388: Andrew Johns – Joseph: Showing Integrity and Vision in Youth

1
00:00:03,960 –> 00:00:05,440
Welcome to good Christophian
talks.

2
00:00:05,920 –> 00:00:08,600
Thank you for joining us this
week on this podcast.

3
00:00:08,600 –> 00:00:11,960
We select one talk a week to
help us get the Bible in our

4
00:00:11,960 –> 00:00:16,000
Daily News feed.
Each week we post a talk that we

5
00:00:16,000 –> 00:00:19,000
previewed from suggestions sent
in by listeners from around the

6
00:00:19,000 –> 00:00:21,560
world.
Then we record a short intro

7
00:00:21,560 –> 00:00:25,040
beforehand as a personalized
recommendation to you on why we

8
00:00:25,040 –> 00:00:28,000
are sharing the talk.
And now let’s talk more about

9
00:00:28,000 –> 00:00:34,520
this week’s talk.
Hello everyone, this is Simon.

10
00:00:35,040 –> 00:00:38,040
This week’s talk is given by our
brother Andrew Johns to the

11
00:00:38,040 –> 00:00:42,080
topic Joseph Showing Integrity
and Vision in Youth.

12
00:00:42,920 –> 00:00:45,680
Although it’s a very long talk,
I found it very encouraging and

13
00:00:45,680 –> 00:00:49,600
especially for young people as
brother Andrew brings out, had

14
00:00:49,600 –> 00:00:53,400
God often used young people to
do a great work or a difficult

15
00:00:53,400 –> 00:00:56,480
task.
The story of Joseph is a truly

16
00:00:56,480 –> 00:01:01,200
inspiring story for us all, so
here is our brother Andrew Johns

17
00:01:01,200 –> 00:01:04,480
on Joseph showing integrity and
vision in youth.

18
00:01:05,880 –> 00:01:10,840
I wonder if you’ve ever noticed
throughout the Scriptures just

19
00:01:10,840 –> 00:01:16,080
how many young people’s lives
have been recorded by the Divine

20
00:01:16,080 –> 00:01:19,320
Pen in more than superficial
detail.

21
00:01:21,720 –> 00:01:24,240
It seems, brothers and sisters
and young people, that whenever

22
00:01:24,240 –> 00:01:28,720
Yahweh wanted a great work done
in the earth or a difficult

23
00:01:28,720 –> 00:01:35,360
task, no matter what it was in
Israel or to the nations, that

24
00:01:35,360 –> 00:01:42,120
He chose a young man, sometimes
from the womb, in order, in

25
00:01:42,120 –> 00:01:46,040
order that he might prepare for
that work which was to be done.

26
00:01:46,400 –> 00:01:49,440
And we only have to cast our
minds very cursorily back

27
00:01:49,440 –> 00:01:51,960
across, for example, the Old
Testament.

28
00:01:52,920 –> 00:01:57,440
And you think of Joseph who
saved his brethren, of Moses who

29
00:01:57,440 –> 00:02:02,200
saved all of Israel out of
Egypt, of David who brought the

30
00:02:02,200 –> 00:02:06,160
nation together under the
kingship of Jeremiah, of Daniel,

31
00:02:06,160 –> 00:02:11,080
of Ezekiel in captivity, and
later of John the Baptist, or of

32
00:02:11,080 –> 00:02:14,440
our Lord himself.
What about Timothy and many

33
00:02:14,440 –> 00:02:19,080
other of Paul’s companions, all
called in the prime of their

34
00:02:19,080 –> 00:02:22,760
youth, mostly when they are
teenagers.

35
00:02:24,520 –> 00:02:26,440
You know, that’s telling us
something, brethren and sisters

36
00:02:26,440 –> 00:02:28,480
and young people.
It’s telling us something very

37
00:02:28,480 –> 00:02:36,320
important, that God sees youth
as a very important time of

38
00:02:36,320 –> 00:02:40,360
life.
Young people never forget it.

39
00:02:42,240 –> 00:02:45,600
It’s not our intention at the
moment, nor in tonight’s study

40
00:02:46,320 –> 00:02:50,960
to take our theme and expand it.
We’ll do that, God willing,

41
00:02:50,960 –> 00:02:54,560
tomorrow night.
But we’re going to focus for

42
00:02:54,560 –> 00:02:58,000
this week, God willing, in the
days that are ahead, upon the

43
00:02:58,000 –> 00:03:03,720
lives of just 66 out of many
whose lives are recorded through

44
00:03:03,720 –> 00:03:10,760
the pages of the Word. 6 young
people that God took in their

45
00:03:10,760 –> 00:03:14,520
youth and used to forward his
purpose.

46
00:03:15,640 –> 00:03:20,400
And it’s amazing how much detail
has been recorded in the lives

47
00:03:20,560 –> 00:03:25,160
of not only these young
individuals but of many others

48
00:03:25,160 –> 00:03:28,960
as well.
We’re not going to have time to

49
00:03:29,240 –> 00:03:32,920
to dwell on all their strengths
and all their weaknesses, but we

50
00:03:32,920 –> 00:03:37,200
will be able to touch from time
to time upon the zeal and what

51
00:03:37,200 –> 00:03:40,920
drove these young people in
their early days, and

52
00:03:40,920 –> 00:03:48,000
particularly what God did in
their lives and what pressures

53
00:03:48,000 –> 00:03:52,280
God brought to bear upon them
and what their reaction was

54
00:03:52,280 –> 00:03:55,440
under those pressures.
Because we hear a lot about

55
00:03:55,440 –> 00:03:58,520
pressures, don’t we?
Pressures of this life,

56
00:03:59,080 –> 00:04:01,800
pressures of an evil and godless
world.

57
00:04:02,480 –> 00:04:06,120
And that’s very true.
The pressures are increasing

58
00:04:06,120 –> 00:04:07,520
every day.
We know it.

59
00:04:08,160 –> 00:04:11,040
We don’t have to be young to
know that it’s happening to us

60
00:04:11,080 –> 00:04:13,000
all, is it not?
Brethren and sisters, we’re

61
00:04:13,000 –> 00:04:17,360
feeling the pressure as the
world grinds closer and closer

62
00:04:17,680 –> 00:04:19,640
to the eventful fate of
Armageddon.

63
00:04:21,480 –> 00:04:26,520
But we needn’t despair, because
here in front of us, young

64
00:04:26,520 –> 00:04:31,120
people and brethren and sisters,
God has memorialized the lives

65
00:04:31,600 –> 00:04:37,640
of faithful young people who
have borne incredible pressures

66
00:04:38,960 –> 00:04:43,560
and have stood straight with
integrity, with vision and

67
00:04:43,560 –> 00:04:46,800
faith, and have withstood
everything else around them

68
00:04:46,800 –> 00:04:54,520
against all odds.
And God has used them to move

69
00:04:55,160 –> 00:05:00,360
unrepentant hearts back to him.
And that’s what we’re going to

70
00:05:00,360 –> 00:05:02,800
see tonight in the life of
Joseph.

71
00:05:05,000 –> 00:05:08,720
I’d like you, before we go to
Joseph, to come to the words of

72
00:05:08,720 –> 00:05:12,320
the wise man at the end of
Ecclesiastes at Chapter 11.

73
00:05:14,160 –> 00:05:16,960
We know Solomon had tried
everything under the sun in his

74
00:05:16,960 –> 00:05:20,520
youth, I might add.
It was at a time when he had

75
00:05:20,520 –> 00:05:24,120
energy and vigor, when he could
do whatever he liked.

76
00:05:24,120 –> 00:05:28,120
He had the resources at his
hands, and that he did.

77
00:05:29,400 –> 00:05:31,400
He tried everything there was to
try.

78
00:05:33,880 –> 00:05:39,960
He got himself into trouble, but
at the end of his days penned

79
00:05:40,920 –> 00:05:45,920
words to all generations
thereafter about what he found.

80
00:05:47,080 –> 00:05:51,000
And in verse 9 of Chapter 11 he
gives advice to young.

81
00:05:52,000 –> 00:05:55,720
He says in verse 9, Rejoice, O
young man in thy youth and, and

82
00:05:55,720 –> 00:05:59,000
let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth and walk in

83
00:05:59,000 –> 00:06:02,000
the ways of thine heart and in
the sight of thine eyes.

84
00:06:02,280 –> 00:06:07,600
But know thou that for all these
things God will bring thee into

85
00:06:07,600 –> 00:06:10,000
judgement.
You know, it seems on the

86
00:06:10,000 –> 00:06:15,040
surface that that Solomon is
being very cynical there as if

87
00:06:15,040 –> 00:06:18,040
to say go and do whatever you
like, but God will bring you

88
00:06:18,040 –> 00:06:19,400
into judgement.
I don’t think he’s saying that

89
00:06:19,400 –> 00:06:21,520
at all.
Brethren, Sisters, what he’s

90
00:06:21,520 –> 00:06:26,280
saying is that youth is a time
of vigor and enthusiasm, of

91
00:06:26,280 –> 00:06:31,400
optimism and opportunity.
Grasp those opportunities.

92
00:06:31,400 –> 00:06:34,960
He says.
Rejoice in your youth, but

93
00:06:34,960 –> 00:06:39,200
temper all that you do in youth
in taking those opportunities.

94
00:06:39,680 –> 00:06:43,720
Temper it all with the knowledge
that God is there and we’ll

95
00:06:43,720 –> 00:06:48,440
bring all into judgement.
You know, life is not one big

96
00:06:48,440 –> 00:06:52,160
search for fun and excitement
and enjoyment.

97
00:06:52,560 –> 00:06:56,800
From the beginning of our days
to the end of our life, there is

98
00:06:56,800 –> 00:07:00,840
a seriousness about life that
should be remembered in youth.

99
00:07:01,120 –> 00:07:07,400
Though youth ought to be a time
of rejoicing, of happiness, of

100
00:07:07,600 –> 00:07:10,920
grasping opportunities, of
challenges.

101
00:07:11,920 –> 00:07:15,320
Young people, many of today’s
youth, have thrown those away.

102
00:07:15,320 –> 00:07:19,360
They want no challenges.
All they want to do is lull

103
00:07:19,360 –> 00:07:23,880
around and waste their lives.
Grasp opportunities.

104
00:07:23,880 –> 00:07:26,200
That’s what Solomon says.
Grasp them.

105
00:07:26,320 –> 00:07:30,000
But he goes on in verse 10,
therefore he says, remove sorrow

106
00:07:30,000 –> 00:07:34,760
from thine hearts and put away
evil from your flesh for

107
00:07:34,760 –> 00:07:40,720
childhood and the prime of life.
It’s not the same word as as his

108
00:07:40,720 –> 00:07:44,960
rendered youth elsewhere here in
verse 9 and in the next verse in

109
00:07:44,960 –> 00:07:48,920
chapter 12.
For childhood and the prime of

110
00:07:48,920 –> 00:07:55,920
life are vanity.
Put evil away, because it will

111
00:07:55,920 –> 00:08:01,760
only bring sorrow in the end.
And remember verse one now thy

112
00:08:01,760 –> 00:08:06,800
Creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come

113
00:08:06,800 –> 00:08:10,840
not, nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say, I have no

114
00:08:10,840 –> 00:08:13,360
pleasure in them.
You know what the most important

115
00:08:13,400 –> 00:08:18,800
word in that verse is?
Young people underline it now.

116
00:08:20,440 –> 00:08:25,680
Remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth.

117
00:08:27,200 –> 00:08:30,200
You see, brethren and sisters
and young people, that’s the

118
00:08:30,200 –> 00:08:32,440
hardest time of life to
remember.

119
00:08:33,520 –> 00:08:37,960
When we’re old and almost facing
the grave, it’s very easy to

120
00:08:37,960 –> 00:08:42,080
remember that there is a Creator
in heaven who will be able to

121
00:08:42,080 –> 00:08:44,560
recreate our faculties that
we’ve lost.

122
00:08:44,560 –> 00:08:48,000
It’s very easy to do that on a
on a bed where we can hardly

123
00:08:48,000 –> 00:08:50,520
move.
When we’ve lost our mobility.

124
00:08:50,720 –> 00:08:55,320
It’s very easy then, but it’s
exceedingly difficult in youth

125
00:08:55,320 –> 00:08:58,760
to remember that there is a
Creator.

126
00:08:59,400 –> 00:09:03,360
Remember now while this
opportunity, Solomon says at the

127
00:09:03,360 –> 00:09:06,880
end of his life, regretting much
of his life.

128
00:09:07,360 –> 00:09:11,400
Remember now when it’s difficult
to do that.

129
00:09:14,040 –> 00:09:16,720
And we’re going to see that
tonight in the life of Joseph,

130
00:09:18,680 –> 00:09:26,320
an inspiring individual who put
away evil from his life and

131
00:09:26,320 –> 00:09:34,520
remembered now at 17, his
creator in the days of his

132
00:09:34,520 –> 00:09:38,440
youth.
You know, brothers and sisters,

133
00:09:38,920 –> 00:09:43,720
when the world generally and
people talk about the whole of

134
00:09:43,720 –> 00:09:48,280
life, we often we do it
ourselves.

135
00:09:48,280 –> 00:09:53,680
We talk of childhood and
adolescence and adulthood, and

136
00:09:53,680 –> 00:09:58,040
sometimes adulthood is broken up
into various stages, all

137
00:09:58,040 –> 00:10:04,320
artificial stages except one,
because God doesn’t recognize

138
00:10:04,360 –> 00:10:10,000
those stages per SE.
You’ll find that Scripture

139
00:10:10,000 –> 00:10:13,120
brethren and sisters and the
apostle Paul and our Lord

140
00:10:13,120 –> 00:10:22,000
himself all understand life as
being made-up of childhood and

141
00:10:22,000 –> 00:10:25,680
the rest of life.
There is no artificial

142
00:10:25,680 –> 00:10:32,520
distinction made for teenagers,
for adolescents.

143
00:10:33,680 –> 00:10:36,720
And there is a phenomenon in
this world over the last 30

144
00:10:36,720 –> 00:10:41,760
years that has almost made
teenagers a subculture or a

145
00:10:41,760 –> 00:10:48,240
subspecies of the human race.
And the media has accelerated

146
00:10:48,240 –> 00:10:53,160
that understanding.
And there is completely

147
00:10:53,160 –> 00:10:58,760
distinctive dress and language
and culture that goes with with

148
00:10:58,800 –> 00:11:03,640
teenage and it’s perpetuated by
the big corporations that want

149
00:11:03,640 –> 00:11:06,240
to sell and that advertise
constantly.

150
00:11:06,360 –> 00:11:09,720
And it’s picked up by the media
and sensationalized and young

151
00:11:09,720 –> 00:11:13,360
people come to think that they
are different.

152
00:11:15,280 –> 00:11:18,800
But God doesn’t see life like
that young people.

153
00:11:20,360 –> 00:11:28,600
God sees life as childhood and
adulthood and youth or teenage

154
00:11:28,600 –> 00:11:34,400
fits into the latter, because in
teenage young people, we have

155
00:11:34,400 –> 00:11:39,400
the mental and the moral
capabilities to understand the

156
00:11:39,400 –> 00:11:46,800
Creator and are therefore
increasingly responsible and

157
00:11:46,800 –> 00:11:50,520
accountable to Him.
And when we have a look at this,

158
00:11:50,520 –> 00:11:53,280
these words that Solomon has
just said, that’s exactly what

159
00:11:53,280 –> 00:11:56,480
it’s saying, is it not?
It’s saying rejoice in thy

160
00:11:56,480 –> 00:12:01,640
youth, grasp those
opportunities, but remember your

161
00:12:01,640 –> 00:12:05,080
Creator.
It’s obvious that in youth there

162
00:12:05,080 –> 00:12:09,520
are responsibilities which God
expects to rest on our

163
00:12:09,520 –> 00:12:14,040
shoulders.
And it’s not just that, he says,

164
00:12:14,520 –> 00:12:16,560
and put away evil from your
flesh.

165
00:12:16,800 –> 00:12:20,560
He expects in youth us to be
able to make those distinctions.

166
00:12:21,800 –> 00:12:25,120
We’re adults when we’re in our
teens.

167
00:12:25,360 –> 00:12:29,400
And if we’re in Jewish society
from the age of 12, we would

168
00:12:29,400 –> 00:12:34,200
have increasingly taken on very
serious responsibilities of

169
00:12:34,200 –> 00:12:37,800
adulthood, which today are
pushed off and pushed off and

170
00:12:37,800 –> 00:12:40,520
pushed off.
And many young people have

171
00:12:40,520 –> 00:12:46,160
almost no responsibilities, no
accountability until much, much

172
00:12:46,160 –> 00:12:49,800
later in life.
But we’re going to see a young

173
00:12:49,800 –> 00:12:54,520
man tonight, brothers and
sisters and young people, who

174
00:12:54,520 –> 00:12:59,800
definitely had enormous
responsibilities on his

175
00:12:59,800 –> 00:13:04,560
shoulders.
We meet him at 17 years of age

176
00:13:05,400 –> 00:13:10,800
under extreme pressure.
And the remarkable thing is that

177
00:13:10,840 –> 00:13:14,720
God took notice of him.
You know, there must be around

178
00:13:14,720 –> 00:13:18,520
this world millions upon
millions of 17 year olds.

179
00:13:20,560 –> 00:13:25,800
And I wonder how many of those
young people God is interested

180
00:13:25,800 –> 00:13:30,440
in.
I wonder how many 17 year olds

181
00:13:30,440 –> 00:13:33,200
God is really interested in in
this world.

182
00:13:34,920 –> 00:13:38,960
But he was interested in this
one when he was 17 years old,

183
00:13:38,960 –> 00:13:44,840
years of age, and he laid on his
shoulders tremendous

184
00:13:44,840 –> 00:13:47,640
responsibilities.
You know what he did?

185
00:13:48,720 –> 00:13:56,000
God took him at 17 and put in
train a process by which he

186
00:13:56,000 –> 00:14:00,080
would put his entire purpose
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

187
00:14:00,440 –> 00:14:05,880
back on track because his other
eleven brothers had virtually

188
00:14:05,880 –> 00:14:09,880
left the truth.
And he was given the

189
00:14:09,880 –> 00:14:14,560
responsibility of getting them
back into the truth so that

190
00:14:14,560 –> 00:14:17,680
God’s purpose might be able to
go forward with all Israel.

191
00:14:17,680 –> 00:14:21,440
And he’s 17 years old.
Amazing, isn’t it?

192
00:14:21,760 –> 00:14:24,680
We’re going to see tonight in
Joseph’s life an illustration

193
00:14:24,920 –> 00:14:29,840
not only of tremendous faith, of
belief in the impossible,

194
00:14:29,960 –> 00:14:34,080
humanly speaking, not only are
we going to see God’s Providence

195
00:14:34,080 –> 00:14:38,800
worked out and a young man
obviously seeing what Providence

196
00:14:38,800 –> 00:14:43,560
was all about in his teens and
his early 20s.

197
00:14:45,240 –> 00:14:48,680
But what is most remarkable
about this individual is the

198
00:14:48,680 –> 00:14:54,920
enormous influence that his
life, character and example had

199
00:14:54,920 –> 00:14:58,360
on any and everyone that had
ever come in contact with him.

200
00:15:00,440 –> 00:15:06,080
And God picked him at 17.
He had a tremendous pull on his

201
00:15:06,080 –> 00:15:07,840
family.
Oh, they hated him.

202
00:15:07,920 –> 00:15:10,000
They didn’t want us, couldn’t
stand the sight of him.

203
00:15:10,120 –> 00:15:12,960
They tried to kill him, selling
him off into Egypt, and that

204
00:15:12,960 –> 00:15:14,640
would be the end of him.
They would never hear of it

205
00:15:14,640 –> 00:15:19,080
again.
But eventually they came to be

206
00:15:19,080 –> 00:15:21,320
very powerfully influenced by
him.

207
00:15:22,560 –> 00:15:25,680
And there were Gentiles who
likewise were powerfully

208
00:15:25,680 –> 00:15:32,440
influenced.
There was Potiphar, the prison

209
00:15:32,440 –> 00:15:37,480
guy, there was the Butler, the
biker, the list goes on.

210
00:15:38,120 –> 00:15:42,560
And the ruler of the world was
impressed with this man.

211
00:15:45,120 –> 00:15:51,160
And that’s not all.
Moses was deeply impressed with

212
00:15:51,160 –> 00:15:54,520
the life of Joseph.
Deeply impressed.

213
00:15:56,720 –> 00:16:01,640
And he made sure that that stone
coffin, as difficult as it was

214
00:16:01,640 –> 00:16:06,560
to carry, was marched all the
way from Egypt into the Promised

215
00:16:06,560 –> 00:16:10,280
Land.
For 40 years, Joseph’s example

216
00:16:10,280 –> 00:16:15,040
sat in the midst of an evil
generation and reminded them of

217
00:16:15,040 –> 00:16:18,200
the faith and the vision that
should have got them there long

218
00:16:18,200 –> 00:16:21,960
before.
And Joseph’s The record of

219
00:16:21,960 –> 00:16:28,200
Joseph’s life, with 14 chapters
of Genesis recorded here for us,

220
00:16:28,360 –> 00:16:32,840
has continued to influence
people like us, all young and

221
00:16:32,840 –> 00:16:37,680
old, for many generations.
Since it’s a very powerful and

222
00:16:37,680 –> 00:16:41,320
moving story, we’re not going to
have time to look at all of

223
00:16:41,320 –> 00:16:46,240
Joseph’s life by any means.
But let’s go to the start and

224
00:16:46,240 –> 00:16:50,360
see how God introduces him into
the record in Genesis chapter

225
00:16:50,360 –> 00:16:56,720
37.
If we read our Bibles carefully,

226
00:16:56,720 –> 00:17:01,720
we’ll see what God thought of
this individual we find in

227
00:17:01,720 –> 00:17:06,440
Genesis 37 at verse one.
And Jacob dwelt in the land

228
00:17:06,440 –> 00:17:10,079
wherein his father was a
stranger in the land of Canaan.

229
00:17:10,680 –> 00:17:15,240
Well, we already knew that
because if you’d been reading

230
00:17:15,240 –> 00:17:17,839
the few chapters before, you
would know that he was already

231
00:17:17,839 –> 00:17:20,560
in the land of Canaan and he was
dwelling where his father.

232
00:17:20,680 –> 00:17:25,160
Why tell us that?
But it’s really quite important,

233
00:17:25,160 –> 00:17:28,720
Brethren and sisters, the
Scripture doesn’t waste words.

234
00:17:29,840 –> 00:17:34,160
Jacob is still a stranger.
That’s the point.

235
00:17:35,360 –> 00:17:39,040
You see, if you look back at
verse the previous chapter,

236
00:17:39,040 –> 00:17:42,720
right at the end of the previous
chapter, verse 40, for example,

237
00:17:42,960 –> 00:17:45,760
through to verse 43 read.
And these are the names of the

238
00:17:45,760 –> 00:17:48,160
Dukes that came of Esau
according to their families,

239
00:17:48,160 –> 00:17:50,160
after their places by their
names.

240
00:17:50,400 –> 00:17:52,640
And there was Duke.
This, this is all the list of

241
00:17:52,640 –> 00:17:58,440
all these Dukes down to verse 43
according to their habitations

242
00:17:58,880 –> 00:18:04,760
in the land of their possession.
And he is the Esau, the father

243
00:18:04,760 –> 00:18:09,520
of the Edomites.
And Jacob dwelt in the land of

244
00:18:09,520 –> 00:18:14,080
his father’s sojournings.
There’s a dramatic contrast

245
00:18:14,600 –> 00:18:18,720
between Esau and Jacob.
Esau has already settled himself

246
00:18:18,720 –> 00:18:22,320
down in his habitations, in his
possessions, in the land, put

247
00:18:22,320 –> 00:18:25,240
his roots down and his belongs
there in Edom.

248
00:18:26,280 –> 00:18:31,360
But Jacob is still dwelling in
his father’s sojournings.

249
00:18:31,600 –> 00:18:35,440
That’s saying something.
It’s saying that Jacob has still

250
00:18:35,800 –> 00:18:39,640
got the promises in his heart.
He still is faithful.

251
00:18:39,800 –> 00:18:43,680
And he’s the third generation,
You know, that the faithfulness

252
00:18:43,680 –> 00:18:46,560
went even further, that went at
least to the next generation,

253
00:18:46,760 –> 00:18:51,680
even though the apostle Paul
says in Hebrews, he says, and by

254
00:18:51,680 –> 00:18:56,040
faith he, Abraham that is
sojourned in the land of

255
00:18:56,040 –> 00:19:00,800
promise, as in a strange country
dwelling in tabernacles with

256
00:19:00,880 –> 00:19:05,160
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise.

257
00:19:05,280 –> 00:19:08,280
So the very fact that we read
here that he’s sojourning still

258
00:19:08,280 –> 00:19:12,040
as a stranger is picked up by
Paul in Hebrews to say he’s

259
00:19:12,040 –> 00:19:14,720
still faithfully hanging on to
those promises.

260
00:19:15,480 –> 00:19:17,360
But Esau had chosen not to do
that.

261
00:19:18,160 –> 00:19:21,280
You know, if we read our Bibles
very carefully and this is a

262
00:19:21,280 –> 00:19:23,840
good exercise for you young
people, when you go home, you,

263
00:19:24,080 –> 00:19:29,560
you skim through the last
previous 7 or 8 chapters of

264
00:19:29,560 –> 00:19:34,080
Genesis here and you’ll find
this, that Jacob’s life is

265
00:19:34,080 –> 00:19:36,200
dotted by movement all over the
place.

266
00:19:36,200 –> 00:19:40,840
In fact, it’s very interesting
that it was as soon as Joseph

267
00:19:41,200 –> 00:19:47,000
was born that Jacob decided to
uproot out of the land of Paedon

268
00:19:47,000 –> 00:19:49,320
Arum.
And, you know, we find there’s

269
00:19:49,320 –> 00:19:53,120
no more, no less than 10
individual movements and

270
00:19:53,120 –> 00:19:58,080
stopping places all the way from
Paedon right back here to where

271
00:19:58,080 –> 00:20:01,600
we find him here at Hebron.
And through all that period,

272
00:20:01,600 –> 00:20:05,200
which is the period in which
Joseph is growing up, what do

273
00:20:05,200 –> 00:20:08,680
you think Joseph’s learning?
Is he learning that this world

274
00:20:08,680 –> 00:20:11,600
is permanent and you’ve got to
get out there and get everything

275
00:20:11,600 –> 00:20:15,000
you can, build your empire,
build your riches.

276
00:20:17,240 –> 00:20:20,480
He’s learning, brothers and
sisters, what his father was

277
00:20:20,480 –> 00:20:23,560
living.
He’s learning to be a sojourner.

278
00:20:25,000 –> 00:20:29,440
Because he was never still,
always intense, always moving

279
00:20:29,440 –> 00:20:31,960
on.
And for the whole of Joseph’s

280
00:20:31,960 –> 00:20:36,920
life, that’s all he’d known.
And he learned that lesson well.

281
00:20:37,960 –> 00:20:41,040
But verse 2 tells us, and these
are the generations of Jacob.

282
00:20:43,760 –> 00:20:47,960
Joseph, being 17 years old, was
feeding the flock with his

283
00:20:47,960 –> 00:20:51,680
brethren.
And to any astute reader, that

284
00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:55,560
has to be an incredibly strange
verse, particularly if you’re

285
00:20:55,560 –> 00:21:00,000
familiar with Genesis, because
we find this term and these are

286
00:21:00,000 –> 00:21:04,600
the generations of da, da, da 10
times in Genesis.

287
00:21:05,040 –> 00:21:07,720
And you go back and have a look
at them and you’ll find, for

288
00:21:07,720 –> 00:21:12,440
example, in just the previous
chapter, chapter 36, we find

289
00:21:12,720 –> 00:21:14,880
verse 9.
And these are the generations of

290
00:21:14,880 –> 00:21:16,320
Esau, the father of the
Edomites.

291
00:21:16,440 –> 00:21:18,080
These are the names of Esau’s
sons.

292
00:21:19,000 –> 00:21:22,400
Sonic just lists son after son
after son after son, after

293
00:21:22,400 –> 00:21:24,040
generation, after generation
after generation.

294
00:21:24,040 –> 00:21:26,840
The whole of that chapter is
just taken up with genealogies.

295
00:21:27,040 –> 00:21:30,000
You check that out.
You’ll find that whenever that

296
00:21:30,000 –> 00:21:33,120
phrase is used, these are the
generations and gives the name

297
00:21:33,160 –> 00:21:37,080
of of the progenitor that then
follows a list of all their

298
00:21:37,080 –> 00:21:39,680
descendants.
Or what do we find here?

299
00:21:40,440 –> 00:21:46,280
These are the generations of
Jacob, Joseph.

300
00:21:48,960 –> 00:21:53,440
Where’s all the others?
Where’s Reuben and Simeon and

301
00:21:53,440 –> 00:21:55,320
Levi and Judah?
Where are they?

302
00:21:55,640 –> 00:21:58,840
They’re not there.
There’s nothing about them.

303
00:22:00,200 –> 00:22:03,200
They don’t even deserve to be in
Jacob’s genealogy.

304
00:22:03,400 –> 00:22:06,360
That’s what it’s saying, because
Jacob is being introduced in

305
00:22:06,360 –> 00:22:11,800
here as a faithful supporter of
the promises, and here are his

306
00:22:11,800 –> 00:22:16,200
generations, and you have to go
all through all of his sons,

307
00:22:16,200 –> 00:22:20,760
right down to the 11th son
before you find one that’s got

308
00:22:20,760 –> 00:22:27,320
the same spirit as Jacob.
And there he is, Joseph, and

309
00:22:27,320 –> 00:22:32,480
he’s only 17.
That’s the introduction we get

310
00:22:32,680 –> 00:22:37,080
in the divine record to Joseph.
What an amazing thing that is

311
00:22:37,440 –> 00:22:40,120
alone.
He is singled out as a faithful

312
00:22:40,120 –> 00:22:42,520
follower of the promises.
You know what that’s saying?

313
00:22:42,720 –> 00:22:47,120
Not one of his other brothers
ahead of him had accepted the

314
00:22:47,120 –> 00:22:51,840
truth.
In effect, look what it tells

315
00:22:51,840 –> 00:22:54,160
us.
He was feeding his flock with

316
00:22:54,160 –> 00:22:56,880
his brethren.
Middle of verse 2 and the lad

317
00:22:56,880 –> 00:23:02,360
was with the sons of Bilhar and
with the sons of Zilpah, his

318
00:23:02,360 –> 00:23:06,560
father’s wife, wives.
They didn’t even call the sons

319
00:23:06,560 –> 00:23:10,960
of Jacob because they weren’t,
they certainly weren’t the sons

320
00:23:10,960 –> 00:23:15,640
of Israel.
They were the sons of Bilhah and

321
00:23:15,640 –> 00:23:17,960
Zufa.
That’s who they were.

322
00:23:18,640 –> 00:23:21,560
They had no affinity whatever
with Joseph.

323
00:23:22,600 –> 00:23:25,240
They had little affinity with
their father apart from that he

324
00:23:25,240 –> 00:23:30,280
was physically their father.
What an incredibly tragic record

325
00:23:30,280 –> 00:23:34,040
that is.
And that’s where we find Joseph.

326
00:23:35,920 –> 00:23:42,560
We find him in the midst of
anything but a comfortable

327
00:23:43,240 –> 00:23:50,200
Christadelphian high.
It was characterized by by

328
00:23:50,200 –> 00:23:54,760
tension and and unhappiness and
tragedy from start to end.

329
00:23:54,880 –> 00:23:57,800
All of Joseph’s life, that’s all
he would ever have known,

330
00:23:58,000 –> 00:24:01,840
brethren and sisters and young
people, because Jacob had two

331
00:24:01,840 –> 00:24:06,800
wives that brought into that
family contention and division

332
00:24:06,800 –> 00:24:12,440
and rivalry that ripped it apart
and was immediately transferred

333
00:24:12,440 –> 00:24:16,520
to the to all the sons and the
daughters in in that family so

334
00:24:16,520 –> 00:24:20,880
that they likewise grew up
amongst all of that with those

335
00:24:20,880 –> 00:24:24,080
same characteristics.
You know, Joseph lost his mother

336
00:24:24,080 –> 00:24:29,720
at a very early age when his
father, mind you, was 108 years

337
00:24:29,720 –> 00:24:32,760
old.
So what support did he have as a

338
00:24:32,760 –> 00:24:34,520
tiny little attacker running
around?

339
00:24:35,520 –> 00:24:39,400
And you think of the influence
that that he had on him.

340
00:24:39,800 –> 00:24:42,800
You just think of Reuben.
You know what Reuben did went

341
00:24:42,800 –> 00:24:48,000
into his father’s wife.
What about Judah and what he did

342
00:24:48,040 –> 00:24:50,360
out in the land?
What about Levite and Simeon,

343
00:24:50,360 –> 00:24:55,040
who made Jacob’s name to stink
in Shechem because of the deceit

344
00:24:55,520 –> 00:24:58,000
and the the wickedness that they
did in that place?

345
00:24:58,480 –> 00:25:01,000
And they’re his Big Brothers
that he’s looking up to in that

346
00:25:01,000 –> 00:25:04,880
family.
It’s amazing that at 17 he

347
00:25:04,880 –> 00:25:07,400
appears in this record, isn’t
it?

348
00:25:07,400 –> 00:25:11,400
And look what we find.
He brings to his father the end

349
00:25:11,400 –> 00:25:18,520
of verse 2, their evil report.
His brothers absolutely detested

350
00:25:18,520 –> 00:25:19,600
him.
Look at verse 4.

351
00:25:19,600 –> 00:25:23,520
And when his brothers saw that
their father loved him more than

352
00:25:23,560 –> 00:25:29,200
all his brethren, they hated him
and couldn’t speak peaceably and

353
00:25:29,200 –> 00:25:30,920
they couldn’t even speak civilly
to him.

354
00:25:31,080 –> 00:25:32,520
They weren’t peaceably there as
Shalom.

355
00:25:32,520 –> 00:25:35,280
They couldn’t even say hello.
And they wouldn’t.

356
00:25:36,720 –> 00:25:40,040
What an amazing thing in a
family that is of all those

357
00:25:40,040 –> 00:25:44,080
lands.
And he’s the the little young

358
00:25:44,080 –> 00:25:48,800
boy growing up in that family.
And his older mature brothers

359
00:25:49,840 –> 00:25:56,440
would not even say hello.
And that hatred grew.

360
00:25:56,440 –> 00:25:59,760
Verse 5 And Joseph dreamed a
dream and told it his brethren,

361
00:26:00,600 –> 00:26:05,960
and they hated him.
Yet the more, and we know that

362
00:26:05,960 –> 00:26:12,880
that hatred even boiled over to
the extent in verse 18 that they

363
00:26:12,880 –> 00:26:18,120
wanted to slay him.
They hate that hatred grew when

364
00:26:18,440 –> 00:26:22,600
he began talking about the truth
and when he didn’t leave them

365
00:26:22,600 –> 00:26:27,560
alone, when he persisted, all
they could think of doing was

366
00:26:27,560 –> 00:26:30,880
quieting, quieting his voice
forever.

367
00:26:31,720 –> 00:26:33,640
And eventually they sold him
into slavery.

368
00:26:35,480 –> 00:26:40,360
They lied to get out of it.
They deceived their aged father

369
00:26:42,160 –> 00:26:44,120
for 20 years.
They deceived him.

370
00:26:45,120 –> 00:26:50,280
That’s what sort of men were in
Joseph’s family.

371
00:26:51,960 –> 00:26:55,840
And with callous indifference
they watched the grief of their

372
00:26:55,840 –> 00:27:00,160
father, whose Gray hairs were
brought down to the grave in

373
00:27:00,160 –> 00:27:02,760
sorrowing for the only godly son
that he had.

374
00:27:05,760 –> 00:27:15,120
And they couldn’t care. 2 hoots.
And Joseph, when he was 567, was

375
00:27:15,120 –> 00:27:19,240
growing up with their influence.
It was not an easy family to

376
00:27:19,240 –> 00:27:22,840
grow up nor an easy family to
learn the truth in.

377
00:27:24,120 –> 00:27:29,320
And well before he was 17, young
people, there were enormous

378
00:27:29,320 –> 00:27:36,800
pressures, pressures that that
we mostly don’t even understand.

379
00:27:39,160 –> 00:27:43,520
And God allowed it to be so.
And yet out of all of that, he

380
00:27:43,520 –> 00:27:48,040
singled out as the as the single
godly seed in that household at

381
00:27:48,040 –> 00:27:50,280
17, young people, think about
that.

382
00:27:50,960 –> 00:27:57,760
At 17, where do we meet him?
Well, he burst too told us he

383
00:27:57,760 –> 00:28:00,480
was feeding the flock with his
brethren.

384
00:28:02,080 –> 00:28:05,720
And whilst he was doing that,
some, some activity was going on

385
00:28:06,880 –> 00:28:08,480
that he did not feel comfortable
with.

386
00:28:08,480 –> 00:28:11,800
And he brought unto his father
their evil report.

387
00:28:15,480 –> 00:28:18,280
Young people, Joseph wasn’t a
dobber.

388
00:28:20,920 –> 00:28:24,280
He had a conscience.
And there’s a difference.

389
00:28:28,040 –> 00:28:32,720
There’s an unwritten, well, I
was going to say moral code.

390
00:28:32,960 –> 00:28:35,200
It’s not moral at all.
It’s amoral.

391
00:28:36,400 –> 00:28:41,720
Amongst today’s teenagers
particularly, That’s really come

392
00:28:41,720 –> 00:28:47,520
from the criminal element of the
world that says protect your

393
00:28:47,520 –> 00:28:52,720
friends at all costs, protect
your family.

394
00:28:53,400 –> 00:28:57,040
Doesn’t matter what they’re
doing, show loyalty.

395
00:28:58,160 –> 00:28:59,560
It’s better than telling the
truth.

396
00:29:00,920 –> 00:29:05,960
It is never right, young people,
to cover wickedness.

397
00:29:07,320 –> 00:29:10,360
And Joseph was not just here
going off to his father and

398
00:29:10,360 –> 00:29:13,520
title tattling and telling all
sorts of things and saying, oh,

399
00:29:13,520 –> 00:29:17,000
they did this to me.
When Joseph went to his father,

400
00:29:17,760 –> 00:29:21,640
he had a rapport on godly terms
with his father, and he was

401
00:29:21,640 –> 00:29:23,840
deeply concerned about his
brethren.

402
00:29:23,960 –> 00:29:26,960
We’ll see that in just a moment.
Deeply concerned for their

403
00:29:26,960 –> 00:29:29,120
welfare.
And he saw that there were

404
00:29:29,120 –> 00:29:32,360
activities that they were
involved in that could do them

405
00:29:32,360 –> 00:29:35,680
nothing but serious harm
eternally.

406
00:29:36,600 –> 00:29:42,400
And he had to talk to his father
about it, to God.

407
00:29:42,400 –> 00:29:46,480
There were more young people who
talked to their parents.

408
00:29:47,760 –> 00:29:53,240
When he knew there was something
wrong, he went to his father and

409
00:29:53,240 –> 00:29:56,280
young people.
I urge you, in the environment

410
00:29:56,280 –> 00:29:59,720
that you’re growing up in, there
are many things which are

411
00:29:59,720 –> 00:30:02,720
disturbing.
I find it exceedingly

412
00:30:02,720 –> 00:30:05,560
disturbing.
As you’re probably aware, I’m in

413
00:30:05,560 –> 00:30:07,800
a school.
I’m not on the ground floor

414
00:30:07,800 –> 00:30:12,040
where many of you are in the in
the yard and in the classroom.

415
00:30:12,680 –> 00:30:15,600
But there are many things that
deeply disturb me in that

416
00:30:15,600 –> 00:30:19,120
environment, and they ought to
be talked about.

417
00:30:19,160 –> 00:30:21,160
Talk to your mother and father
about them.

418
00:30:22,320 –> 00:30:24,160
Don’t think that they won’t
understand.

419
00:30:24,840 –> 00:30:28,520
They will.
If it’s about godly principles

420
00:30:28,560 –> 00:30:31,120
and what’s right and wrong, talk
about it.

421
00:30:32,520 –> 00:30:37,560
And parents, don’t shy away just
because something might be

422
00:30:37,560 –> 00:30:41,960
embarrassing to talk about.
You’ve got to face it head on

423
00:30:43,560 –> 00:30:47,960
and help your children and other
young people through a very evil

424
00:30:47,960 –> 00:30:51,800
and difficult age.
They’ve got to talk about it.

425
00:30:51,800 –> 00:30:55,800
Otherwise they will internalize
those things and may very well

426
00:30:55,800 –> 00:30:58,840
themselves go off.
If Joseph Joseph had no one to

427
00:30:58,840 –> 00:31:00,680
talk to, what would have
happened to him?

428
00:31:00,920 –> 00:31:04,840
Maybe he would have eventually
ended up joining the example of

429
00:31:04,840 –> 00:31:11,360
his brother.
Evil hidden is never right, but

430
00:31:11,360 –> 00:31:14,960
verse 3 tells us that Israel
loved Joseph more than all his

431
00:31:14,960 –> 00:31:18,720
children because he was the son
of his old age.

432
00:31:19,680 –> 00:31:21,160
He made him a coat of many
colours.

433
00:31:21,360 –> 00:31:23,760
You know, there’s a very
interesting change in that verse

434
00:31:23,760 –> 00:31:27,800
from verses one and two that
tells us why Joseph, why Jacob

435
00:31:27,800 –> 00:31:31,880
loved Joseph.
And it’s simply because Joseph,

436
00:31:32,040 –> 00:31:34,720
Jacob, sorry, he’s not called
Jacob anymore.

437
00:31:36,040 –> 00:31:41,800
He’s called Israel.
And Israel, which is the the

438
00:31:41,800 –> 00:31:47,240
name that Jacob was changed to,
that shows the strength of

439
00:31:47,240 –> 00:31:52,960
spiritual qualities of the man.
And that man loved Joseph.

440
00:31:53,760 –> 00:31:56,080
It shows what sort of
relationship there was there.

441
00:31:56,440 –> 00:32:01,120
Joseph was evidently a very
godly young man, and he was at

442
00:32:01,120 –> 00:32:03,920
17.
Here we find brothers and

443
00:32:03,920 –> 00:32:05,760
sisters and young people.
You know what that’s saying?

444
00:32:06,080 –> 00:32:10,560
It’s saying this that he must
have been a very serious minded

445
00:32:10,560 –> 00:32:16,080
young man long before 17, long
before he reached 17.

446
00:32:16,080 –> 00:32:18,760
He knew what the promises were
about, and he knew more than

447
00:32:18,760 –> 00:32:20,480
that.
He knew actually what they meant

448
00:32:20,480 –> 00:32:22,320
to him.
He knew what it meant to be a

449
00:32:22,320 –> 00:32:24,600
sojourner, and he was happy and
comfortable with that.

450
00:32:25,880 –> 00:32:29,600
Long before he was 17, he’d come
to a conviction that he believed

451
00:32:29,880 –> 00:32:34,200
that God really did exist.
He was convicted about divine

452
00:32:34,200 –> 00:32:37,840
standards of right and wrong
long before he got to 17, and it

453
00:32:37,840 –> 00:32:41,760
had begun to affect his life by
the time he reached 17.

454
00:32:41,880 –> 00:32:44,920
And where did he learn all that?
He didn’t have a Bible.

455
00:32:44,920 –> 00:32:48,600
He didn’t have anything there
that he could put his hands on.

456
00:32:48,600 –> 00:32:50,320
He didn’t have Sunday school to
go to.

457
00:32:50,320 –> 00:32:52,440
He didn’t have a youth group.
He didn’t have any young

458
00:32:52,440 –> 00:32:55,240
people’s activities or ecclesial
activities he could go to.

459
00:32:56,760 –> 00:33:02,280
He learnt by listening to his
father around the table, the

460
00:33:02,280 –> 00:33:05,880
other sons didn’t want to hear
and often were not even there.

461
00:33:06,280 –> 00:33:09,520
But his father and his
grandfather, who by the way was

462
00:33:09,520 –> 00:33:11,400
still alive.
Isaac was still alive at this

463
00:33:11,400 –> 00:33:20,000
stage, but he not obviously had
an an intense desire himself and

464
00:33:20,000 –> 00:33:22,960
gave his mind to heavenly
things.

465
00:33:23,240 –> 00:33:25,880
And before he go, he reached the
age of 17.

466
00:33:26,320 –> 00:33:32,000
Young people and parents,
there’s a powerful lesson there.

467
00:33:34,800 –> 00:33:39,240
We tend not to think at times
that our young people are

468
00:33:39,240 –> 00:33:45,880
capable of too much too early.
It is amazing what the school

469
00:33:45,880 –> 00:33:51,480
system can expect and require
and achieve from very young

470
00:33:51,480 –> 00:33:58,800
teenagers at 1314 who have
developing and inquiring minds

471
00:33:59,160 –> 00:34:02,240
that are grasping for knowledge
and understanding.

472
00:34:03,320 –> 00:34:06,360
We ought to fill them with godly
things.

473
00:34:07,400 –> 00:34:11,760
It’s not uncommon either in
lectures to see some of our

474
00:34:11,760 –> 00:34:15,520
young people, though it’s not
all that often, to see some of

475
00:34:15,520 –> 00:34:22,280
our young people more interested
in passing notes to others than

476
00:34:22,280 –> 00:34:24,159
in anything that’s happening up
the front.

477
00:34:27,159 –> 00:34:30,360
Young people, let’s face the
real issues.

478
00:34:33,480 –> 00:34:38,120
What do we do with that time?
We’ve got heaps of it.

479
00:34:38,960 –> 00:34:43,719
Heaps and heaps of time we might
not think we have, but compared

480
00:34:43,719 –> 00:34:51,040
to generations of of past ages,
today’s generation of teenagers

481
00:34:51,760 –> 00:34:54,000
have an enormous amount of time
at their disposal.

482
00:34:55,760 –> 00:35:02,400
What are we doing?
Joseph was giving his mind to

483
00:35:02,400 –> 00:35:09,640
serious things obviously before
17 because God could pen the

484
00:35:09,640 –> 00:35:13,880
divine record of this man’s life
by the time he reached 17.

485
00:35:13,880 –> 00:35:19,840
Are we ready to shoulder
responsibilities at 17?

486
00:35:22,760 –> 00:35:26,480
You know, after each of the
studies this week there, there

487
00:35:26,480 –> 00:35:28,200
is a Bible marking sheet
available.

488
00:35:30,560 –> 00:35:35,480
What often happens with sheets
of paper that are handed out so

489
00:35:35,480 –> 00:35:40,520
they get jammed in the Bible
cover and left there until we

490
00:35:40,520 –> 00:35:45,480
want to scribble out a note and
send it to somebody or write out

491
00:35:45,480 –> 00:35:50,400
a shopping list.
I wonder how many Josephs we’ve

492
00:35:50,400 –> 00:35:56,960
got here tonight, young people
who’ll be able to come keep up

493
00:35:57,840 –> 00:36:00,480
with some of the activities and
ideas that are on that sheet.

494
00:36:01,720 –> 00:36:03,360
There’s one every night, every
study.

495
00:36:04,480 –> 00:36:10,440
See what you can do.
Verse 5 And Joseph dreamed a

496
00:36:10,440 –> 00:36:14,320
dream.
That word dream is always used

497
00:36:14,320 –> 00:36:18,120
in scripture of of visions of
God always.

498
00:36:19,720 –> 00:36:23,640
And God just doesn’t give dreams
or visions to just anyone.

499
00:36:25,520 –> 00:36:30,080
They only come to those of the
right and godly disposition.

500
00:36:30,640 –> 00:36:34,240
And what a testimony that is to
his character at this age.

501
00:36:34,480 –> 00:36:37,640
And when the Word of God came to
him, young people and brethren,

502
00:36:37,640 –> 00:36:41,320
sisters, he was so excited that
he had to run and tell his

503
00:36:41,320 –> 00:36:44,000
brethren.
Now, do you think that Joseph

504
00:36:44,000 –> 00:36:47,320
didn’t know what they were like?
It just told us in the previous

505
00:36:47,320 –> 00:36:49,440
verse that they hated him and
wouldn’t even say hello to him.

506
00:36:49,680 –> 00:36:52,800
But when the Word of God moved
him, he went and told his

507
00:36:52,800 –> 00:36:57,320
brethren, didn’t matter whether
they wanted to know or not.

508
00:36:58,000 –> 00:37:01,480
He was so excited by what he’d
seen and heard that he had to go

509
00:37:01,480 –> 00:37:04,000
and tell them.
And they hated him yet the more.

510
00:37:06,080 –> 00:37:11,760
But it didn’t crush his spirit.
We find that when he had another

511
00:37:11,760 –> 00:37:16,360
vision a little later, what
would you have done?

512
00:37:17,600 –> 00:37:20,840
Tell you if it was me?
I’d been clipped across the air

513
00:37:21,920 –> 00:37:25,040
and given a kick out of the tent
and said, get away.

514
00:37:25,040 –> 00:37:26,880
We don’t want to hear any more
of your dreams.

515
00:37:27,440 –> 00:37:30,440
When you had another one, would
you go back into the midst of

516
00:37:30,440 –> 00:37:34,160
those eleven brothers?
I don’t think I would have.

517
00:37:35,400 –> 00:37:40,960
But he did.
He went back and his brethren,

518
00:37:40,960 –> 00:37:44,680
and verse 9, he dreamed yet
another dream, and he told it

519
00:37:44,680 –> 00:37:47,920
his brethren, and he told them
all about it.

520
00:37:50,320 –> 00:37:53,600
And they hated him.
They hated him.

521
00:37:53,600 –> 00:37:55,760
Look at the end of verse 8 or
start of verse 8.

522
00:37:55,760 –> 00:37:58,440
Read all of verse 8.
And his brethren said unto him,

523
00:37:58,840 –> 00:38:02,600
Shalt thou indeed reign over us,
or shalt thou indeed have

524
00:38:02,600 –> 00:38:05,280
dominion over us?
And they hated him yet the more

525
00:38:05,280 –> 00:38:09,160
for his dreams and for his
words.

526
00:38:09,640 –> 00:38:11,440
It wasn’t just that he’d had a
dream.

527
00:38:11,520 –> 00:38:15,040
He was wanting to talk about the
truth, about the issues that

528
00:38:15,040 –> 00:38:18,040
were involved in those dreams.
He was wanting to talk about the

529
00:38:18,040 –> 00:38:19,960
word of God, about the promises
to them.

530
00:38:20,160 –> 00:38:21,600
And they hated him for those
words.

531
00:38:21,600 –> 00:38:23,000
They didn’t want to know
anything about it.

532
00:38:24,080 –> 00:38:27,800
And so the animosity built up
between him and them, not on his

533
00:38:27,800 –> 00:38:30,400
side, but it didn’t crush his
spirit.

534
00:38:30,400 –> 00:38:35,240
You know, when when he had
another one, he went off and

535
00:38:35,240 –> 00:38:39,440
told them and even his father
this time rebuked him.

536
00:38:39,440 –> 00:38:46,400
We find in verse verse 10.
Where are the Josephs today,

537
00:38:47,440 –> 00:38:50,200
young people and brethren and
sisters?

538
00:38:50,200 –> 00:38:53,240
Where is the spirit of Joseph
among those who are older?

539
00:38:53,640 –> 00:38:58,240
Where is it that are so excited
by the word that they have to

540
00:38:58,240 –> 00:39:01,520
tell somebody they have not
because they want to show off

541
00:39:01,680 –> 00:39:05,520
about their knowledge and and
show that they’re some someone

542
00:39:05,520 –> 00:39:09,400
of great importance, but because
they’re so excited about what

543
00:39:09,400 –> 00:39:11,920
God has revealed and what he is
doing in the earth and the

544
00:39:11,920 –> 00:39:15,040
promises that he’s made and
something that he’s found and

545
00:39:15,040 –> 00:39:18,360
discovered.
Where’s the excitement of that?

546
00:39:19,600 –> 00:39:22,520
It’s got to be revived.
It’s the spirit of a man who was

547
00:39:22,560 –> 00:39:26,200
able to withstand enormous
pressures, young people and it’s

548
00:39:26,200 –> 00:39:29,080
part of the key, part of the
key.

549
00:39:29,760 –> 00:39:32,880
We live in an age of
indifference of of mediocrity.

550
00:39:33,000 –> 00:39:35,320
You just about say that
mediocrity was the national

551
00:39:35,320 –> 00:39:38,440
religion of Australia.
The majority stand up for

552
00:39:38,440 –> 00:39:42,360
nothing, let everything go past
and knock anything that comes

553
00:39:42,360 –> 00:39:46,800
past that they don’t like.
God is not interested in

554
00:39:46,800 –> 00:39:50,960
lukewarmness, He’s not
interested in half heartedness,

555
00:39:51,880 –> 00:39:57,560
but he’s looking for those who
tremble at his Word, said Isaiah

556
00:39:57,560 –> 00:40:00,720
in chapter 66 and verse 2.
Make a note of that, young

557
00:40:00,720 –> 00:40:03,160
people, and look up what
Rotherham says for that last

558
00:40:03,160 –> 00:40:06,600
phrase.
He says God will look to those

559
00:40:06,600 –> 00:40:11,720
who care anxiously for his word.
And here’s 1 Spirit in the midst

560
00:40:11,720 –> 00:40:15,400
of great animosity.
Who cares anxiously?

561
00:40:16,160 –> 00:40:22,600
Who is excited about the vision?
And what were the visions?

562
00:40:23,680 –> 00:40:29,320
We know what they were really
very simple, the sheaves bowing

563
00:40:29,320 –> 00:40:31,120
down to another sheave.
That was Joseph’s.

564
00:40:31,240 –> 00:40:33,280
Joseph was to be the nourisher
of the world.

565
00:40:33,520 –> 00:40:35,680
But you know what Joseph took
out of that first dream?

566
00:40:36,640 –> 00:40:41,920
He thought about it.
He heard what his brethren said,

567
00:40:42,000 –> 00:40:45,640
and they said, do you think
we’re going to bow down to you?

568
00:40:46,600 –> 00:40:50,800
Think again and clip him over
the ears.

569
00:40:51,800 –> 00:40:57,280
And Joseph thought about that.
It meant that his brethren were

570
00:40:57,280 –> 00:41:04,280
going to bow down if they, it
meant one of two things that

571
00:41:04,280 –> 00:41:08,560
either he was going to go and
turn into their life and follow

572
00:41:08,560 –> 00:41:12,160
their lifestyle and gain
predominance over them so that

573
00:41:12,160 –> 00:41:16,440
they would they would Lord him,
or they would one day be

574
00:41:16,440 –> 00:41:21,520
converted.
And that at that time was an

575
00:41:22,120 –> 00:41:28,280
utterly impossible thought.
You know, he believed that God

576
00:41:28,280 –> 00:41:31,760
was right.
He believed that godliness in

577
00:41:31,760 –> 00:41:34,400
the end would prevail.
And he saw that from that vision

578
00:41:34,400 –> 00:41:37,520
of the sheaves.
He saw from the other vision

579
00:41:37,760 –> 00:41:40,520
that even his mother would have
to be resurrected because she

580
00:41:40,520 –> 00:41:43,960
would bow down being the being
the moon in that in that vision,

581
00:41:45,120 –> 00:41:47,480
and that if his brethren were to
likewise better and they

582
00:41:47,480 –> 00:41:50,160
themselves would have to change
their attitudes and would and

583
00:41:50,160 –> 00:41:53,920
would eventually be saved.
And as he mulled that over

584
00:41:53,920 –> 00:41:59,880
brothers and sisters, he
believed what was humanly

585
00:41:59,880 –> 00:42:04,840
impossible at that stage.
Everything was saying everything

586
00:42:04,840 –> 00:42:08,880
that he knew was going against
what that was saying.

587
00:42:12,480 –> 00:42:15,480
You know, this becomes the key
to Joseph’s life, young people.

588
00:42:16,840 –> 00:42:20,680
It’s his visions, the key to
Joseph’s life.

589
00:42:20,680 –> 00:42:25,320
You know, the very first words
in the record of the Scriptures

590
00:42:25,400 –> 00:42:29,320
and the very last words that
come from Joseph’s mouth are

591
00:42:30,520 –> 00:42:35,640
about his visions, about these
visions here, and about his

592
00:42:35,640 –> 00:42:39,280
vision of going into the
Promised land when he told his

593
00:42:39,280 –> 00:42:43,280
sons to carry them up.
Hence look at verse 19.

594
00:42:44,240 –> 00:42:48,000
This is what his brothers, his
brothers said about him.

595
00:42:49,000 –> 00:42:52,920
They said when he’d come, come
to, to, to get them and to see

596
00:42:52,920 –> 00:42:55,400
how they were going.
They said one to another.

597
00:42:56,000 –> 00:43:01,800
Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Look at the margin, this master

598
00:43:01,920 –> 00:43:05,040
of dreams.
Oh, it was said tongue in cheek,

599
00:43:05,040 –> 00:43:07,480
brothers and sisters, but they
knew two things.

600
00:43:07,720 –> 00:43:09,920
They knew that the dreams meant
something to him.

601
00:43:10,880 –> 00:43:17,360
They knew that, and they hated
him for it.

602
00:43:19,520 –> 00:43:21,720
They knew he wanted to talk
about them, and so they

603
00:43:21,720 –> 00:43:25,960
cynically called him the Master
of Dreams.

604
00:43:26,960 –> 00:43:29,600
But the truth was, brethren and
sisters and young Pope people,

605
00:43:29,760 –> 00:43:35,800
he was a master of dreams.
He did understand what God had

606
00:43:35,800 –> 00:43:38,840
revealed because he’d accepted
it in faith.

607
00:43:40,080 –> 00:43:47,120
And it was in fact those dreams
which eventually ended up saving

608
00:43:47,240 –> 00:43:50,320
all of his brethren.
And they’re now here calling

609
00:43:50,320 –> 00:43:55,880
him, casting this phrase in his
in their teeth, the master of

610
00:43:55,880 –> 00:44:00,040
dreams and ridiculing him.
You know, he was later known

611
00:44:00,040 –> 00:44:05,280
when he came into into Egypt as
as the interpreter of dreams.

612
00:44:05,400 –> 00:44:10,000
So to his own family and to the
Gentiles outside, everybody knew

613
00:44:10,000 –> 00:44:12,520
he had something to do with
dreams and visions of God.

614
00:44:14,360 –> 00:44:18,400
And it was his dreams, these
dreams here in particular, these

615
00:44:18,400 –> 00:44:22,440
two dreams, because we read of
no others at this stage of his

616
00:44:22,440 –> 00:44:26,760
life that were critical to his
survival in the days ahead.

617
00:44:26,880 –> 00:44:30,560
You know, he couldn’t even guess
or imagine what was going to

618
00:44:30,560 –> 00:44:32,000
happen.
I mean, we know the end of the

619
00:44:32,000 –> 00:44:33,640
story.
We know what happened and, and

620
00:44:33,640 –> 00:44:35,280
how everything worked out fine
in the end.

621
00:44:35,400 –> 00:44:38,960
But to him, at this stage, he
had no idea how God could ever

622
00:44:38,960 –> 00:44:42,040
possibly bring those dreams to
fruition.

623
00:44:43,720 –> 00:44:49,480
There is nothing else, nothing
else, young people, except faith

624
00:44:49,520 –> 00:44:54,160
in what God has revealed,
despite what we see, that will

625
00:44:54,160 –> 00:44:56,160
sustain us under times of
pressure.

626
00:44:58,360 –> 00:45:03,160
And when Joseph himself was
under even more extreme pressure

627
00:45:03,360 –> 00:45:07,960
than he was in his family, those
dreams came back.

628
00:45:08,720 –> 00:45:11,640
You know, that’s not even the
most critical thing.

629
00:45:12,680 –> 00:45:18,600
The most important thing to know
is that those visions were

630
00:45:18,760 –> 00:45:28,680
embedded in his mind in youth.
You know, we’re going to start

631
00:45:29,440 –> 00:45:33,920
to build a picture of what this
theme is all about, and there’s

632
00:45:33,920 –> 00:45:37,280
one building block.
There was something embedded in

633
00:45:37,280 –> 00:45:41,760
Joseph’s mind, young people, and
it was those visions.

634
00:45:42,240 –> 00:45:44,680
And it was in his youth.
The Word of God had made an

635
00:45:44,680 –> 00:45:49,120
impression on his mind, and he
actually loved it and believed

636
00:45:49,120 –> 00:45:50,640
it.
And he thought about it very

637
00:45:50,640 –> 00:45:52,720
often.
Over and over again he thought

638
00:45:52,720 –> 00:45:56,000
about those dreams.
He didn’t know how on earth God

639
00:45:56,000 –> 00:45:59,680
could ever bring them to pass,
but he believed God would do it

640
00:46:00,320 –> 00:46:04,200
and that’s all that mattered.
And what a spirit that gave to

641
00:46:04,200 –> 00:46:10,480
that man as he grew up from 17
to 18 and onwards.

642
00:46:10,720 –> 00:46:15,320
Look at verse 4, verse 12.
His brethren went to feed their

643
00:46:15,320 –> 00:46:21,160
father’s flock in Shechem.
And Israel said to Joseph, Do

644
00:46:21,160 –> 00:46:22,960
not thy brethren feed the flock
in Shechem?

645
00:46:23,160 –> 00:46:25,360
Come, and I’ll send them.
Send thee unto them.

646
00:46:26,560 –> 00:46:31,400
And he said to to him, Here am
I.

647
00:46:33,760 –> 00:46:37,120
And he said to him, Go, I pray
thee, see whether it be well

648
00:46:37,120 –> 00:46:39,720
with thy brethren, and well with
the flocks, and bring me where

649
00:46:39,720 –> 00:46:42,440
to gain.
And so he sent him out of the

650
00:46:42,440 –> 00:46:45,280
vial of Hebron, and he came to
Shechem.

651
00:46:47,760 –> 00:46:50,400
Do you think that Joseph didn’t
know what his brethren were

652
00:46:50,400 –> 00:46:51,800
like?
Of course he did.

653
00:46:51,800 –> 00:46:54,880
Do you think that Jacob didn’t
know what those brethren were

654
00:46:54,880 –> 00:46:57,560
like and that they hated Joseph?
Of course he did.

655
00:46:57,760 –> 00:47:00,920
Why did he ask Joseph to go?
What a mean and cruel thing to

656
00:47:00,920 –> 00:47:08,160
do.
But Jacob knew that Joseph alone

657
00:47:09,240 –> 00:47:13,520
had the welfare of his brethren
at heart, and he would truly

658
00:47:13,520 –> 00:47:20,520
bring that.
Joseph alone had the welfare of

659
00:47:20,520 –> 00:47:26,040
his brethren at heart, and he
would truly bring back an honest

660
00:47:26,040 –> 00:47:31,760
report about their welfare.
And look at Joseph’s attitude

661
00:47:32,520 –> 00:47:35,760
when Jacob says to him, I want
you to go to your brethren to

662
00:47:35,760 –> 00:47:41,680
see how they are.
He says, here am I.

663
00:47:41,680 –> 00:47:44,200
You know what I would have been
thinking?

664
00:47:46,120 –> 00:47:50,600
They wouldn’t send me for them.
Dad, you know what they’re like.

665
00:47:51,200 –> 00:47:53,480
They’re animals.
I’ve told you about all the

666
00:47:53,480 –> 00:47:56,000
things that they’re up to.
They’ll kill me if you’re not

667
00:47:56,000 –> 00:47:58,280
around.
Don’t send me.

668
00:47:58,280 –> 00:48:05,440
Can I take a servant with me?
All he said was father, here am

669
00:48:05,440 –> 00:48:09,200
I.
And Joseph watched his son go

670
00:48:09,200 –> 00:48:12,840
out of the Vale of Fellowship
towards Shechem.

671
00:48:14,800 –> 00:48:18,840
He went, as we read in verse 16,
look at this, these words,

672
00:48:18,840 –> 00:48:24,640
brethren and sisters.
And he said, I, I seek my

673
00:48:24,640 –> 00:48:30,440
brethren.
Verse 17 So Joseph went after

674
00:48:30,440 –> 00:48:32,080
his brethren and found them at
Dothan.

675
00:48:32,840 –> 00:48:35,320
When he got to the place that
that he was expecting to find

676
00:48:35,320 –> 00:48:37,440
them and didn’t find them.
If that was me, I’d have been

677
00:48:37,440 –> 00:48:40,240
back to Hebron as fast as I
could and told my father that I

678
00:48:40,240 –> 00:48:45,280
couldn’t find them anywhere.
But he went searching and till

679
00:48:45,280 –> 00:48:47,880
he found them.
What a spirit, young people,

680
00:48:48,120 –> 00:48:50,840
what a spirit.
And he was going out to Shechem

681
00:48:50,840 –> 00:48:54,120
of all places.
You know, Levi and Simeon had

682
00:48:54,120 –> 00:48:59,600
made that region to stink in
Jacob’s, in the eyes of the OR

683
00:48:59,600 –> 00:49:02,040
Jacob’s name to stink in the
eyes of all the people of that

684
00:49:02,040 –> 00:49:04,840
region because of their, their
deception and wickedness only a

685
00:49:04,840 –> 00:49:07,760
short time before.
Now there was no shortage of

686
00:49:07,760 –> 00:49:09,240
water there.
They didn’t have to move on.

687
00:49:09,480 –> 00:49:11,680
They told their father that
we’re going out to Shechem,

688
00:49:11,920 –> 00:49:14,520
which was all very noble because
that was the place where the

689
00:49:14,520 –> 00:49:17,360
inheritance was.
That’s the place where Abraham

690
00:49:17,360 –> 00:49:19,800
first appeared when he came into
the land and built an altar.

691
00:49:20,080 –> 00:49:22,560
And so they told their father,
we’re going out to Shechem, dad,

692
00:49:22,560 –> 00:49:25,400
to feed the flocks.
When Jacob, when Joseph got

693
00:49:25,400 –> 00:49:30,200
there, they weren’t at Shechem.
They weren’t interested in the

694
00:49:30,200 –> 00:49:35,680
inheritance.
Shechem was a place of decision

695
00:49:35,680 –> 00:49:38,520
making.
It’s very, very fascinating on

696
00:49:38,520 –> 00:49:41,080
the Bible marking chip.
It shows all the places that

697
00:49:41,080 –> 00:49:43,120
Shechem is used.
Check it out.

698
00:49:43,640 –> 00:49:47,080
It’s used throughout Scripture
as a place where decisions were

699
00:49:47,080 –> 00:49:50,280
made, important decisions to go
this, well that.

700
00:49:50,840 –> 00:49:53,120
And they went out to Shechem,
told their father, we’re going

701
00:49:53,120 –> 00:49:54,440
out to the field of the
inheritance.

702
00:49:54,440 –> 00:49:57,840
Dad got out there and tipped off
into the world.

703
00:49:57,840 –> 00:50:01,520
That’s exactly what they did,
Because you think of this, when

704
00:50:01,520 –> 00:50:05,000
Abraham came from earth, he
marched all the way down and

705
00:50:05,000 –> 00:50:07,000
came into the land.
The very first place he came to

706
00:50:07,000 –> 00:50:10,480
was Shechem, and there he made a
decision and he built an altar

707
00:50:10,480 –> 00:50:13,080
and worshipped Yahweh.
Then he moved up through the

708
00:50:13,080 –> 00:50:15,840
land and eventually came to
Hebron where he was there in

709
00:50:15,840 –> 00:50:19,880
fellowship with God.
Now his sons, the sons of Jacob,

710
00:50:20,480 –> 00:50:25,920
March out of fellowship down to
Shechem, where decisions are

711
00:50:25,920 –> 00:50:29,000
want to be made.
They make the wrong decision and

712
00:50:29,000 –> 00:50:31,720
don’t come back.
They go out to Dothan.

713
00:50:31,720 –> 00:50:33,960
You know where Dothan was.
It was on the caravan routes.

714
00:50:34,160 –> 00:50:36,600
Oh, there was plenty of
excitement out there.

715
00:50:36,720 –> 00:50:41,160
It wasn’t like dull old Hebron.
There was all sorts of bright

716
00:50:41,160 –> 00:50:43,880
lights.
You could get anything you

717
00:50:43,880 –> 00:50:49,520
wanted, anything you wanted.
And who would know?

718
00:50:50,800 –> 00:50:54,600
That’s what Dothan was.
It suited their lifestyle.

719
00:50:54,800 –> 00:50:58,960
Their restrictions were gone.
They didn’t have this, this

720
00:50:58,960 –> 00:51:03,000
field of Shechem behind them all
the time, reminding them of

721
00:51:03,000 –> 00:51:06,000
these awful visions and
promises.

722
00:51:07,160 –> 00:51:08,360
And we know where their minds
were.

723
00:51:08,360 –> 00:51:12,320
That’s not a caricature of them.
We know where their minds were

724
00:51:12,560 –> 00:51:17,040
because verse 18 says, and when
they saw him afar off, even

725
00:51:17,400 –> 00:51:20,800
before he came near, they
conspired to slay him.

726
00:51:21,160 –> 00:51:24,080
In their heart was murder,
deception, and lies.

727
00:51:24,240 –> 00:51:26,760
They hated the sight of the
truth.

728
00:51:28,360 –> 00:51:32,880
Oh, they were in that
environment reluctantly, but

729
00:51:32,880 –> 00:51:35,480
they had two feet in the world
and that’s where they wanted to

730
00:51:35,480 –> 00:51:38,160
be.
You imagined this scene, verse

731
00:51:38,160 –> 00:51:42,000
23 came to pass when Joseph was
come under his brethren.

732
00:51:42,320 –> 00:51:46,400
They stripped Joseph out of his
coat of many colours that was on

733
00:51:46,400 –> 00:51:51,120
him and they took him and and
they cast him into the pit that

734
00:51:51,120 –> 00:51:52,920
was empty and there was no water
in there.

735
00:51:52,920 –> 00:51:54,960
And they sat down to eat bread.
They had their lunch.

736
00:51:55,160 –> 00:51:56,680
Well, he’s crying out of the
pit.

737
00:51:57,000 –> 00:51:59,440
Make a note of chapter 42 and
verse 21.

738
00:51:59,440 –> 00:52:01,040
We haven’t got time to look at
it at the moment.

739
00:52:01,400 –> 00:52:05,920
But there they remembered in
their minds vividly 20 years

740
00:52:05,920 –> 00:52:09,800
later when they were standing in
the courts of Joseph in Egypt,

741
00:52:09,920 –> 00:52:12,960
unbeknownst to them, that who
this man that they were standing

742
00:52:12,960 –> 00:52:17,120
before was.
And they said, oh, we remember

743
00:52:17,120 –> 00:52:22,320
the anguish of his soul and how
he cried to us and we wouldn’t

744
00:52:22,320 –> 00:52:24,520
listen.
He was crying out to the

745
00:52:24,520 –> 00:52:26,360
brethren, what are you doing
this to me for?

746
00:52:27,280 –> 00:52:31,000
And they just ate their lunch.
Then they stripped him naked and

747
00:52:31,680 –> 00:52:35,400
they bathed and had fun with
him, with the merchants.

748
00:52:35,560 –> 00:52:37,760
No, not enough.
We want a bit more.

749
00:52:39,160 –> 00:52:40,560
We got things to buy and date
them.

750
00:52:42,280 –> 00:52:47,760
And his humiliation, the pain,
the anguish of a godly,

751
00:52:47,760 –> 00:52:51,840
insensitive man was only just
starting because he had to

752
00:52:51,840 –> 00:52:57,080
March, probably naked, chained
all the way to Egypt.

753
00:52:57,480 –> 00:53:02,720
Imagine it and what would you be
thinking?

754
00:53:04,160 –> 00:53:08,440
Manhandled, beaten, humiliated,
sold as a slave.

755
00:53:09,600 –> 00:53:14,320
You’d be hiding your brethren.
But there’s not an ounce of that

756
00:53:14,320 –> 00:53:15,800
in Joseph.
Not an ounce.

757
00:53:16,320 –> 00:53:18,960
He goes to a strange land.
He’s sold to the chief of the

758
00:53:18,960 –> 00:53:24,160
slaughterman.
He’s sold body and soul and he’s

759
00:53:24,160 –> 00:53:30,880
scared stiff and who cares?
Had he done nothing wrong?

760
00:53:31,240 –> 00:53:34,000
Why was he there?
Where was the justice in that?

761
00:53:34,000 –> 00:53:35,640
Why had God allowed this to
happen?

762
00:53:35,800 –> 00:53:38,440
All he’d done was out seeking
the welfare of his brethren, and

763
00:53:38,440 –> 00:53:40,760
now he’s in in a strange land.
He didn’t even know where it

764
00:53:40,760 –> 00:53:43,560
was.
That was only because he

765
00:53:43,560 –> 00:53:45,400
believed.
If he hadn’t believed in those

766
00:53:45,400 –> 00:53:46,920
promises, he wouldn’t have been
there.

767
00:53:47,120 –> 00:53:50,120
That’s very true, young people.
Sometimes we might find

768
00:53:50,120 –> 00:53:53,520
ourselves in circumstances and
we could think back.

769
00:53:54,440 –> 00:53:57,640
If only I hadn’t had anything to
do with the truth, I wouldn’t be

770
00:53:57,640 –> 00:54:01,520
here.
Well, it’s very true.

771
00:54:02,280 –> 00:54:05,840
There are circumstances that God
will take us in that we would

772
00:54:05,840 –> 00:54:09,560
never ever have been in.
Was it not for the truth?

773
00:54:09,560 –> 00:54:13,200
Young people understand that
that’s how God works.

774
00:54:13,560 –> 00:54:18,120
And in the end, the prize was
enormous.

775
00:54:20,040 –> 00:54:23,240
But then it was a very bitter
pill.

776
00:54:24,280 –> 00:54:27,680
He didn’t know what to do.
He didn’t know the end of the

777
00:54:27,680 –> 00:54:31,880
story like we did, or like we do
and we read all of this and know

778
00:54:32,000 –> 00:54:36,160
how it ended up.
He had no idea what would happen

779
00:54:36,160 –> 00:54:38,320
to him when he got to this new
land.

780
00:54:40,280 –> 00:54:45,920
He is a godly young man with the
anguish of his soul.

781
00:54:48,120 –> 00:54:51,600
Who could he turn to?
There was no father to talk to.

782
00:54:52,520 –> 00:54:55,240
Jacob was not there.
He didn’t know whether he’d ever

783
00:54:55,240 –> 00:55:00,560
see him again.
And he turned to his only source

784
00:55:00,560 –> 00:55:07,480
of comfort, to his Father in the
heaven, and he poured out his

785
00:55:07,480 –> 00:55:12,920
soul unto God.
Doubtless, for night after night

786
00:55:12,920 –> 00:55:18,520
he had no sleep.
But what began to burn in his

787
00:55:18,520 –> 00:55:23,600
brain was something that had
been embedded there in its

788
00:55:23,600 –> 00:55:30,520
youth, those visions.
He had something to think about

789
00:55:31,520 –> 00:55:38,080
because it was in his mind and
it renewed him and lifted him,

790
00:55:39,840 –> 00:55:44,960
and he believed God would do
what he said.

791
00:55:46,800 –> 00:55:50,320
Isn’t that amazing here, young
people?

792
00:55:50,320 –> 00:55:55,880
If he’d had nothing in his mind,
if those visions had been in a

793
00:55:55,880 –> 00:56:00,320
book on paper when he got to
Egypt and his book was left at

794
00:56:00,320 –> 00:56:05,880
home, he would have died in the
bitterness of his soul.

795
00:56:08,800 –> 00:56:12,640
But something had come out of
there into his mind and had so

796
00:56:12,680 –> 00:56:17,280
generated a power there that he
could dwell on and think on that

797
00:56:17,280 –> 00:56:21,960
lifted him up and bore him in
very, very difficult

798
00:56:21,960 –> 00:56:27,760
circumstances.
That’s the power that faith can

799
00:56:27,760 –> 00:56:30,400
have.
But you know, faith can’t work

800
00:56:30,400 –> 00:56:34,400
unless anything’s in our minds,
unless what God has promised is

801
00:56:34,480 –> 00:56:39,880
actually there, remembered,
thought about, chewed over.

802
00:56:40,480 –> 00:56:45,120
And that’s what he did night
after night, month after month,

803
00:56:45,440 –> 00:56:48,400
not knowing what would happen
next or how he’d be treated.

804
00:56:49,520 –> 00:56:52,840
And don’t think that in Egypt
they treated slaves well.

805
00:56:52,840 –> 00:56:56,280
They didn’t.
They were like pieces of

806
00:56:56,280 –> 00:57:01,160
property.
And look where he comes.

807
00:57:02,520 –> 00:57:07,040
Chapter 39 and verse one, He was
brought down to Egypt unto

808
00:57:07,040 –> 00:57:11,920
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,
captain of the garden, an

809
00:57:11,920 –> 00:57:15,280
Egyptian bought him of the hands
of the Ishmaelites, which had

810
00:57:15,280 –> 00:57:21,720
come down thither.
And Yahweh was with him, and he

811
00:57:21,720 –> 00:57:26,560
was a prosperous man, and he was
in the House of his master, the

812
00:57:26,560 –> 00:57:29,640
Egyptian.
Yahweh was with him.

813
00:57:29,640 –> 00:57:31,960
You know what the prophet said
to King ASA?

814
00:57:31,960 –> 00:57:39,280
He said Yahweh is with you while
you be with him, but if you

815
00:57:39,280 –> 00:57:42,200
forsake him, he will forsake
you.

816
00:57:42,200 –> 00:57:45,280
And this record is saying that
Yahweh is in four times in this

817
00:57:45,280 –> 00:57:47,280
chapter.
It says that young people four

818
00:57:47,280 –> 00:57:49,880
times.
We’re told that Yahweh was with

819
00:57:49,880 –> 00:57:53,360
him in a very difficult
circumstance and the words

820
00:57:53,800 –> 00:57:56,400
prosperous there in verse two
really means successful.

821
00:57:56,520 –> 00:57:59,880
He was a very successful man.
He didn’t bemoan his lot and sit

822
00:57:59,880 –> 00:58:02,160
down and gripe about what his
brothers had done to him.

823
00:58:02,280 –> 00:58:03,920
He just made the most of the
situation.

824
00:58:04,240 –> 00:58:06,440
He saw that God was obviously
working.

825
00:58:06,440 –> 00:58:10,280
He didn’t know how, when, or
where, but he believed that God

826
00:58:10,280 –> 00:58:14,880
was right and he just got on and
did what he was told and he

827
00:58:14,880 –> 00:58:18,440
showed initiative.
He was diligent young people and

828
00:58:18,440 –> 00:58:20,440
he made the most of those
circumstances.

829
00:58:20,960 –> 00:58:25,240
An amazing thing happened, verse
3, and his master saw that

830
00:58:25,240 –> 00:58:28,320
Yahweh was with him and that
Yahweh made all that He did to

831
00:58:28,320 –> 00:58:31,440
prosper in His hand.
You know that Master Potiphar

832
00:58:31,440 –> 00:58:34,320
saw that Joseph was different
from every other slave that he’d

833
00:58:34,320 –> 00:58:36,040
ever seen.
He’d never, ever seen a slave

834
00:58:36,040 –> 00:58:40,160
quite like this before.
I just wonder, young people, how

835
00:58:40,160 –> 00:58:43,080
many and not, not so young,
whether we’re in the workforce

836
00:58:43,080 –> 00:58:45,560
or not, or at school.
I wonder how many of our

837
00:58:45,560 –> 00:58:50,720
masters, our teachers or
whatever, see us as being very

838
00:58:50,720 –> 00:58:53,080
different and notice us as being
very different.

839
00:58:53,520 –> 00:58:55,760
But that’s not just what this
record is saying, brothers and

840
00:58:55,760 –> 00:59:01,320
sisters.
It says that his master saw that

841
00:59:01,360 –> 00:59:04,240
Yahweh was with him.
It doesn’t say that he saw that

842
00:59:04,240 –> 00:59:07,120
Joseph was different from every
other slave that he saw before.

843
00:59:07,520 –> 00:59:09,720
It says he saw that Yahweh was
with him.

844
00:59:09,720 –> 00:59:12,440
How did he know that Yahweh was?
I didn’t even know the word

845
00:59:12,440 –> 00:59:16,480
Yahweh as Israel’s God.
There’s only one way.

846
00:59:18,080 –> 00:59:21,600
Joseph was the only one in Egypt
who knew anything about that,

847
00:59:22,680 –> 00:59:25,160
and he’d obviously told his
master about it.

848
00:59:26,040 –> 00:59:28,480
And his master had been very
impressed.

849
00:59:29,960 –> 00:59:33,160
He’d told him about the visions,
no doubt, and that Yahweh had

850
00:59:33,160 –> 00:59:35,840
given him.
And yet he just went diligently

851
00:59:36,160 –> 00:59:38,800
and efficiently about his work
every day.

852
00:59:39,040 –> 00:59:42,120
And his master sat back and
thought, this is a man of really

853
00:59:42,360 –> 00:59:47,720
there’s something behind him.
His God is obviously worth some

854
00:59:47,720 –> 00:59:49,720
consideration, and he noted
that.

855
00:59:50,000 –> 00:59:54,120
I wonder just how many of our
associates know that Yahweh is

856
00:59:54,120 –> 00:59:57,120
with us.
You answer that for yourself,

857
00:59:57,120 –> 00:59:59,920
young people.
How many of your associates know

858
00:59:59,920 –> 01:00:02,320
that?
It could only be because we’ve

859
01:00:02,320 –> 01:00:06,720
told them about our God.
And Joseph’s prepared to make a

860
01:00:06,720 –> 01:00:08,600
stand there.
He’s the only one.

861
01:00:08,600 –> 01:00:10,400
He didn’t have to.
There’s no one else there to

862
01:00:10,800 –> 01:00:11,920
say.
Go on, say something.

863
01:00:11,920 –> 01:00:16,080
Now working in an office where
there’s 16 Christadelphians.

864
01:00:17,440 –> 01:00:21,000
There was a land of gross
idolatry they wanted nothing to

865
01:00:21,000 –> 01:00:25,360
do with the the one true God of
some little tin pot family down

866
01:00:25,680 –> 01:00:27,680
miles away they’d never heard of
before.

867
01:00:29,280 –> 01:00:31,800
Now this becomes a
characteristic of Joseph in the

868
01:00:31,800 –> 01:00:34,960
record.
He didn’t let up speaking to his

869
01:00:34,960 –> 01:00:37,000
brethren until they’d sold him
into Egypt.

870
01:00:37,400 –> 01:00:40,160
He never, ever let up when he
got in there.

871
01:00:40,160 –> 01:00:42,360
He talked to Potiphar, he talked
to Potiphar’s wife.

872
01:00:42,560 –> 01:00:44,560
He got into prison and he talked
to the prison officer.

873
01:00:44,720 –> 01:00:46,320
He talked to the Butler, he
talked to the Baker.

874
01:00:46,320 –> 01:00:48,520
He talked to Pharaoh.
He told everybody about the

875
01:00:48,520 –> 01:00:49,400
truth.
And you know what?

876
01:00:50,120 –> 01:00:54,000
Everybody that he ever came in
contact with knew that he was

877
01:00:54,000 –> 01:00:57,760
motivated by something that was
very different from them.

878
01:00:58,960 –> 01:01:02,240
They knew that there were
visions of God that were in this

879
01:01:02,240 –> 01:01:08,760
man’s mind and that somehow,
amazingly, he believed and it

880
01:01:08,760 –> 01:01:12,440
was seen in his life.
Young people, it’s very

881
01:01:12,440 –> 01:01:16,760
important to make a stand if you
start a job or wherever you go

882
01:01:16,760 –> 01:01:20,680
at school, with friends, with
whoever, and brethren and

883
01:01:20,680 –> 01:01:24,440
sisters, it’s just as important
for us too, not to make a stand

884
01:01:24,440 –> 01:01:26,480
at arrogance.
I mean, you can’t imagine Joseph

885
01:01:26,480 –> 01:01:28,760
marching into Potiphar and
saying, now listen here,

886
01:01:28,760 –> 01:01:34,560
Potiphar, I’m a Hebrew, got it.
Understand God is the ruler of

887
01:01:34,560 –> 01:01:37,920
the world and you people are
dust.

888
01:01:40,040 –> 01:01:43,960
He waited for an opportunity and
he sensitively and carefully

889
01:01:43,960 –> 01:01:47,920
told him about Yahweh’s plan and
purpose.

890
01:01:49,080 –> 01:01:54,720
And from then on Potiphar eyed
him off and his behaviour became

891
01:01:54,760 –> 01:01:58,520
a constant witness.
And people never ever think that

892
01:01:58,520 –> 01:02:01,960
after we’ve opened our mouth to
talk the truth that people will

893
01:02:01,960 –> 01:02:06,280
not observe us.
They’ll observe us for good or

894
01:02:06,280 –> 01:02:13,760
I’ll they’ll either be impressed
that we do really believe, or

895
01:02:13,760 –> 01:02:18,440
they’ll be turned forever from
the truth by the utter and sheer

896
01:02:18,440 –> 01:02:24,160
hypocrisy that they see.
Be very careful, and I’m not

897
01:02:24,160 –> 01:02:28,360
saying don’t talk the truth.
Just be very careful about our

898
01:02:28,360 –> 01:02:32,880
example.
You know, I’ve seen that happen

899
01:02:33,280 –> 01:02:36,360
in schools with some very
ungodly teachers.

900
01:02:36,800 –> 01:02:40,000
I’ve sat around in a staff room
and listened to teachers talk

901
01:02:40,000 –> 01:02:41,760
about students.
That’s all they ever talk about

902
01:02:42,320 –> 01:02:46,040
lunchtimes and recess times,
about how someone made their

903
01:02:46,320 –> 01:02:49,600
made their morning.
But you know, I’ve sat around in

904
01:02:49,600 –> 01:02:54,000
a staff room and listened to
teachers talk about young people

905
01:02:54,000 –> 01:02:58,320
that weren’t Christadelphians.
They said there’s something

906
01:02:58,320 –> 01:03:02,680
about them.
We don’t know what it is, but

907
01:03:02,680 –> 01:03:06,280
they’re really nice kids.
They’re honest, trustworthy,

908
01:03:06,520 –> 01:03:12,680
truthful.
And they weren’t ours, but they

909
01:03:12,680 –> 01:03:16,040
did have a belief and they
firmly held it and they didn’t

910
01:03:16,040 –> 01:03:17,280
go around telling everyone about
it.

911
01:03:17,520 –> 01:03:21,840
You could see it.
How many of us as young people

912
01:03:22,520 –> 01:03:25,640
in schools or in the workplace
could have that thought and said

913
01:03:25,640 –> 01:03:28,280
about us?
But verse four goes on to say,

914
01:03:29,400 –> 01:03:32,240
And Joseph found grace in in
Potiphar’s sight, and he served

915
01:03:32,240 –> 01:03:36,000
him, and he made him overseer
over his house, and all that he

916
01:03:36,000 –> 01:03:40,600
had he put into his hand.
It came to pass from that time

917
01:03:40,600 –> 01:03:43,520
that he made him overseer his
house, and over all that he had,

918
01:03:43,520 –> 01:03:46,200
that Yahweh blessed the
Egyptians house for Joseph’s

919
01:03:46,200 –> 01:03:48,720
sake.
And the blessing of Yahweh was

920
01:03:48,720 –> 01:03:50,720
upon all that he had in the
house and in the field.

921
01:03:51,880 –> 01:03:58,240
And he left all that he had in
Joseph’s hand, and he knew not

922
01:03:58,240 –> 01:04:00,840
ought what he had save the bread
which he did eat.

923
01:04:01,840 –> 01:04:05,600
And Joseph was a goodly man and
well favoured.

924
01:04:06,440 –> 01:04:11,000
He was very successful and
responsible.

925
01:04:12,040 –> 01:04:14,640
And promotion came very rapidly
for Joseph.

926
01:04:17,120 –> 01:04:25,800
Young people, if because of your
diligence promotion comes, think

927
01:04:25,800 –> 01:04:30,920
carefully before you accept it,
never seek it.

928
01:04:33,080 –> 01:04:35,960
To Joseph, it came because of
his godly and honest spirit,

929
01:04:35,960 –> 01:04:39,760
because of his diligence and
integrity, and he maintained it

930
01:04:39,760 –> 01:04:42,920
throughout.
But the young people and

931
01:04:42,920 –> 01:04:46,000
brethren, sisters alike in an
evil and godless age, an

932
01:04:47,280 –> 01:04:52,920
adulterous generation, there are
many young people, there are

933
01:04:52,920 –> 01:04:59,400
many strong in the past brethren
and sisters who’ve sacrificed

934
01:04:59,400 –> 01:05:04,440
their lives on the altar of
success for promotion, for what?

935
01:05:04,840 –> 01:05:10,640
Money status?
Be very careful about promotion.

936
01:05:13,720 –> 01:05:18,840
But verse the end of verse 7
says, verse 6 says, and Joseph

937
01:05:18,840 –> 01:05:22,880
was a goodly person and well
favoured, the RSV says, and

938
01:05:22,880 –> 01:05:26,080
Joseph was handsome and good
looking.

939
01:05:26,720 –> 01:05:30,200
It’s the same phrase that’s used
of his mother’s good looks.

940
01:05:30,720 –> 01:05:35,040
He was handsome and good
looking.

941
01:05:35,760 –> 01:05:40,480
Verse 7 and it’s connected.
It came to pass after these

942
01:05:40,480 –> 01:05:45,000
things that his master’s wife
cast her eyes upon Joseph and

943
01:05:45,000 –> 01:05:51,880
she said lie with me.
You know, Joseph was probably

944
01:05:51,880 –> 01:06:00,400
about in his early or mid 20s,
in the prime of life, physically

945
01:06:01,560 –> 01:06:07,800
a specimen, handsome and good
looking, virile and energetic,

946
01:06:08,600 –> 01:06:12,120
highly successful, knew where
he’s going.

947
01:06:12,640 –> 01:06:17,000
And in Egypt, the state religion
endorsed the indulgence of every

948
01:06:17,000 –> 01:06:23,680
lust you can think of.
It said it’s OK in the name of

949
01:06:23,680 –> 01:06:28,400
religion, brothers and sisters
and young people think of this.

950
01:06:29,320 –> 01:06:33,400
He’s in a foreign land, he’s all
alone.

951
01:06:34,440 –> 01:06:38,520
There’s no Christadelphians for
hundreds and hundreds of miles

952
01:06:40,280 –> 01:06:54,480
who would ever know what he did?
But verse 8 says, but he refused

953
01:06:57,080 –> 01:07:02,320
what an enormous temptation was
placed in his way and he gave 3

954
01:07:02,320 –> 01:07:05,040
reasons.
In verse 8 he said, first of

955
01:07:05,040 –> 01:07:09,200
all, my master trusts me, how
can I betray that trust?

956
01:07:10,520 –> 01:07:13,160
He said my Master has given
everything into my hand except

957
01:07:13,400 –> 01:07:17,520
except you who are his wife.
How can I touch that?

958
01:07:17,520 –> 01:07:23,080
How can I betray that trust?
And the bottom line was the end

959
01:07:23,080 –> 01:07:30,440
of verse 9.
How then can I do this great

960
01:07:30,480 –> 01:07:36,560
wickedness and sin against God?
And there’s an insight, is it

961
01:07:36,560 –> 01:07:40,360
not, into the mind of and the
character of this young man in

962
01:07:40,360 –> 01:07:44,640
his early 20s, a man of
integrity and principle, who was

963
01:07:44,640 –> 01:07:47,920
so convicted about divine
standards and morality that he

964
01:07:47,920 –> 01:07:53,320
made us stand in an almost
impossible situation because he

965
01:07:53,320 –> 01:07:57,000
was constantly aware of the
reality of God.

966
01:07:57,000 –> 01:07:59,640
There was no need for there to
be any other Christadelphians

967
01:07:59,640 –> 01:08:01,800
there, young people, because God
was there.

968
01:08:02,680 –> 01:08:05,720
That’s the point.
And he knew what God thought

969
01:08:05,720 –> 01:08:08,160
about that.
Now the record here 4 times

970
01:08:08,160 –> 01:08:13,640
tells us that that God was with
him, and truly he was in every

971
01:08:13,640 –> 01:08:17,640
sense.
Now, Joseph took God with him.

972
01:08:20,319 –> 01:08:25,279
Joseph took God with him.
And if we can take God with us

973
01:08:25,720 –> 01:08:30,520
every day of our lives back into
that degenerate world, then

974
01:08:30,520 –> 01:08:34,560
we’ll have something to call
back on, to fall back on to

975
01:08:34,560 –> 01:08:36,680
Joseph.
God was real, brethren, sisters,

976
01:08:36,840 –> 01:08:39,560
He was always in his thoughts.
And there’s an amazing

977
01:08:39,560 –> 01:08:45,760
observation, which probably is
not, not all that obvious on the

978
01:08:45,760 –> 01:08:49,680
surface, But if you read Genesis
chapter 37 right through the

979
01:08:49,680 –> 01:08:52,520
chapter 50, which is the record
of Joseph’s life, there’s

980
01:08:52,520 –> 01:08:56,800
something that stands out.
That is that every time, almost

981
01:08:56,840 –> 01:09:01,560
every time that Joseph opens his
mouth, God is there.

982
01:09:02,920 –> 01:09:06,160
It’s staggering to see.
He’s either talking about God

983
01:09:06,160 –> 01:09:11,479
directly or His Word or a vision
in almost every single utterance

984
01:09:11,479 –> 01:09:14,600
he makes in this record over 14
chapters.

985
01:09:14,960 –> 01:09:17,920
God is there in his thinking all
the time.

986
01:09:17,920 –> 01:09:21,399
And there was the key to him
overcoming that temptation.

987
01:09:21,600 –> 01:09:27,520
He thought about God’s promises.
He remembered now in the days of

988
01:09:27,520 –> 01:09:32,319
his youth, his Creator, and God
was ever with him.

989
01:09:32,600 –> 01:09:35,439
But young people and brother and
sisters, temptation is never,

990
01:09:35,439 –> 01:09:41,720
ever that simple.
Verse 10 And it came to pass as

991
01:09:41,720 –> 01:09:48,680
she spoke to Joseph day by day,
that he hearkened not unto her,

992
01:09:48,680 –> 01:09:52,399
to lie by her or to be with her,
and he got himself out.

993
01:09:53,680 –> 01:09:56,360
She changed her strategy.
You see, we don’t defeat

994
01:09:56,360 –> 01:09:58,360
temptation with words, young
people.

995
01:09:58,760 –> 01:10:01,080
We don’t just say, oh, that’s
the end of that.

996
01:10:01,080 –> 01:10:07,560
Wipe that off because temptation
and sin is more subtle, more

997
01:10:07,560 –> 01:10:11,920
persistent, and now there’s even
more difficult pressure for him

998
01:10:11,920 –> 01:10:14,320
to cope.
And how did he respond?

999
01:10:14,480 –> 01:10:17,320
The record tells us that he
hearkened not.

1000
01:10:17,480 –> 01:10:22,320
He avoided her presence or, as
the apostle Paul said, make no

1001
01:10:22,320 –> 01:10:25,800
provision for the flesh.
He did everything he could to

1002
01:10:25,800 –> 01:10:28,680
avoid that circumstance of being
in the same room when she was

1003
01:10:28,680 –> 01:10:33,000
there, but the pressure remained
and and that sort of pressure

1004
01:10:33,000 –> 01:10:36,720
becomes very weary.
And every day he renewed his

1005
01:10:36,720 –> 01:10:39,120
perspective.
He thought about God.

1006
01:10:40,000 –> 01:10:44,280
He went to God in prayer every
night and asked no doubt to be

1007
01:10:44,280 –> 01:10:50,120
relieved of that temptation.
Verse 11 says came to pass about

1008
01:10:50,120 –> 01:10:52,560
this time that he went to the
house to do business and there

1009
01:10:52,560 –> 01:10:53,960
was none of the men in the
house.

1010
01:10:54,760 –> 01:10:57,520
And she caught him by his
garment and said, lie with me.

1011
01:10:58,240 –> 01:11:06,240
And he left his garments in her
hand and fled and got him out.

1012
01:11:06,240 –> 01:11:09,680
Do you know what that meant in
Egypt?

1013
01:11:11,320 –> 01:11:16,600
His garment in the hands of his
master’s wife and he’s out of

1014
01:11:16,600 –> 01:11:20,200
the house.
His head would have rolled as

1015
01:11:20,200 –> 01:11:21,760
soon as his master had found
out.

1016
01:11:21,920 –> 01:11:24,520
It is an amazing thing that he
didn’t lose his life.

1017
01:11:24,760 –> 01:11:28,600
Brethren and sisters, I believe
it was only because Potiphar had

1018
01:11:28,600 –> 01:11:31,640
an amazing respect for this
young man.

1019
01:11:34,320 –> 01:11:37,680
But he didn’t lose his life.
He was put into prison.

1020
01:11:38,600 –> 01:11:45,760
And when temptation comes and
persists, there is only one

1021
01:11:46,880 –> 01:11:52,920
thing to do, flee.
Come to 1st of Corinthians

1022
01:11:52,920 –> 01:12:15,770
chapter 10. 1st of Corinthians
chapter 10 verse 12 set in the

1023
01:12:15,770 –> 01:12:21,570
context of Israel’s failure and
notice of fornication in verse 8

1024
01:12:24,730 –> 01:12:29,040
and Paul using the example of
Israel’s failure as saying verse

1025
01:12:29,040 –> 01:12:30,800
12.
Therefore let him that thinketh

1026
01:12:30,800 –> 01:12:33,000
he standeth.
Take heed from the example.

1027
01:12:33,880 –> 01:12:37,720
There is no such temptation.
There is no temptation taken you

1028
01:12:37,720 –> 01:12:42,840
but such as is common to man,
but God is faithful who will not

1029
01:12:42,840 –> 01:12:45,520
suffer you to be tempted above
that you’re able, but will with

1030
01:12:45,520 –> 01:12:49,200
the temptation also make a way
of escape that she may be able

1031
01:12:49,200 –> 01:12:54,720
to bear it.
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, he

1032
01:12:54,720 –> 01:12:59,840
says flee.
And that’s all we can do at

1033
01:12:59,840 –> 01:13:06,200
times, young people, God will
not always remove or ease the

1034
01:13:06,200 –> 01:13:09,000
temptation.
He doesn’t ever promise to do

1035
01:13:09,000 –> 01:13:11,800
that.
Temptation is just that,

1036
01:13:12,280 –> 01:13:16,160
temptation.
And if God was to remove it, it

1037
01:13:16,160 –> 01:13:20,720
wouldn’t be temptation.
So he can’t, but he will be

1038
01:13:20,720 –> 01:13:24,040
faithful in putting a way of
escape possible.

1039
01:13:24,200 –> 01:13:31,680
But the issue is we have to
decide to take it and we have

1040
01:13:31,680 –> 01:13:35,640
the choice as to whether we stay
there or whether we go.

1041
01:13:37,400 –> 01:13:40,200
Just turn back a few pages to
chapter 6 of First Corinthians,

1042
01:13:40,960 –> 01:13:44,240
verse 15.
The apostle highlights the issue

1043
01:13:44,240 –> 01:13:46,480
again.
He says, no, you’re not, that

1044
01:13:46,480 –> 01:13:48,400
your bodies are the members of
Christ.

1045
01:13:49,280 –> 01:13:51,600
Shall I then take the members of
Christ and make them the members

1046
01:13:51,600 –> 01:13:55,040
of, of and harlots, God forbid.
What?

1047
01:13:55,040 –> 01:13:58,720
No, you’re not that he which
join which is joined to a harlot

1048
01:13:58,720 –> 01:14:03,120
is 1 body for two saith he shall
be 1 flesh, but he that is

1049
01:14:03,120 –> 01:14:05,200
joined under the Lord is 1
spirit.

1050
01:14:07,240 –> 01:14:12,400
Flee fornication.
There’s no other way, young

1051
01:14:12,400 –> 01:14:14,640
people.
We’re living in an adulterous

1052
01:14:14,640 –> 01:14:19,960
generation where that thinks,
just like the ancient Egyptian

1053
01:14:19,960 –> 01:14:24,760
society was, that it’s OK to do
anything your body tells you to

1054
01:14:24,760 –> 01:14:27,640
do.
It’s OK, But the apostle

1055
01:14:27,640 –> 01:14:31,360
councils constantly to flee.
You know, we’re in an

1056
01:14:31,480 –> 01:14:34,960
environment rather than sisters,
where this problem, though

1057
01:14:34,960 –> 01:14:38,960
embarrassing it might be to talk
about, is influencing and

1058
01:14:38,960 –> 01:14:41,480
affecting the brotherhood.
And it’s affecting our young

1059
01:14:41,480 –> 01:14:44,160
people.
Make no mistake, any brother or

1060
01:14:44,160 –> 01:14:48,040
sister or parent who doesn’t
think that it’s making inroads

1061
01:14:48,040 –> 01:14:52,320
into the lives of some young
people within our group is blind

1062
01:14:53,720 –> 01:14:56,560
with the influences that are on
our children outside.

1063
01:14:56,560 –> 01:14:59,560
It’s bound to do that.
It’s in the workplaces, it’s in

1064
01:14:59,560 –> 01:15:02,640
the streets, it’s everywhere.
There’s a powerful appeal

1065
01:15:02,640 –> 01:15:05,720
through the media, through
advertising, through education

1066
01:15:06,120 –> 01:15:10,320
to break down divine values.
And as soon as divine values go,

1067
01:15:10,320 –> 01:15:14,800
everything’s gone.
Our children are being told in

1068
01:15:14,800 –> 01:15:19,600
schools told don’t suppress
what’s natural.

1069
01:15:20,720 –> 01:15:24,520
It leads to inhibitions, it
leads to hang ups.

1070
01:15:25,840 –> 01:15:28,560
It’ll thwart you for life, you
know.

1071
01:15:28,560 –> 01:15:32,360
In a recent newspaper report, an
Australia wide survey was

1072
01:15:32,360 –> 01:15:38,280
conducted that said more than
50% of 17 year olds in Australia

1073
01:15:38,280 –> 01:15:42,360
are sexually active.
Today, I’ve walked past

1074
01:15:42,360 –> 01:15:44,600
classrooms in schools in this
city.

1075
01:15:44,800 –> 01:15:48,240
Brethren and sisters and our
young people know that this goes

1076
01:15:48,240 –> 01:15:51,640
on, whether you like to believe
it because you’ve grown up in a

1077
01:15:51,640 –> 01:15:54,480
generation that was much more
private.

1078
01:15:55,040 –> 01:16:00,120
But I’ve walked past classrooms
in schools, reasonably decent

1079
01:16:00,120 –> 01:16:04,360
schools I might add reasonably
decent schools where teachers

1080
01:16:04,600 –> 01:16:11,600
are saying to children of
teenage 1415 years of age it’s

1081
01:16:11,600 –> 01:16:14,440
OK to experiment as long as it’s
safe.

1082
01:16:16,080 –> 01:16:20,200
It’s normal to have sex at your
age.

1083
01:16:21,480 –> 01:16:25,480
Young people make no provision
for the flesh.

1084
01:16:25,840 –> 01:16:30,320
Who cares what they think?
There is a God in heaven who

1085
01:16:30,320 –> 01:16:34,320
thinks differently and stand up
for it.

1086
01:16:35,720 –> 01:16:37,560
Don’t get washed away by the
tide.

1087
01:16:37,960 –> 01:16:41,800
Joseph is in a very, very
difficult situation, and he

1088
01:16:41,800 –> 01:16:45,800
stood his ground until he could
stand it no longer and he went

1089
01:16:45,840 –> 01:16:51,520
out the door.
Avoid circumstances, avoid

1090
01:16:51,520 –> 01:16:56,440
places, avoid influences.
Young people, avoid them.

1091
01:16:56,920 –> 01:17:00,920
You’ve got to avoid them.
If you stay there too long,

1092
01:17:02,120 –> 01:17:05,160
you’ll be gone and you’ll wreck
your life.

1093
01:17:06,760 –> 01:17:11,680
Don’t learn by experience.
Listen to what God has said.

1094
01:17:13,080 –> 01:17:17,440
There are lusts in your bodies,
young people, which if aroused

1095
01:17:17,840 –> 01:17:22,160
and allowed to work, cannot be
controlled.

1096
01:17:23,760 –> 01:17:28,360
The mind will be overruled.
And don’t think that’s fanciful

1097
01:17:28,360 –> 01:17:31,040
nonsense.
And if you have a boyfriend or

1098
01:17:31,040 –> 01:17:34,880
you have a girlfriend, don’t sit
in a car for two hours at night.

1099
01:17:36,720 –> 01:17:43,040
Learn to avoid circumstances,
places and influences that you

1100
01:17:43,040 –> 01:17:48,440
can’t control and that will
inevitably lead to absolute

1101
01:17:48,520 –> 01:17:51,880
disaster and tragedy.
Look at what God says one more

1102
01:17:51,880 –> 01:17:57,000
in First of Thessalonians
chapter 4 and think about this,

1103
01:17:57,120 –> 01:18:02,960
young people and brother and
sisters, because it’s not

1104
01:18:02,960 –> 01:18:06,800
isolated to young people though.
They’re growing up amongst a

1105
01:18:06,800 –> 01:18:12,040
generation who has no morals.
And that’s no exaggeration.

1106
01:18:12,320 –> 01:18:16,640
The generation that our children
are growing up largely have no

1107
01:18:16,760 –> 01:18:19,880
idea of biblical morality at
all.

1108
01:18:19,920 –> 01:18:23,960
They make their own rules, their
own values, their own morals.

1109
01:18:24,040 –> 01:18:27,960
But look what God says in First
the Thessalonians chapter 4 and

1110
01:18:27,960 –> 01:18:31,800
at verse 3.
For this is the will of God,

1111
01:18:32,480 –> 01:18:38,240
even your sanctification, that
you should abstain from

1112
01:18:38,240 –> 01:18:43,000
fornication.
It’s God’s will for you, young

1113
01:18:43,000 –> 01:18:46,720
person, to abstain from
fornication.

1114
01:18:46,960 –> 01:18:51,760
Look at verse 7.
For God hath not called us unto

1115
01:18:51,760 –> 01:19:00,440
uncleanness, but unto holiness,
separateness, purity, devotion

1116
01:19:00,440 –> 01:19:02,720
of the mind, of things that are
high and pure.

1117
01:19:03,760 –> 01:19:07,960
He therefore look at verse 8 and
underline it in your Bible.

1118
01:19:08,200 –> 01:19:16,160
He therefore that despiseth,
that despiseth not man, but God.

1119
01:19:16,960 –> 01:19:20,640
That’s how serious it is, young
people.

1120
01:19:21,520 –> 01:19:25,280
And Joseph went out and he
didn’t count the consequences,

1121
01:19:25,880 –> 01:19:29,160
and he found himself in prison.
He could have found himself with

1122
01:19:29,160 –> 01:19:34,200
his head rolling down the the
yard of the slaughterman, but he

1123
01:19:34,200 –> 01:19:37,360
found himself, thankfully, by
the grace of God, in prison.

1124
01:19:38,080 –> 01:19:41,000
He’d done nothing wrong.
All he’d done was stood up for

1125
01:19:41,000 –> 01:19:44,520
what was right.
And if you get chopped down in

1126
01:19:44,520 –> 01:19:48,320
pieces at school, young people,
for saying what’s right, think

1127
01:19:48,320 –> 01:19:53,840
of Joseph.
He didn’t even deserve to be in

1128
01:19:53,840 –> 01:19:56,160
Egypt, and he was.
And now he’s in prison.

1129
01:19:57,680 –> 01:20:02,920
And prison was not an easy place
to live in, not in Egypt.

1130
01:20:05,720 –> 01:20:09,480
I’d like you to come back now,
but our time is slipping away.

1131
01:20:09,480 –> 01:20:13,360
I’d like you to come to Psalm
105.

1132
01:20:18,980 –> 01:20:27,600
Psalm 105.
And verse 17.

1133
01:20:32,920 –> 01:20:35,120
And here the psalmist, taking
the panorama of Israel’s

1134
01:20:35,120 –> 01:20:41,960
history, comes to the time of
Joseph. 105 Verse 17 sent a man

1135
01:20:41,960 –> 01:20:45,920
before them, even Joseph, who
was sold for a servant.

1136
01:20:47,200 –> 01:20:49,520
His feet, they hurt with
fetters.

1137
01:20:51,120 –> 01:20:53,320
He was laid in iron.
Look at the margin.

1138
01:20:54,840 –> 01:21:03,520
His soul came into iron.
Do you think those two or three

1139
01:21:03,520 –> 01:21:07,840
years, four years maybe in
prison, were pleasant years?

1140
01:21:09,040 –> 01:21:12,920
His soul came into iron.
He didn’t know why God was doing

1141
01:21:12,920 –> 01:21:14,480
this.
All he’d done was what was

1142
01:21:14,480 –> 01:21:17,320
right.
And he’s only 25.

1143
01:21:20,400 –> 01:21:23,320
But we do ourselves a disservice
if we don’t read the next verse.

1144
01:21:24,280 –> 01:21:31,640
They do Joseph a disservice.
His soul came into iron until

1145
01:21:31,640 –> 01:21:38,760
the time that his word came.
The word of Yahweh tried him.

1146
01:21:38,760 –> 01:21:43,040
This is what the RSV says.
His soul came into iron until

1147
01:21:43,040 –> 01:21:49,520
what he said came to pass.
The word of Yahweh tried him,

1148
01:21:50,800 –> 01:21:54,960
and in prison Joseph’s dreams
came back to him.

1149
01:21:56,120 –> 01:21:59,440
Was God right?
Was he going down the wrong

1150
01:21:59,440 –> 01:22:02,440
track?
Everything seemed to be against

1151
01:22:02,440 –> 01:22:06,080
him, but the word of Yahweh
tried him sorely.

1152
01:22:06,080 –> 01:22:09,520
Young people, we will be put
into circumstances at times

1153
01:22:09,520 –> 01:22:14,880
which we don’t deserve, and it’s
the word of Yahweh that’s trying

1154
01:22:14,880 –> 01:22:16,600
us.
Those circumstances we might

1155
01:22:16,600 –> 01:22:21,760
think are awful, but it’s the
Word of God that’s fighting in

1156
01:22:21,760 –> 01:22:25,160
our minds, trying to weigh up
what God’s doing with us.

1157
01:22:25,480 –> 01:22:29,520
And it tried Joseph when his
soul was in iron and God put the

1158
01:22:29,520 –> 01:22:33,280
pressure on him there to see if
he really believed and to make

1159
01:22:33,280 –> 01:22:37,240
something of him that he could
later use not only in the

1160
01:22:37,240 –> 01:22:42,000
Kingdom but in his life as well.
But Joseph had something that no

1161
01:22:42,000 –> 01:22:46,840
man could ever take away,
embedded in his mind from his

1162
01:22:46,840 –> 01:22:54,320
early days for the promises and
the visions of God, and he

1163
01:22:54,320 –> 01:22:57,000
exercised his mind every day on
those things.

1164
01:22:58,880 –> 01:23:08,280
And remarkably, back in Genesis
chapter 39, remarkably it had an

1165
01:23:08,280 –> 01:23:17,520
effect, verse 21.
And Yahweh was with Joseph and

1166
01:23:17,520 –> 01:23:22,320
showed him mercy and gave him
favour in the sight of the

1167
01:23:22,320 –> 01:23:25,840
keeper of the prison.
Isn’t that amazing?

1168
01:23:25,960 –> 01:23:30,600
The spirit of this godly man,
the visions of whose mind had

1169
01:23:30,720 –> 01:23:36,360
regenerated that faith again, it
enabled him to stand and to

1170
01:23:36,360 –> 01:23:39,760
endure all that uncertainty, all
that anguish.

1171
01:23:40,840 –> 01:23:45,520
You know, we haven’t really even
got to the essence of Joseph’s

1172
01:23:45,520 –> 01:23:48,240
life tonight.
We’re not going, don’t think

1173
01:23:48,240 –> 01:23:49,640
we’re going to go on to help us
in.

1174
01:23:50,360 –> 01:23:53,440
We haven’t yet got to the
essence of Joseph’s life.

1175
01:23:54,200 –> 01:23:58,360
And I want to tell you in one
sentence what it is that all his

1176
01:23:58,440 –> 01:24:01,920
early experiences when God had
chosen him from the age of 17

1177
01:24:03,040 –> 01:24:08,400
were all leading for the time
when he would save his brethren.

1178
01:24:10,120 –> 01:24:12,800
You know that.
That’s the story of Joseph, that

1179
01:24:12,800 –> 01:24:16,600
he saved his brethren, but God
had had brought Joseph at a

1180
01:24:16,600 –> 01:24:19,720
young age through all these
experiences that he none of whom

1181
01:24:19,720 –> 01:24:22,640
he deserved.
But in the end, it was his

1182
01:24:22,640 –> 01:24:27,720
faith, young people, it was his
patience, it was his godliness,

1183
01:24:27,960 –> 01:24:31,520
his example, his vision that
saved them.

1184
01:24:31,720 –> 01:24:34,760
It wasn’t theirs and they didn’t
deserve to be saved in the end,

1185
01:24:34,760 –> 01:24:38,680
but they were.
And it was all started in a 17

1186
01:24:38,680 –> 01:24:41,320
year old.
Never, ever let us think young

1187
01:24:41,320 –> 01:24:44,400
people, that we’re too young for
God to use.

1188
01:24:45,440 –> 01:24:47,680
Never, ever let us think that
the pressures of this life are

1189
01:24:47,680 –> 01:24:51,320
too strong to stand up against.
Never, ever let us think that

1190
01:24:51,320 –> 01:24:55,680
God has forsaken us.
Because in all those things,

1191
01:24:55,880 –> 01:25:19,360
Joseph inspired his brethren.
In summary, what have we seen?

1192
01:25:22,160 –> 01:25:24,480
No one’s too young for God to
use.

1193
01:25:28,280 –> 01:25:34,400
Developing a good conscience in
youth by diligent attention to

1194
01:25:34,400 –> 01:25:39,880
the Word of God is vital to
being able to withstand the

1195
01:25:39,880 –> 01:25:44,920
pressures of life that come in
youth and in the days beyond.

1196
01:25:46,160 –> 01:25:51,600
But the key to Joseph’s success
was the reality that he made God

1197
01:25:51,600 –> 01:25:58,520
in his life that allowed him to
flee youthful lusts and

1198
01:25:58,520 –> 01:26:06,680
temptation when it arose.
And it was the key to his

1199
01:26:06,720 –> 01:26:11,720
faithfulness under this
unreasonable pressure really

1200
01:26:11,720 –> 01:26:16,240
came from his dreams.
Nobody, them sisters and young

1201
01:26:16,240 –> 01:26:19,280
people, we’ve all got to be
masters of dreams.

1202
01:26:21,760 –> 01:26:29,480
Because by that, Solomon says,
where there is no vision, the

1203
01:26:29,480 –> 01:26:33,280
people perish.
And surely Joseph would have

1204
01:26:33,280 –> 01:26:37,600
faded into insignificance in
Egyptian society had it not been

1205
01:26:37,600 –> 01:26:43,280
for the tremendous power that
those visions had upon his mind

1206
01:26:43,640 –> 01:26:48,120
in times of real trouble that
were embedded there in his very

1207
01:26:48,120 –> 01:26:53,920
youngest days, renewed every day
by him because he thought about

1208
01:26:53,920 –> 01:26:57,480
them.
You know, young people, as we go

1209
01:26:57,480 –> 01:27:02,720
away tonight, let’s just think
that it’s no good just

1210
01:27:03,200 –> 01:27:07,680
considering a the life of an
inspiring young individual who

1211
01:27:07,680 –> 01:27:11,680
was committed to the truth like
like Joseph obviously was.

1212
01:27:13,080 –> 01:27:20,920
Let’s think what it means to us.
It’s got a cost, a personal

1213
01:27:20,920 –> 01:27:26,280
cost, sacrifice of time
commitment.

1214
01:27:26,720 –> 01:27:30,720
Young people, while your mind is
agile, while there is time

1215
01:27:31,640 –> 01:27:36,560
before the evil days come when
you say young people, and

1216
01:27:36,560 –> 01:27:40,880
there’s no substitute, there’s
no quick fix, there’s no instant

1217
01:27:40,880 –> 01:27:43,600
solution.
Time is the only way.

1218
01:27:44,480 –> 01:27:49,960
Time thinking about the Word and
about God’s promises.

1219
01:27:52,360 –> 01:27:57,240
Take one of those sheets
afterwards and give it some time

1220
01:27:58,920 –> 01:28:03,200
because it won’t be wasted.
And we’ll never, ever, ever deal

1221
01:28:03,360 –> 01:28:06,320
with the pressures of life
without doing that.

1222
01:28:07,400 –> 01:28:11,360
I’d like you to listen in
conclusion to the words of of

1223
01:28:11,360 –> 01:28:17,520
the great Apostle Paul as he
wrote his last words to the

1224
01:28:17,520 –> 01:28:23,400
young man that he loved.
He said, Let no man despise thy

1225
01:28:23,400 –> 01:28:32,920
youth, but be thou an example to
the believers, an example in

1226
01:28:32,920 –> 01:28:42,120
youth, to the believers in Word,
in manner of life, in love, in

1227
01:28:42,120 –> 01:28:50,680
faith, in purity.
Give a tendency said to reading,

1228
01:28:51,840 –> 01:28:55,080
to exhortation, to doctrine.
That just doesn’t mean going to

1229
01:28:55,080 –> 01:29:00,040
the meetings.
Meditate upon these things, give

1230
01:29:00,040 –> 01:29:04,320
thyself wholly to them.
Isn’t that a picture of Joseph?

1231
01:29:05,960 –> 01:29:14,240
For in so doing thou shalt both
save thyself and them that hear

1232
01:29:14,240 –> 01:29:17,400
thee.
And there in the life of Joseph

1233
01:29:17,400 –> 01:29:22,280
tonight, that principle which
Paul enunciated and exhorted,

1234
01:29:22,280 –> 01:29:27,520
that young man Timothy to
follow, was seen outworked, and

1235
01:29:27,520 –> 01:29:31,920
the influence of his life swept
many along, and not only saved

1236
01:29:31,920 –> 01:29:36,440
himself in the end, but all
those that hurt him.

1237
01:29:37,520 –> 01:29:42,080
Pray God that our influence,
young or old, might likewise be

1238
01:29:42,080 –> 01:29:58,360
the same.
Thank you for listening to the

1239
01:29:58,360 –> 01:29:59,920
Good Christadelphian Talks
podcast.

1240
01:30:00,760 –> 01:30:03,200
We hope this talk helped you in
your walk and brightened your

1241
01:30:03,200 –> 01:30:05,560
day.
If you would like to hear more,

1242
01:30:05,560 –> 01:30:07,320
please subscribe for new
episodes.

1243
01:30:07,720 –> 01:30:10,960
We are on all major podcast
platforms and also on YouTube.

1244
01:30:12,080 –> 01:30:14,560
If you enjoyed this particular
talk, please share it with

1245
01:30:14,560 –> 01:30:16,480
someone else who you think might
enjoy it too.

1246
01:30:17,400 –> 01:30:20,080
For show notes on the talk you
just listened to, visit

1247
01:30:20,080 –> 01:30:24,000
[email protected]
or check out the Show Notes

1248
01:30:24,000 –> 01:30:27,720
section of your podcast player.
Please share your thoughts on

1249
01:30:27,720 –> 01:30:30,720
the talk from this week on our
Facebook or Instagram pages

1250
01:30:30,720 –> 01:30:33,680
where we are at Good
Christadelphian talks or leave a

1251
01:30:33,680 –> 01:30:36,440
comment on our YouTube channel
where these talks are posted as

1252
01:30:36,440 –> 01:30:38,160
well.
If you enjoy listening to the

1253
01:30:38,160 –> 01:30:40,800
talks that we post and hear one
that you think we should share,

1254
01:30:41,040 –> 01:30:44,280
please tell us about it.
You can send a suggestion using

1255
01:30:44,280 –> 01:30:47,400
the Contact Us tab on our
website or message us on any of

1256
01:30:47,400 –> 01:30:50,120
our social media accounts.
Thank you for listening.

1257
01:30:50,360 –> 01:30:52,320
God bless and talk to you next
week.