The left.
["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Faith Board back to church.
Great to see you all here for Sunday morning service.
Now please have a seat around your hymnal.
We'll open up our hymnals to someone at 300 and 57.
We begin this morning service by singing a song number 357.
Ask and seek an hour.
["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Is there anything you want me to do?
["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Song number 100, Pay by Day.
Song number 100.
["Pay by Day"]
Don't forget, the mega conference is still taking place.
I know some folks are up there this morning
taking in Pastor Joe Jones' preaching.
And then of course this Wednesday,
Pastor Aaron Thompson will be there from Shura Foundation.
So if you want to go, there's still plenty of room in the van.
Just be sure to sign up,
or at least let me know if it's last minute.
I'm going to take one last look at the sign-up sheet tonight
and kind of assume whoever's on it, that's who's going.
So if you don't sign up and you decide last minute you want to go,
make sure you reach out to me.
And don't just count on me being here
because the people that are on our list, we might make other plans.
I'm not saying we are, but we might kind of call an audible.
And I might just swing by and pick them up at their home or something.
Things change.
So make sure you communicate with me if you want to go up there.
And we'd love to have you up.
We've been getting to take in the great preaching
and then have some good fellowship on the drive up there and the drive back.
And also, of course, fitting in a good meal.
So we'll feed you spiritually.
We'll feed you physically.
It's a good time.
We will be getting back late, though, so be forewarned.
Obviously, we're getting back sometime around 11ish, maybe later.
I don't know.
It depends on how dinner goes, I guess.
Anyway, that's available to anybody who wants that.
Don't forget next Sunday you've got Pastor Mejia
and then Pastor Pozarski after that the following Wednesday.
There's a soul-winning trip to Hagler Creek, Arizona.
So this is kind of a new city that Brother Raymond is starting in on.
So if you want to ever participate in these, just let me know,
and I'll communicate with him.
We'll get you squared away.
There's also, obviously, the Navajo reservation soul-winning,
which will be going on.
There's usually one or two of these trips every month.
It's going to be going on for quite some time now.
This particular Navajo trip is going to have a recreation time at Starlight Lanes.
So there's going to be bowling involved.
Now, if that's not enough to compel you to go, I don't know what is.
We're going to get those rental shoes and everything else that goes with it.
So it's always a good time.
If you want to go to that, please let me know,
and we'll make accommodations and do our best to make that easy for you.
There's also a soul-winning trip, a soul-winning marathon, rather,
in Toronto, Ontario, which is going to be coming up at the beginning of next month.
I'll be away for that that Monday through Sunday.
So I haven't decided who's going to be filling the pulpit here yet,
but we'll have somebody here, obviously.
If you want to go on this one, let me know.
Come speak with me, and we'll work through those details.
More soul-winning on the back to the Caribbean, to St. Lucia.
You've got the dates there. You can go and take that in as well.
Continue to pray for Sha and Eva Rehardy and their baby, John,
as he's dealing with some severe health issues, including leukemia.
We have a couple more ladies added to the expectant ladies list this week,
so please make sure to take note of that and pray for them.
And join us for chips and salsa after the Sunday evening service tonight.
So I've got a fresh bag of chips and a fresh jar of salsa.
We'll crack that open tonight after the evening service.
That'll do it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and sing one more song before we're – or two more songs, rather.
Is it one or two?
Two. We're going to do two.
We're going to sing one right now.
All right, it's almost pretty nice.
Three.
Four.
Amen.
Let's turn to the song of 210.
The song of 210, A Wonderful Grace of Jesus.
Now shall my darkness rise again, where shall this grace be given?
Taking away my burden, saving my spirit free,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
And then the mighty rolling sea,
higher than the mountains,
for the life of God saves us,
relationship we will be.
And when the darkness of the magic's written and shown,
we will rock it over sin and shame,
open by the precious name of Jesus.
Praise His name.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all along.
I, in the half and half,
say to the other, Lord,
change the world of summer,
giving me liberty,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
The wonderful grace of Jesus,
for the life of the mighty rolling sea,
higher than the mountains,
for the life of God saves us,
relationship we will be.
And when the darkness of the magic's written and shown,
we will rock it over sin and shame,
open by the precious name of Jesus.
Praise His name.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to those we love.
I am sure in power,
making God's good trial,
the purchase He gives in heaven,
for of eternity,
and the wonderful grace of Jesus,
reaches me.
Wonderful grace of Jesus,
for the life of the mighty rolling sea,
higher than the mountains,
for the life of God saves us,
relationship we will be.
For the life of the mighty rolling sea,
open by the precious name of Jesus,
open by the precious name of Jesus.
Praise His name.
Amen.
That's done.
I'll pass you off at one point as the play goes along.
Let's turn our Bibles to Genesis chapter 37.
That's Genesis chapter 37.
As always, you'll read the entire chapter.
Please follow alongside me.
It's for the baby in the least who is from Genesis chapter 37.
Genesis chapter 37.
We may have verse one.
When Jacob was wild to the land where his father was a stranger to the land of Jacob,
he got a generation with Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old,
was feeding the flock with his brethren,
and the latter was with the sons of Bilhah,
for the sons of Bilhah, his father's wife,
and Joseph brought them to his father,
where he was before him.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children,
because he was the son of his old age,
and he made them a colt of many colors.
And when his brethren saw that their father loved them more than all his brethren,
they hated him and could not speak peacefully.
And Joseph dreamed of dreams and told his brethren,
and they hated him yet more.
And he said unto them, Here I pray to you,
this dream was not a dream.
For behold, we were mining sheaves in the field,
and lo, my sheep were growled,
and also stood upright, and behold,
their sheep stood round about and made obeisance to my sheep.
And his brethren said, From Shavu'el and Deed rang over us,
for Shavu'el and Deed have good meaning over us,
and they hated him yet for more for his dreams and for his words.
And he drank yet another drink,
and told his brethren, said behold,
I drink and drink more, and behold,
the sun and moon and the lemon stars were obeisant to me.
And he told it to his father, and to his brethren,
and his father to give them, and said unto them,
What is this dream that thou would dream?
Shall I and thy mother, thy brethren, and thee
come to bow down ourselves to thee through the earth?
And his brethren envied them, but his father observed the same.
And his brethren went to through the flock,
to father's flock, and shepherds.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren
through the flock and shepherds?
Come, I will send you unto them.
He said to them, Here am I.
And he said to them, Go, I pray thee,
to see whether it be wowed with me.
I wowed with my flocks, and breathed me word again.
So he set them out of the jail, and he came to Shavu'el.
And a certain man found him, and he told him,
He was wandering in the field, and the man asked him,
saying, What seekest thou?
And he said, I seek my brethren, and tell me,
I pray thee, through the heat of flocks.
And the man said, They are the farted hens,
for I heard them say, Let us go to Jerusalem.
And Joseph went after his brethren
and found him in Jerusalem.
And when they saw afar, even before he came near us,
when they despired against him to slay him,
and they said, What to another?
Behold, the streamer come.
Come now, therefore, and let us slay him,
and cast him into the pit, into some pit.
And he will say, Some evil beasts have devoured him,
and we shall see what will become of him through him.
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out
of his hand, and said, Let us not kill him.
And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood,
and cast him into this pit that he had been putting him.
And they don't hand upon him, that he might rid him out
of their hand, and deliver him to his father again.
And he came to pass, when Joseph was coming to his brethren,
that they stripped Joseph out of his coat,
this coat of many colors that were on him.
And they put him to cast him into a pit,
and when the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat bread, to eat bread,
and they lifted up their eyes, and looked,
and behold, the company of Israelites came familiar
with the account of their spices embalming,
and were going to carry it down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto the brethren, What profit
is it that we slay our brethren, and steal his blood?
Come, let us sell him to Israelites,
and let not our hand be upon him,
for he is our brethren, and our flesh,
and our brethren is our brethren.
Then there passed by a medium-sized merchantman,
and he drew, and lifted up Joseph out of the pit,
and stole Joseph to Israelites, and came to eat of silver,
and he brought Joseph into Egypt.
A rumen deterred that the pit and the coat Joseph
was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes,
and he returned them to his brethren and said,
The child is not, and I, where shall I go?
And they took Joseph's coat, and killed the pit
of his clothes, and dipped the coat in the blood.
And he sent the coat in many colors,
and he brought it to the father, and said,
This we have found.
Know now whether it be thy son's coat or not.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat,
and the evil beast that devoured him.
Joseph, without doubt, rent him pieces.
And Jacob rent his coat and put a sack on it,
and bought his loins, and borne it for his son of many days.
And all his sons, and all his daughters,
rose up to comfort him, and refused to be comforted.
And he said, I will go down to wait until my son mourns.
Thus the father went there.
And many nights, so limited to Egypt,
and he qualified as an officer, a pharaoh, and a captain
of the father.
And he said, Adam, you pray for us?
And he said, Father, thank you for this morning, Lord God.
Thank you for this church.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the glory and honor
that you are worthy of.
I'll stand with you.
That is the prayer of God.
So keep your word for God.
I'm still thinking what the Lord is here to work on,
and I'm thinking also.
In the name of Christ, amen.
Amen.
So there in Genesis chapter 37, I'm actually
just going to look at, well, we're
going to be looking at the whole thing,
but just certain parts I want to highlight tonight,
or this morning.
And I'll start out by pointing out there in verse 1,
it says, And Jacob dwelt in a land
where his father was a stranger.
In the land of Canaan, these are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock
with his brethren.
And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah,
and with the sons of Ziplah, his father's wives.
And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
So here in the story, we see that Joseph
is a very good and obedient son, and whereas his brethren are,
as it says there, evil.
They have an evil report.
Now, what exactly it means by that?
Were they murmuring?
Were they complaining?
Were there things that they were doing
that they shouldn't have been doing as Jacob's sons?
We're not exactly sure, but there's something
that's going on with his brethren
to where Joseph is saying, this isn't right.
It's not that Joseph is just trying
to be some kind of goody two shoes,
or he's not just some kind of a tattletale.
But he's seeing something that's going on with his brethren,
and he's saying, I got to let dad know about this.
What they're doing is so bad and so grievous
that I have to bring a report and report on their evil.
And that's what he does.
So Joseph, again, in the story, he's good.
If you notice in verse 12, it says,
and his brethren went to feed their father's flock
and shechem.
And Israel said unto Joseph, do not thy brethren
feed thy flock and shechem?
Come, and I will send thee unto them.
And he said to him, here am I.
So he's saying, hey, I've got a task for you.
And Joseph just says, hey, I'm here.
I'm willing to do it.
He's obedient.
He says, here am I.
And he said, go, I pray thee, and see whether it
be well with thy brethren.
And if you know the story, he comes to where
they think they are.
He doesn't find them there.
There's a man in the field that says, hey,
they went to this other place.
And rather than just saying, well, you know,
I did my duty.
Dad said they're in shechem, and they're not there.
He does his duty, does his due diligence,
and goes beyond that.
He could have just as easily gone back and said, hey,
you went to shechem, and they weren't there.
Never mentioned the fact that there
was a guy that clued them in to where they might be.
He could have said, you know, I tried, dad.
I went there.
But they're gone.
I'm done with it.
Right?
Joseph is a very obedient.
Joseph is wanting to please his father.
And as a result, Joseph is very loved of his father.
And this actually becomes another source of envy
with his brethren.
OK?
If you look there in verse 3, now Israel
loved Joseph more than all his children
because he was the son of his old age,
and he made him a coat of many colors.
Now, we could maybe perhaps criticize Israel a little bit
about this for playing favorites or whatever.
You know, that's certainly not a good parenting tactic
that I would recommend that you show more favoritism
to one child than another.
But also, the lesson is that if you are a sibling who
perhaps has an evil report, and then you
have a good and obedient sibling,
who's going to be shown more favor?
Who's going to be more loved?
It's going to be the obedient one.
They're going to be shown more favor of their parents.
That's a whole other sermon right there.
But in Joseph's case, you can kind of see that playing out.
He's bringing the evil report of his brethren.
He's no good and obedient child.
He's willing to go the extra mile,
do whatever it takes to please his father
and do what's commanded of him.
And as a result, Israel loves him.
Jacob loves him, and he makes him this coat of many colors.
And he gives him this kind of glory.
He's making him kind of stand out from the rest.
His love is evident.
His love of Joseph is manifesting.
He's showing it to everybody else.
Hey, this son I love.
My other sons, I didn't make coats for.
They can go get their own coats.
I made this elaborate coat.
It's a coat of many colors.
And today, we kind of take that for granted,
having any kind of a garment that has a lot of different colors on it.
But back then, that would have been a very expensive garment
because everything's being made by hand.
Dyes were something that had to be extracted.
I don't know the exact process that went into making textiles,
but it was much more elaborate than today.
It's not just being shipped over on a container from China or whatever,
or they're just being churned out while we sleep.
This was something that took a lot of effort.
So to bestow upon somebody a coat of many colors,
this elaborate garment, was a very meaningful gesture.
And they understood what it meant
because later they see him coming with that coat,
and they use that against him.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit.
In the same way that Joseph was bestowed that honor,
he had that glory, that is also a picture of Christ.
The Bible says that to him give all the prophets witness.
And if we read the Old Testament, even in these familiar stories
that we all know so well, we can see Christ in them.
We can see pictures of Jesus.
We can see similitudes of Jesus and his relationship with the Father
and so on and so forth.
And there's always great application that can be made out of these stories.
We should never get an attitude that says,
well, I've heard this story a million times.
There's still things in here that we can learn and grow from.
One of which being, this is a picture, I believe, of Jesus,
and really in more ways than one when it comes to this coat of many colors.
One, I think it shows that it testifies,
he has the glory that's been given him of his father, above his brethren.
In the same way, Jesus had a glory with his father.
That's what he said in John 17.
Go to John 17.
Keep something in Genesis 37.
We'll be back there several times this morning.
We're going to be in John several times this morning as well,
so when you get there, go ahead and just put a bookmark in John.
But in John chapter 17 verse 4, Jesus said,
I have glorified thee on earth.
I have finished the work which thou givest me to do.
Again, we see that same attitude with Joseph.
I finished the work.
I didn't just go to Shechem.
I went and found my brethren.
I did all the work that I was supposed to do.
I didn't do it halfway.
I finished it.
It's another picture of Christ.
He finished the work that was given to him of his father.
And now, oh Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
So just as Joseph was loved above his brethren by Jacob,
so even Jesus Christ is called what?
God's beloved and only begotten son.
God's dearly beloved son, and he had a glory,
just like Joseph was given a glory, and they were both obedient.
If you would go back to Genesis chapter 37,
keep something in John 17.
We'll be back in John, but go back to Genesis chapter number 37.
Now what I want to preach about tonight and make application with this is that
because Jesus had that glory, because Jesus was loved of his brethren,
or loved of his father, he was as a result hated by his brethren.
That's very obvious in the story.
And the same thing could be said of Jesus as well.
Jesus was very loved of his father, but as a result,
he was hated and despised and rejected by those who would have been his kinsmen,
the Jews, the people of Israel at that time.
The Bible says he came unto his own, and his own received him not.
And in the same way, even as Joseph was despised for being good,
and even as Jesus was despised for being good,
we also that do good and are God's children,
if we live for the Lord, we also will be despised by this world.
The Bible says that we know that we are of God,
and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
Just like Joseph's brethren, they had an evil report.
They were doing wrong.
Look, the world is out there sinning.
The world is out there doing that which is wrong.
They are not pleasing to God.
And if we attempt to go against that,
if we are going to stand for righteousness and godliness,
we're going to go against that current of iniquity.
We are not going to be loved by the world.
We're actually going to be despised by it.
It's a theme that you see throughout Scripture.
You see it here in Joseph's day.
What has Joseph done wrong in the story?
Absolutely nothing.
He's holding other people accountable, yes,
but they're the ones that are doing evil.
They're the ones that are bringing about an evil report
that needs to be brought up anyway.
The blame is on them.
What did Jesus do to deserve the cruel treatment that he deserved?
Nothing.
It was the world that he testified that was wicked.
The Bible says the whole world lieth in wickedness.
So if we as God's people are loved of our Father,
and we have his favor bestowed upon us,
we do that which is right,
it just stands to reason that we're going to be hated.
In fact, that's what the Bible tells us.
If you look there in Genesis chapter 37,
look at verse 4, it says,
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him,
more than all his brethren they hated him,
and could not speak peaceably unto him.
So why did they hate them?
Because their father loved him.
Why did they hate them?
Because Joseph was a bad guy,
because he did things that were wrong,
because he said the wrong thing,
because he was just mean and nasty.
No, it's because he was loved of his father more than they.
And really, the problem is that they were envious of him.
In fact, the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 7,
when Stephen was preaching in verse 9,
And the patriarchs, which are the sons of Jacob,
the patriarchs, they moved with envy,
sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with them.
So why did they sell Joseph into Egypt?
Because they were moved with envy.
They hated Joseph, they envied Joseph,
and they ended up selling him into slavery.
That's why they did those things.
That's why they hated him,
because he was loved,
and they ended up envying that.
Same thing with Jesus.
Remember when Pilate attempted to free Jesus
before he was crucified?
And he said,
Would you that I release unto you Barabbas?
Right? And they said,
No, you know, Jesus.
They said, release Barabbas.
I got it backwards there.
And they said,
What should I do with Jesus?
And they all cried out,
Crucify him.
And if you remember the story,
he's trying to get off the hook,
the governor there,
because he knew that for envy,
they had delivered him.
Why did they want Jesus crucified?
Did he do something wrong?
No, and him was no sin at all.
He did nothing wrong.
They envied him.
Why did they envy him?
Because he did that which is right,
because he testified of the world,
that the works thereof were evil,
because he was loved of his father,
and as a result,
they envied him and delivered him,
and had him scourged and crucified,
just like with Joseph.
Right?
They were envied that he was good,
that he was loved of his father.
They envied the testimony that he had,
that he testified of their works,
that it was evil,
and as a result,
they hated him and sold him into bondage.
And I want to preach this morning about
the fact that we as God's people,
and God's preachers more specifically,
will be hated.
Okay?
In fact, you know,
there's this term that a lot of our pastor friends
have been, you know, coined,
have been laid upon them,
I guess I should say.
There's a term that they would refer to them as.
They wouldn't just call them preachers today, right?
No, today, many of the men of God
that we associate with,
many of the men of God that are our friends,
many of the men of God that are coming,
in fact, all of them really,
that are coming through that pulpit
up there in Tempe this month,
have all been deemed by the world
as hate preachers.
You know, they're all on the ADL's list somewhere.
You know, they have all been decreed
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
as hate preachers.
That's a term that's out there.
And while, you know,
we might preach things that are hard,
we might preach things that are difficult,
we might preach that,
yea, even there is such a thing as holy hatred
that God does hate certain individuals,
and we are too,
we just sung it this morning,
Do not I hate them,
O Lord, that hate thee?
That's a perfectly biblical doctrine.
And even though, you know,
there are things that we preach,
yes, we do preach hate,
the real term that we should be coined with is
hated preachers.
We're not hate preachers,
we're hated, not hate.
We're not hateful, we're hated.
That's the title of the sermon this morning,
Hated Preacher.
You know, a lot of the so-called
hate preachers today are hated.
And why are they hated?
Because they bring the evil report
of those that are around them.
Because like Jesus,
they testify that the works of the world are evil.
Is that their fault?
No.
The whole world lieth in wickedness.
It was Joseph's brethren that were doing wrong.
They're to blame for the evil report.
You can't blame the preacher
for simply getting up
and just speaking the truth.
But that's exactly what happens.
They testify of the works of this world,
that they're evil,
they call out sin,
and they're hated for it.
They are hated preachers.
You can't hate the preacher for getting up
and just preaching the Bible, folks.
You know, the preacher gets up
and preaches to get...
You know, and obviously we expect this from
the alphabet people,
the sodomites of this world,
but that can even happen within a church.
You know, a preacher can get up
and just start preaching things
that start rubbing people the wrong way,
and they can just develop an attitude
against that preacher.
They can start to despise him
and come in bittered
and just not like him,
even get to the point where they hate them
and start to move against them.
That happens, okay?
But you can't blame the preacher
if he gets up and gets on your sin, okay?
If he testifies of your sin,
or he gets up and, you know,
brings up your evil report.
Not even, and I'm not saying deliberately.
You know, he's just preaching, you know,
you sit there long enough
and you have a man of God in front of you
who's preaching through the word of God,
the whole counsel of the word of God,
it's just a matter of time
until something falls in your lap
and to the hard preaching
is maybe a little harder than you'd like, okay?
That's gonna happen,
but you can't blame the preacher
for preaching against adultery.
You can't get mad at the preacher
for preaching against drunkenness
and fornication and all these other things
and covetousness and all the things
that a man of God is supposed to preach about.
You should not get upset by that.
You shouldn't hate him.
Preachers should not be hated
for the message that they bring.
Not within the local church,
certainly not within God's house
among God's people,
certainly not among their own brethren,
like Joseph's case,
but you know what?
We would fully expect it from the world, okay?
Makes sense coming from them.
It doesn't make a lot of sense
when it's coming from brethren.
You know, Joseph and Jesus were both what?
Hated for their words.
Go to John 17, John 17.
Why were they despised?
Because of the evil report that they brought.
Because they testified of the world
that the works thereof were evil, okay?
Look in John chapter 17 verse 14.
He said,
I have given them thy word
and the world hath hated them.
I have given them thy word
and the world hath hated them.
It seems like one follows the other.
I give them your word
and the world ends up hating them.
You know, if we preach God's word,
if we stand for God's word,
if we live according to God's word,
all they that live in God and in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
If we do these things,
we will be hated by this world.
The world hated them
because they are not of this world,
even as I am not of the world.
They hate us because they hate us, right?
They hate us because we are not like them.
People want us to go along with the flow.
They don't want to have their evil report brought up.
They don't want to be testified against.
People don't want to come to church
and have their face ripped off.
You know, that's why there are so many other churches
that are so much more popular today.
Because they can go to church
and they know that
they are never going to have their toes stepped on,
they are never going to be challenged,
they are never going to be moved to become better.
They are never going to have sin dealt with in their lives.
People don't want that.
In the world, among God's people,
they don't want to have their evil report testified of.
They don't want to hear the word that's been given to the preacher.
Keep something there in John.
You know, this is something that happens in Genesis 37
when it comes to Joseph.
They are already hating him,
they are already envying him
because of the fact that he is loved of their father.
But the Bible says in Genesis 37 verse 5,
And Joseph dreamed a dream,
and this dream was given by God.
He has two of these dreams,
which are foreshadowing of what's going to take place in his life.
And we understand that, we know the story.
But he dreams these dreams, these God-given dreams,
and he told his brethren.
So he gets this dream and he says,
Hey, let me tell you guys about this dream I had.
You know, you're all going to be subdued to me one day,
basically what he's saying.
Even to his father.
You know, it's like you're all going to come bow down before me.
And it did happen.
And look, could Joseph help that?
Could he help the dream that was given him?
You know, could he help the fact that he was going to be sold into slavery
and go down to Egypt and save everybody alive
and save many souls alive and spare this entire nation
and the world at that time?
He couldn't help it.
It was a dream that was given him.
And him just expressing that dream and just saying,
Hey, this is what's going to come to pass.
They didn't say, Oh man, good thing we got you around.
No, they just hated him for it because they envied him.
They didn't like the idea that there was somebody
they were going to be subservient to.
They didn't like the idea that there was going to be somebody
who was lifted up and exalted.
Look at John.
I should have already gone to John chapter three.
John chapter three.
We know this passage.
Verse 19.
And this is condemnation that light is coming to the world
and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
Why do men love darkness rather than light?
Because the darkness is so good,
because there's just so many positive things about darkness,
because there's just so much benefit to reap from iniquity and darkness and evil.
No, they love the darkness because they hate the light.
That's why men love darkness.
That's why they prefer evil because they hate good.
Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
They didn't want to go along with Joseph's dream.
They didn't want to accept the words that he expressed to them.
They hated him more for it.
That's what the Bible says.
They hated him yet the more because of his words.
It's the same with us.
We're given God's word.
We begin to express that word.
We will be hated yet the more.
For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light.
So who's doing the hating here?
Who's doing the hating here in the story?
Joseph's brethren.
Who's doing the hating here in John chapter 3?
Men that love darkness.
So who's the real hateful person out there?
Is it the preacher?
Is it the preacher that's the hate preacher?
No, the preacher's actually the hate-dead preacher.
The hating that's going on in these stories,
the hating that's going on in John chapter 3,
is being done by his brethren.
It's being done by the world.
It's being done by those who have an evil report.
It's being done by those that love darkness rather than light.
They're the ones that are doing the hating this morning.
And nothing's changed today.
You know, they can call us hate preachers all they want,
but the fact is, they're the ones that hate.
Now, do I hate? Absolutely.
I'm not going to be so stupid and so foolish
and make such an ignorant statement as to say,
oh, I don't hate anybody or anything.
I absolutely, there are people that I hate,
and there's things that I hate.
Just like God.
According to God's word.
I hate them that hate God.
I hate them with perfect hatred, as the Bible says.
But they want to sit back and say, oh, we're the love crowd.
And you're the hateful one.
You're the hate preacher.
We're on the side of love.
No, you're on the side of hate.
They have just as much hate in their heart as anybody else.
It's just where it's manifesting from and who it's being directed at.
That's what really matters.
Why it's there.
Why do they hate?
Because they love darkness.
Why do they hate Jesus?
Because he testified of the world.
That it was evil.
Why do they hate Joseph?
Because of the words that he spake unto them.
Because of the fact that he was loved of his father.
They envied him.
They hated him.
Because he was good and they were evil.
Nothing's changed today.
Genesis 37, keep something in John.
I'll just read from Genesis 37 if you want to follow along in verse 9.
And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren.
And said, behold, I dreamed a dream more.
And behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Now he probably didn't understand everything that that meant at the time.
But he's just saying, hey, I had this dream.
You know how sometimes people tell you dreams and you kind of roll your eyes?
You're like, oh great.
And they'll tell you some goofy dream that happened where their teeth fell out or they fell or something.
It's like, uh-huh.
And?
And they're like, well, what do you think?
I think you had too much pizza before bed.
That's what I think.
What do you think it means?
It means nothing.
Right?
Now this dream meant something.
Right?
I'm sure Joseph wasn't one of these people that's just constantly going to people and telling them their dreams.
You wouldn't believe this crazy dream that I had.
Some dreams are worth hearing about, I'll admit.
Some are kind of humorous.
But obviously this was such a, you know, powerful dream.
He's saying, hey, I had another one of these dreams.
You guys got to hear this.
And he told it his father and to his brethren and his father rebuked him and said unto him,
what is this dream that thou has dreamed?
Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come down and bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth?
And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying.
So he continues to give him the word that God has given him.
He continues to rehearse the dream that God has given him.
And as a result, he's envied and hated even more.
You know, I'm not holding my breath, you know, hoping that the liberals of this world and the God haters of this world are eventually going to come around.
You know, we keep preaching. We keep sharing what God has written in his word.
We keep getting up and preaching what God has laid on our heart.
You know, people that have an evil report, those that love darkness are just going to hate us more.
They're just going to envy us more.
They're just going to be angered by it.
They're not going to get, it's not going to change them.
Go to John chapter number 7.
Well, I've already quoted John 7 enough.
Go to John 15, John chapter 15.
Even Jesus' own brethren.
Remember in John 7?
They're kind of challenging him and saying, hey, you need to go up to the Jews' feast.
You know, do these things openly.
Don't do anything in secret.
And Jesus said, my time has not yet come, but yours is always ready.
The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth.
Jesus is saying, hey, the world hates me.
And then he tells us why.
Because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.
That's why the hate preachers today are really the hated preachers.
That's why they're hated.
Because they're just testifying of the world that it's evil.
Look, we need more people to testify of the works of this world that they're evil, not less.
We need more men of God to get up behind pulpits and begin to testify of the works of the world
and be fully prepared to be hated for it.
Why do you think so few men of God get up today and actually preach the entire counsel of the word of God?
Why are so many people pandering and kowtowing to the most evil and wicked people in our society today?
Because they're afraid to be hated.
To be coined a hate preacher.
They don't want to be hated.
But you know, it didn't stop Jesus.
You go to John 15, look at verse 17.
These things I command you that you love one another.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
Oh, I don't know if I like being hated by the world.
Well, it hated Jesus.
Being hated by the world just puts you in good company.
To be despised and rejected by the workers of iniquity of this world,
man, that's the crowd I want to run with.
I don't want to be on their side.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.
Now I want to point out a couple words here.
If, verse 18, the world hate you.
You know, it's possible to live this life and not have the world hate you.
It's possible to live your entire Christian life and never experience any hatred from the world.
No backlash. No pushback.
It's a possibility to not be hated.
If the world hates you.
You know that it hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
So, how can a Christian go through this life un-hated?
Just be like the world.
Be of the world.
Adopt their philosophies. Live the way they live.
Do the things they do. Never testify that anything they do is evil.
Just go along with the flow and you'll never have to worry about being hated by the world.
He says, if you were of the world, the world would love its own.
You want to be loved by this world? Go along with it.
But don't forget that the whole world lieth in wickedness.
But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.
Why does the world hate them?
Because they are not of the world.
Look at it. If you're not going to be of this world,
if you're going to be living for the Lord,
if you're going to be doing the things of God,
then you'll be hated.
But if you want to go along with the flow,
and get along with everybody,
just close the book, shut your mouth,
and never testify of the word of God.
And you know what? You'll never have to worry about being hated by this world.
And that is an option that a lot of people have chosen today.
As I said just a moment ago, there are plenty of preachers out there
that have opted for that.
They'll still get up and say, things are bad,
it's really sinful out there,
God still loves this crowd, God still loves the Sodomites,
it's a sin, they need to repent of that and get right with God.
They're never going to preach that God hates certain people.
They're never going to preach that some people are beyond the hope of salvation,
that some people are reprobate.
And it's gotten so scarce today that we,
the preachers in the New IFB, we get blamed for coming up with that doctrine.
Because it hasn't been preached in so long,
it's something that's just gone by the wayside.
That doctrine's been around since the Bible's been around.
That's something people have understood forever.
Well look, if you want to get on the world's program, they'll never hate you.
If you never want to take a stand for God,
if you want to just go along with the flow,
you don't have to worry about being hated by this world.
The Bible says in 1 John 2,
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
You have to think about what he's saying there.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Does that mean God doesn't love you if you love the world?
That's not what it means.
What it means is if you love the world,
your love of the Father isn't there.
So you can't love both.
You can't love the world and love God.
You can't have both.
You can't be friends with the enemies of God and friends with God.
You have to choose.
Are you going to love the things of this world,
or are you going to love the things of God?
Because if you love the things of this world, the love of the Father isn't in you.
That love isn't there.
If we love the Father, we're not going to love the things of this world.
If we love holiness, if we love righteousness,
if we love godliness, if we love the Word of God,
if we love God's people, we're not going to love the things of this world.
We're going to grow disgusted with it.
We're going to see those things are detestable. I hate those things. They're iniquity.
We're going to bring an evil report against it if we don't love those things.
That's how we're going to know we love God.
We love truth and righteousness.
But, you know, if we love the things of this world,
then, you know what, we're not going to love the things of God the way that we ought to.
God will still love us,
but that love won't be returned.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof.
But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
You know, the things of this world are fleeting.
They're going to come, and they're going to go.
Moving along, I'll go back to John chapter 15 and verse 20.
Remember the word that I said unto you.
The servant is not greater than his Lord.
Oh, I know they hated Jesus, but I'm the exception.
You know, I can do both. I can love the world. I can be like the world.
You know, I can get along with everybody,
and not be hated like Jesus was.
I don't have to be like Joseph.
You know, I don't have to bring an evil report,
and I'll still be loved to the Father, and all that.
But that's not what Jesus said. He's saying,
look, the servant is not greater than his Lord.
If you're going to serve him, you're going to, as I said on Thursday night,
servants suffer.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
What makes us so special?
Oh Lord, I know you came and testified of the world that the works thereof are evil.
I know that you condemn darkness, and you condemn those that walk in darkness,
and were hated for it, and I'm going to do the same thing,
and I expect to not be persecuted for it.
You're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.
If we testify of the world that the works thereof are evil,
we should expect to be hated every bit as much as Jesus was.
You know, and that's why a lot of people just decide not to testify,
because they love the world. They love the things of this world.
That's what they're concerned about.
Their whole life revolves around the things of this world,
and not the things of God, because they don't want to be hated.
They enjoy the things of this world.
They love the things of this world, and the love of the Father is not in them.
If they have persecuted me, they will persecute, also persecute you.
If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
So what's the line in the sand?
The word of God.
If they've kept my saying, they'll keep yours also.
That's what Jesus said.
They're either on the side of the word of God, or they're against it.
That's the line in the sand today.
And it's out there. I mean, you can feel it. It's palpable.
We pull up to, you know, this taco shop.
We found a great new spot.
Brother Eric, give credit where credit's due.
And you walk in, and it's a pretty hip-looking crowd.
Everyone's tatted up. There's dudes with rings in their nose.
It's close to the university.
And we pull up in that big yellow van.
Faithful word. Baptist church.
You say, oh, you're being sensitive.
You know, people read. People see who we are.
We walk in, and there's a crowd.
People read. People see who we are.
We walk in after soul-witting. We've got our nice shirts on.
We're looking sharp.
We're getting out of a church van.
You don't think people are going, oh, those Christians.
You know, you walk into a bakery, right?
With a shirt that says, Jesus Saves.
Go to the next bakery. There's another one down the road.
Look, that line in the sand today is the word of God.
It's the love of God.
And if you get on God's side of things, if you're known as a Christian,
if you're testifying for the Lord,
if you are a testimony for the light, not the darkness,
the darkness is going to hate you.
It's palpable. You can feel it today.
Especially as a preacher.
Especially as, you know, we can look at some people that we know
who know that this is a very real thing.
That have a bunch of, you know, fruit loops standing out in their parking lot
blaring things over a loudspeaker every Sunday morning.
That have had bombs thrown through their church windows.
That have had, you know, all kinds of persecution, so-called.
I mean, a lot of it's pretty light.
Oh, they placed a fake order at Pizza Hut and had pizza delivered.
Ooh, we're being persecuted.
Maybe, I don't know, maybe we'll all die of a heart disease
earlier than we should have because we ate the pizza, right?
Well, you know, they're going to do something.
It could get a lot worse than that.
They're going to do something. They're going to hate us.
It's going to manifest.
If they don't keep His word, don't expect Him to keep ours.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake
because they know not Him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not sinned,
but now they have no cloak for their sin.
Jesus said, if I had not come and spoken,
you know, if I had just kept my mouth shut,
if I hadn't said anything, I wouldn't be hated.
If Joseph had just not brought an evil report,
if he didn't bother telling these dreams, you know what?
They probably wouldn't have envied him. They probably wouldn't have hated him.
But we have to testify of these things.
That's what it means to be on God's side.
We have to testify of the world that it is evil.
I mean, think about preaching the gospel.
What's the first thing you have to tell somebody?
You're not saved.
You're a sinner and you're on your way to hell.
I mean, if they don't get that, then what do they need Jesus for?
The first thing we have to tell them is that they're condemned.
We have to testify of this world.
Go back to Genesis 37. We'll be back in John 15 in a little bit.
It says in verse 11,
And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying,
right, for this dream.
And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed in Shechem?
Come, I will send thee unto them.
And he said to him, Here am I.
And it's such a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
being sent unto his own and seeking them out.
He doesn't find them there. He continues to seek that which was lost, just like the Lord.
And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, and see whether it be well with thy brethren,
and well with the flocks, and bring me word again.
So he sent them out of the veil of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
So eventually, we know the story. He catches up to them in verse 18.
And when they saw him afar off,
even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
And this is such a great picture of the Lord and the Jews that he came unto, his own.
Because when you think about it, the Jews should have seen Jesus coming a great way off, right?
His brethren seen him afar off before he came near.
The Jews in Jesus' day were looking for the Messiah.
They're expecting the Lord to come, right? They're expecting for him to show up.
Again, it's such a great testimony that all the prophets give witness to the Lord.
The Bible just testifies to the Lord just throughout.
You know, unto the Jews were committed the oracles of God.
They had the oracles of God. They had the prophets. They had the law.
They should have seen these things. They could see Jesus coming. They knew he was coming.
But when he got there, before he had even come near, they conspired against him.
That's what they did with Joseph.
And when Jesus got there, when Jesus showed up, the Jews have become the Pharisees and Sadducees
have become so just corrupt with power, so just ingrained in their own ways,
just so far gone that when he actually shows up, they're just moved with envy against the Lord.
They want to get rid of him.
Look at John 15, verse 23.
He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.
You know, Jesus shows up, the Jews hate him. You know what? He says, you hate my Father also.
And you'll see this play out in Genesis 37. You'll see this play out in Joseph's life.
If I had not done among them the works which were done, which none other man did, excuse me,
they had not sinned, but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Look, if you hate the Son, you hate the Father.
You know, who is a liar but he that denieth Jesus is the Christ?
The same is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.
You know, that's an important doctrine to keep in your mind.
Especially among Baptists.
A lot of Baptists today just want to worship at the Jews feet.
They want to worship the nation of Israel. They've got whole doctrines.
They have whole theologies built around that.
Where they're just worshiping these people and just giving them a pass.
And it's the most unloving thing you could do.
Oh, well they're God's chosen people. They don't need Jesus.
You know, we're all worshiping the same God.
We're all worshiping... No, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father.
You hate the Son, you hate the Father. That's what the Bible says.
And, you know, this played out in Jesus' life.
You know, he came, they hated him. He said, you hate me, you hate the Father.
Go back to Genesis 37.
So he comes unto his own, right, just like Jesus.
And his own receive him not.
They see him a great way off and they begin to conspire against him.
The Jews have been given the oracles of God.
They have the law and the prophets which testify of Jesus.
They're looking for the Messiah and when he shows up, they conspire against him and kill him.
Why? Because they have not the love of the Father in them.
Because they love the things of the world. They love the power, they love the control.
They love the prestige that has been given to them.
They envied him. Look at verse 23.
And it came to pass when Joseph came unto his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat.
That's the first thing they do. They get rid of that emblem of glory.
That symbol of God's love, of the Father's love on him.
They can't stand it. Let's get that, the first thing before we do anything to them, get that coat off of him.
I don't want to think about the fact that the Father loves him more than us.
You know, and that's what people want to do to us. They want to strip that away.
They want to say, oh you don't know God. God doesn't love you.
You're so unloving. You're so un-Christ-like. Jesus would never say that.
And just try to disassociate us from the truth, from God.
They want to separate us from that glory of God's word.
Stripped him out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him.
And they took him and cast him into a pit.
I mean that coat was a gift from his father, their father.
And then they cast him in the pit. Of course there's just so many, you know, similitudes of Christ here.
Going into the pit, you know, his soul was not left in hell.
Right, there's no water in it.
You know, the rich man begged Lazarus for a drop of water to cool his tongue.
So he's such a great picture of Christ having that glory taken away from him, stripped away from him.
Being forsaken by his father and cast into a pit by his own.
And they sat down to eat bread and lift up their eyes and looked.
I mean, you could just see the animosity and the callousness just seething out of them.
They take their younger brother and they strip him and they cast him into a pit with no water.
And then they just sit down and have lunch. Like it's no big deal.
Just another day in the office.
Just another day following the herd.
And behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead and their camels, bearing spicery, balm, and myrrh,
and going to carry it down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother in our flesh.
And his brethren were content.
Then there passed by many knights, merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit
and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver.
Of course, Judas did the same for 30 when he sold Jesus out.
And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
And Reuben returned unto the pit and Joseph, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit and he rent his clothes.
Now that's kind of interesting because you remember Reuben is the firstborn.
And then later in the story, when the brethren come down during the famine
and they stand before Joseph and they don't know it's Joseph
and they're trying to make this deal about getting more corn, Joseph says,
Hey, you could come back. And who does he keep?
As a kind of like a bartering chip.
He doesn't keep Reuben.
Reuben's the firstborn. He's kind of the one in charge.
He lets Reuben go back. It's interesting, but anyway, it's kind of outside the scope of the sermon.
Anyways, and Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit
and he returned unto his brethren and said, The child is not, and I whither shall I go.
So Reuben was kind of looking out for him.
Reuben, in fact, it has been preached and I believe, was maybe even trying to look for opportunity to deliver him.
Which is why he was kind of spared when they came back and visited later in Egypt.
Anyway, and they took Joseph's coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in blood.
So they take this coat that they had torn off of him and they dip it in blood.
Of course, they're conspiring.
And why are they conspiring?
To convince their father that something else had happened.
They don't want to tell their father the truth.
Oh, your son that you love so much, we sold him for 20 pieces of silver.
Here you go.
We got rid of him. We envied him. We hated him.
I mean, it doesn't flat out say it, but if you were to do something like that to somebody, you know, you hate that person.
If I was to take something that was dear and precious to you and just sell it and get rid of it,
I mean, that's an affront to you.
He that hateth me, hateth my father also.
Why are they so calloused and cold towards their father? Because they hate him.
They're envious. They despise him, too, for the love that he had towards Joseph.
They don't want to fess up. They don't want to own it.
Do they harbor the same amount of animosity? Probably not.
But you know what? They have no feeling towards him and what it's going to do to him, the effect that it's going to have on him.
And it's interesting, though, this coat of many colors. It's another tie-in with the Lord.
That it's been dipped in blood. If you remember in Matthew and in John and in Luke, it describes that robe that was put upon Jesus
after he'd been beaten and whipped and before they crucified him, right?
And it says in Matthew, they put on him a scarlet robe.
You know, and then in John 19, they put on him a purple robe.
And sometimes people scratch their head and say, well, which was it? Scarlet or purple? Well, it was both.
Which is why in Luke it says, and it arrayed him in a gorgeous robe.
Because what's better than a scarlet robe or a purple robe? One that's got both. That would make it a gorgeous robe, right?
It's just that, you know, Matthew and John are describing, you know, what they saw, what stood out to them more, perhaps.
But Luke tells us, hey, it was a gorgeous robe. It was a coat with diverse colors, right?
And they're putting this on Jesus to mock him, right, before they put the crown of thorns and beat him with the rod and say, you know,
hail the King of the Jews. That coat is being put on his bloody and beaten body.
Just like Joseph's brethren are dipping that coat in the blood of an animal. They're bloodying that same coat.
It's just another great picture of the Lord. And why is that all coming to pass?
Why is Jesus being mocked and ridiculed? Why are they putting that robe on him?
Because they hated him. Because they despised him. Because he testified of their evil report.
Why was Joseph being thrown into a pit? Why were they taking his coat that was an emblem of his father's love toward him?
Why were they taking it and dipping that in blood? Because they hated him.
And they also, you know, to some degree, I believe, you know, hated his father.
They had no feelings towards how it was going to affect their father.
Verse 32, and they sent the coat of many colors and they brought it to their father and said,
This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
Like, isn't this Joseph's? Everyone knew it was Joseph's. Who else had one? Nobody.
This wasn't, you know, there was no awkward moment for Joseph when somebody showed up wearing the same t-shirt or something.
Well, hey, I guess we both shop at, you know, JC Penny's or whatever.
You know, obviously it was his. But they're just like, is it his? You tell us. You know, maybe it's his. I don't know.
And he knew it and said, It is my son's coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
And Jacob rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins and mourned for his son many days.
And they're just content to let him be that way. To just think that his son is dead, that he's died this horrible, horrific, violent death.
And they're just going to let him, you know, put the sackcloth on, put ashes on his head, and just mourn many days.
And all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.
And he said, For I will go down to the grave unto my mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And they're content for him to just live that way and just be that way.
Because they, you know what, they hated the son. They don't care for the father either.
So, you know, the lesson this morning is that we shouldn't expect to be treated any differently than Joseph or the Lord if we're going to testify of this world.
If we're going to live for God, if we want to be arrayed with God's love, if we want to have that glory, that robe, so to speak, put upon us.
If we want to stand out in a crowd for the Lord, if we want it to be known that we are God's children, that we are special to God, that we're not like the world, then expect to be hated.
The preacher cannot get up and preach God's word and not expect to be a hated preacher.
The Christian cannot go through the Christian life living for the Lord and testifying of the world that it's evil and not loving the things of the world and loving the things of God and not expect some backlash.
Not expect to be hated of in this world. Hated by this world.
They, you know, a man's foes shall be they of his own household, the Bible says.
And that's often the case in the Christian life.
But what's the answer? Go to James chapter 5, I'll close there. James chapter 5.
I'll begin reading in verse 7.
You know, what should our attitude be? I mean, that is the case.
That's the point I'm trying to make this morning.
That if you preach God's word, you're going to be a hated preacher.
Not because you're mean, not because you're nasty, not because you're worthy of hate, but simply because of the words that you speak.
If you speak the words of truth and soberness, if you testify of righteousness and godliness, if you condemn sin and iniquity, you will be hated for it.
And the louder you are and the more ears that message falls upon, the more people are going to hate you.
Look at James chapter 5 verse 7. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the husband waited for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it, until he received the early and latter rain.
Be ye also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
I mean, should we just not testify? Should we just content ourselves to just be quiet and not make a stir?
Should we not speak these things? No, we cannot help but speak of the things which we have both seen and heard.
We have to testify of these things.
God's word should be like a fire in our bones, burning and trying to get out. It should not hold back.
We should testify, we should preach, but you know what? We also have to be patient.
Preach and be patient. Endure the persecution that is inevitable. Be patient. Why? For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
And you know what? What's he going to find? When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Is he going to hear the preaching of God's word when he comes? Are there going to be people still testifying of this world that it's wicked?
Or is everyone just going to clam up and not make any waves? No, we need to preach and be patient.
Look at verse 10. Take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering and of affliction and of patience.
The prophets, those that preached in times past, they are an example to us of suffering affliction. Why? Because they testify of the world.
They're just like Joseph. They bring that evil report to the Father. They tell, they say what God has laid on their heart.
He expressed the dream that he had. We preach the word that God has given unto us.
And you know what? We should look to that and say, hey, we're going to suffer affliction if we do.
If Jesus did, so should we. And of patience. They went through it and patiently endured. They had long suffering.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. You've heard of the patience of Job and you've seen in the end of the Lord that it's very pitiful and of tender mercy.
We count them happy that endure. You know what we don't count happy? The people who quit.
The people who just say, you know what, I'm not going to testify. The Christians who just cop out on the Christian life.
The ones who don't, who just clam up, don't want to say anything, don't want to make waves. They're not happy. That's not the ones we count as happy.
And it's, you know, I've seen this play out. We count them happy which endure. The people that I know that have suffered some of the most persecution.
The people that have endured the most, that have had the most patience, that have suffered the most affliction that I know of personally.
They're some of the happiest people.
But you know, the people that don't want to serve God, the people that don't want to testify for God, you know, sometimes they're the most miserable.
We count them happy which endure. I want to endure. I want you to endure. That's why I'm just warning you this morning.
If you're going to preach God's word, you're going to be a hated preacher. Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the great opportunity again, Lord, that we have to preach your word, to testify of your goodness, of your love towards us.
And Lord, testify of your love towards this world. Lord, even while we were yet sinners, Christ loved us and died for us, Lord.
I pray you help us to continue to boldly bring that message to the world and be prepared to suffer whatever backlash comes our way.
So that we can bring that great and powerful message of forgiveness from sin through your blood, through your grace, and through your mercy.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go this morning.
Let's open up our hymnals to a song number 405. A song number 405 of the Battle of the Cross.
Let her be the first man for the soldiers from her king.
Let her listen, there be nothing left to bear.
All her friends, some ones may see.
Marching on, marching on.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Let her cry, give, give.
Toil and sin, to be the banner of the cross.
In her image and her touch alone.
Let the standard be displayed.
When we meet this world as good as ever.
For the true being of this King.
Marching on, marching on.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Let her cry, give, give.
Toil and sin, to be the banner of the cross.
All her friends, some ones may see.
Wherever they may go.
Make their glorious findings known.
All her friends, some they may know.
The stories of all who shall make this known.
Marching on, marching on.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Let her cry, give, give.
Toil and sin, to be the banner of the cross.
All her friends, some ones may see.
Wherever they may go.
When we know our King.
All who shall listen.
If we head across the world shall see.
Marching on, marching on.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Let her cry, give, give.
Toil and sin, to be the banner of the cross.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Toil and sin, to be the banner of the cross.
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.
Why don't you sing it?
Oh, Christ, have everything but the cross.