Andrew Johns – Examples of Youth in Service & Action – Class 1 – Joseph – Showing Integrity in Youth

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We now look forward then to the
words of our brother Andrew as

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he speaks to the theme Joseph
showing integrity and vision in

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youth.
Thanks, brother Andrew, my

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dearly beloved brethren and
sisters in our Lord Jesus

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Christ, and particularly
tonight, our dear young people.

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I wonder if you’ve ever noticed
throughout the Scriptures just

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how many young people’s lives
have been recorded by the Divine

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Pen in more than superficial
detail.

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It seems further and sisters
than young people that.

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Whenever Yahweh wanted a great
work.

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Done in the Earth.
Or a difficult.

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Task, no matter what it was in
Israel or to the nations that he

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chose a young man sometimes from
the womb, in order, in order

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that he might prepare for that
work which was to be done.

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And we only have to cast our
minds very cursorily back

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across, for example, the Old
Testament.

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And you think of Joseph, who
saved his brethren, of Moses,

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who saved all of Israel out of
Egypt.

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Of David, who brought the nation
together under the kingship of

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Jeremiah.
Of Daniel.

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Of Ezekiel in captivity.
And later of John the Baptist or

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of our Lord himself?
What about Timothy and many

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other of Paul’s companions?
All.

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Cold in the prime of their
youth, mostly when they are

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teenagers.
You know, that’s telling us

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something, brethren and sisters
and young people.

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It’s telling us something very
important.

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That.
God sees youth as a very

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important time of life.
Young people never forget it.

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It’s not our intention at the
moment, nor in tonight’s study.

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To take our theme.
And expand it.

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We’ll do that, God willing,
tomorrow night.

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But we’re going to.
Focus for this week, God

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willing, in the days that are
ahead upon the lives of just

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six.
Six out of many.

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Whose lives are recorded through
the pages of the word?

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6.
Young people that God took in

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their youth and used to forward
His purpose.

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And it’s amazing how much detail
has been recorded in the lives

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of not only these young
individuals but of many others

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as well.
We’re not going to have time to

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to dwell on all their strengths
and all their weaknesses.

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But we will be able to touch
from.

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Time to time upon.
The zeal and what drove these

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young people in their early days
and particularly what God did in

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their lives and what pressures
God brought to bear upon.

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Them and what their reaction was
under those pressures.

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Because we hear a lot about
pressures, don’t we?

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Pressures of this life.
Pressures of an evil and godless

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world.
And that’s very true.

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The pressures are increasing
every day.

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We know it.
We don’t have to be young to

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know that it’s happening to us
all.

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Is it not?
Brethren and sisters, we’re

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feeling the pressure as the
world grinds closer and closer

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to the eventful fate of
Armageddon.

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But we needn’t despair, because
here in front of us, young.

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People and brethren and sisters,
God has memorialized the lives.

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Of faithful young people who
have borne incredible pressures

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and have stood straight with
integrity, with vision and

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faith, and have withstood
everything else around them

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against all odds.
And God has used them to move

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unrepentant hearts back to Him.
And that’s what we’re going to

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see tonight in the life of
Joseph.

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I’d like you.
Before we go to Joseph to come

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to the words of the wise man at
the end of Ecclesiastes at

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Chapter 11, we know Solomon had
tried everything under the sun.

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His youth, I might add.
It was at a time when he had

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energy and vigor, when he could
do whatever he liked.

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He had the resources.
At his hands.

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And that he did.
He tried everything there was to

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try.
He got himself into trouble, but

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at the end of his days penned
words to all generations

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thereafter about what he found.
And in verse 9 of Chapter 11.

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He gives advice to Young.
He says in verse 9, Rejoice, O

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Young.
Man in thy youth and.

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And let thy heart cheer.
Thee.

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In the days of thy youth, and
walk in the ways of thine heart,

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and in the sight of thine eyes.
But know thou that for all these

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things God will bring thee into
judgement.

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You know, it seems on the
surface that that Solomon is

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being very cynical there, as if
to say.

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Go on, but God will bring you
into judgement.

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I don’t think he’s saying that
at all, brethren.

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Sisters.
What he’s saying is that youth

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is a time of vigor and
enthusiasm, of optimism and

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opportunity.
Grasp those opportunities, he

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says.
Rejoice in your youth, but

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temper all that you do in youth
in taking those opportunities.

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Temper it all with the knowledge
that God is there.

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And we’ll bring all into
judgement.

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You know, life is not one big
search for fun and excitement

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and enjoyment from the beginning
of our days to the end of our

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life.
There is a seriousness about

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life that should be remembered
in youth, though youth ought to

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be a time of rejoicing, of
happiness, of grasping

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opportunities, of challenges.
Young people, many of today’s

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youth, have thrown those away.
There are no challenges.

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All they want to do is lull
around and waste their lives.

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Grasp opportunities.
That’s what Solomon says.

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Grasp them.
But he goes on in verse 10.

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Therefore he says.
Remove sorrow from thine hearts.

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And put away evil from your
flesh for.

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Childhood and the prime of life.
It’s not the same word as as his

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rendered youth elsewhere here in
verse 9 and in the next verse in

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chapter 12.
For childhood and the prime of

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life are vanity.
Put evil away because it will

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only bring sorrow.
In the end, and remember verse

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one now thy Creator in the days
of thy youth.

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While the evil days.
Come not, nor the ears drawn

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nigh, when thou shalt say, I
have no pleasure in them.

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You know what the most important
word in that verse is.

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Young people underline it now.
Remember now thy Creator in the

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days of thy youth.
You see, brethren, sisters and

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young people.
That’s the hardest time of life

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to remember.
When we’re old and almost facing

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the grave, it’s very easy to
remember that there is a Creator

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in heaven who will be able to
recreate our faculties that

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we’ve lost.
It’s very easy to do that on a

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on a bed where we can hardly
move when we’ve lost our

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mobility.
It’s very easy then, but it’s

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exceedingly.
Difficult in youth?

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To remember that there is a
creator.

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Remember now, while this
opportunity, Solomon says at the

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end of his.
Life regretting much of his

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life.
Remember now when it’s difficult

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to do that.
And we’re going to see that

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tonight in the life of Joseph,
an inspiring individual who put

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away evil from his life.
And remembered now.

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At 17, his creator in the days
of his youth.

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You know, brothers and sisters,
when the world generally and

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people talk about the whole of
life, we often we do it

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ourselves.
We talk of childhood and

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adolescence and adulthood, and
sometimes adulthood is broken up

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into various stages, all
artificial stages except one,

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because God doesn’t recognize
those stages per SE.

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You’ll find that Scripture,
brethren and sisters, and the

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Apostle Paul and our Lord
Himself all understand life as

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being made-up of childhood and
the.

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Rest of life, there is no
artificial distinction made for

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teenagers, for adolescents.
And there is a phenomenon in

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this world over the last 30
years that has almost made

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teenagers a subculture or a
subspecies of the human race.

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And the media has accelerated
that understanding and there is

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completely distinctive dress and
language and culture that goes

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with with teenage and it’s
perpetuated by the big

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corporations that want to sell
and that advertise constantly.

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And it’s picked up by the media
and sensationalised and young

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people come to think that they
are different.

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But God doesn’t see life like
that, young people.

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God sees life as childhood and
adulthood and youth or teenage

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fits into the latter, because in
teenage young people we have the

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mental and the moral
capabilities to understand the

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Creator and are therefore
increasingly responsible and

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accountable to Him.
And when?

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We have a look at.
This, these words that Solomon’s

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just said, that’s exactly what
it’s.

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Saying is it not?
It’s saying, rejoice in thy

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youth, grasp those
opportunities, but remember your

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Creator.
It’s obvious that in youth there

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are responsibilities which God
expects to rest on our

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shoulders.
And it’s not just that he says

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and put away evil from your
flesh.

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He expects in youth us to be
able to make those distinctions.

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We’re adults when we’re in our
teens.

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And if we’re in Jewish society
from the age of 12, we would

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have increasingly taken on very
serious responsibilities of

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adulthood, which today are
pushed off and pushed off and

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pushed off.
And many young people have

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almost no responsibilities, no
accountability until much, much.

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Later in life, but we’re going
to see a young man tonight,

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brother and sisters and young
people who definitely had

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enormous responsibilities on his
shoulders.

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We meet him at 17 years of age.
Under extreme pressure.

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And the remarkable thing is that
God.

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Took notice of him.
You know there must be around

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this world, millions upon
millions of 17 year olds.

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And I wonder how many of those
young people God is interested

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in.
I wonder how many 17 year olds

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God is really interested in in
this.

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World.
But he was interested in this

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one when he was 17 years years
of age, and he laid on his

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shoulders tremendous
responsibilities.

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You know what he did?
God took him at 17 and put in

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train a process by which.
He would put his entire purpose

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with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
back on track because his other

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eleven brothers had virtually
left the truth.

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And he was given the
responsibility of getting.

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Them back.
Into the truth so God’s purpose

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might be able to go forward with
all Israel.

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And he’s 17 years old.
Amazing, isn’t it?

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We’re going to see tonight in
Joseph’s life an illustration

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not only of tremendous faith, of
belief in the impossible,

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humanly speaking, not only are
we going to see God’s Providence

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worked out and a young man
obviously seeing what Providence

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was all about in his teens and
his early 20s, but what is most

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remarkable?
About this individual is the.

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Enormous influence that his
life, character and example had

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on any and everyone that had
ever come in contact with.

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Him and God picked him at 17.
He had a.

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Tremendous pull on his family.
Oh, they hated him.

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They tried to kill him, selling
him off into Egypt, and that

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would be the end of him.
They would never hear of it

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again.
But eventually they came to be

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very powerfully influenced by
him.

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And there were Gentiles who
likewise were powerfully

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influenced.
There was.

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Potiphar.
The prison guy, there was the

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Butler, the Baker, the list goes
on, was impressed with this man.

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And that’s not all.
Moses was deeply impressed with

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the life of Joseph, deeply
impressed.

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And he made sure that that stone
coffin, as difficult as it was

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to carry, was marched all the
way from Egypt into the promised

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land.
For 40 years, Joseph’s example

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sat in the midst of an evil
generation and reminded them of

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the faith and the vision that.
Should have got.

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Them there long before and
Joseph’s The record of Joseph’s

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life with 14 chapters of Genesis
recorded here for us has

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continued to influence people
like us all young and old for

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many generations.
Since it’s a very powerful and

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moving story, we’re not going to
have time to look at all of

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Joseph’s life by any means, but
let’s go to the start and see

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how God introduces him into the
record in Genesis chapter 37.

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00:16:12,840 –> 00:16:14,520
If we.
Read our Bibles carefully.

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00:16:14,680 –> 00:16:15,400
We’ll see.
What God?

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00:16:15,440 –> 00:16:21,440
Thought of this individual we
find in genesis 37 at verse one,

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00:16:22,840 –> 00:16:24,760
and Jacob dwelt in the land
wherein his.

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00:16:24,760 –> 00:16:27,960
Father was a stranger in the
land of Canaan.

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00:16:28,560 –> 00:16:33,120
Well, we already knew that.
Because if you’d been reading

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00:16:33,120 –> 00:16:35,080
the few chapters.
Before you would know that he

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00:16:35,080 –> 00:16:36,640
was already.
In the land of Canaan.

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00:16:36,640 –> 00:16:38,400
And that he was.
Dwelling where his father.

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00:16:38,560 –> 00:16:43,040
Why tell us that?
But it’s really quite important.

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00:16:43,040 –> 00:16:46,560
Brethren and sisters, the
Scripture doesn’t waste words.

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00:16:47,720 –> 00:16:50,960
Jacob is.
Still a stranger.

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00:16:51,080 –> 00:16:54,600
That’s the point.
You see, if you look back at

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00:16:54,600 –> 00:16:58,040
verse the previous chapter,
right at the end of the previous

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00:16:58,040 –> 00:17:02,800
chapter, verse 40, for example,
through to verse 43 read and

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00:17:02,800 –> 00:17:05,359
these are the names of the Dukes
that came of Esau according to

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00:17:05,359 –> 00:17:08,000
their families after their
places by their names.

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00:17:08,240 –> 00:17:10,520
And there was Duke.
This, this is all the list of

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00:17:10,520 –> 00:17:11,720
all these.
Dukes down to.

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00:17:11,720 –> 00:17:16,280
Verse 43.
According to their habitations.

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00:17:16,760 –> 00:17:20,800
In the land of their possession
and he.

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00:17:20,800 –> 00:17:23,720
Is the Esau the father of the
Edomites?

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00:17:24,599 –> 00:17:29,640
And Jacob dwelt in the land of
his father’s sojournings.

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00:17:29,920 –> 00:17:34,400
There’s a dramatic contrast
between Esau and Jacob.

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00:17:34,760 –> 00:17:38,360
Esau has already settled himself
down in his habitations, in his

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00:17:38,360 –> 00:17:41,360
possessions, in the land.
Put his roots down and he

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00:17:41,360 –> 00:17:47,280
belongs there in Edom.
But Jacob is still dwelling in

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00:17:47,280 –> 00:17:50,560
his father’s sojournings.
That’s saying something.

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00:17:50,800 –> 00:17:55,480
It’s saying that Jacob has still
got the promises in his heart.

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00:17:55,480 –> 00:17:59,360
He still is faithful, and he’s
the third generation.

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00:18:00,120 –> 00:18:03,200
You know that the faithfulness
went even further when at least

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00:18:03,200 –> 00:18:06,760
to the next generation, even
though the apostle Paul says in

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00:18:06,760 –> 00:18:10,720
Hebrews, he says, and by faith.
He.

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00:18:10,720 –> 00:18:13,920
Abraham, that is.
Sojourned in the land of

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00:18:13,920 –> 00:18:18,680
promise, as in a strange country
dwelling in tabernacles with

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00:18:18,760 –> 00:18:23,040
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise.

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00:18:23,160 –> 00:18:26,160
So the very fact that we read
here that he’s sojourning still

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00:18:26,160 –> 00:18:29,920
as a stranger is picked up by
Paul and Hebrews to say he’s

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00:18:29,920 –> 00:18:32,600
still faithfully hanging on to
those promises.

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00:18:33,360 –> 00:18:35,160
But Esau had chosen not to do
that.

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00:18:35,160 –> 00:18:36,800
You know.
If we.

265
00:18:37,160 –> 00:18:40,080
Our Bibles very carefully and
this is a good exercise for

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00:18:40,080 –> 00:18:42,120
young people.
When you go home, you you.

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00:18:43,400 –> 00:18:48,160
Skim through the last previous 7
or 8 chapters of Genesis here

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00:18:48,520 –> 00:18:52,600
and you’ll find this that
Jacob’s life is dotted by

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00:18:52,600 –> 00:18:55,680
movement all over the place.
In fact, it’s very interesting

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00:18:55,680 –> 00:19:02,720
that it was as soon as Joseph
was born that Jacob decided to

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00:19:02,800 –> 00:19:05,160
uproot out of the land of Pain
and Arum.

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00:19:06,040 –> 00:19:10,160
And you know, we find there’s no
more, no less than 10 individual

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00:19:10,160 –> 00:19:14,840
movements and stopping places
all the way from Paedon R right

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00:19:14,840 –> 00:19:17,880
back here to where we find him
here at Hebron.

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00:19:18,120 –> 00:19:20,760
And through all that period,
which is the period in which

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00:19:20,760 –> 00:19:24,520
Joseph is growing up, what do
you think Joseph’s learning,

277
00:19:25,320 –> 00:19:28,360
See, learning that this world is
permanent, and you’ve got to get

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00:19:28,360 –> 00:19:30,040
out there and do everything you
can.

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00:19:30,160 –> 00:19:32,880
Build your empire, Build your
riches.

280
00:19:35,120 –> 00:19:38,360
He’s learning, brother and
sisters, what his father was

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00:19:38,360 –> 00:19:41,480
living.
He’s learning to be a sojourner

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00:19:42,840 –> 00:19:47,320
because he was never still,
always intense, always moving

283
00:19:47,320 –> 00:19:49,800
on.
And for the whole of Joseph’s

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00:19:49,800 –> 00:19:54,800
life, that’s all he’d known.
And he learnt that lesson well.

285
00:19:55,840 –> 00:19:58,280
But verse 2 tells.
Us and these are the generations

286
00:19:58,280 –> 00:20:04,000
of Jacob.
Joseph, being 17 years old, was

287
00:20:04,000 –> 00:20:07,800
feeding.
The flock with his brethren, and

288
00:20:07,800 –> 00:20:09,120
to any.
Astute reader.

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00:20:09,280 –> 00:20:13,320
That has to be an incredibly
strange verse, particularly if

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00:20:13,320 –> 00:20:17,360
you’re familiar with Genesis,
because we find this term and

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00:20:17,360 –> 00:20:23,080
these are the generations of da,
da, da. 10 times in Genesis and

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00:20:23,080 –> 00:20:25,600
you go back and have a look at
them and you’ll find for

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00:20:25,600 –> 00:20:27,560
example.
In just the previous chapter,

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00:20:27,720 –> 00:20:31,960
Chapter 30. 6.
We find verse 9 and these are

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00:20:31,960 –> 00:20:34,200
the generations of Esau, the
father of the Edomites.

296
00:20:34,320 –> 00:20:35,920
These are the names of Esau’s
sons.

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00:20:36,880 –> 00:20:40,280
Sonic just lists sun after sun
after sun after sun after.

298
00:20:40,280 –> 00:20:41,920
Generation after generation
after generation.

299
00:20:42,880 –> 00:20:45,560
He’s just taken with
genealogies, you can check that

300
00:20:45,560 –> 00:20:47,880
out.
You’ll find that whenever that

301
00:20:47,880 –> 00:20:51,000
phrase is used, these are the
generations and gives the name

302
00:20:51,040 –> 00:20:54,960
of of the progenitor that then
follows a list of all their

303
00:20:54,960 –> 00:20:56,000
descendants.
Or.

304
00:20:56,520 –> 00:20:59,600
What do we find here?
These are the generations of

305
00:20:59,600 –> 00:21:08,040
Jacob.
Joseph, where’s all the others?

306
00:21:08,880 –> 00:21:12,480
Where’s Reuben and Simeon and
Levi and Judah?

307
00:21:12,600 –> 00:21:14,080
What are they?
They’re not there.

308
00:21:15,600 –> 00:21:18,760
There’s nothing about them.
They don’t even.

309
00:21:18,760 –> 00:21:21,120
Deserve to be in Jacob’s
genealogy.

310
00:21:21,320 –> 00:21:24,280
That’s what it’s saying because
Jacob is being introduced in

311
00:21:24,280 –> 00:21:27,400
here as a faithful supporter of
the promises.

312
00:21:28,480 –> 00:21:32,880
And here are his generations,
and you have to go all through

313
00:21:33,000 –> 00:21:37,360
all of his sons, right down to
the 11th son before you find

314
00:21:37,360 –> 00:21:40,040
one.
That’s got the same spirit as

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00:21:40,040 –> 00:21:46,640
Jacob, and there he is, Joseph,
and he’s only 17.

316
00:21:48,600 –> 00:21:52,760
That’s the introduction we get
in the divine record to Joseph.

317
00:21:53,240 –> 00:21:57,440
What an amazing thing that is.
Alone, he is singled out as a

318
00:21:57,480 –> 00:21:59,240
faithful follower of the
promises.

319
00:21:59,480 –> 00:22:02,360
You know what that’s saying?
Not one of his other.

320
00:22:02,440 –> 00:22:05,320
Brothers ahead of him had
accepted the truth.

321
00:22:06,480 –> 00:22:10,040
In effect, look what it tells
us.

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00:22:10,560 –> 00:22:12,640
He was feeding his flock with
his brethren.

323
00:22:12,680 –> 00:22:16,640
Middle of verse 2.
And the lad was with the sons of

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00:22:16,640 –> 00:22:21,240
Bilhar, and with the sons of
Zilpah, his father’s wife’s

325
00:22:21,600 –> 00:22:24,400
wives.
They didn’t even call the sons

326
00:22:24,400 –> 00:22:28,800
of Jacob because they weren’t.
They certainly weren’t the sons

327
00:22:28,800 –> 00:22:30,840
of Israel.
They were the.

328
00:22:30,840 –> 00:22:35,800
Sons of Bilhar and Zulfa, that’s
who they were.

329
00:22:36,480 –> 00:22:39,400
They had no affinity whatever
with Joseph.

330
00:22:40,440 –> 00:22:43,080
They had little affinity with
their father apart from that he

331
00:22:43,080 –> 00:22:47,160
was physically their father.
What an incredibly.

332
00:22:47,160 –> 00:22:51,880
Tragic record, that is, and
that’s where we find Joseph.

333
00:22:53,800 –> 00:23:00,400
We find him in the midst of
anything but a comfortable

334
00:23:01,120 –> 00:23:08,080
Christadelphian high.
It was characterized by by

335
00:23:08,080 –> 00:23:12,560
tension and and unhappiness and
tragedy from starting.

336
00:23:12,760 –> 00:23:15,680
All of Joseph’s life, that’s all
he would ever have known.

337
00:23:15,920 –> 00:23:17,320
Brethren and sisters and young
people.

338
00:23:18,240 –> 00:23:22,520
Because Jacob had two wives that
brought into that family

339
00:23:22,760 –> 00:23:27,920
contention and division and
rivalry that ripped it apart and

340
00:23:27,920 –> 00:23:31,440
was immediately.
Transferred to the to all the

341
00:23:31,440 –> 00:23:34,680
sons and the daughters in in
that family so that they

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00:23:34,680 –> 00:23:39,080
likewise grew up amongst all of
that with those same

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00:23:39,080 –> 00:23:41,960
characteristics.
You know Joseph lost his mother

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00:23:41,960 –> 00:23:47,600
at a very early age when his
father, mind you, was 108 years

345
00:23:47,600 –> 00:23:50,640
old.
So what support did he have as a

346
00:23:50,640 –> 00:23:52,400
tiny little attacker running
around?

347
00:23:53,400 –> 00:23:57,280
And you think of the influence
that that he had on him.

348
00:23:57,680 –> 00:24:00,280
You just think of Reuben.
You know what Reuben did?

349
00:24:00,440 –> 00:24:02,160
Went into his.
Father’s wife.

350
00:24:03,640 –> 00:24:06,720
What about Judah and what he did
out of the land?

351
00:24:06,920 –> 00:24:10,440
What about Wannibite and Simmons
who made Jacob’s name to stink

352
00:24:10,520 –> 00:24:14,920
in Shechem because of the deceit
and the the wickedness that they

353
00:24:14,920 –> 00:24:19,440
did in that place?
Looking up to in that family,

354
00:24:20,840 –> 00:24:24,200
it’s amazing that at 17 he
appears in this record, isn’t

355
00:24:24,200 –> 00:24:26,480
it?
And look what we find.

356
00:24:26,880 –> 00:24:31,840
He brings to his father the end
of verse 2, their evil report

357
00:24:33,600 –> 00:24:36,400
his brothers absolutely
detested.

358
00:24:36,400 –> 00:24:40,080
Him look at verse 4 and.
When his brothers saw that their

359
00:24:40,080 –> 00:24:45,080
father loved him more than all
his brethren, they hated him and

360
00:24:45,080 –> 00:24:48,800
couldn’t speak peaceably under.
That’s been civilly to him.

361
00:24:48,960 –> 00:24:50,360
They weren’t peaceably there as
Shalom.

362
00:24:50,360 –> 00:24:53,160
They couldn’t even say hello,
and they wouldn’t.

363
00:24:54,600 –> 00:24:58,560
What an amazing thing in a
family that is of all those lads

364
00:25:00,120 –> 00:25:04,120
and he’s the the little young
boy growing up in that family

365
00:25:04,640 –> 00:25:10,680
and his older mature brothers
would not even say hello.

366
00:25:13,320 –> 00:25:14,960
And that hatred grew.
Verse 5.

367
00:25:15,200 –> 00:25:17,640
Joseph dreamed a dream and told
it his brethren.

368
00:25:18,520 –> 00:25:20,320
And they hated him.
Yet the more.

369
00:25:23,320 –> 00:25:25,080
And we know that that hatred
even boiled.

370
00:25:25,080 –> 00:25:31,640
Over to the extent in verse 18
that they wanted to slay him,

371
00:25:34,120 –> 00:25:36,000
they hate that hatred grew.
When?

372
00:25:36,360 –> 00:25:40,360
He began talking about the
truth, and when he didn’t leave

373
00:25:40,360 –> 00:25:44,600
them alone, when he persisted,
all they could think of doing

374
00:25:45,160 –> 00:25:48,680
was quieting.
Quieting his voice forever.

375
00:25:49,560 –> 00:25:51,480
And eventually they sold him
into slavery.

376
00:25:53,320 –> 00:25:58,240
They lied to get out of it.
They deceived their aged father

377
00:26:00,000 –> 00:26:01,960
for 20 years.
They deceived him.

378
00:26:02,960 –> 00:26:10,040
That’s what sort of men were in
Joseph’s family, and with

379
00:26:10,040 –> 00:26:13,720
callous indifference they
watched the grief of their

380
00:26:13,720 –> 00:26:18,000
father, whose grey hairs were
brought down to the grave in

381
00:26:18,000 –> 00:26:20,600
sorrowing for the only godly son
that he had.

382
00:26:23,640 –> 00:26:33,000
And they couldn’t care. 2 hoots.
And Joseph, when he was 567, was

383
00:26:33,000 –> 00:26:37,120
growing up with their influence.
It was not an easy family to

384
00:26:37,120 –> 00:26:40,760
grow up in, nor an easy family
to learn the truth in.

385
00:26:42,000 –> 00:26:47,160
And well before he was 17, young
people, there were enormous

386
00:26:47,160 –> 00:26:54,640
pressures, pressures that that
we mostly don’t even understand.

387
00:26:57,000 –> 00:26:58,240
And God.
Allowed to be so.

388
00:27:00,200 –> 00:27:03,320
And yet, out of all of that, he
singled out as the as the single

389
00:27:03,320 –> 00:27:06,880
godly.
Seed in that household at 17.

390
00:27:06,880 –> 00:27:09,880
Young people think about that at
17.

391
00:27:12,200 –> 00:27:15,200
Where do we meet him?
Well, he burst too.

392
00:27:15,200 –> 00:27:17,520
Told us he was feeding the
flock.

393
00:27:17,520 –> 00:27:20,520
With his brethren, and whilst
he.

394
00:27:20,520 –> 00:27:25,200
Was doing that some some
activity was going on that he

395
00:27:25,200 –> 00:27:27,480
did not feel comfortable.
With and he brought unto his

396
00:27:27,480 –> 00:27:35,720
father their evil report.
Young people, Joseph wasn’t a

397
00:27:35,760 –> 00:27:42,160
dobber, he had a conscience.
And there’s a difference.

398
00:27:45,920 –> 00:27:50,640
There’s an unwritten well, I I
was going to say moral code.

399
00:27:50,840 –> 00:27:53,080
It’s not moral at all.
It’s amoral.

400
00:27:54,320 –> 00:27:59,160
Amongst today’s teenagers
particularly, that’s really.

401
00:27:59,160 –> 00:28:03,480
Come from the criminal.
Element of the world that says

402
00:28:04,840 –> 00:28:10,560
protect your friends at all
costs, protect your family.

403
00:28:11,280 –> 00:28:14,880
Doesn’t matter what they’re
doing, show loyalty.

404
00:28:16,000 –> 00:28:17,400
It’s better than telling the
truth.

405
00:28:18,760 –> 00:28:23,760
It is never right, young people,
to cover wickedness.

406
00:28:25,160 –> 00:28:28,200
And Joseph was not just here
going off to his father and

407
00:28:28,200 –> 00:28:31,360
title tackling and telling all
sorts of things and saying, oh,

408
00:28:31,360 –> 00:28:34,840
they did this to me.
When Joseph went to his father,

409
00:28:35,680 –> 00:28:38,440
he had a rapport on godly terms
with his father.

410
00:28:39,120 –> 00:28:41,680
And he was deeply concerned
about his brethren.

411
00:28:41,840 –> 00:28:44,840
We’ll see that in just a moment.
Deeply concerned for their

412
00:28:44,840 –> 00:28:47,000
welfare.
And he saw that there were

413
00:28:47,000 –> 00:28:50,240
activities that they were
involved in that could do them

414
00:28:50,240 –> 00:28:53,560
nothing but serious harm
eternally.

415
00:28:54,480 –> 00:28:55,800
And he had.
To talk to his.

416
00:28:55,800 –> 00:29:03,120
Father about it to God.
There were more young people who

417
00:29:03,120 –> 00:29:06,920
talked to their parents.
When he knew there was something

418
00:29:06,920 –> 00:29:11,680
wrong, he went to his father and
young people.

419
00:29:11,680 –> 00:29:15,800
I urge you, in the environment
that you’re growing up in, there

420
00:29:15,800 –> 00:29:18,600
are many things which are
disturbing.

421
00:29:19,040 –> 00:29:21,400
I find it exceedingly
disturbing.

422
00:29:22,280 –> 00:29:24,000
As you’re probably aware, I’m in
a school.

423
00:29:24,200 –> 00:29:28,440
I’m not on the ground floor
where many of you are in the in

424
00:29:28,440 –> 00:29:31,880
the yard and in the classroom.
But there are many things that

425
00:29:31,880 –> 00:29:36,120
deeply disturb me in that
environment, and they ought to

426
00:29:36,120 –> 00:29:38,560
be talked about.
Talk to your mother and father

427
00:29:38,560 –> 00:29:41,240
about them.
Don’t think that they won’t

428
00:29:41,240 –> 00:29:43,480
understand.
They will.

429
00:29:44,600 –> 00:29:48,360
If it’s about godly principles
and what’s right and wrong, talk

430
00:29:48,360 –> 00:29:54,440
about it.
And parents, don’t shy away just

431
00:29:54,440 –> 00:29:56,920
because something might be
embarrassing to talk about.

432
00:29:57,360 –> 00:30:03,280
You’ve got to face it head on
and help your children and

433
00:30:03,280 –> 00:30:04,160
other.
Young people.

434
00:30:04,520 –> 00:30:09,040
Through a very evil and
difficult age, they’ve got to

435
00:30:09,040 –> 00:30:11,800
talk about it.
Otherwise they will internalize

436
00:30:11,800 –> 00:30:14,560
those things and may very well
themselves go off.

437
00:30:14,560 –> 00:30:17,880
If Joseph Joseph had no one to
talk to, what would have

438
00:30:17,880 –> 00:30:19,720
happened to him?
Maybe he would have.

439
00:30:19,840 –> 00:30:23,320
Eventually ended up joining the
example of his brother.

440
00:30:25,440 –> 00:30:31,280
Evil hidden is never right.
But verse 3 tells us that Israel

441
00:30:31,280 –> 00:30:35,520
loved Joseph more than all his
children because he was the son

442
00:30:35,520 –> 00:30:38,640
of his old age.
He made him a coat of many

443
00:30:38,640 –> 00:30:39,960
colors.
You know, there’s a very

444
00:30:39,960 –> 00:30:43,360
interesting change in that verse
from verses one and two that

445
00:30:43,360 –> 00:30:46,720
tells us why Joseph, why Jacob
loved Joseph.

446
00:30:47,640 –> 00:30:52,040
And it’s because Joseph Jacob,
sorry, he’s not called Jacob

447
00:30:52,040 –> 00:30:54,680
anymore.
He’s called Israel.

448
00:30:55,640 –> 00:31:02,840
And Israel, which is the the
name that Jacob was changed to.

449
00:31:03,440 –> 00:31:07,400
That shows the strength of
spiritual qualities of the man,

450
00:31:08,080 –> 00:31:12,600
and that man loved Joseph.
It shows what sort of

451
00:31:12,600 –> 00:31:16,720
relationship there was there.
Joseph was evidently a very

452
00:31:16,720 –> 00:31:19,760
godly young man, and he was at
17.

453
00:31:19,760 –> 00:31:22,680
Here we find brethren and
sisters and young people.

454
00:31:22,680 –> 00:31:25,280
You know what that’s saying?
It’s saying this that he must

455
00:31:25,280 –> 00:31:32,280
have been a very serious minded
young man long before 17, long

456
00:31:32,280 –> 00:31:35,200
before he reached 17.
He knew what the promises were

457
00:31:35,200 –> 00:31:37,000
about.
And he knew more than that He

458
00:31:37,000 –> 00:31:38,440
knew.
Actually, what they meant to

459
00:31:38,440 –> 00:31:41,640
him, he knew what it meant to be
a sojourner and he was happy and

460
00:31:41,640 –> 00:31:45,600
comfortable with that.
Long before he was 17, he’d come

461
00:31:45,600 –> 00:31:49,440
to a conviction that he believed
that God really did exist.

462
00:31:50,320 –> 00:31:53,400
He was convicted about divine
standards of right and wrong.

463
00:31:53,480 –> 00:31:55,880
Long.
Before he got to 17 and it had

464
00:31:55,880 –> 00:31:59,640
begun to affect his life by the
time he reached 17.

465
00:31:59,760 –> 00:32:02,800
And where did he learn all that?
He didn’t have a Bible.

466
00:32:02,800 –> 00:32:06,440
He didn’t have anything there
that he could put his hands on.

467
00:32:06,440 –> 00:32:11,480
He didn’t have Sunday school,
any young people’s activities or

468
00:32:11,480 –> 00:32:14,800
ecclesial.
Activities he could go to he

469
00:32:14,800 –> 00:32:19,480
learnt by listening to his
father around the table.

470
00:32:19,960 –> 00:32:23,400
The other sons didn’t want to
hear and often were not even

471
00:32:23,400 –> 00:32:25,880
there.
But his father and his

472
00:32:25,880 –> 00:32:28,040
grandfather, who by the way was
still alive.

473
00:32:28,040 –> 00:32:33,600
Isaac was still alive at this
stage, but he not obviously had

474
00:32:33,600 –> 00:32:40,200
an an intense desire himself and
gave his mind to heavenly

475
00:32:40,200 –> 00:32:43,720
things, and before he go he
reached the age of 17.

476
00:32:44,120 –> 00:32:49,400
And young people.
And parents, there’s a powerful

477
00:32:49,400 –> 00:32:55,000
lesson there.
We tend not to think at times

478
00:32:55,960 –> 00:32:59,440
that our young people are
capable of too much too early.

479
00:33:00,800 –> 00:33:06,280
It is amazing what the school
system can expect and require

480
00:33:06,280 –> 00:33:13,400
and achieve from very young
teenagers at 1314 who have

481
00:33:13,400 –> 00:33:18,640
developing and inquiring minds
that are grasping for knowledge

482
00:33:18,640 –> 00:33:23,600
and understanding.
We ought to fill them with godly

483
00:33:23,600 –> 00:33:26,680
things.
It’s not uncommon either in

484
00:33:26,680 –> 00:33:30,320
lectures.
To see some of our young people,

485
00:33:30,520 –> 00:33:34,160
though it’s not all that often.
To see some of our young people

486
00:33:36,040 –> 00:33:40,640
more interested in passing notes
to others than in anything

487
00:33:40,640 –> 00:33:45,480
that’s happening up the front.
Young people.

488
00:33:45,480 –> 00:33:47,880
Let’s face the real.
Issues.

489
00:33:51,360 –> 00:33:55,440
What do we do with our time
we’ve got?

490
00:33:55,440 –> 00:33:58,360
Heaps of it.
Heaps and heaps of time.

491
00:33:59,160 –> 00:34:05,320
I think we have, but compared to
generations of of past ages,

492
00:34:06,400 –> 00:34:11,080
today’s generation of teenagers
have an enormous amount of time

493
00:34:11,080 –> 00:34:14,239
at their disposal.
What do we do?

494
00:34:16,920 –> 00:34:21,280
Joseph was giving his mind to
serious things.

495
00:34:21,719 –> 00:34:24,120
Obviously.
Before 17.

496
00:34:26,080 –> 00:34:28,639
Because God could.
Pen the divine record of this

497
00:34:28,639 –> 00:34:31,840
man’s life by the time he
reached 17.

498
00:34:35,040 –> 00:34:37,600
Are we ready to shoulder
responsibilities at 17?

499
00:34:37,600 –> 00:34:44,440
You know after each of the
studies this week there there is

500
00:34:44,440 –> 00:34:50,120
a Bible marking sheet available.
What often happens with sheets

501
00:34:50,120 –> 00:34:51,600
of?
Paper that are handed out.

502
00:34:53,239 –> 00:34:58,400
So they get jammed in the Bible
cover and left there until we

503
00:34:58,400 –> 00:35:03,360
want to scribble out a note and
send it to somebody or write out

504
00:35:03,360 –> 00:35:07,560
a shopping list.
I wonder how many?

505
00:35:07,560 –> 00:35:12,840
Josephs, we’ve got here tonight
young people who’ll be able to

506
00:35:12,840 –> 00:35:17,920
come keep up with some of the
activities and ideas that are on

507
00:35:17,920 –> 00:35:20,880
that sheet.
There’s one every night, every

508
00:35:20,880 –> 00:35:27,560
study.
See what you can do verse 5 and

509
00:35:27,560 –> 00:35:32,200
Joseph dreamed a dream.
That word dream is always used

510
00:35:32,200 –> 00:35:35,960
in scripture of of visions of
God always.

511
00:35:37,600 –> 00:35:41,480
And God just doesn’t give dreams
or visions to just anyone.

512
00:35:43,360 –> 00:35:47,960
They only come to those of the
right and godly disposition.

513
00:35:48,560 –> 00:35:52,120
And what a testimony that is to
his character at this age.

514
00:35:52,400 –> 00:35:55,120
And when the word of.
God came to him, young people

515
00:35:55,120 –> 00:35:58,920
and brethren, sisters, he was so
excited that he had to run and

516
00:35:58,920 –> 00:36:01,880
tell his brethren.
Now, do you think that Joseph

517
00:36:01,880 –> 00:36:05,200
didn’t know what they were like?
It just told us in the previous

518
00:36:05,200 –> 00:36:06,800
verse that they.
Hated him and wouldn’t even say

519
00:36:06,800 –> 00:36:09,440
hi to him, but when the word of
bark moved.

520
00:36:09,440 –> 00:36:14,040
Him and went and told his
brethren, didn’t matter whether

521
00:36:14,040 –> 00:36:17,120
they wanted to know or not.
He was so excited.

522
00:36:17,120 –> 00:36:19,880
By what he’d seen and heard.
That he had to go and tell them

523
00:36:19,880 –> 00:36:25,520
and the more.
But it didn’t crush his spirit

524
00:36:25,520 –> 00:36:31,120
and we find that when he had
another vision a little later.

525
00:36:33,360 –> 00:36:37,200
What would you?
Have done tell if it was me I’d

526
00:36:37,200 –> 00:36:41,600
been clipped across the air.
And given a kick out of the tent

527
00:36:42,040 –> 00:36:43,560
and said get.
Away we don’t want to hear any

528
00:36:43,840 –> 00:36:44,720
of your.
Dreams.

529
00:36:45,360 –> 00:36:46,920
When you had another one, would
you go back?

530
00:36:47,520 –> 00:36:51,880
Into the midst of those eleven
brothers, I don’t think I would

531
00:36:51,880 –> 00:36:58,800
have, but he did.
He went back and his brethren,

532
00:36:58,800 –> 00:37:02,680
and verse 9 he dreamed yet
another dream and he told it his

533
00:37:02,680 –> 00:37:09,000
brethren and he told them all
about it and they hated him.

534
00:37:10,680 –> 00:37:12,880
They hated him.
Look at the end of verse 8 or

535
00:37:12,960 –> 00:37:14,560
start of verse 8.
Read all of verse 8.

536
00:37:15,080 –> 00:37:18,840
And his brethren said unto him,
Shalt thou indeed reign over us,

537
00:37:19,280 –> 00:37:21,640
or shalt thou indeed have
dominion over us?

538
00:37:21,640 –> 00:37:25,640
And they hated him, yet the more
for his dreams and for.

539
00:37:25,640 –> 00:37:29,280
His words, it wasn’t just that
he’d had a dream.

540
00:37:29,400 –> 00:37:32,880
He was wanting to talk about the
truth, about the issues that

541
00:37:32,880 –> 00:37:35,920
were involved in those dreams.
He was wanting to talk about the

542
00:37:35,960 –> 00:37:39,160
word of God and made promises to
them and they listen to those

543
00:37:39,240 –> 00:37:40,120
words.
They didn’t want to know

544
00:37:40,120 –> 00:37:44,600
anything about it, and so the
animosity built up between him

545
00:37:44,600 –> 00:37:48,320
and them, not on his side.
But it didn’t crush his spirit

546
00:37:48,320 –> 00:37:52,200
you.
Know when when he had another

547
00:37:52,200 –> 00:37:56,640
one he went off and told them
and even his father this time

548
00:37:56,640 –> 00:37:59,200
rebuked him we find in verse
verse 10.

549
00:38:02,640 –> 00:38:05,920
Where are the Josephs today,
young people?

550
00:38:07,080 –> 00:38:10,160
And brethren and sisters, where
is the Spirit of Joseph among

551
00:38:10,200 –> 00:38:15,480
those or older, where is it that
are so excited by the word that

552
00:38:15,480 –> 00:38:18,280
they have to tell somebody they
have to not be possible.

553
00:38:18,560 –> 00:38:20,920
They want to show up about their
knowledge and.

554
00:38:21,200 –> 00:38:23,400
And.
Show that they’re some someone

555
00:38:23,400 –> 00:38:27,280
of great importance but because
they’re so excited about what

556
00:38:27,280 –> 00:38:29,760
God has revealed and what he is
doing in the earth and the

557
00:38:29,760 –> 00:38:32,920
promises that he’s made and
something that he’s found and

558
00:38:32,920 –> 00:38:36,240
discovered, where’s the.
Excitement of that.

559
00:38:37,480 –> 00:38:39,480
It’s got to be revived.
It’s the Spirit.

560
00:38:39,480 –> 00:38:42,760
Of a man who was able to
withstand enormous pressures

561
00:38:42,760 –> 00:38:44,680
young people and it’s part of
the.

562
00:38:44,680 –> 00:38:48,560
Key part of the key.
We live in an age of

563
00:38:48,560 –> 00:38:51,440
indifference.
Of of mediocrity just about

564
00:38:51,440 –> 00:38:54,400
saying that mediocrity was the
national religion of Australia.

565
00:38:55,040 –> 00:38:58,280
The majority stand up for
nothing, let everything go past

566
00:38:58,680 –> 00:39:01,440
and knock anything that comes
past that they don’t like.

567
00:39:02,960 –> 00:39:05,680
God is not interested in
lukewarmness.

568
00:39:06,000 –> 00:39:10,480
He’s not interested in half
heartedness, but he’s looking

569
00:39:10,480 –> 00:39:14,760
for those who tremble at his
word.

570
00:39:14,760 –> 00:39:17,160
Said Isaiah in chapter 66 and
verse 2.

571
00:39:17,640 –> 00:39:20,400
Make a note of that young people
and look up what Rotherham says

572
00:39:20,400 –> 00:39:21,400
for.
That last phrase.

573
00:39:21,600 –> 00:39:27,320
He says God will look to those
who care anxiously for His Word,

574
00:39:27,320 –> 00:39:30,160
and here’s one.
Spirit in the midst of great

575
00:39:30,160 –> 00:39:33,240
animosity.
Who cares anxiously?

576
00:39:34,000 –> 00:39:39,480
Who is excited?
About the vision What were?

577
00:39:39,760 –> 00:39:44,400
The visions, we know what they
were really very simple.

578
00:39:46,120 –> 00:39:48,200
The sheaves bowing down to
another sheep.

579
00:39:48,200 –> 00:39:50,600
That was Joseph’s.
Joseph was to be the nourisher

580
00:39:50,600 –> 00:39:52,560
of the world.
But you know what Joseph took

581
00:39:52,560 –> 00:39:55,560
out of that first dream?
He thought about it.

582
00:39:58,120 –> 00:40:00,520
He heard what his brethren said.
And they said.

583
00:40:01,200 –> 00:40:03,520
Do you think we’re going to bow
down to you?

584
00:40:04,560 –> 00:40:10,400
Think again and clipped him over
the ears and Joseph thought

585
00:40:10,400 –> 00:40:15,160
about that.
It meant that his brethren were

586
00:40:15,160 –> 00:40:22,160
going to bow down if they it
meant one of two things that

587
00:40:22,160 –> 00:40:26,480
either he was going to go and
turn into their life and follow

588
00:40:26,480 –> 00:40:30,040
their lifestyle and gain
predominance over them so that

589
00:40:30,040 –> 00:40:31,840
they would they would Lord.
Him.

590
00:40:32,880 –> 00:40:35,040
Or they would one day be
converted.

591
00:40:36,280 –> 00:40:41,840
And that at that time was an
utterly impossible thought.

592
00:40:43,840 –> 00:40:46,600
You know, he believed that God
was right.

593
00:40:47,960 –> 00:40:51,080
He believed that godliness in
the union would prevail, and he

594
00:40:51,080 –> 00:40:52,440
saw that from that vision of
the.

595
00:40:52,440 –> 00:40:55,320
Sheaves.
He saw from the other vision

596
00:40:55,640 –> 00:40:57,760
that even his mother.
Would have to be resurrected

597
00:40:57,880 –> 00:41:01,280
because she would bow down being
the being the moon in that in

598
00:41:01,280 –> 00:41:04,240
that vision.
And that if his brethren were to

599
00:41:04,240 –> 00:41:06,880
likewise better, and they
themselves would have to change

600
00:41:06,880 –> 00:41:09,440
their attitudes, and would and
would eventually be saved.

601
00:41:10,520 –> 00:41:14,560
And as he mulled that over
brothers and sisters, he

602
00:41:14,560 –> 00:41:20,440
believed what was humanly
impossible at that stage.

603
00:41:21,160 –> 00:41:24,600
Everything was saying everything
that he knew was going against

604
00:41:25,800 –> 00:41:31,640
what that was saying.
You know, this becomes the key

605
00:41:31,640 –> 00:41:37,720
to Joseph’s life, young people.
It’s his visions, the key to

606
00:41:37,720 –> 00:41:38,640
Joseph’s life.
You.

607
00:41:40,040 –> 00:41:43,520
Know the very first words in the
record of the scriptures and the

608
00:41:43,520 –> 00:41:46,360
very.
Last words that come from

609
00:41:46,360 –> 00:41:51,640
Joseph’s mouth are about his
visions, about these visions

610
00:41:51,640 –> 00:41:55,240
here, and about his vision of
going into the promised land

611
00:41:56,520 –> 00:41:58,800
when he told his sons.
To carry him up hence.

612
00:42:00,040 –> 00:42:03,560
Look at verse 19.
This is what his brothers, his

613
00:42:03,560 –> 00:42:08,520
brothers said about him.
They said when he’d come, come

614
00:42:08,520 –> 00:42:11,560
to, to, to get them and to see
how they were going.

615
00:42:12,080 –> 00:42:16,040
They said one to another.
Behold this dreamer Comer.

616
00:42:16,280 –> 00:42:20,360
Look at the margin, this master
of dreams.

617
00:42:21,520 –> 00:42:23,720
Oh, it was said tongue in cheek.
Brothers and sisters.

618
00:42:23,880 –> 00:42:27,160
But they knew two things.
They knew that the dreams meant

619
00:42:27,160 –> 00:42:34,400
something to him.
They knew that, and they hated

620
00:42:34,400 –> 00:42:38,360
him for it.
They knew he wanted to talk

621
00:42:38,360 –> 00:42:42,440
about them, and so they
cynically called him the Master

622
00:42:42,440 –> 00:42:46,320
of Dreams.
But the truth was, brethren,

623
00:42:46,320 –> 00:42:49,880
sisters and young people, he was
a Master of dreams.

624
00:42:51,480 –> 00:42:55,960
He did understand what God had
revealed because He’d accepted.

625
00:42:55,960 –> 00:43:01,880
It in faith.
And it was in fact, those dreams

626
00:43:01,880 –> 00:43:06,520
which eventually ended up saving
all of his brethren.

627
00:43:06,960 –> 00:43:10,960
And they’re now here, calling
him, casting this phrase in his,

628
00:43:10,960 –> 00:43:15,360
in their teeth, the master of
dreams, and ridiculing him.

629
00:43:16,760 –> 00:43:19,320
You know he was later.
Known when he came into into

630
00:43:19,320 –> 00:43:23,160
Egypt as as the interpreter of
dreams.

631
00:43:23,280 –> 00:43:25,640
So to his own family and to the
Gentiles.

632
00:43:26,920 –> 00:43:29,920
Everybody knew had something to
do with dreams and visions of

633
00:43:29,920 –> 00:43:35,640
God, and it was his dreams,
these dreams here in particular,

634
00:43:36,000 –> 00:43:39,360
these two dreams.
Because we read of no others.

635
00:43:39,440 –> 00:43:43,920
At this stage of his life that
were critical to his survival in

636
00:43:43,920 –> 00:43:47,080
the days ahead, you know, he
couldn’t even guess or imagine

637
00:43:47,760 –> 00:43:49,880
what was going to happen.
I mean, we know the end of the

638
00:43:49,880 –> 00:43:51,520
story.
We know what happened and and

639
00:43:51,520 –> 00:43:53,120
how everything worked out.
Fine at the end.

640
00:43:53,280 –> 00:43:56,840
But to him, at this stage, he
had no idea how God could ever

641
00:43:56,840 –> 00:43:59,880
possibly bring those dreams to
fruition.

642
00:44:01,600 –> 00:44:07,360
There is nothing else, nothing
else, young people, except faith

643
00:44:07,440 –> 00:44:10,920
in what God has revealed,
despite what we see.

644
00:44:11,640 –> 00:44:14,000
That will sustain us under times
of pressure.

645
00:44:16,240 –> 00:44:21,040
And when Joseph himself was
under even more extreme pressure

646
00:44:21,240 –> 00:44:25,800
than he was in his family, those
dreams came back.

647
00:44:26,560 –> 00:44:29,480
You know, that’s not even the
most critical thing.

648
00:44:30,520 –> 00:44:36,480
The most important thing to note
is that those visions were

649
00:44:36,640 –> 00:44:46,320
embedded in his mind in youth.
You know, we’re going to start

650
00:44:47,320 –> 00:44:51,800
to build a picture of what this
theme is all about, and there’s

651
00:44:51,800 –> 00:44:55,160
one building block.
There was something embedded in

652
00:44:55,160 –> 00:45:00,480
Joseph’s mind, young people, and
it was those visions and it was

653
00:45:00,480 –> 00:45:02,560
in his youth.
The word of God had made an

654
00:45:02,560 –> 00:45:07,000
impression on his mind and he
actually loved it and believed

655
00:45:07,000 –> 00:45:08,680
it, and he thought about it very
often.

656
00:45:09,200 –> 00:45:11,680
I was going to know ever again.
He thought about those dreams.

657
00:45:12,080 –> 00:45:14,040
He didn’t know how on earth God
could.

658
00:45:14,080 –> 00:45:17,560
Ever bring them to pass?
But he believed God would do it.

659
00:45:18,200 –> 00:45:20,600
And that’s all that mattered.
And what a.

660
00:45:20,600 –> 00:45:27,840
Spirit that gave to that man.
As he grew up from 17 to 18 and

661
00:45:27,840 –> 00:45:30,400
onwards, look at verse 4, verse
12.

662
00:45:32,000 –> 00:45:33,520
His brethren went to feed their
Father’s.

663
00:45:33,520 –> 00:45:39,720
Flock in Shechem And Israel said
to Joseph, Do not thy brethren

664
00:45:39,720 –> 00:45:42,520
feed the flock in Shechem?
Come, and I’ll send them, Send

665
00:45:42,520 –> 00:45:46,200
thee unto them.
And he said to him.

666
00:45:48,440 –> 00:45:53,240
Here am I.
And he said to him, Go, I pray

667
00:45:53,240 –> 00:45:56,560
thee, see whether it be well
with thy brethren, and well with

668
00:45:56,560 –> 00:45:58,160
the flocks, and bring me word
again.

669
00:45:59,240 –> 00:46:02,720
And so he sent him out of the
Vale of Hebron, and he came to

670
00:46:02,720 –> 00:46:07,240
Shechem.
Do you think that Joseph didn’t

671
00:46:07,240 –> 00:46:08,640
know what his brethren were
like?

672
00:46:09,000 –> 00:46:11,680
Of course he did.
Do you think that Jacob didn’t

673
00:46:11,680 –> 00:46:12,920
know what those brethren were
like?

674
00:46:13,440 –> 00:46:15,360
That they hated Joseph?
Of course he did.

675
00:46:15,640 –> 00:46:19,200
Why did he ask Joseph to go?
What a man craft thing to do.

676
00:46:21,960 –> 00:46:28,800
But Jacob knew that Joseph alone
had the welfare of his brethren

677
00:46:28,800 –> 00:46:37,680
at heart, and he would truly
bring that Joseph alone had the

678
00:46:37,680 –> 00:46:41,920
welfare of his brethren at
heart, and he would truly bring.

679
00:46:41,920 –> 00:46:48,400
Back an honest report about
their welfare and look at

680
00:46:48,400 –> 00:46:51,920
Joseph’s attitude when Jacob
says to him.

681
00:46:52,120 –> 00:46:54,120
I want you to go.
To your brethren to see how they

682
00:46:54,120 –> 00:46:59,600
are.
He says here am I.

683
00:47:00,920 –> 00:47:02,040
You know what I would have been
thinking?

684
00:47:09,840 –> 00:47:12,120
Told you about all the things
that they’re up to.

685
00:47:12,120 –> 00:47:15,640
Don’t kill me.
If you’re not around, don’t

686
00:47:15,640 –> 00:47:20,600
send.
Me.

687
00:47:20,600 –> 00:47:23,520
All he said was Father, here am
I.

688
00:47:25,600 –> 00:47:29,440
And Joseph watched his son.
Go out of the Vale of fellowship

689
00:47:29,960 –> 00:47:35,200
towards Shechem.
He went as we read in verse 16.

690
00:47:35,200 –> 00:47:37,600
Look at this, these words,
brethren and sisters.

691
00:47:39,440 –> 00:47:43,080
And he said, I, I seek my
brethren.

692
00:47:44,760 –> 00:47:48,520
Verse 17.
So Joseph went after his

693
00:47:48,520 –> 00:47:49,960
brethren, and found them at
Dothan.

694
00:47:50,720 –> 00:47:53,440
When he got to the place that he
was expecting to find them and

695
00:47:53,440 –> 00:47:56,280
didn’t find them, if that was
me, I’d be back to Hebron as

696
00:47:56,280 –> 00:47:58,680
fast as I could and told my
father that I couldn’t find him

697
00:47:58,680 –> 00:48:03,240
anywhere but.
He went searching and till he

698
00:48:03,240 –> 00:48:05,760
found them.
What a spirit, young people,

699
00:48:05,960 –> 00:48:08,680
what a spirit.
And he was going out to Shechem

700
00:48:08,680 –> 00:48:12,000
of old places.
You know, Levi and Simeon had

701
00:48:12,000 –> 00:48:17,480
made that region to stink in
Jacob’s in the eyes of the OR

702
00:48:17,480 –> 00:48:19,880
Jacob’s name to stink in the
eyes of all the people of that

703
00:48:19,880 –> 00:48:22,720
region because of their their
deception and wickedness only a

704
00:48:22,720 –> 00:48:28,440
short time before to move on.
They told their father that

705
00:48:28,440 –> 00:48:30,560
we’re going out to Shechem,
which was all.

706
00:48:30,560 –> 00:48:33,680
Very noble because that was the
place where the inheritance was.

707
00:48:33,800 –> 00:48:36,040
That’s the place where Abraham
first appeared.

708
00:48:36,040 –> 00:48:38,360
When he came into the land and
built an altar, and so they.

709
00:48:38,360 –> 00:48:40,800
Told their father we’re going
out to Shechem dad to feed the.

710
00:48:40,800 –> 00:48:43,560
Flocks when Jacob.
When Joseph got there, they

711
00:48:43,560 –> 00:48:48,080
weren’t at Shechem.
They weren’t interested in the

712
00:48:48,080 –> 00:48:53,520
inheritance.
Shechem was a place of decision

713
00:48:53,520 –> 00:48:56,040
making.
It’s very, very fascinating.

714
00:48:56,240 –> 00:48:58,920
On the Biomarking sheet, it
shows all the places that

715
00:48:58,920 –> 00:49:00,960
Shechem is used.
Check it out.

716
00:49:01,480 –> 00:49:04,920
It’s used throughout Scripture
as a place where decisions were

717
00:49:04,920 –> 00:49:07,400
made, important decisions to go
this.

718
00:49:07,400 –> 00:49:09,680
Well, that and they went out to
shake and.

719
00:49:10,160 –> 00:49:12,280
Told their father going out to
the field of the inheritance.

720
00:49:12,280 –> 00:49:15,680
Dad got out there.
And ticked off into the world.

721
00:49:15,680 –> 00:49:18,880
That’s exactly what they did.
Because you think this.

722
00:49:19,080 –> 00:49:22,840
When Abraham came from earth, he
marched all the way down and

723
00:49:22,840 –> 00:49:24,840
came into the land.
The very first place he came to

724
00:49:24,840 –> 00:49:27,640
was Shechem.
And there he made a decision and

725
00:49:27,640 –> 00:49:29,240
he built an altar and worshiped
Yahweh.

726
00:49:29,600 –> 00:49:32,160
Then he moved up through the
land and eventually came to

727
00:49:32,160 –> 00:49:34,840
Hebron where he was there in
fellowship with God.

728
00:49:35,400 –> 00:49:41,480
Now his sons, the sons of Jacob,
March out of fellowship down to

729
00:49:41,480 –> 00:49:44,800
Shechem, where decisions are
want to be made.

730
00:49:45,400 –> 00:49:47,840
They make the wrong decision and
don’t come back.

731
00:49:48,160 –> 00:49:50,840
They’d go out to Dothan.
You know what Dothan was on the

732
00:49:50,840 –> 00:49:53,280
caravan routes?
Oh, there was plenty of

733
00:49:53,280 –> 00:49:56,640
excitement out there.
It wasn’t like dull old Hebron.

734
00:49:57,600 –> 00:50:00,880
There was all sorts of bright
lights you could get.

735
00:50:00,880 –> 00:50:09,640
Anything you wanted, anything
you wanted, that’s what Dothan.

736
00:50:09,680 –> 00:50:14,320
Was it suited their lifestyle?
Their restrictions were gone.

737
00:50:15,360 –> 00:50:19,640
They didn’t have this, this
field of shaken behind them all

738
00:50:19,640 –> 00:50:22,920
the time, reminding them of
these awful visions and

739
00:50:22,920 –> 00:50:26,120
promises.
And we know where their minds

740
00:50:26,120 –> 00:50:28,040
were.
That’s not a caricature of them.

741
00:50:28,360 –> 00:50:32,400
We know where their minds were
because verse 18 says, and when

742
00:50:32,400 –> 00:50:37,480
they saw him afar off, even
before he came near, they

743
00:50:37,480 –> 00:50:40,440
conspired to slay him.
In their heart was murder,

744
00:50:40,640 –> 00:50:44,200
deception, lies.
They hated the sight of the

745
00:50:44,200 –> 00:50:47,080
truth.
Oh, they were in that

746
00:50:47,080 –> 00:50:52,360
environment reluctantly, but
they had two feet in the world

747
00:50:52,360 –> 00:50:53,720
and.
That’s where they wanted to be.

748
00:50:54,360 –> 00:50:58,400
You imagined this scene.
Verse 23 came to pass when

749
00:50:58,400 –> 00:51:00,400
Joseph was come unto his
brethren, they.

750
00:51:00,400 –> 00:51:02,440
Stripped.
Joseph out of his coat of many

751
00:51:02,440 –> 00:51:06,160
colours that was on him, and
they took him and and they.

752
00:51:06,160 –> 00:51:09,720
Cast him.
Into the pit that was empty and

753
00:51:09,720 –> 00:51:12,240
there was no water in there and
they sat down to eat bread they

754
00:51:12,240 –> 00:51:14,520
had their lunch well, he’s
crying out of the pit.

755
00:51:14,840 –> 00:51:17,320
Make a note of chapter 42 and
verse 21.

756
00:51:17,320 –> 00:51:20,360
We haven’t got time to look at
it at the moment, but there they

757
00:51:20,400 –> 00:51:24,320
remembered in their minds
vividly 20 years later when they

758
00:51:24,320 –> 00:51:27,640
were standing in the.
Courts of Joseph in Egypt.

759
00:51:27,800 –> 00:51:30,800
Unbeknownst to them that who
this man that they were standing

760
00:51:30,800 –> 00:51:35,960
before was and they said.
Oh, we remember the anguish of

761
00:51:35,960 –> 00:51:39,920
his soul.
And how he cried to us and we

762
00:51:39,920 –> 00:51:42,440
wouldn’t listen.
He was crying and I got the

763
00:51:42,440 –> 00:51:43,800
brethren.
What are you doing this to me?

764
00:51:43,800 –> 00:51:46,360
For and they just ate their.
Lunch.

765
00:51:47,160 –> 00:51:51,440
Then they stripped him naked and
they bathed and had fun with him

766
00:51:52,280 –> 00:51:57,160
with the merchants.
No, we’ve.

767
00:51:57,160 –> 00:52:04,000
Got things to buy and date them.
And his humiliation, the pain,

768
00:52:04,000 –> 00:52:08,000
the anguish of a godly and
sensitive man was only just

769
00:52:08,000 –> 00:52:12,640
starting because he had to
March, probably naked, chained.

770
00:52:13,080 –> 00:52:16,360
All the way to Egypt.
Imagine it and.

771
00:52:19,560 –> 00:52:24,720
What would you be thinking?
Manhandled, beaten, humiliated,

772
00:52:25,040 –> 00:52:28,040
sold as a slave, you’d be, I
drew.

773
00:52:28,520 –> 00:52:32,160
The Brethren.
But there’s not an ounce of that

774
00:52:32,160 –> 00:52:33,680
in Joseph.
Not an ounce.

775
00:52:34,160 –> 00:52:36,800
He goes to a strange land.
He’s sold to the chief of the

776
00:52:36,800 –> 00:52:43,480
slaughterman, he’s sold body and
soul, and he’s scared stiff.

777
00:52:44,920 –> 00:52:48,400
And who cares?
He’d done nothing wrong.

778
00:52:49,120 –> 00:52:51,800
Why was he there?
Who was the justice in that?

779
00:52:51,800 –> 00:52:53,440
Why had God allowed this to
happen?

780
00:52:53,640 –> 00:52:56,320
All he’d done was out seeking
the welfare of his brethren, and

781
00:52:56,320 –> 00:52:58,200
now he’s in.
In a strange and he didn’t even

782
00:52:58,200 –> 00:53:01,400
know where it was.
That was only because he

783
00:53:01,400 –> 00:53:03,240
believed.
If he hadn’t believed in those

784
00:53:03,240 –> 00:53:04,760
promises, he wouldn’t have been
there.

785
00:53:04,960 –> 00:53:07,640
That’s very true.
Young people, sometimes we might

786
00:53:07,640 –> 00:53:11,360
find ourselves in circumstances
and we could think back.

787
00:53:11,360 –> 00:53:15,480
If only I hadn’t had anything to
tell the truth, I wouldn’t be

788
00:53:15,480 –> 00:53:19,400
here.
Well, it’s very true.

789
00:53:20,120 –> 00:53:23,680
There are circumstances that God
will take us in that we would.

790
00:53:23,680 –> 00:53:27,600
Never ever have been in.
Was it not for the truth, young

791
00:53:27,600 –> 00:53:30,480
people?
Understand that that’s how God

792
00:53:30,480 –> 00:53:33,360
works and in the end.
The.

793
00:53:33,360 –> 00:53:40,960
Prize was enormous, but then it
was a very bitter pill.

794
00:53:42,200 –> 00:53:45,560
He didn’t know what to do.
He didn’t know the end of the

795
00:53:45,560 –> 00:53:47,680
story.
Like we did, like we do.

796
00:53:47,680 –> 00:53:49,480
And we read all of this and
know.

797
00:53:49,920 –> 00:53:54,160
How it ended up he.
Had no idea what would happen to

798
00:53:54,160 –> 00:53:56,240
him when he got to this new
land.

799
00:53:58,120 –> 00:54:03,800
He is a godly young man with the
anguish of his soul.

800
00:54:06,000 –> 00:54:09,480
Who could he turn to?
There was no father to talk to.

801
00:54:10,360 –> 00:54:13,120
Jacob was not there.
He didn’t know whether he’d ever

802
00:54:13,120 –> 00:54:18,400
see him again.
And he turned to his only source

803
00:54:18,400 –> 00:54:22,320
of comfort, to his Father in the
heaven.

804
00:54:24,440 –> 00:54:30,280
And he poured out his soul unto
God, doubtless, for night after

805
00:54:30,280 –> 00:54:36,400
night he had no sleep.
But what began to burn in his

806
00:54:36,400 –> 00:54:41,480
brain was something that had
been embedded there in its

807
00:54:41,480 –> 00:54:48,400
youth, those visions.
He had something to think about

808
00:54:49,400 –> 00:54:54,120
because it was in his mind, and
it renewed him.

809
00:54:54,920 –> 00:55:02,880
It lifted him and he believed
God would do what he said.

810
00:55:04,680 –> 00:55:08,160
Isn’t that amazing, young
people?

811
00:55:08,160 –> 00:55:13,760
If he’d had nothing in his mind,
If those visions had been in a

812
00:55:13,800 –> 00:55:17,080
book on.
Paper when he got to Egypt and

813
00:55:17,080 –> 00:55:21,280
his book was left at home.
He would have.

814
00:55:21,440 –> 00:55:23,720
Died in the bitterness of his
soul.

815
00:55:26,680 –> 00:55:29,960
But something had come out of
there, into his mind.

816
00:55:29,960 –> 00:55:33,880
And had so generated a power
there that he could dwell on and

817
00:55:33,880 –> 00:55:39,320
think on, that lifted him up and
bore him in very, very.

818
00:55:39,320 –> 00:55:44,120
Difficult circumstances.
That’s the power.

819
00:55:44,760 –> 00:55:48,280
That faith can have, but you
know faith can’t work.

820
00:55:48,280 –> 00:55:52,240
Unless anything’s in our minds.
Unless what God has promised is

821
00:55:52,360 –> 00:55:57,760
actually there, remembered,
thought about, chewed over.

822
00:55:58,360 –> 00:56:03,000
And that’s what he did, night
after night, month after month,

823
00:56:03,320 –> 00:56:06,280
not knowing what would happen
next or how he’d be treated.

824
00:56:07,400 –> 00:56:10,720
And don’t think that in Egypt
they treated slaves well.

825
00:56:10,720 –> 00:56:14,000
They didn’t.
They were like pieces of

826
00:56:14,160 –> 00:56:19,040
property.
And look where he comes.

827
00:56:20,400 –> 00:56:24,960
Chapter 39 And verse one, He was
brought down to Egypt unto

828
00:56:24,960 –> 00:56:29,800
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,
captain of the garden, an

829
00:56:29,800 –> 00:56:33,160
Egyptian bought him of the hands
of the Ishmaelites which had

830
00:56:33,160 –> 00:56:39,600
come down thither.
And Yahweh was with him, and he

831
00:56:39,600 –> 00:56:44,440
was a prosperous man, and he was
in the House of his master, the

832
00:56:44,440 –> 00:56:47,600
Egyptian.
Yahweh was with him, you.

833
00:56:48,360 –> 00:56:49,040
Know what?
The Prophet.

834
00:56:49,040 –> 00:56:51,360
Said to King ASA, he said
Yahweh.

835
00:56:51,880 –> 00:56:54,800
Is with you while you be with
him.

836
00:56:56,680 –> 00:57:00,760
But if you forsake him, he will
forsake you, and this record is

837
00:57:00,760 –> 00:57:03,000
saying.
That Yahweh is in four times in

838
00:57:03,000 –> 00:57:04,240
this.
Chapter it says that young

839
00:57:04,240 –> 00:57:06,520
people four times.
We’re told that.

840
00:57:06,520 –> 00:57:10,720
Yahweh was with him in a very
difficult circumstance and the

841
00:57:10,720 –> 00:57:14,240
words prosperous there in verse
two really means successful.

842
00:57:14,440 –> 00:57:16,240
He was a very successful man.
He did.

843
00:57:16,560 –> 00:57:18,160
Bemoan his light and sit down
and.

844
00:57:18,160 –> 00:57:20,000
Gripe about what his brothers
had done to him.

845
00:57:20,160 –> 00:57:21,920
He just made the most of the
situation.

846
00:57:22,120 –> 00:57:24,280
He saw that God was obviously
working.

847
00:57:24,280 –> 00:57:25,880
He didn’t know how.
When or where?

848
00:57:26,520 –> 00:57:31,000
But he believed that God was
right and he just got on and did

849
00:57:31,000 –> 00:57:33,680
what he was told and he showed
initiative.

850
00:57:34,280 –> 00:57:37,320
He was diligent young people and
he made the most of those

851
00:57:37,320 –> 00:57:40,320
circumstances.
An amazing thing happened.

852
00:57:40,320 –> 00:57:43,480
Verse. 3.
And his master saw that Yahweh

853
00:57:43,480 –> 00:57:46,680
was with him, and that Yahweh
made all that He did to prosper

854
00:57:46,680 –> 00:57:48,920
in His hand.
You know that, Master.

855
00:57:48,960 –> 00:57:51,920
Blood of us saw that Joseph was
different from every other slave

856
00:57:51,920 –> 00:57:53,920
that he’d ever seen.
He’d never ever seen a slave

857
00:57:53,920 –> 00:57:58,040
quite like this before.
I just wonder, young people, how

858
00:57:58,040 –> 00:58:00,120
many?
And not, not so young, whether

859
00:58:00,120 –> 00:58:03,120
we’re in the workforce or not
old school, I wonder how many of

860
00:58:03,240 –> 00:58:06,160
our masters, our teachers or
whatever.

861
00:58:07,400 –> 00:58:09,680
See us as.
Being very different and notice

862
00:58:09,680 –> 00:58:12,400
us as being very different.
But that’s not just what this

863
00:58:12,440 –> 00:58:14,120
record is saying, brothers and
sisters.

864
00:58:14,920 –> 00:58:20,680
It says that his master saw that
Yahweh was with him.

865
00:58:20,880 –> 00:58:23,480
It doesn’t say that he saw that
Joseph was different from every

866
00:58:23,480 –> 00:58:29,160
other slave that he saw before.
It says he saw that Yahweh was

867
00:58:30,080 –> 00:58:32,600
with Yahweh as.
Israel’s God.

868
00:58:33,400 –> 00:58:38,560
It’s only one way, Joseph.
Was the only one in Egypt who

869
00:58:38,560 –> 00:58:41,920
knew anything about that.
And he’d obviously told his

870
00:58:41,920 –> 00:58:45,560
master about it.
And his master had been very

871
00:58:45,720 –> 00:58:49,520
impressed.
He’d told him about the visions,

872
00:58:49,520 –> 00:58:52,880
no doubt, and that Yahweh had
given him and had he just went

873
00:58:53,040 –> 00:58:56,520
diligently and, and efficiently
about his work every day.

874
00:58:56,520 –> 00:58:59,760
And his master sat back and
thought, this is a man of

875
00:58:59,760 –> 00:59:02,000
really, there’s something behind
him.

876
00:59:02,640 –> 00:59:06,280
His God is obviously worth some
consideration.

877
00:59:06,280 –> 00:59:10,000
And he noted that.
I wonder just how many of our

878
00:59:10,000 –> 00:59:12,840
associates know that Yahweh is
with us.

879
00:59:13,880 –> 00:59:15,640
You answer that for yourself,
young people.

880
00:59:16,360 –> 00:59:17,960
How many of your associates know
that?

881
00:59:17,960 –> 00:59:22,400
It could only be because we’ve
told them about our God.

882
00:59:23,160 –> 00:59:25,120
And Joseph’s prepared to make a
stand there.

883
00:59:25,320 –> 00:59:27,160
He’s the only one.
He didn’t have to.

884
00:59:27,160 –> 00:59:29,800
There’s no one else there.
To to say, go on, say something

885
00:59:29,800 –> 00:59:32,320
now.
Working in an office where

886
00:59:32,320 –> 00:59:36,880
there’s 16 Christadelphians,
there was a land of gross

887
00:59:36,880 –> 00:59:39,240
idolatry.
They wanted nothing to do with

888
00:59:39,240 –> 00:59:44,080
the the one true God of some
little tin pot family down miles

889
00:59:44,080 –> 00:59:45,520
away they’d never heard of
before.

890
00:59:45,520 –> 00:59:49,720
You know, this becomes a
characteristic of Joseph in the

891
00:59:49,720 –> 00:59:52,840
record.
He didn’t let up speaking to his

892
00:59:52,840 –> 00:59:54,920
brethren until they’d sold him
into Egypt.

893
00:59:55,320 –> 00:59:56,440
He never.
Ever let up?

894
00:59:57,360 –> 00:59:59,560
When he got in there, he talked
to Potiphar, he talked to

895
00:59:59,560 –> 01:00:01,880
Potiphar’s wife, he got into
prison and he talked to the

896
01:00:01,880 –> 01:00:03,480
prison officer.
He.

897
01:00:05,160 –> 01:00:07,280
Told everybody about the truth.
And you know what?

898
01:00:08,040 –> 01:00:11,920
Everybody that he ever came in
contact with knew that he was

899
01:00:11,920 –> 01:00:15,600
motivated by something that was
very different from them.

900
01:00:16,840 –> 01:00:20,120
They knew that there were
visions of God that were in this

901
01:00:20,120 –> 01:00:26,680
man’s mind and that somehow,
amazingly, he believed and it

902
01:00:26,680 –> 01:00:30,320
was seen in his life.
Young people, it’s very

903
01:00:30,320 –> 01:00:33,120
important to make a stand.
If you start.

904
01:00:33,120 –> 01:00:36,880
A job or wherever you go at
school, with friends, with

905
01:00:36,880 –> 01:00:41,760
whoever and proven citizens just
as important for us too, not to

906
01:00:41,760 –> 01:00:44,360
make a stand at arrogance.
I mean, you can’t imagine Joseph

907
01:00:44,360 –> 01:00:46,680
marching into Potiphar and
saying, now listen here,

908
01:00:46,680 –> 01:00:52,400
Potiphar, I’m a Hebrew, got it.
Understand God is the ruler of

909
01:00:52,440 –> 01:00:55,800
the world and you people are
dust.

910
01:00:57,880 –> 01:01:01,800
He waited for an opportunity and
he sensitively and carefully

911
01:01:01,800 –> 01:01:07,840
told him about Yahweh’s plan and
purpose, and from then on

912
01:01:08,080 –> 01:01:13,280
Potiphar hired him off and his
behaviour became a constant

913
01:01:13,280 –> 01:01:15,840
witness.
Young people never ever think

914
01:01:16,200 –> 01:01:19,160
that after we’ve opened our
mouth to talk the truth that

915
01:01:19,160 –> 01:01:23,720
people will not observe us.
They’ll observe us for.

916
01:01:23,720 –> 01:01:28,280
Good or I’ll.
They’ll either be impressed that

917
01:01:28,280 –> 01:01:33,560
we do really believe, or they’ll
be turned forever from the truth

918
01:01:34,480 –> 01:01:37,920
by the utter and sheer hypocrisy
that they see.

919
01:01:39,880 –> 01:01:43,440
Be very careful, and I’m not
saying don’t talk the truth.

920
01:01:44,440 –> 01:01:46,800
Just be very careful about our
example.

921
01:01:48,600 –> 01:01:53,080
You know, I’ve seen that happen.
In schools with some very

922
01:01:53,080 –> 01:01:56,120
ungodly teachers.
I’ve sat around a staff room and

923
01:01:56,120 –> 01:01:58,560
listened to teachers talk about
students.

924
01:01:58,560 –> 01:02:01,480
That’s all they ever talk about
lunchtimes and recess times,

925
01:02:02,080 –> 01:02:04,920
about how someone made their
made their morning.

926
01:02:04,920 –> 01:02:07,920
Do you know what?
I’ve sat around in a staff room

927
01:02:07,920 –> 01:02:12,280
and listened to teachers talk
about young people that weren’t

928
01:02:12,280 –> 01:02:16,160
Christadelphians.
They said there’s something

929
01:02:16,160 –> 01:02:20,560
about them.
We don’t know what it is, but

930
01:02:20,560 –> 01:02:24,160
they’re really nice kids.
They’re honest, trustworthy,

931
01:02:24,400 –> 01:02:32,240
truthful, and they weren’t ours.
But they did have a belief and

932
01:02:32,240 –> 01:02:34,480
they firmly held it and they
didn’t go around telling

933
01:02:34,480 –> 01:02:36,320
everyone about it.
You could see it.

934
01:02:38,240 –> 01:02:42,040
How many of us as young people
in schools or in the workplace

935
01:02:42,240 –> 01:02:44,040
could have that thought and said
about us?

936
01:02:44,680 –> 01:02:48,920
But verse four goes on to say,
And Joseph found grace in in

937
01:02:48,920 –> 01:02:51,200
Potiphar’s sight, and he served
him, and he made him overseer

938
01:02:51,200 –> 01:02:54,520
over his house.
And all that he had he put into

939
01:02:54,520 –> 01:02:58,120
his hand.
And it came to pass from that

940
01:02:58,120 –> 01:03:01,120
time that he made him overseer
his house, and over all that he

941
01:03:01,120 –> 01:03:04,080
had, that Yahweh blessed the
Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s

942
01:03:04,080 –> 01:03:06,600
sake.
And the blessing of Yahweh was

943
01:03:06,600 –> 01:03:10,040
upon all that he had in the
house and in the field, and he

944
01:03:10,040 –> 01:03:14,080
left all that he had in Joseph’s
hand.

945
01:03:15,440 –> 01:03:18,640
And he did not ought what he had
save the bread which he did eat.

946
01:03:19,720 –> 01:03:23,440
And Joseph was a goodly man and
well favoured.

947
01:03:24,320 –> 01:03:31,040
He was very successful and
responsible and promotion came

948
01:03:31,040 –> 01:03:37,120
very rapidly for Joseph.
Young people, if because of your

949
01:03:37,120 –> 01:03:43,680
diligence.
Promotion comes think.

950
01:03:43,680 –> 01:03:48,800
Carefully before you accept it.
Never seek it.

951
01:03:50,960 –> 01:03:54,120
To Joseph it came because of his
godly and honest spirit, because

952
01:03:54,120 –> 01:03:58,200
of his diligence and integrity,
and he maintained it throughout.

953
01:03:59,760 –> 01:04:02,320
But the young people and
brethren, sisters alike in an

954
01:04:02,320 –> 01:04:07,080
evil and godless age.
An adulterous generation.

955
01:04:08,320 –> 01:04:12,960
There are many young people.
There are many strong in the

956
01:04:12,960 –> 01:04:18,040
past, brethren and sisters
who’ve sacrificed their minds on

957
01:04:18,240 –> 01:04:22,320
the altar of success.
For promotion for what?

958
01:04:22,720 –> 01:04:28,520
Money status?
Be very careful about promotion.

959
01:04:31,640 –> 01:04:36,720
But verse the end of verse 7
says, verse 6 says and Joseph

960
01:04:36,720 –> 01:04:39,440
was a goodly person and well
favoured.

961
01:04:39,440 –> 01:04:43,960
The RSV says and Joseph was
handsome and good looking.

962
01:04:44,600 –> 01:04:48,040
It’s the same phrase that’s used
of his mother’s good looks.

963
01:04:48,560 –> 01:04:52,880
He was handsome and good
looking.

964
01:04:53,600 –> 01:04:58,360
Verse 7 and it’s connected.
It came to pass after these

965
01:04:58,360 –> 01:05:02,840
things that his master’s wife
cast her eyes upon Joseph and

966
01:05:02,840 –> 01:05:09,720
she said, lie with me.
You know, Joseph was probably

967
01:05:09,720 –> 01:05:17,560
about in his early or mid 20s.
In the prime of life,

968
01:05:17,560 –> 01:05:23,480
physically.
A specimen hence, and good

969
01:05:23,480 –> 01:05:29,320
looking, virile and energetic,
highly successful, knew where

970
01:05:29,320 –> 01:05:32,760
he’s going.
And in Egypt the state religion

971
01:05:32,760 –> 01:05:36,520
endorsed the indulgence of every
lust you can think of.

972
01:05:38,360 –> 01:05:44,560
It said it’s OK in the name of
religion, brothers and sisters

973
01:05:44,560 –> 01:05:46,280
and young people who think of
this.

974
01:05:47,200 –> 01:05:51,280
He’s in a foreign land, he’s all
alone.

975
01:05:52,320 –> 01:05:55,520
There’s no Christadelphians for.
Hundreds and hundreds.

976
01:05:55,520 –> 01:06:00,640
Of Miles, who would ever know
what he did?

977
01:06:04,960 –> 01:06:17,840
Verse 8 says but he refused what
an enormous temptation was

978
01:06:17,840 –> 01:06:20,840
placed in his way, and he gave 3
reasons.

979
01:06:20,840 –> 01:06:25,280
In verse 8 he said, first of
all, My master trusts me, how

980
01:06:25,280 –> 01:06:29,360
can I betray that trust?
He said my master.

981
01:06:29,360 –> 01:06:33,000
Has given everything to my head
except you, who are his wife.

982
01:06:33,000 –> 01:06:36,280
How can I touch?
That how can I betray that

983
01:06:36,280 –> 01:06:40,960
trust?
And the bottom line was the end

984
01:06:40,960 –> 01:06:48,280
of verse 9.
How then can I do this great

985
01:06:48,360 –> 01:06:54,440
wickedness and sin against God?
And there’s an insight, is it

986
01:06:54,440 –> 01:06:58,240
not, into the mind of and the
character of this young man in

987
01:06:58,240 –> 01:07:01,160
his early 20s, a man of
integrity and.

988
01:07:01,160 –> 01:07:04,800
Principle, who was so convicted
about divine standards and

989
01:07:04,800 –> 01:07:08,480
morality that he made us stand
in an almost impossible.

990
01:07:08,520 –> 01:07:14,520
Situation because he was
constantly aware of the reality

991
01:07:14,520 –> 01:07:16,240
of God.
There was no need for there to

992
01:07:16,240 –> 01:07:19,000
be any other Christadelphians
there young people because God

993
01:07:19,000 –> 01:07:21,440
was there.
That’s the point.

994
01:07:22,320 –> 01:07:24,080
And he knew what God thought
about that.

995
01:07:24,560 –> 01:07:28,320
You know the record here 4 times
tells us that that God was with

996
01:07:28,320 –> 01:07:32,200
him and truly he was in every
sense.

997
01:07:32,840 –> 01:07:39,840
Now Joseph took God with him.
Joseph took God with him.

998
01:07:40,760 –> 01:07:45,760
And if we can take God with us.
Every day of our lives back into

999
01:07:45,760 –> 01:07:49,720
that degenerate world, then
we’ll have something to call

1000
01:07:49,720 –> 01:07:53,000
back on, to fall back on to
Joseph.

1001
01:07:53,000 –> 01:07:56,120
God was real, brethren, sisters,
He was always in his thoughts.

1002
01:07:56,360 –> 01:08:02,000
And there’s an amazing
observation which probably is

1003
01:08:02,000 –> 01:08:04,280
not not all that obvious on the
surface.

1004
01:08:04,960 –> 01:08:08,120
But if you read Genesis chapter.
37 Right through to chapter 50,

1005
01:08:08,120 –> 01:08:11,000
which is the record of Joseph’s
life, there’s something that

1006
01:08:11,000 –> 01:08:14,400
stands out.
That is that every time, almost

1007
01:08:14,400 –> 01:08:19,439
every time that Joseph opens his
mouth, God is there.

1008
01:08:20,800 –> 01:08:24,040
It’s staggering to see.
He’s either talking about God

1009
01:08:24,040 –> 01:08:26,600
directly, or His Word or a
vision.

1010
01:08:27,240 –> 01:08:29,920
In almost.
Every single utterance he makes

1011
01:08:29,960 –> 01:08:32,439
in this.
Record over 14 chapters.

1012
01:08:32,800 –> 01:08:37,439
God is there in his thinking all
the time, and there was the key

1013
01:08:37,439 –> 01:08:39,240
to him overcoming that
temptation.

1014
01:08:39,439 –> 01:08:45,160
He thought about God’s promises.
He remembered now, in the days

1015
01:08:45,200 –> 01:08:50,160
of his youth, His Creator and
God was ever with him.

1016
01:08:50,439 –> 01:08:52,080
But young people have been our
sisters.

1017
01:08:52,200 –> 01:08:58,640
Temptation is never, ever that.
Simple verse 10 And it came to

1018
01:08:58,640 –> 01:09:06,080
pass, as she spoke to Joseph day
by day, that he hearkened not

1019
01:09:06,120 –> 01:09:09,359
unto her, to lie by her, and he
got.

1020
01:09:09,359 –> 01:09:12,840
Himself out.
She changed her strategy, you

1021
01:09:13,359 –> 01:09:15,680
see, We don’t.
Defeat temptation with words,

1022
01:09:15,680 –> 01:09:18,000
young people.
We don’t just say, oh, that’s

1023
01:09:18,000 –> 01:09:23,279
the end of that.
Wipe that off because temptation

1024
01:09:23,279 –> 01:09:28,279
and sin is more subtle, more
persistent, and now there’s even

1025
01:09:28,279 –> 01:09:30,160
more difficult pressure for him
to cope.

1026
01:09:31,080 –> 01:09:33,800
And how did he respond?
The record tells us that he

1027
01:09:33,800 –> 01:09:37,680
hearkened not.
He avoided her presence or, as

1028
01:09:37,680 –> 01:09:41,840
the Apostle Paul said, make no
provision for the flesh.

1029
01:09:42,439 –> 01:09:44,120
He did everything he cooked to
avoid.

1030
01:09:44,160 –> 01:09:46,520
That circumstance of being in
the same room when she was

1031
01:09:46,520 –> 01:09:50,880
there, but the pressure remained
and and that sort of pressure

1032
01:09:50,880 –> 01:09:54,120
becomes very weary.
And every day, he renewed.

1033
01:09:54,360 –> 01:09:57,000
His perspective.
He thought about God.

1034
01:09:57,880 –> 01:09:59,840
He went.
About prayer every night.

1035
01:10:00,320 –> 01:10:02,960
And asked no doubt.
To be relieved of that

1036
01:10:02,960 –> 01:10:07,800
temptation.
Verse 11 says going to pass

1037
01:10:07,800 –> 01:10:10,320
about this time, that he went to
the house to do business and

1038
01:10:10,320 –> 01:10:11,840
there was none of the men in the
house.

1039
01:10:12,640 –> 01:10:15,360
And she caught him by his
garment and said, lie with me.

1040
01:10:16,120 –> 01:10:24,080
And he left his garment in her
hand and fled and got him out.

1041
01:10:24,080 –> 01:10:27,520
Do you know what that meant in
Egypt?

1042
01:10:29,200 –> 01:10:33,120
His garment in the hands of his
master’s wife.

1043
01:10:33,560 –> 01:10:38,560
And he’s out of the house.
His hand was wrong as soon as

1044
01:10:38,560 –> 01:10:40,160
his master had found her.
It is an.

1045
01:10:40,160 –> 01:10:42,360
Amazing thing that he didn’t
lose his life.

1046
01:10:42,720 –> 01:10:45,080
Brethren and sisters.
I mean, it was only because.

1047
01:10:45,760 –> 01:10:52,440
Potiphar had an amazing respect
for this young man, but he

1048
01:10:52,440 –> 01:10:55,560
didn’t lose his life.
He was put into prison.

1049
01:10:56,480 –> 01:11:03,600
And when temptation comes and
persists, there is only one

1050
01:11:04,800 –> 01:11:08,360
thing to do.
Flee.

1051
01:11:09,720 –> 01:11:20,960
Come to 1st of Corinthians
chapter 10. 1st of Corinthians

1052
01:11:20,960 –> 01:11:34,280
chapter 10.
Verse 12 set in the context of

1053
01:11:34,280 –> 01:11:43,080
Israel’s failure and notice of
fornication in verse 8 and Paul

1054
01:11:43,080 –> 01:11:47,280
using the example of Israel’s
failure as saying verse 12.

1055
01:11:47,440 –> 01:11:49,200
Therefore let him that thinketh,
he standeth.

1056
01:11:49,200 –> 01:11:53,200
Take heed from the example.
There is no such temptation.

1057
01:11:53,200 –> 01:11:57,840
There is no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man,

1058
01:11:58,640 –> 01:12:01,840
but God is faithful who will not
suffer you to be tempted above

1059
01:12:01,840 –> 01:12:04,920
that you’re able, but will with
the temptation also make a way

1060
01:12:04,920 –> 01:12:07,680
of escape that she may be able
to bear it.

1061
01:12:09,440 –> 01:12:17,200
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, he
says flee, and that’s all we can

1062
01:12:17,200 –> 01:12:23,920
do at times, young people, God
will not always remove or ease

1063
01:12:23,920 –> 01:12:26,880
the temptation.
He doesn’t ever promise to do

1064
01:12:26,880 –> 01:12:29,680
that.
Temptation is just that,

1065
01:12:30,160 –> 01:12:33,640
temptation.
And if God was to remove.

1066
01:12:33,640 –> 01:12:37,600
It it wouldn’t.
Be temptation, so he can’t, but

1067
01:12:37,600 –> 01:12:41,920
he will be faithful in putting a
way of escape possible.

1068
01:12:42,120 –> 01:12:49,560
But the issue is we have to
decide to take it and we have

1069
01:12:49,560 –> 01:12:53,520
the choice as to whether we stay
there or whether we go.

1070
01:12:55,320 –> 01:12:58,120
Just turn back a few pages to
chapter 6 of First Corinthians

1071
01:12:58,840 –> 01:13:02,080
verse 15.
The apostle highlights the issue

1072
01:13:02,080 –> 01:13:04,520
again.
He says no, you’re not that your

1073
01:13:04,520 –> 01:13:06,280
bodies are the members of
Christ.

1074
01:13:07,160 –> 01:13:09,680
Shall I then take the members of
Christ and make them the members

1075
01:13:09,720 –> 01:13:12,920
of of and harlots?
God forbid What?

1076
01:13:12,920 –> 01:13:16,120
No, you’re not that.
He which join which is joined to

1077
01:13:16,120 –> 01:13:18,760
a harlot is 1 body.
For two saith he shall be 1

1078
01:13:18,760 –> 01:13:23,080
flesh, but he that is joined
unto the Lord is 1 Spirit.

1079
01:13:25,080 –> 01:13:30,280
Flee fornication.
There’s no other way, young

1080
01:13:30,280 –> 01:13:32,560
people.
We’re living in an adulterous

1081
01:13:32,560 –> 01:13:37,840
generation where that thinks,
just like the ancient Egyptian

1082
01:13:37,840 –> 01:13:42,680
society was, that it’s OK to do
anything your body tells you to.

1083
01:13:42,680 –> 01:13:48,400
Do it’s OK, but the apostle
councils constantly to flee.

1084
01:13:48,720 –> 01:13:51,200
Now we’re in an environment,
brethren and sisters, where this

1085
01:13:51,200 –> 01:13:54,120
problem.
Though embarrassing it might be

1086
01:13:54,120 –> 01:13:58,120
to talk about is influencing and
affecting the brotherhood, and

1087
01:13:58,120 –> 01:14:02,000
it’s affecting our young people.
Make no mistake, any brother or

1088
01:14:02,000 –> 01:14:05,880
sister or parent who doesn’t
think that it’s making inroads

1089
01:14:05,880 –> 01:14:10,200
into the lives of some young
people within our group is blind

1090
01:14:11,560 –> 01:14:14,400
with the influences that are on
our children outside.

1091
01:14:14,400 –> 01:14:17,160
It’s bound to do that.
It’s in the work process, it’s

1092
01:14:17,320 –> 01:14:19,440
in the streets, it’s everywhere.
There’s a.

1093
01:14:19,440 –> 01:14:22,520
Powerful appeal through the
media, through advertising,

1094
01:14:22,520 –> 01:14:26,080
through education.
To breakdown divine values.

1095
01:14:26,080 –> 01:14:29,440
And as soon as divine values go,
everything’s gone.

1096
01:14:31,120 –> 01:14:36,360
Our children are being told in
schools told don’t suppress

1097
01:14:36,360 –> 01:14:40,400
what’s natural.
It leads to inhibitions.

1098
01:14:40,640 –> 01:14:42,360
It leads to hang.
UPS.

1099
01:14:43,680 –> 01:14:47,880
It’ll watch you for life, you
know, in a recent newspaper.

1100
01:14:48,120 –> 01:14:52,800
Report An Australia wide survey
was conducted that said more

1101
01:14:52,800 –> 01:14:57,360
than 50% of 17 year olds in.
Australia are sexually active

1102
01:14:57,360 –> 01:15:00,920
today.
I’ve walked past classrooms.

1103
01:15:00,920 –> 01:15:03,640
In schools in this city,
brothers and sisters.

1104
01:15:04,080 –> 01:15:06,280
And our young people know that
this goes on.

1105
01:15:06,600 –> 01:15:09,520
We think you like to believe it
because you’ve grown up in a

1106
01:15:09,520 –> 01:15:12,360
generation that was much more
private.

1107
01:15:12,920 –> 01:15:16,160
But I’ve walked past classrooms
in schools.

1108
01:15:16,560 –> 01:15:19,120
Reasonably decent schools I
might add.

1109
01:15:19,280 –> 01:15:23,800
Reasonably decent schools where
teachers are saying to children

1110
01:15:24,480 –> 01:15:31,400
of teenage 1415 years of age
it’s OK to experiment as long as

1111
01:15:31,400 –> 01:15:37,560
it’s safe.
It’s normal to have sex at your

1112
01:15:37,560 –> 01:15:42,600
age.
Young people make no provision

1113
01:15:42,680 –> 01:15:45,520
for the flesh.
Who cares what they think?

1114
01:15:46,240 –> 01:15:51,560
There is a God in heaven who
thinks differently and stand up

1115
01:15:51,560 –> 01:15:55,000
for it.
Don’t get washed away by the

1116
01:15:55,000 –> 01:16:00,160
time Joseph is in a very, very
difficult situation and he stood

1117
01:16:00,160 –> 01:16:03,440
his ground until he could stand
it no longer and he went out the

1118
01:16:06,640 –> 01:16:09,400
door.
Avoid circumstances, avoid

1119
01:16:09,400 –> 01:16:14,320
places, avoid influences.
Young people, avoid them.

1120
01:16:14,800 –> 01:16:18,800
You’ve got to avoid them.
If you stay there too long.

1121
01:16:20,000 –> 01:16:22,960
You’ll be gone and wreck your
life.

1122
01:16:24,640 –> 01:16:29,560
Don’t learn by experience.
Listen to what God has said.

1123
01:16:30,920 –> 01:16:35,280
There are lusts in your bodies,
young people, which if aroused

1124
01:16:35,720 –> 01:16:40,040
and allowed to work, cannot be
controlled.

1125
01:16:41,600 –> 01:16:46,240
The mind will be overruled.
And don’t think that’s fanciful.

1126
01:16:46,240 –> 01:16:48,880
Nonsense.
And if you have a boyfriend or

1127
01:16:48,880 –> 01:16:52,760
you have a girlfriend, don’t sit
in a car for two hours at night.

1128
01:16:54,600 –> 01:17:00,920
Learn to avoid circumstances,
places and influences that you

1129
01:17:00,920 –> 01:17:03,720
can’t control and that will
inevitably.

1130
01:17:03,720 –> 01:17:07,800
Lead to absolute disaster and
tragedy.

1131
01:17:07,800 –> 01:17:11,120
Look at what God says one more
in First of Thessalonians

1132
01:17:11,800 –> 01:17:15,680
chapter 4 and think about this
young people.

1133
01:17:16,320 –> 01:17:21,880
And brother and sisters, because
it’s not isolated to young

1134
01:17:21,880 –> 01:17:26,200
people, though they’re growing
up amongst a generation who has

1135
01:17:26,200 –> 01:17:29,880
no morals.
And that’s no exaggeration.

1136
01:17:30,200 –> 01:17:34,480
The generation that our children
are growing up largely have no

1137
01:17:34,640 –> 01:17:37,760
idea of biblical morality at
all.

1138
01:17:37,800 –> 01:17:41,800
They make their own rules, their
own values, their own morals.

1139
01:17:41,880 –> 01:17:44,640
But look what God says in First
the Thessalonians chapter 4.

1140
01:17:45,720 –> 01:17:51,320
And at verse 3, For this is the
will of God, even your

1141
01:17:51,400 –> 01:17:57,080
sanctification, that ye should
abstain from fornication.

1142
01:17:57,560 –> 01:18:03,640
It’s God’s will for you, young
person, to abstain from

1143
01:18:03,640 –> 01:18:05,840
fornication.
Look at verse 7.

1144
01:18:07,160 –> 01:18:13,920
For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness, but unto holiness,

1145
01:18:15,120 –> 01:18:19,560
separateness, purity, devotion
of the mind of things that are

1146
01:18:19,560 –> 01:18:24,320
high and pure.
He therefore look at verse 8 and

1147
01:18:24,440 –> 01:18:25,800
underline.
It in your Bible.

1148
01:18:26,080 –> 01:18:34,040
He therefore that despiseth that
despiseth not man, but God,

1149
01:18:34,840 –> 01:18:39,640
that’s how.
Serious, it is young people, and

1150
01:18:39,640 –> 01:18:43,160
Joseph went out and he didn’t
count the consequences.

1151
01:18:43,760 –> 01:18:47,040
And he found himself in prison.
He could have found himself with

1152
01:18:47,040 –> 01:18:52,080
his head rolling down the the
yard of the slaughterman, But he

1153
01:18:52,080 –> 01:18:55,200
found himself, thankfully, by
the grace of God, in prison.

1154
01:18:55,920 –> 01:18:58,880
He’d done nothing wrong.
All he’d done was stood up for

1155
01:18:58,880 –> 01:19:02,400
what was right.
And if you get chopped down in

1156
01:19:02,400 –> 01:19:06,200
pieces at school, young people
for saying what’s right, think

1157
01:19:06,200 –> 01:19:11,720
of Joseph.
He didn’t even deserve to be in

1158
01:19:11,720 –> 01:19:14,000
Egypt, and he was.
And now he’s in prison, and

1159
01:19:15,680 –> 01:19:20,760
prison was not an easy place to
live in, not in Egypt.

1160
01:19:23,560 –> 01:19:27,240
I’d like you to come back now,
but our time is slipping away.

1161
01:19:27,240 –> 01:19:31,160
I’d like you to come to Psalm
105.

1162
01:19:36,850 –> 01:19:45,200
Psalm 105.
And verse 17.

1163
01:19:45,200 –> 01:19:53,020
And here the psalmist, taking
the panorama of Israel’s

1164
01:19:53,020 –> 01:19:59,860
history, comes to the time of
Joseph. 105 Verse 17 sent a man

1165
01:19:59,860 –> 01:20:05,340
before them, even Joseph, who
was sold for a servant whose

1166
01:20:05,340 –> 01:20:10,260
feet they hurt with fetters.
He was laid in iron.

1167
01:20:10,460 –> 01:20:15,300
Look at the margin.
His soul came into iron.

1168
01:20:18,440 –> 01:20:23,440
Do you think those two or three
years, four years maybe in

1169
01:20:23,440 –> 01:20:28,840
prison were pleasant years His.
Soul came into iron.

1170
01:20:29,320 –> 01:20:30,920
He didn’t.
Know why God was doing this?

1171
01:20:31,160 –> 01:20:35,160
All he’d done was what was
right, and he’s only 25.

1172
01:20:38,240 –> 01:20:39,840
But we do ourselves a disservice
if we.

1173
01:20:39,840 –> 01:20:42,440
Don’t read the next verse.
They do.

1174
01:20:42,440 –> 01:20:50,360
Joseph A Disserves, his soul
came into iron until the time

1175
01:20:51,000 –> 01:20:56,640
that his word came.
The word of Yahweh tried him.

1176
01:20:56,640 –> 01:21:00,920
This is what the RSV says.
His soul came into iron until

1177
01:21:00,920 –> 01:21:07,400
what he said came to pass.
The word of Yahweh tried him,

1178
01:21:08,680 –> 01:21:12,720
and in prison Joseph’s dreams
came back to him.

1179
01:21:14,000 –> 01:21:17,320
Was God right?
Was he going down the wrong

1180
01:21:17,320 –> 01:21:20,320
track?
Everything seemed to be against

1181
01:21:20,320 –> 01:21:24,680
him, but the word of Yahweh
tried him sorely, young people.

1182
01:21:25,040 –> 01:21:27,720
We will be put into
circumstances at times which we

1183
01:21:27,720 –> 01:21:31,440
don’t.
Deserve, and it’s the word of

1184
01:21:31,440 –> 01:21:34,640
Yahweh that’s trying us those.
Circumstances, we might think

1185
01:21:34,640 –> 01:21:38,920
are awful.
But it’s the Word of God that’s

1186
01:21:38,920 –> 01:21:42,840
fighting in our minds, trying to
weigh up what God’s doing with

1187
01:21:42,840 –> 01:21:45,280
us.
And it tried Joseph, when his

1188
01:21:45,280 –> 01:21:46,240
soul.
Was in iron.

1189
01:21:46,760 –> 01:21:49,680
And God put the pressure on him
there to see if he really

1190
01:21:49,680 –> 01:21:52,280
believed and to.
Make something of him that he

1191
01:21:52,280 –> 01:21:57,320
could later use not only in the
Kingdom, but in his life as

1192
01:21:57,320 –> 01:21:59,880
well.
But Joseph had something that no

1193
01:21:59,880 –> 01:22:04,720
man could ever take away
embedded in his mind from his

1194
01:22:04,760 –> 01:22:07,400
early days.
For the promises.

1195
01:22:08,400 –> 01:22:14,040
And the visions of God, and he
exercised his mind every day on

1196
01:22:14,040 –> 01:22:20,320
those things.
And remarkably back in Genesis

1197
01:22:20,320 –> 01:22:28,960
chapter 39, remarkably it had an
effect, verse 21.

1198
01:22:30,520 –> 01:22:37,360
And Yahweh was with Joseph and
showed him mercy and gave him

1199
01:22:37,360 –> 01:22:41,200
favour in the sight of the
keeper of the prison.

1200
01:22:42,800 –> 01:22:45,320
Isn’t that amazing, The spirit
of this godly man?

1201
01:22:46,280 –> 01:22:50,160
The visions of whose?
Mind had regenerated that faith

1202
01:22:50,160 –> 01:22:54,200
again.
It enabled him to stand and to

1203
01:22:54,200 –> 01:22:57,600
endure all that uncertainty, all
that anguish.

1204
01:23:00,200 –> 01:23:03,680
We haven’t really even got to
the essence of Joseph’s life

1205
01:23:03,680 –> 01:23:06,080
tonight.
We’re not going, don’t think

1206
01:23:06,080 –> 01:23:09,840
we’re going to go on to 10:30.
We haven’t yet got to the

1207
01:23:09,840 –> 01:23:13,040
essence of Joseph’s life.
And I want to tell you in one

1208
01:23:13,040 –> 01:23:18,040
sentence what it is that all his
early experiences when God had

1209
01:23:18,040 –> 01:23:23,400
chosen him from the age of 17
were all leading to the time

1210
01:23:24,200 –> 01:23:28,480
when he would save his brethren.
You know that.

1211
01:23:28,480 –> 01:23:32,360
That’s the story of Joseph that
he saved his brethren, but God

1212
01:23:32,360 –> 01:23:35,760
had had brought Joseph at a
young age through all these

1213
01:23:35,760 –> 01:23:39,560
experiences that he none of whom
he deserved, but in the end.

1214
01:23:39,680 –> 01:23:43,880
It was his faith, young people.
It was his patience.

1215
01:23:44,160 –> 01:23:49,080
It was his godliness, his
example, his vision that saved.

1216
01:23:49,080 –> 01:23:51,400
Them.
It wasn’t theirs and they didn’t

1217
01:23:51,400 –> 01:23:55,000
deserve to be saved in the end,
but they were and it was all

1218
01:23:55,000 –> 01:23:59,200
started in a 17 year old.
Never ever let us think, young

1219
01:23:59,200 –> 01:24:01,960
people, that we’re too young for
God to use.

1220
01:24:01,960 –> 01:24:04,960
You might ever.
Let us think that the pressures

1221
01:24:04,960 –> 01:24:07,200
of this life are too.
Strong to stand up against you

1222
01:24:07,200 –> 01:24:12,600
might ever let us think that God
has forsaken us, because in all

1223
01:24:12,600 –> 01:24:17,080
those things Joseph inspired his
brethren.

1224
01:24:34,720 –> 01:24:41,880
In summary, what are we seeing?
No one’s too young for God to

1225
01:24:41,880 –> 01:24:49,000
use.
Developing a good conscience in

1226
01:24:49,000 –> 01:24:56,600
youth by diligent attention to
the Word of God is vital to

1227
01:24:56,600 –> 01:25:00,120
being able to withstand the
pressures of life that come in

1228
01:25:00,120 –> 01:25:07,000
youth and in the days beyond.
But the key to Joseph’s success

1229
01:25:07,560 –> 01:25:13,640
was the reality that he made God
in his life that allowed him to

1230
01:25:13,640 –> 01:25:18,880
flee youthful lusts and
temptation when it arose.

1231
01:25:20,400 –> 01:25:26,720
And it was the key to his
faithfulness under this

1232
01:25:26,760 –> 01:25:32,240
unreasonable pressure really
came from his dreams.

1233
01:25:33,040 –> 01:25:35,800
Nobody, them sisters and young
people, we’ve all got to be

1234
01:25:35,800 –> 01:25:42,960
masters of dreams.
Because by that, Solomon says,

1235
01:25:44,280 –> 01:25:48,280
where there is no vision, the
people perish.

1236
01:25:49,480 –> 01:25:52,840
And surely Joseph would have
faded into insignificance in

1237
01:25:52,840 –> 01:25:58,440
Egyptian society had it not been
for the tremendous power that

1238
01:25:58,440 –> 01:26:04,200
those visions had upon his mind
in times of real trouble that

1239
01:26:04,200 –> 01:26:08,960
were embedded there in his very
youngest days, renewed every day

1240
01:26:09,000 –> 01:26:11,960
by him because he thought about
it.

1241
01:26:13,840 –> 01:26:18,360
You know, young people, as we go
away tonight, let’s just think

1242
01:26:19,520 –> 01:26:23,560
that it’s no good just
considering a the life of an

1243
01:26:23,560 –> 01:26:27,000
inspiring young individual who
was committed to the truth like

1244
01:26:27,560 –> 01:26:32,760
like Joseph obviously was.
Let’s think what it means to us.

1245
01:26:35,560 –> 01:26:42,200
It’s got a cost, a personal
cost, sacrifice of time

1246
01:26:43,520 –> 01:26:46,960
commitment.
Young people, while your mind is

1247
01:26:46,960 –> 01:26:52,600
agile, while there is time
before the evil days come, when

1248
01:26:52,600 –> 01:26:55,640
you’ll say young people and
there’s no substitute.

1249
01:26:55,640 –> 01:26:59,480
There’s no quick fix, there’s no
instant solution.

1250
01:26:59,880 –> 01:27:06,560
Time is the only way.
Time thinking about the Word and

1251
01:27:06,560 –> 01:27:11,280
about God’s promises.
Take one of those sheets

1252
01:27:11,280 –> 01:27:17,480
afterwards and give it some
time, because it won’t be

1253
01:27:17,480 –> 01:27:21,040
wasted.
And we’ll never, ever, ever deal

1254
01:27:21,240 –> 01:27:24,200
with the pressures of life
without doing that.

1255
01:27:25,280 –> 01:27:29,280
I’d like you to listen in
conclusion to the words of of

1256
01:27:29,280 –> 01:27:35,440
the great Apostle Paul as he
wrote his last words to the

1257
01:27:35,440 –> 01:27:41,280
young man that he loved.
He said, Let no man despise thy

1258
01:27:41,320 –> 01:27:50,760
youth, but be thou an example to
the believers, an example in

1259
01:27:50,760 –> 01:27:59,960
youth, to the believers in Word,
in manner of life, in love, in

1260
01:27:59,960 –> 01:28:07,840
faith, in purity.
Give attendance, he said, to

1261
01:28:07,840 –> 01:28:11,680
reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine.

1262
01:28:11,680 –> 01:28:13,360
That just doesn’t mean going to
the meetings.

1263
01:28:15,360 –> 01:28:19,920
Meditate upon these things.
Give thyself wholly to them.

1264
01:28:20,960 –> 01:28:26,680
Isn’t that a picture of Joseph?
For in so doing thou shalt both

1265
01:28:26,680 –> 01:28:32,560
save thyself and them that hear
thee.

1266
01:28:33,920 –> 01:28:38,040
And there in the life of Joseph
tonight, that principle which

1267
01:28:38,040 –> 01:28:41,480
Paul enunciated and exhorted,
that young man Timothy to

1268
01:28:41,480 –> 01:28:47,520
follow, was seen outworked, and
the influence of his life swept

1269
01:28:47,520 –> 01:28:52,600
many along, and not only saved
himself in the end, but all

1270
01:28:52,600 –> 01:28:56,800
those that hurt him.
Pray God that our influence,

1271
01:28:56,800 –> 01:29:00,400
young or old.
Might likewise be the same.