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In thee they watch as men, Jesus, my Savior. In thee they seal the dead, Jesus, my Lord. And from the grave he abhors, with the mighty triumph o'ers from the Lord. He abhors the winter from the dark, hoping many years forever with his saints to reign. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus, my Lord. And from the grave he abhors, with the mighty triumph o'ers from the Lord. He abhors the winter from the dark, hoping many years forever with his saints to reign. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. He abhors, he abhors, the villainous pastures, death cannot be betrayed, Jesus, my Savior. The one and only Savior will, Thy only presence to cheer and to guide, Straight on to Thee, my Lord for tomorrow. Blessings of mine with ten thousand beside, Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning in mercies I see, All I have needed thy hand hath provided, Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Amen, at this time we'll go over the announcements and immediately follow and we'll be singing a song on the 31. Alright, if you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand. Brother Adam will bring you one. As always, you've got the service times there on the upper left-hand side. Every Sunday at 10 30 a.m. again at 5 30 p.m. Thursdays at 7 we'll be in 2 Kings chapter number 11 this week. We've got the church-wide soul winning, the salvation, the baptisms offering totals in attendance below. Over on the right, join us for our Thanksgiving dessert social Thursday, November 24th at 6 p.m. Please bring a dessert to share if you're able. I know it's a busy day for everybody, especially you mothers who are cooking and feeding your family. So if you can't bring one, don't feel obligated. I'm sure there'll be plenty the church will probably buy. We'll make up the difference, whatever is wanting, you know, the Lord will provide. We've got the sign-up sheet back there for anyone that would like to bring a dessert. That way we can kind of get an idea. Maybe if you say, hey, there's plenty of desserts, I don't need to bring one. That way we can all kind of know where we're... This is important stuff, folks. We need to know where we stand with the desserts on Thanksgiving. Alright, we're talking about the dessert social here. Okay, so give us that information if you're planning to come so people can plan accordingly. And then we've also got the homeschool field trip this Friday up to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum up there in Superior. So I know that's a trek, but I do want to keep these in front of people because I know sometimes the Tucson people like to, you know, make the journey up there and participate in these events. So I'm just putting it out there. So that's there. You need to RSVP with me really by Wednesday. It says Thursday, but really that should be Wednesday. So if anyone's planning on going to that, please let me know as soon as possible. If you are going, make sure you read the details there about when to arrive to bring a lunch, the ratio to children to parents. And then also there's the homeschool field trip also up in Tempe to Shamrock Farms, which is going to be on Friday, December 9th. And then I'll have, you know, more of the details there coming up so you can... But that at least gives you an idea of the date and where it is going to be. So if you've never smelled a pasture or a cow farm, you know, that's an experience. You know, it's something everyone should smell at least once in their life, and that's probably all they should smell it. On the back there is, of course, the homeschool field trip. It's a little more local to us down here, to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum coming up on the 13th of December. You got, again, the details there. There's also a sign-up sheet back there. Please do sign up if you plan to attend so I can also plan for what we can expect there so that's coming up. And then we've got the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service on December 24th of all days, right, at 7 p.m. I thought about moving this a little earlier in the day, but I feel like the general consensus is that 7 is a good time, you know, for everybody, so hopefully that still holds true this year. Of course, it's going to fall on a Saturday. And in case you're not familiar with that service, basically it's just a reading of the Christmas story. There's not any preaching involved. It's just a nice way to remember Christ during Christmas. And we sing some of the traditional hymns. At the end, we light the candles. It takes about 20 minutes. This is a really great service to invite friends, family, co-workers, people that might not otherwise ever want to step foot in a Baptist church. They might say, hey, I'll at least be able to acknowledge Christ on Christmas. You know, people who aren't church-going, a lot of times they'll get a little sentimental, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm going to be printing up some invites to promote this, and we'll be handing those out with our Christmas CDs that the church produced a number of years ago. So after Thanksgiving, I like to hand those out from Thanksgiving to, you know, obviously Christmas, you know, the Friday before or the day, you know, even Saturday of that month. The day of. We'll go out, instead of handing out our normal invitation, I'll have a special invitation to promote this in the coming weeks. So keep that in mind. You're looking for that on the back shelf. And then I'll go over more about the Christmas CDs as we get a little bit closer to that date. And that's going to do it for announcements. We'll go ahead and sing one more song, and then we'll get into the preaching this morning. Song number 31, he lives. Song number 31. Song number 31, he lives. Song number 31. Song number 32, he lives. Song number 32, he lives. Song number 33, he lives. Song number 33, he lives. Song number 33, he lives. Song number 33, he lives. All right, this time we'll pass the offering plate as it goes around. You can follow along with me as I read from Genesis chapter 37. It's going to be Genesis chapter number 37 this morning. Genesis chapter number 37. The Bible reads, And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 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. 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. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Here I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaf stood round about and made up obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more. And behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 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 hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to the earth? And his brethren envied him, and his father observed the saying. And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him to the veil of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren, tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence. For I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. When they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. And they took him, and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, and there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread, and lifted up their eyes, and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, 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 and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by many a knight's merchant men, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes, and he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not, and I whither shall I go. And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood, and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their fathers. And said, This have we found, know now whether it not, or whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and he said, It is my son's coat, and evil beasts 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 his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, who refused to be comforted, and he said, For I will go down, into the grave, unto my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him, and the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of pharaohs, and captain of the guard. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for this time that we have to come together for the preaching of your word. Lord, I pray and ask that you would help me this morning, that you would make up that which I lack. I ask in Christ's name, Amen. So we're continuing on again this morning with the series of prayers. So we're continuing on again this morning with the series that I started a while back, entitled Lessons from Leaders. And again, just very quickly, reminding us not to tune it out, because it's lessons from leaders, not lessons for leaders, although every one of us in our lives are probably a leader to some degree. This isn't necessarily written exclusively to those in leadership. This is lessons that we can learn from great men in the Bible, leaders that we see in the Bible, and lessons that we can learn from them. And again, just to kind of narrow it down to just one lesson per leader, there's many things that can be preached about each of them, especially when it comes to Joseph. And honestly, this is probably going to be a two-parter, probably get back to the other part tonight. But I think what we see with Joseph, the lesson that we can learn, is that we ought to, as Christians, be Christ-like. And that seems pretty common sense. That seems like something, it seems even silly to have to say, that we as Christians should seek to emulate Christ in our life. But that actually is one of the hardest things about the Christian life. That is something actually that a lot of Christians choose not to do in their lives. They would rather not walk after Christ and emulate Christ and be Christ-like in their life. But really, Joseph is a picture of somebody who is very Christ-like. Now, he's Christ-like in the sense that Joseph, and there's so many parallels, it's too many to really go over in one sermon, that Joseph is a type of Christ in the Bible. When we look at him, and even in this chapter, some of the things that we read about him, we can see how it is a foreshadowing of Christ, how Joseph himself is a type of Christ, and that is the lesson. Joseph is a type of Christ, he is like Christ. The lesson is that we should be Christ-like as well in our Christian lives. That's the lesson that we learn from him. Now, when I say that you should be Christ-like, that you should be like Christ in your life, obviously, that's a lot to cover in one sermon. There's a lot of things that we should endeavor to do to be more like Christ in our lives. I'm really just gonna try and narrow it down and just make application here in this chapter, so keep something there in Genesis all morning. But the first thing I wanna point out is that Joseph, like Jesus, the way that he is a type of Christ is that he was despised. He was somebody that was despised. If you look there in Genesis chapter 37, in verse 3, it says, 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. 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 is it that they hate Joseph? Is it because he's a bad guy? Is it because he's done something wrong? Is it because he's a poor character? No, it's because his father loved him. And it's the same way with us in this world. We're loved of the father, and in the same way, those around us will hate us just for that fact alone. We also will be despised simply because we are loved of the father. And if you're saved, if you're born again, you are loved of the father this morning. The father loves you. So that's one parallel we can make in our own lives. But notice here how Joseph is a type of Jesus because he was hated and despised for what? For no good reason. There was no good reason. It says, and they could not speak peaceably unto him, verse five, and Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. Now notice this escalation in their hatred throughout the chapter, in the opening of the chapter. They simply hate him because it's obvious that their father loves Joseph more than the rest. We could make application there about playing favorites and how that's just gonna make people bitter and angry and all that, but maybe Joseph was just a little bit more of a lovable guy. We read things about Simeon and Levi that makes them a little less lovable, right? But Joseph was loved or hated for no other reason simply than the fact that his father loved him. And then it says that when he told them the dream, and we read the dream, it says that they hated him yet the more. And this is a picture of Christ. The Bible says, if you would go to John 15, keep something in Genesis 37, go to John 15, the Bible in prophesying about Christ, Isaiah 53 says, he is despised, talking about Christ, that he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Joseph was somebody that was hated. What's another word for hated? To despise someone. You know, if I said I despise somebody, it'd just be another way of me saying I hate that individual, okay? The Bible's showing us here that Joseph is like Jesus because he was hated. Again, for no good reason. He was hated just as Jesus was despised. And we also, in this world, will be hated for no other reason than we are loved of our father. The Bible says in 1 John 3, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. You know, it should never be a marvel to us, it should never be a marvel to us, it should never shock us, it should never come as a surprise when we are hated by the world. When there are those out there that are despisers of those that are good, you say, why do they hate us? Because we're good. They despise those that are good. And we'll get into why that is. It says in John 15, look at verse 17, these things I command you that you love one another. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 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. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Jesus is warning his disciples, you know, very explicitly that, hey, the world's gonna hate you. But notice the ifs there. If the world hate you, meaning this, it's possible for a Christian to go through this life and to not be hated of the world. Isn't that what he said? If the world hate you, not when, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. So if we're of the world, you know, if we live like the world, if we hide our candle, you know, under a bushel, if we don't want to go and, as it were, tell our brethren the dream that we have dreamed, if we don't want to expound unto them the prophecy, the word of God, if we don't want to say what it is that God has laid upon our heart, if we don't want to express the love of our Father, if we'd rather take off that coat of many colors and put it in the closet and make sure that nobody knows that we're a Christian, that we're loved of God, you know what, then the world won't hate you. If the world hate you. It goes on and says in 19, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Why does the world hate the Christian? Because they are not of the world. And sometimes Christians, they get a little taste of the world's hate and they say, well, I don't like that. They start to feel a little friction in the Christian life and they just say, well, you know what, it'd be a lot easier to just go back to the way it was and just pretend this whole, you know, salvation thing didn't happen. I know I'm saved and I'll still go to heaven, but I'll just keep that to myself. There's plenty of people out there like that. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, yea, and all that will live godly shall suffer persecution. It doesn't say that every single Christian is going to suffer persecution. It says all they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you would, keep something in John. We'll be back several times this morning. Go back to Genesis. All they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Not every single one of us will. Look, you say, well, what do you mean by persecution? I'm not saying, you know, that you're going to have a picket line out in front of your house. That you're going to be a broadcast on, you know, the 11 o'clock news. That news articles are going to be written about you that go worldwide. That you're not going to receive, I mean, maybe you will, I don't know. Hey, if you did, you're doing something right, you know, and maybe I could take notes. You know, you could, you're not going to probably be receiving a bunch of death threats and emails and all these type of things. But here's the thing, if you live godly in Christ Jesus, you shall suffer persecution. That's just a promise in the word of God. You can mark it down. That if you start to, you know, actually live for Christ, take a stand, have some standards in your life, and start to stick out a little bit more in this world, you know, those in your immediate sphere of influence are going to notice. The family, the friends, the coworkers. And you're going to get the comments, you're going to get the sneers, you're going to get the weird looks. You know, just trying to dress like a lady and going out in public with your children, you know, and your daughters dressed like ladies, that's going to draw some looks. Some people can't even handle that. They say, ooh, I just don't want to stand out like that. I don't want to be thought of in that way. I can't stand the friction. I can't stand the persecution. You know, where does friction come from? It comes from going against the grain, doesn't it? It's a lot easier to just go along with the flow. And that's why it's an if there. And that's why it's all they that will live godly that are going to suffer persecution. But where does this hatred stem from when it comes from the world? The same place we see that it comes from with Joseph's brethren. Really, where it comes from is envy. You know, the world hates us, really, because they're envious. What's the saying? They hate us because they ain't us. Right? They hate us because they ain't us. They'll never admit that, but you know, that's what we see going on in this story. Why do they hate Joseph so much that they're willing to betray him and sell him into slavery, coming just short of killing him, committing cold-blooded murder because he was loved of his father? Because he had a coat of many colors? Because he stood out because he was different? Because he was, you know, a godly young man? Because he brought their evil report? Their hatred stems from envy, and it's the same way today. Look at verse 5 of Genesis 37, it says, And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he's told his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. They already hate him, but now he's telling him this dream, like, oh, you guys are going to come do obeisance to me. One day I'm going to rule over you. And he's just saying, look, this is what I dream. This is what God has shown me. This is just the way it is. And that's what we do. You know, we just preach the word of God. We just live our lives for Christ. We just say, well, I just believe what the Bible says. I just have these standards, and the world and people we know just hate us for it. And they hate us yet the more. Oh, it's bad enough you want to preach me the gospel, try to get me saved. But then you actually start to live for God, and actually start to have some standards, and you actually start to live godly for Christ Jesus, and they'll hate you yet the more. It's just going to go up. And he said unto them, Here I pray you this dream which I have dreamed, for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and though my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaf stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. I don't think Joseph's making this up. He really dreamed this. Obviously a foretelling of what was going to take place in his life. We know the story of Joseph. He's eventually going to be second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, and he's going to save the nation of Israel, or what would go on to become the nation of Israel. He's going to save his brethren. In fact, he's going to be a savior to the whole world. It's yet another picture of Christ. He's just telling them what he dreamed. And his brethren said unto them, Shall thou indeed reign over us? Or shall thou indeed have dominion over us? I mean, you're the little brother. You're the second to the youngest. You're the second youngest one. What are you talking about? Son, reign over us. And they hated him yet the more for his dreams. They just keep hating him more and more. And he dreamed yet another dream. And he told his brethren. You've got to love the boldness of Joseph. You know, you think at this point you kind of get the clue like, maybe I shouldn't be telling these dreams. Maybe I should just keep this to myself. You know, but it's the same way with us. We cannot help but speak the things which we have both seen and heard. When we're reading our Bible, we're hearing the preaching, and we know the gospel, and we know the truth, we can't help but speak it. Joseph, he says there in verse 9, he dreamed another dream, and he told his brethren and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more. Oh, here we go again. And behold, the sun and moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren, and his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come down to bow down ourselves to the earth? And his brethren envied him. Why are they envying him? Because it's becoming apparent that God is going to lift him up. He's saying, look, God is going to exalt me. I'm going to be lifted up above you. There's something that's going to take place where you're going to actually bow down to me. He's being exalted. People can't stand it when other people do well sometimes. You ever notice that? It's the funniest thing about human nature. We're all guilty of it. When somebody else is doing well, when somebody else is succeeding, those of us that maybe aren't doing so well, we have a tendency to rather be happy for them and glad for them. We'd rather just start to pull them down. And it's the same thing in this story. You say, why do people do that? Envy. That's what it is. I mean, isn't that what the Bible is showing us here? They're hating him. They're hating him yet more. Why? Because they envy him. Why does the world hate us? Why does the world despise those that are good? Because they envy those that are good. They wish they could have the life that we have if we're living godly in Christ Jesus. They might never admit it, and the thing is they envy it because it's something they can't have outside of Christ. They wish they could have the obedient children. They wish they could have the godly spouse. They wish they could have the contentment and the peace and the joy, but that all comes through Christ to say, well, I can't have that. Then I don't want it. And what they end up doing is they're actually hating those that have it. For no other reason simply than they envy them. They hate us because they ain't us. Go back to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. The Bible says, Ephesians 5, you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light. You know, if we walk as children of the light, you know, we're going to blind some people. People that have been stumbling in darkness. Just like when you, you know, you come out of a dark room, you know, you flip that light on first thing in the morning after a long night's sleep. That's what our life is like. To some people. If we're living godly in Christ Jesus, it's like we walk, we come into their, you know, to influence them in some way. They're blinded by it. They see something they haven't seen before. And rather than trying to find out what it is, they actually end up hating that. Because it reveals something that they don't have. And you ever think about how offensive the gospel really is? Think about it. You're going to hell and you need to get saved. I'm starting out by just telling you, you're jammed. That's an offensive message. That's why it's so ironic when people say things like, oh, just preach the gospel. You don't have to preach all these offensive things. Look, the gospel's the most offensive thing in the Bible. Maybe not because, maybe not the way it stacks up against some social norm, some social construct, but it's the most offensive thing because you're telling somebody that they're literally on their way to hell for all of eternity. I mean, people can call you all kinds of names and say all kinds of things and do all kinds of things, but when you start telling people they're going to hell, I mean, isn't that like a curse that people use to curse? Go to hell, right? That's like one of the worst things you can say to somebody. Go to hell. Or I'll see you in hell. No, you won't. But, you know, we're light in the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians, ye are the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. You know, we're not dressed like this world. Joseph had, he was different. He had that robe on. He stood out. He had those visions. Look at John 3, verse 19. And this is condemnation, verse 19, that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light. Say, why do they hate us? Because they love darkness. They don't want to be reminded that they're in darkness and when the light comes around, when the light of the gospel shines forth, when the light of the preaching the word of God, when a child of light starts to brighten up around where they are, they say, I don't like that. I hate that. I love darkness. I don't want to be reminded of my deeds. It says there they love darkness because their deeds were evil. People don't like to be reminded how evil they are. They don't like to be told, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that there is none righteous, no, not one, that there is an unjust man upon the earth that sinneth not. You ever wonder why all these false religions are just so successful? It's because they can put on an air of righteousness. They can say, oh, I can go into this big, beautiful church and I can watch, you know, some guy in a dress, you know, wave out a, you know, empty out a vacuum bag up there or whatever it is and burn some incense and say some things in Latin and I can have a real spiritual experience and I can feel real religious and I can feel like I'm walking in the light. They've never been in greater darkness. It's a false righteousness, but when the real thing comes around, when the light comes into the world, just like Christ did, the light of the world, the light of men, they hated him. They despised him. For what reason? Because he revealed how evil they were. Joseph brought the report of their, the evil report of his brethren, told them what he was doing wrong. Oh, he's a tattletale. No, he's just a picture of Christ revealing man's sinfulness and they hated him for it because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. That's why they hate godly Christians, those that are living godly in Christ Jesus because it's like someone's turning a light on and saying it's just showing them everything that's wrong with them. I mean, isn't that what we're saying a lot of times that we live our lives as godly Christians? You say, well, why don't you do this? Well, you know, it's sinful. Well, I do that. Well, you know, you asked. Well, why do you dress like that? Well, because doing otherwise, that's what the Bible says. Well, I don't do that. Well, you asked. And then they say, well, you know, let me just go ahead and hate you for that, for you reminding me of what's good. It's envy. How else do you explain it? The Bible says in verse 21, but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God. If you would, go to, well, let's just, let's, go to Titus chapter 2, Titus chapter 2. You know, people, they have hatred for that which is good, because of the fact that they envy it. They envied Joseph because he had the coat of many colors, because he was loved of his father. They envied Joseph because of the fact that he dreamed these dreams, that God was going to exalt him. They envied Joseph because he was the one that, you know, his father entrusted to bring the report. They envied him for these things. How did that envy manifest itself? Hatred. That's, you know, what hatred and envy does. It manifests in people. It manifests. And I'll just tell you this right now, that being despised, being hated, it's part of the ministry. I mean, we read it earlier, all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Look at Titus chapter 2, verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, just like the light came into the world, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. You know, one thing I've noticed is that when you actually try to preach this, preach what? That we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, that we should live godly Christian lives, that we should actually have some standards, is that people will begin to pick you apart. I mean, I'll be honest, sometimes I've been hesitant to preach some things. I have standards and things like that that I know would probably go against the grain in here. And I ask myself, do I want to preach that and then get picked apart for it? Do I want to get up there and say, well, here's a standard that I have and then get picked apart because, you know, maybe I wasn't perfect about it in every single way. Or maybe I came up short. And look, let me just explain something right now. If you're looking for faults with me and my family, you're not going to have to look very hard because I'm a sinner just like every one of you. And if you're going to look for some little minuscule bit of hypocrisy, it's there. There isn't a single person in this room that isn't right now or has been or someday will be to some degree a hypocrite. But that's what we're supposed to preach. We're supposed to get up and preach. Hey, deny ungodliness. Deny worldly lusts. Live soberly. Live righteously and godly in this present world. Why? Because you're the light of the world. And there's no other light out there besides you. Looking for that blessed hope, he goes on and says, that glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. And then notice how he ends this with Titus. He says, these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. They're going to despise thee. He's saying, you preach this, they're going to despise you. Mark it down. You start preaching godliness. You start preaching against worldliness. You start raising the bar. People are going to despise you. And it's going to manifest. And why are they really doing that? Why is it that people are going to despise you? Because they envy that. They envy it. People, you know, often, I remember being told this as a teenager, I think my mother told me, is that people despise in others what reminds them of themselves. For better or worse. Going back to what I said earlier, people will see somebody else doing well and they'll despise them for it because it will remind them that they're not doing well. That they're falling short in some area. They'll see some godly Christian who's living the life, who's the real deal, who's towing the line and they'll start to pick that person apart and despise them. Because it reminds them that they're not everything they should be. Or, you know, they'll start to pick people apart for their shortcomings because really all it's doing is reminding them of their shortcomings. Again, it's the same thing. It's really all out of envy. They're being reminded of what they aren't. You know, that's where this hatred comes from. This is where people despising others comes from. Envy. That's what we see in the story. And that's exactly what happened to Joseph, that's exactly what happened to Jesus and that's exactly what will happen to you if you live godly in Christ Jesus. They will despise you just like they despised Joseph and Jesus to the point where they were willing to betray their own. That's another parallel, isn't there? To Genesis, where we were there, Genesis chapter 37. Both Joseph and Jesus were betrayed by their own. It says in verse 18, And they saw him afar off, you know, he's coming to them in Dothan, even before he came near unto them they conspired against him to slay him. There's so many parallels here with Israel and Jesus. It's great. Then he said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Let us slay him and scast him in some pit. I mean, who was the first one that piped up and said that? You know what kind of boldness that took? You know what that tells me? Is that they've been talking. They didn't just all of a sudden go, Oh, it's Joseph. Hey, we should kill him. There's been a lot of talking going on. There's been a lot of saying things behind Joseph's back. They're all kind of already on the same page. They're all just kind of waiting for somebody to say it. They can't come to the family gathering because they're so holy now. They don't drink. Oh, he doesn't hang out with us. He doesn't go out on Friday night and Saturday night anymore because, you know, he's not a fornicator. He's so pure and righteous and holy. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. That'll be said about you. Here comes that Christian. Here comes that Bible thumper. Behold, this dreamer cometh. It's all out of envy. And it says, Come now therefore and let us slay him and cast him into some pit and we will say, Some evil beasts have devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it and he delivered him out of their hands and said, Let us not kill him. Let us not rid them out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat and his coat of many colors that was on him and they took him and cast him into a pit and the pit was empty. There was no water in it. It reminds me of another pit called Hell. That's another great parallel with Christ. Joseph didn't stay in that pit forever just like Christ didn't stay in the heart of the earth. He was there for three days and three nights and he would be over un All things were made by Him and without Him there was nothing made that was made. In Him was life and life was light of men and light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. that all men through him might believe. Verse 8. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And we know how far they went with that rejection, to the point where they crucified him. And Jesus' soul went down into a pit. It's a parallel there. Joseph is coming unto his own, and his own are receiving him not. In fact, they're conspiring against him, and slaying him, and eventually selling him into bondage. Casting him into a pit. It's a parallel with Christ. They came unto his own, and his own received him not. The Bible says, I read it to you earlier in Isaiah chapter 53, it says, he was despised and what? And rejected of men. Being rejected by his own. And if you live godly in Christ Jesus, the same thing will happen to you. You will be rejected by this world, yea, even by your own. To the point where people will even betray you. Where people will actually work against you actively. To do harm against you. And look, I've seen this firsthand. Praise God, I've never experienced, at least not enough to remember it. Or to have seen it happen to me. Maybe it has happened, I just, well I'm oblivious to it. But I've seen it happen to several other people. Where people get close to somebody, where people see somebody and they plot against that individual, like a pastor, like Pastor Anderson. Where they see, here's somebody that's good, here's somebody that's doing something, and they'll have this long scheme to go out there and get close and stab him in the back. I've seen that several times. It's crazy. Until it happens, it's like, no. That just sounds, people, we can't understand that because we're not that way. We don't sit around and plot and scheme like, how can I get back at this guy? I can't stand this person. I can't stand this righteous person. How can I bring him down? I've seen it happen to several pastors. Where those that are his own, those that are closest to him, those that are members of his own flock, those that are, you know, have even been sent out by a pastor, have then turned on that pastor and viciously attacked him and persist in going after them and trying to destroy them in their ministry. It's crazy. But Jesus came onto his own and his own received him not. Joseph came onto his own and they wanted to kill him and they cast him in a pit and eventually they sold him into slavery. Look, people are going to despise, people are going to be envious, and people are going to hate other people to the point of betrayal. They will actually betray other people. This is why hatred and envy and strife is something that we have to root out of our hearts and keep a close guard over. Because if bitterness and envy and strife, we allow that to fester in our hearts, we might end up finding ourselves doing things to harm other people, you know, the objects of our scorn that we would never have dreamed of doing. We might be sitting there finding ourselves just, well, how can I get back at this individual? What can I do to make their life miserable? How can I, you know, exact some kind of vengeance on them? How can I bring them down a notch? That's what they did to Joseph, again, in verse 24, it says there in Genesis, it says, and they took him and cast him in a pit and the pit was empty, there was no water in it, and they sat down to eat bread. It's like, well, about time somebody did something about that guy. And they lifted up their eyes and looked and behold, the company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, 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? Saying, I got a better idea, let's make some money off this kid. Come and let us sell him into the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh. Oh, how compassionate. And his brethren were content. Then they are passed by Midianites, merchant men, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver and they brought Joseph unto Egypt, or into Egypt. And we all know the parallel there, Jesus was betrayed for what? Thirty pieces of silver. That's another picture of Christ. But why did they do that? Why did they sell him? Why did they get, go to the point where they're betraying their own? They're not just mad, they're not just angry anymore. Now they're actively working against him to the point where they're betraying their own flesh and blood. Why is it that the Jews themselves, you know, from whence Christ came turned on him to the point where they crucified him by the hands, at the hand of the Romans. Out of envy. Out of envy. That's where it all started. Envy. You know, we need to be Christ-like. This is the application this morning in our response to envy. One, we need to root it out of our own hearts, but when we start to see it in other people, when it starts to come out, when they start to despise and envy and express hatred towards us, to whatever degree, we need to be Christ-like. Okay? And I'm talking about when he was on this earth in his ministry. We know eventually he's going to exact vengeance on the wicked. I'm not saying that. Go to John 10. Not done in John. He said, but I say unto you that you resist not evil. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 5. Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, let him have it. Well, now all bets are off. Now it's time to throw down. No, he said, he that smites thee on the right cheek, turn to the other also. You know, when people envy us and hate us and despise us because we're good, because we're righteous, that's just par for the course. And if we're going to go through our lives just trying to exact vengeance on our own behalf and we're just going to try and put everybody in their place, you know, get ready for a long life. There's no shortage of jerks in this world. There's always going to be people that are contentious. There's always going to be people that are inconsiderate and rude. It's always going to be there. So just get used to it. And there's always going to be people in your life, if you're good, if you're living godly in Christ Jesus, that are going to despise you for it. And to the point where they might even want to do you harm. Jesus said turn to the other cheek also. If they're going to slap you in the face, make them do it again. John 10, verse 15, as the father knoweth me, even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore my father loveth me, or loved me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down to myself. Jesus let them crucify him. Have you ever thought about that? He let that happen. He could have stopped it. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received of my father. That's the example of Christ. He came unto his own and his own received him not and he didn't just say, well to hell with all you then. He said I'll still die for you. I'll still lay down my life and give you a chance. Go to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. I remember the first time I read Matthew 26. I read this verse. These verses in Matthew 26. This hit me like a ton of bricks. This is when they're coming to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and haul him off to be crucified. And you know the story. Peter pulls out a sword and smites the servants here. And Jesus turns around and says to Peter, attaboy. What zeal. It's about time somebody stood up for me. No. He turned to Peter and he said unto him, put up again thy sword into his place. For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. And this is it. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels. He said I don't need your sword, Peter. I've got all the angels of heaven at my beck and call. I could snap my fingers. I could end it all right now. I don't need your sword. He said but then how shall the scriptures be fulfilled that it thus must be? You know, Jesus isn't looking for us to lash out at other people. Jesus isn't, you know, when people are doing us evil and doing harm to us. I mean this is the picture of Joseph. Ultimately, if you know the story of Joseph, when Joseph's got him right where he wants him at the end, he doesn't let him have it. He's compassionate. He says you meant it for evil but God meant it for good to save many souls alive. You know, that's what we're called to be. That's the attitude that we're called unto. And when people envy us and despise us and they say nasty things and they do mean things, maybe even plot and conspire against us and betray us, that doesn't, that's not a license for us to treat them poorly or to lash out. You know, you hear about people from time to time going through something in their personal life because they're living godly for Christ. You hear about the struggles that they have with their families. You hear about the struggles that they have with other people because they're being, you know, persecuted to some degree. And I just think to myself oh, you're having problems? Good. Oh, your family's giving you a hard time? Good. How encouraging. So glad I came to church this morning. You don't say, why would you say that's good? Because I think to myself that person's doing something right. That person must be making some changes. That person must be trying to live godly for Christ Jesus. But what we need to understand is that that person doesn't have a license to just lash out. 1 Peter chapter 1, or 2, did I have to go there? He said in verse 21, for even here unto were you called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. You know, we want to follow in what he's going to do. That's what we want. Well, I want to be like Christ on that white horse with eyes like fire and that, I want that sharp sword to come out of my mouth and just slay him all with a word. No, we were called to follow in his steps, the ones that he's always already stepped in. The path that he's already gone down. That's the one we're called to. The one where he laid down his life, reviled not again. You should follow in his steps who what? Verse 22, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he got the mean comment, the criticism, the hatred, the plotting, he didn't just go, let me tell you something. No, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. That's what we're called to do. And that is a struggle, isn't it? To just let things go and to just commit ourselves to him and just say, hey, God, you take care of it. Go to Galatians 5, I'll end there, Galatians 5. The Bible says in Romans 12, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in sight of all men, if it be possible as much lieth in you, live peaceably with all men, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Give place unto wrath, meaning not your own, but the wrath that you has brought against you. Allow that to take place. Why? Because I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shall heap coals of fire on his head. Now again, I'll throw this caveat in there, it's if thine enemy hunger. So why do you guys hate specific groups of people? Because they're God's enemy. But my personal enemy, my cousin or uncle or sister or brother or coworker or old friend or my neighbor or whoever who just despises me because I go to Baptist church and I live a certain way because I'm just trying to walk as a child of light, despise me as my personal enemy. You know, the Bible says, beat him, give him drink, heap coals of fire upon his head. Commit yourself to him that judgeth righteously. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. You see that in life of Joseph. I don't have time to develop all this morning. Galatians chapter 5 verse 13. For brethren, ye have been called unto liberally, only not use this liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed. You know that's what we're called to do. We're called to be like Christ. How was, what was Christ like? He reviled not again. He laid down his life. He allowed, he took the reproach. He took these things. You know, that's how we're going to fulfill the scriptures, is by letting things go, not, you know, railing for railing, not answering again, not going blow for blow with people. And just understand that when people hate, when people despise, when people plot, when people betray, it's because they envy. It's out of envy. That's a good thing. Because that means we have something they don't. You know, I guess the question is, is do you have something for the world to envy this morning? Or are you just like them? Would they look at your life and say, well, there's nothing to envy there. Or maybe even worse yet, you're envying the world. You're sitting there thinking, well, I wish I could be more like them. Well, when you get it, you'll find out why you shouldn't. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for the opportunity that we have to be in your house. Lord, I pray you'd help us to be like Christ, to be like Joseph, Lord, to be somebody who, Lord, can take reproach, who can take criticism, who can take the envy of this world and others, or whatever way it manifests itself, Lord, and that we would not despise those that hate us, Lord, but that we would love them, and Lord, we would seek to do good. Lord, help us to be light in this world. Help us to live godly in Christ Jesus. And Lord, help us to honor you in all that we say, think of you in Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go. Amen. Let's open up our handles to some on the floor. Let's sound them on the floor. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. In its heat tonight I offer love. The weight of the cross leads home. One beautiful morning the bloodspring will play through the pan like the Savior's robe. If I ever find the ice of mine, when the soul is at home with mine. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. In its heat tonight I offer love. The weight of the cross leads home. Let us lift their hearts with the weight of the Lord to our giving and the poor. For my Lord says, Come, let us seek my love, where he reigns at the open door. The weight of the cross leads home. The weight of the cross leads home. In its heat tonight I offer love. The weight of the cross leads home. . . . . . .