Shane Idleman explores the themes of anger, danger, dreams, and destiny in his sermon, drawing from Genesis 34-36. He emphasizes the destructive nature of unchecked anger, urging listeners to respond with humility and brokenness rather than reacting impulsively. Idleman highlights the importance of trusting in God's sovereignty, especially during challenging times, and encourages believers to seek God's guidance through prayer and scripture. He also discusses the significance of dreams in God's plan, reminding the congregation that while dreams may cause friction, they are part of God's unfolding purpose. Ultimately, he calls for repentance and a deeper relationship with Christ to navigate life's trials.

I am excited to preach to you again from Genesis 34 through 36. Actually, the next time I preach, I'll be probably going even quicker through Genesis. The title is Anger, Danger, Dreams, and Destiny. Wow, that's a full title right there. And the same theme runs throughout the rest of Genesis. So I'm hoping to be able to give you different parts about this. And God's just been taking me deep lately, guys. I'm getting up early, and he's just been worship. I mean, I'm just bubbling over with what God's put on my heart in the weeks to come, especially in the heavens. And when we get out of Genesis, I'm considering end times and end times series. Here's why I've often waited on that. I remember right when I became a Christian, Chuck Smith said, don't teach too deeply on the parables until you've been a Christian for about 20 years. You know, I'm like, well, that doesn't make sense. I'm like, wow. And then later on, I look back and go, God, I didn't teach on that 20 years ago. Because you learn more, and you learn the context, historical context, and you begin to better understand God's Word. And so the thing with the end times is my position, I'm going to share with you when I do it, has not changed. And I've got friends that are post-wrath, meaning that we will go through the tribulation. And their information is astounding. And then I have friends, as many of you do, you follow Jack Hibbs, Amir Sefati, David Jeremiah, I mean, I've been in my mind for years. And, you know, pre-trib, we're out of here, Antichrist. But then, you know, I have some questions about that I'm going to share with you. And then there's a group called Amillennialism, which is Sam Storm, many great theologians, like I didn't even know these people were Amillennials. And that basically means that a lot of revelation was already fulfilled when Titus conquered Jerusalem in 70 AD. Some of that I really can see, and some of that I really have some questions on. Like, I don't think so. I think there's some stuff coming still. And so I'm going to try to unpack all that. My challenge has been, how do I give you practical applications so you can get through life? Because it's, well, here's this chart, and here's this, and then Daniel and the beast and the clay feet. Okay, an hour later, we just know a lot of stuff, but there's no application. So I'm really, Lord, what are you wanting to do to this series? Maybe, you know, we'll teach on some of the end times, but then also we'll bring in one of the churches. Jesus wrote to the church, next week we'll bring in some end times, and then let's talk about Laodicea church, and let's bring in some application. So the reason is, and if, you know, I'm careful here, because again, I have friends, Jack Hibbs just texted me the other day on something, oh, the marriage amendment passed, and I watch his material, and just some things that we see things differently on, and I can't say this is exactly how the end times are gonna play out, because it can get very confusing. The Thessalonians, along with Ezekiel, and then you throw Daniel in there in the 70th week, and this week really hasn't came yet, and then Matthew 24 says this, and there's no clear cut other than we're out of here at some point, Jesus is coming, you better be ready. So that's my focus is on that, and people are, some people, you have to realize it's their wheelhouse, meaning that God has given them that passion. So not everyone shares my passion for revival, calling our nation back, repentance, and so that's where I'm gonna be generally, that's my heart. Others, their heart is end times, eschatology they call it, and the study of end times, and how it's all going to unfold. But when I read, and I've given myself headaches reading so much, it's not clear cut. We don't know when the rapture will be. We don't know exactly how things are gonna play out. We don't know how, you know, with the, you can see, I don't know if you follow drone footage in China, and how the COVID vaccine passport is, I mean, they can shut people down. Hundreds and hundreds of protesters were shut down with their phone from accessing anything. And getting into restaurants, getting, now I'm not saying the vaccines are the mark of the beast whatsoever. Now, what we're seeing though is open doors going in that direction. We see how, ah, I can be shut down. From everything, buying, selling. And so, I'm gonna get into all that, but just know that I don't teach one way. I'm just gonna show you all the Scripture, and let's go on this journey together. Anger, danger, dreams, and destiny. And Genesis 34, it's the Dinah, what they call the Dinah incident. And I'll just read it from Genesis 34, 7. And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter. A thing which ought not to be done. So, instead of reading a whole chapter, I'm just gonna give you the abridged version. I believe it was the king, one of the leaders raped Dinah, took advantage of her. And her brothers were very upset. And rightly so. And so there was this tremendous anger. What are they gonna do with this anger? They were very angry. And I see, I don't know if we've ever seen, I mean, there's been pockets here and there, you know, with the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King and different things, and where the anger was so intense. But it's getting pretty, it's getting to a bubbling point here in America. I think we can all agree. I mean, I just watch, there's what they call a conservative podcast. And his house was shot at recently last week, and then another person, the anger and what they're trying to do, and you see what you get angry too, don't you? I mean, how could they? Especially with the kids. And now you're hearing a lot of stories come out, you'll be hearing more of people wanting to transition back. They had the change because they weren't happy in a male body, they became a female, and now they're suing the doctors. It's coming out more and more. Now they want to transition back to where they were because you'll never find hope and fulfillment outside of God. And so that's why our message is so important, to get this message out there, to relate to people. Hey, you struggle with that, I struggle with this. They struggle with that, you struggle with that. We, you know, there's sin, and let's point you to the cross. But I get, and then what they're, and the big, rabbit show again. So you have transgender story hour in the libraries. Do you know that? Where they can dress up as a transgender, and then there's a lot of stuff I'm not gonna get into, where they'll invite kids to this, and they're pole dancing, and they can put dollars in their G-strings. And it's like, I want to punch the computer with a seven-year-old. I mean, there's a lot of anger there. Library story hour, and Kirk Cameron just came out with his new book, and they won't let him read his book in the library. So, man, I can't watch too much news because it's, and we're trying to get him on my podcast too as well to talk about this. But we have to understand something. James 1.20, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. And one of the reasons, I don't know if anything will come of this, but why I want to go to Arizona and be somewhat part of what they're doing, their Turning Point USA faith, is because I see a lot of people, conservatives, they're angry, but they're not humble. You know, they meme with the best of them. They just go get them. They go slam them. They make fun of this. Make fun of that. They make fun of Biden every day. And like, I've got some concerns too, but guys don't even make fun of people every day. And they're just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and just so much anger and hatred. That's not going to get us anywhere. God says, hey, I resist the proud. I resist the proud. Keep going back and forth, left and right. When are you going to humble yourself? You can have conferences. We can have meetings. We can go, go get them, shame, preach them. But if you're not humble and broken, we will not see change in our nation. And we see that, you know, on social media. Oh, I told this person off. Check this out. This, this person, you know, did this. And we brought the left to their knees and they can't answer this person. And, and I got the LGBTQ community with this meme. And it's like, guys, where's the brokenness and humility? Because anger worketh not the righteousness of God. And haughtiness will be your downfall. Now, please have grace because we have not done. Nobody can do this perfectly. You follow me around all week. You might say that wasn't nice to post on Facebook. Oh, all right. Once you got me, but for you should see what I want to post. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Like the prisoner swap really got me. And I wanted her to, that basketball player to come home. I said that a couple of months ago and people got mad at me on Facebook. No, I think any American should be home and tried here. You know, I don't like our prisoners in different countries, but the type of how like, it's just mind boggling. You still have a Marine sitting over there in prison. But, and so what I do with all that, I mean, I wanted to post away, but I didn't want people to get the wrong message here because I wanted that person home, that basketball player I wanted. I love all people, but there's a righteous indignation when you see that justice is not being served in all areas of life. And what they're trying to push. Anger is at an all time high right now. So remember this, if you leave here, your anger will not produce the righteousness of God. But if my anger, which it's been doing, maybe that's why I've been getting up early and God's been pouring in my heart because of anger. But when I allow the anger to push me to my knees, Lord God, this is not right. I humble myself and then I come out bold and broken. That's what we need. We need to be bold and broken. Your anger, angry at spouse, angry at family, angry at what's going on in our nation, will not work out the righteousness of God. And I reach out to these people on social media. Names you know, Candace Owens and Graham Cook. Some of these people are following me now. And I'm like, guys, come on, we've got to get back to humility. We've got to get back to it because the anger does not work the righteousness of God. And arrogance, God will resist. Could it be that God is resisting the majority of the church right now because of our anger and arrogance? God's saying, hey, I'm using all this to humble you. Get down on your knees. And then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Levi. I knew this, you know why this is challenging? Because Simeon goes here and so does his dad, Levi. And I kept saying, so Levi, not Levi, Levi. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, who are his two sons. So Jacob had 12 tribes of Israel came from Jacob. And he's saying, you are hot-headed men. Because what happened? They actually went and they killed the people who did this to their sister. Their anger. And that's what anger does, folks. You react instead of respond. Reacting, they said, this is not right what they did to our sister. How can we do this the right way, the godly way? Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. But instead, they went and they killed the men who did this. Actually, they wiped out a good portion of the town, the men in the town. And now the dad, Jacob, is saying, you hot-headed men. That's what he's gonna call them later on when he blesses them. You've made me obnoxious to these people. And see, they reacted. Anybody have to apologize after reacting? Men, come on, I hear a lot of amens. Anger comes out in your home. You react. React. And I know it's tough. I've opened up. As much as I love my dad, it was an angry home. He comes to Farms of Oklahoma. Boy, this is how we do things. Get up, don't cry, and just anger. And that's how you won at football. That's how you won at New Girl. That's how you got things done at work. You got angry and you took care of work. It was all around me, anger. It's how you communicated. The louder I got, the more explicits I could use. But thank God when I came back to him, he slowly began to just chisel that off. And I began to realize a lot of it is really anger is married with selfishness. My way, what I want, and when that's not happening, I get angry. My schedule is ruined. That's not how I plan things. That person ticked me off. And anger begins to grab your heart. So the first step to releasing that is to repent and say, God, help me. And then as you're in his word, as you're at, that's why we have, do you know why we have the worship mornings? It's not like, hey, let's just try something at 6 a.m. just for the fun of it, heck. It's for people to come and be fed by the spirit of God that is way more better than a sermon and service sometimes because you can just sit with God for an hour and a half and be fed by the spirit of God. And that anger begins to leave and you're humble and broken and things are going great and you're gentle. And then the lust comes in of the flesh and here comes the anger again by Wednesday. So we have a Wednesday night service. So no, but you have to, you know, it's a constant battle for many people until the day they die, but you can really, really minimize it because the more you feel the spirit, the less angry you're going to be. Anybody get angry when people don't agree with your view? When I start teaching on end times, here we go. Here we go. Yep, yep, yep. Or if I don't embrace exactly what they believe. I posted something by Vody Bachman on Facebook. It said, brother, if you could lose your salvation, we all would. And you would, the man, the tyrant, the angry, angry people. Oh, so we can't have different views here on losing your salvation? I read Scripture a little differently than you? I mean, are we that? See, pride, arrogance, I want to be right. And that's a lot of internal fighting in churches. Correct? I want to be right. That's my platform. That's my position. I want that self-promotion. And I, I, I, self, self, self about me. And of course, when me doesn't get what it wants, it gets angry. So there is hope for those who struggle with anger. Repent. And then don't continue in what you're doing. Something has to change. Something has to change. That deeper life with the Lord, being filled with the Spirit in His Word. It's really hard to pray and read the Word of God for a while and come out angry. And so he said, you've made me obnoxious to these people. They're going to kill us all. We're few in numbers. They will gather themselves together against me and kill me. And I will be destroyed in my household. And as we talked about already, I don't want to go into it, but anger damages everything. If you think about it. Many marriages that are falling apart, often it's because of anger. Angry tirades, angry words, angry behavior. Man, churches that are not united, anger's at the middle of it often. Things in your workplace that are difficult, anger. And again, these two men were hot-headed men. But praise God, God delivered them. God moved them away from the area. And it could possibly be God delivered them, possibly because Jacob interceded or because it was a righteous cause. You know, the Old Testament is different in regard to vigilantism and taking matters into your own hands for sure. And so, we don't know why there wasn't a major battle that went on to try to take out all of Jacob's family for what he did to the king there and his men. But God delivered them. It was a great reminder for me, you plus God is the majority. You plus God is the majority. So if anybody got themselves in a pickle they don't know how to get out of, well, yeah, and others, they just don't admit it, give it to God. You'd be amazed at what He does with humility. You'd be amazed at what He does when you say, Lord, I can't get out of this. I don't know what to do. I'm in a bind. I really messed up. I don't know what to do. And He will begin to unravel or unfold things in such a way that you trust in Romans 8.28 that He works all things out for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Now, don't think I'm thinking that He will immediately pull you out of the fire. He might walk through it with you. But see, now you're like, hey, I blew it, but now God's got me. I can get through this. Versus trying to get through it yourself. Which never, never works. You plus God is the majority. And as I often say, God's sovereignty is my sanity. Especially right now. Especially right now with what's going on. God, You are my sanity. And then we're going to fast forward actually to chapter 37 verse 2. This is the history of Jacob. Joseph being 17 years old. Alright, teenagers, you ready? Over the next few weeks, or actually when I'm back in Genesis, it'll be good because Joseph was a teenager. He was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah. Bilhah. And the sons of Zilpah. His father's wives. See, another thing you could do in the Old Testament. I can get away with that today. Not that you should, but I'm just saying, it was different. And actually, God never said this is how you can have multiple married wives. Actually, kings were not supposed to have multiple wives. God said He created them male and female and the two shall become one. And then over time, tradition, and people in the Old Testament would add to this. And so Joseph, anybody have step families? You know, it can be challenging sometimes. And so Joseph is there with all of his stepbrothers. They worked with the same mom. And he did something pretty interesting. The last sentence there. Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. He told on them. Tattletales. Anybody can relate? Brothers, sisters, kids? Tattletales. Unless I didn't clarify, there were four women, actually had twelve sons and one daughter. And those twelve sons are the twelve tribes of Israel. You go down Levi, Simeon, Joseph, and you can go down the list. Ephraim, and they're going to come out more in the story. But Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. So before you open your mouth, make sure it's God and not you. So this is interesting. I mean, of course, we can't say. We only speculate. You know, was this a good idea? I mean, was he supposed to do that? Or was he just being a tattletale? I've got my thoughts, but Scripture's not clear. And when Scripture's not clear, we don't know exactly. But what we do know is that even if it wasn't a good idea, and this got his brothers upset at them, God now used this as an opportunity to further His plan. So what about if Joseph brought them lunch and didn't upset them? Would we be reading of him today? And so see, God allows things to happen to further His sovereign plans. But I think it's a good message reminder for us. Before you open your mouth, make sure it's God and not you. Anybody get in trouble with this? We get more trouble with this than our feet. What we say, it's like a little, sets a whole forest on fire, James would say. And you can just tell, you know mature believers in the faith, they can really harness their words. You can't get gossip out of them, slander. You know, they're kind of slow to speak. They don't say too much. The more you... Chatty Cathy. And in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. How true is that? The more you talk, the more you're going to get into trouble. And I know, the pastors I know who are older than me, I've noticed that over the years. They don't talk too much. They say, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Probably they've been hurt before, they've been scarred, they've messed up, they've gossiped, they've slandered other churches or people, and they just... You're on a need-to-know basis only. I don't say much. Because the more you talk, oh yeah, I don't know about that person. Oh, do you know what they're going through? Oh, now see, now we just almost crossed the line. And it might be good to clarify here, rabbit trail alert. Gossip is when you tell someone something they don't need to know. So sometimes if I tell, like let's say I'll share something with Pastor Abram, or share something, say you are gossiping, no, they need to know. That's not gossip. Be careful. Gossip if we were going to tell someone they don't need to know, I'm just going to share it with them. That's gossiping. But just talking about a situation privately is not gossiping. Especially if the heart's right and you're trying to figure out a plan to better help the person. And then slander is saying something that's just not true. Or embellishing. Any embellishers out there? Boy, the news is, or even on both sides, right or left, the gaslighting. Is that the new term now? Light that gas. Light that gas. Slander. Put down. And now we're going to find out where the problems came in. Verse 3. In chapter 37, now Israel, which remember is Jacob, God changed His name from Jacob to Israel, He loved Joseph more than all of His other children. Okay, not a good idea to let people know that. Most parents don't have favorites. I don't. I know many of you don't. But in this case, Joseph loved Him more than all of His other children because He was the son of His old age. So there was something special. You know, He was having kids, having kids, having kids, and later on in life, this son came into His life. And He was special to Him at that old age. Also, He made Him a tunic of many colors. But when His brothers saw that, their father loved Him more than all the other brothers, they hated Him and could not speak peacefully to Him. Then I wonder again, what's the father thinking? Right? I mean, you give this gift, this nice, big, huge gift, and very colorful and nothing to the other kids, of course they're going to be upset. And so a huge lesson for parents here, be careful. Be careful favoritism. And what some parents can do, they'll begin to favor one child because they're living right or they're doing things right. And they'll begin to favor that child and it will begin to distance the other one. There's a hatred. And so make sure in what you're doing, show equal love in all areas. And even if the one that's lacking, maybe spend time with them more. Do something with them to build that up and to reinforce that. And anger, as we all know, I talked about earlier, anger equals an explosive home. It's interesting, the home is where people need to feel safe and secure. Kids need to feel safe and secure. So of all places, the home should not be the place of anger. And anybody heard the phrase walking on? I used to walk in my front door that way, like how is that today? And explosive from everything from dinner to you can't do this to chores to whatever it is. And anger in the home is very destructive. And you'll see often, you know, when kids walk away from the faith, there's a lot of reasons why. A lot of kids walk away from the faith because there's just carnality in the home. So the parents are saying one thing, but doing something completely different. The kids see the hypocrisy. Like I don't want that God. But on the other side, I've seen in a lot of homes, Christian homes, where there's more anger than love. There's more legalism than grace. There's more punishment than mercy. Can also push the kids away because they have a wrong view of God. And there's a lot of homes in that they're angry and just, you know, forcing this and forcing their kids to do that. And that's actually been one of the, and this is like 20 years ago when I was part of a group and they did studies and I don't want to say the name of the group because the leader actually fell from that group. A big well-known organization. But often, it's a lot of the homeschooling families too. You know, they rule their house with a rod of iron. Very controlling. Now, we homeschool. So there's a lot of home families. And there's charter school. There's Christian school. But there's that not love in the home. There's a lack of love. It's just forcing God's Word down their throat. And pushing it. And if you don't have love... See, it's the love that draws the kids to the heart of Christ. They see you're not perfect. You ask for forgiveness. You own it. You point them to Jesus. And there's this peace in the home. Yes, there's anger sometimes. Of course. Nobody's going to master that on this side of heaven. But the home, if you're going to wait on a scale, you better have a lot more love and joy and mercy and laughter. Because ultimately, you cannot force the Word of God down their throats. You have to lovingly encourage them in their walk and show them the beauty of the Gospel. Show them the beauty of the truth. The truth is beautiful. It's nothing you have to force down their throat. Because that actually pushes them away. Just like food. You can't force something down their throat. My little four-year-old, there's something I'm not going to eat. So could I force it down her throat? Or I put a little honey on it. Oh, this Ezekiel bread is good now. Isn't that true? You sit here. You eat that bread. You can't get up until... You can't leave until you eat that whole bread. I'm going to open your mouth. You force it in her mouth. On that note, I remember my mommy used to put bars of soap in my mouth when I cussed. Golly, you too, Phil? You too? Okay, it wasn't just me. I thought it was weird. But that will stop you. That will stop you. But see, this thing I was going to force, instead of, okay, you need to eat this, here's what I'm going to do, and made it presentable. Same thing with the Gospel, with God's Word. You make people like... And there are seasons where they won't like it. I don't like it. But my parents love Him. Love Christ. My parents are owning it. My parents are walking it out. And see, there's an attraction. Attraction when you're not letting anger rule your house. There's an attraction to brokenness. There's an attraction to God's wording. Now, they might not like it, because the more you're in darkness, the more you hate the Gospel. The darker you get, the more you hate the Word of God. But at least there's that drawing back because of our attitude of humility. And again, guys, don't look at me as a standard. I haven't mastered it. It's hard. Amen? It's hard to walk it out. And then verses 5-6, now, Joseph had a dream. Here we go. And I don't know how much time I would have or how long this message would take, but I think I've taught on it on a podcast on YouTube, but Joseph had a dream. Okay? I truly believe God can use all kinds of things. I believe that God can use a dream. Now, I don't put a lot of weight into it. Maybe I'll teach on it sometimes and give you some amazing examples that God has given me. I remember reading Billy Graham's biography, and he would have dreams of preaching to people as a boy. What is this? And I've had that same thing happen to me. In 2001, I was at my mom's house. I remember the room. I remember everything. I was having vivid dreams of preaching to seeds of people. What is that? Remember, I'm digging ditches. I'm just now coming back to the Lord. But see, those, ah... God, you begin to plant those seeds early on. God used a dream to warn some wise men. Christmas season. God used a dream to warn Joseph to go to Egypt. How many other examples? There's three, I think, opening part of the Gospels there. Now where people get a little ridiculous is a dream every night. Dream every night. It's like, what does this mean? What does this mean? What's the color red mean? What's blue mean? And they spend all their time trying to interpret this dream. I've learned that God gives you a dream for a reason. He's going to show you why. What it's for. I shared before, I had a dream. Morgan, remember, I woke up like, whoa, that was incredible. And usually a very vivid dream from God. Clear, and there's this black panther. Scared the life out of me. And he was trying to get me. There's nothing I could do. And I just shined a light in his face. Guess what he did? He came over, and I couldn't do anything. I think it was the next day or the day after I had, I'll never do this again. It's the most painful thing I've ever done. I had a Jehovah Witness come over with their top guy. Wow, exhausting, mentally. And he was dressed in black. And everything I was doing, saying, and I forgot all about it, but God reminded me, because I was so frustrated. So frustrated. From the moment, okay, guys, let me just open a prayer. Just don't pray in Jesus' name. Excuse me? Okay, this conversation is going to be really interesting here going forward. And so that was helped to warm me. And other things, I don't really remember. I don't know why sometimes it just happened, but I remember I was down in this canyon, and it was like this big, huge, white plane exploded above me. And the next day was the space shuttle in the 80s, I think it was, or 90s, whatever the second one was. And then also woke up, had a very vivid dream. Me and Morgan are in this tidal wave. It was just like, there's no way out. I thought I died. I woke up like, wow. And then the tsunami hit in Indonesia. I read the news that day. I'm like, whoa. And then I had a dream where there's a whole bunch of tornadoes in California. And I don't know when it was, like 12 years ago, there's a whole bunch of little tornadoes out. I don't know what the significance is. I'm just like, wow, this is interesting. I don't do anything with them. I could build my theology on it. I'm not gonna become a finder of tornadoes. But it's weird how the spiritual sometimes is a dream when you're not thinking, and God can begin to speak to you. He's led us in other areas too. I'm sure all of you have examples. So I often give people this advice on a dream. Don't put too much weight into it. Don't make it theology, but be open. Like, okay, Lord, are You trying? Sometimes He'll repeat it. I think He did that to Daniel, to the king. He gave him to repeat it to establish His Word. And sometimes if it's a warning, I mean, God has given me a dream to warn somebody before, and I actually didn't obey. I'm kicking myself 12 years later because it was like an ongoing. And so I'm open to God communicating that way because I'm not gonna open 1 John and read that. I'm gonna use 1 John to filter the gifts of the Spirit and dreams and prophecy. I'm gonna use the Word of God as a standard, but allow God to move in other areas as well. How many of you have had something where you've dreamed it and you woke up and you knew it was crystal clear? From God. So it'd be a whole teaching on it, but be careful. I would be open but cautious. You know, it's not like God does this every week or every month, sometimes once a year, twice a year, maybe never. I don't know. When I've read books about like the underground church in China, revival that hit China, this author comes out with a new book like every year on different providences in China. This stuff is commonplace. A dream, they would get up, they would move their family to a different location and just miss the police. I mean, it's commonplace because they're so desperate to hear from God. They're open to God. Or the gifts of the Spirit. All these things are very, very common in people that don't know any better other than reading their Bible. Oh, the Bible says this, then we get theologians in there who mess it all up. Oh no, that doesn't happen anymore. Just because you've never experienced it doesn't mean it doesn't happen anymore. I remember a famous Bible teacher I'll never forget, I just almost broke my heart. They don't really cast out demons, believe in any of that anymore, that doesn't happen anymore. He said, I tried that when I was younger. I tried to cast out a demon, but it didn't work. Oh, okay, so now all of theology is wrong when Jesus said if you believe on Me, you'll speak in tongues, you'll cast out demons? Jesus said it. So I'm going to lean on what Jesus said. Now granted, I'm conservative more. Like I'm kind of leery of things, cautious, but you can't ignore what the Bible teaches. And so often we form our theology based on what we've experienced and not necessarily on the Word of God. A lot of people don't believe in the gift of healing, or word of wisdom, word of knowledge. Why? Because they've never experienced it genuinely. And so now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers. What's this guy thinking? Boy, he is building up some hatred and they hated him even more. So he said to them, please hear this dream, please. You guys were binding sheaves in the field and then my sheave, you would gather the harvest and you would gather as much as you could carry and you would put some type of rope maybe around it or something so they'd have this big sheave they would carry back. It's the labor of their produce, of their production there in the field. And Joseph's sheave arose and it stood upright and all the other sheaves around it bowed down to it. But God is showing what is going to happen in the future as we keep reading. But a note to us, be careful who you share your dreams with. By me just opening up in the last ten minutes, I'm already going to have negative annalities hammering me. Ah, here, hyper charismatic dreams. Pastor Shane says we should believe in dreams. And be taken away in dreams. And he's part of the National Apostolic Reformation and Seven Mountains Movement. And he's a false teacher. See, be careful who you share your dreams with. But I want to help you more than I'm worried about the critics. That's why I am transparent and tell you these things. I remember, was it a dream? I don't remember when our son was sick. Shane was sick. He was a little baby infant. I don't know if that was a dream or not. But we could not figure it out. You know, you have the humidifier going and the room's all humid. And why is he always sick? And his throat. And there's something. I don't remember his dream. And something is like, get rid of the humidifier. What was that? I study a little bit. Oh yeah, keep the bacteria and the mold and stuff going. Took it out. He's fine the next day. And so see, I can't find that in Matthew 6. You see, that's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit supplements the Word of God. God's Word is my standard for all good living. It's my standard for righteousness. I gauge everything through it. I look to it. I live upon it. I build my life on it. It's the filter of everything. But I need a little help. I'm reading, God, every day for now. I'm reading, I'm reading, I'm reading. But I need a little help. Come and tell me something. Give me something. That's why if you're against the gifts of the Spirit, you better be careful. It's the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit trying to help you. Because I didn't turn to 1 Thessalonians and say, Shane, you need to become a pastor this month. Oh, goodness. Thank you. It was people confirming it. Prophetic words lining up with Scripture. Lining up with what God was doing in my own heart. Be careful who you share your dreams with. Be careful. I have dreams even for this church and this ministry. I'm very careful who I share that with. And his brother said to him, you're not going to reign over us. Yeah, right. My version. Or shall you indeed have dominion over us? So they hated him even the more for his dreams. Man, this Joseph is ticking me off. And another good reminder. Bullet point. Highlight it. Never forget this. Put it in your Bible on a Post-it note. God's plans often cause friction. We can get a loud amen for that one, but I'm not going to because when I first started, I'm back to the Lord. The prodigal son came home. I'm weeping during worship. The Word of God's coming alive. I think it's 1999. I'm like, oh man, everybody. Oh man, I love Christians. We're all going to be united. It's actually the division is terrible in the church. And that's what pushes a lot of people. Jesus said, I pray that they are one like we are one, Father. You'll know them by their love for one another. So what happens here, this could be with the unbelievers too and the world and even other Christians. God's plans often create friction. If you're a believer and you want to do this for God, what's your unbelieving spouse going to say about that? Another verse that people don't understand, they don't talk about in this day and age, is Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace. Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. And that's about as graphic as you can get. Because my message is going to divide families. That's not my goal, but that's what it's going to do. So once I finally, God finally got this through my thick skull many years ago, like, oh, okay. I'm going to cause a lot of friction. The messages are causing a lot of friction. It's like a wrecking ball in the church. And I shared this again, I'm careful. That's why I pray, Lord, give me boundaries, because I don't want to go beyond what I would normally say. And I don't want to just say things out of frustration. But I think it's important. I shared it with the men at this special event this weekend, which a lot of you don't know. But what I kind of, Morgan knows, we kind of laugh at it now. But quite often, let's say there's a men's leader at a church. This just happened a month ago in New Jersey, mega church, men's leader, on fire for God. Shane, we got to get you out to the men and have you speak on Sunday. I'm like, okay, but first, I've learned my lesson. Make sure you run my material by your leadership team, because, you know, it's a little, it's friction. And of course, once that happens, oh, I think we're going to find someone local. Thanks for your time. And, you know, happened in Minneapolis a couple years ago, happened up at a big conference center up in the Sequoias. You know, it's because the message causes friction. But I realized, oh, God, you've called me to do this. Okay, yeah. Not everyone's going to like it. That's okay. The ones who need to hear it are going to hear it. And what happens is, and I actually have a lot of grace for churches sometimes who don't want me to speak there, because you don't want, you know, you got to be careful if someone's going to come in and just, you know, explode. And then now you got to clean up the mess. What's that guy calling us to repentance? What's that guy calling out our sin? And we know it's God, but it's going to cause friction. Especially the deeper you go into the Word of God, back to the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith, that's going to cause the most amount of friction. If we could just put the rainbow flag out front and just keep everything nice, not upset, you wouldn't have as much friction. And that's one reason why popular people you might follow on TV don't have a lot of friction. Because their messages tickle the ear. It's not convicting the heart. And so, in your case as well, if God is calling you to do something, it's probably going to have friction. Not only from family members, but who else? Beelzebub? Satan? Satan? The father of lies? The deceiver? There's friction. He's trying to stop what God wants you to do. And then verse 9, then he dreamed again. Oh, goodness. He's going to really make him upset. And he said, now I dreamed another dream. The sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me. And you were, guess who the sun and the moon were? Now, I'm not going to get into this because I already did. God may use dreams to confirm his will. The key is to obey God, use wisdom, be slow to speak, but also trust God's sovereignty when it comes to following dreams and not knowing exactly what to do. But he dreamed another dream. I'm going to switch over now to Romans 8.28 just to give you guys some encouragement. Because what is happening here? Another dream, another dream. Now the brothers are getting so ticked off, they're going to want to kill him. And so, this is when things get tough. When things get tough, and I don't know what the future of our nation looks like. When things get tough, that's where you have to really rest in Romans 8.28. That will be your sanity as well. And you can read it there. And we know, it's interesting that there's assurance. We know. We know. We know that some things, now you're looking up. Okay, all things. So, we know that all the things in the life of a believer, God is going to work together for good. Now, some people stop there. Keep reading. Oh, it's silent. Pin drop. To those who love God. And if you're loving God, you're living like you love God. See, a lot of people aren't living like they love God. They're living in rebellion, yet they still quote this to me. What's going on, Shane? Look, you said all things are going to work together. Well, it's not working together right now. Well, you're not following God. You're not loving God. You're living in sin. You love the party lifestyle. You're still hooked to alcohol and all these other things, and pornography, and you're mean to your spouse. Of course it's not going to work for good. Love God. Love God. And to those who are the called. The called. Believers. According to His purpose. So if you're not doing God's will, you're doing your will, things are not going to go the right direction. Now, God might say, oh man, I'm going to really have to fix this later like He did in my life. You know, once you get back on track. But He's saying if you love God, you're called to do what He wants you to do, and you're following the cross, and you're following His will. Again, not perfectly. Anybody fall off track now and then? Of course. Hello? But if you're doing that and following the cross, know that all things are going to work out in the end. Very helpful verse. And so He told His Father and His brothers about this other dream where they're going to bow to Him again, and His Father rebuked Him and said, what is this dream that you have dreamed? Me and your mom and your brothers? We're going to bow to the earth before you? Again, often, people are not going to agree with what God is doing in your life sometimes. Especially if you're in a divided home. That's where it gets really challenging. And His brothers envied Him, but His Father kept the matter in mind. His Father pondered it like, huh, that's interesting. So, often, God plants the seeds. So back on the dreams or different things, God often plants the seed. Oh, okay. Because now that He's planted the seed, I can see where this might go. So I can be prepared for the difficulty. I can be prepared for the challenge. I can start walking in the right direction because He's planted the seed. And I just commented to someone earlier before the service about the radio station and they love it. It's going great. I said, can I be honest with you? If God showed me all the drama over the last three years, I would have never even touched that thing with a ten-foot pole. I didn't sign up to be a radio station manager and contact the engineers and fix things in Bishop, fix things in a rich guy. But God said, okay, I'm planting the seed. I want you to do this, and I'm going to get you through it. He often doesn't show you the difficulty because we would say, no way. No, thank you. Perfect example. When I was getting out 24-hour fitness, it was so hard for me because of the money. I'm just going to give up everything? Custom house in my 20s? Good money? Lord, for months, I was divided. So I had a solution. I'm going to start this website, charge $10 a month, and then that's what I'm going to do. God planted the seed to leave, so that's what I'm going to do. He didn't show me all this really stuff what's going to happen. So that didn't work out too well. You don't make a lot of money. Now I'm digging ditches with my brother. Now he's my boss. He's younger than me. I'm digging ditches. He's paying me $100 a day. Yes, I claimed on the IRS. And I go home beat up and like, what is this? I should have not left. But see, He doesn't show us that. He shows you step by step. His Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. Many times, you're not going to know weeks or months or years ahead. We like to know. Anybody else or just me? I want to know, Lord, when am I going to die? About what year? Where am I going to live? So I can plan it now. But He says, no, here's what I want you to do today. And as you walk out in obedience, then whatever comes, come what may. You know you're trusting in God. He often doesn't show you the end result. If He showed me what pastoring would involve, holy smokes! It's all good, but it's hard. You know that. And then v. 18-20, Joseph was sold by his brothers. Now when they saw Joseph afar off, even before he came near to them, they started to conspire against him. And know right now, the enemy is conspiring against you. He's conspiring against me right now. Trying to stop this. Trying to stop this ministry. Trying to get you saved. He's conspiring against you. But if God be for you, no one can stop His plans. If you stay anchored to Christ, if you stay grounded to Him, and that's what I'm going to actually talk about the young adults on Wednesday, is we can go over bullying. We can go over substance abuse. We can go over media time. We can go over sexual... We can go over all those things, but at the end of the day, the more intimate your relationship is with Christ, the more you can weather all these storms that are coming in. So we can have seven points of prosperity to finish this strong, but it's your devotion to Christ that's going to have you finish well in all these areas. Because if you love Jesus, you're not going to care what other people think about you. But the opinions, and we're so worried about the opinions of others, and that's why I became a partier. I became a class clown in high school because of the opinions of others. Now I look back, how many of my friends are passed away? Some are in jail. Many of them are alcoholics. All these people I was trying to please and see that relationship with Christ. How do you get through bullying? Christ is my strength. Christ is my anchor. How do you get through the gender and transgender and all these issues you're facing sexually? Christ is my anchor. See, so that stronger relationship with Jesus, the more all these things will fall to the side. A weak relationship with Jesus, the more these things are going to come in and take predominance in your heart. Here comes this dreamer. Here he comes. Let's kill him. Let's put him in a pit and kill him. And we'll say a wild beast devoured him. Then we'll see what will become of his dreams. We'll stop those dreams. Let me tell you, nobody can stop the dreams of God. When God begins to do something in your heart and in your life, when you hold on to the Savior, when He is your anchor, when He is your rock, what army can destroy God? What plans can thwart His plans? What news outlet, what thing can stop the plans of God Almighty? And I am so excited. I know I say this a lot, please forgive me, but what God is doing with Twitter and all these things, I am like, man, this is so cool. God is just getting information out there. Now people email you, but Shane, Elon could end up being the Antichrist. Maybe, but what's going on right now is pretty cool. God is exposing all these things. God will fight for you. God will fight your battles. People try to take down this ministry, and God will fight your battles. YouTube sent me alerts. Now we start a whole new Rumble page. And God will begin to, because who's going to stop God Almighty? Who? And you guys should thank Luke Duncan today. He's downloading all 400 videos from YouTube onto my Rumble page. So thank you, Luke. I said, are you up for this task? This is not right, how God's people are being silenced and His truth is being silenced. And Kirk Cameron can't read his book in libraries. Give me a break. I love when God takes over. When God begins, exposes these things. And the guy who got caught that is ahead of getting rid of the nuclear waste, and he's stealing luggage in an airport, he's wearing lipstick, and he's a cross-dresser. Hello? Expose. God, expose these things. You are vengeance, O God. Dream killers cannot stop God. But look what was so destructive here. Envy and jealousy are very destructive. Envy and jealousy are very destructive. Do not envy others. Do not be jealous of others. Somebody asked me, I hope it's okay, because a couple people showed me, but they sent me this new contract. What's his name? Aaron Judge? What's his name? New York Yankees? Yeah, and I said, I'd rather do what I do and get paid what I get paid, than be these people, these superstars. Why? Because God has called us to do what He's called you to do. And there's joy in that. There's freedom in that. Biblically speaking, envy is never positive. Envy is never positive. Did you know that? Envy's never positive, but jealousy can go either way. Correct? If you see your spouse talking with somebody who's attractive and spending some time with them, you might get a little jealous. God says, I am a jealous guy. And I remember Oprah telling her audience, that's why I don't believe in that guy in the Bible, because he's a jealous guy? He's jealous for your affections, Oprah. He's jealous. Not in a bad way, but he's jealous. I'd rather you serve me than Bell and Astaroth and Molech and all these gods that are going to drive you away. I'm jealous for your affections. I want you to serve me and love me and the Bride of Christ. And so jealousy can be either way depending on what it's over. When we want what others have, we become obsessed and bitter. Let me throw this in there. And angry. Because we don't have it. And then we put down all these other people and we get upset. And if you'll see up there, I don't know if I... Oh yeah, there. Please limit social media for this very reason. Please visit social media. Please be careful on this area. I remember my wife and I were feeling kind of depressed I don't know how many years ago when Facebook and Instagram and all that first came out. Like, look at everybody goes on vacation. They're always happy. They're always here in New York and the islands. Look at that. Look at that. Oh my gosh, I'm stuck home with the kids. They're always on dates. They're always having fun. Now some of it's okay, but if that's going to begin to shape your thinking and bring in jealousy and envy. And that's what happens. A lot of people, they watch and look at that person on social media. Oh, look at that. You don't see the back end of it. You see a five minute clip. You don't see the whole week. It's a false perception of fulfillment. Exodus 34, 14, For you shall worship no other gods for the Lord whose name is Jealous. I am a jealous God. Jealousy, giving to another something that rightly belongs to God. So maybe some of you this morning, are you giving something that rightly belongs to God? Are you following things, following the world that rightly belongs to God and not serving Him with your whole heart? But Reuben heard of it. And I'm going to go through quickly and then we'll pick up when I'm back again. Reuben the brother heard of it. Thank God for Reuben. And he delivered him out of their hands and said, hey, we're not going to kill him. We don't want to shed blood because they knew the God of the Old Testament, especially that they will not get that vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. God, that spilled blood of innocent blood would be required on the hands of the brothers. And when the brothers are, Joseph is revealed later on, they actually bring this up. God was judging us because of this. And so they said, let's not kill him. Let's not cast, let's not shed blood, but let's throw him into a pit. So He put him down in this pit in the wilderness and do not lay any hands on him that he might deliver him out of their hands and bring him back to his father. So they got rid of Joseph. At least we didn't kill him. Wild beasts will kill him. Die of hunger. We didn't kill him though. And thank God, God will plant Reubens where He needs them. God will plant Reubens where He needs them. I just heard an encouraging story this morning of a man, his company was being bought and come to find out, bought by Christians. So the worst case scenario turned into the best case scenario where God plants his Reubens. He needs to plant some Reubens in the FBI. You guys, see, you're getting me wound up again. The Department of Justice. He needs to plant his Reubens there. And for those of you who say I shouldn't talk about this, I would say why not? It's applicable. It's things we're dealing with. It's things our kids are dealing with. It has to do with everyday life. It has to do with the Bible. Did you know the Bible has something to say about all these things? The border? Did you know the Bible has a lot to say about borders and security and the role of government? So I'm just supposed to shut my mouth because it offends someone? And thank you, there's a couple over here, I don't remember exactly, but they said please don't change. I said I haven't in 20 years, so I don't plan on it. If the enemy was going to sidetrack me, he would have did it years ago when I was worried about the opinions of others. I'm not saying take heed lest you fall, but it's almost like you've been through so much it's like forget it now, I'm just going. The steamroller's going. I'm done with the critics. I just, Lord, whatever You put on my heart, I'm just going to do it, and Lord, You open or close the doors. And so also, when plans go wrong, trust in sovereignty. When plans go wrong, trust in sovereignty. Don't worry, I'm coming to an end here. That's why we started the service earlier now. But it's funny, I was actually encouraged this weekend. I went well over an hour, hour and a half sometimes, and the guys were like, we could keep listening because when the Holy Spirit's ministering to us and feeding us, we're not in a hurry. So I'm like, oh, that's interesting. So these guys say you've got to get your sermon down to 30 minutes. Maybe you don't have the anointing of God on their life. They need to spend time seeking God so they can come and feed the people with God's Word. I won't get into a lot of details, but the Puritans would preach for an hour and a half. Okay, I won't go that long, but let's get back here. When plans go wrong, trust in God's sovereignty. I already covered that. Suffering and challenges are often byproducts of His will unfolding. So Joseph is put into a pit, probably thinks he's going to die. But remember, what does God say? God has the final say. God is still on the throne. God says when enough is enough. God says when your last day is here. Nothing can thwart the plans of God. God has this in the palm of His hand. But often, suffering and challenges are often a byproduct of God's will unfolding. Here's what I've noticed. I'll take the comfortable road, but God will knock me off course with suffering. Oh, Shane, get back on the right course. Here's how I'm going to do it with challenges and suffering. Because by nature, we're lazy. By nature, I don't want to offend. I don't want to upset. I want this comfortable. I want this. God, here's where I'm going. Oh, darn it. Suffering, challenges. Okay, God redirects me. And that's often what challenges are for. Often it tests your faith. Some of the most solid believers in this church, you'd be amazed at what they went through. Health issues. Financial reasons. And sometimes we look at people, how could you be going through that if you're a Christian? If you're not going through nothing, honey, you might not know Jesus. Can I say honey? Okay. Well, this won't cancel culture, gaslighting, you never know. Kidding, of course. So it came to pass when Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic. They took this tunic of many colors and they cast him into the pit and the pit was empty and there was no water in it. And again, when you trust and know God, there's always a purpose in your pit. Oh, that could preach a sermon right there. There is always a purpose in your pit. Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't say, what am I going to do now? God often will bring you low before He brings you high. He'll use that pit to break you. He'll use that pit to humble you. He'll use that pit to get you to fall on your knees. Thank God for the pit. Thank God for the darkness. Thank God for the delay. Thank God for when He denies for a season. Thank God for the challenges because through that, you come out of the fire of affliction, strengthened and your foundation is built and solid. Ask a Navy SEAL or an Army Ranger what he thought of training, but that's made them who they are today. Same with the believer. We don't like that and we're taught messages of you're just going to feel good, brother. Just walk on clouds. God's healthy, wealthy, and wise. Smile all the time. Just think positive. It's like heaven on earth. Well, Paul says warfare. He says you're a soldier. You till the soil like a farmer. You're engaged in a spiritual battle. Remain disciplined. Remain strong. Fortitude, strength. And seek Him with all your heart and the diligence. And so we see the wrong view of Christianity leads to weak Christians. And we can see what's happening now. It's sad. What would the World War II generation say to the generation today? When the generation today cries if the wrong person was elected president. Or you don't use the right pronoun. I mean, we have drifted so far from strength because this strength comes from difficulties and perseverance and challenges. That's how you become strong in your faith is you go through. Why is that? So you can say, I know God is healer because He healed me. I know God is delivered because He delivered me. I know God is my rock and my salvation because there is no other foundation on which I can build my life. He took me out of that miry pit and He put me back up on the stage. He rebuilt my life. Out of the ashes, I will rise. And He took this brokenness and began to rebuild it. And had it not been for the cross of Christ, I do not know where I would be. Thank God for the challenges. The challenges actually make us stronger. I just commented this week, somebody said, how do you deal with criticism every single day? Number one, I don't read it. Number two, that's what makes you stronger. The challenges, the strength, and you're fine-tuning your message. See, challenges and critics and things, what it does to me, it drives me to the prayer closet. It drives me to the prayer closet. Say, Lord, You show me. I'm open. I'm open. What many of you don't know is COVID was a very difficult season. And we had some families leave the church. I met with them. And one of the reasons I took my sabbatical actually is to search my heart because they said I was too political. And if you hear it a few times, now granted, you come to find out they just don't like your view. So, I mean, hello. But searching my heart, and so see that brought me to a deeper understanding and looking to God's Word. And then after that season, I can say, folks, I'm sorry, but I'm going to preach what God has put on my heart. These things are important to the next generation. You have no problem with Pastor Warnock endorsing somebody who will kill a baby at nine months, and you're going to chide me for saying something from this pulpit? Give me a break. We're done being pushed around. We're done being, oh, no, no, I don't want to offend Jesus. He turned the money changers' tables over and rebuked the religious leaders. There is a holy, righteous indignation. That is wrong. Can't we say that this is wrong? You're endorsing that person who will murder children? Absolutely. And see, what's happening is, and that's why you need to read Erwin Letzer's book and listen to the podcast because they're starting to gaslight the church. They're starting... Woke means they're trying to silence you. And if you offend me, and you better not say anything. And you really walk around like a little puppy who's been beat up in a shelter? When the church is called to be bold and vibrant and authoritative with the Word of God. And so it's part of silencing the church. Neuter the church. Let the church become impotent. Now, you better be careful though. Like I said at the beginning of the message, you better be spending time with God because if not, you'll just be an angry rant. So Judah said, what prophet is there if we kill our brother? Come, let us sell him. So then he decided to sell him to the Ishmaelites. So then we'll be guiltless of this. They're justifying their sin and that is dangerous. It's deadly and it's damning. If you are here this morning justifying your sin, I encourage you, bring it to the cross. Bring it to the altar. Say, God, I am sorry. I repent. I can no longer justify my sin. Justify my wrong choices. Justify. And what justify often means is you're making excuses for your actions that are destructive. Then the Midianite traders passed by. They took Joseph. They lift him up out of the pit and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver and they took Joseph to Egypt. And of course, this parallels with Jesus. I mean, there's a lot of parallels. Jesus, like Joseph, was falsely accused. He was highly favored by the Father. He was mocked by his family. He was sold for silver. He was stripped of his robe. He was thrown into the prison. And many, many other examples. And there's a typology here sometimes. You can see a typology of what God is doing. Like you see the Passover Lamb in the Old Testament. Christ becomes our Passover. You see Joshua conquering and how there's different parallels. And this is an important one here. But when Joseph is revealed to his brothers, and we're going to read about that in the weeks to come, when Joseph is revealed to his brothers, they bow down and they repent. So what a great picture now of those listening or you here, now that when Christ is revealed, Christ is the Son of God, you must make a choice. Do you continue to fight Him or do you bow down and repent of your sin? It's important. It's critical. He is the river and He is the rock. You'll never experience heaven on earth until you experience grace in your heart. So if you don't have that this morning, I want to encourage you to do that. To make that decision, the Bible says repent and believe. Repent and believe. Or if you're a Christian and something resonated with you with anger, with repentance, with boldness, with brokenness, there's something there. Consider taking it to the altar. Consider taking it to the altar this morning.