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I remember going through the early 80s, a difficult time, saying to my wife, baby, if it's just you and me and our two boys and my Thompson chain, that's what I had at the time, reference Bible, we're here. There's an anchor to that, to know that God has sent me. He said, God sent me before you, talking to his brothers, to preserve you, a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So then, it is not you. Who sent me, say it with me, but God. He made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler of all Egypt. If God would have checked with me, I would have had a better way to get Joseph to Egypt. And you would have too, but it would not be according to his purpose or for his glory. Keep that in mind for yourself. Because what we do in our mind, we decide there should be a better way. It should have turned. It should have turned out differently.
It should have worked this way. And the people that are downcast or cast around with uncertainty, they don't have an anchor. I promise you, they don't understand this. I promise you. And you say, how can that be so? Did God send him? But yet they, what did they do? They sold him. How does that work? Did God put evil in their heart? No, didn't have to. It was already there. You say, I don't know how God can work and man can work at the same time. I know because we're thinking God is like us. Two of us couldn't do it the same time.
We could even carry something together and work together. But we know each of us doing our part. And you might even say, Glenn, you're not picking up enough. But with God, he's the only one that can work in such a way and say it is God that did it while you're involved in it. And we don't like that. We want to be either God or us, don't we? It depends on your perspective. I often like to use 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 10, 14 for this subject when I ask, how did Saul die? Depends on who you talk to. You talk to Saul, he fell on his sword, committed suicide. You talk to the Malachite, he said he thrust him through and fished him off. David thought so because he had him killed. You talk to God. God said, I did it. That's literally what it says. And Saul did not inquire of the Lord, so the Lord killed him. I got real quiet, didn't I? How is that possible? Did Saul not fall on his sword? Are you getting the drift? In other words, only God can work. That's why we have trouble with sovereignty, because we're trying to figure out how that works, and you can't.
But when you look back, you can see it. How many in this room can look back? I mean, even the decisions to sell your brother, so to speak, God used for his purpose. And you repented, you saw the wrong, but he uses it. And that's the difference. The difficulty with this understanding is our minds try to comprehend it from humanity and put our thoughts of what God must be like, must be like us. And God told Israel, I'm not like you. And so he's not like us. Look at Genesis 50. I love this. This is at the very end. Dad's died. He wanted to be buried in Canaan. So there's a great entourage, a great mourning to take his body back and bury him. And now when they get back, the brothers said, now that dad's dead, we better look out because now Joseph is going to bring the hammer down. And they went with fear to find out what Joseph was going to do.
And it says in verse 50, here's what it says, verse 20 of chapter 50, Joseph's, listen, listen to the anchor of providence. He said, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. Let me read out the ESV. I liked it. As for you, you meant it. That Hebrew word there means it was intended with purpose and intent. And he says, you meant it. Now here's how we translate that. You devil meant it for evil, but God turned it for good. That's how we interpret it, right? But that's not what it says. It says, you meant it for evil. God meant it for good. That messes my mind up because God God's involved, but you have to see the whole perspective. Let's look at Joseph's life. How was he able to be anchored? Go to chapter 37. It'll be on the screen. First of all, we're going to start with the coats. Anybody remember the coat he was made? It's called a coat of affection. Dad loved him. The coat of affection. Genesis 37 says, now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age and he made him an ornate robe. For him, a coat of many colors.
And you'll see that Joseph understood that he was loved by the fathers. It kind of reminds me of when you get a revelation from God and you get really understood, you are loved and fully accepted. And there's affection. It feels warm, doesn't it? And he knew by his earthly father that he had received this revelation and he had a dream and received a revelation. But I believe in that, this week, what I'm asking you to do is not just his that's being preached. I'm asking you to start a journey of understanding of what we're saying. Don't take a message and say, that was great, Brother Randy. That was great, Brother Terrell. But I want you to take a message and understand the whole principle and doctrine of the sovereignty of God. If you're going to be established, if this nation is going to be established, I want this to have fruit in days and years. I told Monday Group, take 10 years to get there. I don't care. Because it takes a while to adjust our understanding, doesn't it? It has to become yours. Can I just talk to you for just a moment on that? For you to be, and for me and any of us to be anchored, the word of God has to become yours. It has to be your revelation. Jonathan, one of the things we admire about you, I should say Fox, since there's so many Jonathans, what we admire about him with move is that they have moved to the level of their revelation.
They have moved to the level of their revelation. They have moved to the level of their revelation. They haven't moved ahead. They've waited until they got it for themselves. Because it can't be what Glenn teaches or what somebody else teaches. This has to be yours. If it is a method, whatever you do, if it's a method, you will be tossed to and fro. The first conference like this we ever had was in 1987, as far as apostolic order. We called it the apostolic order of the church. 450 people packed in each night. From Kansas and Texas and all over the way. It was a great week, exciting week. And I thought, man, this is wonderful. After the end of that week, I was grieving. And I didn't know why I was grieving. I walked in the office. I laid across the sofa and started crying out, why am I grieving? And I heard the Holy Spirit say, they came to find out how. And I want them to know why. We're always after a method. Just show me what to do. God's after the shift of our heart and our desire. So anything that you're hearing, you're going to hear it. You're going to hear it. You're going to hear it. You're going to hear it. You're going to hear it. You're going to hear it. You're Pursue it. Let it become yours. Let it become a revelation, like a cloak that you can put on, because it must be the foundation for you if you're to be established. And once it becomes yours from the Word of God, then you have the authority to wrestle with it. You can walk it out. So he started off with what?
A coat of, everybody said, a coat of affection. He had the coat of love, the coat of affection. But I'm telling you what, that didn't last long. there was another coat. Are you ready for it? A coat of affliction. Look at verse 4 and 5 of chapter 37. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. And God used that. They would have never sold him. He would have never made it down to Egypt, but that was in their heart. And Joseph had a dream. And when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. Here's why I want you to see a coat of affliction, because that's where you start to be anchored in the trust and the providence of God. I remember going through some of the most difficult times, and still to this day, I draw upon this verse, upon this passage. When David was walking along, the relative of Saul, Shimei, starts cursing David and throwing stones. Y'all remember that?
And David's man says, you want me to go take him out? And what does David say? David says, what if God has him throwing those stones? I remember that coming to my mind. When people were coming against me, and criticism was coming against me, and accusations were coming against me. I mean, every kind of accusation you can think of. We weren't giving money to missionaries, they said. And I happened to be in the bookstore in town that day, over behind a row, and some ladies go, yeah, you know what's happening down there? I said, I'm not giving money to you. I'm not giving money to you.
I'm not giving money to you. I'm not giving money to you. I'm not giving money to you. I'm not giving money to church at Claremore. They're not giving. That's what the name was. We're not giving money to missionaries either.
And about that time, she's a part of the congregation now. I need to tell her about this story, because she was, Debbie came around the corner. Her dad was a missionary to Honduras. And she said, I know that's not true. My family gets $500 a month from them. Accusation. And I would want to pray all that would stop. And then I would think, what if God has them throwing the stones? You say, why would God have them throw the stones? Humble you and trust him. What if there's something needs to change in you? And there always is. Nothing changed anymore or changes than me or you.
That is the whole aspect of the cult of affliction. It's not to harm you. It's to establish you. Look at verse 10, 11. When he told his father, as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him. Talking about the dream. He had a dream. They're going to all bow down. And he told his father, and his father rebuked him and said, what is this dream you had? Well, your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you. His brothers were jealous, but his father kept the matter in mind. Even him speaking immaturely, God used. I remember repenting in 1987. It was in March, 1987. I'm on my face repenting. And I just felt like everything was coming against me. And I had a vision of what I call a ticker tape running underneath a TV. And it said, in order to be, a steward of the mysteries, one must be found faithful. And I knew, and immediately, but after that, it says, and I saw things which were unlawful to utter. And I knew what was happening. I did not know, didn't have the wisdom to handle what God was giving me. I was just blurting everything out. I was teaching everything I knew. I thought TBN would be down here any week now. I mean, you kind of laugh, but it was kind of the truth. I mean, that's how arrogant it was. Because we had this revelation and no one else had it around here. And the Lord was showing me, I spoke to the Lord. I spoke to the Lord. I spoke to the Lord. I spoke to the Lord. I spoke to the Lord. I spoke things out of timing. It's not that I had revelation like Paul, not at all, but other things that were unlawful to utter, meaning I should not have said that to those people. I should have been cautious. Sometimes you say, well, Glenn, you're very slow to speak. There's a reason for that.
I've suffered much for that. Should that really be said right now? And Amy used to say, honey, slow down. You're out there too far ahead of the people. And John Maxwell says, when you're too far ahead of the people, you're not leading, you're just going for a walk. So she had some wisdom. But I was excited. That's what Joseph was. So God even used that. So God used my immaturity to get me where I needed to go. Now, I hope you hear this. Instead of beating yourself up for not being there, say, God, thank you for showing it to me. He's using that.
He's bringing it about with a coat of affliction. And look at verse 23 through 24. It says, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his coat, the ornate robe he was wearing. And they took him and threw him into the cistern. Fortunately, it was empty. Let me say this. With the coat of affliction, all criticism, even false criticism, can be useful. I remember hearing Charles Stanley preach the message on how to deal with criticism. And I was in the midst of all that criticism. So I memorized it almost word for word. I got up and told the people, this is Charles Stanley's message, and I can't improve on it.
So I'm trying to get it out to exactly the way he said it. And he gave three things to do with criticism that I'll share everywhere I can. He said, first of all, when somebody comes and criticizes you, accept it. There's nobody in this room wants to do that. Say, I accept that criticism. He said, secondly, tell them, if you can see that, what else can you see that might help me in my life that I can't see? I double dog dare you to do that. That's hard. And then thirdly say, I'm taking this to heart. I'm going to take this to others that I can't see. I'm going to take this to others that I can't see. I'm going to take this to I've seen that work. It keeps you from being defensive. It totally unarms the person bringing the criticism. I remember a few years ago, there was someone walked in. You can't figure out who it is. They're not around here anymore. So don't try to figure out who it is. They walked in and they had it stacked for me and they started unloading on me.
And I said, I really did. I think you're right. There's some truth there. I accept that. Well, it's hard to do because the criticism doesn't always have full truth in it. It's got a lot of emotion in it, but it has some truth in it. If it's stinging, it's got truth in it. If it's not hurting, there's no truth in it. So I said, what else can you see that might help me? He laid his notes aside and shifted the whole conversation. God uses even affliction of criticism to bring you to where he's taking you. You know what this tells me? You don't have to be afraid. Correction is not rejection, even criticism. The next part, there's another coat. This is the one that all of us need. I need it in my life. It's a coat of authenticity.
After the coat of affliction, look at verse 36 of Genesis 37. Meanwhile, the Mennonites sold Joseph to Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials and the captain of the guard. Now look at chapter 39, verse one. Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. The captain of the guard bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. So he was sold and bought as a slave. Now look at verse two through six. The Lord was with Joseph, so he prospered. This is a time that God tests the authenticity. Watch. He lived in the house of the Egyptian master. And when his master saw that the Lord was with him, the Lord gave him success in everything he did.
And Joseph found favor in his eyes. And he became his attendant. And Potiphar put him in charge of his household. Wow. And he entrusted to his care everything he owned. This is probably the most important aspect of your being settled is integrity in a time of authenticity and testing. When people are afraid, oftentimes they're not being authentic. They're not being... God was with him, but he had to be trusted. So watch what happens here. He was entrusted with everything. And the scripture says, from that time, he put him in charge of his household. And of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. And the blessing of the Lord was on everything. And Potiphar had both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything that he had in Joseph's care and Joseph in charge. And he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now here's the trick. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. God will test you with what he gives you. If he gives you talent and skill, that's going to be your biggest test because your skill and talent can go beyond your character.
So he has to deal with this authenticity, coat of authenticity. I know what it's like to want people to think more highly of me and actually do things that they would think more highly of me. And that's a trap. Wherever the lack of authenticity is, and the integrity of your heart, the secrecy of your heart, that's where the real solidification and anchoring comes. Your spiritual authority rests in that because it's about God and you and no one else. And it does not matter what anybody else thinks. It only matters in the secret of your heart. And watch what Joseph does. He was handsome and he was well-built. And after a while, his master's wife took, Joseph and said, come to bed with me. But he refused with me in charge. He refused. He said, with me in charge, he told her, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns, he's entrusted to my care. And no one is greater than this house that I am. And my master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing? Watch this. And sin against, he didn't mention Potiphar. He didn't mention her. And without a test of integrity and authenticity in the modern culture, he would have said, this is my opportunity because I have been offended. My brothers rejected me. My mother is dead. My dad does not know where I am. And God is far from me. And I'm out here and nobody's going to know. That was a coat of authenticity. More honor for Joseph in this scenario, because I know what it's like to do well because somebody's watching, right? I've often told about the dream I would have every few years, every couple of years about preaching in my underwear. I know it's a terrible thought, but I tell it every once in a while. It's good for me to tell it. I'd come out of my office. I'd come on the platform, sit on the platform. I'm in my underwear the whole time. We're worshiping, singing. I come up here and I preach. I'm in my underwear. I go back there. And everybody knew I was in my underwear, but nobody told me. And I never didn't know. This dream would come up at least once every two years, at least, maybe more often. And it wasn't until I got some healing. When I got some healing in the late 90s, around 2000, I realized, wait a minute, what I was afraid of is I was afraid somebody would know me. So I was hiding and didn't know I was hiding. I didn't have a coat of authenticity.
Come on, somebody help me here. But the coat of affliction comes before the coat of authenticity. And it's real. And one day, watch this. It says, day after day, say day after day. See, this is not a short thing. He refused to go to bed with her, even be with her, even ride in a car with her, even have lunch with her, even be in the house when the husband was gone. Can I ask you a question? Why was God allowing, or if you want to use my term, orchestrating? It was a test of authenticity. Does God tempt you with evil? No, he doesn't tempt you with evil. Was evil in her heart? Yes. But in the midst of it, at the same time, God is using that. As a test from the enemy, from sin, and the call of you, if you don't pass the test, fully repent, fully transparent, and get back up and run to those people. Then you're restored over a period of time, right? Because it causes people to gather around you. But he didn't. And it says here that she continued to say, come to bed with me. Finally, look what he said, verse 14. He came in, and she grabbed his coat, said, come with me. He would not, and he ran out, left his coat. And here's what she said, verse 14. Look, she said to them, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us, and he came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed, and when he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house. Now, he not only passed the test, now he has an accusation against him. Everybody say character. That would be hard. What do you do when that happens? What do you do? He trusted that God was his support, and that's where the anchor was. And she'd said, this Hebrew slave that you brought us came in to make sport of us. And the husband, of course, got angry, burned with anger, and put him in prison. You ready for another coat?
A coat of abandonment. Now, I hope you see your life in this. Coat of affection? Oh, Glenn, start off. It was great. Now, I went through some affliction, and what God's testing you is in your authenticity. And now, he's in a place here. He says, abandonment. Look at chapter 39, verse 20, 22. Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in prison, oh, watch this. The Lord was with him. The Lord does not leave you when you are in abandonment. Others may, you may feel it, but he hasn't. He hasn't left. And the Lord showed him kindness and granted him favor. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those that were in the prison. Now, get this. I can see Joseph going, this is going to be really good now. I'm in charge of everything, and God's blessing me. But look at chapter 40, if you will, verse 14 through 15, when those two guys, they had a dream, and Joseph tells the story. Y'all remember that? One of them had a dream of three vines, and they blossomed, and they wanted a interpretation of it, and he was a cupbearer. And Joseph said, three days, you're going to be lifted up, and you're going to be promoted back as a cupbearer to Pharaoh. And he was excited. The baker, the chief baker said, I'm going to try that. I had a dream. I had three baskets of my head. There was bread on the top, and these birds came and ate the bread. And Joseph said, in three days, your head's going to be lifted up, and you'll be impelled on a pole. Before the cupbearer left, what did Joseph say? When you get to the Pharaoh, Pharaoh, remember me. He's still learning. Come on. Nobody picked me. Remember me. All of us are that way, aren't we? They left me out. They didn't include me. Are you one that walks in the room, and you think everybody's thinking about you? Or when they go sit somewhere else, they didn't sit with me? How come I didn't get promoted? What's going on? That is a test of abandonment. And guess what? It says two years went by. Look what the scripture says. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph. He forgot him. Now, that would be hard. Look, your brothers have sold you. Your dad gave you affection. Your brothers have sold you. You've been lied about. Now you're in prison. You've put on these different coats. And then two full years have passed, and then Pharaoh finally has a dream. Can I challenge you with something? If we're going to be established in anchor, I believe that I need to use every hard time. Take advantage of hard times.
I'm not going to ask you if you're going through a hard time to stand, but we will in a minute. Take advantage of it. You say, I don't know how to do that. I'll tell you how to do it. Exactly know that God is at work in that hard time, and he's working in you to perform and bring about the image of his son, and that you will come through. But there is a reality of life. Somebody needs to tell the Christians that life is hard, and God uses those times to form something in us. So embrace that God is using it to form his image in you, because we often say around here, hard's not bad, it's just hard. Look for providence in everything. You'll have fun doing it. I blame LBJ for my wife that because he was angry I got to marry this woman. You say, Glenn, what do you mean? LBJ was elected by every county in Texas but Amarillo, and he got so angry at that county, he closed the Air Force base. And Amy's father was a major in the Air Force, and so he had to move to Altus the same year that my dad moved to Altus to plant a church. We lived one block away for years. I never met her. Didn't know she lived there. I believe providence is at work. When you don't even know it. Jean is here because they grew up together, and she was instrumental in leading my wife to the Lord. God hooks us together providentially. You may think you just met somebody that you like, but I want you to know God may be connecting you with something far bigger because he's at work providentially. And here's why this is so important to me. If we don't get this, you'll be out of the church. You'll be out of the church. You'll be out of the church. You'll be angry most of your life. How many people do you know, so-and-so used to really serve the Lord, but now he's angry at God because he has no comprehension that God is at work in any area of his life. He sees it as God being against him rather than bringing him into the purposes of God. And here's the last coat. The last coat is the coat of authority. It's last on purpose because God was working what? Joseph with a plan and a purpose to bring him into Egypt to do what? To put him over all of Egypt. And you could not do that. He could not rule Egypt if he could not resist temptation with Potiphar's wife. He would not be able to resist temptation with Potiphar's wife had he not been able to embrace that God was at work in the brothers abandoning him. He had to know that he really was at work. And he had to know that he really was at work. And he had to know that he really did hear from the Lord and have a coat of affection and really had a dream because you'd start to think, wait a minute, this is not going to ever happen.
But God gave that to me. And some of you sitting in this room, you know that God is working in your life. You may not be clear because what I want you to do is say, wait a minute, I have put on and put on me without my even wanting to sometimes each of these coats. Some of you are in a test of authenticity, authenticity, integrity test. Will you be who God has called you to be in secret when nobody else knows? That will anchor you. That will anchor you. Pastoring nearly five decades, I know when people sometimes draw away from the things of God, they know in their life they're not being authentic. So what do they do? They back away. Rather than do that, I'm going to tell you tonight, run to him, run to him. God has used sin in my life to reveal to me that I am as broken as anybody else. And I need him as much as anybody else because I grew up spiritually proud. And I've said before, don't ever say what I've preached against and still did. And that is I should be beyond that. Anybody ever said that? How arrogant is that? I should be beyond that. Instead of showing you you're not, it's dependent on him and him only. So instead of beating ourselves up, fall on the rock and say, God, I need your help. Holy Spirit, I need you. And someone in this room in a test right now of authenticity. I know the test of authenticity. I know that. I know what feels like you do too. I feel like you've been.
That's good that God is working in you in this, that you're not dependent upon anyone else, but your for foundation and anchor in him and him alone. Here's what I've watched. I've watched people that understood this flourish among other believers. They're not pressing. They're not trying to make something happen. They know exactly that God has placed them there. They know where God has sent them. They know that God is at work. And if it's taken longer than they thought it was going to take, they're okay with that. They don't like what it feels like, but they're okay with the fact they know that they're anchored in God and he's going to bring them in the timing that he's supposed to. And then it seems like overnight they flourish. All of a sudden, where'd they come from? They're not promoting themselves. They're not pushing themselves. They've surrendered. And then God gives them authority. God gives authority. You don't even know what kind of authority you have. I don't know what kind of authority. I hope you never know what authority you have. If anybody ever says to you, you know what kind of authority you have? Say, no, I don't want to know. As long as God knows, then anybody else needs to know. Because you get to thinking it's about you. This is my anointing. No, it's not. It's his grace. Sometimes that grieves me. We separate the sheep when it's not necessary by highlighting a special anointing. When it's Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles of themselves, they would have ripped their clothes and said, it's not us, it's Jesus. Because it wasn't about anything else, but his authority. And I love the fact, in Genesis 41, Pharaoh said, since God has made all this known to you, there's no one so discerning. It's better when other people see it, isn't it? You shall be in charge of my palace and all my people are to submit to your orders. Look at verse 41. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Watch Pharaoh. And Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. And here comes that other comment. And he dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. A coat of authority and honor. Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Coat of affection. Coat of affliction. Coat of authenticity. A coat of abandonment and a coat of authority.
I don't know where you are, but Joseph's lives reflect a pattern. Here it is. Suffering before glory. Testing before authority. And faithfulness before promotion.
Actually, Joseph is a type of Christ. I hope you caught that. Rejected by his brothers. Sold for silver. Falsely condemned. Numbered with the transgressors in prison. Exalted to the right hand of power. And becomes a savior of the nations during a time of famine. That's Jesus. The picture of Joseph is really a picture of what Jesus went through. And so therefore, it's for us in this time. And here's what I see tonight. My heart, my call was that there'd be those in this room that said, God, I surrender to where I am. I'm not regretting that I'm not further along. Lord, I accept right here where I am. If you've been one way or the other of self-promotion or even regretting, oh, I'm so far behind. Just stop and say, Lord, I surrender completely to your work in my life. I surrender completely to your work in my life. He will accelerate it in due time. He will bring it about. Even Jesus' brothers wanted him to be promoted. If you're gonna have a public ministry, you need to go down there right now. He said, no, I'm gonna wait for the Father in his timing. How much more do we need to do the same thing? Would you bow your heads right there where you are? While they're in this room, precious saints, precious saints, precious saints. Every one of us in this room are crying out, Lord, I surrender right where I am. I surrender right where I am. I surrender right where I am. There's a code of authenticity for some in this room. There's a code of affliction for some in this room. Some of there's a code of abandonment. All of that's gonna bring about an anchoring for you. It's gonna bring about a solidification. When you see it's God providentially working in the midst of it all in that place. David, if you don't mind me saying, as you walk across the room there, he gave his testimony to us in a moment. During the week about how God used one of the speakers, I think Jonathan, to adjust your whole heart. Do you mind me sharing that? Just as the whole heart, the struggle of walking through the merger between the two churches and then how God used that word to speak to his heart. And you know what he said? I surrender, really, I surrender to where I am right now. And God did that. Some of you in this room, that's really where you are.
I'm gonna ask you to stand with me right now. Father, I ask you, Lord, in this room right now, every individual that you're speaking to, I don't know where they are, but you are at work in us. I ask you, Lord, those who wanna run to you instead of away from you would do that. Those who say, I'm in a code of affliction or I'm in a code of abandonment or I'm in a code of test of authenticity. Lord, it's yours.
And I just feel like tonight there's to be a real release. A real release in the lives of the people. I want you to go out of here free. Say, God, you are at work with me right where I am. He starts with you right where you are or where he's moving you along. So the next few minutes, I know everybody could come, but that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking for those specifically, you identify with authenticity, you identify with affliction, you identify with abandonment. One of those areas you identify with, I don't even need to ask which one it is. It doesn't matter. But God is at work in that for solidify you and establish you that you're willing to surrender. We're gonna all do a surrender prayer here in a minute, but you're willing to surrender in one of those areas. That's where you are. I'm gonna ask you to lead us by stepping out and coming here. We're gonna pray together collectively. If one of those three areas that you're fitting into, because some of you, God is forming you in a way that you see his hand strongly. You're at work. You know that it is. You know that it is. The joy that we have in being shepherds and elders and pastors among an authentic people and among a vulnerable people is that sometimes, a lot of times here in the room, you have shared your journeys. You've shared even what you felt like was a failure. You've shared those things. But, and because of that, my heart is reaching out strongly saying, God, I know that you are at work right now in this group. Those of you, come on, step on up here a little bit closer. It's a test. Mike, I'm so proud of y'all. That's a code of affliction. Now, I'm gonna ask who is under a code of authenticity because I want it to be between you and God, okay? But I'm sure, just out of the law of averages, there's some, a real code of authenticity. You might even have been afraid to come up because you said, you know, the conference high, but what will it be next week? This is the chance, right? Say, God, I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. Oh, Lord, we are people that need the anchoring of that hope of your hand in our life.
I ask you, Father, for revelation. In the place of bitterness or anger, they would say, God is at work. If that's you, cry out to him right now. Cry out to, if there's like, okay, wait a minute. This is not working. I want you to say, God is at work. God is at work. God is at work. Oh, God is at work. I look back and I can tell you, everywhere, I can look back and see how God directed me. In some of those darkest hours, I would not trade for it because now I see what he was working and what he was bringing about. And even that which I would not ever want again, I'm grateful. I'm grateful for it. It's the strength. And somebody needs to accept that right now. In the name of Jesus, that God's hand is upon your life. A code of affection has been given to you. It's not been taken away from you, except maybe by others, but not from him. You are his. Son and daughter in that sense. Therefore, he's going to guard over you. He's going to walk with you. Lord, establish us. Establish us. Establish us. Lord, those who feel like they fell so easily, would you show them the code of affection on them in the midst of that, so they're quick to run to you and not away from you. To run, to run, to run to you, oh God. I want you to do something. Some of you in the code of affliction, could you release something right now? Could you release, release, you know, the code of affliction? You know, we teach to ask forgiveness for a sin of bitterness, don't we? I know what it's like to try to forgive a thousand times and finally one day, okay, now I need to ask for forgiveness for a sin of bitterness. Never thought it was a sin until I heard somebody say it. Somebody needs to do that right now. If you're agitated and angry, start, because ultimately it's against God. I've told you that morning, I was down at the church building praying. My oldest son was 27. That's when I know, and he's now 50. And the Holy Spirit says, you have bitterness against your wife. And you have bitterness against your sons. And I knew, I'd already written to a one. I knew I needed to ask for forgiveness for a sin of bitterness. And then ask God to heal my emotion, my motion from the time the bitterness came in, because ultimately it's against God. Things weren't happening the way I want them to happen. And I was suppressing it. And bitterness had built up. I didn't even know it. You don't even know it sometimes when you have it. And soon as I did that, the Lord gave me a word for each of my sons that I'm seeing it fulfilled and have seen it fulfilled. So do that right. If that's you, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. Pray with us right now, church. There's a shift going on right now. This internal shift. Would you just stretch your hand? We're going to pray collectively. They're representing you too. But would you just stretch your hand toward them as we pray over the body? Just pray right now. There's a work and a shift.
Just working right now in the hearts of individuals. Individuals right now, Father, all over this room, by your grace, by your grace, by your grace. By your grace, by your grace, by your grace. Trust, trust, trust. Let it go. Release it. Say, God, I surrender completely to you where I am. Not to get out of this, but surrender to you in the midst of it. That in proper time, even if it's two years later that I'm sitting in that prison, when it seems like everyone has forgotten me, you have not, Lord. You already said the Lord was with Joseph and prospered him in that prison. But Lord, there's no doubt. He thought in the midst of that, I've been abandoned. Lord, you never abandoned us. And I pray right now for that healing work, for the healing work, the healing work. Just keep going for just a moment. God's really at work. Let's say this prayer together, would you? Say, Heavenly Father, I don't have to understand. You don't owe me anything. You're my God. And that's enough. I know you're caring. I know you're a character and you can be trusted. And I'm your son or your daughter. And I know that you guard over me and use every circumstance to form in me the image of your son. There's an area of repentance that God brings to you. Sometimes in the midst of that, it's where repentance comes. That's where it's come for me. Sometimes in the midst of that, it shows me how to pray. Sometimes in the midst of that, that's where my prayer life increases. So the Lord is even using that to bring me into prayer, even know how to stand against something. So the surrender, is to God. That's the surrender. Charles Spurgeon, trying to teach this and preach to his people years ago. He said he trusts God, that God's decrees declared for his glory and his purpose. And he said, some of you would say that your pastor believes in what will be, will be. And he said, no, your pastor does not believe that. Your pastor believes what God decrees for his glory and his purpose will come to pass. It's always about his glory and his purpose. If you see one moment of that coat for any other reason, then God meant it for good. Say that with me. God meant it. What was he doing? Bringing salvation, bringing deliverance, not just for you, but for others. He was getting everything out of Joseph that needed to get out of him so he could stand in the place he's supposed to be in. Oh, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. I'm trying to shift, but I can't shift right now. Let's just take just a couple of minutes. Just a couple more minutes. Just a couple more minutes. A couple more minutes. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Obey the Spirit of God. Obey the Spirit of God. Oh, oh, forming forming forming. There's a real surrender that's coming. That's here. Say, God, I take my agenda and I just lay it at your feet. My schedule, my time, my plans. I lay it at your feet. I lay it at your feet. Because you'll look back and you'll go, oh, now that was even better. That was even better. Can you imagine the strength that Joseph felt that God was with him even though he was falsely accused? He passed the test of authenticity. Can you imagine the strength? Can you imagine? No wonder he could see the hand of God. When he saw his brothers, he could forgive because he saw what God, he saw the providential hand of God that brought him there. Lord, you're wanting to release. All of your understanding and timing in the right way. Not all at one time, but in piece by piece of what needs to be seen. These precious saints will say, God, you have been directing me. May we grow up in you. Be strong in you. Stand firm in you. And the scripture that was read after the worship tonight, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Lord, that is the answer. To know, to know, to know. So bless you. Thank you for your faithfulness. One from Florida. Love you, brother. God's hands on you. John, Cheyenne, thank y'all for going through your affliction and probably at times abandonment. Go around this room. Christian, thank you for saying yes. Man, he's working in us, isn't he? Stretch your hand towards Michael Moran. They're deep in the word. They're solid in the word, but doesn't make the tripping easier. Corey, pray out loud. Would you kind of lead us?
