WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:08.160 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:13.039 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:13.759 Amen. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:14.640 You can have a seat. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.000 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Exodus chapter one. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:19.440 Exodus chapter one. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.600 If you're a guest today, we started last week. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:29.280 Uh we're going through the book of Exodus episodically, not verse by verse, which is called exegetically, but different episodes in the book of Exodus. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:31.039 Last week we did an overview. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:37.039 It's like we all got in a helicopter and just kind of flew over the book of Exodus and said, hey, here's seven things you need to keep in mind. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.119 Well, today I want to talk to you about a story of promise, provision, and people. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:46.000 Or if you don't like that title, another title is simply this getting the article right. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:47.200 Getting the article right. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:01:01.359 And what I mean by getting the article right is our article is in the part of speech, it's like words like the, or, and, and when it comes to this whole story of the God's telling, we we live a story, but we don't always live in the story. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:03.119 Does that make sense what I'm saying? 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:08.879 And so we got to make sure we get the article right because our story is a little S and the story is a capital S. 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.879 It's bigger and better and beyond anything we can ask or imagine. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.120 And so uh let me just begin with a confession. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.480 Uh, how about that to start with? 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:16.879 Hey? 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:18.000 You up for that? 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.879 Some of y'all looked up for the first time all morning right there, like now I'm interested. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:24.799 Uh this is one of those parts of the Bible. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.040 I'm gonna read the first seven verses of Exodus. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:32.959 This is one of those parts of the Bible that when you read it, you'll be real tempted to go, yeah, I got nothing. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.359 Let me just pray and be done. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:42.719 Uh and this is why you need to kind of understand what the Bible says and kind of look at it, and there are things that'll jump off the page. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:43.840 Let me just kind of read it. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:49.120 I'm gonna read it and then I'm gonna preach it backwards because I think it makes more sense, kind of walking back up through the passage. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.359 Exodus chapter 1, verse 1. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:02:05.680 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.960 That's like calling the roll at homeschool right there, okay? 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.759 That's all the good names right there listed out. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.800 Now, now here he says, these are the names of the sons of Israel. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.759 Israel is i i i i is a reference to Jacob. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:23.039 These are the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his own household, okay? 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.120 Verse 5 says, All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:29.199 Joseph was already in Egypt. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.479 Then Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:41.199 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:42.639 And I'll stop right there. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.560 And I want to make three points from the passage and kind of walk them back in reverse order. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.199 So the third point would simply be this that God keeps his promises. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:52.639 God keeps his promises. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:04.080 One of the things that's gonna help us to get the article right, because if we don't believe that God keeps his promises, we're gonna not live in the story, and we're gonna start living our story or my story and live a story. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:12.560 And you're gonna look back when you're about 70 with a lot of regret and not much remembering, not much to look at and point and God and go, hey, remember when God did this? 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:18.719 And remember when we didn't know what we were supposed to do, and we prayed and maybe we fasted for a couple days, and God made it really clear. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:20.159 That's remembering. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.560 Most people get to 70 and they don't remember much, they regret a lot. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:25.439 And here's why. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:27.599 Because they don't believe that God keeps his promises. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.000 You say, now, what do you mean God keeps his promises? 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:32.000 I mean, preacher, you seem excited about this. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:33.039 What's the big deal? 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:34.240 Look at verse 5 again. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.840 Let me read verse 5, 6, and 7. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.800 It says, All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.879 In other words, when they came into Egypt, they were 70 people. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:54.159 And now at this point, when Exodus opens up, there's so many, as we'll see in just a minute, that the Pharaoh that came on the scene that didn't know who Joseph was, he was worried and he was like, man, these people are so many. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.639 If we get invaded, they're gonna side with our enemies and they're gonna overwhelm us. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:08.960 That's like how do you go from 70 people coming in, these 12 descendants of the tribes of Israel, and all of a sudden they're 70, and now they they are just everywhere. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.360 Here's how God keeps his promises. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.000 This is how densely populated it was. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:15.280 Look at verse 8. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:23.839 It says, Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.439 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.879 And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and they fight against us and escape from the land. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:36.720 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.480 They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithum and Ramses. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:46.639 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.639 And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:51.519 And it goes on. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.759 It goes on and gets so bad that Pharaoh gets so concerned about how many people there were. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.920 Now keep in mind this is all under the banner of God keeps his promises. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:01.439 And let me say this, okay? 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:05.920 Sometimes when I say God keeps his promises, they're not manifested or realized in your life. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.959 They're realized in the life of your children and your grandchildren. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.680 So the way you live today matters for successive generations that come after you. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:19.040 It's not just a legacy, it's an opportunity to set the spiritual trajectory of your descendants. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:23.759 That's why the psalmist says, let one generation tell of your deeds to another. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:24.240 Okay? 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.720 You say, What do you mean God keeps his promises? 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.639 They multiply so much that Pharaoh says, Hey, we can't just take note of this. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.480 We got to do something about this. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:38.959 And so the book of Exodus is not that the Israelites against Pharaoh or Moses against Pharaoh. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.879 The book of Exodus is about mainly God versus Pharaoh. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:57.680 And here's why: because he wants to reduce their number, he wants to enslave them, which is in direct uh conflict with what God says, this redemptive story that God's telling, because God said back in the creation narrative of Genesis, remember what God said to Adam and Eve? 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:03.600 He said, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, rule over creation and subdue it. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.279 They came in 70, and now they're way beyond 70. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:08.639 I mean, they are numerous. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:14.560 There's so much that Pharaoh goes on to say in chapter 1 to these two uh Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Pua. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.399 Now, if you're looking for names to name your twin daughters, there's two right there. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.360 Nobody's naming their kids Shifra and Pua. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:29.120 I mean, we got like Sophie and Camille, we got all the cool Fort Bend County names, but if you want to rock a biblical name, drop that on your kids. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:30.319 What's your kid's name? 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:35.360 This is Shifra and this is Pua, and your kids are like, my parents read too much of the Old Testament. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.120 Pharaoh said to them, hey, when the Israelite women go to give birth, you see them on the birthing stool. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.639 If it's a boy, kill it. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:50.240 Now ask yourself this question: how insecure and threatened do you have to be in order to kill a baby? 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:53.600 That's how real the promises are. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:59.120 Sometimes the enemies of God have greater respect and fear for the promises of God than we do. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.759 He said, Hey, if it's a boy, kill it. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:03.120 But if it's a girl, let it live. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:05.120 And they said, This is civil disobedience. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:06.480 They feared God more than they feared him. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.160 They said, Hey, we're not going to do that. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.800 And so they let the babies live, and Pharaoh came and said, What's the deal? 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:15.439 He said, Hey, these Israelite women, they're healthy, boom, they're quick, them babies come flying out, all right? 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.639 We can't do anything about it. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.639 And then he ups the anti and he says, I tell you what, if it's a boy, throw it in the Nile. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.399 If it's a girl, let it live. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:27.279 Which in chapter two we'll get to next week when they lay Moses in the Nile. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.399 And just kind of handing your children over to the providence of God. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.000 We see what God does with that. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.839 But right now, I just want to say again, God keeps his promises. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:38.720 Exodus. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:40.560 By the way, uh well, we'll get to that in a minute. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.319 Exodus, I say God keeps his promises. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.079 You've got to go back to Genesis chapter 12 when God was talking to Abram. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:51.120 Now, Abram had a son, and Abram's son was, he had a couple sons. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.040 Who is Abram, one of one of Abram's son? 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:54.480 Well, let me get that backwards. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:56.480 Jacob, who is Jacob's father? 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:01.920 Isaac. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:05.120 The guy in the back said, Isaac, I'm gonna go with that. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:06.319 Now let me say this right here. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:12.879 If you're in church and you just when I said who is Jacob's father, and you're kind of like, uh, I knew he shouldn't come to church, there's a pop quiz. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.000 Relax, okay? 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.800 God's not looking down, going, you should have known that. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:17.600 No, no, no. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.800 We'll get to it in just a minute. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.920 One of the reasons you should know the story, Jacob had a father named Isaac. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.519 Who was Isaac's father? 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:24.639 Abraham. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:28.800 Abraham, God told Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac, and lay him upon the altar. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:29.199 Okay? 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.399 So you go, you got Abraham, you got Isaac, you go forward. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.159 Isaac has a kid, and Jacob, who's Jacob's father? 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.399 And so you got Isaac, you got Jacob, and then Jacob has Joseph. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:45.440 And so what God says way back in Genesis chapter 12, he says to Abram, and he says this. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:50.960 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.639 I will make of you a great nation. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:55.679 I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:56.559 Hear that part. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:58.480 I will make of you a great nation. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:00.159 This is Genesis chapter 12. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:01.840 Abram is 75 years old. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:07.679 Remember, I wrote you an article this week and send it to you how the GPS of God's heart is not set on the American dream. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:08.320 Remember that? 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.360 And some of you, by the way, wrote me back and said, What are you saying? 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.120 It's obvious. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.039 I'm not saying, hey, don't move. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.279 It's never God's will to move, be close to your family or grandkids, or whatever. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:20.159 I am saying this. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:21.840 It's not always God's will. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:23.360 I am saying that. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.679 The GPS of God's heart is not just dialed in to whatever you got going on. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:29.360 I met a couple that's visiting today. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:30.960 Uh they're missionaries in Ireland. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.440 And they're like, hey, we're looking for some people to come to Ireland, drink Guinness, and contextualize the gospel. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:36.480 Men, are you with me? 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:37.519 Can I see your hands? 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:38.879 Yes, I see that hand. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:40.080 Are there others? 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.519 All the men are like, what time does the bling leave? 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:43.919 No. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:45.360 I said, How long have you been in Ireland? 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.159 He said, a couple years. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.200 And I knew what happened. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.000 They're like Abram. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:50.639 Abram's 75 when God says this to him. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.559 And God says, Leave the land of your forefathers and go to a land that I will show you. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:55.440 I will bless you. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.039 I'll make you into a great nation. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:58.080 He said, I coach. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:09:59.200 We're both in public education. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.440 I coach, and she was a high school guidance counselor. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:06.240 And two years ago, they after they got done with their job, they said, We're not going to sit around. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.360 Boom, they're in Ireland. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:08.879 He's like, Man, y'all attend a mission team. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:10.799 We got a hostel, we got a seven-bedroom hostel. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:16.240 How about a pastoral retreat over there, first of all, just to kind of scout it out before we bring a team? 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:17.679 Can I get an amen? 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:19.919 Y'all aren't with me today. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:23.759 Anyway, I'm gonna trade y'all in for a different congregation. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:25.200 So, what am I saying? 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.559 God keeps his promises. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.240 God said to Abram, Genesis 12, I'll make him do a great nation three chapters later. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:35.600 I mean, he's just depressed, Abram, because you think people in the Bible are like, hey man, God said it and that's it. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:39.600 No, he's like, God, we ain't got you said that I was gonna be a great nation. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:41.039 We can't even get pregnant. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:41.919 Are you kidding me? 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:43.840 Infertility is killing us. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.000 And and I'm I might have to have sex with some other woman to get an air. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.159 And God said, No, no, no, I'm gonna give you an air. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.360 And God said, Go outside. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:52.080 He looked up. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:52.879 He said, Look up. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:54.320 That's all the stars in the sky. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:59.759 He said, I'm gonna make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky if you could count them. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.480 Abram's like, oh, oh, oh, okay. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:08.799 But the Bible says this in Genesis 15, and Abram believed God, and God credited to him as righteousness. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:10.000 Look at me, beloved. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.279 One of the reasons some of you don't feel this close proximity relationship with Jesus is you don't believe God. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:18.799 When God says something, you hear it through your circumstances. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.679 The promises of God are providential, they're not circumstantial. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:30.080 Let me say this again: the promises of God are providential, they're not circumstantial. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:34.240 And so this all happens because God keeps his promise. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:44.960 What he said to Abram before his name became Abraham was realized to some degree in Isaac and in Jacob and now in Joseph, because it's not like a timestamp on it. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.600 God said and said, Well, a minute, just for that moment right there. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:48.159 No. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.679 The promises of God are providential, not circumstantial. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:57.200 Second thing I want to say to you this morning is simply this wherever you're headed, God is already there. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.519 Wherever you're headed, God is already there. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:00.399 Look at verse 6. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:05.120 After it kind of gives the list of the names, it says, All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.399 Actually, it's verse 5. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.399 And it says this Joseph was already in Egypt. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.799 Now that's one of those five-word phrases. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.279 It's a fragment, it's not even a complete sentence. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.639 Joseph was already in Egypt. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.279 And you say, What's that got to do? 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.039 Wherever you are headed, God is already there. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.360 So if you just finish fifth grade and you're going into sixth grade, look at me just for a minute. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.799 I realize that can be scary. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.440 You're kind of like, hey, elementary school, that was cool. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:34.399 We were fifth grade. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:35.919 We were like the kings of campus. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.919 And next year we're going to be like plankton on the food chain at middle school. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.480 Hey, God's already got a Joseph there. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:43.759 Joseph's already in the land. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.559 The exact teacher you need is there, and it's going to be better than you could imagine. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:50.559 You say, Well, that's a great. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:52.000 That doesn't apply to me. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:59.519 Some of you are having conversations because you've been a child, you've been a son or a daughter to your mom and dad all this life. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.480 And now you're getting to the point you're going to have to parent your parents. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:06.080 And so I just want to say to you, you're going to have to make end-of-life decisions. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.159 You're going to have to make assisted living decisions. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.320 We put mom and dad in a retirement community. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:11.519 Do they come move in with us? 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:12.559 We sell our house. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.840 Get a house that has two master bedrooms down so we can take mom in and let her live out her life with us. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.200 I want to look at me. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.759 Joseph is already in Egypt. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:30.080 Wherever you're headed, whatever circumstance, whatever part of life you're headed into, I want you to know that Joseph is already there. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:38.159 In other words, God's already making way because you see, the big deal about Joseph, how Joseph being in Egypt is not just that he's in Egypt, but how he got there. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:47.200 Remember, his brothers were jealous of him, so he threw him in a pit and they took his robe and they put blood on it and they took it into his dad and said, Hey, dad, he got killed by a wild animal. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:48.799 Jacob was devastated. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:50.159 He's like, No way. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:14:00.639 What they really did was they, after they threw him in the pit, they saw some bedouins coming by these nomadic herdsmen, and they basically sold Joseph into slavery to these people, and they just kept on cruising, took Joseph with them. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:03.279 He got into Egypt, all kinds of crazy stuff happened. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.200 Potiphar's wife comes on to him. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:06.799 He ran out of his shirt. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:08.320 He just left her shirt in her hand. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.159 He said, I'm not that kind of a man. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.120 He gets put in prison because he's falsely accused. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.720 Can you imagine being Joseph? 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:19.919 Being in prison, all this stuff happens, and someone comes along and say, Hey, by the way, God keeps his promises. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.600 Yeah, tell me about it. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:28.320 I'm in prison because I'm falsely accused, because some guy's wife made a move on me and I said no, and now here I am. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:32.399 And people in prison realize, hey, this Joseph guy walks with God and he interprets dreams. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:33.759 God tells him things. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:38.080 And time goes by, and this king has a dream, and nobody can interpret it. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.559 And then one of the guys says, Hey, by the way, I know a guy who can interpret it. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.679 They bring Joseph in. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.279 Joseph interprets the dream. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:44.480 He gets promoted. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:53.039 Famine breaks out, and his brothers who think he's dead or he's been sold into slavery come to Egypt looking for financial assistance or a government heart loan. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.840 And all of a sudden they go before the tribunal, they look up and they're like, Rut-ro. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:14:59.840 And there's Joseph. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.679 And Joseph smiles and says, What you intended for evil, God intended for good. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:05.360 Why? 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.600 Because God knew famine was going to come and God knew that these men were going to need assistance. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.759 And Joseph was already in Egypt. 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.240 Joseph was already there. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:21.759 Wherever you're headed in life, whatever circumstance or situation you're walking into, I just want to say to you that God is already there. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:23.679 And by the way, don't miss the irony. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:28.240 Here's some the Bible speaks with this amazing peace and this really loud authority. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:29.519 Don't miss this irony. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:34.399 Remember, Jacob was the guy that deceived his brother and his dad and got the blessing and the birthright. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:39.039 Remember Jacob and Esau, and you said, Keep talking. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.200 You seem to know the story better than we do. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.320 Jacob, his name means deceiver or sneak. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:47.519 Jacob deceived his brother Esau and his dad. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:53.759 And then here's one of the things that galls you about adulthood is when you see your kids doing things that you did. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.080 Jacob deceived his brother and got the blessing and the birthright. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.440 And then his brothers, excuse me, his sons do the same thing to their brother Joseph. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.200 They sell him because they're jealous of him. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.960 They sell him into slavery. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.200 And all of a sudden, there they are. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.559 And it's like, whoa. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:11.840 Man, I bet you ticked it us. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.840 And Joseph smiles and says, No. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.200 What you guys intended for harm, God intended for good. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:18.240 Why? 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.480 Because the promises of God are not circumstantial, they're providential. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.039 Wherever you're headed, God is already there. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:31.200 And then the first point, point number one, which is our last point this morning, is simply this this is a big story. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:35.759 Read the first seven verses of Exodus and let your mind be blown. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:41.519 If you're reading it, reading it in Hebrew, the first word of Exodus is, and these are the names. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.879 It just kind of picks up where Genesis left off. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:49.279 And these are the names of the tribes that came into Egypt. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:50.480 It lists them off. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.639 Them and their household, they were 70 and all. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:01.519 And they've been very busy doing what God said to do, because God said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.640 Ask yourself today, are you done having kids? 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:09.440 Yes, I've got a yes over here. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.279 I've got an oh yes over here. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:14.319 Somebody in this section right here just went. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:17.759 Don't go there, preacher. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.000 I'm just saying, here's the thing. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:24.720 The people that are filling the earth and subduing it have no business having multiple children. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.119 Is that politically correct enough? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.920 I mean, why be politically correct when you can be right? 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.799 That's my theory. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:33.839 But anyway. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:36.559 I'm just saying. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:37.920 Just be careful. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.519 See, this is a big story. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:40.319 What do you mean? 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:41.519 This is a big story. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.759 It's not just like, I'm not talking when I say this is a big story. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:44.880 I don't mean just Exodus. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:46.559 I mean this story that God's telling. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.640 You got 39 books in the Old Testament. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.880 You got 27 books in the New Testament. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.839 And they're not 66 books that all tell a different story. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:03.039 It's one book that tells this one story that begins with, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and it ends in Revelation with, even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.440 And you've got to kind of know the whole story. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:07.440 You say, I got to know everything in the Bible? 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:08.400 No, no. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.680 If you're an observant person, you've been looking over here and probably kind of wondering to yourself, hey, what is that in that box there? 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.440 I'll tell you what's in this box here. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.279 Because I brought this myself to make a little visual. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:23.440 This is doom. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.839 This, beloved, is not just a cake. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:34.480 This, my friends, is a chocolate, chocolate chip, because you can't have enough. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:35.039 Amen? 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.920 It's a chocolate chocolate. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.839 It's from Nothing Bunk Cakes. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.079 It's chocolate chocolate chip. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:48.000 And it has a sweet buttercream, cream cheese icing on top. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.240 Yes, I hear that, baby. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.000 Give me something that I'm gonna slap somebody. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.000 So when I say this is a big story, and hey, stop staring at my cake. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.279 Oh, look at me, alright? 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.400 Y'all are like, take me to your leader. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:14.400 39 books in the Old Testament, 27 in the new, 66 books, all tell one story. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:15.599 Think of it like a cake. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:18.559 By the way, this is a lazy Susan. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.079 And by that I don't mean your aunt, okay? 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:23.279 What do you mean? 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:29.920 You gotta know, when I talk about knowing the story, it's this fully orbed, delicious story that God is telling. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:34.799 Let me give you four things I want you to think about going into the summer and we'll be done this morning, okay? 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.519 Number one, I want you to know the story. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.720 Know the story. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:48.319 Because see, evangelism, having spiritual conversations with people, talking about God, whatever you call it, evangelism loses its fear when we know the story. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:50.079 It just kind of falls off of us. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.079 We stop thinking, I don't know what to say. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.440 Uh uh, you ain't got to say the same thing to everybody. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:01.359 You you gotta know, hey, where do I need to cut the cake where this person can taste and see that the Lord is good? 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.519 If you have the same answer to every spiritual question, you don't know the story. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.359 Case in point, a guy came up to me. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.359 I was walking around before services once and just shaking hands, and I said, Hey, I don't think I've met you. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:11.920 My name's Neil. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:13.119 And I said, Is this your first time? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.680 Yeah, yeah, I'm not much in church. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.519 I don't really know much about God in the Bible. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:18.640 I said, just relax, man. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:19.920 We got a lot of folks here like that. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.839 We got some folks been at this a long time. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:29.200 We got some folks that just, hey, my wife said this was okay, and so it's okay, just don't make me talk or anything. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:30.400 I'm like, hey, just relax. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.799 And so I said, Hey, you want to get coffee sometime? 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:35.920 Uh uh I said, I'm not gonna preach to you. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.279 I just want to get to know you. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.359 Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay, maybe. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:40.400 So we're talking. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.160 I said, just relax, drink your coffee. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.039 We're talking after church. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:44.000 I said, Well, how was that? 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:45.839 That wasn't that wasn't that bad. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.519 I mean, you're not as smart as those preachers who use the big words. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:52.160 Awesome. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:53.519 Thanks for that. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:54.160 Yeah. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.200 And he said, I just I just this is what I mean when I say know the story. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:01.599 It's kind of where do I cut the cake where this person can taste and see the goodness of God? 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:02.480 What do you mean? 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.240 He said, I I just don't know. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.359 And I said, by the way, there's people in the Bible that didn't know. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.359 He's like, No way. 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:10.640 And I said, Why? 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:12.480 He goes, What do you mean? 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:22.000 And I said, like in Acts chapter 8, it tells a story that uh there was this guy, he was an Ethiopian, you know, he was a guy who was a treasure of uh of the whole country of Ethiopia. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:30.079 And he had been to worship, and he was coming back, and he he worked under Candace the Queen, and he was coming back riding his chariot, and and he was reading the scroll of Isaiah. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:33.200 And the Holy Spirit told the guy named Philip, go run alongside that chariot. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.759 And he asked the guy, hey, do you understand what you're reading? 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:41.680 And the guy that was reading, who just came from worship of the temple, said, How can I unless someone explains it to me? 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.920 And so he invited Philip up alongside of him. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.000