An Unlikely Friend | Bro. McCoy
by Joel McCoy
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Proverbs 18:24, Proverbs 27:6, Proverbs 27:17, Matthew 26:47-50, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/joel-mccoy--an-unlikely-friend
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Well, praise the Lord. What a wonderful, wonderful atmosphere here. It is an honor, a great honor to be with Pastor Carpenter and his wife. And uh my goodness, you fall in love with him quick, don't you? Y'all quit being so greedy with them. Y'all got to share. You have to learn to share. You learn that in Sunday school. And I'm so glad that you do because he has been a tremendous blessing to me personally, uh to my wife, my family, but our church. Treat them right cuz I'm going to tell you, we'll steal them in a second. But I'm going to tell you, they love them very, very much. And a couple of them say they said, "Now you're going up there now." Tell them trade, you know that you got to come back. We love them very much. So genuine. And then all the family, Pastor Chad, his wife, absolutely amazing. Love them. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. They just finished singing. This is usually where we call an altar call. Um, so thank y'all for sticking around for second service. And then uh of course, Pastor Zach, my son. And no, I we we go way back in his amazing f what an incredible pastoral team, an incredible family. My goodness. Absolutely amazing. And it is a high honor to be here with you. And I give honor to this great local assembly, this church. My goodness, to the saints of God. What an what a privilege to be here with you today. And I'm so great grateful to have my wife that has uh helped Jesus uh work on me. They do a tremendous job together. Their work is far from being done. And then I have uh twin boys that are 15 that are have are helping work on that as well. And then a little girl Aubrey that is 11 that thinks she's grown and a the baby boy Ben that is eight that thinks he runs the world. And so uh missing them today, but so so thankful to be here. I know you've been standing for a while. So I tell you what, I'll uh I'll make some comments here just in a moment. But first, if you go to Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 24, just read a quick verse of scripture. This will go very well in a friendly church. Remember the first time I was preaching, when I first started evangelizing, my wife and I, we evangelized about 11 years and we didn't have all the fancy screens when I started. And uh I remember I was preaching at a church and I gave them the text. This is back when we all brought our Bibles. And so y'all scream must not work sometime. Y'all bring your Hey, look at you. I'm not going to ask you what version, Sister Carpenter, I tell you what. We check those at the door. We'll uh but we Hey, if you can't have fun at church, well, I mean, come on now. And this is the kind you don't have to regret the next day. And so, forgot I was saying. No, I sit there. I gave him the text and I started reading. And I noticed the whole congregation was quoting it and I was having to read it. I was like, "Dear God, you've brought me into this holy place and I'm the most carnal person here." Then I looked behind me and realized they were all cheating. And so Proverbs 18 and verse 24, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend that stickketh closer than a brother. I'm going to take a little while this morning on simply this. An unlikely friend. An unlikely friend. Now listen, you don't know me, so let me give you just a little just a very brief synopsis. I'm good. I'm real good at messing up everything that God had planned on doing. I have found out if I can get me out of the way, he's good. He's real good at doing everything he wants to do. And if you walked into this place and you said, "Hey, I'm glad you're here, but I need God to do something today." Would you help me right now and ask that God would help me, that God would help you, that God would minister in this place the way he wants to? Lord Jesus, we love you. We worship you. We lift you up. We are so thankful for your presence that we feel you are for what you have already done in this place. But God, I know that there's still work that you're wanting to do, lives you're wanting to touch. Would you minister in this place to every heart, to every mind? Would you anoint your word? Anoint me, God. Speak to us. We need you. We want to hear from you, God. Let us walk out of here forever changed by what you do in our lives this morning. In your precious name, Jesus, we pray. And everyone said, "Amen." Amen. Turn to someone around you, tell them, "I'm so glad you're here. Tell the truth and you may be seated." I was at church once and I was talking to him and I told him, I said, "Now look, don't lie, but find someone next to you and tell them you're glad they're here." And I watched one person look around and deliberately stepped out and walked about six rows back before they found somebody they could honestly, truthfully, uh, say. So, we preached on forgiveness that morning. >> No, we did. We uh this is an incredible miracle. So glad to see Pastor Zach living for God. I invested so much. You know, my dad I prayed back through at the age of 23 and uh my dad suggest he said there's this I guess it's a spiritual boot camp. I don't know something like that. Uh he said, "Look, I think it'd be so good for you to go." And so I went, you know, and for a while I was like, "Man, why am I here? Why am I here?" And then I I met Pastor Zach and I this is why God has sent me here to build a man. And so just kind of took him under my wing, be to m No, I'm kidding. I love him very much. Takes a long time to make new old friends and I'm very thankful for the friends I have. My wife actually told me uh a while back good friend had come and they'd left and I said man I was kind of feel a little depressed when they left and she said what in the world's wrong I said man I don't know I hadn't really thought about it and then I realized I said you know what I love them I really do when I say I love my friends I really do because if I go back there was a time and you you know this it's not part of the sermon so this don't count this this is just this is intro this is like before they start singing the song They uh some like oh no we went when you start out in life you remember you remember anybody saying hey if you have five friends you know close friends you're extremely blessed and you're in high school and you're like I mean I got that right here with me. We got 50. You all start out together but life happens. >> Some of them went this way. Some of them went that way. Some of them stayed behind. Some of them we don't know where they went. It turned around and they were gone and they never showed up again. One thing I have noticed is the longer I go through life, the people that love God, that want to live for God, that are holding on, that that there's it's gotten a little smaller. And I'll tell you what it's done. It's made me much more thankful >> for the awesome friends that are living this life and traveling this road together, holding on to that same value, wanting to go to heaven together, wanting to go through whatever we got to go through together. And it it just makes you appreciate truly appreciate the friend the true friends that you have. And I do I love him very much. This is a great friend. I uh value his friendship very much. The building, my goodness, when you drive they where I'm staying is like Carpenters Campground. I'm like they got a road named after them. So I was driving all around. I'm like surely it's right here. But let me tell you, you can't miss it. When I pulled over here, we pulled in this driveway. I was like, "My goodness, I missed the driveway. I was so I was just looking. I almost went over the overpass. I had to do a U-turn." Un. But what a miracle. >> I can't think of a better place to ask God for a miracle than standing in a miracle. >> We're learning a little bit about about that where we are here. Uh a little over a year ago there outside of North Houston, we we'd run out of parking. We had run out of Sunday school room. Boy, it's it's it it's not fun watching cars pull in and then watch them pull out. And one morning, remember we watched 10 cars come in. I was like, "Wait, come back. We'll put you somewhere." And uh we didn't know what to do because of regulations and flood zones. We couldn't expand. They um we couldn't add parking. We couldn't build anywhere. And there was another church in town that ended up wanting to do something different. Their building is right there on Highway 59. You don't know where that is, but that if you pull out of our airport, our international airport there in Houston, if you take a left, three exits down, you'll look right on the left on Highway 59. I believe it's eight lanes, uh, not including the feeder lanes. And I think it's around 400,000 that drive by there every day. And right there on 16 acres was this unbelievable building. Just one problem. They wanted $21 million for it. And um, we didn't have the tithing on that. And so we uh we had our building and we had some of the money we had put together and I can't explain it. I can't. It's just one of those things. They traded us. They took ours and now we get to pastor an absolute miracle. A building we I mean absolute miracle right there on the highway. Just finished our remodel. And isn't that like God? Last week we were out of parking again. It's been one year and we had 13 cars parked on the grass last week. Now we're out of Sunny School room. And so uh this past Friday night we uh we revealed the expansion to where we'll be adding all that over there. Adding another uh just expansion right there to the building parking. Anyway, it just absolute amaz just just amazing. Let me tell you if you really How many of you want your life to work out? Look, go to school. That's fine. I'm I'm not not against education at all. Go now, I mean, don't go so long that you get dumb, you know? You can you can do that, but go go in get the best job, get the best degree. I mean, do all of it. Go to all the selfhelp groups, buy all the business, whatever. But if you if you if you can only give yourself to one thing, >> just one thing, >> live for God. >> Well, I don't know where I'm going to work. Well, okay, figure that right after this one. Live for God. The Bible, there's a scripture in there where God tells a man, he says, "If you'll follow in my way, I will make you a sure house." Let me tell you, in a world where you don't know what's going to work out, God is a sure thing. He's a sure thing. I don't want what my kids are going to do. Live for God. I don't know what we're going to do in our marriage. Live for God. I don't know how the business is. Live for God. If you will live for God, I'm telling you, the rest will work out. >> God is so good. God is so good. Took a little time on that, man. That cutting a time timer goes quick. My watch always seems to go faster when I'm preaching than when I'm listening. Y'allss does too. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that stickketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 27 and6 tells us faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 27 and 17 says that iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. >> You grew up you probably heard said show me your friends and I'll show you your future. friends. It's a big deal. It's a big A friend can make all the difference in the world. The Bible says that and and had a friend, >> but it but it led him the wrong way. David had a friend in Jonathan >> that supported him and wanted him to make it. It makes a difference who your friends are. >> It does. I believe more than anything when living for God, listen, we should be friendly to everybody, but not everybody's going to be a voice into my kids' life. And not everybody's going to be a voice in a m I Hey, we I'm gonna be friendly to everybody. But if we're talking about a friend that's going to have influence, I'm gonna guard that because a friend is a powerful thing. A friends is something that means a lot to me. >> Friends change over the years. You remember some of them you went to high school with and junior high. You're like, "Oh, BFFs, friends forever. We man, this is it." You don't even know where they are. Don't feel bad. They don't know where you are either because you can find them pretty quick in fake book land. It ain't hard, but they just something happens. I remember when we when I graduated, I'm like, "Oh man, ride or die. These are the ones it it's going to life just changed. friends change. Some come into your life for a season and then they're gone. Then others you're you're like, man, they show up. You're like, "Wow." Some you become friends very, very quickly. You ever met someone you're like, "Oh my goodness, it's like I've known you my whole life. It's instant." Others you have to develop through Jesus. >> You ever had one of those friends and people are like, "How are your friends?" Because you are so opposite. I don't know how you you don't even I don't if it wasn't for Jesus, you'd have nothing to talk about. >> Your common point in life is Jesus. Everything outside of that is you don't like it's nothing. And yet, man, you it's a great friend. You don't know what to do without them. Some friends surprise you. Some they show up and then they're there and then all of a sudden they're got it's crazy. You have some that show up out of nowhere and all of a sudden they become what you lean on, what you depend on. and you don't know what your life would be without them. >> Others you thought you knew exactly what you had and you found out that wasn't anything like what you expected. A friend though, a true friend. A true friend, according to the definition, is one that provides consistent support. They're there. You can depend on them. They're loyal. They're always there. Honesty, they'll tell you the truth. the heart. You know, I I've I've seen people sometimes that walk out of the house and you can tell they don't have any friends cuz nobody stopped them before they walked out the door and said, "Hey, you look ridiculous." See, I married a friend. There have been times when the mirror has lied to me and I'm not really good with colors. I' I'd come out here looking like a clown and I walk out and she'll ask, "Are you going to wear that?" What that means is, "No, I'm not." It's not really a question. This morning, I'm like, "Well, that go with that. Never mind. Took too long to say yes." So, that's a no. That's You got to have a friend. >> You got to have somebody that'll tell you, "Hey, you got to learn to shut up. You you you you need friends that'll tell you the truth. that'll protect you in society. Uh I'm talking about a friend that's honest. A friend, a true friend is dependable and a trustworthy companion through all of life's joys and challenges. You don't have to look for them. You don't have to wonder where they are. You don't have to walk through life and wonder if they're still there. I'm talking about I have found a friend. >> I have found a friend that I don't have to look for. I don't want to wonder. I have a friend that has been through everything with me. I have a friend that's been there from the top to the bottom. I have discovered a friend. It doesn't from single to married, with kids, without kids, whe whether whether it's on Sunday or Friday. I have discovered and I have found a friend that you can count on. He will be there at every point in life. He will be there on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I don't have to wonder if he's there. He'll be there till the day I die. >> And that's my friend. Pain. Pain will stick around. You can count on pain. You're wealthy, pain will stick with you. >> You don't have a dollar to your name, you can count on pain. Pain will be in your life. You're single, pain. Married, pain. With kids, pain. Without kids, pain. pain will be there. >> If you're trying to find a life that doesn't have it, it's not going to work. Pain is an unlikely friend. Now, that don't make any sense. I was like, man, you know, how how how can pain be a friend? But you go to Matthew 26:es 47-50. The Bible says, now this is Jesus about to be crucified. Jesus about to be betrayed. Jesus that is fixing to be displayed on a cross, humiliated, stripes on his back, public humiliation, mocked, cursed. I mean, you are talking about the worst of the worst case scenarios. And it says, "And while he yet spake, lo Judas, one of the twel came and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, "Whoever I shall kiss, the same is, hold him fast." And forth with he came to Jesus and said, "Hail, master." And kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, "Friend, friend, wherefore art thou come?" Let me tell you, I I understand his mercy. But how in the world are you going to look at someone that is handing you over, personally, betraying you, stabbing you in the back, turning you over to be crucified, humiliated, whipped, and everything else, and how do you look at what is going to rip your heart out and call him friend? Because see, that's not my response. Oh, we're going to take you to Jesus, but we are not playing blessing and fruition upon your life. We we are praying for you. There are prayers, but Jesus looks at at at him and calls him friend. How can you call him friend? Because anything that moves me into my destiny, >> anything whether I enjoy it when it's happening or not, think about it. How many of you would be sitting in this building today if it wasn't >> for pain? >> How many of you would pray? See, blessings and pain do different things in our life. I've had people get a $10 an hour raise. I'm talking about an amazing but they didn't show up to the prayer room any earlier the next day than they did before they got the raise. I've seen them get an incredible vehicle but they were didn't become any more faithful with that new vehicle or that new house than they were. But you let someone find out we found something on the scan. >> You let them say, "Hey, it it looks like cancer." >> You let a marriage start falling apart and a heart start breaking. You let a kid start going down a road that you wish they'd have never You let pain walk in the building and all of a sudden I'm the first one at church. I'm the last one that leaves. Every sermon is for me. Every altar calls for me. I'm in the prayer room. I'm the last one to leave it. I'm the first one there. My prayer quits being quiet and it starts being l Come on. You you blessing blessings are incredible, but there's something about when pain shows up, man. It starts working on me and it does something. I don't like pain, but let me tell you, if it wasn't for pain, I wouldn't be where I am. It's not the blessings that have moved me to where I am. Pain got me here. Pain pushed me to intercessory prayer. Pain pushed me to faith. It's >> I love the blessings, but the blessings never developed in my life what pain did. >> I don't like pain. I don't like what going through it. I don't like what it does to me. But I have to be honest. If you take away the experiences in my life that were painful, you take away every place where I got to know him. You take away the deep places that he brought me to, you take away my revelation of his name and who he was. I didn't see who he was on the good time. I found out who he was in my pain. I'm not saying you have to like it, but you have to develop an appreciation for it. Cuz the one thing the enemy will do is he'll wait till pain shows up and he'll do the only thing he can do. He will try to manipulate your mind to where you begin to look at the things that God allowed to come into your life. And he begins to somehow paint God as the enemy and the one that doesn't care because he allowed it to happen instead of taking you to the end of what pain will produce and saying only God could do that and he could only do it through pain. Somebody asked me once, they said, in fact, you know, in a world where I'd love to stand here and be like, you know what? I feel it right now. It's going to be billionaires in this building. Everybody's like, I receive it. You got your whole family. We all receive it. We're going to tithe like never. No, you can't tithe on $100. This gets harder when you make more. >> Oh, I'm going to be You give me that job, I'm going to be so faithful. You barely making it and you don't work on Sundays. What are you going to do when they offer you a raise to work on it? >> Not you. People out somewhere else. >> Hey, it does something. So when I asked I said why did you you want a prophecy? How many of you you're like man come on everybody shows up and like I hope he's I hope he gives me a word. They didn't let me tell I was living my life. I was so messed up. They didn't I mean you could have just shot into the dark and hit me. I'm like I want a word. I'm like okay I got you a word and it's in the word and it is consistent with scripture. Are you ready? I'm going prophesy right now. In this life, you will have tribulation. >> That wasn't your word. Like, no. What What else you got? No. No. That one's going to happen. I can't tell you if you're going to get the job or not. I don't know if you're going to get the house or not. I don't. But I can tell you, you're going to go through some pain. You're going to go through some tribulation. But it's for our good. But if we're not careful, God can the enemy will try to take advantage of something God is trying to use for our good and try to turn us against him to where what should have been working for our good. Now the enemy begins to use it for our demise because we don't recognize what pain is producing. >> You know, the hardest part is when you're in the dark and you can't see it. My dad came home one day. We were I was uh guess I was 15 years old and I came home. my dad, we the whole family worked and did everything and so we worked for the family or whatever, but we never got paid. I'd ask him be like, "Dad, you know, we did this and this, you know, I' kind of like a paycheck and he'd go into my room and turn my lights on and off like, look at that." He'd start talking about how much it cost to feed me and that hurt my feelings. We kept ramen noodles alive. That business thrived under us. that and Tony's. Well, he put a little Tony Sashers on it. You can I'm telling you, you can make water. It's like, man, he he he started talking about how much it cost for the dentist and how much it cost for medical and somehow by the time he was done, I owed him money. I'm like, I I like I want to go work for I I want a new Pharaoh. Th this one's not treating me right. And so, I convinced I said, "Listen, can I I want to go get a real job?" He's like, "You want to get I said, "Yeah, yeah." I said, "I want to actually, you know, work." And so I went down and all the girls after school, they'd all go, they had the little corner street there by our house. That's where all the kids would hang out. And I was trying to teach Bible studies, of course. And so I was like, you know, you got to go where the people are to grow the church. And so I was trying to be kingdom minded. And so I I went down, I asked Mr. Tommy, I said, "Mr. Tommy," I said, "You ain't got to pay me. if you will give me all the bait I need for fishing. I'll work for free cuz I could go through some bait. He's like, "Okay, I tell you what, you can do that. You can stock shells." I came home. I was like, "Oh, man." I said, "Dad, I got a job." He said, "You did?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "What are you doing?" He said, I said, "Man, I'm going be stocking shells down corner, whatever." They told me I can do it. He's like, "How much they pay?" It was like $5, I think, is what he ended up paying. Which was $5 more an hour than I was getting from dad. And I was like, "Look, it ain't much, but it's more than I'm getting, you know, at home." And he's like, "No, no, no, no. You I don't want you doing that. I got you another job, Mike. You got me another job." He said, "Yeah." He said, "I lease 20 acres today. We're going to grow watermelons." You know how many watermelons you can grow on 20 acres? A lot. Thousands. I can tell you stuff on water about watermelons you don't even want to know. We grew Charleston grays. We grew jubilees, black diamonds, yellow meat, seedless. I tell you everything you never even thought you needed to know about watermelons. But we ain't got that kind of time. time and I'm on the clock. But the hardest part, we did that for the next five to six years. We'd get up in the morning before daylight. We'd head to the field. We'd get everything. We'd load everything up. We'd put we'd load three low boy trailers up with two to 300 watermelons every single morning. Me and my two brothers, we'd load them up and then we'd take them to three different gas stations and we'd hire people to sell them all day long. We'd go to school, we'd shower, we'd go to school. Soon as we got out of school, we'd go and we'd sit on the corner and we'd sell them until dark and then everything that was left, we'd put on one trailer, take it down to Market Basket and sell all of that for a wholesale price, and the next morning be right out before daylight to load the trailers back up. Oh, it was wonderful. I was like, just send me to the boy ranch or wherever it is. Yeah, I'm a I'm a I'm not getting treated right. The hardest part though was not the planting cuz you could see when the seeds went in the ground and my dad wouldn't get one of the fancy machines that did it for you. No, every single one of them. But that wasn't the hard. The hardest part was the watering cuz you didn't know what was happening beneath the ground. You didn't even you didn't even know if maybe the person that was supposed to plant that day missed that row. You may have just been watering dirt. That's the hardest part is where you just keep on watering and you don't have a clue what's going on beyond what you can see. Some of you showed up today, you know, and I want I'm learning to speak too English. I don't understand. I got an A in Spanish and a C in English and I can't speak Spanish. I don't understand. But that's what you did this morning. You've prayed some prayers. You planted some things. you don't see the fruit of it yet and you're in the painful part of it and the enemy says, "Look, why even deal with this?" But you keep showing up and you keep praying and you keep showing up and you keep praising and you keep worshiping and everything you you can't see. It doesn't look like the situation changed. Yeah, but there's things that happen that you can't see that depend on you doing the part that you can do. God will take care of the parts you can't see, but you can't quit doing the part that you do have the power to do. Pain works on us. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse one Paul says it is not expedient for me doubtless to glory I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth such and such as one caught up in the third heaven and I knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth How that he was caught up into paradise and he heard unspeakable words which which is not lawful for a man to utter. Of s of such and one will I glory yet of myself I will not glory. But in my infirmities for though I would desire to glory I shall not be a fool. For I will say the truth for now I forbear lest any man should think of me above that which he seemth to me or that he heareth of me. Let me explain that KJV. He was saying, "I pray like you don't pray, and I see things that you don't see, and I walk in places that you don't walk." He said, "And I I I don't even have I hate that I'm even having to explain it because he said, "It makes me look bad having to explain this." But he was he in fact, he didn't even use he said, "I knew a man, but he was talking about himself." He says, "There's some things that I see most people don't see." You want to see some things nobody else sees? You want to see a revival that most people don't see. You want to see some things break in your family that most people don't get to. You want to walk in some places that other people just dream of walk. Yes, everybody wants that. He says, "But let me tell you what happens if you want to walk in those places. Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation there was given a gift. God gave me. He called it a gift. He said, "I wanted to walk in some places that nobody else got to walk. And I wanted to see some things that everybody else just talked about. I wanted to see some things happen in my family that wasn't happening in every other family. There was some things I wanted that you couldn't even put words to." God said, "You want to walk there? You want to live?" Okay, I'm going to give you a gift to help you walk where some people can't walk and to see what some people can't see. He says, "And he gave me a thorn." He gave me pain. He said, "I got something for you. You want to see something in your life? I have a gift for you. Pain. the gift of pain, an unlikely friend, not an enemy, a friend. He says, "The messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure for this thing." You talking about an Indian giver, talking about wanting to give your gift back. He says, "I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart." I don't like the gift. I don't like what I'm going through. How many times have we asked God, "God, here I am. Take me and use me." He's like, "Okay, let me get some stuff out of your life." And he starts putting us through the process of cleansing us and developing us. And it's a painful process. And as soon as pain touches my spirit, God, get me out of this. And God's like, "Oh, do you want to be what I called you to be or not? I I got something for you. But you can't skip pain. You want the resurrection, you got to have the fellowship of the suffering. I can take you through some things. The question is, can I stay through the pain? Can I be faithful in the pain? When pastor preaches and it hits me and I don't like it, can I still say, "God, I submit myself to your word. I've submitted to your plan. I've submitted to the process." When it when it takes me through trials and I don't feel like I know which way to go, can I still say, "God, I'm in this until you're done working on me. I'm not quitting. I'm not." >> He said, I asked him, "Can you take it from me?" And he said, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I take pleasures in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, and persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am >> strong." Paul said, "I started praying." He said, "I started thanking God for the pain. I started thanking God for the trial. I started realizing the trial is not my enemy. The trial is my friend. It's what?" Hey, >> read about Joseph. You can get ready. I'm not saying I'm done, but we're going to give the people hope. Joseph his entire life is developed not in daddy's house with a coat of many colors. Joseph life is developed in pain >> through pits through prison through persecution through lies through betrayal all the things you don't want to go through are what built Joseph. >> Very quickly I'm just going to go through probably ruining another good sermon. I probably should have saved this and preached that, but just in case I never get to come back, I just boom, boom. Joseph starts out, he he he's the wonder child at home. He gets to code him any colors and oh man, it's amazing. He doesn't go watch sheep with the other boys. He's learning to be chosen, but he's not learning to be effective. >> And God, now number one, you have to understand there there's a problem here. There there's a father-son relationship. If you go back and you go all the way back to Abraham. Now listen, we all understand that Abraham presented Isaac for a sacrifice. We understand that. Here's the problem. When God says he's going to destroy Sodom, Abraham doesn't mind going to prayer multiple multiple multiple times to say the li save the lives of wicked people. But he never offers one prayer for the life of his son. I'm not saying he wasn't obedient. I'm just saying he bartered for the wicked and was quick to give up the good. You'll notice later on Isaac doesn't dig as he doesn't make as many altars. He probably doesn't think about them the same way everybody else does cuz they've never been laid on one. Isaac Isaac says he's at the point to die. And so he's ready to bless Jacob and Esau, but he doesn't even know his own boys enough to know the voice from one from the other. He he he he kind of thinks this is that, but it's not enough to know for sure who he's talking to. >> And even then, he neither one of them were really ready at that place to receive the blessing. But he says, "I'm at the point to die." Why? Cuz he was depressed. Because he lived on to see the grandchildren of those same sons. He wasn't dying. He was depressed. And so you got boys and you got conflict in that household. So you got problems with Abraham and Isaac. You got problems with Isaac and Jacob. And now you got Jacob and Joseph. God's like, "Look, we got to fix this. You don't think there were problems with Joseph with with with Joseph and Jacob." They come by and tell Jacob, "Here, here's the coat that was your sons." They didn't tell him what an animal did. He automatically assumed the worst. Oh, he's dead. And the Bible says he never even goes to look for the body. You don't think that's a bad dad? What about this? He sends his sons over. Yes, he rose in the faith, but even heroes can have problems God has to work on. They go to Egypt for grain. And Joseph keeps Simeon. He says, "Bring Benjamin and then I'll give you grain." Jacob doesn't send anybody back to get the brother. In fact, you don't read about anybody going back till he runs out of grain. He didn't send him back for Simeon. He sent him back for grain. He valued grain more than he did his son. Is it any wonder that God said, "Listen, if I'm going to make you what I need you to be, I'm going to take you out of an environment and it's going to be painful cuz it's going to feel like you're leaving everything that's comfortable, but everything that's comfortable is killing you. I need to bring you out of what is comfortable and what you're used to. and I need to bring you into something that feels unfamiliar and it's going to feel painful. And the first thing they do is they take him and they throw him in a pit. But if you'll look at it, Reuben tells him, he says, "Don't kill him. Throw him not in the pit." Reuben says, "Throw him in this pit." And the scripture says, "For there was no water in it." You know what that means? Not every pit is the same. Some you can die in and some you can be preserved in. Some of you this morning are in a pit and you feel the same way. But this pit wasn't to kill you. It was to preserve you so that nothing would kill you while destiny was coming. And all of a sudden you've got these merchants that are on the way. But they're not just any merchants. They're coming from Gilead and they are merchants that sell bomb. The healing bomb of Gilead. You mean the people that deal with healing bomb are coming to take my wounded son and to carry him to Well, they made a prisoner out of him. Yes. Cuz God loved him so much. He said, "If I let it be up to you, you would never go where I'm taking you. But your destiny is down there and it's going to be painful that this isn't a sign I've forgotten you. This is a sign that I've got you and I love you too much for you to miss the mark. And so, I'm going to create it. and all of my mercy and my love for you. I'm going to put you in the hands of someone that makes sure you get to your promise. >> And then when he gets there, the Bible says he goes and he does everything for Piper. Bible says he takes over everything in Piper's house till Piper doesn't even know the only thing Piper knows is here's the food at my plate. He's like, man, I mean, he's at the upper echelon. He he's somebody he is management material. And then he gets accused of something he didn't do and he gets thrown into prison. But not just any prison, the king's prison. Because not every prison is the same. Some connect you to the people that are going to get you to your destiny and some you just die and rot in. >> You got to be careful. Not all pain is the same. Some pain is me trying to go against the will of God. And some pain is because I'm in the will of God. It's productive pain. >> They accuse him and they put him in the prison. All of a sudden, he says, "Fine. You know what I'll do? I'll work down here." Until the Bible says that even the man that was over the prison didn't even know anything going on in the prison that was under Joseph's hand cuz he took over all of it. >> Here's what some of you got a dream God gave you. Here's what's amazing. in the prison while his dream's not coming true, he still has time for the other dreamers. >> Don't get calloused around other people's worship and other people's testimony cuz yours hasn't happened yet. Careful. Careful. Don't close that out. Joseph is still willing to talk to other people about their dreams even though his have not come to pass and it looks like they couldn't be further. All of a sudden, we see where those those dreams come to pass. And now that man, he's up there. He's with Pharaoh. And for two years, he forgets about Joseph down there. And Joseph's like, "I'm forgotten." No, you're not forgotten. I'm just preparing the perfect scenario. All of a sudden, Pharaoh has a dream. He says, "These these cattle come out and there's these great cattle and these very poor cattle come and swallow up the good cattle. And here's these good ears of corn, and then the bad ears of corn come and take them over. And man, nobody can nobody can tell him what was going on. No one can tell him the dream. And all a sudden that one of the guys, he says, "Hold on. I know what it is. I know somebody can interpret that." And he remembers him and they bring Joseph. And Joseph says, "Yes, I know the interpretation. This represents seven years of plenty. This represents seven years of famine." See, there's a man that wrote the meaning of life. He was in the Ashwitz prison concentration camp during World War II. He said it's an incredible book if you ever have a chance to read it. He said they will take every dignity away from you can imagine. He's a psych he was a psychologist later I think and then later on went to Vienna to practice. He says it all comes down there's only one thing that nobody can take from you and that is your attitude toward pain. the attitude toward what you go through. No one can take away from you your ability to choose how you respond >> to circumstances you wish you were never in. >> That's right. >> He said it is the last thing that no one can take from you. Your ability to choose the attitude you have in the pain. And Joseph said, "You know what? Even in the pain, I'm gonna find somewhere to serve. Even when my promise hadn't come to pass, I'm gonna find somewhere and I'm gonna be a part of it. I Oh, good. You got the job. Hey, come on. Hey, our brother got the job. Did you get the No, I didn't get mine yet. But they got one. I'm going to rejoice with him. Why? Because the same God that got him that one is the same God that can get me. Come on. We got some people sitting all over the church cuz somebody else keeps getting what you prayed for. You're like, "Okay, that must be the hot spot. This instead of praying for blessings of God, give me a spirit that can handle what you would like to put in my life." >> But because of his attitude in the pain, >> Joseph says, "Hold on, >> Pharaoh. I don't just have the interpretation. I've got a plan. >> If you do this, this will pro. Egypt became more wealthy in the famine than they did before >> because somebody knew how to make a plan. Where'd you learn all that management, Joseph? Did daddy teach you that? No. All I learned at daddy's house was color coordinating. I didn't even get to watch the sheep. Where'd you learn management? As a slave. I learned that in prison. I learned how to do something with the revelation. Not at daddy's house, but in the trial. And Pharaoh's like, "Huh? Well, we need somebody to put over this process." Who do we get? I need somebody that knows how to work with the upper level and the bottom of the bottom. Who do we get? What college teaches someone to work with the upper level of society and the lowest? Where was your first job? Piper. Huh? Where was your second job? Prison. So, you've managed at the top and you've managed at the bottom. He said, "There ain't anybody else. Joseph is second in the kingdom. Not because of the coat of many colors, but because of pain and his attitude towards it. I want to make a difference. Good. You want to know where you're going to connect with people more than anywhere else? Not through your blessings, through your pain. You want to know why you can talk to the drug addict and the alcoholic and the depressed and the angry person and the person that feels like giving up? Not because you can stand up and be like, "I got a new car. I got a new house." No. You're going to connect to them because you say, "Hey, I have felt what you feel. I've had my heart broken. I've had my family split in two. I know what it's like to feel like I've lost it all." I'm going to tell the greatest difference that you make in your life, you're going to make through pain. Through pain. Pain humbles us. Pain reminds us of our need for God. Paul, I want to use you. But the only way that you're ever going to be used is if you're willing to live with pain. Cuz if there's anything we like to be, we like to be independent. And we were never created to be independent of him. >> He will leave. And if he needs to, you know, you don't believe it. You let somebody get a great job. >> They don't become closer to God. They become more distant. I've seen them I've seen them walk through the doors of our church wearing everything they own and they didn't care what anybody else thought about them cuz they had no reputation to care about. And for some reason, for some reason, old pants seem to hit the altar quicker than new pants. And for some reason, beggars's garments seem to crumble at an altar better than nice garments. And for some reason, worn out shoes seem to dance better than new shoes. And for some reason, worship and family seem to drive up in old cars >> more than new cars. >> It's in us. >> There's something about us. We like glory. You give us a little bit and a I want people to respect me. I want people and God's like I'm the glor I get the glory. >> I get the glory. >> That was Israel's problem. They wanted the glory. They wanted to wear the glory. He said, "No, the glory. You put that on the tabernacle." Well, what do we wear? You wear me. When they see you, they see me. I get the glory. But I've seen them come in and I've seen God lift them up. I've seen God give them their family back. I've seen God heal a marriage. I've seen God bring their children from every single avenue. I've seen them get the jobs. I've seen them start the businesses. And for some reason, the better we become, the further we go. Now remember when we first came in didn't worry about anybody thought man we just sitting we were shout what what are they going to think about you I ain't got anything from I what are they going to worry about I have nothing but all of a sudden it's very controlled it's very I want to give him praise but not at a level that makes me look foolish >> forgetting that God had chosen and the foolish things of this world. You're somebody's fool. Everybody is somebody's fool. And if I'm going to be somebody's fool, I want to be his fool. No. If I'm going to look foolish, let it be to magnify you. If I'm going to look crazy, let it be to lift you up. Pain stretches. Pain builds. Very quickly, let me tell you, some of you, you're going through some things that don't make sense. I'm done. Go ahead. Come on up. I'm done. Some of you, the enemy messes with you, says, "What kind of good God would allow this to happen?" Let me tell you two things you got to get through your mind. There's only one God >> and you're not him. >> And there's only one heaven >> and this ain't it. >> We had lost a had a young man young man in the church took his life tragic. I love this kid. He was battling some things, man. He had he so much stuff even beyond his control that were going on. medications did. And then we had another thing happen and someone had lost a child and this lady came up to me. She said, "Pastor, I'm struggling." I said, "What's going on?" She said, "I know he's good and I know he can do anything, but if he can, why do these happen?" And to people that are doing good and people that are trying, why do these I said, "Sis, if God answered every prayer that you and I prayed, there'd be no sick." What age do you want to lose your parents? Never. What age is okay to lose a child? Never. We would never have any funerals. I said, "If we answered our prayer, our blessings, they would just, man, everything we prayed for, it would happen. Our kids would never break our hearts. They'd never walk away. No one would ever walk away from God. It would be." She said, "Yes." I said, "Do you know what you've just described? Heaven. And if we had all those things here, I'd quit looking for an eastern gate. I'd quit singing, "Come soon. Yes, very soon. We're going to see." I'd quit singing songs about heaven if everything I wanted h. He said, "No, no, no, no. This you endure. Heaven's on the other side." Pain helps remind me. This is not my home. I'm just passing through. The pain, it keeps me praying. The pain is a reminder, but don't forfeit the greatest gift of pain. CS Lewis said it the best. We can ignore pleasure, but pain insists on being attended to. God whis God whispers to us in our pleasures. He speaks to us in our conscience, but he shouts in our pain. Pain is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. >> Don't forfeit the gift of pain because there are places you can go to God in pain that you cannot go any other time. Pain, he says he is near to the brokenhearted. He said, "Oh, I know you're going through it, but you know what I'm going to do in the hour where it's the hardest for you to deal with? There's some doors that I open that only open in a season of pain. You can you can get nearer to him in pain than any other time in your life. You may not like what you're going through, and that's okay. And you may not enjoy the season, and that's okay. Just don't forget it is a friend that brings us to him quicker than any other thing in our life. My friend, pain. Don't let the enemy twist it and separate you. You're in the painful parts of your life. Whatever's going on in your life, let me tell you, he's got you. It's in your pain. It's in your struggle. I don't know what you're going through. I don't have to. I know in this world you have tribulation, but there's a mama and a daddy here this morning. Say, you don't know the battle I'm fighting. No, but he does. And if you'll take advantage of that, and yes, there is pain, but there is but heaven is open. And God is reaching. And if you will allow yourself to be broken in his presence, he will heal right now something in you that you never thought could be healed at any other time. Come on. with every hand lifted all over this place. Come on. There's some pain in this place. There's some people you're going through the battle and you're going through the struggle. And God wants to meet you right here and right now if you will begin to reach out to him with everything within you. >> You walked in this place and you're ready to give up. Let me tell you, I know pain has knocked on your door, but it brought you here. Not because God doesn't care about you. God loves you and he wants to change you. Don't let the enemy win. Don't let your pain take you out the door the way you walked in. Instead, let pain bring you to an altar. Let pain bring you to repentance. >> Come on. Would you find somebody? Begin to pray with them right now. Find somebody. >> I'm not going to waste this moment. I'm not going to waste this moment. >> My everything. Thank you, Lord. And I have a sheer who always keeps me safe. I found a healer who knows my every day. But this is my story of redeeming love. I come to know him well. Oh, I have found friend in Jesus. He is everything to me. I have found a friend in Jesus. You see my everything. Oh, I have found a friend in Jesus. Everything to me. I have found a friend in Jesus. My everything with me tells me I am his own. And the joy we share. What else compares like nothing that I've ever known? Oh, he walks with me. He walks with me. He tells me I am his Yes. Heat. Heat. Oh Jesus. Yes. He walks with me. He talks with me. He tells me I am his own. And the joy we share. What has come like nothing that I know. >> Very quickly, I'm not we're not ending this, but very quickly. I feel so strongly. It may be your first time. You may be a first time guest. I don't know. But there's it's not one. There's several. You walked in this place today. You may be a member. Maybe it's your first time. And everything in you right now, everything in you saying, "I'm so sick of going through motions. I'm so sick of just coming to church and I'm ready for something's got to break." You're literally telling yourself in your mind right now, something has got to give. I I can't. Nobody else may have a clue. I'm not trying to embarrass you, but you don't have to step out like the woman with the issue of blood that pushed through the crowd or like blind Barnameus that begin to stand. This service was for you. If it's you and it's your first service, I want you to push through whoever you got to push through and I want you to get to this all. There you go. Come on. Come on. These are wonderful people. You don't have to be afraid. Nobody's going to be ugly to you or embarrass you. You may not know anybody else. Come on. all the way to the front. Whether you're brand new or you've been here and you said something has got to break, I want you to come find somewhere at this altar and just begin to send give everything to him and begin to surrender. Say, God, everything I have. It's yours. It's yours. It's yours. Church family, help me pray right now. Come on. Come on. It may not even be a guest. It may be somebody that you've been here your whole life going through the motions and you know something has got to break and it's got to break now. Push through. Push through. Find your way to an altar.