Repentance Before Revelation | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

thank you praise team today and that song is inspired by scripture that simply says weeping may endure for the night but joy joy cometh in the morning now you understand as long along with me that morning is not a Time but mourning is a person and Jesus said I am the bride and The Morning Star and I'm glad that you can have a morning in the evening you can have a morning at the Midnight Hour has he ever given you a morning in the deepest darkest hole you've ever been in he comes down and gives you a morning if he has wouldn't you give him a praise for it right now give him a praise for it Genesis chapter 2 or excuse me Genesis chapter 42 and verse 6. Bible says a merry heart a merry heart do it good like a medicine a merry heart and I don't know I kind of know Sister Carpenter's game plan sometimes she thinks I need a merry heart so she'll go find some kind of I don't know some kind of joke book but she got to telling me jokes yesterday she got to tell me jokes and uh she said of course I'm you know I'm driving and I'm meditating on the Lord she said did you hear about the Invisible Man and the invisible woman that got married to do what did you hear about the Invisible Man and the invisible woman that got married I said what happened I said well when they had children they were nothing to look at remind me of a fella sitting on the front porch his wife came up behind him with a Skillet in her hand just wore the back of his head out he said what in the world was that for he showed a piece of paper said I found this name in your pocket precious poly he said he said that's a racehorse I've been betting on a few weeks later she came out with a bigger skillet and I mean spend extra time wearing the back of his head out he said what was that for she said your racehorse just called the house you want to start with me a little bit more my joke got more laughs than yours Genesis chapter 42 verse 6. everybody say and Joseph and Joseph was the governor over the land and he it was that sold to all the people of the land and Joseph and Joseph's Brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the Earth and Joseph saw his brethren and he knew them but made himself strange unto them and spake roughly unto them and he said unto them which Come Ye and they said from the land of Canaan to buy food and Joseph knew his brethren but they knew him not and Joseph knew his brethren and they knew him not one more verse Romans chapter 8. and verse number 28 Romans chapter 8 verse number 28. I'll give you a moment to those of you that are finding that passage in your Bible Romans chapter 8 and verse number 28. it'll be on the screen and I'd like for us all I'd like for us all to read this out loud together out loud together it means something to us Romans 8 28 I'll start and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose father I ask you today to anoint my lips of clay that I may feed your people Lord these are your sheep today these are your people today you shed your blood for them and you fill them with your spirit you have given them your word and God in the process of that word God I'm here today to minister that word to help someone today Lord anoint my lips of clay and I'll give you the praise and the glory in Jesus name we pray amen and amen you may be seated I need to give you a little history of the life of Joseph being one of the 12 sons of Jacob who would later have his name changed to Israel and Joseph the Bible says that Joseph was well favored of his father it means he was daddy's favorite he was Daddy's pick in so much that his father um distinguished him from the other 11 Brothers by making him and him alone a coat of Many Colors a very beautiful coat of many many colors that identified him as Israel's favorite son didn't take long for his 11 Brothers to begin to envy him and his brothers to begin to be jealous of him and jealousy manifests itself in so many different ways harsh words no words unkind words and the list goes on and on but to compound that and make matters much worse oh Joseph had a dream and in his dream he and his brothers were out in a field and they were Binding Together bundles of wheat and in the dream Joseph noticed that his bundles on their own stacked up like hay being stacked and his brother's bundles rolled up beside them and his brother's bundles did a form of worship or respect to Joseph's bundles well it probably wasn't the wisest thing for Joseph to do and we could take note here everybody is not going to be excited about your dream all right be very choosy of who you tell your dreams to probably he shouldn't have but he did he told his dreams to his 11 brothers and if if they didn't hate him already because of the coke man they went on steroids I mean they really hated him for these dreams it didn't take long they nicknamed him the dreamer they nicknamed it him dignify him with a with a with a name Joseph they just ridiculed him and called him the dreamer this jealousy boiled in these 11 brothers so much that one day they saw their brother coming across the field and they began to scheme and they said let's kill him let's kill him and we will see what will become of his dreams well as they were scheming to kill him his older brother Reuben spoke up Reuben doesn't have much of a backbone he couldn't stand up in public for his conviction what Reuben wanted to do Reuben said let's throw him in this hole in the ground and the animals have come down and eat him and we won't have his blood on our hands now what Reuben wanted to do will sneak back around and pulled Joseph out of that out of that pit please don't have convictions like Reuben that's your conviction stand regardless of who agrees or disagrees so the other brothers agreed that it'd be a good idea to throw him in the hole and that the animals eat him in the evening but before they did they ripped his coat off of him they ripped his coat and they took his coat and they just threw him down in this empty pit where there's no water and danger was to come well we later find out that they sat right down they were so cruel because jealousy is cruel they were so cruel that they sat right down by the edge of that pit and had lunch while their brother Joseph was crying from that pit please don't do this to me please Brothers don't do this please don't do that I beg you brothers please get me out of this hole in the ground please get me out when about that time a group of ishmaelite Traders came by a group of ishmaelite traders that were going down to Egypt to trade their their goods and one brother looked at the other brother and said why don't we make a little profit off of this why don't we sell our brother as a slave we'll lie and say he's a slave and we'll sell him as a as a as a slave and we'll make a little profit off of it and so they drew Joseph out of the pit and they took him and they sold Joseph and they tied him up and put him on the back of that ishmaelite traitor's wagon and off down to Egypt they would go with Joseph the brothers went home and saw cruel jealousy is they took his coat of many colors and they killed a goat and they took the blood of the goat and they rubbed it in the coat of many colors the coat that his daddy had stitched up all the scenes the coat that his daddy had made for him and they took that coat inside and they gave it to Israel and they said we found this coat along the pathway and oh and Joe when when Jacob saw that coat and knew that it was Joseph's can you can you imagine the the the regret can you imagine with me see it was it was his daddy that told him to go down check on his brothers can you imagine how many nights that Jacob oh I would to God I would have never sent him out it's my fault if I had never sent him out looking for his brothers this wouldn't have happened and and his father was filled with regret and his father believed false evidence and his father grieved every day every birthday 22 years 22 years would go by 22 years 22 years Joseph's brothers had not laid eyes on him 22 years Jacob had not heard the tender voice of his son Joseph 22 years went by and during that 22 years my what a ride Joseph went on he was sold to potiphar potiphar was a an agent he would be the equivalent of our secret service for our president today he was sold as a slave to potiphar the Bible has a little clause in there that I'd like to remind all of us wherever we're at it just simply says over and over again brother Young and the Lord was with Joseph you see today our God is so great and our God is so mighty he doesn't have to have just the right prepared surroundings to be able to bless you all you need to concern yourself with today is that simple phrase and the Lord was with Joseph man he prospered the Bible says he prospered so much potipher potiphar even uh probably thought within himself that man did I not make a good deal on buying this man did I made a good deal on this this man here and he started giving Joseph keys to things and he started putting Joseph over things and he started making him the head of this and the head of that but then one day Potiphar's wife laid her eyes on this young man and she asked the young man to enter into adultery with her my husband is gone let's let's let's take this time to commit adultery what a man a principle what a man and principle don't let mistreatment cause you not to have good principle I said what a what a man of principle he said to her when she propositioned him he said how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God and you don't belong to me you belong to your husband and he has not given you to me therefore I will not enter this in now the interesting thing about him refusing adultery that was hundreds of years Church before God chiseled it in stone Thou shalt not commit adultery he made a stand well you all know as well as I do if you make a stand there's a price tag to making a stand and potipar's wife lied on him you know it seemed like he went in the house one day and she reached and she said to him come come lay in the bed with me and he refused she reached and got his coat and when she got his coat he just stripped out of that coat but I mean he just he just he just stripped out of that coat and he went off running well she laid that coat across the bed post and got in bed and feigned herself that she she that this Hebrew boy was going to rape her and of course her husband came home seemed like Joseph's always getting in trouble with his coat isn't he his daddy believed the LIE the the blood of the goat on his coat and potiphar looked at the uh potiphar looked at the coat and said that's him and lo and behold he throwed him in prison he finds himself in prison now here again y'all still with me today that small phrase comes in and the Lord was with Joseph that small phrase comes in and the Lord don't ever get discouraged with your surroundings just concern yourself with that small phrase and the Lord what's with Joseph didn't take long that the warden noticed that this man called Joseph had certain leadership skills well I can put him over sweeping all the sails out and he's been organized and he's he's doing this I can put him over getting the food to the right sale I can I can put him over this and the Bible says when it was all said and done that the warden made Joseph in some kind of leadership there in the prison because of that small phrase what is that small phrase again and the Lord was with him well the door opened to the prison one day and down walked the king's Butler pharaohs Butler Pharaoh's Butler and Pharaoh's Baker the man that bakes all the goods for pharaoh and the man that prepares Pharaoh's bath water and gets Pharaoh's clothes laid out and gets Pharaoh as a matter of fact the the butler was in charge when they would bring a cup of wine for the king to drink for pharaoh to drink it was the butler that took the first sip now that wasn't a privilege for they feared if someone would try to poison the pharaoh let the butler die you know let the butler die But Here Comes The Butler and the baker and they've got frowns on their faces and they get down there and they say man we lost favor with Pharaoh Pharaoh's upset with us he's taken us out of being a butler he's taking us out of being a baker and here we are now we're we're in prison we're in prison time went on and what was that phrase again would y'all help me out the Lord and uh one morning Joseph went in to check on the Baker and the butler and boy both of them had had a rough night rest both of them looked like they had been beat with a stick and Joseph said well what's wrong and the Butler said well I I dreamed I had this dream and it just bothered me I can't go back I couldn't go back to sleep and said in the dream said it was a grape vine and there was three branches and it was full of grapes and I reached and I took the grapes and I I squeezed The Grapes into the king's cup and I I handed the king his cup no Joseph said well I'll tell you exactly God just told me God just told me three branches or three days Mr Butler in three days they're gonna knock on that door and you're going to be restored in three days you'll be making the wine you'll be squeezing The Grapes you'll be doing it one more time you'll be back into favor of the king oh man the old baker he liked that he said well let me tell you my dream he said in my dream I had three baskets on the top of my head and said in the third basket there was all kind of bread and said the birds came and began to eat the flesh or the begin to eat the bread out of the third basket you know there's some things you like to tell God's people and there's some things you don't take much kindness and joy to have to tell them but thank God for Joseph that will tell somebody something when it comes to prosperity and when it's not he said well in three days said they're going to come get you but said the Executioner is going to cut your head off and said they're going to put you on a pole and said the birds of the air are going to eat your body but Joseph turned to the butler and he says I've been light on I was sold as a slave I've been lied on and would you plead my case to Pharaoh don't you know that Joseph saw that is his one way out this is this is my one way to get out would you please would you please plead my case to pharaoh but you know what happened the Bible says but the butler forgot Joseph do you know that when we forget what God has done for us we become unfaithful and do you know when we become unthankful we begin to doubt our God Thanksgiving has way more to do than with an emotion because he can be in the midst of a bearing time in your life it could be an immensity of a chaotic time in your life that you have to think back on days of the past when the good hand of God was very manifest in your life and you have to begin to say I thank you for last year's blessings I thank you God for a decade I thank you God that you've kept your hands upon me I'm going to tell you something having a thankful heart will get you through the dark Valley and get you to the day that the sun is going to shine again the the butler forgot Joseph so I got to go all I got to lay this ground this foundation for us to really understand don't you know Joseph ma'am don't you know Joseph watch that prison door well I'll give the butler a few days to get acclimated back in his house and I guarantee you about any time about any time they're going to open that door and I've been I've been sold as a slave and and Pharaoh's going Pharaoh is is going to plead my case and and a week went into a month and a month went in to six months in a year and he just gives up he just gives up but then one morning what was that little phrase again was that everybody that said that I prayed that everybody that said that will be rewarded and those that didn't would need to pray what was that little phrase again one morning the old Butler went in squeezed the grapes and make the wine and he looked up at Mr pharaoh and he looked like somebody beat him with a stick his eyes were bloodshot his eyes were bulging his hair was all messed up he didn't look like the fresh Pharaoh that would wake every morning he said well Mr pharaoh is there something bothering you and he said yeah he said I had a dream last night and said in the dream I was down by the Nile River and said seven well-favored cows came out of the Nile River I mean they were they were well fed they were uh I don't know if they had organic back in them days they were organic I mean they were uh open range cows I mean they were just you know and said it was so well favored and said I was looking at it and said all of a sudden seven skinny cows came out of the Nile River looked like they had been raised in Ethiopia I mean you could count every rib you could you could see their hip bones sticking out the back you could count every rib and said the seven ill-favored cows opened their mouths and ate up all of the fat well-favored cow and he said that's the time I got to finish with that dream said God I said I saw a stalk of corn and said they were seven ears of corn on each stock I mean it was a healthy it was had seven ears of corn on one stalk and he said I looked at that and said all of a sudden the wind began to blow out of the East a hot wind a humid wind a dry wind it it began to it began to blow like a heater and said it just shriveled up it just shriveled up the corn and he said I don't know what I've I've called for the astrologers I've called for The Magicians I've called for all of them to come and they never can give me the interpretation and all of a sudden aren't you thankful that when the Lord is with you you can't beat his timing and that Butler said to the king O King I remember this day my fault you were upset and put me in the prison and said you have a man in this prison that can interpret dreams and the Bible said they called for Joseph and Joseph got up and the scripture says he changed his garment and he shaved himself and he prepared himself and he went and he stood in the presence of pharaoh Pharaoh said to him Pharaoh said I understand I understand that you can interpret dreams in pharaoh and Joseph stopped him just like all of us should stop when the world calls for us and says tell me how to get out of this we don't need them to look at us we need to direct them to our God Our God can help them and pharaoh and Joseph said to Pharaoh he said well let me stop you right there Mr Pharaoh if you don't mind there's nothing in me but it's the God that I serve he's going to give you the interpretation of this dream the God that I serve the god that is with me the God that I serve he's going to give you the interpretation of the dream just like that Joseph told Pharaoh said Mr Pharaoh you're about to enter into seven years of plenty said the land is about to have seven years of plenty Prosperity such as Egypt has never experienced in all the days that Egypt's been a nation said everything is going to be so plenty of it said Pharaoh at the end of seven years there's going to come a famine a drought there's going to become uh there's going to become such a famine that the seven years of famine is going to completely eat all up it's going to eat all up the the good years and he said what you need to do Mr pharaoh is you need to go out right now and to be begin to build barns you need to begin to put back you need to put back a certain amount you need to begin to store up and when with the end of this at the end of seven years when everyone's barns are empty waiting for the next year Egypt will have thousands of grains thousands of Barns and Egypt can not only listen to this now Egypt can not only eat and survive but Egypt can sell corn to the world it'll be something that the world comes down I don't think Joseph was I don't think Joseph was ready for this Pharaoh stands back and Pharaoh says can anybody in this Kingdom find anyone as wise as this man right here can anyone and Pharaoh took off his ring his Signet and he gave it to Joseph and he said Joseph nobody will lift up a foot or a hand in all the land of Egypt what they don't get permission from you I'm going to make you the vice pharaoh of the most mightiest Nation on the earth you will ride in the second Chariot behind me and everyone that sees you Joseph will bow their knee to you everyone that sees you Joseph will give you respect you are the most powerful man in the world besides me can I tell you something today this is more than a story in the Bible and this is more than a narrative that Disney has made a movie this is our hand of our God that will be upon us if we will live our lives and the Lord what's with don't you want to live that way don't you want to live in the Lord Pharaoh gave him a wife they had two children they had one child Manasseh Manasseh she gave him a child and he named him Manasseh that's back when they let the men name the children he said this is Manasseh right here you know what the name Manasseh means for the Lord hath made me forget all the toil of my father's house can I tell you something you need to have something birthed in your life that causes you to forget the hurt of your life if you are only naming children empty pits and brothers that hate you that's all you'll ever have in life but you need to birth a Manasseh in your life you need to look down in the innocent eyes of that child you need to look down into the future of that child and you need to say this is Manasseh because God has made I'm not going to pour a bitter Spirit into you I'm not going to pour a wounded Spirit into you you are more than then I conqueror you are Manasseh I have forgot all the oh I wish somebody helped me preach a little bit here I'm looking at some men and women that are standing today that have some Manassas in their lives oh my mama I feel my help coming on right now I feel my help coming on right now had a second baby boy he looked at that boy and he said I'm calling you Ephraim Ephraim your Ephraim Ephraim means and the Lord has caused me to be fruitful in the land of affliction can I tell you something we have never been Tethered to Wall Street as a matter of fact when we broke ground for this building the economy crashed we have never been Tethered to Wall Street were not Tethered to society can I tell you God doesn't have to have a perfect background to paint his picture on oh you gotta get oh you've got to keep your responsibility is I get I got to keep the Lord with me I know I'm going through something right now but I better keep the Lord with me I I know I've been betrayed I know I've been stabbed in the back I know all kinds of things that happened but I better keep my hands up I better keep my hands lifted I better keep my mouth open I better keep praising God because if I leave God now I'm in trouble I got to have the Lord with me now seven years of plenty Joseph as a matter of fact they they kept the count that's Barn 1500 that's born 2050. that's Barn 5080. and then the Bible just simply says they stop counting how much they had for he puts corn together as the sand of the sea the famine hit your two things are lean in Israel his father and eleven Brothers are just sitting around looking at each other and finally Jacob says to his sons why do y'all just sitting here staring at one another wait is sitting here staring at one another get up and go to Egypt and buy corn but Jacob Jacob had this thing of playing favorites he had a favorite when when Joseph died Jacob took on another favor guess who he was baby Benjamin he said you 10 boys can go but you're not taking Benjamin no you ain't taking my baby now I then lost one boy he ain't taking my baby with you my baby is my favorite and they ain't taking my baby with you and so the ten brothers and here we go ten Brothers go down to Egypt and guess who's standing there to let them in the gate Joseph but they don't recognize Joseph they don't recognize but Joseph recognizes them after all he was 17 years old he was a lad when they threw him in the pit this is 22 years later 22 years later he is already a man's man and they come up and guess what they did a bowed before him they reveraged him they kept their eyes cast on the ground the Bible says and they knew not Joseph but Joseph knew them and I don't think I've even gave my title yet today I'm so sorry I don't even give my title my title is repentance before revelation repentance before revelation now I want to ask you this and we just study could we all just study together this morning can I just tell you how this Courtney can I just tell you how this all kind of played out I read this past week I was reading about Joseph and I came to this part where his brothers come down and Joseph recognizes his brothers but his brothers recognize him and then I keep reading where Joseph said to them rough it says he spoke roughly to them who are you men who are you and they said we are 10 sons of one man we are there's a there's there's actually 12 children in our family but one is not and the our brother is at home and we're all Brothers we're all ten men together we're all Brothers here together he said you're not Brothers but your spies you've come down to spy out the land now I know we can kind of see it now now being accused of a spy is not like getting a speeding ticket all right when you're accused of this of being a spy they kill you in Egypt so all of a sudden all of a sudden they're being accused of being spies and oh no we're no spies we're all belong to one man we've got one father oh no we're not he said your spies you've come to see the nakedness of the land that's what you've done and guess what he did Joseph put them in Ward Ward is a jail put them in jail for three days put them in jail and this is where I had to start pushing the Bible back and to pin down and rubbing my temples a little bit why not have a party right there why not when they come down why not take the rag off your face and why not say I'm Joseph I'm Joseph here and it was as if the Lord spoke to my heart and says when there's no repentance there's not the full amount of Revelation do you know what keeps us from really seeing the things of God in our life like we should repentance repentance I thank God for baptism and water and baptism and spirit and we blow horns and make a big party out of it when somebody's baptized and when somebody gets a holy ghost but do you know what's equally important that little step called repentance the changing of the Mind how you view something how you view something the changing of the Mind you know we will never stop sinning until we get sick of sin have you ever had a favorite food and I'll tell you what what was one of mine and this this goes with me from a little boy was when they first started taking vanilla ice cream cones and dipping them down in chocolate huh and pull it up Dairy Queen didn't have that first Kentucky Fried Chicken on Clinton Highway had that first that's where we went down and got that all right and that was one of my favorite Foods but one night it wasn't it wasn't the the chocolate cone but one night after eating I got some kind of food bug some kind of food poison and to this day to this day not only for weight purposes but for that for this day that is not very appetizing to me because I got so sick after I ate that after I got better it just simply like nah I just don't want that I wish people would do that with sin I wish they would get so sick of sin that when they recover with their shout and they recover with their dance and they recover and the Temptation comes back to say do it again we say no I just don't believe I want any we will never get a full revelation of our God until we have really repented Joseph he put him in jail for three days he put him in jail for three days and then he came down and he said tell what we're going to do so I'm going to keep nine of you down here I'm Gonna Keep nine of you down here in jail and one of you is going to go back and all of a sudden do you know what the brothers started talking right in the presence of Joseph right in the Press it's in the Bible it's in the Bible right in the presence of Joseph in jail they begin to say to one another didn't I tell you when Joseph was telling us to get him out of this hole didn't I tell you we shouldn't have done that didn't I tell you when when Joseph was begging to get out we were hearing him cried we were eating our chicken and drinking our iced tea and we had no caring for him didn't I tell you isn't it amazing that when trouble comes to our life we seem to want to go back to sins that we should have repented and put under the blood they're talking about all the trouble they've got in their life y'all see that with me they're standing there the the the the the the ten brothers are standing there talking about I told you I told you we should have got him out of that hole and this is what's happening to us right now Joseph changed his mind he said tell you what I'll do so I'm gonna let none of you go home and said I'm on I'm gonna put one of you in prison I'm gonna I'm gonna bind one of you up I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna bind one of you up and sister Angelica he chose Simeon he chose Simeon and I believe he chose Simeon for a reason the Bible says Simeon is an instrument of Cruelty Simeon is an instrument of Cruelty it was Simeon their sister got raped by Canaanite and uh Dinah got raped by a Canaanite and it was Simeon that said with the Canaanite town that she was raped in told all the inhabitants said uh said don't don't sweat it don't don't don't take it to heart said accept circumcision said if all of you all will be circumcised so if all of you all accept circumstances and said well everything will be all right and so they circumcised every man in that little town and in the midst of the most painful day that these men were recovering Simeon came in town with a sword and butchered every one of them and God said you're an instrument of Cruelty can I tell you something if you are well you can't be that's if you are a child of God and you're operating in cruelty but you couldn't be a child of God in operating cruelty you might be a backslidden child of God but you're not a child of God because children of God don't operate in cruelty children of God are trying to heal people not hurt people children of God are trying to help people not hinder people children of God are trying to tell people come on get back up I know you failed God I know you made a mistake I know you sinned but come on get back up let's run in this race children of God are not cruelty he said I'll tell you who will bind up we're going to bind up simeons who we're going to bind up because he'll never get a full revelation until Simeon has been bound well The Story Goes On and I I know this is not a lot of going at it today but I want to tell you there's no revelation without repentance so they go back and now they're missing one more Simeon man spoke rough to us as a matter of fact the man told us the man told us don't even come back to Egypt to get more bread if you don't bring Benjamin and Joseph's Jacob said you're not taking Benjamin you're not taking Benjamin Benjamin's not going now I've lost Joseph and now I've lost Simeon and you're not taking Benjamin I couldn't live if Benjamin was lost I couldn't I couldn't make it but you know something he was dogmatic that you're not going to take Benjamin but it's amazing what hunger will do to you you know some of you may have a mind right now you're not going to do something but if it's God's will for you to do it it's amazing when God can put you in the Hunger house what God what you'll do well after a while they got hungry and Judah came up and said I'll take Benjamin and Israel agreed they came down they came down to Egypt and Judah said here 's Benjamin here here's here's Benjamin here he is Joseph said take y'all going down to my house now wouldn't you just when Joseph said go on down to my house would you don't I don't think I have to go very far to stretch this if you are the second in control in the mightiest Nation wouldn't think he lived in a shack would you live in then you live in a house and I think he he live in the house house and so when they walked in there was a long table there brother Carl there was a long dinner table there and Joseph had already arranged in the birth order from Reuben right on down through the birth order right on down to Baby Benjamin being on the last chair and the Bible says that they put an amount of food in each chair each seat but when it came to Benjamin five times as much five times as much they sit around there should you see a boy sitting around saying hey you know something all these name tags you're the first I'm the second he's the third man wow what a lucky guess what a lucky guess here and now Benjamin gets Benjamin gets five times it's magic Benjamin gets five times as much at that time Joseph came in and Joseph still hasn't made himself known to them he's still talking to an interpreter and he talks to them and he gets ready to send them out and he doesn't tell them he doesn't tell them but Joseph has his favorite his favorite cup anybody got anybody got a favorite coffee cup in here today I mean it has many Joseph has a silver cup it's his it's his favorite cup and Joseph tells them Stewart or the manager of his house without his brother's hearing he said fill their bags up with as much corn as they can carry and said that boy right there Benjamin take my silver cup put it in his bag sew it all back up put it on the put it on the mule well they got on their way going back out of town they had bags full of corn and they were just merry with just you know we're going back Simeon had even been released we're going back to Father with mules full of corn here we are when about that time here come here come Joseph Stewart manager and he stopped them all and he said is this how you treat the Mighty Man of the Lamb well excuse me what do you mean what do you mean is this how we treat in stealing his silver cup was it not enough that he gave you corn was it not enough that he took you to his house that you would steal his favorite cup and Reuben said I'll tell you right now whoever the cup is found among shall die shall die they started with the oldest Reuben they started going down no Cup in this bag no Cup in that bag no Cup in this bag and all of a sudden they opened up baby Benjamin's bag and sure enough there was the cup sure and the Bible said they begin them brothers begin to wail they begin to weep they rip their clothes he said come on all of you we're going back to Egypt we're going back to Egypt when they got down to Egypt Joseph was there but he had not yet made himself known and he steps out he said again is this how you treat a man that feeds you is this how you treat somebody that's good to you is this what is this how you do this and and said this man right here this man right here is staying in Egypt and he's going to be a bondsman to me the rest of you could go going back to Israel going back to Canaan if you want to going back wherever and the brothers begin to and I want you to follow this closely the brothers begin to say take me take me no no no no he can't stay here take me let me serve in his place take me and they begin to fight over which one was going to be a bond servant do you know how we can really really tell that we've had a change of heart is when we stop being so selfish when we stop only thinking about ourselves I mean they begin to think about their old gray-headed daddy if Benjamin doesn't come back he'll die right there at the table Church true repentance is when we're not always thinking about ourselves got to have my way got to have things my way got to please me true repentance is when we can begin to think of other people and say let him have that Parkins there are people that are in prison today over a parking spot somebody pulled up at the mall somebody pulled up at the mall and they were supposed to gut this parking spot and somebody cut them off and got in there and somebody reached in the glove box and got a gun and blow their brains out and they're in prison today wow what are you in for well I robbed him back what are you in for well well well well I burglarize the home what are you in for parking spot do you know we do some of the most ridiculous things when we get all wrapped up in ourselves how we know we're children of God take me I prefer my brother I prefer you get a blessing I prefer you get a touch of God upon your life I prefer I prefer it's you and when them brothers brother Dwayne or when them brothers not knowing it was Joseph when them brothers said take me take me take me Joseph thought these ain't the same men that throwed me in that hole these ain't the same men that were so selfish these men have been changed and the Bible said Joseph ordered for everybody all these Egyptian servants get out of the house real quick and the Bible said Joseph took off the mask he took off the rag and he made himself known he made himself known he said I can you imagine what went through their minds when he took that rag off his face and he said I am Joseph I think they were just Spellbound it's been 22 years I am Joseph I am your brother and then he had to tell him to come near come near to me he fell on their faces he fell on their Nets he began to love on them and they're they're all struck that they're all struck they just don't know what is and then he says don't be afraid of me now watch this now for all things work together for good to them who love God and who are called according to his purpose he said men you meant it evil but God meant it for good you meant that you meant to eradicate my life but God knew I had to go through this so that I could be here and I could have the god knew God knew come on would you give him praise right now God knew God knew God knew a few weeks later a bunch of U-Haul well they went in U-Haul but there was a U-Haul of that day wagons were sent from Egypt to go get Israel and I can see Israel standing on his porch waiting for his boys to come back with corn and all of a sudden it looks Over Yonder and he saw the wagons the Bible said he saw the wagons and when they wagons come pulled up in front of his house Reuben or one of them said Daddy you're not going to believe this and we're going to have to be honest with you and tell you the whole story when we brought that coat to you years ago how many of you have got things in your past that you would like for God to tell you the real story of daddy you know that coat that we told you was Joseph and had we killed a goat we rubbed the goat's blood into that coat daddy Joseph is alive and he's down in Egypt he is alive Daddy and he's a mighty warrior he's a mighty person in Egypt and look at these wagons here they're to take you and the Bible says when Jacob saw the wagons his Spirit revived it's about time that God would like to show us some wagons but you're not going to have a revelation of a wagon until you have a revelation of repentance we have got to get all sin out of our Lives if we believe it displeases God repent of it if we know in the Bible God is against it stop doing it we have got to repent of her we have got to get that out of us listen there's one person you need on your side and that is God and God is going to be with you if you will repent God will be with you if you will get those things keep them in your life oh my musicians I've done lost so much track of time musicians come I thought I'd just take you on my trip with me today that I hadn't study can I tell you something he will never prosper keeping sin in your life you'll never prosper he will never get ahead the light at the end of the tunnel will always be the lamp of an oncoming freight train you'll never get ahead in life you'll live by Murphy's Law if it can go wrong it will go you'll live by that law but if you can repent get things between you and God you you don't want to have anything between you and your God you don't because there's no prospering if Joseph hadn't live for God the story would have been somebody else but the simple phrase and the Lord was with Joseph do you know when you're selfish you never hear the joy of life when you're selfish and all you can think about is yourself and things going good for you and you got your way in the marriage and you've got your way among the boys and you got your way I told my son one time and he's a young man he might be Apostolic but he's a young man I said I'm proud of you son he was pulling up at a mall in Atlanta it was going to shop he had waited for a parking spot it's quite crowded he waved for a parking spot and a man two or three rows over got out of a car that he was riding in and brother Darren he walked right beside Nolan's car and stood in the middle of that parking spot and ordered my son to go on he's a man he's got his little new bride with him y'all are y'all picking up what I'm putting down right now he said Daddy I just drove off I said I'm proud of you son I'm proud of you you could get out of that car and had an altercation you could have lost your life over a parking spot and I'm telling you people that rule like that will eventually get God's judgment but don't let God's judgment be at the hand of a child of God when you're selfish no joy no music in your life because you're selfish you're selfish it's all you think about can't Rejoice with no one else can't think of anybody else when you're selfish and you come in from the field and you begin to hear music and there's a party going on you say hey could somebody tell me what's going on oh yes your brother has come home and your father has killed the fatty cat and he struck up the man and your father they're having a party they're eating and they're greeting they're they're drinking they're dancing non-alcoholic of course drinking the eating your brother has come home and because this man you see you think that the whole story there is about the prodigal coming home the the half of that story is about a brother that wouldn't forgive all the stories about the boy coming home that's half the story the real half that Jesus was trying to drive home to the Pharisees that were so judgmental they believed that God would forgive the Pharisees but not the woman caught in the active adult they believe that that God would forgive them but not somebody else and the Bible says he would not go in and the father had to come out and he said come on in and say come on into the joy come on into the joy come on in have a piece of cake come on in man we're having a party your baby brother has come home he said haven't I always served you Heaven I always kept all the rules of the choir handbook Heaven always obeyed all the standards of the church haven't I always done all this but said when my brother went out and got to take it up with harlots and become a wino and and went down and lived like a heathen said he comes home and you receive him with a party can I tell you something today if you don't forget listen the first thing you need to do is to get any sin out between you and God and the second thing you need to do is to forgive anybody in your life that's done you wrong forgive them forgive them I just don't know well listen you can sit outside pull your bottom lip down around your kneecaps and look like you've been baptized in pickle juice and Born On the Dark Side of the Moon you can just go ahead and go through life miserable because I am going to forgive my brother and excuse me let me put my plow down because I'm about to get into the party and I'm about to Rejoice because my brother has come home come on forgive one another forgive one another forgive one another all right come on stand with me this morning would you just lift your hands up right now and before you begin to praise God would you just examine and see if there isn't anybody in my life I haven't forgiven is there anybody in my life that I haven't forgiven is there anybody in my life that I haven't forgiven oh God come on right now come on in the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord was with Joseph oh God Mighty God Mighty God Mighty God Mighty God Mighty God Mighty God listen to me this listen to me and the Bible says and they stoned Stephen calling upon God saying Lord Jesus lay not this sin to their charge and having said so he fell asleep do you know there's rest when you can pray for those that are doing everything they can do to destroy you and you take care of you begin to pray for them you begin to call their name out before god father forgive them don't lay it to the charge oh god oh don't lay into their charge oh God and he fell asleep some of you are living lives of unrest because you're still trying to get even with the people that stoned you forget it this morning forget it right now forget it right now heads are bowed eyes are closed I ask you to help me pray right now this altar is open this place to where we we Bow Down On Our Knees this place where we bring our sins before God this place we bring our sins before God and we say God would you forgive me God would you forgive me oh God would you forgive me Lord God I've broken your rule I've broken your Commandments God God would you forgive me this morning come on this this altar is open right now don't you want the Lord with you don't you want the Lord with you right now don't you want the Lord with you here they come from all over the building right now oh here they come from all over the building right now all over the building here they come you're doing right young people young people you're doing right come on gather up around the altar today gather up around the altar today God I'm a sinner God I have done things that have displeased you God I haven't been truthful God I've committed acts God God there's things in my life God that I've done come on the blood of Jesus is Flowing this morning the blood of Jesus is Flowing this all right maybe maybe you don't have a sin maybe you don't have something between you and God but maybe you have something between you and a brother or you and a sister today come on let's forgive one another right now God In The Name of Jesus today Lord in the name of Jesus today God it won't prosper foreign foreign cause I know I know how this story victory for The Battle Belongs to You Lord I'm gonna see a victory you take what the enemies and you turn it for good you turn it for good foreign to your purpose foreign foreign now in dismissal today I want to give you a revelation on who will be the hardest person to forgive yourself you will be the hardest person to Simply say God I accept your forgiveness God I have been forgiven God you in fact well how do you know bro I don't feel forgiven look up here at your pastor's day you show me one verse in the Bible that says and thou shalt feel forgiven you won't find it forgiveness isn't based on how you feel forgiveness is based on first John 1 9. first John 1 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness go ahead and lift your hands today and say I'm forgiven if you laid your sins on the altar this morning if you laid your sins on the altar today I am forgiven I have been forgiven I've got a revelation of a God that's forgiven me I don't have to do a week a week's training I can be forgiven right now I don't have to have a Year's good behavior for him to forgive me he has forgiven me because I've asked him to today oh thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus and thank you congregation for putting up with this preaching this morning but I just thought I'd take you down my desk my office and just kind of tell you I just couldn't figure out why Joseph put them boys through all that but he knew they needed to get a little dab of repentance on them and if they get them A little dab of repentance on them they'll know how to really really walk with me and really serve me today be back tonight at 5 30 for prayer don't forget 21 days of prayer starts back up in the morning from 6 30 a.m to 8 30 a.m God bless you today you're dismissed and the fear and in the love of God God bless you