(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Well, it's great to be here tonight kind of rushed in and got here just right before the service started. We just drove down from Fort Worth this morning. As many of you know, we're on a road trip traveling all over America. We've been all the way up to Portland, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Oklahoma, and here we are. It's great to be down in Houston. We enjoyed the rain and everything on the way in, but it seemed to have caused a lot of traffic accidents, so that's why we kind of barely made it in time. But I'm preaching on this road trip through the 12 sons of Jacob, and I'm kind of getting toward the end of things because I've already gone down through the list in the order in which they were born. Just going through Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Isaac, Har, Zebulun, and now we're on to kind of the big one, right, Joseph. And this is the one where instead of having to struggle, like for the last four sermons, I had to kind of find like one verse and just kind of get a whole sermon out of it because the Bible didn't really talk as much about these obscure characters. With Joseph, there's just kind of so much material that it's just a matter of what do you preach because you have just your whole pick of all these different subjects. But I'm just going to start at the beginning here and preach out of Genesis chapter 37, and the thing that I want to focus in on tonight is why was Joseph hated of his brethren? Because of the fact that we today as Christians are hated of this world. Jesus Christ said, you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And he said, marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. He said, they called the master of the house Beelzebub. How much more should they call them of his household? And so we know that today as Christians, all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But the question is why are we hated of the people of this world? And it's the same three reasons that Joseph's brethren hated him in this chapter because really there are three different reasons in this chapter why Joseph was hated by his brethren. So let's look at the first reason. It says in verse number one, and Jacob dwelled in the land wherein 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 Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. So right away we see the first reason why Joseph was hated by his brethren is that he spoke out against sin. The sons of Zilpah, the sons of Bilhah, they were involved in some kind of sin. We don't know what it is, but we know that he brought that evil report of what they were up to. And I submit to you that tonight the reason why Christians are hated of this world is because we bring their evil report. We as Christians are the ones that speak out against sin. You know the Bible tells, if you would flip over to John chapter 3 in the New Testament, John chapter 3, but John chapter 7 verse 7 says this, the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. He's talking to his unsaved brethren and saying, the world can't hate you, but me it hateth because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. And of course, Jesus said, if they hated me, they'll hate you. Why? Because we preach the same word of God that Jesus Christ preached and we end up speaking out against sin and people don't necessarily like that. Look what the Bible says in John chapter 3 verse 19, and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved, but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may manifest that they're wrought in God. And so according to this scripture, people don't like to have the light shined on their sin. And the word of God in our lives as Christians is a light to our feet. It's a lamp to our feet, a light to our path, and it lights up the way that we should go, but that's because we want to know the truth. We want to know what God's will is. We want to know God's rules so that we can follow them, whereas the wicked out there, the unsaved, they would rather just kind of not think about it, not know what the rules are because they don't want to be told that they need to change anything. They don't want to be told that they're wrong or that they have sin in their life. They just want to just continue believing that their way is the right way. It's amazing how many people don't get saved when getting saved is so easy, and it doesn't require them to make some big change in their life because salvation is not of works lest any man should boast. And so it's not by changing our lives around and giving up our sins and committing to follow all of Christ's commandments and putting away a sinful past and turning over a new leaf. Folks, that is not salvation. Salvation is not a reformation or a 12-step program or quitting this sin or starting to do this good deed. No, salvation is by grace through faith. It's not of works lest any man should boast. The Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So people today could easily be saved without having to change anything if they would just acknowledge that they're a sinner, realize that their sin has damned them to hell, and just call upon the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, believe that He's the only way to heaven, put their faith and trust in His death, burial, and resurrection, they could receive that free gift of eternal life. Nothing could be simpler. And of course, one huge obstacle to this is just people's pride because so many people out there are trying to be justified by their own righteousness, their own good deeds, their own merits. And of course, that's ridiculous because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But that's a big obstacle. But there's another obstacle out there is that a lot of people, they don't want to acknowledge the Lord. They don't want to acknowledge Jesus Christ because they would have to acknowledge the fact that they are sinful. And then they would feel guilty about the things that they're doing. Even if God's not saying that they have to change in order to be saved, they would still feel guilty and feel bad about it. You see, those that do evil, they hate the light. They don't come to the light because they don't want their deeds to be reproved. What does it mean to be reproved? It's when somebody tells you, you're wrong. You need to change. And here's the thing about that. Yes, salvation is a free gift. Yes, salvation is by faith and not of works. But when we get saved and we're confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word of God, obviously He does tell us what's right and what's wrong and He does reprove us. And when we're indwelled by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit reproves us. And so after we're saved, we feel guilty for the sins that we do. And God's Spirit is grieved when we sin. And the new man inside of us wants to do what's right. So there are people out there who they don't want to come to Christ because they just want to live in this fantasy world where everything they're doing is fine and they're a good person. They want to feel good about themselves instead of feeling like the Apostle Paul, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? But my friend, that's the truth. It's reality. You know, why would you want to live in some fantasy land where you just think that everything you're doing is fine? Hey, if I'm doing something wrong, if I'm living in sin, I want to know about it. And God's Word reveals those things. I'm saved, you know, because I believe in Jesus. But hey, there are other people out there that aren't saved and one possible reason why they haven't come to Christ is because they don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss for them. They'd rather just live their life and do whatever. They don't even want to hear what God has to say. And so we see that there's a tendency in the sinful heart of man to not want to be told that he's wrong, to not want to hear that what he's doing is sinful. People get so angry today at hard preaching, a preacher gets up and says, this is a sin and they're doing it, they're offended. You know, the preacher gets up and says, hey, abortion's a sin, abortion's murder. They don't want to hear that because they've had an abortion or because they're thinking about having an abortion or their buddy had an abortion or whatever. But sin is sin. You know, the preacher gets up and says, hey, fornication's a sin. That physical relationship is reserved for within marriage, okay? You don't go to bed together until you're married and you just sleep with that one person for the rest of your life till death do you part. And people don't want to hear that because they want to be out there being a whore and a whore monger and the truth of God's word offends them because they are in sin and God's word brings that evil report. So Joseph is hated of his brother because he called out whatever they were doing. We don't know what they were doing. Maybe they were committing fornication. Maybe they were stealing. Maybe they were drunken. We don't know what they were doing. None of these things would really surprise me given some of the stories that we have about some of Jacob's other sons. You know, none of the things I just mentioned would surprise me if that's what it was. God doesn't tell us what it was but they were in sin and Joseph called it out and they didn't like the fact that Joseph is calling out their sin. The Bible says in the book of Amos chapter 5 verse 10, they hate him that rebuketh in the gate and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. You know, the guy who rebukes in the gate, that's the prophet. That's the man of God that's telling people that they need to get the sin out of their life. Not to get to heaven but just to please God. Just because God has commandments and he demands of us that we follow his commandments. And if we don't, we're going to face consequences on this earth if we do not. First John chapter 3 verse 11 says this, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew him? Why did he kill him? Why did he slew him? It says because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. So why did Cain kill Abel? Cain killed Abel because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. That made him hate Abel. If Abel had also been a bad person, if Cain was a bad person and Abel was a bad person, they would have gotten along great. But because Cain was a bad person and Abel was a good person, Cain hated Abel and even murdered Abel. And then it says his own works were evil and his brother's righteous, marvel not my brother and if the world hates you. What's God saying? He's saying you that are saved, you're Abel. And the world out there is Cain. And the wicked people of this world are going to hate you and gnash on you with their teeth because of the fact that they see your good works and instead of glorifying your father which is in heaven, Cain hates you. Cain gets angry. It's sort of like the guy who shows up on the job and he starts working really hard and somebody jokingly says, hey, what are you trying to do, make us all look bad? You know, because one guy shows up and he's actually working really hard, it kind of makes everybody else who's just kind of phoning it in and going through the motions, it makes them kind of look bad. Well, here's the thing, to this world when they see a godly righteous person, it makes them look bad. It makes them feel bad about themselves. Why do you think there's so much vitriol and hatred for just normal people, just married couples with children, right, just a man and a woman and they're just normal and they're just straight and they're Christian, you know, and they have children and it's their biological children living with them. You know, can you imagine that? The world hates that because it shows the difference, okay? And that's why Joseph's brethren hated him because he brought their evil report and that's why this world hates us. So that's number one, why Joseph was hated of his brethren. But number two, if you want to go back there to Genesis chapter 37, all three points are going to come from Genesis 37, said number one that Joseph was hated for speaking out against sin. Well, you know, we as Christians, we speak out against sin, especially as preachers, we're constantly speaking out against sin. But even you in the pew, you know, you speak out against sin, I'm sure, you know, you have opportunities where it's appropriate where you tell people, hey, I'm against the murder, I'm against drinking, I'm against drugs, I'm against fornication, I'm against adultery, I'm against all these things and it can tend to offend people. But even if you don't speak out against sin and you should speak out against sin but even if you don't, even just your life is like a silent rebuke to the wicked people of this world. Just when you don't follow them, the Bible says they think it's strange that you don't follow them to that same excess of riot, that same drunkenness and partying that they do. They look at you and they see you straight laced and they call you a goody to choose and all these things because even your good Christian life is just like a silent rebuke to this world. And you know, you teenagers want to be a rebel today, hey, maybe you can go out and get a tattoo like everyone else, like literally everyone. You know, yeah, you know, going to get to that kind of punk rock ethos or whatever. Folks, let me tell you what the new punk rock is, it's the new IFB. You want to be really a rebel? You want to be countercultural? This is what you do. You wear a normal man's haircut, you wear clothes that fit, no tattoos, you know what I mean, and you just actually just wait until you're married to have that physical relationship, have children, have a job, live a normal life, go to church, you rebel. That is what it means today to be a rebel in 2022. I mean, I'm considered like some kind, almost like a criminal. Your pastor is like almost like a criminal or something. It's almost like, you know, your pastor and myself and our friends, we're almost like these organized crime bosses where like everybody knows they're guilty of something but we just can't really put them in jail, we just don't really have anything to pin on them. That's how the world looks at us, like surely what, you know, this can't be legal. You know, they're going to try to get us with some kind of a loophole like Al Capone one of these days or something. But anyway, that's number one, we're hated for speaking out against sin and I hope that you as young people and young adults and those that are older, you know, I hope that you will take a stand for what's right and stand up against sin in this world and go to a church and support a church that is speaking out against sin because somebody's got to say what needs to be said. You know, Joseph said what needed to be said and they didn't like it. Number two, Joseph was not only hated for speaking out against sin but number two, he was hated for being the special object of his father's affection, right? Look down at your Bible in verse three. 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. Now here's something, we as Christians are the special objects of God's love and affection. Just as Joseph was beloved more than the rest, we as Christians, guess what, God loves us more. Woo, there I said it, yeah. Because you know, there's this fiction out there about God's unconditional love and how God just loves everyone and says, isn't that so beautiful, isn't that so wonderful? Not in this book though. Okay, so I've got this book right here, it's the Bible and it's a very long book, okay. I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands of how many have read it cover to cover. Hopefully a lot of you that have been saved a long time have gone through this thing cover to cover and it's quite a long book, 31,000 some verses, 1,189 chapters, 1,189 chapters. This is a long book. But you know what you're not going to find in here is this idea that God loves everyone, God loves everyone the same, there's nothing you could do to make God love you more, there's nothing you could do to make God love you any less. Folks, these are all just these platitudes that you hear your whole life but that doesn't make them true my friend. Okay, the God of the universe that created this world has given us his word and this is the final authority on who he is and what he is. We don't need some ad marketing campaign guy to just give us what God is for 2022, what we're going to like or something, okay. Sorry, but no, God does not love everyone the same. Now I will say this though, God's love toward the saved, those that are actually born again children of God, his love toward us is unconditional because of the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So if nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord then that means that God's love toward me is unconditional. Okay, but guess what, there are people out there that one day, if they don't get saved, one day they will be eternally separated from the love of God. Now nothing can separate us from the love of God but let me tell you something, when someone's burning in hell, that's not a loving place. That's not this place where they're just kind of like, you know, burning in the love of God. Okay, the lake of fire is not this love lake, it's just, oh, the reason it's so hot is because God just loves them so much. You know, it's like someone just gives you a really big hug and they just hug you a little too hard. You know, it's like don't love me that much, you're going to break my ribs, okay. God's just like, I just love you so much, let me just show you with temperature on a thermometer how much I love you. You know, it's just like fire, it's just like, it's absurd. Folks, let me tell you something, being in hell is not to be the object of God's love and affection, that is to be the object of God's wrath. God's wrath is burning the fires of hell today and to sit there and say that, well, they're just experiencing the love of God. Well, God's got a funny way of showing it then in hell, right? That's stupid, that's not true. Let me tell you something, people who are burning in hell are separated from the love of God. Now, a lot of times people say they're separated from God, well, God's presence is there. They're in the presence of the Lord, the Bible tells us, in multiple places, but they're not experiencing God's love, they're experiencing God's unadulterated wrath, okay? And so, although God's love for the saved is unconditional, God's love for the unsaved will eventually run out. Now, God loves the unsaved, amen? The Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So he didn't just love whosoever believeth, no, no, he loved the world. He loved every single person in the world enough to die for every single person in the world. We're not Calvinists, we don't believe that God only died for certain people. No, we believe that God died for every single person. Jesus Christ died on the cross for every single person who has ever lived, amen? The Bible says he tasted death for every man. He died not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world. So Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. He loved the world. He didn't just love those that believe but he loved the entire world so that whoever would believe, right, would not perish but have eternal life. But he didn't just love the believers, he loved the world, okay? So God so loved the world but is God's love for the people out there, the unsaved people in this world, is it unconditional? No, because if they die without Jesus Christ, they're done. It's over for them at that point. And you know, there are even explicit verses in the Bible where God mentions that he hates people or in Hosea, he says, I will love them no more. He says, I hated them and I will love them no more. I mean, you can't really get much clearer than God saying, I'm not gonna love them anymore. I hate them now. It's like, well, I don't think that's biblical. That's what it says, right? What is it, Hosea? I don't have it written down but use Google, okay? It's like Hosea chapter 9 or something. The point is, we all know where it is, amen? We could all find it if we need to. The point is that, you know, God's love for the unsaved is conditional, okay? He loves them but the clock's ticking, isn't it? Every beat of their heart, that clock's ticking, they better get saved. They better believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They better receive him as Savior before it's eternally too late because eventually that clock is ticking, it's gonna run out and they're gonna be separated from the love of God at some point, okay? Whereas, those of us who are saved, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And isn't that a blessing to know that God will never stop loving us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He gave us eternal life and no one can pluck us out of his hand. We are saved and eternally secure. Okay, so we got that but not only that, God loves all of us that are saved and he's not gonna stop loving us. So in that sense, his love for us is unconditional but how about this? God doesn't love all of us the same. God does not, as Christians, look at all of us and just love us the same. Like the guy who's saved and not following Christ at all. And there are people like that and we will see them in heaven. They're saved because you don't have to follow Christ to be saved, you just have to believe in Christ. You don't have to do works to be saved. But you know, people who are saved and doing absolutely nothing for God versus people who are saved and actually serving God, actually striving to follow his commandments and do his work and preach the gospel and win souls, you know, God's love toward those two people isn't the same. God's love toward the thief on the cross and the apostle Paul isn't the same. Now you might be sitting there thinking like, well, I don't know if you're right about that. Well, that's why we got the Bible, to figure out who's right. You know, you might be sitting there thinking, well, no, I think God loves all of his children the same. And I'm telling you that while God loves all of his children and he loves all his children unconditionally, he does not love all his children the same. And let's go to the Bible and see who's right. Go to John chapter 14. Now I can guarantee that you're not going to find a verse that says that he loves them all the same, but yet I've got some verses that teach the opposite. Look at John chapter 14 verse 20. The Bible says in John chapter 14 verse 20, it says, at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. So who are the people that really love God the most? You know, the people that keep God's commandments, because that really shows their love for him, right? He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, and this is not a scariot, so don't freak out, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he'll keep my words, and my Father will love him and will come unto him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. And notice here that as opposed to salvation, which is contingent upon believing on Jesus, not keeping the commandments, salvation doesn't come by the law. The Bible says if salvation comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain, okay? And that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. We don't get saved by keeping commandments, but we do show God that we love him by keeping his commandments. And here's the thing, if we show God that we love him by keeping his commandments, you know what? Then God's gonna love us more. The more we love him, the more he loves us. I mean, that's what the Bible says. The Bible says right here that if we keep his commandments, that shows that we love him, and then he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. You know, the people who really see God, the people who really get to see the hidden manna of scripture are the people who please God, and we please God by obeying him and keeping his commandments, okay? I mean, think about this. You know, if you have children and you have certain children that are rebellious and wayward and doing terrible things, you're not gonna feel the same way about those children as you feel about the children that are doing right and being godly and righteous. You know, you love your children, you love all your children, but are you gonna feel the same way about the one who's just out, just blowing off everything that you taught them and living like an idiot, or are you gonna maybe have some special affection and a special relationship and more feelings of love toward the one who's actually doing right? Now, look, Jesus talks about the fact, in the book of John, it talks about the fact that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved Martha, he loved Mary, he loved Lazarus, and in fact, the apostle John is called the disciple whom Jesus loved. What does that mean, the disciple whom Jesus loved? Well, Jesus just loved everybody. Okay, yeah, okay, Jesus loved all of his disciples, or he loved all the people that are following him, all the saved Christians that are coming to hear him preach and they're getting baptized by him and obviously he loved even the unsaved, you know, he looks upon the rich young ruler who is unsaved and the Bible says Jesus beholding him loved him. But is that the same kind of love when he loved the rich young ruler, is that the same kind of love as he had for the apostle John who leaned on his breast at the last supper? Did he love the rich young ruler exactly the same way as he loved John leaning on him at the last supper? No. The answer is no. Because the Bible says in John 14 that it's keeping God's commandments and loving him that brings us closer to God in a special relationship of more love and affection and that's why the Bible says draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you, okay? Also you know, here's a verse from the Old Testament that I was looking at where it says in 1 Chronicles, you don't have to turn there, 1 Chronicles 28 for, excuse me, 1 Chronicles 28 for, this is about King David and King David's called the man after God's own heart. That sounds like some special affection that God had for David, you know. Obviously yeah, he loves all believers. He loves all the saved. He so loved the world but he has special affection for a guy like David, a guy like the apostle John, right? And so it says, how be it the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. He had chosen Judah to be the ruler and of the house of Judah, the house of my father and among the sons of my father, listen to these next three words, he liked me. So here's what David says in 1 Chronicles 28 for, he says among the sons of my father, he liked me to make me king over all Israel. He's especially pleased with me. He chose me. He liked me. Why? Because those who are saved, number one, and actually serving God are the special objects of God's love and affection. Just like the son who's not only beloved because he's just a biological son and so he's beloved because he's the son of their body but he's also beloved because he's actually pleasing the father with his actions. Now I think some people would maybe kind of resist what I'm preaching right now but I think that they'd have to kind of have some kind of a suspension of disbelief or some kind of a cognitive dissonance to actually think that no, no, no, I just love everybody the same and God just loves everybody the same. You know, I love Qdoba but I love Chipotle better. Love them both. You know what I'm saying? Hey, I love carnitas but I love barbacoa a little better. All right. Start training them young. So the point is that, you know, yes, God loves all of his children but God has special affection for those that actually are serving God, actually going to church, actually reading their Bibles, actually having a relationship with them and not just getting saved, believing in Jesus and then nothing else really changes, okay? And again, I'm not making this up because we just saw it in scripture in John chapter 14 that keeping God's commandments brings us into a place of God's affection and love toward us. So God especially loves those who keep his commandments. Now this makes us hated of this world. Just as Joseph was hated, why? Because he spoke out against sin. We as Christians, we speak out against sin, the world hates us. Number two, Joseph was the special object of his father's affection, okay? Now Jacob loved his other children too. Jacob loved all his children but, I mean, he felt bad when Simeon got put in prison and, you know, that hurt him and he loved Simeon, he wanted Simeon back, he missed Simeon but guess what? Joseph was the object of his special love and affection and we as Bible-believing Christians that actually serve God, we are the object of God's special love and affection and this angers this world today. This is something that causes them to hate us, okay, because they envy us just like they envied Joseph. You know, Joseph had that coat of many colors that his father gave unto him and God has given us so many blessings and we're so blessed today as Christians and we have joy unspeakable and full of glory and, you know, they hate us because they ain't us, okay, just the same way they hated Joseph. But number three, let's look at Genesis 37 once again and see why Joseph's brethren hated him. We said, number one, they hated him because he spoke out against sin. Number two, they hated him for being the special object of God's love and affection. You say, why preach that, you know, why can't I just believe that other fiction that I like? Well, first of all, because it's always good for us to know the truth from the Word of God. What does the Bible actually say? But you know what? Hey, I want to be the object of God's special love and affection. Like why would that be a downer sermon right now? You know, if I get up and say, hey, my friend, God doesn't love everybody the same, those of us who actually love him back and are actually serving him and doing something for God, we're the special object of God's love and affection, you know, the only way that would be a downer for you is if you don't want to serve God because if you actually wanted to keep God's commandments, if you actually love God, if you actually want to serve God, that's a really positive thing because you're like, wow, I'm special, I'm chosen and we are, my friend. Hey, I'm the special object of God's love and affection. Hey, God is love. Nobody can love like God. God's got so much love to go around and he loves the unsaved and he loves the saved and, you know, that's great. But then to be the object of God's special love and affection, to be that disciple whom Jesus loved, to be that one where he says, man, I love Mary, I love Martha, I love Lazarus, right? Hey, that's something special. Hey, that's not for some exclusive group. The Bible said in John 14, just he that keepeth my commandments and keep, or he that hearth my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him. He's not saying, well, you know, there's certain people that I just kind of click with and certain people I don't. Is that what God's up in heaven saying? Is he just saying, well, I just like white people a little more, I just like black people a little more, you know, I'm just a little bit partial toward the Asians or the Hispanics. Is that what God's up in heaven saying? Well, I just like Jews a little more. There's just something about Jews, I just have kind of a soft spot for the old Jews, you know, and the Gentiles are okay. Is that what God's thinking up in heaven? No. He's saying, look, you want to be my friend, you can be my friend. Hey, you want to be friends with God? God's looking for friends. Some people have enough friends. They're just like, hey, I don't need a new friend in my life. I have enough friends. But you know who's looking for a friend? God's looking for a friend. Abraham's a friend of God. Hey, there have been a lot of great Christians throughout history. There have been mediocre Christians and lame Christians. Let me tell you something, not everybody has been the friend of God. But you can be a friend of God. I can be a friend of God. Hey, if we get on God's program, you know what, this is what Jesus said, you're my friends. I don't want to quote it wrong because I'm kind of tired from driving, 4,000 some miles. I think it's almost 5,000 now. He said, ye are my friends. I can't find it, but I'm pretending that I'm reading it. Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Okay? That was a pretend read, so I hope I got it right. Anybody verify that I quoted that? Raise your hand if you think I said that right. Can I get a witness? All right. You're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Because I like the sound of that. I hope that's in the Bible. I'm kidding. You know, he said, look, you do what I command you, you do what the Bible says, you're my friends. Now, anybody who says that's a negative sermon is just somebody who doesn't want to do what he's commanding. Because if you want to do what he says, you can be his friend. Now, look, I'm glad you're saved. I'm glad I'm saved. I'm glad it's easy to get saved. But you know what? I don't want to just only be saved and get to heaven, yet so is by fire. I want to be God's friend. I want to be the special object of his love and affection. And you know, the father and son relationship, the mother and daughter relationship, the mother-son or father-daughter relationship, right? I mean, there's a bond there. There's a biological relationship there. But you know, when that child grows up, sometimes they are very close with their parents as adults and their friends. Other times it's more like, okay, it's Mother's Day. Let's make that call. It's Father's Day. Let's make a call, right, versus like just, you know, continual fellowship or maybe fellowship that happens more often, right? Hey, I don't want to just call God on Father's Day. That's like just showing up to church on Easter or something, right? That's like, oh, it's his birthday. Let's call Dad on his birthday. That's like showing up for church on Christmas. Hey, I want to be walking and talking with him all the time. And you know what? Dad's going to give me a special relationship with him that the guy who only goes to church twice a year just doesn't have, does he? And so give up on this fiction that says that, oh, God just feels the same toward everybody. It just isn't true, right? You know, it's even possible for Christians to anger God and enrage God because God even got enraged at Moses at one point, you know, and foreskins were thrown around and that's a whole other sermon. Okay, number three, the third reason that Joseph was hated besides the fact that he spoke out against sin, besides the fact that he was the special object of his father's love and affection, was because of this dream that he had. Look at verse number five in Genesis 37, and Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it his brethren and they hated him yet the more. So they hate him because of the dream. Now listen to the dream. And he said unto them, Here I pray you this dream which I've dreamed, for behold, we were binding seven, excuse me, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheep. And his brethren said to him, Shout thou indeed reign over us, or shout thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. So they don't like the fact that he's having this dream about them bowing down someday and worshipping at his feet or making obeisance at his feet or submitting unto him or being ruled over by him. Okay well listen to this verse. Try this on from Revelation chapter three, verse nine. It says, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Did you hear that? He's saying, look, those of the synagogue of Satan, someday they're going to come and worship before your feet and know that I've loved you because thou has kept the word of my patience. He says, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. And of course this is a book about end times prophecy, and that's something that's going to happen in the end, okay? And that is really similar to, hey, I had a dream where we were binding sheaves in the field and then your sheaves started bowing down to my sheaf. Isn't that kind of similar to what we just read in Revelation about how the synagogue of Satan is going to come and worship before your feet and know that I've loved you? The Bible says that if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him. You know, we will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years, and so therefore we are one day going to rule over the people of this world who hate us. Many of them, of course, are going to be destroyed and wiped out before that point, but the unsaved in general are going to be ruled over by the saved, okay? Now if you would, go to Luke chapter 19 in your Bible, Luke chapter number 19. So we are hated today as Christians because one day we will inherit the earth and we will reign over this earth, and so envy again plays a role. And really all three of these points could really just be boiled down in a single word, envy, because you say, why does the world hate us? Well, because we speak out against sin, but really that's envy because they hate us because our own works are righteous and theirs are evil. So they envy the fact that we are righteous and they are wicked, just like Cain envied Abel. He envied the fact that his father was pleased with him, which rolls us into the second point, the envy of the fact that we are the special objects of God's love and affection. They envy that. And then thirdly, because we one day will inherit the earth and rule and reign over them, and we preach about it because we preach about what? Bible prophecy. I'm standing up here preaching and in the back, you know, I'm just looking at decorations and it looks like we have three, you know, primary decorations here besides, well, the globe is number four, but that it's not relevant to what I'm saying right now, but right here, straight ahead, I've got the soul winning map. Amen. Great decoration, shading in that giant map with the soul winning that's been done. But then I look right over here and it's the book of revelation map. And so it's breaking down the seals and the trumpets and the Bible. Then I look over here at Daniel's 70th week, you know, whoever decorated this room obviously has an interest in Bible prophecy. And we as independent fundamental Baptists in general, we like Bible prophecy, don't we? And especially in the new IFP because we actually know what it is, you know, we know what we're talking about with Bible prophecy. Sorry, but we do because we're not pre-trib. I like how it's even on the sign on this search. It even said post-trib on the sign. In yo face, old IFP. So you know, we're post-trib, pre-wrath, and we love talking about Bible prophecy. That's kind of one of our things as the new IFP. And so we preach about this stuff and the world doesn't like to hear this stuff. They don't want to hear about how they're all going to get smoked and Christians are going to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. That's not exactly what they want to hear. And you know, the Bible says in Proverbs 17, 2, here's a great verse, a wise servant shall have rule over a son that causes shame and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. You know, the son that causes shame is Israel today because Israel, God called Israel his son. He said in the Old Testament, Israel is my son, you know, he said Israel is my firstborn and out of Egypt have I called my son. Israel is my firstborn, out of Egypt have I called my son. So he called Israel his son. But that son, Israel, that nation caused shame, right? And so the kingdom of God is taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. So Israel in the Old Testament were God's chosen people as a group, but in the New Testament, God's chosen people is not the physical nation of Israel, but rather it's all saved Christians. Now you say, wait a minute, you know, once a son, always a son, you know what I mean? How could God break his promise to Israel? He didn't. And let me tell you why. Because every single person in Israel can roll directly into the New Testament and still be a son of God. Israel is still God's son, just not the fake Israel. Israel today is God's son, but it's the Israel of God made up of all believers. See the unbelieving branches were broken off, we as Christians were graphed in, and so God did, this is what's so dumb when they're like, oh, you think God broke his promise to Israel? No he didn't because guess what? Every single Israelite when Jesus came on the scene can still be the chosen people. Nobody is forced to be like, oh, you know, you used to be the chosen people. Not anymore. See you, sucker. No, because all they have to do is what? Believe in Jesus. Is that hard? No, but guess what? In order to roll from Old Covenant into New Covenant, you had to accept Jesus as Savior. You know, and guess what? All the people that were saved under the Old Covenant, every single one of them accepted Jesus because Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice. You know, these people that aren't hearing my voice, it's because they're not of my sheep. They're of the devil. The saved people from the Old Covenant, they all, when they heard Jesus, they heard the voice of the shepherd. They knew that he was the real deal. They all believed in him. So nobody who was actually under the Old Covenant, who actually believed in the Lord, called upon the name of the Lord, trusted in the Lord, had any issue just rolling right into the New Covenant. The reason God didn't break his promise to Israel is because there's a remnant, according to the election of grace, that rolled directly in. I mean, Paul said, I'm an Israelite. I'm a Benjamin, you know, and here I am. I'm a chosen people. Why? Because he's saved. He rolled in. But here's the thing. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causes shame and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. So on an individual basis, of course, Israel continues in every saved believer, including Jews and Gentiles that roll directly into the New Covenant. But as a physical nation on this earth, Israel has been rejected, right? He said, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And so we, as Christians, who were in time past not a people, as Gentiles, now we are the people of God through faith in Christ. And the Bible is saying that, basically, we're going to have rule over that one who caused shame, okay, because they are not God's people, and we are now in the New Testament. I hope I didn't get too complicated there, because it's kind of another sermon for another time to look at all those verses and flesh all that out. But the bottom line is that we today, as Christians, are saved. We're going to rule over this earth with Christ for a thousand years. Now, look at Luke chapter 19, verse 12, it says, he said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return, and he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds and said to them, occupy till I come. And watch verse 14, but his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. Now, this is obviously a parable about Jesus. Jesus departs, right? He went up in a cloud in Acts chapter 1, and then he's going to return someday to receive the kingdom. While he's gone, they send the message after him saying, we don't want this man to reign over us. So we're living in that phase of history right now where Jesus is gone, because Jesus came to this earth, and then he left. And then he's going to come back, and while he's gone, people out there are saying, we don't want to have this man to reign over us. Well then, is it any wonder if they don't want Jesus to reign over them, do you think that they want Jesus' followers to reign over them? Absolutely not. Because if they don't want Jesus reigning over them, they don't want people reigning over them who follow the words of Jesus. Because what do they have a problem with Jesus? They have a problem with his teachings, his commandments, his instructions, the things that he taught, the things that he commands and demands, and that's what we as Christians preach and practice. And one day when we rule and reign with Christ, those are going to be the rules. It's going to be all directly from Jesus. And so just as they hated Joseph because of their envy, saying we don't want to have Joseph to reign over us, and then in the New Testament they say of Jesus, we don't want Jesus to reign over us, well, we as Christians are like Joseph in that sense. They don't want to be ruled by us, but we are going to rule over them someday. Now here's the thing. We as Christians, to us, being a servant is not a bad thing to us. We as Christians, at least it shouldn't because we as Christians are supposed to be humble. I always think about in the story of David and Goliath where the Philistines are putting forth this challenge through Goliath and saying, hey, if our guy beats your guy, let's just choose a man that we may fight together. And we've got our champion, Goliath, and if your guy wins, we'll be your servants. And if your guy wins, then basically we'll be your servants if your guy wins, and if our guy wins, then you'll be our servants. It's like to be the loser is to be the servant. That's the way the world thinks, but what did Jesus teach? He said, whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant. Even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life for ransom for many. So we as Christians today, we want to be a servant of God, and David says in the book of Psalms that he'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. He'd rather be just a humble servant or an usher or a doorkeeper in the house of God than being the man of the hour or the guest of honor at the table in the tents of wickedness. And so we as Christians today, we don't have any aversion to being servants. We look forward to all of eternity being subject and subjugated unto Christ. We're not Mormons where we think that we could go be our own god of our own planet someday. Today we can get our own solar system and be the top dog in the universe or whatever. Folks, that's blasphemy. That's satanic. We as Christians today, we just want to be humble servants of Christ for the rest of our life. You know what? Our future consists of following the lamb whosoever he goeth. That's what we have to look forward to. That's our paradise is to follow the lamb with a servant. Oh, he's just going to be a follower? Yes. He's going to be just a servant? Yes. We want to be a servant. We want to be following Christ, being humble and just basking in his glory, giving him all the glory. You know, God's giving out authority in the book of Revelation and we see all these indications of him giving authority unto his servants, be thou over ten cities, be thou over five cities. But yet in Revelation, what do we see the saints doing and the 24 elders doing? We see people taking off their crowns and just throwing them at the feet of Jesus. Say, what are you talking about? You get all the glory. You're the boss. You're the boss. You're in charge. Why? Because that's what we as Christians believe and that's what we feel. We don't mind being a servant. We want to be a servant, right? The guy who runs the church is called the minister, right? A Baptist minister, we would say, of a pastor. Why? Because it's glory unto us as Christians to be servants and we're not trying to be the top guy or the one that's ruling and reigning. Hey, we're happy to rule and reign as lieutenants of Christ, playing second fiddle to Christ, following the lamb with us wherever he goes. But this world today, that's not their mentality. They don't want anybody to tell them what to do. They want to have all the authority and the power in themselves and just be totally autonomous Whereas we as Christians, we want to follow Christ. And so when we hear this thing of, well, you're going to serve me for all eternity, you're going to follow me for all eternity, we're just thinking, great, amen. No issue there. That's called humility. That's a Christian virtue. Whereas Joseph's brethren were wicked. And so Joseph's brethren, instead of just understanding, hey, this is how things are, Joseph is going to be the leader of the family. This is the word of God. This is the way it's going to be. Joseph is going to be the one who gets the birthright and he's going to be the one who saves us all and rules over us all. A humble person would have just accepted that, but so often that sibling rivalry causes brothers to be super competitive with one another and it's to the annoyance of their parents when their children are constantly fighting and trying to one up one another and be better than each other. You know, it's irritating, right, as parents. Well, it's irritating to God as well. And we shouldn't have that wicked attitude. And we know that this dream wasn't just a dream. These dreams were being sent by God. Because the dreams that Joseph had, they weren't just, hey, I had a funny dream last night. This is God giving him a dream because he's a prophet. And because those things were really going to happen because Joseph really did at one point have his brothers literally bow down to him. Because when he's in Egypt and they think that he's, well, I mean, he was the second ruler in Egypt and they don't know it's their brother. They are bowing down him and it says when they bowed down to Joseph, he remembered those dreams and he's like, wow, can you believe it? It's happening. I dreamed this, you know, 13 years ago or whatever or more than that actually. But you know, many years ago, close to 20 years ago, I dreamed this and it's actually happening right now. And so that's why we're hated of this world because of the fact that they don't want to have Christ to reign over them and so they certainly don't want us to reign over them. Now, here's the thing. We today are not in any position to rule over the unsaved today. How many godly Christians are there in government? You know, how many godly Christians are there in Washington, D.C. running our country right now? How many godly Christians are at the Texas Capitol right now running the country? You know, but yet even though the idea of us today as fundamentalist Baptists, as you know, kind of right-wing Christian fanatics in the eyes of the world, but we just look at it as we're just Bible-believing Christians just being normal, exactly, but how many of us really are going to be in positions of power in the next 10, 20, 30, you know, I got to guess zero, okay? Isn't it funny, even though that's such like a far-fetched, crazy idea, you know, Pastor Anderson in the Senate or something, it's absurd. It could never happen in a million years, right? It's absurd. But yet, today, isn't it interesting how the Gaethius and Phagnostics of this world, they rage and talk about, they're trying to bring in a theocracy and, you know, they're talking about how the government should be rounding up queers and destroying them and stuff. But here's the thing about that, like, do you really think we're ever going to have that kind of power? We will have that kind of power when Christ returns in the millennia. But is it going to happen before that? No way. Absolutely not. No how. And so, do you see what I'm saying? It's so crazy and far-fetched, but they're always talking about it. They're always bringing it up like, you know, these people are trying to get the government to do this and they want to rule and do this. It's never going to happen. But it's like deep down, they must know deep down that it is going to happen someday. It's like deep down, I believe everybody knows that God exists, even if they tell themselves like, oh, I don't believe in God or I'm a skeptic or I'm agnostic or whatever. I think deep down, it's like people know that God exists and deep down, they know what's right and wrong. I think there are a lot of just truths about God and his word that are just embedded in the hearts of even the unsaved people. It's like human beings, they just have certain knowledge by instinct that says, hey, God's out there and this is right and this is wrong. You know, you see, the law of God is written on their hearts, the Bible says, even unsaved people according to the book of Romans. And so, I think that there's this intuitive knowledge out there that says, someday, this is going to turn around. Someday Christ is going to return. Someday he's going to rule and reign. Someday they're going to give an account for their blasphemies and their wickedness and they don't want to think about that and that chart reminds them that someday it's coming. A reckoning is coming. Judgment day is coming. And there's going to be a great reckoning, there's going to be a writing of all wrongs, there's going to be a balancing of the scales, there's going to be a renewal on this earth and that's what the book of Revelation is all about. God is going to clean out and he's going to destroy them who destroy the earth, the Bible says. And I believe that people intuitively know that, even if they don't intuitively know it, they probably heard about it through Christian preaching. They know it's what we preach and teach, they know it's what we believe and it causes them to hate us because they desire so much to rule and have power and to be the one on the ascendancy and in reality it's us. It's us. We're righteous, they're wicked. We are the objects of God's special love and affection. They're in danger of eternal hell fire if they don't get saved before it's eternally too late. We are going to inherit the earth. The meek, the humble are going to inherit the earth. Saved Christians will inherit the earth and they will be destroyed someday and they envy us. At the end of the day, they truly do hate us because they ain't us because of the fact that we as Christians have everything that they actually want. But the sad thing is that it's so easy to be saved that any of them, before it's too late because obviously there comes a point where it's too late and you got to seek the Lord while He may be found. Now's the accepted time, now's the day of salvation. Anyone who wants to can get saved whenever they want and be on their way to heaven by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior. All they have to do is just believe on Christ and be saved and then they can keep God's commandments and follow the Bible if they want to really have a special relationship with God. You know, mom's little favorite or dad's little favorite, well you know what, you can be a favorite too because God's not a respecter of persons, red, yellow, black and white, you can be a favorite too, male, female, young, old, rich, poor, you can be a favorite too. God's looking for friends. If you follow His commandments, you can be one of His objects of special love and affection too. And of course, one day, we'll inherit the earth, if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. Again, this is available to everyone. So God is an equal opportunity God and there really is no reason for anyone to be bitter or envious because anybody who wants to be me or be you or be one of these categories here can be that. Just you know, I mean I'm nothing special, I believe in Jesus and I'm serving God with my life. That's it. I'm not perfect. You're not perfect but you know what, if you believe in Jesus and if you serve God with your life, you're going to have all the benefits and you'll be ruling and reigning right there with me. Amen? So it's not, there's nothing negative about the sermon unless you're not saved. There's nothing negative about the sermon unless you don't want to serve God, unless you don't want His commandments, unless you just want to do the minimum requirement to get in to heaven which is just believe and nothing else. But you know, to those that are humble and want to serve, this is all good news today that I'm preaching. And so today, let's be Joseph. Let's not be envious like the unsaved wicked people out there and let's just realize that look, if they hated Christ, they're going to hate us. Don't take it personally. Don't get upset. And you know what's great about the Joseph story? Obviously, I don't have time to go through the whole story, it's a big long story, but you know what's great about the Joseph story is that in the end, his brothers end up making things right with him and he ends up forgiving them all. And you know what? The people out there that hate us today, some of them obviously are doomed. Some of them can't be fixed, okay? Some of the people who hate us, they hate God and they can't be fixed and they're reprobates and they're doomed and they're not going to come around. But you know, a lot of the people out there who hate us today, tomorrow will come around and get saved and then we're going to forgive them and welcome them with open arms and it's going to be totally forgiven and forgotten. You know, I can't even count how many people have told me, you know, when I, Pastor Anderson, when I first heard your preaching, I hated you, Pastor Anderson. I can't even count. I have people in my church right now that say, I hated you, Pastor Anderson. I fantasized about hurting you, about assaulting you. I've had people tell me that and I'm like, whoa, but you know, people have told me, man, I hated you. And I'm not talking about one person that told me, I'm talking about tons of people that told me, I hated you. But now I love you. And so that's why we need to realize that, you know, yeah, there are some people out there that are just super rotten, wicked people and they're doomed and whatever. But you know, a lot of the people out there that hate us though, we need to have an attitude of like, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And hopefully, a lot of those people will come around and we show them the love of Christ and they'll come around. So I want to make this clear, you know, everybody who hates me or hates us isn't necessarily a reprobate. You know, they're not necessarily a horrible person. Okay. They might just be unsaved and just, they just haven't come around yet and maybe down the road, they're going to get saved and come around. There are people who've, you know, ultimately hated and rejected God and they don't even want to retain them in their knowledge and, you know, I'm not saying that like everybody can be reached or that everybody can be fixed. But I am saying that just because someone hates me or hates you or hates this church doesn't make them a reprobate. And hopefully, they'll come around. You know, so let's not burn that bridge, right? Let's show them the love of Christ and hopefully, as many people as possible will come around so that they can join. Because remember, you know, I'm preaching, it almost sounds like an elite club, you know, hey, God loves us more and, you know, we're going to run things, we're going to rule and reign and everything. They're wicked, we're righteous. But here's the thing. Yeah, yeah, it is. But you know what? You can join whenever you want. Join whenever you want. Just believe in Jesus. Start following the Bible. So how elite is that? The poorest person can join. The ugliest person can join. The most unfit individual can join, right? All walks of life may join this club. So yeah, it feels elite, but anybody can join. Let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for this story and thank you for the story of Joseph. There's so much we can learn about the Christian life through Joseph and thank you for his godly example, Lord. Help us as we go through this life not to get discouraged from being hated. Help us just realize, look, Joseph was hated, but later they liked him later and Jesus was hated and he was mocked by his own brothers, but then later they believed in him, Lord. Help us to realize that someday, although we're hated now, someday we will inherit the earth. And so help us to be peaceful and humble and gentle and, you know, just endure afflictions, Lord. Hopefully we can get as many people saved as we can and bring them over to our side. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Walk of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be absent, a double cure. Save from wrath and make me free. Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know, these forsaken could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone, in my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I plead. How I draw this bleeding breath and my eyes shall close in death.