>> All right, good morning, church family. Happy Lord's Day. It is always a privilege and a joy for us to gather together to worship our God. So we will begin with a song, As the Deer, and as we sing of our heart's desire for God as we long to worship him, as we long for him.

So let us sing this song together. >> All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church. Happy Valentine's Day or Jajangmyeon Day, depending on where you are. We just have a couple of announcements before we get started. First of all, the college ministry gospel night is happening on February 24th at 8 PM.

And so this is an outreach night. And if you want more information about that, contact Pastor Nate, and he'll give you more information about that. Okay, that's not this coming Wednesday, but the following Wednesday. Another thing I just wanted to remind all of us before we get started is, you know, as you guys know, our theme for this year is watch and pray.

And so one of the things that we said that we're going to do is we're going to have some prayer time before we start worship. So each service, before we start at 9 o'clock, before we start at 11, we have the room reserved for prayer time. So we want to encourage you guys to take advantage of that.

And so come a little bit earlier and take some time to pray. And instead of just attending worship, really come to seek the Lord. And I think one of the best ways to do that is to be in prayer and prepare your heart. Pray for the things that we put up so that you can help us to corporately pray.

But along with that, that we would ready our hearts to really give worship to God and not just attend worship. And so for that reason, we ask that 15 minutes before worship starts to try to keep the room as quiet as possible. And so even if you need to do some stuff, just even a little whisper, it travels in this room.

So if you need to have any kind of conversation, we ask you to do it outside or step out into the hallway. But try to keep this room of prayer a place where we can pray before worship at again at 845 and 1045. OK. All right. So we'll take some time to pray for the offering and then we'll give you an opportunity to give the offering online or again, the physical boxes in the back.

All right. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for your continued goodness over our lives. Lord, you know our hearts, you know our tendency to be entangled with things, Lord God, that have no eternal value. Help us, Lord, to continue to hear your word, be affected, to be molded as you are the Potter and we are the claim.

Lord, we ask that you would help us to give you worship that is pleasing and acceptable to you in spirit and in truth. That you would open our ears, soften our hearts, Lord God, that your word would have its effect on us. We pray that the offering that we give may be multiplied, may be given in joy for the sake of your name.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. As we continue our worship, let us stand together. All right, good morning. If you can turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 22. We're going to, back into Hebrews, one verse at a time. All right, at least for this week again.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 22. Reading out of the NASV, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the Exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would anoint this word, that your sheep may hear your voice and follow you and you alone.

Help us, Lord God, to give you worship that you are pleased with. May your name be honored and glorified. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Some of you guys know that our church's 24th anniversary is coming up. Time has gone by so quickly. People often ask, you know, what was the catalyst?

What caused you to want to plant the church? And our church was not a typical church plant because there was no planning involved. There was no desire to plant the church. You know, it just kind of happened because the church that I used to serve at in Irvine, you know, I left the church for about a year and I got a phone call and they said that, you know, they don't have a pastor here and we need you to come back and help us.

So I went really to kind of fill in the gap, hoping to help out. And then once I got there, the new pastor on the Korean side, you know, had a vision that we didn't fit into. And so basically he asked us to leave. And there's a lot of different things that happened, but, you know, we didn't want to leave.

I mean, we couldn't leave because, you know, we just had a newborn child at home, an infant. And, you know, our church members, we had maybe one working person at the time. And our offering could not sustain us because, you know, the people who were with us in the very beginning, they were actually, who are still here, they were actually, most of them were still high school students.

So they were juniors in high school and those juniors in high school are now turning 40 this year, you know, or 40, 41. So we were a very young church and there's no way anybody in their right mind would plant the church with that group. And so that's exactly what my friends were saying, "Peter, what are you doing?" And again, we didn't plant this church because we wanted to.

You know, typically when you plant the church, you know, you plan. And you have, you know, you have the core members that you get together. You have some funding. What's our doctrinal statement? What are our bylaws? What denomination are we a part of? And so all of these things are planned and then you execute and you hope to reach these people with this kind of thing.

And none of that happened in our church, you know. So whenever you plant something, you make sure that you got the soil ready, you got the feed ready, you know. And then you water it and you make sure it's out in the sun and you get enough rays and then you go and check up on it.

Well, none of that happened. Like for us, our church plant was kind of like taking a seed and just throwing it out the window. And then expecting it to die and then on the way back, we realized, "Huh, it didn't die." That's kind of like the, that was kind of like the genesis of our church.

And so we got planted out of necessity, just not trying to die. That was really the early parts. And first year that we had our church retreat was about six years into the church because, you know, obviously I was busy taking care of our family and I had to get an extra job to pay for bills because the church couldn't sustain us in the beginning.

And so for the first six to seven years, we were really just on a survival mode. And it was a running joke in the church that whenever one person visited our church, it's like revival. You know, because nobody knew who we were, you know. And then even our name was weird, Berean.

And then they would say, "Oh, Korean." No, Berean, you know. And I remember being so frustrated, "Berean, read your Bible. Berean," right? And so that's kind of how our church started. It's been 24 years that our church has, you know, like come this far. And, you know, if you ask us the first five or six years of the church, I don't know how many times we thought we're not going to make it.

We're not going to make another year. We're not going to make another year. And I was so tempted to, like, I can't do this anymore. I got two kids. I got three kids, you know. And it's just not going to happen. But in the totality, 24 years looking back, obviously God's hand was upon it.

It wasn't necessarily anything that we did. And if anybody asked me, like, "What did you do in the early church?" I'd say, "The only thing I can give you is I didn't quit." There was no elaborate planning. There wasn't like, "Oh, you know, we sought God and we did this." It's like, no, we just didn't want to die, really, in the early church.

And so clearly, as difficult as the beginning was, God's been faithful. And I know that there are, you know, people that I can think of throughout the years that came to faith as a result of us just persevering through all of it, you know. And the reason why I share all of this is because it made me think about Joseph.

Obviously, you know, nowhere near what Joseph's experienced. But Joseph, the man of faith, his whole life can be summed up in what his brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. That's his whole life, right? We typically think that when bad things are happening, we say, "Well, is that from God or is that from Satan?" Is it good or is it evil?

We naturally think if it is evil, then God's not there. And if we think that God's in control and God's doing this, then we automatically think that evil is not there. But from our own personal experience and from what we see in Scripture, what may have been meant for evil, that God meant for good.

And so evil and God's goodness is working simultaneously at the same time. And so we talk about the sovereignty of God, and I don't think anybody has a problem pointed to God's sovereignty when we look back in our life, in history, in the past tense. God orchestrated this, and this is how I met my wife, and God brought me to this, and God allowed me to be a part of this.

And so even if you're an Armenian, you'll look back and say, "Oh, clearly God directed our lives in this path." But our problem is not past tense, it's future tense. Do we believe in the sovereignty of God in the present? Whatever is happening now, do you understand that a sovereign God that you worship is in control?

And that whatever happened in the past, whatever happened in the future, that whatever was meant for evil, God means it for good. Just like it says in Romans 8:28, "God causes all things to work together for good for those who have been called according to His purpose." There's no better example of that than Joseph's life.

Exodus 11-22 says, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of Exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones." Now if you look at that verse, if you know anything about Joseph's life, that doesn't really capture Joseph's life, right? There's so many things that we can talk about, and we're going to get to it in a minute.

But of all the things that Joseph went through, in fact, 13 chapters of the book of Genesis dedicated to Joseph. Thirteen chapters! And of all the things that the author could have highlighted, he said, "When he was dying, he made mention of the Exodus, and then about his bones." I'm not going to answer that until we get to the very end.

So the point of this sermon is really going to be at the end. But in order to understand the impact of what he's saying here, I think it's good for us to understand his life. So if you look at the first part of Joseph's life in Genesis 37, up to 17 years of his life, I mean, he lived a life of bliss.

He was the youngest child of Jacob, and the Scripture says that he was beloved by him. Imagine, he grew up in a family that was filthy rich because God blessed Jacob. And he was loved. In fact, if you look at Joseph's life, there is really nothing negative mentioned about Joseph.

The only negative mention that we see is in chapter 37, maybe verse 3, it says, "And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father," meaning that as he was working out in the field, and that in and of itself isn't bad either. Maybe the brothers were cheating other people.

Maybe they were doing something negative and said, "You know, my dad needs to know about this." This is the only negative mention about Joseph. But he was beloved. The very next part says, "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and made him a rare colored tunic." That wasn't very wise of Jacob.

Not only did he love him, he put on a multicolored tunic over him so that his brothers, every time, not only were they jealous of him, he highlights him. It's almost kind of like putting fluorescent light on him, so wherever he moves, there's that kid that our dad loves more than us, and he made it very clear.

And so they're already jealous of him. And it says, 37, 4-8, "The author of the book of Genesis wants to make it clear how much Joseph was hated." And the reason why he was hated was because he was so loved, not because he did anything wrong. Starting from verse 4, "His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms." They couldn't stand being around him.

That's what that's saying. They didn't just dislike him, they hated him. They couldn't stand being around him. Verse 5, "Then Joseph had a dream." It wasn't bad enough for him to be walking around with a multicolored tunic, and they couldn't stand his presence because, for whatever reason, Jacob made it very open that that was his favorite child, Joseph on top of that, has this dream.

Now, he's not making this up. God gave him this dream. But, you know, if anything, a flaw of Joseph is he seems a little bit oblivious. You know what I mean? His brothers hate him, and they're jealous of him, and he has this multicolored tunic, and he said, "Guess what?

I had a dream." And he's excited to tell them about this dream. He said, "For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheave rose up and also stood erect, and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheave." I don't know what he was thinking.

If he thought his brother was like, "What? That's awesome!" Obviously, that's not what happened. Then his brother said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams, for his words. They hated him already.

They couldn't stand him. They said they couldn't speak to him like normal. And then he tells them this dream on top of that, and he said, "Man, on top of that," right? He hated him even more. But his dream didn't stop there. His elevation didn't go above his brother's.

It went above his parents'. He has a dream where even the sun and the moon is bowing down, and he tells this to his father. And his father, as much as he loved his son, he said, "Dad, are you serious? Not only are you going to rule over your brothers, you're going to have us bow down before you?" So Jacob rebukes him, but he never forgot.

And then it says, verse 11, "His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept this saying in mind." Even though he rebuked him, he said, "Could that possibly be from God?" Because Jacob knows from his own life experience, could this be from God? Well, you know what happens, right?

Because Jacob was so hated, his brothers are off and taking care of the land, and he's there by himself, and his father said, "Hey, Jacob, instead of just moping around at home, why don't you go join your brothers?" and sends them off. So not only is Joseph oblivious, it seems like even Jacob is a little bit oblivious, right?

He doesn't realize that he's sending his beloved son to his brothers who just could not stand him. So he follows, and his brothers have a plan, that when he comes, they wanted to actually kill him, not just to sell him off. They hated him so much, they wanted him gone.

The only reason why Joseph survives is his oldest brother, his oldest brother decides that it's not a good thing to kill our brother, shed his blood, so he said, "I suggest that we dig a hole and put him in there," with the plan that maybe after his brother's angers have subsided, or he can come back at night and rescue him, but by the time Reuben comes back, the brothers have sold him off to the Islamites and the Midianites, and then they end up selling him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard in Egypt.

And that's how he ends up in Egypt. And so his life of misery starts after he has that dream, because he was loved by his father, because he was targeted by God's covenant love. You would think that after he has this dream, the next stage of his life would be glory.

Instead, this 17-year-old ends up oblivious, being sold into slavery, and he wakes up. Again, as a 70, right, you know, I can understand as an old man, you lived your life, and you find out, so you're going to ride it out, you know? And that's what I noticed, that the older I get, things don't bother me as much.

I remember the first time the doctor told me that I shouldn't be playing basketball anymore. I was devastated. Because basketball, outside of ministry, basketball was the only other thing that I gave my life to. So when they said, "No more basketball," I felt like, "I'm done. What else am I going to do?" But the older I get, bad news I get, I say, "I'll ride that out." You know what I mean?

I live longer than I'm going to live, so it's okay, it's no big deal. But he's 17 years old. This guy just started his life. Even a year for him is a long period of time. So imagine Joseph living as the precious child of the covenant, you know, recipient, his father, a rich home.

All of a sudden, because of his hatred, wakes up as a slave. As a result of his dream that God gave him. You would think that he'd wake up just bitter and angry. But this is how he's described in Genesis 39 to 2 to 6. The Lord was with Joseph.

What a weird thing to say. After being sold into slavery, after his brothers wanted to kill him, in the very next stage of his life, as a slave, the Lord was with him. Who would ever think? Who would ever think that the Lord was with him? If the Lord was with him, he wouldn't be in this situation.

If the Lord was with him, that doesn't look like glory. Look what he says. "So he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw the Lord was with him, and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands." Not only was Joseph clear that the Lord was with him, even his master saw that.

"Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant, and he made him overseer over his house. And all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from that time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned. The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph.

Thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge, and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate." So if you look at that, it's pretty clear that the author is trying to tell us how blessed he was.

Everything he touched, he was successful. And even his master recognized that. Now if you didn't know where he came from, if he was a born slave, and he's being elevated in Potiphar's house, we would agree with that. But in the context in which he came here, who would say he was blessed?

And I think any one of us would look at his situation and say, "Lord, if you are with me, get me out of here." See, what they meant for evil, God is working good, simultaneously. After that, you would think, "You know what? He went through some hardship. That was tough." He was sold as a slave, but he remained faithful, therefore God elevated him, and he became the right-hand man of Potiphar.

And this is a very rich, prominent man in Egypt. Remember, as rich as Jacob is, they're still nomads. They don't own any land. Compared to this top official in Egypt, they're still poor. But he became the right-hand man, and everything he did, he just left it all up to him.

He said, "Oh, now the dream is being fulfilled." You would think that's what happens, but that's not what happens. You know what happens. In chapter 39, verse 6, Potiphar's wife gets in the picture. And here's his problem. Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. There's his problem. If you live in this fallen world, being handsome is a curse.

So I feel bad for all of you. He said he was handsome in form and appearance. In form and appearance, he's not talking about just your physical appearance. In fact, the word for handsome, it's a generic word for being beautiful, because the way we say handsome, we're typically talking about someone's appearance.

But word for handsome really is more of a generic word meaning beautiful. And the reason why he says he was beautiful in form and appearance is because he was beautiful inside and out. And I remember back in college, one of the best dating advice that I got from somebody, he says, "Don't look for good-looking people.

Look for attractive people." And so the difference is a good-looking person, if they're not attractive inside, eventually they start to look ugly. And then you meet somebody who's very attractive inside, eventually they start looking beautiful. Well, Joseph didn't have this problem. He said Joseph was beautiful inside and out.

There was no flaw in this guy. No wonder everybody hated this guy. He was handsome inside and out, and Potiphar's wife notices this, and she starts lusting after him and literally begs him to sleep with her. He resists, and the scripture says that she kept on doing it over and over.

She was literally desperate and begging him, and he was able to resist. Now some people may think maybe he was resisting because her eyesight was not good. You know what I'm saying? If you don't know what I'm saying, read the previous chapters, okay? Maybe she wasn't that attractive. Maybe her eyesight wasn't that good.

Well, this is Potiphar's wife, a very rich, prominent man, so I'm pretty sure that she was very attractive. And maybe part of the reason why she was so frustrated was because she probably got whatever she wanted. Well, she gets so frustrated, and she keeps going, but he resists. And this is what Joseph says in response in verse 9.

"There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil sin against who? Against God." Remember why he's here. He's here because he had that dream, because his father loved him.

And so you would think that he'd be bitter and angry, right? Even though he's been elevated, he says he's still concerned because of his loyalty to his master and his loyalty to his God. He said, "I can't do this to you." Remember, he's a young man, just like any other young man, with a pretty powerful wife.

And his life would have been even easier, right? He's the captain of the bodyguard, you know, the pharaoh's bodyguard. My guess is that guy's probably never home, right? His life, he's already on the top of the hill, and he can have whatever he wants, but instead, because of his loyalty, because of his righteousness, he gets targeted.

And you know the story. Potiphar's wife gets so frustrated, and then she makes up a story that this Hebrew came and raped me, and Potiphar hears about it, and because of his righteousness, because of his loyalty, he ends up going to prison. Well, look what it says about him being in prison.

Verse 21, "But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him." How can you write that? I mean, I understand, okay, the first one, we'll sweep that under the rug, I don't get it, but how can he do that? But then now he's in prison, and he's there for 12 years.

12 years! Now, 12 years for somebody who's older doesn't seem that long, right? 12 years at 50 or 60 doesn't seem that long. For a 17, 18-year-old kid, 12 years is pretty much his life. He's put in there 12 years, but he said, "The Lord was with Joseph." Again, if we don't know the full story, we may look at that and say, "How can the author possibly say that that was God's kindness on him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer?" The chief jailer committed to Joseph charge of all the prisoners who were in jail, so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.

The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. It sounds almost identical to what happened when he was at Potiphar's house, because the Lord was with him. Even though they meant evil, God meant for good, and it was happening simultaneously.

Well, he spends 10 years in jail in that context, and after 10 years, the cupbearer of Pharaoh and the baker has a dream, and so he interprets it for them. He says the cupbearer is going to be released, he's going to be restored back to his glory. The baker actually is going to get hanged, and he tells them this story, and the cupbearer actually gets released, and the baker gets hanged.

As he is telling this to the cupbearer, knowing that he's going to be restored, in chapter 40, verse 14, Joseph tells him, "I don't ask for anything but one thing. Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon." So it wasn't like he forgot. How could you? It wasn't like he was some strange person, and he's like, "Oh, you know, this prison is fun.

You know what I mean? I get to be in charge here." He never forgot, and that's the one thing that he asked, "Get me out of here." Well, you know the story. The cupbearer gets restored, and completely forgets for two years. So he's in there a total of 12 years.

Only when the Pharaoh has this dream, and no one could interpret, and the cupbearer, probably for his own benefit, "Oh, I remember this guy who got me out of jail. Maybe we can get him in and ask." And then so Joseph is brought out, stands in front of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh asks him about this dream, and he interprets it and says, "Your dream basically is for seven years you're going to experience prosperity, and then for seven years there's going to be extreme famine.

And so during the seven years, make sure that you gather all the stuff and be prepared for the next seven years." And as a result of this interpretation, he is elevated, and he's given charge over this. And as he said, that's exactly what happened. Seven years of extreme famine, or extreme prosperity, while everybody was just living their normal life, Joseph made sure that they filled the barns, and they were preparing.

So after the seven years is gone, the famine comes in, and the second year into their famine, that's when his brothers, they end up showing up to Egypt, because they heard that they had food over there. So Jacob sends his children, and they go, and they finally meet Joseph for the first time.

Can you imagine what that meeting would have been like? Joseph, everything that happened to him, every negative thing that happened to him, was because his brother. He didn't do anything wrong. He's like, "What did I do? Why did they hate me so much?" And the scene that we see when he finally meets them, that in Genesis chapter 42, 22 to 24, they're standing in front of their brother, and he's kind of toying with them.

And you can tell there's maybe a little bit of bitterness and anger, but he's not, you know, he had every right to just kind of smash them and done with, but instead, he kind of toys with them. And then finally, you know, Reuben said, "You see?" And you could tell, like Reuben was living with guilt all these years.

And when he sees Joseph coming out harsh, he said, "You see, we're being punished because of what we did to our brother." And this is what happens, 42, 22 to 24. "Reuben answered his brother, saying, 'Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy,'" talking about Joseph, "'and you would not listen.

Now comes the reckoning for his blood.' They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept." It doesn't describe why he wept, whether he was angry, relieved. It doesn't describe what happened. And I maybe, you know, I don't think maybe he knew.

This is something that he held on in his heart for 12, 13 years, one year in Potiphar's house, 12 years in prison, and other nine years go by. For over two decades, he was forcefully removed from his beloved family, his father and his mother. And he sees his brothers for the first time, and he just can't control his emotion.

In fact, not only does he can't, he can't control his emotion, all throughout chapter 42 to 46, it is repeated over and over and over and over and over again that he kept on weeping and weeping and weeping. Up to this point, Joseph seems like Superman. I mean, he gets sold into slavery, and he just remained faithful.

"I got to be faithful to God." He gets sold into, you know, sent into prison, and then he remains faithful. And then the cupbearer forgets him for two years, and he still remains faithful. But when he meets his brothers, he finally can't contain himself, and he just bursts out in weeping.

Chapter 43, 29, "As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his younger brother from the same mom, he says, 'Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?' And he said, 'May God be gracious to you, my son.' Joseph hurried out, for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought a place to weep, and he entered his chamber and wept there." Then chapter 45, verses 1 and 2, "Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, 'Have everyone go out from here!' So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it." And this is chapter 45, 13 to 14. "And he said, 'You must tell my father of all the splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen, and you must hurry and bring my father down here.' Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck." And then in Genesis 46, 29, when he finally sees his father, "Joseph prepared a charity and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel.

As soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time." For 22 years. For 22 years he was removed from his dad. His beloved family was sitting in prison, sold as a slave. Humanly speaking, all you see is evil. Humanly speaking.

See, his brothers, after his father dies, they think that maybe Joseph is being kind to them because of his dad. He didn't want to sadden his dad. As soon as Jacob dies, his brothers are fearful. Now he's going to get us. And it is in that context when his brothers are afraid after the father dies, are you going to kill us?

And Joseph in that context answers, "You may have meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." You may have meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know what that reminds me of in book of Revelations chapter 21 verse 4 when we see a promise of what's coming?

It says, "And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away." You and I are walking, you know, we're in between. We're saved, but we're not in heaven yet.

And I don't know a single person, young or old, who doesn't have pain, experienced some sort of pain. Maybe it was recent, maybe something that happened when you were younger, maybe it was related to family, maybe it was friendship, whatever it was, I don't know anybody who doesn't know some sort of pain.

Pain of rejection, isolation, failure, broken families, whatever it may be. What the world meant for evil, God meant for good. So we can look at sovereignty, and we clearly see sovereignty when we look at the past. Because you can see how God orchestrated. The only reason why we got here is because God is sovereign.

But the problem that we have is not the past tense, it's the present and the future tense. That whatever might have happened, whatever pain you have experienced, if we focus on what they did to me, and completely forget that in the midst of all of that, God meant it for good, you missed the whole point.

I remember when I became a Christian, I was just in the beginning process of getting into some bad stuff. I already had two police records, and I couldn't care. I was so angry that my parents moved around so much, that we didn't have money, my dad was a pastor, and I didn't want any of that.

Came to the United States when I was seven, went to Philadelphia, moved to Kansas, and then from Kansas I didn't feel like I belonged, and I went to Atlanta and really didn't belong in Atlanta. Got excited about going back to Korea, thinking I'm going to go back home, and then they kept on telling me to go back home.

I said, "What?" I thought I was home. The second time we came to the United States, I came kicking and screaming. I did not want to come. I did not want to come. And I was crying the whole time, the airport, until we got here. If I get old enough, I'm going to go back, I'm going to go back.

And I had so much anger inside of me, and people would say, "Hey, Peter, if you do that, you're not going to graduate." I don't care. "Peter, if you keep doing that, you're going to get arrested." I don't care. "If you keep doing that, you're going to get hurt, or you're going to hurt somebody." I don't care.

So how do you talk to a kid who doesn't care if he dies, who doesn't care if he goes to jail? You couldn't. There was nothing that you could have said that could have made everything okay. Until I met Christ. What changed me wasn't years of theology, years of counseling.

What changed me was instantaneously knowing that God was in the midst of all of that. God was in the midst of all of that. God did that. He's the one who did that to me in order to bring me to that spot, so that I can meet Him. And so the moment I realized that God was in the midst of that, all of that completely changed.

They didn't do this to me. God did it. God brought me here. God forced me to be here, or else I would have never met Him. Instantaneously, meeting the sovereign God who loved me changed everything. What I experienced as evil, all of a sudden became good. Instantaneously. Knowing and believing in sovereign God changes everything.

It changes everything. Let's go back to the original question. Of all the things that could have been highlighted in Joseph's life, how he remained faithful as Potiphar's slave, that even with injustice, he gets thrown into prison for over a decade, and that he remained faithful, and God raises him up, and the whole nation of Israel is delivered because of this man.

None of that is mentioned. All that is mentioned is at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones. When does exodus happen? 400 years later. 400 years later. After Joseph dies, 400 years pass, another pharaoh comes up, and he completely forgets about Israel and what Joseph did, and they go into slavery for 400 years.

So as he is dying, he mentions 400 years from now, when we leave, leave for where? They didn't have land, remember? They didn't have land yet. So Joseph is talking about a prophecy that he heard from his father, and his father, and the father before that. Now where did he hear this?

Genesis chapter 15, 13-14. When God was ratifying this covenant that he made with Abraham, this is what God says to Abraham. God said to Abraham, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years.

But I will also judge the nations whom they will serve, and afterwards they will come out with many possessions." Do you think Joseph heard that? Yes. Most likely. And remember, why was Jacob so hungry to receive his father's blessing? It wasn't simply about money. This family, this family is established and persevered through hardship because of this covenant promise that God made.

And I can guarantee you that that was passed down from generation to generation. So as Joseph was dying, he doesn't mention about all the accomplishments and everything that he's done. All he remembers is, God said, "We're going to be imprisoned, and when we leave, take me with you." That's what's highlighted in his life.

And that's exactly what happens. It says, not only are you going to be imprisoned, when you come out, God's going to make you wealthy. I mean, these guys were slaves for 400 years. What money would they have? Exodus chapter 12, 35-36, it says, "Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing.

And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians." Just like God said. Just like God said. These slaves, who had nothing, came out filthy rich. It doesn't say they just took some stuff.

They plundered the Egyptians. And they came out more wealthy than they ever were. Just like God said. And just like Joseph asked them to, in Exodus 13, 19, "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, 'God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.'" Remember who Joseph is.

Joseph is the second man next to Pharaoh. If he was going to get any kind of adoration or veneration, it would have happened in Egypt. Not to go with a bunch of slaves, that was being slaves and mistreated for 400 years, "Make sure you take me with you." In fact, at the end of his life, when he was buried, it says he was embalmed.

That's not a Jewish practice. That was only the high officials. In Egypt did that. And that's why he was preserved. And that's why they carried him along. In Joshua 24, 32, it says, "Now they buried the bones of Joseph when they entered." Just like God said. So you know what this tells me?

This whole story about Joseph isn't even about Joseph. This whole story about Joseph is God's faithfulness to his covenant promise. Let me conclude with this. I don't know. It's jaw-dropping to me. But let me conclude with this, okay? In Genesis 47, 8-10, Pharaoh gets to meet Jacob, Joseph's father.

And they have this conversation, and this is what Jacob said. "Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How many years have you lived?' So Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The years of my sojourning are 130, few and unpleasant.'" That's how Jacob described his own life. He was a man who wrestled with God.

He was conniving. He was constantly maneuvering. Make sure that he got the blessing of God, and he gets the blessing of God. His name is actually changed as one who contends with God. But when Jacob sees his life, at the end of his life, this is not in the middle.

At the very end of his life, he said, "My years are few, and they are unpleasant." So did God actually bless this man or not? Jacob understood. The blessing is not he had a nice house, or he lived a long life. It was actually very unpleasant, he says. He held on to the covenant promise of God.

That even as they were delivered, he said, "No, we're going to go into bondage. In 400 years, when you leave, take me with you." He understood. You know what's interesting? You know how it ends in verse 10? "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and ran from his presence." Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Do you know who Pharaoh is? Pharaoh is worshipped as a god in Egypt. Humanly speaking, he's the king of kings and lord of lords. Jacob is a guy who would have died. It was only because of Joseph interpreting this dream, Pharaoh allowed him. And the only reason why he's even having a meeting with him is because he was being generous to Joseph.

And Jacob meets him and says, "My life is long, short, and unpleasant." And then he blessed Pharaoh. So if you don't read this carefully in context, it's like, "Oh, he blessed him, went." Do you know how ridiculous this would sound? Jacob, almost homeless, is meeting the god of Egypt, and he ends up blessing him, humanly speaking.

The audacity to possibly think that he's going to leave is like, "The Lord bless you." "But what did you just do?" Humanly speaking. Jacob's power was not him, not his wealth, not his vast experience. The Lord was with him. From God's perspective, how dare Pharaoh lift his head before his God?

This story is not about Joseph. None of this is about any of these people. They just happen to play a small part in what God is doing in redemptive history. And that's why what's highlighted here is that he, at the end of his life, because he believed 400 years later, when we are free and God fulfills this promise, "Take me with you." That's why that's highlighted.

I don't know about you, but believing in this sovereign God changes everything. Everything that happened in the past, everything that's happening now, and whatever may come in the future, it changes everything. Because the God who loves us is sovereign. Whatever was meant for evil, God is working for good, for his purpose and his glory.

So I don't have a neat package and say, "Okay, now go do this." But I think the central question that we always need to wrestle with, not just acknowledgement of his sovereignty, but how is his sovereignty affecting you? What are the fears that you have? How is that related to God's sovereignty?

What bitterness do you hold on to where sovereignty exists? Once we embrace that and truly believe it, it changes everything. Because no matter what happens, God is going to work it out to take us where he plans to take us. Amen? Let's pray. As our worship team comes up, let's take a few minutes to, again, just thank God for his goodness.

This morning, even before we make any petition, if we're true believers of his sovereignty, think of the worst thing that has happened to you. Think of the struggle that you may be in now. Think about the fear that you have that if this continues, what's going to happen? And when you think about his sovereignty, thank him.

That whatever happened, whatever's happening, whatever's going to happen, that God did it. God's purpose is in it, and he's working for our benefit. So let's take some time to thank him, again, as our worship team sets up in the evening. Let's all stand together for the closing praise. Amen.

Let's pray. Philippians 1 20 and 21. According to my earnest expectations and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Lord, we pray that that would be our own confession. That whether by life or death, whether in good times or hardship, whether we understand or don't understand, that we would exalt you, that you would be our treasure. That in comparison to the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ, that everything else in this world would become rubbish.

That whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, that we would truly do it for your glory. So now when you send us, wherever you send us, help us to exalt Christ and to be the aroma of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus.

He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to fill. The Savior lives because he lives. I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives.

Amen. This side to exit through that door and this side through this door. Hey Peter, I hear you're cooking something. What? I don't know yet.