Serving Through Pain | Pastor John Harke | Faith Church

How many are ready for God's Word? Do I have

permission to preach tonight? Praise Jesus. I'm

going to preach tonight. I will tell you something.

That trip to Auschwitz -Birkenau, and I know

that with Dennis and Linda, I don't pronounce

it right, but I'll do my best. But anyway, it

was a life -changing experience. For me, I wept

many, many times in those three or four hours

that I was there. And it had a very impactful,

simply because, not because I'm really, you know,

that I want to look at evil things. It's just

that sometimes in America, we have a tendency

to live in a bubble. And because we have a tendency

to live in a bubble, we don't realize how evil

evil is. And that is why I feel like our call,

the call of the church, is to destroy the works

of the enemy. Can I hear an amen for that right

now? Listen, I want you to turn with me to the

book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 15, verse 15.

Genesis 15:15

I'm going to read out of the NIV tonight in a

moment, but it's going to take me a few minutes

to go there. I'm going to mention something that

over the last couple of months, you know, it

was probably two months ago, at our home, we

have a large living room kitchen. and then there's

like a den, and then there's another bedroom,

and that den that is kind of my prayer room,

my library, is where I sit and I study and work

on my calendar, do everything I do in that room.

And Meliana, you know, she rarely comes in there.

It's not that it's off limits. There's no door.

She can walk right in anytime, but usually she's

in the living room or the kitchen, and I got

up to get a bottle of water, and I walk out in

the living room, and she's crying. She's, and

my wife doesn't cry very much. She's not that,

she's not sensitive, but that's not like her

nature, and she was crying, and I said, honey,

why are you crying? What had happened is, because

in our world, in our circle, in our prophetic

circle, there has been an attack, and there has

been an attack and abuse on the prophetic. Where

different ministers and ministries, before they

go to a church, they would study the social media,

the Facebook, the Instagram, a person's profile.

Excuse me, my wife needs the language. A person's

profile. They would then write some highlights

down. And then what they would do is rather than

being led by the Spirit of God, Sister Linda,

this is exactly what they did. They would tell

people their address, where they were born, all

these kinds of things. Not based on the word

of knowledge or on prophetic gift, but based

on information that they got from social media.

Come on. And my wife... We found that out. My

wife was weeping because they showed a video

of a lady who really believed that this was a

word from the Lord and was weeping and had traveled

all across the country, but all it was is something

of information given by that minister. from a

leader. And I don't want to mention names tonight,

but I will tell you something right now. When

Miliana shared that, that grieved me. That grieved

me deeply. Because, you know, where's the fear

of God? Where's the fear of God? Where's the

fear of God? That God's people are not meant

to be abused. Come on. They're not meant to be.

And then where emotionally are you fractured

that you've got to make up a prophetic word to

prove that you hear from God? You either hear

from God or you don't. You follow what I'm saying?

And so I went into an in -depth study of the

life of Joseph, and the Lord said this to me.

He says, I want to raise up Joseph -like prophets

in this generation. I want to raise up Joseph

-like prophets in this generation. And when I

look at this, in a moment, I'm going to get to

Genesis 15, chapter 50, verse 15. Before I do

that, I'm going to have to lay some groundwork

of where I'm going tonight. And because I look

at Joseph's life, and it seems like, no, it's

not like a life I want to live, but it's a very

powerful one because you think about this. You

know that our warfare, the warfare that we have,

the things that we go, sometimes isn't what happens

outside the home or outside the church. It's

on the inside. That many times the warfare is

not on the outside, it's on the inside. The attack,

not necessarily from the outside, but on the

inside. And what do they attack on the inside?

They attack the dream. The dream from God, the

God dream. And in Joseph's case, And he didn't

get attacked by the Amalekites or another nation.

It was his own brothers that were jealous of

his dream. And I have to say something to you.

When I look at Joseph's brothers, you know, whom

God actually birthed the tribes of Israel out

of, these guys were a mess. I would have kicked

them out of my church. Come on. I would have

kicked Judah out of my church. I would have kicked

Reuben out of the church. I would have kicked

Levi out of the church. I would have kicked them

all out of my church because these guys are a

mess. I would never ever want to even have any

dealings with these people. They simply, one

of the things that they did to Joseph is, you

know, because they don't like his dream, they

want to kill him. Reuben says, let's not kill

him. Let's throw him in a pit. Come on. You know,

and then sell him to Ishmaelite slaves, right?

So they got to somehow prove, you know, because

they got to tell their father Jacob, you know,

where's Joseph? So they've got to make up a lie.

And so they actually take his coat of many colors.

They cut it up and they dip it in goat's blood.

Come on. And because they don't have DNA testing

in those days, they can't prove, they can't tell

between goat's blood and human blood. And they

present the coat of many colors to their father,

Jacob, and watch him weep over a lie. You've

got to be messed up psychologically. You've got

to be twisted in your conscience to let something

like that. There must be a depth of bitterness

and hatred that you would allow your own father

to weep for a lie. Come on. And Joseph experiences

this. And then, Joseph, what happens, ladies

and gentlemen? And then, of course, he gets sold

into slavery. And then all of a sudden Potiphar,

they bought him. God raises him up. God blesses

him in Potiphar's house. And then he's accused

of raping a woman he never touched. You know

what I'm saying? And it is like, I mean, what

God? You got a target on this guy? You got a

target on this guy? Because every time he tries

to do something right, he gets attacked. And

then we find him in the prison. We find him in

prison. And I'm thinking in my mind, there's

something I need to share with this body. Here's

what set Joseph apart. It's not that he suffered

personal attack. It's not that he suffered attack

from the family. It's not that he was mistreated

or misrepresented or even accused of things that

he didn't do. That happens to every single person

at one level or another. The thing that set him

apart is this. Here he was in a prison. And he

could have just sat back and said, listen, is

this what I get for serving God? Is this what

I get for doing everything? Is this what I get

for standing for morality? Is this what I get

for getting a dream? I didn't make up this dream.

You are the one that gave me the dream. Is this

what I get for doing everything right? Come on.

He could have wallowed in his change and wallowed

in his bitterness and wallowed in resentment,

ladies and gentlemen. But this is what set Joseph

apart. And God, and we're not a large crowd tonight,

but God wants to set every single person in this

house apart. That we're not like everybody else.

Come on. We go through the same things, but we

react a lot differently than everybody else.

Come on. Here he is sitting. Actually, Psalms

says that he was in a dungeon. He was in chains.

He was locked up with fetters. I mean, he was

suffering. But what I love about Joseph is this

one thing. Here in the middle of his prison,

he still served. Come on, church. Are you hearing

what I'm saying? And this is something we have

to understand, young people. There are moments

when we feel like we're in emotional prison,

in a physical prison, in a spiritual prison.

But here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to

still serve when I'm in the prison. Are you hearing

me? You're hearing me? Because we all find ourselves,

I'm going to serve when I'm depressed. I'm going

to serve. Kathy was at church today. She just

lost her husband. Come on. I'm going to serve

when I'm grieving. Come on. I'm going to serve

when I'm suffering. I'm going to serve when I'm

going through something. Come on. Because what

happens is if I only serve when things go well,

then my serving is conditional. But I'm going

to serve in the middle of my pain. I'm going

to serve in the middle of my sorrow. And I'm

going to serve when I don't understand. I'm still

going to serve. I'm going to serve people because

how you serve God is to serve people. It's how

you serve God. Because we think that worship

is just lifting our hands, listening to Pastor

Darren saying, I can do that all night. But really,

there's another form of worship is learning how

to serve when I'm suffering. And here he is suffering,

but he's got this prophetic gift that he's carrying.

He's got this ability to dream and this ability

to interpret dreams and ability to hear from

God. Because a lot of people want to serve in

the palace, but they don't want to serve in the

prison. Oh, come on. You follow what I'm saying?

They want to serve on the platform, but they

don't want to serve in the children's church.

I'm just telling you. I'm not talking about this

church. I'm talking about the church down the

street. Come on. You know what I'm saying? I

want to serve in Lincoln, but I don't want to

serve in Petersburg. Come on. You know what I'm

saying? Think about this. I want to serve when

it's comfortable. I want to serve when I get

appreciated. I want to serve when I get an offering.

I want to serve when I get accolades. I want

to serve when I get affirmed. But not Joseph.

Because if Joseph served based on conditions,

he would have never interpreted the dream from

the baker and the cupbearer. But he decided to

serve. Because I can tell you something. I have

found this out. I get healed when I serve. I

get excited when I serve. Pastor Darren mentioned

about people being weary. Sometimes I get weary.

Even Jesus got weary from the journey when he

journeyed before he met the woman at the well.

It says that Jesus was weary from the journey.

It's not a sin to be weary. You're human when

you're weary. But what made him come alive, what

made him come alive is not the miles of walking

all day. What made him come alive when that woman

came alive that he served. Come on, are you hearing

me? Because I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen,

the way spiritual boredom, worriness, all the

things that we struggle with, that this is what

happens. It's cured when I serve. Come on. Now,

Joseph decides to serve the cupbearer and the

baker. And, of course, he gives the baker the

word. It comes to pass the baker is murdered,

died. He's died in prison. Then the cupbearer

is released just like Joseph prophesied. And

when he was walking out of prison, Joseph says

to the cupbearer, remember me. But he's not remembered.

At that moment, you could have shut down. Because

you've got to ask yourself this question. Am

I serving to be remembered? Or am I serving to

love people? I'm serving to love people. Not

whether I'm remembered or not. Whether you forget

me, it doesn't matter because God does not forget.

You follow me? So at that moment, but there's

something I know that I love about this whole

narrative. And I'll get to Genesis 50 in a moment.

But even though the cupbearer had forgotten him,

his dad thought he was dead. There was a God

that remembered him. And God puts the king asleep.

And God puts Pharaoh asleep. And when he puts

Pharaoh asleep, With Pharaoh, with all his access

to his wise men and his prophetic voices that

he has access to, nobody can interpret the dream

of Pharaoh. Until it gets to be so, so intense

that the cupbearer opens his mouth and says to

the Pharaoh, oh king, forgive me. Because while

I was in prison, come on, I met. A Hebrew slave.

Everybody say a Hebrew slave. Interesting. Because

this is exactly what I know. You know that people

in this room, people in the world, sometimes

when they're desperate to hear from God, they

don't care where you came from. They don't care

about your background. Because when I was in

D .C., when they asked me to prophesy over them,

they didn't ask me where I was from. They didn't

know I was an ex -con. Come on. They didn't know

that I was in jail. All they knew is they heard

that I hear from God and they wanted me to prophesy

over them. Church, I pray that we would get a

reputation. Oh, come on. That we would get a

reputation in this community and all the other

churches that you get a reputation that we hear

from God. Come on. You follow what I'm saying?

Because right now, we need a reputation that

we hear from God. Because right now, I'm telling

you, especially on the West Coast, and I'm out

on the West Coast a lot more than I am out here

in the Midwest or the South or the East Coast.

I'm on the West Coast the most. And out on the

West Coast, people are questioning the reality

because of what happened in Bethel, what's happened

in all this prophetic movement. But I'm going

to tell you, there are men and women that stand

for righteousness and hear from God. Come on.

And so, show the cupbearers why there was a Hebrew

slave. And he told me, he told me the dream,

and everything he said came to pass. Oh, come

on. Very powerful. Pharaoh is so desperate, even

though culturally Egyptians don't like Hebrews,

especially a slave, especially someone in prison.

He didn't care, and he immediately brings Joseph

out. And there's something about this moment

where now Joseph is standing before Pharaoh.

Now, there's no promise of release. There's no

promise of redemption. There's no promise of

justice. And he hears Pharaoh say, I heard it

said of you. Everybody said that. I heard it

said of you. I don't always agree when people

say, I don't care what you think. I don't always

agree with that statement. Because I want it

said of me. Now, notice where this comes from.

This does not come from a brother. This does

not come from a father. It doesn't come within

the household. It comes from a leader, a king

of a nation. It comes from the world. Because

we've got to ask ourselves, what is the world

saying about the church right now? Are you following

what I'm saying? Does the church have a reputation

that they hear from God? Come on. Unfortunately,

they don't right now. But Paul made mention,

and I want you to write this scripture down,

and I don't want to mess this up, so I'm going

to turn there, and I'm going to read it because

it is actually, Meliana, one of the most powerful

statements in scripture. And it says, And Ephesians

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, ladies and gentlemen, verse 10, and

it says this. It's so powerful that through the

church. Everybody say through the church. Everybody

say through the church. It didn't say through

the government. It didn't say through the education.

It said through the church. I got there. Praise

God. It says, to this intent that now the manifold

wisdom of God. Everybody say the manifold wisdom

of God. How many want to release the manifold

wisdom of God? Now, listen what Paul says. This

is a promise. To the intent that now the manifold

wisdom of God be made known by the church. It

didn't say by Trump. Didn't say by Biden. Didn't

say by Illinois. It didn't say by some leader.

It said by the church. That the wisdom of God,

the manifold wisdom of God would be made known

through the church. Now let me ask you right

now, is the wisdom of God being made known through

the church right now, today? Because honestly,

Meliana, who I don't go on social media, but

she's now my journalist, my reporter, my newscaster.

But right now, even much of the church is embattled

over false prophecy and the reality of the prophetic.

That doesn't sound like the manifold wisdom of

God being made known through the church. Listen,

it's his intent that the manifold wisdom of God

would be known through the church to the principalities

and powers in heavenly places. Oh, I get fired

up with that. I get really fired up with that.

So that is why Pharaoh said to Joseph, I heard

it said of you. Come on. I heard it said of you

that when you hear a dream, you can interpret

it. What's being said about us? What's being

said about us? Come on. Not what's being said

by our spouses or our immediate family, but what's

being said by the world. I want the community.

What is being said about faith assembly in the

community? I want the community and I want my

brother's church over there downtown and all

the churches that are representing what's being

said about your home church. That it said, oh

yeah, I heard it said of you. That when you hear

a dream, you can interpret it. That you hear

from God. Is there anybody that want to demonstrate

the manifold wisdom of God to this generation?

I heard it said of you. That when you hear a

dream, you can interpret it. Now, when he said

that, You've got to understand something. Joseph

has gone through hell, literally, 13 years of

it. He's been thrown in a pit, lied by his brothers,

abused, misrepresented by an evil woman, and

now he's standing before Pharaoh. And the ball

is in his court. He's now given permission by

the most powerful man of an empire that could

change his life overnight. You know why I know

that Joseph is a real prophet? You know why I

know he's not false? Because you know what a

false prophet would do? Oh yeah, I can really

hear from God. I've got this reputation. But

before I hear from God, I want you to go arrest

my brothers. Before I hear from God, I want you

to put Potiphar's wife in prison. And then what

I want you to do is I want you to set me up with

a mansion in Maui. Come on. And then I want a

private plane. Then I'll interpret your dream.

Joseph didn't do any of that. Come on. Because

he understood, freely have I received, freely

do I give. Come on, you follow what I'm saying?

That I'm not going to prostitute the gift. The

gift's not for sale. The gift is not for my own

gain. I'm here to serve you. Come on, whether

you release me from prison or not, whether you

do something for me or not is not the issue.

You are a tormented soul that need to hear from

God. God's given me this gift, and I'm going

to serve you whether I have to go to prison,

back to prison or not. Are you hearing what I'm

saying, ladies and gentlemen? See, that's the

kind of people God wants to raise up. That you

can't buy me. I'm not for sale. Because my integrity

is more important than my promotion. Come on.

Oh, come on. And so, and then all of a sudden

when he says that, he says, yes. He says it.

Here's the thing. He says, I can't. That's what

he says. I can't. That's his first response.

I can't. I get that. What do you mean you can't?

You know, I can't. That's what he says. I cannot

do it. That's what he says. But then he says,

but God will. Everybody say, I can't, but God

will. Church, when I say I can't, but God will,

I don't have to look at Facebook to get a prophetic

word. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I can

prophesy, but God will. I can't give a word of

knowledge, but God will. I can't heal anybody,

but God will. I can't walk in a word of wisdom,

but God will. Oh, come on. I'm just going to

be an open vessel because I know that if I'm

willing, He's willing to use me in the middle

of my brokenness, in the middle of my prison,

in the middle of my struggle. Can I get an amen

right now? There's going to be an impartation

tonight in this room. I can't, but God will.

And God did. With Joseph not knowing that there

was going to be a promotion or not. He interpreted

the dream before he was given an offer. But listen

to this. At that moment, he not only interprets

the dream, He gives Pharaoh a strategy to save

the nation. Because not only do I need a prophecy,

I need the strategy how to fulfill the prophetic

word. You follow what I'm saying? Because people

can prophesy, oh, you're going to have this great

ministry, or you're going to have this, or you're

going to do this. But how? Give me the practical

ways of how to. And what set Joseph apart of

any... any prophet in human history, and they

were great throughout Scripture, what set him

apart is that he not only gave Pharaoh the word,

he gave Pharaoh the how -to implement it to save

his nation. Oh, come on. And when he did that,

Pharaoh and his men are sitting there stunned.

Come on. And because he looks at him in one second,

he says, what is he doing in a dungeon? I'm going

to bring him out of the dungeon. I'm going to

put him in the palace and make him the prime

minister of this nation. Come on. Just like that.

Something happened. Because, and I'm going to

get to Genesis 50, verse 15. I am. It takes me

Genesis 50:15

a few minutes. But he also gave Joseph a wife.

Please don't forget what I'm going to tell you.

And Joseph has two sons. And in Genesis 41, verse

Genesis 41:15

15, it says, Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh

and said, it's because God made me forget all

my troubles and all my father's household. That

spoke to me. Because I'm sure around here, And

some of you who have been to church for a long

time, you've heard messages about forgiveness.

About forgiving our sister or our brother. That

it's very, very important. I believe I'm still

married after 41 years because of the power of

forgiveness. Come on. Honestly. You forgive your

spouse. You forgive those that hurt you. We all

know that. But I've recently become aware of

something, because has this ever happened to

you? Where you've been in a conflict with somebody,

and all of a sudden, in the middle of that conflict,

they bring up something out of your past. Has

that ever happened to anybody in the room? Of

course, the rest of you are lying. Come on. This

happened to me, you know. That, oh, I thought

you forgave me. But then when there was a conflict,

something out of your past in the conversation

was brought to surface. Well, when I see that,

and I see a person do that, this is exactly what

goes through my mind. Because, see, we talk about

forgiveness, and we should. But we don't talk

about forgetting. Because forgiveness doesn't

mean, Pastor Darren, I'm sorry. Or he doesn't

mean, Father John, I'm sorry. I calculated. We

made a mistake this morning. 1998 is when we

met. That's, what, 28 years ago. That's a long

time. I don't think we've had a conflict in 28

years. We might have. You know, that's good.

Right, that I'm aware of. Come on. Yeah, go camping

with me. Go camping with me, he just said. Come

on. Then we're going to have a conflict. Yeah,

that's probably because he showed me in the storm.

And I was making my wife jealous because there

was northern lights. He should have gone with

me, you know. But anyway. We have conflict with

people. In the midst of the conflict, in the

midst of the argument, there's something out

of your past they say. And doesn't that kind

of shock you? Because what's the first thing

you think? Well, I thought you forgave me. See,

what's amazing about Joseph is what made him

such a dynamic leader. Not only did God give

him the ability to forgive his brothers, because

when he became prime minister, he didn't go after

his brothers, and he didn't go after Potiphar's

wife. What made him such a powerful voice and

leader... Is his ability. See God doesn't wipe

away our memory. He still had those memories.

Of being thrown in the pit. He still had those

memories of being in prison. He still had those

memories of going to court. And being accused.

God doesn't erase our memory. But what happens

is. This is exactly what happens. What happens

is, ladies and gentlemen, God gives us the ability

that it's not rehearsing in our mind every time

there's a conflict because we really have already

settled it in our soul. We really have forgiven

and we really have forgotten. And I feel like

there's someone here tonight. I don't know who

you are, but God wants to give you a gift. That

same gift that Joseph who had the ability to

forgive and forget all his troubles in his father's

house. God wants to do that to you. Come on.

Because we've all had trouble. We've all had

trouble in our past. We may even have trouble

in our present. But there's a God of heaven that

forgives and causes us to forget that we don't

walk around looking for revenge. We don't walk

walking to get even. We don't walk around to

get back. And that leads me now after 31 minutes

to my text. And I don't have time to go into

the rest of the narrative of Joseph's life because

there's so much. But listen to this. Genesis

Genesis 50:15

50 verse 15. He restores the brothers. But listen

to this. It says, when Joseph's brothers saw

that their father was dead, they said, perhaps

Joseph will hate us. And may actually repay us

for all the evil which we did to him. Oh, come

on. Church, when I read that, when I read that,

and I've read it before. It's not that I haven't

read it, but I didn't read it. I read it, but

it didn't register. I read it, but there was

no revelation until recently. And this is exactly

what went through my mind. This is exactly what

I want to communicate these few verses that I

have in the time remaining here tonight. That

here are people who have been forgiven. There

was no indication that Joseph did everything

in his power. Everything within his rulership

to take care of his brothers. But they assume.

That as long as Jacob's alive, they're protected.

But now that the father is removed, Joseph is

not going to protect them anymore. He's going

to punish them. Church, that means that they

never felt forgiven. They never knew that they

were truly forgiven. So now that they believe

that they've never truly been forgiven, now they're

walking around with guilt. Now, can you imagine?

Now, now they've actually have become men. They

have become people who have not come to grips

with their past. They haven't forgiven themselves.

And because they haven't forgiven themselves,

they assume that Joseph hasn't forgiven them

either. Now church, if I had more time, this

is exactly what I'd do because there's a theological

term called Christology. It's where we look at

Old Testament characters like Abraham and Moses

and others and David, and we connect them that

they are types of Christ. Well, when you look

at that statement, Christology, Joseph is the

perfect type. Here was Israel who was forgiven.

Come on. Here were people that were forgiven.

And there's people sitting in churches that God

has already forgiven, but they're still not free.

Come on. God has already redeemed them from their

past, but they're still not walking in freedom.

They're still in a place of condemnation. They're

still in a place of guilt of what they have done

or what they are doing. I want to tell you that's

a lie. Come on. That's a lie. And they assume

that the only reason they're still alive is because

of someone else. Can I tell you something right

now? Everybody in this room who has accepted

Christ as your Savior is fully forgiven and fully

redeemed and fully restored. Can I hear an amen

right now? I have things that I'm ashamed of.

I have things in my past that I can't repeat

over this microphone. But there is something

called the blood of Jesus. There is something

called the Christ of Jesus. There is something

that he did that redeemed me from my past. You

may have not forgiven me, but he forgave me.

Come on. They're thinking. They're actually living

a lie. They're actually. They have outward freedom,

but inward bondage. But listen to this. So they

sent word to Joseph saying, your father has left

these instructions before he died. Oh, can I

tell you that Jacob never left. instructions

to the brothers. They made that up. Why do people

lie? Why do you lie? Why do I lie? You know why

we lie? Self -preservation. We think that the

lie is going to protect us. Which is a lie. It's

the truth that sets us free, not the lie. So

in order to, for their own self -protection and

preservation, they decide to lie. And when I

hear, when I find out people who lie, it's because

they're more afraid of the truth. And that's

what we call deception. Come on. They're deceived,

thinking that, well, I'll make up this lie and

that will protect me. Which that's not the way

of the kingdom. So, here's the moment now. Because

they can't imagine, they can't imagine living

in a place where there's no revenge. There's

no, you know what, I've already forgiven you.

You're freely forgiven. They can't imagine that.

Because then this is what it says in verse 17

of Genesis 50. Very, very powerful. This is what

you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive

your brothers their sins and the wrongs they

committed in treating you so badly. Now, please

forgive the sins of the servants of the God of

your father. Now, listen to this. This has changed

my life. When their message came to him, Joseph

wept. Say it with me, Joseph wept. Say it again,

Joseph wept. Let's be honest. The brothers were

the problem. Get over it, guys. You're making

up lies. You've been fully restored. I brought

your family out of Palestine. I've provided for

you. There's nothing that I have done to harm

you. Come on. And now you're thinking I'm going

to hurt you. And Joseph weeps. And when I've

read that in the past, I'm assuming that He's

weeping over his brother's condition. And that

is partly true. Because honestly, I do want to

be the kind of leader, the kind of prophet that

weeps over people that are hurting. I can't not

acknowledge the fact that this is what they think.

That I don't want to be insensitive to their

need for redemption and forgiveness. Come on.

Even though that all forgiveness and redemption

has already been paid for. He weeps. But I've

never seen this before. I don't believe, Dennis,

that Joseph just wept for his brothers. I believe

Joseph wept for himself. And I'll tell you why.

I believe because, see, Joseph's the leader.

How many leaders in the house? How many leaders

in the house? Everybody should raise your hand.

You're leading somebody. You're leading something.

See, we're leaders. We're leaders. And see, as

a leader, this is why I believe Joseph Webb.

As a leader, I believe Joseph was not only weeping

for his brothers, but he's weeping himself because

this is exactly what's going through his mind,

I believe. That what kind of leader am I? What

kind of person am I? What kind of brother am

I? What kind of prophet am I? What kind of prime

minister am I that all of a sudden that you don't

feel forgiven? What have I projected? What have

I said through my body language, through my words,

or through my silence that you're now walking

around with a chip on your shoulder? He weeps.

And I think that sometimes what happens is that

we don't weep enough. We don't cry out enough.

Because let me just tell you right now. I'm weeping

for Iran. Come on. I'm weeping for Venezuela.

I'm weeping for the nations of the earth. Come

on. Because I have a friend of mine who is in

northern acquaintance of ours. He's a missionary.

And he's in northern Iraq. He's smuggling Bibles

into Iran. Come on. He's in harm's way. He's

ISIS. The Kurds are protecting him. And it's

absolutely crazy. And people get all upset that

we attacked Iran because of our gas prices. Come

on. That our gas went up. How terrible. What

a terrible leader. But do you realize that you're

not going to hear this on the news. My friend

told, I heard this, that 80 ,000 Iranians that

wanted freedom were murdered by the government.

Are you hearing what I'm saying, ladies and gentlemen?

And everybody's up in arms. And you know what?

That's an injustice. Come on, are you hearing

me? When is the last time we weeped for the injustice?

When was the last time? But people are all upset

about gas prices. Come on. We've got to put things

in perspective, ladies and gentlemen. We're talking

about human life here. I don't, I don't, I mean,

I travel a lot. It's expensive. It's hard. It's

hard for Americans. I get it. But at the end

of the day, we're more upset about our convenience

than we are the death of our brother or our sister.

Where are the tears of the prophet? Where will

we weep like Joseph? And so Joseph weeps. And

when he weeps, this is exactly what happens.

He weeps. Verse 18. His brothers then come and

throw themselves down before him. We are your

slaves, they said. But you have to understand,

Joseph doesn't want them to be his slaves. I

want you to be my brother. You know what I appreciate

about Pastor Darren Palmer? and Pastor Cammie

Palmer is they didn't come to Lincoln to raise

up a congregation to fulfill their vision. They

came to Lincoln to serve. The congregation, our

congregation aren't our slaves. They're our brothers

and our sisters. Yes, we have a hierarchy of

honoring the pastor in leadership and the five

-fold ministry that God sends. But people aren't

slaves to respond to every one of my whims. Come

on. You follow what I'm saying? And they bow

down and say, we are slaves. And I love what

Joseph does. Because you know what I'm saying?

Because you have that kind of power that Joseph

has. You can easily get corrupted by that kind

of power. Because power can corrupt people. In

fact, when people, you never know how people

will react until they're given power. And what

set Joseph apart, here he was given power. Pharaoh

wasn't running the nation. Pharaoh wasn't running

anything. He was just worried about what he was

going to eat that night. Joseph was doing everything.

But Joseph did not use the power, his power to

corrupt people or for his own gain. And that

says that he was a righteous man. Are you hearing

what I'm saying? Because the church wants power,

Darren. But guess what? Are we going to use that

power for our own permission? Or are we going

to use that power to serve other people? Can

I hear an amen right now? So at that moment,

he says to them, but Joseph said, don't be afraid.

Am I in a place of God? Because you think about

this. This is what grieves me, Miliana, about

the prophetic movement and what's happening.

You know, and a lot of times these certain prophets

that I won't mention, that they've elevated them

in the place of God. And I do believe in honoring

the five -fold ministry. Next week we have a

man who's got a Ph .D. from AGTS. He's in the

office of a teacher. We will elevate him. We

will bless him. We're going to take care of him

as he's coming to our church because they don't

need a prophet. We're a very prophetic church.

Everybody prophesies. It's a very, very prophetic

church. Everybody that comes in the room just

is prophesying. I get that. And we need that

type of thing. But we didn't need another prophet

to come to our church. We need a teacher. Because

I want the church to be well -rounded. I need

a teacher because I need a teacher to correct

my theology sometimes or keep me right on track.

Come on. Are you hearing what I'm saying? That's

why we bring the five -fold ministry in. But

ladies and gentlemen, I love what Joseph said.

He said, am I in the place of God? In other words,

because he had an opportunity as a prime minister

and as a leader to escalate people's guilt. Can

I say this to you? Over the almost five years

now that my wife and I have pastored this church

in Tucson, we've had conflict. In fact, we've...

Called leaders over to our home. We brought correction.

I don't really like that. I think Meliana, if

there was a tenth spiritual gift, Meliana would

have the gift of correction. You know what I

mean. And so anyway, she corrects me every day.

Come on here. But I do the same thing. I want

to just make her, she wants to make me better

and I want to make her better. But anyhow, there's

an opportunity for Joseph to escalate the brother's

guilt. Because I found this out. When people

are in a place of vulnerability and guilty and

feel condemnation, do we escalate their guilt

or do we alleviate it? And great leaders, and

I've been around some great leaders, they don't

escalate the person's guilt. They look for a

moment to redeem them from their guilt. Can I

hear an amen? And that's what he did. He said,

am I in the place of God? But listen to this.

But you, because in other words, he acknowledges

their wrongdoing, but he refuses to weaponize

it. Because if you do something wrong to me,

I can weaponize that against you. And we do have,

and this is why I do not like what's happening

in the body of Christ from Eliana. Something

was at fault. Then this is what bothers me. It's

not that certain false prophets or prophets have

gotten exposed. I get that. God will do that.

But I'm worried about the ministries that have

exposed them. Come on. Are you hearing what I'm

saying? And they've exposed them to the world

or exposed them to the rest of the church because

what they have done is they have used what they've

done wrong as a weapon against them not to see

them redeemed and restored. Come on. I'm worried

about them. Nobody knew you on social media.

You didn't have a platform. You didn't have a

YouTube channel. You had nothing. You were just

sitting in a pew twiddling your thumbs, and now

so -and -so sins, and now you have a million

views on your YouTube channel because someone

else has sinned. So that means you have to continue

to make up content in order to get a platform.

Instead of going to the Word of God and doing

what the Word of God says, love covers a multitude

of sins. If your brother sins, go to him. If

he doesn't repent, then go bring a brother. If

they don't repent, then go bring him before the

whole church. Come on. Instead of doing Matthew

18, 18. And so what happens, what I love about

Joseph is Joseph doesn't use what his brothers

did. He acknowledges the wrongdoing but doesn't

weaponize it. Come on. And how many understand

that that's how we are to be? Can I hear an amen

right now? Now, notice this. He says this. You

intended to harm me, but God intended for the

good to accomplish what is now being done, the

saving of many lives. What God meant for evil,

God turned it around for good. Last verse. So

then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you.

This is amazing. Don't be afraid. I will provide

for you. And he reassured them and spoke kindly

to them. Don't forget what I'm going to tell

you. How many have ever had a conflict with someone?

Thank you for being honest. Almost all of you

raised your hand except the two teenagers over

here. They must be perfect. But I want to tell

you something. When conflict is not fun, I don't

enjoy it. I think Meliana likes it, but I don't

like it. I'm teasing her. How many know that

when there is conflict and you have to face someone

that you have to talk about things to? Difficult,

what we call difficult conversation. How many

know that the emotional temperature in the room

is pretty intense? It's not like Darren on the

piano soaking in the presence of God. Come on.

It's not like that. It's intense because it's

as if the emotional temperature is way sky high.

Come on. It's been my experience over my short,

I'm going to be 64 in September, and Malian and

I will be, it'll be next year that we'll have

been 30 years traveling and we'll be in ministry

full time now for 30 years. It'll be next year.

And it's been my experience because how many

want to be great leaders? How many want to be

a great leader? I mean, you want to be a great

leader. I want to be not only a great leader,

I want to be a great father. I want to be a great

husband. I not only want to be a great communicator,

I want to be great in everything that God called

me to do. Are you following what I'm saying?

And I've discovered something. I've witnessed

something, especially with my spiritual father,

Dr. James Morocco, who has 900 church plants

now and a $40 million budget. That's what ran

through their ministry last year. But what Joseph

does when he says to them, don't be afraid. I

will provide for you and your children and reassured

them and spoke kindly to them. Now, they're guilty.

They did wrong. They know that. But what Joseph

does is he lowers the emotional temperature in

the room. Because I've tried this. I've done

this with my wife. It works. When the emotional

temperature rose up, And usually because I did

something wrong. Come on. Or she misunderstood

or assumed something. I've noticed that it really

works because the natural thing is to get defensive.

And the natural thing is to defend your right.

Come on. You're wrong, I'm right. That usually

doesn't go anywhere. That doesn't work out very

well. But when you lower the emotional temperature

in the room, all of a sudden, you and the person

that you're in conflict with or has a conflict

with you starts to think clearly. And everything

changes. That's why Joseph reassured them and

spoke kindly. To them. Oh my gosh. Because this

is the thing. If you were here this morning and

during my sermon, I mentioned that Saul went

and sought a medium. You were in the big metropolis

of Petersburg doing what God called you to do.

Serving. When Meliana was using that example

of Saul going to see a medium, my wife, because

of her broken English, some of you that weren't

here this morning, you know what she said from

the pulpit? Media! They went and saw a media.

And I'm sitting there, and now I want a conflict.

Come on. So I can't do that. I can't correct

her in front of the church. And so I walked up

with my iPad with the scripture so she could

read it. And I pointed to it. And then I sat

back down. I said, oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. You know,

because English is her second language. Then

I went back. And looked up the root word for

medium. And the root word for medium, brother,

is media. And in my wife's broken English, she

was originally right. Come on. She had the right

interpretation. And I can tell you this. The

media is not going to lower the emotional temperature

in the room. And what we need in America is more

prophetic voices and more people that hear from

God that know how to walk in a room and lower

the temperature. In order to speak kindly to

people, to treat them with dignity, honor, and

respect, and change the atmosphere so people

can think clearly. Can I hear an amen right now?

How many in the house believe God spoke to you

tonight? Raise your hand right now. Lift your

hands toward heaven all over the house tonight.

Father, we thank you for your word. It's a lamp

unto our feet, and it is a light upon our path.

I thank you for what you're doing even right

now by the power of the Holy Spirit.