By the time you reach Genesis chapter 39, bible readers and Sunday school attendees have already discovered some things about Joseph. By the time we reach Genesis chapter 39, Joseph (the son of Jacob and Rachel who’s name means remover or increaser) is being delivered out of a pit.
Ask me, HOW DID HE GET IN A PIT?
He got in a pit because he shared his dream with his brothers and his brothers were jealous of him. (Jealousy, that dangerous, treacherous word that is akin to envy, hateration, covetousness and deceit) is the very factor that drives Joseph to a pit.
• Be very careful about telling everybody where you’re going. Be very careful about telling everybody your dream. Because there are many people around you who do not have your best interest at heart. There are a lot of people, they ain’t going nowhere, they know that they ain’t going no where, they don’t intend to go anywhere, they have made a deliberate, calculated and pre-meditated decision that they ain’t going nowhere with nobody and plan to do nothing. And because they ain’t going nowhere and because they know they ain’t going nowhere and because they don’t intend to go anywhere, they don’t want you to go no where. And so people are not happy when you start talking about all these ideas—you gone write a book; you gone start a business; you gone do this; you gone move here—and you’ve got a lot of people around you that you really thought would have patted you on the back and encouraged you; you really thought they would have called you up and said ‘go ahead…I am with…you can make it’. But because a lot of people don’t want nothing out of life—they don’t want you to have nothing out of life. Be very careful who you share you dreams with. (And if what I am saying to you today doesn’t make sense to you, there are two things I need you to do: get a dream and keep living!)
• Be very careful who you share your dreams with. The Bible says that this young man, Joseph (the son of Jacob and Rachel who’s name means remover or increaser) is in a pit because he shared his dream (his vision/his ambition/his purpose/his plan/his goal/his future) with his brothers and his brothers (struck with jealousy and envy and covetousness and deceit) conspire to have him thrown into a pit.
• I’ve got another—I hate to be the bearer of bad news…and I hate to tell you this—I’m cut from the cloth of Martin Luther King, Jr. and our church is working on a project to minister to disenfranchised African-American’s within the inner-city…I had a dream too—I hate to tell you this—but everybody that’s black ain’t your brother.
Let me make it plain—everybody that is your skin color ain’t your brother. Because the Bible says that his brothers threw him in a pit. (Gen 37) Don’t you think, now, that everybody who calls you brother who pats you on the back and says that they are with you. As a matter of fact, the reason you set your alarm on your house when you left home to come to church and locked your gate and the reason you went back and double-checked to make sure your alarm was on your car—it wasn’t because you think some white folks are going to steal your car. You ain’t worried, while you are in church, about some white folks breaking in your house. (I’ll say this: I really wish that we can get to the point where we as African-American men would start being able to trust each other, rely on one another, be able to wrap our arms around one another, and to make sure that we help each other make it to the top)
The Bible says that his brothers threw him in a pit. But by the time we reach Genesis chapter 39, they had taken him out of a pit and they had sold him to a group called the Ishmaelites. This group of people called the Ishmaelites—they take Joseph to Egypt and they sell Joseph to a man named Potipher. Now watch this—Potiphar is the first leiutinant to Pharoah. Pharoah is in control is the head man/honcho in all of Egypt. He’s the H.E.I.C.—the Head Egyptian In Charge. Potiphar takes Joseph, now, as a slave—but incidentally he moves Joseph to his house into the palace.
• Rather than being down about the ways things are going in your life, just remember that you can be in the pit one day and be in the palace the next day. I said that it doesn’t make a difference what’s going on in your life today, I dare you to stay in the hands of the Lord; I dare to keep on trusting in the Lord—with God you can be in the pit one day and in the palace the next day.
With God you can be the ugly duckling one day and be the prom queen the next day.
With God you can be the janitor one day and the CEO the next day.
With God you can be the salesman one day and the owner of the company the next day.
With God you can be the cheerleader one day and the president of the USA the next day.
I’m trying to tell you that God has the capacity—His blood still has miraculous power. God is able to move us from where we are to where we ought to be in a twinkling of an eye. He doesn’t have to get nobody’s permission. He doesn’t have to ask for anybody’s vote. He doesn’t have to give your boss the permission to promote you. He doesn’t have to get permission from your wife or your husband to promote you. Whenever God wants to move you, He can move you just like that.
• It teaches me that what God has for me—is for me.
• It teaches me that God’s defense is better than your offense (no weapon….the battle is not mind)
• It teaches me that when you surrender to God—He can take your haters and turn your haters into elevators (Psalm 23 ‘prepareth a table before me….’)
I want somebody to lift up your head/be encourage/to know that trouble doesn’t last always/to know that weeping will endure for a night but joy is coming if you just hold on/God is in control of the thing that seems to be overwhelming to you—you don’t have to always be where you are right now. (Prophetically I say, you will not be where you are right now)
• I know you lost your job, child, house, car, loved one.
• I know you went through the wreck, divorce, rape, hurt, shame and the guilt.
• I know you’re crying, confused and wondering ‘God, how long?’
• I know that you were so depressed that you knew you had to eat but didn’t have an appetite to eat; and what you did eat you couldn’t keep it down because you were down and depressed.
But you’ve got to hold on—there is a dream and a vision that is waiting on you. You are pregnant with a major possibility that you need to give birth to. There is a you and is in you that needs to be let out of you. Hold on…keep the faith…it ain’t the end until you win…it’s time for a comeback—this too shall pass…there’s another level/chapter/place/prize…don’t give up—just hold on—I don’t it doesn’t make sense to you—but that is because you are not God—you’ve got to trust the One who knows how this thing is going to turn out.
This young man Joseph goes from the pit to the palace and this what we are here to discuss. The Bible says that the Lord (this just make me tingle and it makes my liver quiver)—it says that ‘The Lord was with Joseph.’ Anybody here want the Lord with you?
Look at somebody and tell them: I WANT THE LORD WITH ME!
Not only was the Lord with Joseph but He made Joseph a prosperous man (Look at the 23rd verse of the same chapter)
Now I am going to tell you some stuff today that can literally change the course of your destiny—I want you to hear me today.
• God want you to be prosperous!
I don’t know about you, you may not want what God has for you. But as for me and my house, I want everything that God has for me—because God wants me to be prosperous.
The Bible says that God was with Joseph and he was prosperous man.
Now so many so-called ‘prosperity preachers’ have messed up this idea. And now so many people think that prosperity is e man-made gimmick by some preacher in order to get rich. When we think of prosperity, we normally think of Rev. Ike with 27 Rolls-Royces. And a lot of people can become tricked and hoodwinked, because rather than going through what it takes for us to be prosperous, sometimes we would rather get in a line, give some man or woman 500 dollars for them to tell us that we are going to be prosperous. Trust me, I am going to teach prosperity based upon the word of God. You don’t have to give 50 dollars or 500 dollars installment offering to hear about prosperity. Trust me—I am here with you every week teaching you the word of God—it is up to you to accept or reject. You don’t have to fear me—I am going to continue to teach you the word like I do every week. I am always going to show it to you in the word, even if it hurts you and me, I am going to show you in the word. I do know that people have misused this subject; I know that preachers have tricked people that they’ll be healed or a millionaire in 3 weeks if they give a certain amount. But after I get through with you, there ain’t gone be no line, ain’t go be no special ‘touch my car’ gimmick—I am going to tell you what the Lord says like I tell you every week. (Although I did see this 5-carat Harry Winston ring I’d like to get my wife for Christmas)
God wants us to prosper. And the Bible actually supports and declares that it is God’s desire for every believer (how many believers do we have here today?) to prosper. Would it be alright if I told you that God wants you to prosper? Now God wants us to prosper in everything. When we think of the word prosperity, we think about a house, the country club, and some cars and some shoes. I’m not talking about no shoes. I’m not talking about God wants you to have some more shoes. Mike Tyson had 3000 pairs of shoes and no where to go.
* What good is money cometh if everything else around you faileth---
When I talk about prosperity I am talking about God wants your marriage to prosper; God wants you to be happy living with the person that you live with. In fact I would rather be barefooted and happy with the person that I’m living with than to have a thousand pair of shoes and can’t stand to walk in the house.
I want to be prosperous with my kids. I want my kids to like me. I want to be prosperous as a father. I don’t want my kids to think that when they have a problem, they can only talk to their god parents or grandparents….. I want my kids to be able to call me wherever they are and say, ‘Daddy…let’s talk…it’s some things that are going on my life’. That is what I am talking about prosperity—you being able to get along. I want my child-rearing to be prosperous. I don’t want my kids to be able to talk to everybody but me. I don’t want my kids to have stuff going on—and say, ‘well we can’t talk to our daddy.’ I’d rather have a right relationship with my kids than some shoes.
I want to be prosperous in my friendships. I want my friends to know that they can count on me. I want my friends to know that my word is my bond. I want my friends to know that if I make them a promise that I will carry it out and I am reliable to not let them down. I want to be able to count on my friends. I want to know that somebody got my back and that I’ve got theirs. I want to know that somebody is praying for me and for them to know that I am somewhere praying for them. I want to know that somebody cares about me—that if I slip and fell that there would be somebody who would give me a bowl of soup and I would do the same for them. I’d rather be prosperous in my friendships—because shoes can’t bring me no soup; shoes can’t drive me to the doctor; shoes can’t wipe spit out the side of my mouth—shoes can’t do that for me.
If I told you that by following the formula I give you, that everything that you from now on is guaranteed to prosper, how man of you would be interested?
Now let me start out by telling you that it ain’t easy. Because if it is easy, somebody ain’t teaching you right.
Illustration—I wanted to go to the gym and make my physique mo’ better. I had my shoes, my gear on, my headphones. I had my music on ‘raise up…get your praise…’ Rev. Pullam, you don’t have any weight on there. He said, the way that it works is that you drop the weight on there first and then you push the machine.
What I am saying is that if it is easy then maybe you ain’t doing it right. See, we would actually rather stand in the line, pay a thousand dollars and receive instant prosperity and riches. But with true prosperity, it will only work if you work it. If you follow the formula, put some weight on it, it will work.
I. The key to prospering is to be in the presence of the Lord
Look at verse 2 again.
Look at the 23rd verse again.
The Bibles says that the reason Joseph was blessed/was prosperous—it ain’t because he went and stood in a line/went to the ‘it’ church to get good business connections—the Bible says that the reason why he was prosperous was because ‘The Lord was with him’. That is why he was prosperous.
• Prosperity is a Bible word. It is not a word that somebody made up to get your money. It is a biblical desire for all of God’s people.
Turn to 2 Kings 18:7 ‘talking about Hezekiah’
Watch the pattern: The Lord was with him and he prospered. The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. Prosperity is a Bible word.
Another scripture 3rd John verse 2 ‘Beloved, I wish above all things that thou wouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth’. Is that in your Bible? God wants you to prosper!
GOD WANTS ME TO PROSPER
Now, the word ‘prosper’ we find in the New Testament and the Old Testament. The word prosper in the Hebrew means to ‘push forward’. The New Testament is written in Greek and the word prosper means to ‘help along the road’. Put it together—God wants to help you along the road and God wants to push you forward. The only way God can do this, is that you and I must be in the presence of the Lord. While we are living in the presence of the Lord, God is constantly pushing us forward.
This man Potiphar—he ain’t saved, he’s an unbeliever—but he recognized that the presence of the Lord was with Joseph so he put Joseph over everything. He said, ‘I ain’t no fool, the Lord is with this man.’
• When you are not at work, your boss ought to be calling trying to find out what’s wrong—because your boss ought to know that the reason that the office is blessed is because of you. The people on your job should know that the reason it is going as well as it is—is because you are there. It is something about a person being in the presence of the Lord, that even an unbeliever will know that you are living in the presence of the Lord. You don’t have to have no big bible; you don’t have to wear a cross; you don’t have to walk around saying ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus’. People will know that Jesus is with you and that you are in the presence of the Lord, because when you’re in the presence of the Lord, everything you touch will prosper.
As a matter of fact, the Bible says that the reason why his entire household was blessed is because of Joseph. (The power of just one. It would take just ONE person—to impact this church/city/nation/world)
The key to prosperity in our finances, in our future and in our family is to be in the presence of the Lord. When God is with us and we are in His presence, He helps us along the road/he pushes us forward.
(Illustration—someone walking with me (as God) and themselves—I walk with them and push them forward. Somewhere along the way, he decides to go his own way—he wants the way he wants to go. Fine—he’s made his choice. But now the Lord can’t push him forward—because he is out of the presence of the Lord.)
See, a lot of people are wondering why they are stagnant/can’t go any further/are not happy/life is at a standstill. It is because you have walked to far from God for God to help you.
But because we know that God is merciful and because we know that God loves us and has grace, we are banking on God to and catch up with us and bless us and push us forward.
But that’s not how it works—because God is good/kind/merciful/given us another chance, God is waiting for us to do something. The word is repent. The word repent means to turn around/come back to where you left/put yourself back in a relationship with God. It is not up to God to come find us; it is up to us to have enough sense to turn back to God. And then when you come back into the presence of God, then He can push you forward.
Why can’t my business move forward/get ahead/get further in our career.
It could be that we have gotten too far away from the Lord—and now the Lord can’t help us along the way. And the Lord can’t push us. And He can’t push us until we are in His presence.
So—the key to prosperity is being in the presence of the Lord. How many of your believe that?
If the key to prosperity is being in the presence of the Lord, then everybody in here should want to do what? Be in the presence of the Lord. If that’s all it is—If I am in the presence of the Lord he will push me forward—then I need to be in the presence of the Lord.
Well, what is the key to being in the presence of the Lord? That should be the only thing right now that we should want to find out. How do I get in the presence of the Lord because I want Him to push me forward—don’t you?
II. The key to being in the presence of the Lord is obedience
It sounds simple—but this is the weight going on the machine—that is why a lot of people don’t prosper.
• A lot of us want something for nothing. That is why you bought that T.V. in that box and the man told you not to look at it until you got home because his boss was coming. And when you got home, what was in there? You bought that t.v.!
The key to being in the presence of the Lord is obedience.
1st Samuel 18:12/14
Saul is the King of Israel and he is scared of David. You want to get people to back up off of you/off your trail? You don’t have to cuss anybody out/give people a piece of your mind—just get in the presence of the Lord. Now folk ain’t going to want to mess with you once they realize that you are in the presence of the Lord. They are going to be scared to touch you because they know that no weapon that is formed against you will be able to prosper. Saul is the king but he’s scared of David because he recognizes that the Lord is with him. Because of obedience the Lord is with David; because of disobedience the Lord is no longer with Saul.
Isaiah 1:19
I’ve got some bad news: God doesn’t just want us to obey; he wants us to like it. The scripture says ‘if you be willing and obey’.
I want to share something with you and I’m not ashamed to say it—there are times I get mad having to do what’s right. Sometimes it bothers me—I get plum upset—here it is there is some stuff that my flesh wants, here it is some stuff that I want to get into, here it is some stuff that I know that’ll make me feel good and even some stuff that I supposed to do that I don’t want to do—and because I’m a Christian, I’ve got to do what’s right.
You don’t come here every week for me to lie to you—‘cause you the same way. So we end up doing what is right. And then sometimes you start feeling bad that you’ve obeyed. Because it just looks like God should sends some stars down—some joy should come to our soul—that music should come on: ----. Like ‘man, I obeyed God, God has made me happy’ . Sometimes we obey and it looks like nothing at all has happened.
• There is a difference between obeying and obeying willingly
God wants us to obey and He wants us to like it—because we know that obedience is going to put us in the presence of the Lord.
Illu. – You don’t want to walk into the house and say to your wife—‘The bible says that I’m the man, and you’re supposed to submit to me—and that your body is up for me…and I say that we are going to have sex right now—I am the man of the house…and you gone submit to me and we are going to have sex ‘cause I am the man and you are supposed to obey me.’
• Your wife can have sex out of obedience and not be willing. And I guarantee you it ain’t gone be that much fun.
Your wife can say: yeah, you’re right—you’re the husband, so go on.
It’s just a much better evening when she’s willing. And it’s even better when she call you and asking, ‘What time are you gone be home?....got a little something something that I want to break off for you. God a little something that I want to set up for a brother…just need to know what time you are going to get here.’
The Bible says that if our spirits are willing and we are obedient, we shall eat the fruit of the land.
Deut. 11:26-28 for those who say the bible is complicated—unless you ride the short bus, you ought to get this.
God tries to uncomplicated this thing. He says…here it is…I set before you a blessing and a curse. You get blessed if you do what I say. You get cursed if you don’t do what I say.
Now what is the blessing? Because I’m trying to help somebody grow like I’m trying to grow—cause I’m trying to stop being mad when I have to do right.
The blessing of obedience is what? It puts me in the presence of the Lord. Why do I want to be in the presence of the Lord? Because it helps me to prosper.
Ill-when David messed up with Bathsheba, he asked God for one thing…Lord, don’t take me out of your presence. Cast me not away from your presence. Why did David not want to be out of the presence of the Lord? Who’s going to push you ahead.
Obedience is the ticket that gets you in the stadium of the presence of the Lord. You don’t need Rev. Ike’s oil on your head. That is not how you get to prosperity. When you stand at the door and knock, when the doors of prosperity is open, if there is no obedient ticket that has been stamped you can not get in.
Let’s start from the top:
The key to prosperity is what? Being in the presence of the Lord
The key to being in the presence of the Lord is what? Obedience
Then what is the key to obedience?
III. The key to obedience is faith
If I believe a certain thing is going to happen—my obedience is activated by the response of my belief.
• You bought the lottery tickets because you believed you were going to win.
• You came here today at 10 o’clock because you believed we were having church. You did not get up today saying to yourself, ‘I know they ain’t having church today—but I’m going anyway’. You didn’t come yesterday at 10—because your behavior was negated and driven by what you believed. And you are not coming tomorrow at 10, you can—but not for church. Because our behavior is based on what we believe.
Example:
People who don’t obey God and tithe, they’re disobedience is really a result of unbelief. Now let me tell you what the bible says to everybody who tithes—he says bring all the tithe—and prove me..and see….open the windows of heaven…pour you out a blessing that you don’t have room enough……
Who don’t want that? Show me the negro and niglette. Everybody wants that. But people that don’t give don’t believe that. They don’t really believe that it is going to happen—stuff you don’t believe you don’t obey.
The bible says, ‘children, obey your parents’. You know why children obey their parents? Because they believe that there is a reward if they obey and a punishment if they do not.
Have you ever had a little kid that was acting up? A little kid you just wanted to strangle/kill? And you said, ‘listen..you better stop acting up—I’m going to tell your mama’. And they say, ‘My mama ain’t gone do nothing.’ Have you ever heard that before? When a person does not believe that there will be no consequences for what they do, they don’t obey. That’s why jails are filled now. That is why old folks used to say that a ‘hard head makes a soft bottom’. See, ya’ll didn’t know what that meant, that means when you get to jail….
Behavior is a result of belief.
I finished high school because I had faith in my mother’s promise. She said if you don’t, I will kill you. Because I believed that, I obeyed.
Here me, if works no other way—obedience is a result of what you believe.
My mother and sister didn’t have a baby as teenage girls in high school because they believed my grandmother’s promise. My grandmother promised, if you bring a baby into this house—I am going to have to raise the baby. You say: well, pastor, that ain’t so bad—what’s so bad about your grandmother telling your mother and aunt that she would have to raise the baby? You don’t know why my grandmother was going to have to raise the baby. My grandmother was going to have to raise the baby because she was going to kill my mother or aunt.
Now this all may sound morbid—but a lot of us actually grew up believing that our parents would actually kill us. And that’s what is wrong with kids today. Kids today don’t believe there is consequence to disobedience. Because it is your belief that determines your behavior. And if you don’t believe that something will happen, you don’t straighten up and you don’t live right. But if you believe that something is going to happen and you don’t want to face the consequence, then you straighten up.
I remember one time I was going to run away from home again…My brother Keith said…you can try it if you want…but now if you ain’t successful, you know daddy’s gone kill you. I said, well I better not do that then.
We know how many people in our society is on drugs. Yet somebody is going to try it for the first time today. Because they don’t believe that they gone get hooked.
We know how many people got aids, we know it. But we got some people this week who are going to go out and do something with somebody and you ain’t gone have no protection. Because you don’t believe it’s gone happen to you.
We know how many people catch lung cancer and emphysema because of smoking. But there are people that’s going to go through 3 or 4 packs of cigarettes this week—because they don’t believe that it is going to happen to them.
We know how many alcoholics there are in the world. But we got people who are going to keep on because you don’t believe it’s going to happen to you.
All I’m trying to tell you is that your belief is going to determine what you are going to do or you are not going to do. And the reason that a lot of people don’t obey God’s word is because we don’t have faith in it.
• God says stay with your spouse—no matter how bad they look/how bad they’re breath smells in the morning, etc.—key your eyes on your side of the fence. But for someone reason or another, we don’t obey because we don’t have faith in that word.
Question: Why didn’t the children of Israel not make it into the promised land? Disobedience.
Hebrews 3: 18-19
The Bible says that they did not make it because of disobedience. The passage says because they did not believe. Because what you disobey, you do not believe.
You know what they thought—they thought that God was going to bless them anyway.
(they sung songs like, ‘what God has for me, is for me’. That’s true! But you better being doing something while you are waiting)
God told the people that they did not make it because they didn’t believe. The reason why we don’t obey stuff is because we don’t believe the stuff. So the key to obedience is faith.
The Key to prosperity is what? Being in the presence of the Lord.
What is the Key to being in the presence of the Lord? Obedience
What is the key to obedience? Faith
Then…what is the key to faith?
IV. The key to faith is hearing the Word of the Lord
• The more word you hear, the better you life is going to be. Put yourself in a position where you can hear as much of the word as you possibly can.
You’ve got to get the word of God in you. You’ve got to memorize the word—that is why I made you turn to many scriptures today, and not just let you sit here—you’ve got to hear the word with your ears; you’ve got to see the word your eyes. You’ve got to memorize the word. You’ve got to be exposed to the Word.
The more faith you are going to have, is going to be based on one thing: The WORD. For Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word. That is what it says in Romans 10
You’ve got to invest in the word. You’ve got to buy tapes with sound teaching. And listen to them over and over and over again. You’ve got to go to Christian bookstores and start feeding your faith and starving your doubts and things that you see with your natural eyes.
You want to know why our little girls are walking around looking crazy or young men acting like they are male escorts—is because in the headphones or on MTV and BET, that is the word that they are getting. If the only word that you are getting is ‘do me, do me, do me….or screw, screw, screw’…then that is what you are going to do. If the only word you got in you is acid, pcp, Angel dust or crack…then that is what you are going to do. You are going to do what you are going to do.
Psalm 1….’Blessed is the man that walketch…..but his delight shall be in the law of the Lord….then he shall be like the tree planted….
The winds blows, but he ain’t going to move because he’s like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
“Pastor, I want a prosper”. Get you a word.
So that you can have faith.
So that you can obey.
So that I can be in the presence of the Lord.
So that he can push me to where He wants me to be.
And there aint nothing sweeter---more meaningful than being in the presence of the Lord.
You don’t have to get high, trick, play….
There is nothing more precious than the presence of the Lord.
We stumble at obedience—that is really where we stumble.
The presence of the Lord is so important. What is it that we do that is more important than being in the presence of the Lord.? I don’t know of a drink, a high, thrill, etc. that is that good that it is worth me missing the presence of the Lord.
