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The Bible reads, and it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, what is your occupation? The title for the sermon tonight is, what is your occupation? What is your occupation? Now when you think about that question, what is your occupation? You first thought, you know, as we use the terminology today, we often think about our careers or our, you know, our workplace, what we do, you know, nine to five, Monday to Friday. And of course, that is your occupation. But the definition of occupation is more than that. It's more than your career. All of us have an occupation, okay? All of us have something that we spend our time on. And just some of the definition meanings for occupation, number one, it's the act of taking possession, the act of taking possession. So when you go to your nine to five job, for example, you know, you're taking possession of that work, of that workplace, of the task that you need to accomplish, you take possession of that, and that is your occupation. And another definition for occupation is that which engages your time and attention. That which engages your time and attention. So this can be many things. Hey, you can be a slothful person, you can be somebody without work, actually, and you still have an occupation. You know, what is it that engages your time and attention? Maybe it's being lazy, maybe it's just sleeping throughout the day, maybe it's just wasting your time on foolish hobbies and foolish, you know, games and, you know, things that have no value in the future. And so we want to think about our occupation today. You know, our children, you have an occupation. Your occupation is to be educated, you know, to be schooled, you know, if you're homeschooled, that is your occupation. You're a student as you learn things, you know, as you read your Bible, that should be your occupation. You know, anything that takes up our time, attention, you know, that is our occupation. That is what occupies our time and attention. So we're going to be focusing on that theme. I know we had a list of names and brother Tim did a great job reading through those names, well done. But I'm not going to be focusing so much on the genealogy there of the Israelites as we go through. I'll take a few little things there. But I just want to focus on this theme of occupation. Let's start with Genesis 46, verse one. And before we read this, just a reminder how we ended up in chapter 45, remember the brothers came back to Jacob, came back to their father Israel and said Joseph is alive, he's in Egypt, he told us to get all our things, take all our people, take all our cattle, take all our possessions and make our way to Egypt. Remember that, okay. So this is now the beginning of his journey. He finally agreed, yes, we're going to make this journey, you know, as the patriarch of the family, as the one that has authority, he decides we're going to make this journey. And look at verse number one, as he starts his journey here in verse number one it says, and Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. Now keep your finger there and go to Genesis 21. Just as a reminder, what is this place? What is Beersheba? Why is this important? Just as a reminder, as we've been studying the book of Genesis, Genesis 21 please, verse 33, Genesis 21, verse 33, the Bible reads, and Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. So this was a place where Abraham, you know, Isaac's grandfather came, he set up this place where he would come and worship and call upon the name of the Lord, right, it was a place of spiritual significance for his grandfather. Let's go to the next chapter, Genesis 22, verse 19, Genesis 22, verse 19. The Bible reads, so Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. So why is it important? Because it's also the place where Abraham lived for a large segment of his life. He went to this place, he went to live at the place where he could have, you know, that spiritual connection with the Lord, where he had built that grove unto the Lord, where he called upon the name of the Lord. And the first thing I want you to think about, brethren, the first point that I have is that you should occupy the beginning of every journey with the Lord, occupy the beginning of every journey with the Lord. What do we have here? We have Israel, we have Jacob, right, going on this journey, he's going to head off to Egypt. But the first thing that crosses his mind is, let's go to Beersheba. Let's go there first, right? Let's go there, and let's go offer some sacrifices unto God. You see, he starts his journey, he doesn't just head straight to Egypt, he says, I need to spend time with the Lord, I need to be in fellowship with the Lord, I need to go and serve the Lord, brethren. And brethren, whatever journey you start in life, whatever it is that you begin, start it with the Lord. Start it with the Lord God, go into a time of fellowship with the Lord. I'll just read a Psalm to you, Psalm 63 verse one, a Psalm of David, it says, O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee, my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. What does King David say? He says, early, the first thing in the morning, Lord, when I'm up, the first thing I do is I meditate upon you. The first thing I do, Lord, I seek you in this dry and thirsty land. And brethren, you need to get into this habit if you're not into this habit already. When you wake up, the first thing you do is not check your phone messages, it's not check your emails, it's not check your Facebook, all right? It's not get up and brush your teeth and make yourself breakfast. The first thing you should do when you wake up in the morning is open that Bible, is bow your head and ask God to help you on this new day, this new journey. Every day you start, brethren, is a journey for you. You start, you have something to do, you have something to accomplish every day of your life. Please learn to start your day with the Lord. Don't let the Lord be some afterthought, you know? Don't let him be something where you're struggling in the middle of the day, then you ask for the Lord's help. Start the day of the Lord and he's going to help you, he's going to give you his strength, he's going to give you his power to help you be effective for him during that day. Don't you think the Lord will smile upon you if the first thought on your mind in the morning is Lord, I want to talk to you, Lord, I need your help today. Don't you think the Lord's going to come and say yes, son, I'm here for you, I'm yes, son, I'm going to help you, yes, daughter, I'm going to guide you through your day, I'm going to be a help unto you through the day. So point number one is to occupy the beginning of every journey with the Lord. And for my family, obviously my wife homeschools the children, the first thing my children do when they wake up is they open the Bible, they read a few chapters, the older ones read more chapters than the younger ones, then they write in their little notebooks what they learned from that chapter, they start the day of the Lord. There's wisdom in the word of God. God will grant you knowledge, will grant you productivity, efficiency if you spend your first moments with the Lord. And before Christina even starts homeschooling the kids, she gets them together, they read a portion of Bible, they sing a few songs, they start the day with the Lord. You know, the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, it's the beginning of wisdom. What's the point of my kids being homeschooled, trying to get the wisdom that comes out of the books if they haven't started with the fear of God first, with the wisdom that comes from God. You know, God can help open up our hearts, our understanding, and help us be more productive for the day. And brethren, if you're struggling in your occupation, whatever it is, you're struggling day by day just to finish the day, you're probably not starting with the Lord. I think because you're the same as me, alright, again, these things that I say, I know is true for you because it can be true for me. If I don't start the day with the Lord, it's going to be more challenging. And brethren, if you're just, you know, you can't face the next morning, say, oh, there's so much to do tomorrow, you got to learn just to start with the Lord. Just do it, just five minutes, 10 minutes, it doesn't have to be long, brethren, okay? Just start with the Lord, occupy the beginning of every journey with the Lord. Let's keep reading verse number two, Genesis 46 verse two, and God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob, and he said, here am I, and he said, I am God, the God of thy father, fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will then make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt and I will also surely bring thee up again and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. So you know, Egypt has a bad reputation, especially in his family, you know, there's been times when they've gone into Egypt, you know, Israel and his grandfather Abraham, and they got into into problems, right? There are fearful things in the land of Egypt, you know, the Bible, as far as Egypt is concerned with the Bible, it's a type of the world, it represents the ungodly, unsaved world, which we all live in, right? And here, God is instructing Jacob, yes, go to Egypt, don't be afraid, I'm with you, okay? So what does it say there in verse number three, let's read it one more time, and he said, I am God, the God of thy father, fear not to go down into Egypt, now look at this, for I will make thee, make of thee, a great nation. You know, you know who makes Jacob great, who makes Israel great, who makes that nation great? Was it Jacob? Was it his children? Man, as we've been reading these chapters, what do we see? We see messed up families, right? We see the men of God making big mistakes in life, you think they're going to succeed because of themselves? You know, God reminds him, the reason you're going to be great, the reason there's going to be a great nation, and it's going to come out of Egypt is because of me, says God, because of the Lord God, that's what he says, right? And please go, keep your finger there, and please go to First Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter 15, First Corinthians 15, we're thinking about our occupation. If we want to succeed, right? We want to be great in the occupation that God has for us. We need to remember that it's the Lord that makes us great. It's the Lord that makes us succeed. First Corinthians 15 verse 9, First Corinthians, and the book of First Corinthians is really great on this topic. First Corinthians 15 verse 9, the apostle Paul says, for I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God, but look at this, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Listen, was Paul a success? Was he a successful apostle? Man, how many books of the Bible did he write? Yeah, he's a great success. How many churches did he plant? How many people did he get saved? You know, God used him in a mighty way, didn't he, right? And Paul says, yeah, I labored. I labored hard, right? He says I labored more abundantly, but then he stops, and he says, but yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. That's the great thing about Paul. Yes he's successful. Yes he has a great ministry for the Lord God. Yes it's very easy for a man to, you know, to have a big head, you know, to think success is because of himself, right? It's very tempting for any man who has any success to think, well, it's me. It's all about me. But Paul stops. He says, yeah, I labored hard. He stops, but he recognizes God, right? He recognizes the grace of God. I can only be successful. I can only be great in my occupation because of the Lord. And so point number two, brethren, is that occupational success is due to the grace of God. Okay? Occupational success is due to the grace of God. Brethren, don't get cocky. You know, don't become prideful, you know, because of your success. And many of us have had success, but I want you to always say, well, it's because of the Lord God. I was able, I had the skills, I had the ability, I had the courage, I saw it out because of God's grace, because of God's strength, amen? We give glory to God, not to man. You can, if you go to chapter one now, First Corinthians chapter one, First Corinthians chapter one, and I'll just read some other portions to you while you're turning there. You know, very famous passage, Philippians 4, 13, the Bible says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. All things, brethren, all things. You know, I never thought I could be a church pastor. I never thought I could start a church. I never thought I could preach three times, four, sometimes five times a week, right? I never thought I could do it, right? Say why can't you do it? I never thought that I could leave a full-time job and leave the comforts of Sydney, everything that I know to come to Queensland. I never thought it was possible, and it's not possible, right? It's possible because of God, you know, it's through His strength that we can do all things. And brethren, if you're struggling to do your occupation, you know, if you've got a heart to serve the Lord in whatever capacity that that is, you know, yes, you're not going to find the strength in yourself. It is impossible for you, it is. It's only possible because of the Lord. It's only possible because of His strength. Occupational success is due to the grace of God. I'll just read another portion, Psalm 28, six, it says, blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications. Listen, brethren, if you need help, you need success, you take your supplications to God, right? He hears the voice of your supplications, and then it says in verse seven, the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusteth in Him, and I am helped, therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him, okay, with my song I will praise Him. God wants you to trust the Lord. He's given you an occupation, He's given you tasks to accomplish. God doesn't want you to be lazy with the days He's given you, He wants you to be productive, He wants you to serve Him, and if He wants you to serve Him, He's going to give you the ability, He's going to give you the strength, He's going to give you the resources, He's going to give you the help to accomplish the occupation that God has for you, all right? Look at 1 Corinthians 1, 26, 1 Corinthians 1, 26, again a very famous passage, but I just want you to take it in as we read this, because it says here, for ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble accord. You say, but Pastor Kevin, what about these great pastors that I know of, right, these great preachers that I listen to? These are great men, look at their wisdom, look at their knowledge, listen. You know, if you ask them personally, I'm sure all of them will say, I'm nothing, I'm nobody. I bet you they will all say, you know, I didn't think that I had the strength, I didn't think I had the wisdom, right? I mean, they were probably nobody when it comes to this world, right? God doesn't call, there's not many that are called that are mighty, not many called that are noble, verse number 27, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Brethren, you are foolish in the eyes of the world, but you can be wise, you can be wiser than anybody. You can have the wisdom of God and it's going to confound the world, it's going to confuse the world. How can these people who go to church on Sunday, who don't have any ambition to make great preachers on this earth, how can they be so wise, how can they be so happy, how can they be full of joy, how can they be enjoying life? They're fools, but no, we're made wise in the Lord, right? We are here to confound them. And it says, and God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. You know, one thing about church here that I often think about, I think about there's a lot of, there's a lot of people in our church, especially the ladies who struggle with different sicknesses, different ailments, different chronic struggles, right? And yet, what I read here, that God wants to use the weak, right? It says God have chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty. Look, it doesn't matter how physically weak you are, you know, God can use you. You know, I've said, I've wondered, you know, God, why are there so many sick people in our church? Why is that? But I know why. God wants to show his strength in weakness, right? He doesn't want the mighty here, because then it's going to be full of pride. It's going to be, right, people thinking that success is because of them. No, God is using the weak. He's using the sick in this church to do a great work for God, okay? And brethren, if you're suffering with weakness, with these struggles in your body, well, just trust the Lord. He's going to give you the strength to accomplish your occupation. Verse number 28, and base things of the world, and things which are despised have God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. That's why. Have you ever wondered why you're being awkward? Why, why, you know, and you said, God, you know, maybe I could do more for you if you gave me more abilities. I could do more for you, Lord, if you gave me more strength, you know, you might be thinking Lord, I can do more for you if I had greater wisdom, but God, that's how God wants to use you brethren. That's exactly, he wants to meet you where you are and make you something great. He wants to make you successful in your occupation, but through his strength, through his grace, okay? Not through your own personal strength. Back to Genesis 46, Genesis 46, please, and verse number five. Jacob rose up from Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons, which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. So just a reminder there, right? Pharaoh was in agreement with this idea from Joseph, so Pharaoh sends all the, you know, the transportation needed to bring all these families and all these, you know, cattle and all these things. Verse number six. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him, his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters and all his seed brought here with him into Egypt. Now, this is a very important lesson to learn here because I have seen many men of God fail, okay? Now, listen, was it God's will for Jacob to go to Egypt? Yes. Was it God's will for Jacob to go alone? What did we just read? All of his children, all of their wives, all his grandkids, they're all coming along on this ride. The entire family is on this journey with Israel. The entire family is on this journey. And brethren, you know, when God calls you for a work, when he calls you for his purpose, when he shows you his will for you in his life, he's taking your family with you, okay? It's not just you. And one of my old pastors would always say, when God, you know, and we know how they use these terms, right? But, you know, when God calls you to a ministry, he will say, he calls your whole family. Listen, brethren, I've desired to be a pastor for a while, but I've just waited patiently, patiently, patiently. I could have done my own thing, right? But part of it is my family wasn't ready. You know, my wife wasn't ready at some, at a certain point in time. And I'm thankful for that because I reckon if I started without, you know, my whole family on board, it would have failed. I had to wait for that point where my wife says, yes, you know, if this is what God's put on your heart, if this is your desire, if this is what you want to accomplish, I'm with you. You know, the children were with me. And that was the right time, right? Because when God has a job for you, he brings the whole family, right? And what do we see here? Pharaoh sent the wagons, right? God's going to provide the transportation, the opportunity to bring your entire family with you. Number three is do not sacrifice your family for your occupation. Do not sacrifice your family for your occupation. And you know, let's just take it to the workplace at the moment, right? And you know, sometimes you, you know, you work those long hours. Sometimes you're required to work overtime. And I understand those times come up, right? But Brevin, don't be that person that just works overtime for the sake of overtime, that just works all these long hours, just for the sake of money. And then you lose the hours with your family. You lose the time with your wife, you lose the time with your children. And I promise you, you're going to look back in life and you're going to regret all that time you've wasted, because your children grow so quickly, you know, and you before you know it, if you're not spending time with your wife, you're going to look at that woman and not know even who she was, you knew who she was when you married her, but you don't know who she is anymore, because you've sacrificed your family for your occupation. No Brevin, you've got to find the right balance, right? God wants you to work. He's given you an occupation, but don't forget, you don't sacrifice your family for it. How many pastors have I seen? They've gone into the ministry, right? Oh, they're serving God, they've been a pastor, they're doing things beyond what the word of God even calls them to do. And then their family falls apart. You know, there's a pastor that I love very much that I'm thinking about right now, I won't even name him. And his family's fallen apart. You know, the kids don't care about church. Several children don't care about church, they don't care about God. The oldest says, I don't even believe God exists anymore. He doesn't say, he says, I don't even believe the Bible anymore. He sacrificed his family for his occupation. Oh, but he was serving the church. No, he should have done it with his family. He should not have neglected his family. And I say this unashamedly, but my family comes first. God comes first, I should say that, then my family, then my ministry. If I don't have my family, I don't have my ministry. Okay, too many men are seeking the ministry and sacrificing their families. It's sad. It's sad. You know, I think of missionaries, you know, I can think of a very famous missionary in the IFB world here in Australia, that, you know, would go for months, months. And I'm thinking he must be there with his wife, only to find his wife is still in Sydney. Right? I mean, he's gone. I'm telling you, for several weeks, for several months, gone from his wife. That's wrong, brethren. You know, if God is calling you to some work, some ministry, you know, for an extended period of time, he's taking your family along. God will send the wagons, okay, as we've seen in the story. God's not going to call you to some work if you're, listen, if you think this is a job I need to accomplish, this is a work that I need to do for the Lord, but my family can't come along, then it's not from the Lord, okay? It's from the desires of your own heart. This is not where the Lord wants you. He's not going to bless you there if you're without your family. Brethren, you know, my very first IFB pastor, I still thank, I thank God for the effect that he had in my life, but he wanted to be a missionary to China, okay? He went to China, his wife didn't come along, his children didn't come along. He went to China and the idea was to be back and forth constantly between the United States and China. Without his wife, commits adultery, destroys his ministry, ends in divorce, he's now remarried and his wife is remarried. The ministry is gone, right? The children growing up without mum and dad, you know what, he sacrificed his family for the ministry. Wrong! Listen, we can't be like this, brethren. You've got to value, man, you've got to value your families. You've got to sacrifice your families for your occupation. You know, God's going to give you an occupation where you can be there with your family, where you can look after your family, where you can spend time with your family. Too many men of God and yes, you know, even the laymen, you know, sacrificing their families for their workplaces, it is wrong, okay? You've got to find the balance. You know, brethren, if you're in a workplace and you're spending too many hours, you know, and they're needing you too much, you've got to go to your boss and say, boss, look, you know, I don't mind doing it once in a while, but I've got a family, okay? I've got children, I've got a wife, I need to be home with these people. You know, try to work out flexible hours. Maybe you can work a bit of time at home or whatever, you know? Today we have so many resources, we have the internet, a lot of people work from home and they use these opportunities to spend more time with the family. I think that those are good things to strive for. Please, you know, point number three was do not sacrifice your family for your occupation. Genesis 46, verse eight, Genesis 46, verse eight. And these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. So now we have all the list of the family here. And it says the sons of Reuben, Haynock and Paalu and Hezron and Cami, and the sons of Simeon, Jemuel and Jamon and Ohad and Jachin and Zoah and Shaul, the son of a Canaanitish woman, the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath and Merari, and the sons of Judah, Ur and Onan and Sheila. And by the way, who's Ur and Onan? You probably remember them in Genesis 38, right? These were the children of Judah, which God killed himself, like God himself killed these people for their weakness. Remember Ur and Onan? And it says here, Ur and Onan and Sheila and Pharis and Zerah, but then it says here, but Ur and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharis were Hezron and Hamuel, verse number 13, and the sons of Ishcha, Tolah and Puva and Job and Shimron, and the sons of Zebulun, Sarad and Elon and Jaleel. But these are the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, and his daughter Dinah, all the souls of his sons, and his daughters were thirty and three. And the sons of Gad, Ziphion and Hegai, Shuni, Ezron, Eri, and Arodi and Areli, and the sons of Asher, Jimna and Isshua and Issui, and Bariah and Sarah, their sister. And the sons of Beria, Heba and Melchiel, these are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin, and unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of On, bare unto him. And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Beecher and Ashbel, Jerah and Nahum, Eli and Rosh, Mipim and Hupim and Ad. I hope my wife is listening to these names. We still haven't got a name for our eleventh child on the way, all right? So pay attention, honey, she's back, she's in the back room there. I don't know which of those names. If you guys have a good recommendation, let me know. Verse number 22, these are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob, all the souls were fourteen, and the sons of Dan, Husham, and the sons of Naphtali, Jaziel and Juni and Jezah and Shilam, these are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob, all the souls were seven. Okay, now verse 26, and the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were free school and six. So how much is free school and six kids? Who remembers that, any of the kids? Free school and six, huh? Yeah, 66, right? So the score is 20, free school, three times 20, and the six, 66. So 66, not including the wives and not including Jacob, it's those that came with Jacob into Egypt, right? 66. And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls, and the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were free school and 10. So how much now? Free school is 60 and 10, 70, right? 60 plus 10 is 70. So all together, it was 66 that came from the land of Canaan, not including Jacob, but when you count Joseph who was already in Egypt with him and his two sons, and you count Jacob, it's 70. So all together, it was 70 souls that came from the loins of Jacob, as it were, okay? And the reason I'm bringing this up is because if you can keep your finger, they go to Exodus 1 now, Exodus 1. So this is now obviously the children of Israel going into Egypt, right? Now for the next 400 or so years, they're going to be in that land. They're not going to return to the land of Canaan. They're going to be stuck in Egypt for quite a while, okay? And of course, when we go to Exodus, that's the story of Moses, where God would use Moses to take the children of Israel out of Egypt, but I just want you to notice what happens several centuries later there in Exodus 1 verse 7. It says, and the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them. What was God's promise to Jacob as he went into Egypt? He said, in that land, that's where he's going to make them a great nation. And so what we see several centuries later, it was only 70 of them. It's only 70 that went into an entire different nation, and now they're very fruitful. They've increased abundantly. They've multiplied. Now, get to Exodus, oh no, I don't have the reference now. Sorry guys, I don't have the reference, but when they left Egypt, it tells us that the men that were on foot, like, you know, when it comes to the Israelites, the men that were on foot were 600,000 men, men that were, you know, grown men, adults that were on foot that left Egypt were 600,000, just the men. Now, if you consider, you know, roughly females and men, it's 50-50 that get born into, you know how it is, that would be, let's say, another 600,000 women. That's over a million people. Now, we're not even including the children now. That's 1.2 million, roughly, you know, that came out of Egypt. I don't know what the children could be. You know, that would easily bring the number into the 2 million mark, okay? All from 70 people, okay? So I'm doing the best I can, brethren, right? I'm doing the best I can to go from 70 to 2.5 million at New Life Baptist Church, but I need some help, man. Come on, guys. Something's happening. But, you know, obviously, we just see, you know, the growth, right? This was the promise that God had given to, sorry, to Israel, and we see obviously God coming through with that promise. So yeah, a lot of people estimate that the number of people that came out of Egypt was somewhere between 2 to 3 million, and don't forget, also, the Bible says a mixed multitude also left with the Israelites as well, so others, you know, Egyptians, others from Africa also left with the Israelites. They've also made the Lord God their God as well on their journey. Anyway, verse number 28 now, Genesis 46, verse 28. And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen, and they came into land of Goshen, and Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen and presented himself unto him, and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while, and Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. You know, this story makes me a little emotional, right? You know, the favorite son there of Israel, you know, Joseph being the favorite son of Israel, he finally now sees once again the face of Joseph. He thought he was dead. He can see him, right? He sees him, and what does it say when he sees him? He says, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face. He says, Look, I can die happy now. I can die satisfied, you know, it's complete, right? And here's the fourth point that I have for you, brethren. The fourth point that I have is complete your occupational tasks, complete your occupational tasks. Listen, Jacob got on that journey. He didn't quit. He went all the way, and he saw his son's face, and he says, Now I can die happy. Now I'm content. Now I'm satisfied. But he's only satisfied and content because he finished the journey. He finished his occupational tasks that God had set him on, brethren, okay? What if he went halfway and quit? You know, what if he started, he got prepared and said, Well, no, you know what, I'm not going to make the trip. What if he said, No, I'm just too old for it? He would not have seen Joseph. He would not have seen him face to face, brethren. And so what I'm saying to you is that you need to learn to complete your occupational tasks. Don't be a quitter is what I'm saying, right? Don't quit. See it through. In 2 Timothy 4.6, Paul says, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. And I wish I can say that, you know, when I'm on my deathbed bed. I wish I could say, you know, I completed the course, I finished a course that God set for my life. Brethren, we can't be quitters, all right? Don't be someone that starts a project and you quit halfway through. You know, learn to finish the job, the occupational tasks that God has set for you. You know, what can this look like? Your Bible reading. You know, again, if you've not read your Bible cover to cover, I stress this because it's important. All right? If you've finished a Bible cover to cover, people have died, have shed their blood so you can have that book in your hands, all right? It's been translated. You got it in English. You've got it perfect. There are other nations on this earth that cannot claim a perfect Bible in their language. You've got it in English. Praise God. But here's the thing. How many times do we start? Say, Lord, we're going to finish a Bible cover to cover. You get to later half of Exodus, Leviticus, and you quit. Complete the task, brethren. Complete the occupational task. Brethren, having children. Having children. Finish the task. You know, getting pregnant, giving birth to that child, it's amazing. It's awesome. Thank God if you've got a bunch of kids. But finish it. It's not just have children. Now that you have them, you've got to raise them, you've got to teach them, you've got to love them, you've got to instruct them, you've got to discipline them, you've got to be there, you've got to invest your time. Don't quit. Too many parents have children and they quit. They're gone. They don't spend time with their kids. They throw them in the public school. You know, I quit, someone else can take over. Wrong. Finish the task. Finish the task until that child grows up, gets married, and leaves the home. And then finish it. You hand them over. Done. You don't get involved. You don't make problems in that married life. You let them live their life now. You've completed the task and you'll be happy if you've done it all. It's not just having kids. Anybody can have kids. It's raising them to love the Lord, to raise that godly seed. That's what you need to finish. You need to finish what you started. You know, people start a new job, right? They start a new job. And again, I employed a lot of people. I'd see them start and then it gets hard. It's hard because there's a learning curve. No matter what job you start, there's a learning curve. It's always something that you've got to learn new, right? And it gets difficult, it gets challenging, and then I don't see them the next day. I ring them up. You're meant to come in today. I quit. What? What's wrong with you? What's happening to this generation that we're bringing up? A generation of quitters. When it gets hard, you keep going. Once you learn it, it's fine. You get through it. You know, everything requires some challenge. Any satisfaction requires some challenge. George, don't you think this journey for Israel was difficult as an old man? You know, established in the land of Canaan, he goes to a place he doesn't know? Of course it was hard for him. Did he quit? No, he wasn't a quitter, right? He completed his occupational task. Reverend, divorce is not an option. Divorce is not an option. You finish what you started. You started. You made vows, you exchanged vows to your wife, to your husband. You don't quit. There's no such thing as quitting. There's no such thing as divorce. You know, the biblical divorce we see in the Bible doesn't really play out in our society because in our society, you get married, you consummate the marriage pretty much the first night. Okay? They did things a little bit differently which allowed them for that bill of divorcement before they consummated the marriage. But listen, brethren, once you've consummated that marriage, you've exchanged those vows. That's your husband and wife. You don't quit. You complete the task till death do us part. When one party dies, you've done it. Praise God, right? You know, and if they're saved, you know, ideally, you see them in heaven again, right? But you're no longer married, okay? But complete the task. Divorce is not an option. And brethren, church planting. Church planting. You know, New Life Baptist Church is important to me. You know, I didn't come here just to try. I didn't come here to play games, all right? We came here to start this church. I want this church to remain until the coming of the Lord. Now look, at some point, if the Lord's coming is, you know, 100 years from now, I'm not going to be there. At some point, that responsibility is going to fall in the next generations. But I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this church continues, all right? I didn't go down to sit and to start a church just to try it. Listen, it's important to me, right? I spent half a week away from my family. I miss my family. All right? It's important to me. It's important to you. Yes, it's peaceful away from the children. Yes, it's a little quiet. But I can't wait to be home, all right? But you know why I do that? Why I spend time in the sitting church? Because I started that church. I want to finish the task. We want to find a pastor to take over that church. And I can finish the task and say, well, there you go, it's done. Whatever we start, whatever ministries, whatever church we start, it's not a game. There are people's souls on the line. There are people that are trying to grow in the Lord. And if you mess it up, you're going to mess up the spiritual lives of the people in the church. I don't want that in my heart. I don't want that in my conscience that I started something, people got invested, got excited and it all falls apart. If that happened, I'd be embarrassed to face God when I have to present myself in the churches. We need to complete our occupational task, whatever it is, brethren, finish what you started. If you're in the workplace, let's say you are quitting to find another job. Usually most workplaces will ask you for some notice, a week, two weeks notice. Give them that. Finish it. And in those last two weeks, you know what you do? You put your head down and you work harder than you've ever worked. You make sure that the tasks that you can finish, you finish them off and you pass them on to the next person so you can have a good reputation, so you can have a good report. And I promise if you end your workplace like that, you have a good reputation, next time you're without work, you call up your old bosses and they'll be like, of course we want you back. Of course we want you back, they'll say to you, because of the reputation, because of the good report that you've left in your previous employment. Brethren, complete your occupational tasks. Verse number 31. And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh and say unto him, my brethren and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan are come unto me. And the men are shepherds for their trade have been to feed cattle and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. So just to notice there that the brothers, the family, you know, they're shepherds. That's one of the main jobs is to keep sheep, okay? But look at this. Here's where Joseph tells his family to be a little bit tactful in the way you respond to Pharaoh, okay? Look at verse number 33. And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, what is your occupation? And he says, look, this is what you say when Pharaoh asks you. Verse number 34, that ye shall say, thy servants trade have been about cattle from our youth until now. Okay, so look, this is our trade. We're all about the cattle. Like, you know, he's embarrassed to say, for the family to say we're shepherds, okay? What he's trying to say is, look, we breed, we're like the business owners, you know, we trade in cattle, you know, and you know, like, you know, the servants, they're the shepherds. That's kind of the idea. You'll soon see here, all right? Sorry, I'll just read verse number 34 again, that ye shall say, thy servants trade have been about cattle from our youth, even until now, both we and also our fathers, that we may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And the Egyptians didn't like shepherds, all right? It's like a lower social class to them, all right? And so Joseph is concerned how Pharaoh will react, you know, when they ask him. And here's the thing. Even though Joseph gives this advice, you know, be a bit more vague, you know, we just trade in cattle, right? Be a bit vague. You'll find in the next chapter, Israel, he's not embarrassed. He just tells Pharaoh straight out, I'm a shepherd. Okay? So he doesn't even take that. We'll get to that next on Sunday anyway. But Brevin, the last points that I have for you, right? These guys are shepherds, and it's said there that for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. The last point that I have, point number five, is the world will uphold your occupation. Okay? The world will uphold the things that occupy your time, your life, okay? This is normal for a Christian, okay, to be a peculiar person. It's normal for a Christian to stand out and be different in this world, you know, your anti-birth control beliefs. That's going to be abhorred by the world, okay? You walking around with a bunch of kids, they're going to uphold you, they're going to laugh at you. Yes, they laugh at us, but bring it on, you know, treasures in heaven, every time, right? You know, we don't vaccinate our kids, you know, I believe God created our children, you know, the way he wanted, you know, God has given them an immune system, I don't need to inject them with all this chemical rubbish, right? But the world abhors that, okay? The things that you occupy your time, hey, we're pro-homeschooling, all right? You know, when you mention to your friends and your family that you homeschool your kids, how do they react? They abhorred it, didn't they? They mocked it, did they not? Listen, this is normal for the world to abhor your occupation. We're pro-child discipline, we're pro-getting that rod and giving them a smack on the bottom. I'm pro that. The world abhors that, okay? It's an abomination unto the Egyptians. You come into church, you're spending your time, even your finances, to give to the local church, the world will laugh at you. It doesn't make sense to them. You know, they're thinking, don't you know Netflix has a great new series on there? What are you doing spending your hour at church? What are you doing spending your finances to help the work of God when you can buy yourself a boat, you know, in these beautiful rivers and lakes that we have on the Sunshine Coast? You know, that's what the world's thinking. Buy yourself a boat? Why are you giving it to the work of God? They abhor the things that occupy your time and your life. Mission strips, brother RJ, you know, from the United States to the Philippines, you know, that was your hope, that was your plan to win some souls, to do a great work for the Lord, you know, you take time off work, it's expensive to fly to the other side of the world, it costs money, the world abhors that. The world doesn't understand why you're spending a thousand dollars to do such things, right? Listen, your occupation, get used to it, the things that your heart should be on, serving the Lord, you know, being a godly husband, being a godly father, being a godly wife, being godly children, loving the Lord, serving him, using your time to do the work of God will be an abomination to this world, but I, you know, I love it like that. I like it, I like it that the world doesn't like it how I live my life. That's awesome actually, alright, because I'm not like this, just a program, brainwash program of society, it's nice to stand out, alright, it's nice to be a little different, it's nice to know that what I do on this earth reverberates into eternity, that everything I do if we serve the Lord will be counted worthy in heaven, not in this earth but definitely in heaven. Now for the sake of time, I'm not going to finish my notes here, but let me just, if you guys could go to Luke 19, Luke 19, I'll just finish up with this, Luke 19 verse 11, Luke 19 verse 11, I'll just end on this one, and as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear, he said therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. Now very quickly, this parable, this is about Jesus Christ, you know, after he was crucified, he rose from the dead, he's now gone to heaven, right, he's gone to heaven, he's going to that far country, he's seated at the right hand side of the Father, and he will return as we've been studying, but look at verse number 13, and he called his 10 servants and delivered them 10 pounds and said unto them, occupy till I come, occupy, what should your occupation be brethren, God has given you pounds, God has given you the gospel, God has seen you saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, he's given you the Holy Spirit, he's given you the Word of God, he's given you New Life Baptist Church, he's given you brothers and sisters in the Lord in this church, and he wants you to occupy till he comes, what's your going to be occupation brethren, what are you going to spend your time on, is it the Netflix, is it the Facebook, you know, what are you spending your time on, you know, and you know, I'm not perfect, preparing this sermon, I'm looking at my time, I'm wasting my time, you know, there are things that I could be doing greater, I could be doing greater things for the Lord, I could be using my time wiser, and I know you can say the same about yourselves, I know you can look at your life, and so I can be doing much more things that are worthy, things that are more important to eternity than what I'm wasting my time on brethren, God wants us to occupy till he comes, he's given us all the resources, he's given us his grace to do the things that would be impossible otherwise, you know, God has given you so many things, he wants your occupation on the things of God, let me just conclude with those points once again, you know, brethren, what is your occupation, number one, occupy the beginning of every journey with the Lord, number two, occupational success is due to the grace of God, number three, do not sacrifice your family for your occupation, number four, complete your occupational tasks, and number five, the world will uphold your occupation. Okay, let's pray.