. 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:23.029 So they sold him into slavery. They went home. 00:24:23.210 --> 00:24:25.769 They faked his death. They tricked their father. 00:24:25.849 --> 00:24:29.490 The father went into great mourning, as any father 00:24:29.490 --> 00:24:34.650 should, right? As any parent would. And while 00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:38.789 all this was happening, the Midianites, they 00:24:38.789 --> 00:24:43.890 took Joseph, and they sold him again in Egypt. 00:24:44.369 --> 00:24:46.509 Only this time, as to an officer of the Pharaoh's 00:24:46.509 --> 00:24:51.170 guard, he was sold to Potiphar. This is usually 00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:52.890 where we start recognizing a lot of the story, 00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:58.109 isn't it? So we're going to skip over Genesis 00:24:58.109 --> 00:24:59.849 38. It doesn't really pertain to this part right 00:24:59.849 --> 00:25:01.930 here. We're going to go straight to Genesis 39, 00:25:02.089 --> 00:25:03.930 and we're going to pick up at the beginning of 00:25:03.930 --> 00:25:06.230 it. One through four. Like I said, we're kind 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:08.450 of setting it all up here. We're seeing the parallels. 00:25:10.009 --> 00:25:13.769 Not our normal teaching, I know. Genesis 39, 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:16.789 1 -4, the word says, Now Joseph had been taken 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:19.210 down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, 00:25:19.329 --> 00:25:23.789 captain of the guard, an Egyptian, by him from 00:25:23.789 --> 00:25:25.950 the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:30.049 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful 00:25:30.049 --> 00:25:33.009 man. And he was in the house of his master, the 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:35.950 Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was 00:25:35.950 --> 00:25:40.950 with him, and that the Lord made all he did prosper 00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:45.190 in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight 00:25:45.190 --> 00:25:48.549 and served him. Then he made him overseer of 00:25:48.549 --> 00:25:52.009 his house. And all that he had was put under 00:25:52.009 --> 00:25:57.970 his authority. It's a little parallel here with 00:25:57.970 --> 00:26:00.710 John Slaney, isn't it? It's like, look at this 00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:02.089 guy. There's something different about this guy. 00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:05.710 He's special. He's filled with the Holy Spirit, 00:26:05.869 --> 00:26:08.009 right? Because greater is he who is in you than 00:26:08.009 --> 00:26:10.349 he is in the world. He's not recognizing the 00:26:10.349 --> 00:26:12.109 man. He's recognizing the Holy Spirit. Hour to 00:26:12.109 --> 00:26:16.470 work. This man is being loyal. He's different. 00:26:17.009 --> 00:26:19.309 This is how everybody should see each and every 00:26:19.309 --> 00:26:22.450 one of us when we are out in the world. Not as 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:26.589 worldly, but as the godly. They should see the 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:29.410 Holy Spirit in us, the light. Not to say we're 00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:31.430 not going to make mistakes. We're not going to 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:33.650 make missteps, but we're still going to be different. 00:26:33.730 --> 00:26:38.549 We're still going to be set apart. even with 00:26:38.549 --> 00:26:41.049 our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes 00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:42.529 we're going to do things that they don't like 00:26:42.529 --> 00:26:44.029 or they don't appreciate, but we're still brothers 00:26:44.029 --> 00:26:46.130 in Christ. We're still sisters in Christ. We're 00:26:46.130 --> 00:26:48.069 still going to forgive. We're going to move on 00:26:48.069 --> 00:26:50.890 because we're family. It's what we're called 00:26:50.890 --> 00:26:58.630 to do. He said, Potiphar, he saw so much special, 00:26:58.710 --> 00:27:01.490 something special in him, so he elevated him 00:27:01.490 --> 00:27:06.289 in status. Here he is, a slave, and he's in charge. 00:27:07.150 --> 00:27:11.029 of running the household and the properties. 00:27:12.549 --> 00:27:14.609 That's pretty big. That's not the type of thing 00:27:14.609 --> 00:27:17.809 that we think of when we think of slavery. I 00:27:17.809 --> 00:27:19.609 said slavery was a whole different animal back 00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:22.289 then than what we know of it and how we speak 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:27.970 of it today. God is still working on his long 00:27:27.970 --> 00:27:32.349 game. Joseph, while not traversing an ocean, 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:37.899 is still traversing great masses of land. social 00:27:37.899 --> 00:27:41.059 classes, and everything else in between. And 00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:43.519 he's still headed for something great. See, as 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:46.980 we read on, Potiphar's wife also took note of 00:27:46.980 --> 00:27:49.900 the fact that he was a good -looking dude. So 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:52.440 she tried to seduce him. And when he's like, 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:56.039 no, no, no, no, you're my master's wife. You're 00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:59.599 a married woman. Absolutely not. What does she 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.259 turn around and do? She sets him up and tries 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:06.019 to make it. look like he's the one who's trying 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:09.480 to seduce her. Of course, Potiphar, he's going 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.039 to listen to his wife, right? Every husband has 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:16.140 the ear of his wife. We listen, even if sometimes 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:19.380 it seems like we don't. Like, are you even listening 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:26.819 to me? Huh? Right? But we do. So he listens to 00:28:26.819 --> 00:28:28.960 his wife. He believes what she says. He goes 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:38.620 into a rage. Joseph is thrown into jail. Sold 00:28:38.620 --> 00:28:45.660 into slavery twice over and jailed. Most of us 00:28:45.660 --> 00:28:47.140 would not be pretty happy with the direction 00:28:47.140 --> 00:28:51.359 of our lives at that point. Let's face it, we 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.579 tend to mumble and grumble because there's a 00:28:53.579 --> 00:28:55.220 line in front of Starbucks. I know I was a little 00:28:55.220 --> 00:28:57.319 grumpy about that this morning. I wanted some 00:28:57.319 --> 00:28:58.940 coffee on the way and I went by two different 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:00.420 Starbucks. There's a line going to the road. 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:04.819 I was like, are you kidding me? Luckily, my wife, 00:29:04.859 --> 00:29:07.339 she made me a great cup of coffee, though. Thank 00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:11.500 you, wife. It's just one of those days. I need 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:14.259 a little caffeine. A little pick -me -up. Let's 00:29:14.259 --> 00:29:15.859 face it. We all tend to grumble over little things 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:18.359 like that. Little things, and they are little. 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:21.819 Other things that we shouldn't be upset about, 00:29:21.980 --> 00:29:25.079 we get upset about. We start raising our voice 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:27.619 and yelling. What's going on with this? What 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:29.940 is this? Some kind of kangaroo court, right? 00:29:32.350 --> 00:29:34.849 Your boss says something that upsets you. How 00:29:34.849 --> 00:29:39.049 does this guy even have his position? This guy's 00:29:39.049 --> 00:29:42.329 a moron. Get him out of here. It's like, who 00:29:42.329 --> 00:29:46.670 does he know that got him his position? We all 00:29:46.670 --> 00:29:49.490 know that person, right? The boss, not the leader. 00:29:50.269 --> 00:29:55.069 The boss is a very distinct thing as opposed 00:29:55.069 --> 00:29:56.930 to a supervisor. We don't call him a supervisor 00:29:56.930 --> 00:29:59.109 or a manager at that point, do we? We like to 00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:03.160 call him some colorful words. Not necessarily 00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.559 bad words, you know, Winnie the Pooh. My wife's 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:08.819 laughing because she knows what I'm talking about. 00:30:08.940 --> 00:30:10.559 She has one of those, and that's how they refer 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:15.900 to that person, Winnie the Pooh. We have nicknames 00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:17.799 for people like that, though, right? I know in 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:20.660 the military we certainly do. Healthcare we certainly 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:27.440 do. Even at APS, we have things. We all do. In 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:31.730 fact, I was sitting down. with a friend the other 00:30:31.730 --> 00:30:33.750 day, and there was something he goofed up on, 00:30:33.910 --> 00:30:38.910 and he was like, man, I want to say a bad word 00:30:38.910 --> 00:30:40.349 right now. If I knew a bad word to say that was 00:30:40.349 --> 00:30:42.069 appropriate for this, and I started chuckling, 00:30:42.210 --> 00:30:43.170 and he's like, what's so funny? He's like, he 00:30:43.170 --> 00:30:45.029 just reminded me of my grandpa, because my grandpa 00:30:45.029 --> 00:30:46.589 would get upset, and one of the first things 00:30:46.589 --> 00:30:49.170 he'd say is, I too love a hombre. If I knew a 00:30:49.170 --> 00:30:54.910 bad word, I would say it. Good old Grandpa Fick, 00:30:54.910 --> 00:30:56.690 he was a funny one. You never really heard him 00:30:56.690 --> 00:30:59.529 cuss, but he had some stuff to say. I'll tell 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:03.549 you what. But we've all been there. And if this 00:31:03.549 --> 00:31:05.990 had happened to us in our lives, Lord knows we'd 00:31:05.990 --> 00:31:07.390 have all let loose with something a little bit 00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:11.109 more colorful than that, wouldn't we? Like, Lord, 00:31:11.210 --> 00:31:15.509 really? What's going on here? But he didn't. 00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:18.150 Joseph stayed true to the position he was in. 00:31:18.190 --> 00:31:20.349 He stayed true to the course. He followed the 00:31:20.349 --> 00:31:22.549 path that the Lord had laid out before him and 00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:25.670 was guiding him through. Oh, that's something 00:31:25.670 --> 00:31:30.329 special, isn't it? He just walked through that 00:31:30.329 --> 00:31:37.210 door like a boss and just kept on going. And 00:31:37.210 --> 00:31:38.829 the blessings continued to pour out because of 00:31:38.829 --> 00:31:42.150 it. So the warden took notice. Lo and behold, 00:31:42.349 --> 00:31:45.430 here's a prisoner who's been placed in charge 00:31:45.430 --> 00:31:48.809 of the jail. Where's that going to happen these 00:31:48.809 --> 00:31:53.849 days? In a sense, yes, do the prisoners run the 00:31:53.849 --> 00:31:56.309 jail? Yes, absolutely. But in the same aspect, 00:31:56.410 --> 00:32:00.660 no, no, no, no. Not even close. Even during a 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:05.460 riot. Right? We're calling out special teams 00:32:05.460 --> 00:32:08.519 the whole bit to go and quell things, aren't 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:14.220 we? But it happened again. He's raised up. And 00:32:14.220 --> 00:32:19.299 as we go into Genesis 40, like I said, I'm going 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.099 to skim through it. These are the cliff notes. 00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:22.480 I encourage everybody to go back and read it 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:28.680 for themselves. What happens in chapter 40? Well, 00:32:28.779 --> 00:32:32.000 Pharaoh gets upset with his cupbearer, right? 00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:40.240 And one of his cooks, his baker, sends him to 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.259 the jail having dreams. What happens? Joseph 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:44.819 interprets the dreams. Hey, this is what's going 00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:47.099 to happen. You're going to die. You're going 00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:49.200 to be okay. Don't forget me when you go on your 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:54.019 way. Sure enough, it came to fruition. This guy 00:32:54.019 --> 00:32:56.700 died. And this guy went back on his way, restored 00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:59.079 back to where he was supposed to be. He forgets 00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:04.579 all about Joseph for a couple years. But then, 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:10.339 after those couple years go by, a long game starts 00:33:10.339 --> 00:33:15.779 to show itself. Let's all turn to Genesis 41, 00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:26.089 verses 39 through 46. So Genesis 41, 39 through 00:33:26.089 --> 00:33:55.380 46. And the word says, And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:59.960 see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:07.579 Awesome is the word. Yes, sir. Amen. Then Pharaoh 00:34:07.579 --> 00:34:10.099 took his signet ring off of his hand and put 00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:12.579 it on Joseph's hand. That's huge, by the way. 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:16.659 That's huge. And he clothed him in garments of 00:34:16.659 --> 00:34:20.159 fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 00:34:20.710 --> 00:34:24.230 And he had him ride in the second chariot, which 00:34:24.230 --> 00:34:29.369 he had, and they cried out before him. Bow the 00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:32.489 knee. So he sent him all over the land of Egypt. 00:34:33.510 --> 00:34:38.090 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and 00:34:38.090 --> 00:34:41.369 without your consent, no man may lift his hand 00:34:41.369 --> 00:34:46.670 or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh 00:34:46.670 --> 00:34:51.849 called Joseph's name Zephnath. And he gave him 00:34:51.849 --> 00:34:57.989 a wife, Asnaith, the daughter of Potipharah, 00:34:57.989 --> 00:35:03.269 priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land 00:35:03.269 --> 00:35:10.530 of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he stood 00:35:10.530 --> 00:35:14.409 before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went 00:35:14.409 --> 00:35:17.070 out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout 00:35:17.070 --> 00:35:26.320 all the land of Egypt. So he started at 17. And 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:36.000 of course, at 13 years, tragedy rose up. He was 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:39.199 blessed and he went to tremendous heights. He 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:43.460 was valued and he was respected by everyone he 00:35:43.460 --> 00:35:52.050 came in touch with. Everyone. And like Squanto 00:35:52.050 --> 00:35:54.670 helping the pilgrims with their needs, their 00:35:54.670 --> 00:35:57.090 food, their trade routes, their hunting, their 00:35:57.090 --> 00:36:01.550 fishing, Joseph explained what was needed in 00:36:01.550 --> 00:36:04.150 order to take care of the people of Egypt, to 00:36:04.150 --> 00:36:08.550 take care of the land for the upcoming famine. 00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:16.550 Just as Squanto saved hundreds, Joseph saved 00:36:16.550 --> 00:36:23.880 thousands. But it wasn't in his own doing. It 00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:26.719 was through the Lord working through him. The 00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:29.420 Lord shining his greatness, his mercy, and his 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:34.840 grace on people. Because of one man who was loyal 00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:38.400 and listened and kept moving forward regardless 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.880 of the situation he found himself in. We all 00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:46.980 know those people, don't we? There's some place 00:36:46.980 --> 00:36:49.750 where it's like, oh. But this person walks into 00:36:49.750 --> 00:36:51.730 a room and it just lights up. There's something 00:36:51.730 --> 00:36:55.429 different about them. They're not faking the 00:36:55.429 --> 00:36:57.369 funk. They come in, they're genuine, they're 00:36:57.369 --> 00:37:00.610 happy. You're glad to see them. Suddenly things 00:37:00.610 --> 00:37:03.530 aren't as bad as they were just a few moments 00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:07.170 before. That was Joseph in the land of Egypt. 00:37:08.530 --> 00:37:17.630 That was Squanto in Plymouth. Something different. 00:37:17.849 --> 00:37:20.550 Now, unlike Squanto, if we keep on reading, we 00:37:20.550 --> 00:37:23.090 can actually find that Joseph was reunited with 00:37:23.090 --> 00:37:27.210 his family. Very happy ending for him. We can't 00:37:27.210 --> 00:37:29.170 say that Squanto didn't have a happy ending as 00:37:29.170 --> 00:37:32.110 well. He did. It was just different. But there's 00:37:32.110 --> 00:37:34.449 something special about being reunited with family. 00:37:35.389 --> 00:37:39.059 There really is. That's why when you see military 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:41.400 members, or even in your own life, maybe somebody 00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:42.820 you went to school with, you haven't seen them 00:37:42.820 --> 00:37:45.000 in years, maybe decades, and then all of a sudden 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:46.440 you see them, and you light up, it's like, my 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:50.360 man! Right? Bring it in, brother's got a hug. 00:37:50.780 --> 00:37:57.199 Right? We all do it. It's very easy to see. Both 00:37:57.199 --> 00:37:59.460 of these men made the best of the situations 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:01.360 that they were in, and instead of focusing on 00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:03.840 the worst, they did what they needed to get to 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:06.949 the best. They adapted, they overcame, they just 00:38:06.949 --> 00:38:10.190 kept moving forward. They dug in their heels 00:38:10.190 --> 00:38:14.329 and they stayed true to the Lord, to what God 00:38:14.329 --> 00:38:20.070 asked of them. They sacrificed their own wants 00:38:20.070 --> 00:38:26.309 just to go where the Lord was sending them. And 00:38:26.309 --> 00:38:29.769 in the process, their relationship with the Lord 00:38:29.769 --> 00:38:34.190 grew. Man, that's work for all of us, isn't it? 00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.219 Like we're always looking for ways to grow in 00:38:38.219 --> 00:38:39.940 our relationship with the Lord, to learn more 00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:42.679 about the Lord. Maybe give up a little bit of 00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:47.119 that worldly stuff that you're carrying. Spend 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:50.780 a little bit more time with him. Now, sure, it 00:38:50.780 --> 00:38:52.579 could be in the Bible. Absolutely. I'd encourage 00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:55.119 everybody, go and read your Bible. The percentage 00:38:55.119 --> 00:38:56.440 of people who say they're Christian that have 00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:58.300 actually read the Bible front to back is pretty 00:38:58.300 --> 00:39:03.880 minute. But you know what else? Pray. Talk to 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:07.230 him. Leave your burdens with him at the throne, 00:39:07.389 --> 00:39:14.630 at his feet, and truly leave them there. You 00:39:14.630 --> 00:39:17.769 see the opportunity to do something good, and 00:39:17.769 --> 00:39:24.050 it's in your means to do it. Do it. Because you 00:39:24.050 --> 00:39:26.510 very well may be the blessing that the Lord is 00:39:26.510 --> 00:39:28.550 sending for that person. So don't hold back. 00:39:28.929 --> 00:39:32.480 Don't withhold that blessing. That gift may be 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:34.780 all that's needed to turn somebody's life around, 00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:37.260 to turn them from the thought of cashing out 00:39:37.260 --> 00:39:40.619 and ending it all to suddenly having hope in 00:39:40.619 --> 00:39:45.219 their life and being able to move forward. To 00:39:45.219 --> 00:39:47.179 start finding that healing that only the Holy 00:39:47.179 --> 00:39:52.460 Spirit provides inside. Because when you get 00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:54.199 to that place, I'll tell you, it's a lonely place. 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:58.360 That's why people find peace, because they think, 00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:01.809 ah, this is it. I'm done. And they just give 00:40:01.809 --> 00:40:05.969 in to the hopelessness. Not really peace. It's 00:40:05.969 --> 00:40:07.429 just that peace of knowing it's about to be done. 00:40:07.530 --> 00:40:09.789 And that's not a good thing because that's eternity. 00:40:10.409 --> 00:40:12.909 You don't mess with that. You don't mess with 00:40:12.909 --> 00:40:17.449 your salvation. And you don't risk your actions 00:40:17.449 --> 00:40:19.750 being the action that leads somebody away from 00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:23.809 Christ and away from their salvation. Because 00:40:23.809 --> 00:40:27.070 there are people who do it. I will tell you in 00:40:27.070 --> 00:40:28.650 high school when my best friend killed himself. 00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:30.960 I was very angry with the Lord for a very long 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:33.340 time. I did not set foot back in church aside 00:40:33.340 --> 00:40:39.460 from a funeral for a very, very long time. I 00:40:39.460 --> 00:40:41.579 was a very broken person for a long time after 00:40:41.579 --> 00:40:44.340 that. My mom remembers she was working the ER 00:40:44.340 --> 00:40:52.519 when he came in, or at least his body. Yeah, 00:40:52.579 --> 00:40:56.280 actions like that, dude. Leave people away from 00:40:56.280 --> 00:40:59.139 Christ. Don't second guess it for a second. You 00:40:59.139 --> 00:41:02.280 might be thinking erroneously, I will say that, 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:04.159 hey, it's okay if I do this. Lord, forgive me. 00:41:04.179 --> 00:41:07.539 I'm coming home. But that's not right. That's 00:41:07.539 --> 00:41:10.860 the world. That's the enemy at work. Lean into 00:41:10.860 --> 00:41:13.460 the Lord. He will take care of you. He will heal 00:41:13.460 --> 00:41:16.139 you once you're willing to give up that anchor 00:41:16.139 --> 00:41:18.039 that you're dragging behind you with that ball 00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:22.900 and chain. And in doing so, he will leave you 00:41:22.900 --> 00:41:25.400 with a wonderful testimony. That points the way 00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:28.199 to him, just like with Quanto, just like with 00:41:28.199 --> 00:41:31.699 Joseph. Their lives, everything that they'd been 00:41:31.699 --> 00:41:35.760 through was a testimony. Tragedy, sorrow, and 00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:40.539 heartbreak, and loss. But their lives ultimately 00:41:40.539 --> 00:41:42.880 pointed the way to the Lord and his greatness, 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:49.300 and your testimony can do exactly that. We all 00:41:49.300 --> 00:41:51.059 get hung up. Oh, I have this thorn on my side. 00:41:51.099 --> 00:41:54.889 Lord, take this thorn from my side. Relieve me 00:41:54.889 --> 00:41:58.650 of this. But I will remind you, that thorn is 00:41:58.650 --> 00:42:02.170 there for good reason. That thorn is not always 00:42:02.170 --> 00:42:05.389 the world at work. It's not always the enemy 00:42:05.389 --> 00:42:08.809 trying to break you down. It's that reminder 00:42:08.809 --> 00:42:11.630 not to become complacent, not to take things 00:42:11.630 --> 00:42:17.389 for granted, and to lean into Jesus Christ. Because 00:42:17.389 --> 00:42:19.969 you cannot do it all in your own strength. You 00:42:19.969 --> 00:42:22.889 need his strength to get you through, to guide 00:42:22.889 --> 00:42:27.940 you. It's that reminder, keep your eyes on him, 00:42:28.059 --> 00:42:34.420 not the world around you. Eventually, the day 00:42:34.420 --> 00:42:37.079 will come where that thorn will be taken. Whether 00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:39.599 it's on this earth or when you're reunited with 00:42:39.599 --> 00:42:43.960 the Father in heaven, it will be taken from you. 00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:49.579 You will be healed. Just see it for what it is, 00:42:49.599 --> 00:42:53.519 though, and be thankful. That you have it. Learn 00:42:53.519 --> 00:42:58.940 what you can from it. Jesus didn't come and pay 00:42:58.940 --> 00:43:02.920 for our freedom for us to just give up on it 00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:06.780 and forget about the bad. He's given us the bad 00:43:06.780 --> 00:43:09.579 as well as the good so that we have that testimony 00:43:09.579 --> 00:43:12.440 so that we can tell others of him and what he's 00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:15.500 done for us, what he's done through us to bring 00:43:15.500 --> 00:43:18.139 them hope because your story will bring someone 00:43:18.139 --> 00:43:25.719 hope every time. So we should be taking our eyes 00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:28.980 off of that complaint and being grateful for 00:43:28.980 --> 00:43:32.420 what we have. We're being grateful for who we 00:43:32.420 --> 00:43:36.480 have. We forget about that. Sometimes we get 00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:39.420 in a lonely place. We forget we have a church 00:43:39.420 --> 00:43:44.019 family. Will people let you down? Absolutely. 00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:46.539 But people will lift you up. People will surprise 00:43:46.539 --> 00:43:55.460 you. They absolutely will. And like Alexander 00:43:55.460 --> 00:43:58.119 White, we should be thanking God that it isn't 00:43:58.119 --> 00:44:01.320 always like this. Remember, we talked a little 00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:06.739 bit about him last week. Those of you who aren't 00:44:06.739 --> 00:44:10.300 familiar with it, I'll refresh you. Alexander 00:44:10.300 --> 00:44:14.300 White was a Scottish minister. And week after 00:44:14.300 --> 00:44:16.099 week after week, he would go in and he always 00:44:16.099 --> 00:44:19.699 had something great to pray about. Very uplifting, 00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:22.619 very motivational. And on one particular day, 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.260 there was a member of the congregation. It was 00:44:25.260 --> 00:44:27.940 a dark gloomy day out. It was stormy. And he's 00:44:27.940 --> 00:44:30.360 like, this is the day. There is no way he's going 00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:34.059 to have anything good to say today. Finally going 00:44:34.059 --> 00:44:36.380 to see him broken down. Instead, he opens up 00:44:36.380 --> 00:44:38.539 the prayer and says, thank God it isn't always 00:44:38.539 --> 00:44:47.079 like this. Can't rain all the time, right? Thank 00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:51.139 God for that. So even in those gloomy times, 00:44:51.300 --> 00:44:57.480 there's still something good to be had. We should 00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:00.800 thank God it's not always hard. And we should 00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:04.960 thank him for freeing us from that slavery, the 00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:09.920 sin. We should thank him for his son pouring 00:45:09.920 --> 00:45:14.179 his blood out for us so that we could be seen 00:45:14.179 --> 00:45:19.530 blameless. I'm telling you, if you haven't seen 00:45:19.530 --> 00:45:21.070 that yet, if you haven't accepted him as your 00:45:21.070 --> 00:45:24.969 Lord and Savior, this is the time. If you haven't 00:45:24.969 --> 00:45:28.010 looked into why his blood is out there for you 00:45:28.010 --> 00:45:34.429 and the importance of it, this is the time. This 00:45:34.429 --> 00:45:36.190 is the time, especially going into this season. 00:45:36.250 --> 00:45:40.730 I'll tell you what. Pray. Repent of your sins. 00:45:41.110 --> 00:45:42.869 Unburden yourself of those sins. Take them to 00:45:42.869 --> 00:45:48.940 him and start changing your ways. That's all 00:45:48.940 --> 00:45:50.760 he asks, that you repent and that you accept 00:45:50.760 --> 00:45:52.960 Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That's 00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:56.559 it. It's a small penance for what he's done for 00:45:56.559 --> 00:46:03.519 you already. Just know that that thorn in your 00:46:03.519 --> 00:46:07.900 side is temporary. But moving forward into eternity 00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:12.440 with the Lord, thorn free and beautiful. On that 00:46:12.440 --> 00:46:16.440 note, let us pray. Lord, we thank you again for 00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:19.239 our thorns. They help us to stay focused on the 00:46:19.239 --> 00:46:20.760 most important thing, and that thing is you. 00:46:21.679 --> 00:46:23.780 They help us to stay focused on what you've placed 00:46:23.780 --> 00:46:27.219 before us. Sometimes that's a dark path, and 00:46:27.219 --> 00:46:30.800 we need that light there. We thank you for this 00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:32.519 lesson that when things get hard, we have to 00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:35.679 stay focused, not become complacent, not to take 00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:38.659 things for granted, but instead to look for you 00:46:38.659 --> 00:46:43.099 for guidance on the task that's before us, for 00:46:43.099 --> 00:46:44.800 direction in the places that you would have us 00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:49.320 go to. And to follow your lead in the work that's 00:46:49.320 --> 00:46:53.340 been placed before us. We need to remember to 00:46:53.340 --> 00:46:58.960 be grateful for all these thorns. We need to 00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:00.460 remember to be grateful for the people you've 00:47:00.460 --> 00:47:02.139 placed in our lives, the things that you've placed 00:47:02.139 --> 00:47:06.239 in our lives, the blessings. We need to even 00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:09.489 be grateful for the work that we have. In those 00:47:09.489 --> 00:47:11.269 times that we don't appreciate it the way we 00:47:11.269 --> 00:47:12.710 should. We need to remember that there's those 00:47:12.710 --> 00:47:14.449 out there who aren't working. They'd be so grateful 00:47:14.449 --> 00:47:19.269 to have that work themselves. So we ask you to 00:47:19.269 --> 00:47:23.269 use us to impact the lives of others. Whether 00:47:23.269 --> 00:47:25.030 it's something small or something great like 00:47:25.030 --> 00:47:30.070 Squanto or Joseph. Because we already know that 00:47:30.070 --> 00:47:33.150 with the salvation of every one life, that one 00:47:33.150 --> 00:47:34.989 person that comes to you and repents their sins 00:47:34.989 --> 00:47:37.920 and... who proclaims Jesus as our Lord and Savior, 00:47:37.980 --> 00:47:39.639 we know that the angels in all of heaven rejoice. 00:47:40.719 --> 00:47:42.960 So even if we are only able to bring that one 00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:46.840 person to you, that's enough. That's one less 00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:50.579 person that we have to worry about being condemned. 00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:55.460 So use this to show the way to you, to show the 00:47:55.460 --> 00:47:57.159 way to your glory, to show the way to your love 00:47:57.159 --> 00:47:59.699 and your mercy, your grace. We thank you for 00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:01.780 lifting us up out of the pit and from that darkness 00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:05.960 and giving us a testimony. that points its way 00:48:05.960 --> 00:48:11.019 to you, that shines a light on you and not us. 00:48:11.760 --> 00:48:15.480 And all of his people said, amen and amen. Remember, 00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:17.280 as you leave here today, you are loved and you 00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:20.019 are blessed, so go and be the church. Thank you 00:48:20.019 --> 00:48:26.679 for joining us, everybody. Thank you for joining 00:48:26.679 --> 00:48:46.810 us at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Until 00:48:46.810 --> 00:48:49.909 next time, take care and God bless.