THE LORD IS WITH ME

GEN. 39:1-6

INTRO:    JOSEPH: IS A TYPE OF CHRIST- BECAUSE THERE IS NO RECORDED SIN, THAT I COULD FIND IN THE BIBLE.   NOW BY THAT I WOULD SAY THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS ON JOSEPH.

NOTICE:  WITH ME IN VERSES 2, 3, 21, 23.    SO THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH.  THAT’S A GOOD THING TO KNOW THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU.

--HOW MANY CAN SAY YOU KNOW THE LORD IS WITH YOU THIS MORNING.

--IF YOU KNOW THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU, YOU WANT HAVE  A TOMORROW  THAT’S TO DARK, A DIFFICULTY TO GREAT,  OR A PROBLEM THAT HE CAN’T SOLVE,  BUT THE LORD WILL GO WITH US THROUGH THIS WALK OF LIFE.

--I GUESS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS TO BE SAID ABOUT A MAN, IS THAT GOD IS WITH HIM!   HE’S A GOD FEARING MAN!   CAN ANYBODY SAY THAT ABOUT YOU, IS THE LORD VISIBLE THROUGH YOUR DAILY LIFE?

--YOU KNOW SOME CHURCHES, OR CHRISTIANS CAN’T SAY THAT THE LORD IS WITH THEM.     BUT JOSEPH COULD SAY THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HIM!      BUY THE WAY OF INTRODUCTION:   THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH:

1- IN THE PIT        GEN.37:23-24 “And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.”

--WHEN YOU GET IN THE SPIRITUAL PIT OF LIFE, THERES ONLY ONE THAT CAN BRING YOU OUT OF THAT PIT.   PSALMS 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

 

2-  IN   POTIPHAR’S  HOUSE     GEN.39:1-2 “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.”

--I’M GLAD WHERE EVER THE LORD SENDS YOU, HE WILL GO WITH YOU!

--WHAT EVER YOU HAVE TO FACE, HE’S THERE!    HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US.

--JUST BE OBEDIENT AND A WILLING VESSEL.

3-  IN  PRISON          GEN.39:20-21 “And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

--WHAT EVER DARK PLACES WE  HAVE TO FACE, THE LORD WILL BE THERE WITH HIS  GREAT MERCY AND GRACE TO SEE US THROUGH!

NOT ONLY WAS THE LORD WITH JOSEPH IN:   THE PIT,  POTIPHAR’S HOUSE,  AND PRISON!     BUT HERE ARE MORE PLACES THE LORD WAS WITH HIM:

1-       WHEN HE WAS A CHILD

--WHEN HE WAS OUT IN THE FIELD  TAKING CARE OF THE  FLOCK, I BELIEVE THE LORD WAS  WITH HIM.   THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT, WHEN HE WAS 17  YEARS OLD THAT  HE WAS FEEDING THE FLOCK WITH HIS BRETHREN IN  (GEN. 37:2)

--HE HAD TO HAVE BEEN A PRETTY GOOD BOY, FOR THE BIBLE TO SAY THE LORD WAS WITH HIM.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THE LORD WAS WITH HIM?   IF THE BIBLE SAYS THAT’S ENOUGH!    BUT IF THE LORD IS WITH A PERSON YOU WILL KNOW IT BY:

A-  HIS  DEVOTION  -   FOR THE LORD TO HAVE BEEN WITH HIM, HE WOULD HAVE  TO HAVE LOVED SPIRITUAL THINGS.

--IF YOU ARE DEVOTED TO JESUS,   YOU WILL LOVE HIS HOUSE,   AND YOU WILL LOVE   HIS WORD!

--WHEN THE LORD IS ON A MAN, YOU  CAN TELL IT BY WHAT HE FEEDS ON.    IF HE FEEDS ON THE FILTH OF THIS WORLD, GOD HAS NOT PART WITH HIM.     REV.3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

B-  HIS DRESS   -      GEN. 37:3 “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.”

--IT WAS AN UNUSUAL COAT TO MOST

--IT SEPERATED HIM FOR HIS OTHER BROTHERS  ( I TELL IF YOU HAVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOU WILL BE SEPERATED FROM THE WORLD.)

--NO DOUBT MADE HIM DIFFERENT   (YOU TOO WILL BE DIFFERENT WHEN JESUS GOES HOME WITH YOU.)

--PEOPLE OUGHT TO KNOW WE ARE DIFFERENT BY THE WAY WE DRESS.

--THE WORLD, I’M AFRAID MOST OF THE TIME CAN’T SEE OR TELL THE DIFFERENCE.     CAN THE WORLD TELL YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN?

C-  HIS DREAMS     GEN.37:5-11

--JOSEPH WAS A DREAMER

--GOD REVEALED SOME THINGS TO JOSEPH IN DREAMS

--GEN.37:7 “For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.”

--DAKES   SAID  JOSEPH PREDICTED HIS FAMILY WOULD BECOME DEPENDENT UPON HIM AND HUMBLED BEFORE HIM IN EGYPT, AS FULFILLED IN CHAPTERS 42—50.

--DON’T GET TO THE  PLACE WHERE WE DON’T HAVE NO VISION.

--WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH.

IM GLAD THE LORD WAS WITH ME AS A CHILD!   LISTEN YOUNG PEOPLE  PAY ATTENTION AND LIVE FOR THE LORD WHILE YOUR YOUNG.  ECCL.12:1 “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;”      I’M GLAD HE WATCHED OVER AND PROTECTED ME.

2-  WHEN HE WAS SOLD INTO SLAVERY     GEN. 37:28 “Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.”    YOU MIGHT SAY HE WAS BETRAYED.    JESUS WAS BETRAYED BY JUDAS FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER.

--BUT THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH, WHEN HE WAS SOLD, BETRAYED.

--WHEN PEOPLE REVILE AND PERSECUTE YOU.    WHEN THEY BETRAY YOU AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP OR BROTHERSHIP,  REMEMBER THERES ONE THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A  BROTHER.

--WHEN YOUR SO CALLED BRETHREN OR FRIENDS ARE ENVIOUS, JEALOUS, WHEN THEY MOCK, RIDICULE, PLOT AGAINST YOU, WHEN THEY SHOW NO MERCY, OR LIE ON YOU,  YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND AS  I’M SURE JOSEPH COULDN’T  RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS SOLD INTO SLAVERY.      BUT JUST KEEP ON SEEKING GOD AND TRUSTING IN HIM.  (THE LORD WILL BE WITH YOU AS HE WAS WITH JOSEPH.)

3-  WHEN HE WAS TEMPTED AND WRONGLY ACCUSED     GEN.39:1-18

--POTIPHAR SAW THAT JOSEPH WAS A GOOD MAN AND THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HIM, SO HE LEFT EVERYTHING IN JOSEPH’S HAND.   AND WHILE HE WAS THERE  POTIPHAR’S WIFE TRIED TO SEDUCE HIM.

--SHE WANTED TO LIE WITH HIM, BUT THANK GOD HE REFUSED, AND SHE CAUGHT HIM BY HIS GARMENT,SAYING, LIE WITH ME: AND HE LEFT HIS GARMENT IN HER HAND, AND FLED, AND GOT HIM OUT.  1 COR.10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

--TOMORROW WHEN YOUR TEMPTED AND THE DEVIL TRIES TO SEDUCE YOU,  REMEMBER GOD WILL BE WITH YOU TO MAKE A WAY OF ESCAPE.

--SOME ARE FACED W/ TEMPTATIONS AT WORK, HOME, SCHOOL  AND WHEN YOU ARE JUST REMEMBER TO SAY  “NO”  TO THE DEVIL.

(STORY OF BILLY SUNDAY—1922 CAMPAIGN IN COLUMBIA S.C.—SOME TRIED TO SET HIM UP WITH A PROSTITUTE AND TO GET HIM ON CAMERA—BUT THE LORD SHOW HIM WHAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO AND HE SAID SORRY BOYS THE HOLY GHOST HAS ALREADY BEEN HEAR, I’M NOT GOING TO BE SEDUCED.)

--WHAT EVER TEMPTATION YOUR FACING:  SEX, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, MEN, WOMEN, GAMBLEING,    JESUS WILL MAKE A WAY OF ESCAPE.

4-  WHEN HE DIED   GEN.50:26 “So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

--I BELIEVE THE LORD WENT WITH HIM TO THE GRAVE AND TO ETERNITY.

--I’M GLAD  HE’S GOING WITH ME TO THE GRAVE, AND THROUGH ETERNITY.

--I’M GLAD I WANT HAVE TO CROSS JORDAN ALONE.    (SONG)

--I WANT HAVE TO FEEL THE STING OF DEATH  1 COR.15:55 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

CONCLUSION:     THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH, CAN YOU SAY THAT  THE LORD IS WITH YOU?     IF YOU CAN’T  PLEASE COME TO HIM TODAY!