WEBVTT

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Kids are dismissed. Youth stay in here. If you

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are going to be in here with us, so that is the

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vast majority of us, then let me ask you to open

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up in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter

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37. We're going to be in Genesis chapter 37 today,

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picking up in our new series, looking at the

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life of Joseph and what we're going to see about

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that. I want you to turn to Genesis 37, but in

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a minute we're actually going to stand and read

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from 1 Peter 1. We'll see it up on the screens.

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But I just want to say, here at Cornerstone,

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we have one mission, one goal, one thing we want

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to see done every week, and that is we want to

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see people connected with Jesus. Wherever you

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are at today, whether you have known Jesus for

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a long time or if you've never heard the name

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of Jesus, today we are excited that you are here,

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and we believe that you are here for a reason.

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Let me invite you to stand with me. I know I

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had you guys turn to Genesis 37. but I'm actually

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reading from 1 Peter 1. You can follow along

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on the screen from 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7. It's

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going to kind of give us a little bit of the

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New Testament side of what we're going to be

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seeing today in Genesis 37. It says this, you

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rejoice in this even though now for a short time,

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if necessary, you suffer grief and various trials,

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so that the proven character of your faith more

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valuable than gold, which though perishable is

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refined by fire, may result in praise, glory,

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and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Let me pray for us. Father God, as we come to

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you today, and as we look at this passage, this

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passage, we see so much trial and grief and hardship,

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God. God, I just ask that you would show us how

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we should respond to that, God. Because God,

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we know that you are not only with us in hard

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times, God, we know you also give us the next

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steps in hard times, Father. And God, as we sing,

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Lord, would you be close to us today? Lord, be

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with us now and quiet our hearts. God, give me

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your words and only your words to preach this

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morning, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen. You

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may be seated. I know it sounds maybe a little

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strange to have you guys open up to Genesis,

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then I'm going to go to 1 Peter. And to me, it

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always felt weird. Like in my Old Testament survey

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class, we always had a running joke that our

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professor was like, today we're going to be talking

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about the book of Deuteronomy, so open up your

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Bibles to the book of Romans. And I was like,

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that's weird. But here's the thing, the Old Testament

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and the New Testament are one. It is all part

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of the Bible. And so often what we see in the

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Old Testament then comes back up in the New Testament.

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And if we're honest about what we're going to

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see today in Genesis 37, it's a lot of really

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hard stuff. You might have kind of picked up

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on a theme as we were singing, and it will continue

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into our second set. Sometimes stuff's really

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hard. Sometimes life does not go our way, if

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we're honest. I don't know if any of you guys

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have had that this week. I have. Sometimes life

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doesn't go your way. It doesn't go the way you

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want it to. Things aren't easy. And this Wednesday

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night, we actually had a great chance to slow

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down a bit with our students and to look at 1

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Peter 1, 1 through 12. And just as I came back

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to the office at the end of the week and was

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praying about this message, I just kept thinking

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about verses 6 and 7. This idea of rejoicing

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even when we suffer grief or hardship and various

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trials. And why do we go through various trials?

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Why do we need to go through this? Because what

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we're going to see today in Genesis 37 is absolutely

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a hard trial. I feel that sometimes in the life

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of Joseph, we think about the highlights, right?

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We think about the coat of many colors. We think

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about the happy ending. I think we sometimes

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miss just how miserable the middle part of it

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is. And I think we miss the part where he's in

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prison and where Psalms tells us that he has

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a neck iron fastened to his leg. Like he can

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barely walk while he's in jail for multiple years.

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You know, we forget maybe how miserable the start

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of his time in Egypt really is. And so I want

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to encourage us as we approach Genesis 37, 12

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through 36 today, to really let yourself see

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the depths of where Joseph sinks to in this passage.

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Don't shy away from it. Really see what Joseph

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can teach us about going through a hard time.

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And if you remember back to last week, or if

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you were not here with us last week, let me just

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catch you up to speed a little bit. In Genesis

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37, we go from talking about the life of a man

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named Jacob, who is the son of Isaac, the son

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of Abraham, who was called out of the land of

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Ur and into Canaan, and we see kind of a transition

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from Jacob into the life of his son Joseph. We

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saw that Jacob, also known as Israel, loved Joseph

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more than any of his other sons because Joseph

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was born to his favorite wife in his old age.

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So he gives Joseph this great robe. It's a long

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-sleeved robe. It's literally what kings would

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wear. We see that Joseph is the favorite in every

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way. We also see that Joseph has a couple dreams.

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See, we see that Joseph has this dream that he's

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out binding sheaves of grain in the field with

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his brothers, and his sheaf stands up, which

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is already clear that this is a dream because

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grain doesn't just stand up by itself. And then

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all of the sheaves of grain of his brothers sink

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to the ground and bow down to his sheaf, and

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his brothers are angry. They already hate him

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because he's the favorite brother. They already

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dislike him strongly, but they hate him even

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more because of his dream. But it doesn't stop

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there. Instead, we see again in verse 9, we see

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then he had another dream, and he told it to

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his brothers. He said, look, he said, I had another

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dream, and this time the sun and the moon and

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11 stars were bowing down to me. The sun being

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his dad, the moon being his stepmom, essentially

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Leah, and then... the 11 stars being his brothers,

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bowing down to him yet again. In other words,

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his 11 brothers, his mommy and his dad, or his

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aunt actually, and his dad, all pretending that

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he's their king. And it's humiliating. And in

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verse 11, we see something really important that's

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going to set up something about our passage today.

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In Genesis 37, 11, it says this, his brothers,

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that is Joseph's brothers, were jealous of him,

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but his father kept the matter in mind. So you

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see two different reactions to this situation.

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Joseph's brothers say, hey, we are jealous of

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you. We want to rule. We're prideful. We want

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to be the best. We want the position. We want

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the authority. We want the power. On the other

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hand, Jacob says, listen, maybe there's something

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more going on here. This is twice now he's had

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these types of dreams. That's kind of the background

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of where we're going to be. But as we look at

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verses 12 through 36, I have a main point for

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us. Our main point today is that sin always leads

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to hurt. Sin always leads to hurt. See, we saw

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last week this idea, and it started out really

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going back before Genesis 37 ever even, that

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sin snowballs. Sin doesn't just stay stationary

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and is a one -time mistake. Sin has a tendency

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to snowball where we sin once, then we sin again,

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we sin again, and again, and again, and again.

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And we're going to see that again in this passage

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today. We're also going to see something else.

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Sin has consequences because sin hurts people.

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Sin will always lead to hurt of some form or

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another. That harmless little lie that you tell

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followed by the next lie you tell to cover up

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and then the next one and the next one and the

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next one leads to hurt because it hurts people's

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ability to trust you. When you punch your brother

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or sister when you were a kid, it led to hurt

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because they were hurt. When you're mean to someone

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on the street corner while you're wearing a cornerstone

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shirt, it leads to hurt because now people see

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church and assume that's the people who hate

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me. Friends, sin in our lives will always lead

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to hurt in some way, shape, or form. That's just

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external hurt. Sometimes sin leads to internal

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hurt. You know, we read actually in the New Testament

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and in Proverbs about the effects, for instance,

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of sexual immorality. That it's not just a sin

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against other people, it's also sin against our

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own selves. That it leads to consequences for

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ourselves. Sin always leads to hurt. And so I

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want you to keep that in mind as we look at Genesis

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37, 12 through 36. So start off with me by looking

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at verses 12 through 17. Let me read these to

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us. It says, his brothers had gone to pasture

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their father's flocks at Shechem. And Israel

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said to Joseph, your brothers, you know, are

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pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I'm

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sending you to them. I'm ready, Joseph replied.

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And then Israel said to him, go and see how your

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brothers in the flocks are doing and bring word

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back to me. And so he sent him from the Hebron

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Valley, that's where they live, and he went to

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Shechem. A man found him there wandering in the

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field and asked him, what are you looking for?

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I'm looking for my brothers, Joseph said. Can

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you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?

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They moved on from here. The man said, I heard

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them say, let's go to Dothan. And so Joseph set

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out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

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And so the first thing that we see here is a

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change in location. Jacob, also dressed as Israel

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here, sends Joseph with an assignment. He's to

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find his brothers at Shechem and then bring back

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a report to Jacob. And notice how Joseph responds.

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He accepts the mission with an eagerness. There's

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no record of Joseph saying, well, actually, Dad,

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I've got something going on tonight. Let me head

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out tomorrow if that's good with you. Now, remember,

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he's 17. When I was 17, I probably would have

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told my parents, tomorrow I'll leave. Joseph

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just says, I'm ready. I'll go. Whatever you want,

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I'll go. See, a lot of times I think we also

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can think of Joseph as the favorite son just

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because of these fortunate circumstances. Understand

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something else. Joseph is a man of integrity.

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As a 17 -year -old, Joseph is a man of high integrity.

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He's earned the trust of his father. There's

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a reason that he's the one sent into the field

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to bring back a report on his brothers. He's

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trustworthy. He's hardworking. When we think

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about 1 Timothy 4 .12 and being an example to

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all believers, regardless of age, Joseph is an

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example of what that looks like practically.

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And so Joseph hears instruction from his father.

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He honors his father, and he goes and obeys.

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And so then in verse 15, we see that Joseph arrives

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in Shechem. But when he gets to Shechem, he's

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wandering, he's going through a field actively

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trying to find his brothers. He's backing up

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the words to his father. He doesn't just say,

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I'll go. He means, I will go right now. And notice

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something else about this. Joseph doesn't just

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go find the equivalent of the local restaurant

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or coffee shop and say, I'll just hang out here

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until someone brings me word about my brothers.

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He's wandering in a field, essentially in a desert,

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trying to find his brothers. He takes this action,

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this promise he's made to his father really seriously.

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And so this man sees Joseph. He goes over to

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Joseph and they have a little conversation, right?

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That's always one of the cool parts about reading

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through Old Testament narratives is we get to

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just see that these are normal people like us.

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That conversation reads very similar to how we

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might talk. And Joseph finds out that they've

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taken all the flocks to Dothan. Now remember,

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Jacob's very wealthy. He's a rich man. He's got

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a large amount of flocks. They need a lot of

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room. People are going to notice when they travel

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through. There's a lot of suns also. There's

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going to be 10 suns out there at this point.

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So you guys are like, hey, they've gone to Dothan.

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Let's talk about Dothan. I don't mean the one

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in Alabama. I had a friend from seminary from

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Dothan, Alabama. Now it sounds like a pretty

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wild place. I'm not talking about that one. Dothan

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in Canaan was famous for two reasons, really.

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One, it was famous for being a great pasture

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land, but two, it was famous because there were

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two wells that were full of water. There were

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also a bunch of dried up wells around there.

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But one of these wells today actually is still

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known by the name Yub Yusuf, literally meaning

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the pit of Joseph, all because of what we're

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going to see in Genesis 37. So I think that type

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of stuff is super important for us. It should

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give us a lot of encouragement because the Word

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of God is true, and when we see a landmark like

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a well named after something that happens in

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the book of Genesis, that should encourage us.

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It's historical proof of what we're seeing in

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Scripture today. And so Joseph goes to Dothan,

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this town with the two wells, and then let's

00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:40.340
look at verse 18. We're going to see a bit of

00:11:40.340 --> 00:11:43.620
a shift in who's talking now. In verse 18, it

00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:46.320
starts off with the word they talking about the

00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.519
brothers. They saw him in the distance, and before

00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.179
he had reached them, they plotted to kill him.

00:11:54.580 --> 00:11:59.679
Let's just pause for a second. That is Joseph's

00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.450
brothers. who see him, and they are so angry

00:12:03.450 --> 00:12:07.330
at him that as soon as they see him, they plot

00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:11.169
to kill him. If you have siblings, you may have

00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:12.710
gotten in a fight with your siblings before.

00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:16.750
I know I have. I have never plotted to kill my

00:12:16.750 --> 00:12:21.590
sister. That is how deep this hatred is. We talked

00:12:21.590 --> 00:12:23.590
last week about how jealousy leads to bitterness,

00:12:23.809 --> 00:12:27.500
which leads to anger. This jealousy has grown

00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.480
so much, this bitterness has grown so much, this

00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.580
anger has grown so much, that Joseph's brothers,

00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.460
as soon as they see him in the distance, all

00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:38.740
they want to do is kill him. Let's pick back

00:12:38.740 --> 00:12:41.320
up in verse 19. They said to one another, oh

00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.559
look, here comes that dream expert. Now you've

00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:45.539
got to throw in the derogatory nickname. So now

00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:47.379
come on, let's kill him and throw him into one

00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:49.240
of these pits. And we can say that a vicious

00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.080
animal ate him, and then we'll see what becomes

00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:55.429
of his dreams. When Reuben heard this, he tried

00:12:55.429 --> 00:12:57.889
to save him from them. He said, let's not take

00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:00.590
his life. Reuben also said to them, don't shed

00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:02.210
blood, throw him into this pit in the wilderness,

00:13:02.330 --> 00:13:04.590
but don't lay a hand on him, intending to rescue

00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:08.490
him from them and return him to his father. I

00:13:08.490 --> 00:13:10.629
cannot stress enough the hatred that his brothers

00:13:10.629 --> 00:13:14.330
have towards Joseph. Cornerstone, this hatred

00:13:14.330 --> 00:13:18.049
is so intense. Sin has snowballed, it has grown,

00:13:18.190 --> 00:13:20.690
it has taken root, it has taken over their lives.

00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.399
Sin snowballs not only the sense of bigger sins

00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.159
and more sins, sin also snowballs in continued

00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.340
sin. You know, that one time that you told a

00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.240
lie and you got away with it, then you told two

00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:34.840
the next time because you knew you could get

00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:36.259
away with it, and the next time, and the next

00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:39.960
time, and the next time. That's what's going

00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:44.639
on here. They hate him so much. They're not just

00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.220
having a bad day. They don't just need to go

00:13:46.220 --> 00:13:49.139
eat a snack or something. They hate him so much.

00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.299
They are legitimately evil. That's what they

00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:54.580
want to do. They talk to each other. We find

00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:56.559
out their sarcastic, cutting nickname for Joseph,

00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:58.899
for their brother, the so -called dream expert.

00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:01.100
Understand, that's not a compliment. That's a

00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.139
sarcastic nickname. It's dripping with derision

00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:06.139
and hatred for his dreams. And they come up with

00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:08.919
a plan. They're going to kill Joseph. They'll

00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:10.139
take him. They'll kill him. They'll throw him

00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:12.620
into a pit. It's a well, in other words. And

00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.440
then they're going to tell their father that

00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:18.120
an animal killed him. Understand something. This

00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.980
is a thought -out plan. It is brutal, and it

00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.389
is awful. But it's not just some small emotion.

00:14:23.590 --> 00:14:26.389
This is premeditated. They are dead set on this.

00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:29.409
And then look at the last part of this conversation.

00:14:30.149 --> 00:14:35.230
Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams. You

00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:37.110
know how I said that sin snowballs and sin always

00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:40.330
will hurt somebody? Sin's about to hurt someone.

00:14:40.629 --> 00:14:43.509
What started as jealousy in Genesis 37, 1 through

00:14:43.509 --> 00:14:45.710
11 has become bitterness and anger and hatred.

00:14:45.850 --> 00:14:47.230
And now it's at the point where they want to

00:14:47.230 --> 00:14:49.850
kill someone because of a dream that he had.

00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.480
And listen, personally, I've had some pretty

00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.159
wild dreams. That's just a part of me. I have

00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.000
weird dreams in the middle of the night. It's

00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.960
just a thing. And I told my family many dreams

00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:02.620
when I was a kid that I had. And if all my dreams

00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:04.720
came true, I'd be like a trillionaire with like

00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.460
40 million yachts. It'd be incredible. But as

00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:11.240
much as I had wild dreams, my family never threatened

00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:13.480
to kill me. Here's what I'm trying to get at.

00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.720
This is not a normal response. Okay? This is

00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.279
not a normal response to be angry at Joseph about

00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.070
a dream. A normal response would be to say, we

00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:24.389
don't believe you, Joseph, so keep doing your

00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:28.429
weird dreams. This isn't normal. Sin snowballs,

00:15:28.450 --> 00:15:30.429
and these brothers desperately need to take a

00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:32.149
break. They need to go take five minutes and

00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:34.409
walk around. They need to cool off a little bit.

00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:37.230
And now Reuben begins to speak in verses 21 and

00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:39.350
22. I've always found Reuben to be one of the

00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:42.330
more interesting brothers because of what happens

00:15:42.330 --> 00:15:45.210
in this chapter. See, Reuben suggests that the

00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:47.230
brothers don't kill him. He says, no, spare their

00:15:47.230 --> 00:15:49.779
life. Spare his life. And instead, Reuben suggests

00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:51.539
that they take Joseph, they throw Joseph into

00:15:51.539 --> 00:15:54.720
a pit, but don't hurt him. And why? Because Reuben's

00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:56.740
going to go get Joseph and bring him back to

00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:58.679
their father. And on the surface, when we hear

00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.879
that, we think, wow, Reuben is a man of integrity

00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:04.940
and character. Reuben is a good older brother.

00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.279
I want an older brother like Reuben, who takes

00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:10.100
care of me and protects me from everybody else.

00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:12.000
That's great. And that's kind of how it reads.

00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:14.759
But if we look at the larger scope of Scripture,

00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:16.399
we start to understand this passage a little

00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:19.019
bit differently. So if we back up to Genesis

00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:22.259
35, 22, we read something else about his life.

00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:26.759
Genesis 35, 22 says this. While Israel or Jacob

00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.480
was living in that region, Reuben went in and

00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:33.059
slept with his father's concubine Bilhah. Now,

00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.240
some of his half -brothers are sons of Bilhah,

00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:39.179
and Israel or Jacob heard about it. There's no

00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:41.419
really easy way to get around this. Reuben slept

00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:43.399
with one of Jacob's concubines. That was one

00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.759
of the most humiliating things that a son could

00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:48.279
do. That was seen as though Reuben was challenging

00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.799
Jacob for preeminence inside of the family. It

00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.620
was incest, and the punishment for that was really

00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:56.799
simple in culture. The punishment was death.

00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:00.600
But Jacob doesn't kill Reuben. What he does do,

00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:03.139
though, is he removes Reuben's birthright. See,

00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.240
in Genesis 49, and we'll see that later on in

00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.059
this series, we see that Jacob goes through his

00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:08.700
blessing his sons, and he's telling them about

00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.640
their inheritance, all these things. In Genesis

00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.380
49, 3 and 4, talk to Reuben. It directly cites

00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:17.900
this as an issue. It directly cites his sin by

00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:19.779
sleeping with Bilhah. And then it talks about

00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:21.359
how he will not be the greatest of the brothers.

00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.680
And then essentially the tribe of Reuben disappears

00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:26.480
from Scripture. Once the northern kingdom is

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.299
conquered, it appears one more time in all of

00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.339
Scripture. And that is in the book of Revelation

00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:32.339
where it simply says that 12 ,000 people from

00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:37.400
the tribe of Reuben will be saved. Friends, Reuben

00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:42.019
was not trying to selflessly save Joseph. I have

00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:44.859
no doubt at all that Reuben's motives were not

00:17:44.859 --> 00:17:46.680
because he secretly loved his younger brother,

00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:50.220
Joseph. Reuben wants to save himself. He's thinking

00:17:50.220 --> 00:17:52.460
to himself, if I save Joseph, the favorite son

00:17:52.460 --> 00:17:54.400
of my father, then my father will forgive me

00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.799
for the mistake I've made. See, this is just

00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.920
another way that sin snowballs. Because Reuben

00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.519
chooses to use his brother's sin, his brother's

00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.980
attempt and hatred to kill their brother, to

00:18:04.980 --> 00:18:07.740
try and make up for his own sin. It's a sickening

00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:11.099
cycle, if I'm honest with you. And why am I so

00:18:11.099 --> 00:18:12.539
confident that this is the correct reading of

00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.380
Reuben's actions and motives? It's because he

00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:17.599
doesn't actually confront his brothers. He doesn't

00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:18.859
look at them and say, listen, you guys are being

00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:23.279
wicked and evil. Just send Joseph home. He doesn't

00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:28.579
do that. No, not at all. And when we see sin,

00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.559
we should confront sin. But Reuben doesn't confront

00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.420
it. If he believed this was wrong, really, he

00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:36.140
would take action. He'd pay the price of being

00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.319
disliked also by the brothers. He would pay the

00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.420
price for whatever that might look like, but

00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:42.900
he doesn't. He doesn't truly believe this is

00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:44.819
wrong to hurt Joseph. He just wants a better

00:18:44.819 --> 00:18:47.119
outcome for himself. He just wants to be the

00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.019
hero who walks back up to his father, bringing

00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:51.400
his younger brother with him, and says, Dad,

00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:54.940
all the brothers tried to kill Joseph, but I

00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:58.119
saved him. I saved him from that pit. You can

00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:02.519
thank me for saving your favorite son. Friends,

00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:06.000
sin snowballs. And here's another example of

00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.940
it, where Reuben sins in Genesis 35, and then

00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:12.980
Reuben sins again here. He sins again by trying

00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:16.779
to use Joseph to get something for himself. Let's

00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:20.960
look at Genesis 37, 23 through 25 with me. When

00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:22.500
Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off

00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:24.859
Joseph's robe, the long -sleeved robe that he

00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:27.059
had on. This is the robe like a king. And then

00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:28.579
they took him and they threw him into the pit.

00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:30.799
The pit was empty. It was dried in the season

00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:34.480
without water. They sat down then to eat a meal.

00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:36.500
And when they looked up, there was a caravan

00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:38.539
of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. And their

00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:41.539
camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and

00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.759
rosin going down to Egypt. So when Joseph arrives,

00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:46.960
he comes in his long -sleeved coat. This is his

00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.140
prized possession. You know, this is how they're

00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:51.460
going to recognize who he is. And he shows up.

00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.680
He's beaten up. His robe is stripped off of him.

00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:57.839
He's thrown into a pit. Just imagine the pain

00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:59.319
that he feels in that moment, getting thrown

00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:03.240
down a dry well. This is like a 10 to 12 foot

00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:07.240
drop, straight on too hard, like clay. That's

00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:09.519
going to hurt a lot. I can also promise you,

00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:11.779
getting his robe stripped off of him was not

00:20:11.779 --> 00:20:16.099
just some peaceful experience. Joseph's been

00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:20.460
beat up here. This is a grotesque scene. And

00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.059
Joseph's stuck there at the bottom of this pit.

00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:23.480
I can imagine him just sitting there calling

00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:26.359
out to them. Like, Judah, won't you help me?

00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:29.259
Reuben, how about you? Would you help me out?

00:20:31.099 --> 00:20:35.039
Dan, you know, hey, how about a hand? This would

00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:36.180
be great, guys. I think there's a misunderstanding.

00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:41.619
Naphtali? Asher? Issachar? Anybody? Anyone want

00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:45.019
to help me? And as Joseph stuck down there calling

00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:47.599
out to them, trying, I'm imagining, and I think

00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:49.359
there's good reason to think about it that way,

00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:51.680
to get anyone's attention, the brothers sit down

00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:53.799
to eat a meal. And I don't know about you, but

00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:55.940
I think this meal really matters. Because this

00:20:55.940 --> 00:20:57.839
meal shows that the brothers have no guilt about

00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.339
what they just did. This is just business as

00:21:01.339 --> 00:21:04.480
usual to them. To them, they're starting to solve

00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:08.160
the problem. They don't have any second thoughts.

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.380
It's not like, oh, should we have done that?

00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:14.140
I don't know. They sit down and eat a casual

00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:17.599
lunch. Because what else would they do? What's

00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.359
the big deal with what they've just done? They

00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:20.799
plan to leave their brother there until he dies.

00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:23.859
Friends, not only does sin snowball, sin also

00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:26.839
desensitizes us. We stop listening to the Holy

00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:28.779
Spirit telling us to live differently and to

00:21:28.779 --> 00:21:32.019
obey God. So the idea that Paul gets at in 1

00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:34.720
Timothy 4 .2 when he talks about searing the

00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:37.579
Holy Spirit and searing the conscience, and that's

00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:40.019
these brothers. They have no regrets. They are

00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.319
totally desensitized to what they've just done.

00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:45.619
Their conscience is seared. And so instead of

00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:47.319
starting to have a discussion about maybe other

00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:50.059
options, you know, for instance, was it just

00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:51.960
enough to just throw him in the pit? It's just

00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:54.140
like a warning call to them. Be like, hey, please

00:21:54.140 --> 00:21:56.640
stop talking about ruling over us. You know,

00:21:56.660 --> 00:21:58.740
was that the right option? No. And so they just

00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:00.000
sit down, they eat, and they look up and they

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.240
see Ishmaelites. That's one of the groups of

00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:04.720
descendants of Abraham's other son, Ishmael,

00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.599
that I briefly mentioned last week. And these

00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:08.059
Ishmaelites, they're merchants, they're traders,

00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.960
they're traveling from Gilead to Egypt, and they're

00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.119
bringing all sorts of different goods. They're

00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:17.279
bringing gum and balsam and rosin, which can

00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:21.089
also be translated as myrrh. Friends, I don't

00:22:21.089 --> 00:22:23.170
think that's any accident that these traitors

00:22:23.170 --> 00:22:25.509
are bringing myrrh. I mentioned it last week,

00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:29.829
but Joseph foreshadows somebody greater. And

00:22:29.829 --> 00:22:32.390
the greater person that Joseph foreshadows is

00:22:32.390 --> 00:22:37.069
given myrrh as a gift. It's just a child. Myrrh,

00:22:37.109 --> 00:22:39.970
this burial spice, is a weird gift to give a

00:22:39.970 --> 00:22:42.170
child. It's also a kind of unique thing to bring

00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:44.829
up right here in Genesis 37 and to emphasize.

00:22:46.369 --> 00:22:49.660
But it matters. because all of this points us

00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:52.019
to the fact that we needed a Savior who would

00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:54.920
give his life for us, that we needed a Savior

00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.539
who would actually be taken to the cross, who

00:22:57.539 --> 00:23:00.559
would actually die, unlike Joseph, and who would

00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.079
pay that price for us. This link between Joseph

00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:06.900
and Jesus is real. I want you to see that. I

00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:09.819
want you to see these little details, like the

00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:12.099
traders out of Egypt bringing the same spices

00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:14.160
that would be brought by the wise men to Jesus.

00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:17.400
And let's see what the brothers decide to do

00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:20.519
in verses 26 through 28. We're going to see the

00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:22.519
brother Judah speak first. Judah said to his

00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.299
brothers, what do we gain if we kill our brother

00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:28.839
and cover up his blood? Finally, it sounds like

00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:30.099
someone's having a little bit of sense in them,

00:23:30.180 --> 00:23:34.799
right? Then we get to verse 27. Come on, let's

00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.420
sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand

00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:38.960
on him for he is our brother, our own flesh.

00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:40.799
And his brothers agreed. See, maybe they're having

00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:42.259
a little bit of second thoughts finally that

00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:43.579
maybe they don't actually want to kill their

00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:46.049
brother. So it says, when Midianite traders,

00:23:46.210 --> 00:23:47.690
that's when these Ishmaelite traders, when they

00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:50.109
passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of

00:23:50.109 --> 00:23:52.529
the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver

00:23:52.529 --> 00:23:54.930
to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph to Egypt.

00:23:55.450 --> 00:23:57.549
So as the brothers see these traders, Judah creates

00:23:57.549 --> 00:24:00.029
a new plan. Rather than killing Joseph, he suggests

00:24:00.029 --> 00:24:02.210
to actually get something out of this. Let's

00:24:02.210 --> 00:24:04.329
sell Joseph. Let's make some money on our brother.

00:24:05.710 --> 00:24:08.690
Or as Judah says so delicately, let's not lay

00:24:08.690 --> 00:24:12.769
a hand on him. I don't know if you've missed

00:24:12.769 --> 00:24:14.670
the part. I don't know if Judah's missed the

00:24:14.670 --> 00:24:17.150
part where him and his brothers have stripped

00:24:17.150 --> 00:24:20.269
Joseph, have beaten Joseph, and have thrown Joseph

00:24:20.269 --> 00:24:22.609
into a well. We are a little too far for him

00:24:22.609 --> 00:24:24.990
to say he's not going to lay a hand on Joseph.

00:24:27.869 --> 00:24:29.829
But he still pitches this to the brothers as

00:24:29.829 --> 00:24:34.269
the morally right option. And so the brothers

00:24:34.269 --> 00:24:36.289
agree to it, and they sell Joseph for about 20

00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:38.990
pieces of silver, or 20 shekels, which is about

00:24:38.990 --> 00:24:42.750
8 ounces of silver. That's not much silver at

00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:45.839
all. Eight ounces is not a lot of silver. In

00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:48.339
modern day context, using the price of silver

00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:52.000
on Thursday, each brother was getting paid $32

00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.180
for selling Joseph. And that is after the price

00:24:55.180 --> 00:25:00.059
of silver has doubled this year. Here's my point.

00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:02.660
Joseph's brothers sell him for essentially nothing.

00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:05.680
They treat him like nothing more than your average,

00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.900
annoying male laborer that was looked down on

00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:10.019
in society. Not their brother. They just hate

00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:12.200
him and they want him gone. So they get rid of

00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:13.500
him in the best they can think of by selling

00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:15.700
him into slavery to the land of Egypt. And let's

00:25:15.700 --> 00:25:17.779
be clear on this. They sell him to Egypt expecting

00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:21.000
that he will die. Don't be fooled by this either.

00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:22.200
It's not like Judah's saying, well, maybe he'll

00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:25.000
escape someday and come back to us. Judah's saying,

00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:26.640
let's sell him and then they'll go kill him.

00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:29.640
They'll kill him, but we'll have gotten paid.

00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:35.710
And then verse 29, something happens. When Reuben

00:25:35.710 --> 00:25:37.769
returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not

00:25:37.769 --> 00:25:40.430
there, he tore his clothes and he went back to

00:25:40.430 --> 00:25:42.890
his brothers and he said, the boy that's Joseph

00:25:42.890 --> 00:25:47.470
is gone. What am I going to do? So they took

00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:49.549
Joseph's robe, they slaughtered a male goat,

00:25:49.690 --> 00:25:52.509
not their own male goat, mind you, their father's

00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:54.650
male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.

00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:56.589
And they sent the long -sleeved robe to their

00:25:56.589 --> 00:25:59.309
father and said, we found this. examine it. Is

00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:01.789
that your son's robe or not? And so Reuben comes

00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:03.650
back now. At some point he must have slipped

00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:05.049
away so he didn't know where he was so he could

00:26:05.049 --> 00:26:07.750
supposedly come back to rescue his brother. And

00:26:07.750 --> 00:26:09.769
he comes back, he finds that Joseph is gone.

00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:13.369
And when he hears this, he tears his clothes.

00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:15.849
That's something he only did when he was absolutely

00:26:15.849 --> 00:26:22.569
heartbroken. Reuben is panicking. He is in way

00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:27.769
over his head. See, as the firstborn son, Reuben

00:26:27.769 --> 00:26:29.529
is, at the end of the day, going to be held responsible

00:26:29.529 --> 00:26:34.190
for now Joseph vanishing. Reuben's little getaway

00:26:34.190 --> 00:26:36.529
plan, his get -out -of -jail -free card, is gone.

00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:41.529
Sin snowballs. Sin snowballs. Reuben was sinful

00:26:41.529 --> 00:26:43.230
in this case by standing by passively as his

00:26:43.230 --> 00:26:45.650
brothers threw Joseph in a pit and then by leaving,

00:26:45.670 --> 00:26:48.130
hoping that everything would be okay. Who should

00:26:48.130 --> 00:26:49.789
have known better than Reuben that his brothers

00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:51.950
were evil people who would always be looking

00:26:51.950 --> 00:26:53.390
to get ahead and do what's best for themselves?

00:26:53.849 --> 00:26:56.450
No one. Reuben's the oldest of them all. He's

00:26:56.450 --> 00:26:57.730
been with all of them in the field. He should

00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:00.950
know that this is how they work. And a lot of

00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:02.369
times when we talk about sin, when we think about

00:27:02.369 --> 00:27:05.309
sin, and I'm guilty of this, we focus so much

00:27:05.309 --> 00:27:08.569
on how sin is what we do. But sin can also be

00:27:08.569 --> 00:27:12.670
what we don't do. James 4, 17 says this, so it

00:27:12.670 --> 00:27:17.150
is sin to know the good and yet not do it. Reuben

00:27:17.150 --> 00:27:20.509
knew what was right in Genesis 37. It's to save

00:27:20.509 --> 00:27:22.529
Joseph. It's to not let his brother get killed.

00:27:23.919 --> 00:27:26.160
Reuben did not need to have the Bible for that.

00:27:26.220 --> 00:27:28.259
Romans 1 tells us, in fact, that God has written

00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:31.380
the law in the hearts of man. Reuben knows this

00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:33.200
is wrong. We can go back even further than that.

00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:35.680
We can see from Reuben's own father that he knows

00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.279
it is wrong to hate your brother. I feel that's

00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:40.099
why Jacob ends up having to flee in the first

00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:46.500
place. But Reuben chose to sin. He chose to stand

00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:49.940
by passively and to not do the right thing so

00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:53.990
that his sin would look less bad. In other words,

00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:57.269
out of a place of pride, of wanting to be seen

00:27:57.269 --> 00:28:00.750
as more than he was. Because if we're just honest

00:28:00.750 --> 00:28:04.230
for a second, what Reuben is, is a sinner who

00:28:04.230 --> 00:28:08.329
is an adulterer. And now, as far as he knows,

00:28:08.369 --> 00:28:10.190
he's now part of a murder, which makes him a

00:28:10.190 --> 00:28:15.750
murderer. Sin snowballs. So in total panic, Reuben

00:28:15.750 --> 00:28:17.769
wants the brothers to do something. And the brothers

00:28:17.769 --> 00:28:19.970
come up with a great solution. They take a goat.

00:28:20.490 --> 00:28:21.829
They take the blood of that goat, they put it

00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:23.670
on the treasured robe, ruining it, by the way.

00:28:23.710 --> 00:28:26.190
That blood's never coming out of that robe at

00:28:26.190 --> 00:28:29.910
this point. That robe's destroyed. And then they

00:28:29.910 --> 00:28:31.609
send it back to their father and they lie about

00:28:31.609 --> 00:28:33.650
it. They pretend they don't know what's happened.

00:28:35.190 --> 00:28:37.069
They say, we don't know what's going on. Can

00:28:37.069 --> 00:28:40.690
you maybe confirm to us that this is actually

00:28:40.690 --> 00:28:43.210
your son's robe? So let's stop and let's track

00:28:43.210 --> 00:28:45.839
for a second what's just happened. First, the

00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:48.279
brothers see Joseph coming over the hill as Joseph

00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:50.220
is obeying his father and doing what he should

00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:52.880
do. They decide they want to kill Joseph. Then

00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.099
they decide they just want to beat him up and

00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:55.619
throw him in a pit where they'll leave him to

00:28:55.619 --> 00:28:58.839
die. Once he's in the pit, they then decide to

00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:01.819
sell Joseph into slavery. They steal from their

00:29:01.819 --> 00:29:03.599
father by killing a goat that isn't theirs. That's

00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:05.119
how property worked. It would have been their

00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:06.859
father's still. It wouldn't have been theirs

00:29:06.859 --> 00:29:08.539
until he passed and became their inheritance.

00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:11.460
And then they cover up what they've done with

00:29:11.460 --> 00:29:15.329
another web of lies. Sin snowballs. And if you

00:29:15.329 --> 00:29:17.589
think all the way back to Genesis 37, the very

00:29:17.589 --> 00:29:20.049
beginning, this all starts over what? Over a

00:29:20.049 --> 00:29:22.990
robe that they're jealous of. Like, don't forget

00:29:22.990 --> 00:29:25.190
that all of this really starts with a robe of

00:29:25.190 --> 00:29:26.630
clothing and the fact that they feel they're

00:29:26.630 --> 00:29:29.609
not loved as much as Joseph. Their feelings have

00:29:29.609 --> 00:29:32.289
grown and have driven them to this. Their jealousy,

00:29:32.390 --> 00:29:35.130
their bitterness, their anger, their hatred has

00:29:35.130 --> 00:29:38.809
driven them to this. To go so far as to try and

00:29:38.809 --> 00:29:42.569
kill their own brother. Let's see what Jacob

00:29:42.569 --> 00:29:48.380
says. in Genesis 37, 33 through 35. It's a really

00:29:48.380 --> 00:29:52.779
somber passage. I want us to just take a moment

00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:55.359
and really let these words hit your heart with

00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:59.019
how Jacob responds to sin. So his father recognized

00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:03.039
it. It is my son's robe, he said. A vicious animal

00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:06.380
has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces.

00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:10.279
And then Jacob tore his clothes, he put sackcloth

00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:12.900
around his waist, and he mourned his son for

00:30:12.900 --> 00:30:16.470
many days. All his sons and daughters, that would

00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:18.789
be his sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters,

00:30:18.950 --> 00:30:23.130
tried to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted.

00:30:23.250 --> 00:30:27.029
Listen to this next declaration. No, he said,

00:30:27.190 --> 00:30:30.890
I will go down to shield my son mourning. And

00:30:30.890 --> 00:30:35.829
his father wept for him. Jacob is destroyed by

00:30:35.829 --> 00:30:40.109
this. As we'll see later on in the book of Genesis,

00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:43.349
Jacob becomes a shell of himself. He goes from

00:30:43.349 --> 00:30:46.470
this powerful, rich, influential shepherd, you

00:30:46.470 --> 00:30:48.609
know. Jacob historically had been the type of

00:30:48.609 --> 00:30:50.170
guy who would have been on the 30 under 30, the

00:30:50.170 --> 00:30:52.730
40 under 40, as like most influential people

00:30:52.730 --> 00:30:55.009
in Canaan, and he becomes a shell of himself.

00:30:56.230 --> 00:30:59.130
He sits around for the rest of his life mourning

00:30:59.130 --> 00:31:03.069
and devastated. Why? Because he thinks that his

00:31:03.069 --> 00:31:06.529
son has died. And why has his son died? Because

00:31:06.529 --> 00:31:08.970
he, Jacob, asked him to go visit his brothers.

00:31:10.770 --> 00:31:12.529
I don't think we talk enough about that part.

00:31:13.630 --> 00:31:15.650
But part of Jacob's response is that he's blaming

00:31:15.650 --> 00:31:18.269
himself. He's saying a wild animal devoured him

00:31:18.269 --> 00:31:21.269
when he went out like I asked him to. Joseph

00:31:21.269 --> 00:31:22.809
didn't come to me and say, Dad, let me go check

00:31:22.809 --> 00:31:24.990
on my brothers. I sent him to go check on his

00:31:24.990 --> 00:31:28.589
brothers. Part of this is my fault. And nothing

00:31:28.589 --> 00:31:31.609
can seem to cheer him up because Jacob is absolutely

00:31:31.609 --> 00:31:35.079
devastated. And he's so upset that he literally

00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.759
says, I will go down to shield my son mourning,

00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.799
or quite honestly, word for word, that he will

00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:43.900
die mourning. That he will never get over the

00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:47.339
loss of his son Joseph. Friends, do you know

00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:50.799
how sin snowballs? We've seen that over and over.

00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:53.079
It doesn't just keep building, eventually it

00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:55.480
has consequences. If you picture like starting

00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:57.079
to snowball at the top of a big hill with me,

00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:59.240
and you start rolling it down the hill, it starts

00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:01.000
to pick up speed and gets bigger and bigger and

00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.210
bigger and bigger and bigger. And eventually,

00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:06.069
at least in cartoons, it gets big enough that

00:32:06.069 --> 00:32:07.809
it just starts clearing a path of anything in

00:32:07.809 --> 00:32:09.789
front of it. My friends and I always tried that

00:32:09.789 --> 00:32:10.950
in elementary school. We could never get them

00:32:10.950 --> 00:32:13.970
quite that big. But the idea is that it just

00:32:13.970 --> 00:32:15.069
keeps building and building and building and

00:32:15.069 --> 00:32:16.529
eventually has a consequence when it reaches

00:32:16.529 --> 00:32:18.910
the bottom. We've hit the point of consequence

00:32:18.910 --> 00:32:23.750
now. One of the consequences is that Jacob is

00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:28.609
heartbroken. That these sons, instead of honoring

00:32:28.609 --> 00:32:30.890
their father, instead of respecting their father,

00:32:30.970 --> 00:32:36.210
instead of... loving their brothers, they break

00:32:36.210 --> 00:32:38.930
their father's heart. There's kind of two parts

00:32:38.930 --> 00:32:42.809
of this. First part of this, we just have to

00:32:42.809 --> 00:32:45.750
be honest, is on Jacob. Jacob has had a favorite

00:32:45.750 --> 00:32:47.930
throughout this passage, throughout Genesis 37

00:32:47.930 --> 00:32:50.710
as a whole, and he's upset because his favorite

00:32:50.710 --> 00:32:53.289
son died, and yet also at the same time, his

00:32:53.289 --> 00:32:57.769
favoritism did lead to this. He did make it abundantly

00:32:57.769 --> 00:33:00.849
clear who his favorite child was. Friends, that

00:33:00.849 --> 00:33:05.539
is sinful. But here's the second part. The brother's

00:33:05.539 --> 00:33:08.460
sin has broken their father's heart. Our sin

00:33:08.460 --> 00:33:10.420
has consequences and so does the sin of other

00:33:10.420 --> 00:33:13.960
people. As we live, we sin, but we are also hurt

00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:17.259
by other people's sin. And the right response

00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:19.559
to sin is not what Jacob does here. Please hear

00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:23.079
that. Sin hurts and mourning is real. In fact,

00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:25.160
one of our application points for today will

00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:28.339
be about mourning. But what Jacob does here is

00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:31.549
not glorifying to God. Instead of giving his

00:33:31.549 --> 00:33:34.150
heartbrokenness to God and living then to glorify

00:33:34.150 --> 00:33:37.069
God, Jacob is choosing to blame everyone else

00:33:37.069 --> 00:33:38.849
for this and to point the finger at absolutely

00:33:38.849 --> 00:33:42.630
everybody else. Think about it like this. Yes,

00:33:42.670 --> 00:33:46.009
Jacob thinks he has lost Joseph. He has 11 other

00:33:46.009 --> 00:33:49.230
sons to love. And I'm just gonna be honest with

00:33:49.230 --> 00:33:50.990
you, the 11 other sons are not men of integrity.

00:33:51.990 --> 00:33:53.609
We can't really speak too much about Benjamin,

00:33:53.710 --> 00:33:55.609
but at least 10 of them are not men of integrity.

00:33:56.900 --> 00:33:58.500
What if instead of spending the rest of his life

00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:00.380
just in mourning, what if Jacob took the time

00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:04.900
to pour into these ten men? And they say, let's

00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:08.659
make sure that you grow. Reuben, let's make sure

00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:11.360
that you grow into being a man of integrity.

00:34:11.940 --> 00:34:14.539
Judah, let's make sure that you grow. So does

00:34:14.539 --> 00:34:16.920
Benjamin, who's Joseph's younger brother. Benjamin,

00:34:16.980 --> 00:34:19.800
let's train you up to make sure that you are

00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:25.280
a man of God. Friends, listen. Jacob does not

00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.800
do that. Jacob instead chooses to blame everybody

00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:29.900
else, and that is a sinful response to it. This

00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:34.119
snowball is continuing to grow. It's continuing

00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:35.659
to grow, and it's continuing to cause issues.

00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:39.280
But we're not done yet, so look at verse 36 with

00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.480
me. It says this, Meanwhile, the Midianites,

00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:44.039
that's the Ishmaelites, sold Joseph and Egypt

00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.159
to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain

00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:48.579
of the guards. So while all of this is going

00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:51.539
on back home, While Jacob's heart is broken thinking

00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:54.280
that his son is dead, Joseph is sold into slavery.

00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:56.039
And think about Joseph's life for a second. It's

00:34:56.039 --> 00:34:58.079
been turned upside down because of the actions

00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:00.760
of others. If we want to talk about knowing the

00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:02.880
consequences of sin and knowing what it is to

00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:05.860
be hurt by other people's sin, Joseph gets it.

00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:08.340
He's gone from being the favorite son of a very

00:35:08.340 --> 00:35:10.679
wealthy man being treated like a king to now

00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:13.079
being a slave in Egypt in a foreign land where

00:35:13.079 --> 00:35:16.750
he does not speak anyone's language. He's gone

00:35:16.750 --> 00:35:18.730
from being the person who will get the inheritance

00:35:18.730 --> 00:35:23.610
of his father to being a slave. And Joseph is

00:35:23.610 --> 00:35:25.389
sold to Potiphar, the captain of Potiphar's,

00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:27.309
or a pharaoh's guard. Essentially, he's sold

00:35:27.309 --> 00:35:29.010
to the head of the secret service. And I think

00:35:29.010 --> 00:35:30.710
there's almost something harder about that because

00:35:30.710 --> 00:35:33.889
he's sold to this guy. See, Joseph sees all of

00:35:33.889 --> 00:35:36.510
the wealth all the time. Potiphar was a wealthy

00:35:36.510 --> 00:35:39.269
man, just like his father. Potiphar was around

00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:42.469
wealthy people like the pharaoh. But as much

00:35:42.469 --> 00:35:45.170
as Joseph sees all of that wealth, it isn't his.

00:35:45.869 --> 00:35:49.449
It's almost like a taunt to him. Like, oh, Joseph,

00:35:49.510 --> 00:35:52.010
what could have been? What you could have had?

00:35:52.690 --> 00:35:54.829
You know, Joseph, you could have had the wealth

00:35:54.829 --> 00:35:57.110
to have servants run around taking care of you.

00:35:57.610 --> 00:35:59.429
Instead, you're the servant running around taking

00:35:59.429 --> 00:36:02.030
care of somebody else. You could have been wealthy

00:36:02.030 --> 00:36:05.030
and influential, but instead you are a slave

00:36:05.030 --> 00:36:08.110
to a man in Egypt as a result of the sin of somebody

00:36:08.110 --> 00:36:14.690
else. Friends, sin snowballs. If we're honest,

00:36:14.789 --> 00:36:17.190
if we just stop there at Genesis 37, it feels

00:36:17.190 --> 00:36:19.889
like this sin snowball is going to continue forever

00:36:19.889 --> 00:36:23.889
and ever and ever and ever. And I would argue

00:36:23.889 --> 00:36:26.449
it does continue. And it continues and continues

00:36:26.449 --> 00:36:30.010
and continues. I think we can make a very strong

00:36:30.010 --> 00:36:32.309
argument that without these actions of Genesis

00:36:32.309 --> 00:36:37.030
37 happening, the exodus never happens. Maybe

00:36:37.030 --> 00:36:41.550
the nation of Israel obeys God differently. And

00:36:41.550 --> 00:36:44.530
the sin snowball continues, though. But there

00:36:44.530 --> 00:36:46.010
is something that stops the sin snowball, and

00:36:46.010 --> 00:36:47.829
that is our first point of application. The sin

00:36:47.829 --> 00:36:51.750
snowball stops with the Savior. The sin snowball

00:36:51.750 --> 00:37:04.969
stops with the Savior. When God created the world,

00:37:05.030 --> 00:37:08.389
He created everything in it perfectly, with no

00:37:08.389 --> 00:37:11.349
sin, with no brokenness, there was no hatred.

00:37:13.170 --> 00:37:20.150
Made Adam and Eve. And then they sinned. We read

00:37:20.150 --> 00:37:22.090
in the Bible that sin enters the world through

00:37:22.090 --> 00:37:27.849
one man. But it affects every man, ever. There's

00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:30.530
a consequence of sin that we see on a daily basis,

00:37:30.650 --> 00:37:33.989
and that's brokenness. See, when we sin, we try

00:37:33.989 --> 00:37:36.170
so hard to be just like Reuben and to cover up

00:37:36.170 --> 00:37:39.210
our sin. We hurt that person, we want to figure

00:37:39.210 --> 00:37:41.369
out what it is to make it right. We disappoint

00:37:41.369 --> 00:37:43.429
this person. What can we do to fix that problem?

00:37:44.329 --> 00:37:46.989
I remember being a pretty young kid. I'd just

00:37:46.989 --> 00:37:50.210
moved to Colorado. And, you know, as a kid, sometimes

00:37:50.210 --> 00:37:51.969
you hear things from your parents and they maybe

00:37:51.969 --> 00:37:53.469
don't know you're listening. But I remember hearing

00:37:53.469 --> 00:37:55.409
something from one of my dad's coworkers who

00:37:55.409 --> 00:37:57.010
had been caught doing some things he shouldn't

00:37:57.010 --> 00:37:58.670
have been doing with a woman that wasn't his

00:37:58.670 --> 00:38:03.809
wife. And so his solution to this was to buy

00:38:03.809 --> 00:38:07.690
a new house for his wife. See, we try to cover

00:38:07.690 --> 00:38:09.989
up our sin. We want to make sure that, you know,

00:38:09.989 --> 00:38:11.409
somebody can't be mad at us because we've lavished

00:38:11.409 --> 00:38:13.110
them with enough gifts. Something called love

00:38:13.110 --> 00:38:14.670
bombing. If you're going to be dating, don't

00:38:14.670 --> 00:38:16.949
love bomb people. It's weird. Basically, where

00:38:16.949 --> 00:38:18.690
you get angry and upset with people, where you

00:38:18.690 --> 00:38:20.090
treat people poorly, but then you're like, oh,

00:38:20.110 --> 00:38:23.570
here's a gift. It's all better. Oh, here, I've

00:38:23.570 --> 00:38:26.610
ruined your month, but hey, I bought you dinner.

00:38:29.059 --> 00:38:30.699
Brokenness leads us to do that because we want

00:38:30.699 --> 00:38:32.800
to cover up our sinful selves. We don't want

00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:35.900
to face the reality that we have a problem. We

00:38:35.900 --> 00:38:37.179
just want to make it better somehow and try to

00:38:37.179 --> 00:38:39.619
fix it. But here's the issue, that always will

00:38:39.619 --> 00:38:42.980
fail. Brokenness is a road that leads us to nowhere

00:38:42.980 --> 00:38:45.440
other than deeper and deeper pits of brokenness

00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:47.599
where we realize that we are not enough on our

00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:49.940
own. And we find ourselves saying, what do I

00:38:49.940 --> 00:38:52.280
have to do to have a way out of this? And here's

00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:54.619
the best news ever. I mentioned earlier that

00:38:54.619 --> 00:38:57.139
Joseph is a foreshadowing of Jesus, and Jesus

00:38:57.139 --> 00:39:00.400
is the solution to the sin snowball. Listen to

00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:02.599
what Romans 8, 1, and 2 says. It's very different

00:39:02.599 --> 00:39:04.860
than this idea of brokenness. It says this, therefore

00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:08.039
there is now no condemnation for those who are

00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:10.539
in Christ Jesus, because the law of the spirit

00:39:10.539 --> 00:39:13.340
of the life in Christ Jesus has set you free

00:39:13.340 --> 00:39:18.000
from the law of sin and death. There is no condemnation.

00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:20.300
There is no judgment. There is no hatred anymore.

00:39:20.420 --> 00:39:23.579
There is no brokenness for those who are in Christ

00:39:23.579 --> 00:39:27.900
Jesus. Because Jesus has set us free from the

00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:29.460
law of sin and death. And the law of sin and

00:39:29.460 --> 00:39:31.719
death is what causes brokenness. That's what

00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:35.440
we operate under if we don't know Jesus. See,

00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:39.019
Jesus came to earth. He lived a perfect life,

00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:42.989
born in humility. Here's the difference between

00:39:42.989 --> 00:39:45.929
Joseph and Jesus. Joseph, born wealthy, gets

00:39:45.929 --> 00:39:50.110
made low. Jesus, God of the universe, takes on

00:39:50.110 --> 00:39:53.789
human form and humbles himself by coming as the

00:39:53.789 --> 00:39:56.449
son of a carpenter, not exactly the wealthiest

00:39:56.449 --> 00:39:59.869
man in Israel. He grows up, he lives a perfect

00:39:59.869 --> 00:40:02.190
life, the only person to ever live without sin.

00:40:02.369 --> 00:40:04.750
I need you to hear that, that Jesus never sinned,

00:40:04.750 --> 00:40:11.309
but Jesus was killed for us. Just as an angry

00:40:11.309 --> 00:40:13.429
mob formed around Joseph and threw him in the

00:40:13.429 --> 00:40:16.429
pit before sending him into Egypt, an angry mob

00:40:16.429 --> 00:40:19.269
formed around Jesus and falsely accused him,

00:40:19.429 --> 00:40:22.969
worked out of their emotions and sentenced Jesus

00:40:22.969 --> 00:40:27.110
to death on a cross. And Jesus hung on that cross

00:40:27.110 --> 00:40:30.289
and Jesus took on the weight of our sin and paid

00:40:30.289 --> 00:40:34.190
the price for our sin on that cross. And he died

00:40:34.190 --> 00:40:37.989
and was buried. And then three days later, Jesus

00:40:37.989 --> 00:40:42.969
rose again. And that's the most important thing

00:40:42.969 --> 00:40:46.210
you could ever hear. But we have to respond to

00:40:46.210 --> 00:40:49.929
it. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 says it well. For you

00:40:49.929 --> 00:40:52.650
are saved by grace through faith. And this is

00:40:52.650 --> 00:40:56.250
not from yourselves, it is God's gift. Not from

00:40:56.250 --> 00:40:58.550
works, not from anything that we can do. So that

00:40:58.550 --> 00:41:01.050
no one can boast. So how are we saved? How do

00:41:01.050 --> 00:41:03.670
we accept this gift from God, this forgiveness

00:41:03.670 --> 00:41:06.250
that Jesus paid the price for? We do it through

00:41:06.250 --> 00:41:09.590
faith. We put our faith in Jesus. We acknowledge

00:41:09.590 --> 00:41:12.809
Jesus as Savior and as Lord. We acknowledge that

00:41:12.809 --> 00:41:15.070
we want Jesus to be the solution for all of our

00:41:15.070 --> 00:41:18.170
brokenness. And it doesn't end there. See, after

00:41:18.170 --> 00:41:20.769
that we are called to grow closer to God and

00:41:20.769 --> 00:41:23.670
then to go into the world around us. I love what

00:41:23.670 --> 00:41:26.550
Ephesians 2 .10 then says. Ephesians 2 .8 .9

00:41:26.550 --> 00:41:29.929
talks about how we are saved by faith. Ephesians

00:41:29.929 --> 00:41:31.610
2 .10 then tells us what to do next. It says

00:41:31.610 --> 00:41:34.210
this, for we are his workmanship, God's workmanship,

00:41:34.309 --> 00:41:37.869
God's creation, created in Christ Jesus for good

00:41:37.869 --> 00:41:41.610
works, which God prepared ahead of time for us

00:41:41.610 --> 00:41:44.670
to do. Friends, after you put your faith in Jesus,

00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:47.710
you are called to live differently. You are called

00:41:47.710 --> 00:41:50.510
to do those good works that Jesus has prepared

00:41:50.510 --> 00:41:54.269
for you. The sin snowball stops with Jesus, and

00:41:54.269 --> 00:41:56.769
so let me ask you, do you know Jesus as your

00:41:56.769 --> 00:41:59.820
Lord and Savior? If not, let me encourage you

00:41:59.820 --> 00:42:01.719
and plead with you this morning to put your faith

00:42:01.719 --> 00:42:07.460
in Jesus. Secondly, if you do know Jesus, let

00:42:07.460 --> 00:42:10.500
me ask you, is there a place where you need to

00:42:10.500 --> 00:42:15.480
stop and pause what you're doing in life and

00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:19.159
stop that sin snowball by bringing it to God?

00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:25.480
By saying, Jesus, I need you to stop this. Let

00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:27.320
me encourage you, if that's where you're at,

00:42:29.210 --> 00:42:32.090
Let me encourage you to find a Christian friend.

00:42:32.130 --> 00:42:35.150
Come talk to me and let's walk through that together.

00:42:35.329 --> 00:42:37.309
Don't try to fight sin off by yourself. Don't

00:42:37.309 --> 00:42:40.550
try to stop this snowball by yourself. To use

00:42:40.550 --> 00:42:42.349
that example again of kind of that cartoon snowball

00:42:42.349 --> 00:42:44.869
that's rolling down the hill. You know, if it's

00:42:44.869 --> 00:42:46.469
like Bugs Bunny and one person just tries to

00:42:46.469 --> 00:42:49.309
stop it, it doesn't work. But if a whole bunch

00:42:49.309 --> 00:42:51.710
of people get together and stop that, eventually

00:42:51.710 --> 00:42:54.190
it stops. Friends, that's what we have to do

00:42:54.190 --> 00:42:56.510
with sin. We have to get together and bring other

00:42:56.510 --> 00:43:00.539
people into our lives. And we have to walk through

00:43:00.539 --> 00:43:03.980
this together, giving that sin over to Jesus

00:43:03.980 --> 00:43:07.679
day after day after day and bringing people into

00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:09.860
our lives who can help us in that, who can keep

00:43:09.860 --> 00:43:12.860
us accountable, who can encourage us to run after

00:43:12.860 --> 00:43:16.699
Jesus more and more every day. There was a Bible

00:43:16.699 --> 00:43:19.519
study I did in college that was called walking

00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.280
in the light. And friends, that's what we have

00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:24.440
to do. We have to walk in the light of Jesus

00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:26.639
with our sin. We have to take our sin and say,

00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:29.389
I'm done fighting this by myself. I'm going to

00:43:29.389 --> 00:43:31.110
humble myself, and it is humbling. I'm going

00:43:31.110 --> 00:43:33.949
to humble myself and go to Jesus and not just

00:43:33.949 --> 00:43:36.289
say, Jesus, I'm sorry for sinning there. Help

00:43:36.289 --> 00:43:38.969
me do better next time. We actually have to humble

00:43:38.969 --> 00:43:41.889
ourselves and then bring people into walk with

00:43:41.889 --> 00:43:45.710
us. Let me encourage you that the sin snowball

00:43:45.710 --> 00:43:49.829
stops with Jesus. Secondly, we need to glorify

00:43:49.829 --> 00:43:54.489
God with our or with your emotions. Everyone's

00:43:54.489 --> 00:43:56.469
emotions. Everyone needs to glorify God with

00:43:56.469 --> 00:44:00.039
their emotions. Let's just say it that way. Listen,

00:44:00.119 --> 00:44:02.880
it is okay to be sad. Jacob has every reason

00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:06.900
to be sad in Genesis 37. That's okay. It's okay

00:44:06.900 --> 00:44:10.579
to be sad. But we cannot let that sadness completely

00:44:10.579 --> 00:44:13.079
remove us from the many blessings that God has

00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:17.639
given us. Let's use mourning as an example. Mourning

00:44:17.639 --> 00:44:21.900
is a real God -given emotion. But we also have

00:44:21.900 --> 00:44:25.119
to give it back to God at some point. I'm sure

00:44:25.119 --> 00:44:27.219
for a lot of us we know that person who has never

00:44:27.219 --> 00:44:29.000
been the same since their family member passed.

00:44:29.800 --> 00:44:32.099
It feels like they've never stopped mourning.

00:44:34.059 --> 00:44:35.960
Sometimes it's that person from like 20 years

00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:41.860
ago. Listen, mourning is hard. We have to think

00:44:41.860 --> 00:44:44.199
about the words from 1 Peter 5, 6, and 7 and

00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:47.619
humble ourselves before God and then cast or

00:44:47.619 --> 00:44:50.219
throw all of our anxieties, all of our struggles

00:44:50.219 --> 00:44:54.090
onto God on a daily basis. And focus instead

00:44:54.090 --> 00:44:56.989
on continuing to glorify God. Listen, God is

00:44:56.989 --> 00:45:00.630
our great comforter. And God has given you emotions

00:45:00.630 --> 00:45:03.190
for a reason. Sometimes as Christians, I think

00:45:03.190 --> 00:45:05.449
we get taught and we might feel like we need

00:45:05.449 --> 00:45:07.630
to avoid emotions, like emotions aren't real,

00:45:07.690 --> 00:45:09.369
they're not good, they're bad, they're evil.

00:45:10.349 --> 00:45:12.449
God gave us emotions. Emotions aren't the problem.

00:45:12.530 --> 00:45:15.510
The problem is how we handle our emotions. Because

00:45:15.510 --> 00:45:17.989
we should use our emotions to further glorify

00:45:17.989 --> 00:45:21.750
God. But that's the fateful thing that Jacob

00:45:21.750 --> 00:45:24.210
does wrong. He doesn't glorify God at all with

00:45:24.210 --> 00:45:26.030
his emotions. Instead, his emotions do the exact

00:45:26.030 --> 00:45:28.369
opposite. They drag him further away from God.

00:45:28.710 --> 00:45:30.849
Instead of casting all of his anxieties on God,

00:45:31.010 --> 00:45:34.510
he takes all of his anxieties on himself. And

00:45:34.510 --> 00:45:37.010
he sits in his sorrow. So let me give you some

00:45:37.010 --> 00:45:39.849
practical steps this morning. I've got four steps

00:45:39.849 --> 00:45:41.789
here of what we can do with our emotions when

00:45:41.789 --> 00:45:43.710
we're going through that hard time. When we're

00:45:43.710 --> 00:45:45.769
going through that trial, that difficult season,

00:45:45.809 --> 00:45:50.989
like we saw in 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7. First, we

00:45:50.989 --> 00:45:53.730
need to evaluate our emotions. What are we feeling?

00:45:54.570 --> 00:45:56.329
If we're Jacob in this situation, we're feeling

00:45:56.329 --> 00:45:58.590
a lot of sorrow and heartbreak, but what are

00:45:58.590 --> 00:46:03.429
we feeling? Second, we need to understand what

00:46:03.429 --> 00:46:06.449
we need or want. Emotions tell us something that

00:46:06.449 --> 00:46:08.130
we need or that we want. When we feel unsafe,

00:46:08.309 --> 00:46:10.309
for instance, we feel maybe like a little bit

00:46:10.309 --> 00:46:12.050
on edge, right? We just don't feel quite right.

00:46:12.570 --> 00:46:14.250
When we're in the middle of a bad situation,

00:46:14.550 --> 00:46:15.949
we want something to change, and that's what

00:46:15.949 --> 00:46:19.170
we know. There's a reason for it. So take a minute

00:46:19.170 --> 00:46:21.230
to understand what it is that you want or that

00:46:21.230 --> 00:46:25.429
you need. Third, bring it to God. Bring your

00:46:25.429 --> 00:46:28.389
emotions to God. I say this in total confidence

00:46:28.389 --> 00:46:30.389
and total faith. God has the perfect solution

00:46:30.389 --> 00:46:32.650
for all of your emotions and for all of your

00:46:32.650 --> 00:46:34.650
things. No human on earth, including yourself,

00:46:34.809 --> 00:46:38.070
has that. There are days where I think to myself,

00:46:38.369 --> 00:46:44.570
I'm really sad or I'm really upset. I'm frustrated.

00:46:45.090 --> 00:46:47.019
And then I sit down and I eat lunch. And I'm

00:46:47.019 --> 00:46:50.139
like, wow, I feel so much better. I wasn't actually

00:46:50.139 --> 00:46:53.679
upset or sad. I was hungry. Listen, that happens.

00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:56.780
We don't always get our emotions right. So bring

00:46:56.780 --> 00:47:00.539
those to God. When you're feeling that heartbroken

00:47:00.539 --> 00:47:03.159
feeling, say, God, I'm feeling heartbroken or

00:47:03.159 --> 00:47:05.780
I'm struggling. Show me what I should do with

00:47:05.780 --> 00:47:08.840
this, God. Show me what my next steps are. And

00:47:08.840 --> 00:47:13.000
then here's the fourth one. Live in truth. Emotions

00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:16.219
are real and they are valid. If you're over probably

00:47:16.219 --> 00:47:17.579
about 40, you probably haven't heard the phrase,

00:47:17.619 --> 00:47:19.380
emotions are valid all that often in your life.

00:47:19.519 --> 00:47:21.000
If you're under 40, you've probably heard that

00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:23.219
phrase quite a bit. Your emotions are real, and

00:47:23.219 --> 00:47:27.019
they are valid, but they're not always true.

00:47:29.199 --> 00:47:32.659
They're just not always true. When I was in high

00:47:32.659 --> 00:47:35.880
school, we lost a game my senior year in the

00:47:35.880 --> 00:47:37.460
state semifinals. It was the second game we'd

00:47:37.460 --> 00:47:39.420
lost all year, and the first one, the other school

00:47:39.420 --> 00:47:41.280
played an ineligible player, so it was really

00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:45.210
our first loss of the year. And our emotions

00:47:45.210 --> 00:47:47.349
in the locker room were that the refs had cost

00:47:47.349 --> 00:47:54.090
us the game. Were those really true? I don't

00:47:54.090 --> 00:47:55.369
know. There was a questionable call down the

00:47:55.369 --> 00:47:57.929
stretch. But why did that game ever get to overtime

00:47:57.929 --> 00:48:01.230
in the first place? See, our emotions are not

00:48:01.230 --> 00:48:03.230
always true. That's why we bring them to God.

00:48:03.719 --> 00:48:06.619
But then once we go to God, we live in truth

00:48:06.619 --> 00:48:09.340
and the truth that we find in God's word and

00:48:09.340 --> 00:48:12.179
in talking to God rather than an emotional peak.

00:48:12.440 --> 00:48:14.179
I think a great example, one of my favorite examples

00:48:14.179 --> 00:48:16.320
of an emotional peak is the Charge of the Light

00:48:16.320 --> 00:48:18.460
Brigade. It happened during the Crimean War in

00:48:18.460 --> 00:48:21.280
the 1850s. I was a history teacher, so I did

00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:23.769
get to teach this. And basically, the entire

00:48:23.769 --> 00:48:25.349
story of the Charge of the Light Brigade is that

00:48:25.349 --> 00:48:27.949
these three British officers, they all hated

00:48:27.949 --> 00:48:29.449
each other because they all had relationships

00:48:29.449 --> 00:48:31.889
with each other's sisters. It was a total mess.

00:48:32.110 --> 00:48:34.849
They despised each other. They were super emotional,

00:48:35.130 --> 00:48:37.429
and they purposefully gave people wrong information.

00:48:38.650 --> 00:48:40.510
Honestly, in large part, so that they might die.

00:48:41.489 --> 00:48:45.130
They were emotional. Were their emotions valid?

00:48:45.309 --> 00:48:47.710
Yes. It was valid to think that maybe this one

00:48:47.710 --> 00:48:49.989
guy wasn't treating this other guy's sister quite

00:48:49.989 --> 00:48:53.139
right. That's a real emotion. But that doesn't

00:48:53.139 --> 00:48:55.260
make it truthful. And that doesn't mean that

00:48:55.260 --> 00:48:57.320
the right thing to do was to send him and his

00:48:57.320 --> 00:48:59.820
entire unit charging at a set of cannons across

00:48:59.820 --> 00:49:03.920
a wide open field hoping that he would die. Let's

00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:07.699
even use Joseph's brothers in this example. It

00:49:07.699 --> 00:49:10.679
is a real emotion to be jealous of their brother.

00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:14.400
It's a real emotion and there's some fairness

00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:16.800
to it because Jacob does have a favorite and

00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:19.840
he doesn't hide it. But as real and truthful

00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:23.250
as that is, That does not mean that the truth

00:49:23.250 --> 00:49:24.789
is they should go and try to kill their brother.

00:49:25.309 --> 00:49:27.389
The truth is they should go to God and then they

00:49:27.389 --> 00:49:29.349
should forgive their brother. They should pull

00:49:29.349 --> 00:49:30.989
Joseph aside and say, hey, we're going to be

00:49:30.989 --> 00:49:33.530
honest with you. We do not like the way you're

00:49:33.530 --> 00:49:35.489
talking to us. We know that our dad loves you

00:49:35.489 --> 00:49:38.309
a lot. Probably a little more than us. Don't

00:49:38.309 --> 00:49:43.110
remind us. Like, it's hard enough. Friends, emotions

00:49:43.110 --> 00:49:46.050
are real. Live in truth. So let me encourage

00:49:46.050 --> 00:49:48.690
you. Glorify God with your emotions by evaluating

00:49:48.690 --> 00:49:50.869
your emotions, by understanding what you need.

00:49:51.239 --> 00:49:52.980
By bringing it to God and by living in truth,

00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:54.840
I'm not just saying that to you, it's a reminder

00:49:54.840 --> 00:49:57.860
to me too. Here's the third application for today.

00:49:58.199 --> 00:50:01.099
Glorify God with your trials. When sin hurts

00:50:01.099 --> 00:50:05.400
you, glorify God. And that is so hard. And I

00:50:05.400 --> 00:50:08.059
know it is hard. But that calls for forgiveness.

00:50:09.869 --> 00:50:11.909
It calls for forgiveness. And the story of Joseph

00:50:11.909 --> 00:50:14.909
is not just the story of one man who rises to

00:50:14.909 --> 00:50:17.530
the top and does all these great things. It's

00:50:17.530 --> 00:50:20.030
also the story of how Joseph forgives the people

00:50:20.030 --> 00:50:23.769
who have hurt him. And friends, we can glorify

00:50:23.769 --> 00:50:25.670
God in the midst of our trials, like what we

00:50:25.670 --> 00:50:28.630
read in 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7. You rejoice in this,

00:50:28.690 --> 00:50:30.309
even though now for a short time, if necessary,

00:50:30.489 --> 00:50:33.849
you suffer grief in various trials. So the proven

00:50:33.849 --> 00:50:44.099
character of your faith What do you do in the

00:50:44.099 --> 00:50:47.440
face of a trial? You rejoice. Listen, trials

00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:50.119
are not always bad. Tests are not always bad.

00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:52.599
We talked about this Wednesday night at our preview

00:50:52.599 --> 00:50:54.699
night on campus. Trials and tests are actually

00:50:54.699 --> 00:50:56.900
a great chance for us to grow closer to God and

00:50:56.900 --> 00:50:58.639
to learn where we are with God and where we need

00:50:58.639 --> 00:51:01.559
to grow. So don't run away from them. Instead,

00:51:01.800 --> 00:51:05.219
rejoice in them. I think a great example of this,

00:51:05.260 --> 00:51:06.719
I'm going to close with this, a great example

00:51:06.719 --> 00:51:10.000
of this is Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was a

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:13.320
missionary to East Asia in the late 1800s and

00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:15.940
early 1900s. And Hudson Taylor first got off

00:51:15.940 --> 00:51:18.460
the boat, and his mission agency said, go around

00:51:18.460 --> 00:51:20.239
the streets preaching while wearing the clothing

00:51:20.239 --> 00:51:22.099
that we wear in England. And he showed up, and

00:51:22.099 --> 00:51:24.599
he did it, and everyone hated him. And no one

00:51:24.599 --> 00:51:27.300
talked to him. They're like, wow, I stink at

00:51:27.300 --> 00:51:29.409
this. And he writes about wanting to give up

00:51:29.409 --> 00:51:31.809
and what is the right thing to do and understand

00:51:31.809 --> 00:51:33.949
Hudson Taylor was deeply prepared for this. He

00:51:33.949 --> 00:51:35.650
dropped out of medical school for this. He'd

00:51:35.650 --> 00:51:39.090
given up everything for this. And in the face

00:51:39.090 --> 00:51:40.710
of that trial, it would be easy for us to want

00:51:40.710 --> 00:51:43.670
to just give up. But he doesn't. Instead, he

00:51:43.670 --> 00:51:46.789
goes to God. He talks with God. And he grows

00:51:46.789 --> 00:51:48.610
a deep conviction to do something different than

00:51:48.610 --> 00:51:52.170
every other missionary in this country. See,

00:51:52.230 --> 00:51:54.070
he realizes the reason that no one's listening

00:51:54.070 --> 00:51:57.260
to him. is because he's being compared to a government

00:51:57.260 --> 00:52:00.440
official. And so he goes and he starts dressing

00:52:00.440 --> 00:52:03.519
like the normal person from this land. He shaves

00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:05.559
his head in a different way. He wears different

00:52:05.559 --> 00:52:08.219
clothing. He begins to travel around. And all

00:52:08.219 --> 00:52:09.539
of a sudden, people begin to respond to him.

00:52:10.460 --> 00:52:12.980
And then he goes inland in this country, up a

00:52:12.980 --> 00:52:16.099
river. He establishes a mission. Long story short,

00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:17.760
the mission gets destroyed. It gets burned up.

00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:21.019
People from his missions agency say, you need

00:52:21.019 --> 00:52:23.719
to leave. It's time to go. It's not working,

00:52:23.739 --> 00:52:27.110
man. Get out of here. So he goes and he rests

00:52:27.110 --> 00:52:28.829
for a little bit. He goes through some sickness

00:52:28.829 --> 00:52:32.110
and he gets married. It's a whole thing. And

00:52:32.110 --> 00:52:34.829
then he goes right back to work. And he continues

00:52:34.829 --> 00:52:36.829
to glorify God in the midst of these things.

00:52:37.650 --> 00:52:40.170
Even after his mission is burned, even after

00:52:40.170 --> 00:52:43.989
he goes through all his sickness, as he's resting

00:52:43.989 --> 00:52:45.869
and recovering, he continues to write letters

00:52:45.869 --> 00:52:47.989
to support missionaries serving in this country.

00:52:48.590 --> 00:52:50.590
Friends, he glorified God with his trials. And

00:52:50.590 --> 00:52:52.659
our trials don't have to be as dramatic. as someone

00:52:52.659 --> 00:52:54.539
trying to kill us. They don't have to be as dramatic

00:52:54.539 --> 00:52:58.579
as needing to change the way that we dress and

00:52:58.579 --> 00:53:03.679
the types of clothes that we wear. Friends, glorifying

00:53:03.679 --> 00:53:05.719
God with our trials just means approaching work

00:53:05.719 --> 00:53:07.320
differently when we're doing that task that no

00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:10.119
one wants to do. It's approaching your class

00:53:10.119 --> 00:53:11.619
work differently and doing it with a smile on

00:53:11.619 --> 00:53:14.820
your face rather than going to class angry and

00:53:14.820 --> 00:53:17.519
upset that you've got the 8 a .m. Glorifying

00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:19.679
God in our trials can be as simple as that roommate

00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:22.559
who never does the dishes. going and doing their

00:53:22.559 --> 00:53:24.760
dishes without first yelling at them for a while.

00:53:27.460 --> 00:53:30.000
Glorifying God with your trials can be as simple

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:31.699
as when you go to that doctor's appointment and

00:53:31.699 --> 00:53:33.099
you're not sure what the news is going to be.

00:53:34.099 --> 00:53:36.679
Still speaking and living in a way that is glorifying

00:53:36.679 --> 00:53:39.239
to God. Living out our faith and seeking to make

00:53:39.239 --> 00:53:41.039
disciples even there in the doctor's office.

00:53:42.239 --> 00:53:44.920
So let's glorify God with our trials. Let's pray.

00:53:45.460 --> 00:53:49.380
Father God, thank you so much for today. God,

00:53:49.420 --> 00:53:51.860
we just thank you for Joseph and for this example.

00:53:52.360 --> 00:53:55.159
God, we thank you so much, God, for the fact

00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.340
that you sent Jesus to be our Savior and to end

00:53:58.340 --> 00:54:02.360
this sin snowball. Father, I just ask that you

00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:06.539
would give us just deep peace and comfort in

00:54:06.539 --> 00:54:09.300
that, Father God. Help us to have no doubts.

00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:12.539
Instead, Lord, I just ask that you would give

00:54:12.539 --> 00:54:17.760
us complete peace. complete peace as we go through

00:54:17.760 --> 00:54:19.659
these trials, as we go through difficult situations,

00:54:19.980 --> 00:54:26.920
God. Lord, I just ask this week, help us to glorify

00:54:26.920 --> 00:54:29.920
you on the easy days and the hard days, God.

00:54:30.420 --> 00:54:33.559
Help us to glorify you with our emotions and

00:54:33.559 --> 00:54:34.860
with the way that we interact with the people

00:54:34.860 --> 00:54:37.780
around us, Father. We ask this in your name.

00:54:37.820 --> 00:54:38.239
Amen.