Forgiven: Joseph's Journey Through Betrayal

But , the Bible says we study to show ourselves approved . Yes , yes , so we've got to keep that constantly pulling in our minds . You know , when I go out and do my walks in the morning , I walk around this place three times in the morning Takes me forever , but I walk around three times in the morning , so much of the time I'll get to talk .

Lord , talk to me today . Tell me what I need to know . You know I talk to him and he does . Things will roll over in my mind and everything else like that . Am I perfect ? No , there ain't no way .

But one of the things is sometimes we need to be attentive and listen to what god has to say for us , even in our everyday routine , whether maybe it's doing laundry , maybe it's sweeping for us , but we don't have to do that anymore . I still have to do a lot , but that's one thing .

From the grave to the sky . Lord , I lift your name high . Hear the chorus again . You came from heaven to earth to show the way From the earth to the cross . I'm dead today . From the cross to the grave , from the grave to the sky . Lord , I lift your name on high . Look at the top . Lord , I lift your name on high .

Lord , I love to sing your praises . I'm so glad you're in my life . I'm so glad you're in my life . I'm so glad you came to save us . You came from heaven to earth To show the way From the earth to the cross . I'm meant to be . From the cross to the grave , From the grave to the sky . Lord , I lift your name on high . Hang it up .

Lord , I lift your name on high , Lord I lift your name on high .

Father God , we thank you for allowing us to come to you today to worship in your name , to extol you , to honor you , to love you and to be here with family , Because you brought us here to learn about you , to walk in your ways and to cherish you in your son Jesus' name . Amen , to walk in your ways and to cherish you in your son Jesus' name . Amen .

I hope you all had a great week . I've had a great week , but you know , no matter how fulfilling , my week is the most fulfilling time of the week when we can come together and we can praise God and learn about his word , learn how to honor him and learn about the glorious holy God we served .

And before we get into this message about Joseph and continue about forgiveness , I would just like to talk a little bit

about the holiness of God . I was reading , I was doing some study lately and I was writing a paper and the the professor was asking about what is the whole point of the law of the old testament ?

you know , because a lot of people they'll read the old testament , let's say well , the old testament is a different God and the new testament is a different God , because they don't understand God .

And I always say if you remember , when Moses , god commanded Moses to take his sandals off , before the law was ever given , the 613 laws , he said take your sandals off , moses , for the ground you're going to approach is holy ground and the ground does what it always does . The ground didn't change , the elements didn't change , the dirt was the dirt .

But God said you're approaching me on this ground , so acknowledge my holiness . So this law was to reveal the displacement of man and the chasm between man and God and to show the holiness of God . So I always stress the importance that we read this Bible . We are reading and serving a holy , majestic God , a king of the universe .

His son , that was given to us as a sacrificial lamb , revealed himself as a lion in certain instances , and especially after his resurrection .

So I would like to read , before we get into the story of Joseph's continue , I would just like to kind of reveal what the greatest commandment is right , because we could have all the theology in the world , we could be the smartest person in the room , we could study the Bible day and night and even win debates .

But what if we don't understand the nature of God ? What if we don't understand who he is and how much we should actually love him and adore him ?

You know , and I even told one of my colleagues I said well , god pours his self out in the Old Testament of how much he loved his people , how much he desired to bring them back to him , how much it broke his heart , especially in Ezekiel's , has just come back to me . I love you . Well , the law was in place . Grace has always been there .

The Old Testament is riddled and lined with grace . I even told somebody recently they're kind of perplexed that the law was given by grace , even though Jesus fulfilled the law and we experienced the ultimate grace . Because without the law , how would we know the chasm that exists between us and God and what we would need to be redeemed from ?

So as we look towards the law and we're not fighting by the law , we can respect the law and we can get a prism of many different beautiful colors of the majesty and holiness of God .

So when we enter here and we worship God , we're entering , in a sense , the tabernacle , the new tabernacle , the church , where God , the angels and Jesus Christ himself are amongst us even now , in the invisible and the heavenlies that we just can't see . He's here and isn't that a blessed thing that we get to take part in .

Let's read what's called the great shaman , deuteronomy 6 4 and I want to just read this before we get into this story about joseph , because what his brothers did , they didn't do particularly this . And moses writes in the shema . He writes now this is the commandment , the statues and the rules that the Lord , your God , command me to teach to you .

That you may do them in the land which you are going over to possess it , that you may fear the Lord , your God , you and your son and your son's son , by keeping all of his statutes and his commandments , which I command you , all of the days of your life , and that your days may be long .

Hear , therefore , o Israel , and be careful to do them , that it may go well with you , and that it may go well with you and that you may multiply greatly , as the Lord , the God of your fathers , have promised you and the land flowing with milk and honey . So Moses goes through this dissertation about do this and you're going to be okay , follow the law .

He's talking about the law , but this is what Moses writes subsequently Hear , o Israel , the Lord , our God . The Lord is one . You shall love the Lord , your God , with all of your heart , with all of your soul and with all of your might , and these words that I command you today shall be in your heart . You know the law , everything you know .

Isn't it fascinating ? God says love me with all of your heart , with all your might , with all of your mind . See , I , when I read this bible , when I study theology , when I read this Bible , when I study theology , when I

preach , it's all about a relationship with God . How much you honor him , how much you love him . Can you imagine being in a relationship in your life with one of your children , even thinking in the past , if you were married , a friend , and you took the element of love and just removed it out of the relationship ? Completely , 100% , all together .

Right , because every relationship in its own sense is defined by rules .

Because people are complicated , right . But Paul says says love doesn't keep account it covers a multitude of sins . You know god is saying all this is pointing forward to the relationship and the love that I want to demonstrate to you . You know that's when we're going to time travel back into Joseph and him and his brother selling him into slavery .

You know , and I read this story and it's just I look at my own trials in life and I say Joseph got it right , he really got it . Let's travel back in time , and

I'm going to start here . Continue on chapter 37 , go over this real fast because we read it . But we can refresh our memories Now . His brothers went to pastor their flock father's flock near Shechem . Now his brothers went to pastor their flock father's flock near Shechem .

And Israel said to Joseph , which his name is , jacob Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem ? Come , I will send you to them . And he said to them here I am . So he said to him Go now see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock and bring me word . So dad jacob is sending his brothers to go give a report .

He's sending joseph to give a report on his brothers and at this point his brothers can't stand him right . The bible says they hated him . His dad made him a coat of many colors and joseph danced in it all day long , right .

So , as we were talking about last time , we saw what the favoritism of jacob did , we saw what the resentment of his brothers did , and we're going to continue the story to capitalize on that . So he sent him from the valley of hebron and he came to shechem . A man found him wandering in the fields and the man asked him what are you seeking ?

I am seeking my brothers . He said tell me please where they are pastoring the flock . And the man asked him what are you seeking ? I am seeking my brothers . He said tell me please where they are pasturing the flock . And the man said they have gone away . For I heard them say let us go to Dothan .

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan . They saw him from afar and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him over their jealousy . And that's why I opened up with the Deuteronomy 6 , 4 , the great Shema .

Because were they loving God with that intent in their heart , with all their heart , with all their strength , with all their mind ? They were so far away from God , god , so far away from the majesty , all that they were taught by jacob the patriarchs , abraham , noah , that they were of israel . But they gravitated so far away they wanted to kill their brother .

They conspired to kill him . They said to one another here comes this dreamer . Come now , let us kill him and throw him in the pits and we will say a fierce animal has devoured him and we will see what will become of his dreams . You know , if they would have got their way and killed Joseph , we would never have the Redeemer .

Think about the providence of God in his hand in the midst of all of this , because Jesus is a descendant of Joseph , right ? So God , invisibly based off his providence , is involved in all of this and he's directly involved in Joseph's life . And so what lesson is that for us ?

You know , when we're suffering persecution , when we don't have the answers , when we think life isn't going right , how involved is God in our personal lives ? He's involved in our lives as he's involved in Joseph's life , and I'm sure Joseph couldn't even see all this at the time . So they said let's report to father that a fierce animal has ripped him apart .

But when Reuben heard it , he rescued him out of their hands , saying let us not take his life . And Reuben said shed no blood , throw him in to the pit here in the wilderness , but do not lay hands on him . That , but he said it so they might restore him to his father and we'll jump ahead and we'll sing a song , but we'll jump ahead .

But I want to show you how God was directly involved in Joseph's life For our sake , so we could have a Savior . And what Joseph had to learn through trial and tribulation , suffering because he learned about God , he learns about the Savior . I want to ask everybody here a question .

If we could look back on our lives 20 years ago , 30 , 40 years ago , whatever , and we took all the suffering out of our life , what would we have learned ? Suffering is the chisel in God's hands that he uses to shape us for the entirety of our life .

So Joseph is suffering , he's being betrayed , he's being sold into slavery , even in the next chapter , where Potter , first wife , accuses him of trying to violate her . All this is literally pointing to the fact that God is revealing himself to Joseph and who he is , based off his providence . The most valuable lessons I've ever learned is

the times of trial , the times of suffering , some of the closest times I've ever felt close to God is when I felt like life has left me behind . Has anybody ever felt like that ? Some of my deepest prayers have came from times of trial , times of loss . You know , when Joseph was in that cell , rotting in that dungeon , the only thing he had was prayer .

The only thing he had was his relationship with God .

But you know what God tells us in Deuteronomy 6 for do not forget me when I take you in to the land of prosperity , because usually when people they acquire a lot in life , especially in this world , they forget all about God they don't pray anymore , they don't search for him anymore , they don't really want a whole lot to do with him .

And it fascinates me that if I turn the TV on and talk to people and just look where the world's at as a preacher and this tells me something about the society we live in , don , as a preacher , sometimes I tell God I said I just feel like a relic to this world , like something adequate , like a paperweight To you . I'm not .

You told Elijah , you're not alone . 7,000 have not bowed the knee to Baal . Don't have a pity party , josh , you're not alone . I have my chosen . You know what bears witness to that ? Well , all of you are here right now . You know we're a certain amount of people that have not bowed the knee to Baal , right .

What a beautiful experience that we get to worship with God in a world that is so dark , in absence of the light Right , and to be part of that . So , don , I'm going to let you take it away , because I want you to sing a song , because I want to stop talking .

And those of mercy , worships of love . This is my story . This is my song , praising my Savior all day long . This is my story , this is my song . This is my story . This is my song , praising my Savior all the day long .

Number three , perfect submission all is at rest , lying my saviour , and happy and well , sager and happy and well , watching and waiting , looking above , filled with His goodness , lost in His love .

He sent me a message and he said you know what , pastor Joshua ? Well , forgiveness sets non-Christians free too . You know , I really thought about that and he had some explanation marks at the end of it , you know , and I was thinking and I said well , no , not really , it doesn't , because freedom is only freedom in Christ .

Right , so we can donate to charity , we can be a secularist and we can forgive people all day long , but where does that get you ? It doesn't get you salvation . It doesn't get you any more right with God , doesn't get you any more right with God . When we truly forgive , we expect nothing in return .

And I want to kind of clarify what I said last time Our forgiveness is unconditional , like Joseph , there's no conditions attached . You know , it's for our relationship and our benefit of our relationship with God . And I was telling a person last week . Reconciliation has to do with the three R's . The person wants to reconcile you when they've harmed you .

They need to repent , understand what they've done , turn a different direction , ask for forgiveness . They need to provide restitution , which means monetary , or somehow build the relationship back up from destroying it , which means monetary , or somehow build the relationship back up from destroying it .

And three , they have to rehab themselves , proving that they've rehabilitated themselves and the defense is no longer going to be propagated against someone because it demonstrates true repentance . So there's a misconception of the bible that forgiveness just is equal to doormat . You just let people walk over you and I get a lot of questions .

They go ain't I just supposed to keep dealing with people that take advantage of me if I forgive them ? God says no , because forgiveness is unconditional . You do it no matter what . It's for me and you , so you don't become bitter . So you don't . You don't get in the way of our Own relationship and we're going to continue on .

But I like asking questions Because I remember my own life . Anybody here ever held a grudge in their life ? I have .

I have quite a few grudges in my life and I'll admit it and I've noticed that that's because you don't want to forgive , because a I'll admit it and I've noticed that that's because you don't want to forgive , because a person will tell God you know what , not right now , god , I just don't have the time .

I'm going to do this my way , I'm going to go through my process and I'm going to meet these conditions in order to forgive . But you know , then you have this chasm with God . The valley gets wider , wider , wider , deeper and deeper and deeper .

And you know , what I've noticed when that's happened to me is God's voice gets further and further and further and further away . I would almost say it's like being trapped in the darkness in the wilderness and somebody's screaming on top of a mountain .

And the closer you get , the louder the voice gets and you're saved when you end up coming out of that darkened forest and you experience that joy . But if that voice gets bleaker and dimmer and dimmer and dimmer , well , you're just stuck in that darkness , you're stuck in that chaos , you're stuck all along .

They say hell is a place that a person has left unto themselves . I couldn't imagine anything more tragic and frightening being in a place where I've been left to myself for all eternity .

I just thank God that he's given us hope . He's given us truth . He's given us truth . He's given us a savior . And look what Joseph faced Now . Joseph had been brought down to Egypt after he was sold and Potiphar , an officer of Pharaoh , the captain of the guard , an Egyptian , had brought him to the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there .

Remember , joseph was sold into slavery . His brothers wanted to kill him .

The family was in turmoil , favoritism , jealousy , choosing another child over their child , selling him ended up in egypt and the bible says god was with him the whole time and he brought him up and he elevated him into a position of the captain of the pharaoh , a man named potiphar and says the lord was with joseph and he became a successful man and he was in

the house of his egyptian master . His master saw and it says Well , how is that ? A pagan that had thousands of gods looked at Joseph's character and knew the Lord was with him . You know , when we walk with God , when we talk with God , we sing songs to God . People see God in us and people are so lost they will gravitate towards you .

The holy spirit will flow out and they will want to change . It's not complicated . So our prayer life , our walk with god . Just like joseph , he says he observed , and pharaoh knew it was his god . So jose Joseph found favor in the site and attended him and he made him oversee his house and put him in charge of all that he had .

From the time that he made him oversee in his house and over all that he had , the Lord blessed the Egyptians house , for's sake . The blessing of the Lord was on him . He had no concern about anything but the food he ate . Joseph's hand , god's hand , was on Joseph , it says for his sake .

Now , joseph was handsome in form and appearance and after a time , his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said lie with me . But he refused and said to his master's wife behold , because of me , my master has no concern about anything in this house and he has put everything that he has in my charge . He is not greater .

He is not greater in this house than I am , nor has he kept back anything from me except you , because you are his wife . How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God ? And as she spoke to Joseph day after day , he would not listen to her , to lie beside her or be with her .

You know , and it's amazing when I read this , because scripture jumps out and it speaks to us and Joseph says how can I sin against you and do such a wicked thing ? Because I would be sinning against my God . You want me to tell you what the difference between Christians and non-Christians are in this world . What restrains a non-Christian ?

The world Philosophy , what restrains them ? We know , when we do something that we're alienating our God , that we're in love with and that love , that law of liberty , keeps us from doing things we should not be doing , like Joseph in the story did .

He would not lie with her , but one day , when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house were there in the house , she caught him by his garment saying lie with me , but he left his garment in her hand and fled out the house . I know a lot of you heard this and this is true , heard this and this is true .

Sometimes , when it comes to sin , the only

thing we can do is run from it . You know , and we read the story of Joseph , but what character is not being mentioned and what character is missing from this whole story ? The enemy , satan . Satan was there whispering in his brother's ears . Satan was there whispering in Potiphar's wife's ears .

Satan was directly involved in this whole entire thing , and so was God . Remember the story of Joseph . He says take all away , that he has Job , I mean , and he says , but you cannot kill him . So the whole story of Job is you've got this whole story about the battle , in a sense , between God and Satan .

So God's active , jesus is active , the Holy Spirit's active , but Satan is active also , and that's when we're reading this story . He is at work in Joseph's life . I always tell people when you're saved , when you love your God , when you honor your God , satan's not far behind .