Seeing Things to Come

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends.

However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. That song and that cry for freedom is a shout, is a cry that God put in the heart of humanity. And that's why it so connects when we hear that cry, when we hear that word freedom.

And there's no doubt about it, but we are living in perilous times, dark times. And that shout for freedom is going to be even more intense among the nations as the days go by. And the enemy is going to try to use a snare for those that are shouting for freedom.

They're crying for a peace in their heart. They want freedom from the torment, from the pain, from the fear in their heart. And we who know Jesus Christ know that He is the answer.

He is our freedom. He is the answer from the pain in our soul. He is our peace.

But the enemy is going in the latter days to try to answer that cry for freedom by religion. He's going to try to answer that cry. And there's going to be great undercurrents in the world systems today.

And people are going to come to a conclusion of one of two things. They're going to think either that religion is the problem with the world today and keeps people divided, and we have to turn away from it. Or they're going to find their solace in their religion, and they're going to keep searching for somebody with the answers.

And because the spirit of man in pain is very open to anything that will soothe it, there are dark forces and there are antichrist spirits and there are powerful spirits that work in the world today to try to soothe, to try to bring an answer. And there are going to be many who are going to be speaking for the religious world in the days to come, to sway and hold over the hearts of men, to keep them in a grasp of delusion and bondage, because that issue of control, because if you can control the hearts of men, you control them. And religion is going to be the number one topic and the number one scrutinized force in the days to come.

And there are going to be many who are going to claim to stand and speak for God and say, I know the way to peace and I know the way to understanding. I know the way that men can live in harmony with each other. But beloved, all of them but one voice is going to be a false one.

All of them will be animated by an antichrist spirit if it doesn't have the spirit of Christ in it. And today my message is called, Seeing Things to Come. Seeing Things to Come.

You see, there is a true Holy Spirit and He will show us things to come. And the people that have the Holy Spirit and those that are surrendered to the Spirit are going to see things. In spite of all the voice, the confusions around them, that's our privilege as believers.

For those of you that follow in your Bible, I'll be turning to Hebrews 11, but I'm going to start with Genesis 50. Genesis 50. And then to Hebrews 11.

Let us pray. Jesus, we worship you today. We thank you for the way that your Spirit has come so powerfully today.

That your presence is here so mighty among us. Lord, we thank you now, Jesus, that you will speak to us and bring us into freedom. We thank you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit that will come now and teach this word.

Let it lift you up, Jesus. Let you be heard and seen. Lord, lead your body forth triumphant in the victory you purchased for us at the cross.

And Lord, we'll be careful to give you all the praise and all the glory. For this is your work among your people, O God. And we thank you for it and we glorify you for it.

In Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Seeing things to come.

In Genesis 50, and starting at verse 15, I want to highlight a chapter that talks about Joseph when he was on the throne of Egypt. And a few weeks ago I spoke a message called the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And that was part one.

And this is part two of that message concerning Joseph. Starting at verse 15 it says, And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, The trespass of thy brethren and their sin, For they did unto thee evil.

And now we pray thee, Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. At this point, Joseph had been on the throne of Egypt for about 17 years at the time of his father's death.

17 years. He had provided for his family. His brothers that had betrayed him.

He had brought them from a famine stricken land. And he brought them into Egypt and he had given them the best of the land. And you will recall that these brothers, those same ones moved by envy, were the ones that when he was 17 years old, they threw their brother Joseph, 11 of them, into a pit.

11 brothers. They threw Joseph into a pit and sold him into slavery. And as Joseph's life progressed, the scripture reminds us repeatedly that God was with him.

But many of you know the story how he went through one trial and affliction after another. Unjustly accused. Ended up in a prison house.

Forgotten. Betrayed. But through it all, God was with him.

And through miraculous events, God delivered him from that prison house because Joseph had upon him the Spirit of God and the Lord was with him. And Joseph was able to see things to come. Joseph had able, even as a young boy, God had been able to speak to him.

And God had been able to show him things to come. And in that prison house at the very lowest point of his life, God once again came to him and showed him and revealed to him things that only could be known if God had revealed it to you. There was no way that you could see the things that he saw unless God had revealed it to you.

And at the end of 13 years of affliction and trial, God, because he had showed him things to come, delivered him from that prison house and set him before Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt. And by the revelation that was given Joseph, he was able to speak these things to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh realized that the Lord was with this man, that the Spirit of the living God was on this man.

And Pharaoh not only released him from prison, but Pharaoh rose him up to be the leader of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself in the throne. And this is where we see Joseph now ruling Egypt. And the Lord had showed him that there was going to be seven years of plenty and then seven years of a grievous famine.

And the Scripture tells us in verse 45, I'm sorry, in chapter 45, that in the second year of this grievous famine, his brothers who had betrayed him living in Canaan had come down searching for food. And it tells us in these closing chapters of Genesis, the story of how the brothers, not knowing now that the brother that they had sold into slavery was now the ruler of Egypt and they had to come before him, bow before him, and their very lives depended upon his goodwill, the man he had betrayed. And in Genesis 45, it tells us how Joseph finally revealed himself to his brethren.

In an incredibly miraculous story, in a powerful story, the men now bow before him and reveal, I am Joseph, your brother. And the first thing he says in verse 3 of Genesis 5, he says, does my father yet live? Showing the pain of the separation and everything he had gone through caused by their hand. And it might have sounded like a lot of trouble to these brothers when they realized the man before them at whose mercy they were was their brother.

And the pain that they had caused, he says, does my father live? When he found out, indeed, his father still lived, it tells us that Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me. He says, I'm Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But he says, don't be grieved.

He says, don't be angry with yourselves. For it was God that sent me before you to preserve life. He told them that there was going to be a grievous famine and that God had sent him before them.

And he said, to save your very lives and to give you a great deliverance. He says, it was not you that sent me, but God. And he said, go up to my father.

Have him come down to me. Dwell in the land of Goshen, the very best of Egypt. Bring yourselves, bring your families, bring your children.

Come unto me, I will nourish you. For there is going to be a very grievous time come upon the land. And you are not going to be able to survive it if you stay where you are.

So bring all that you have, everyone in your household, come to me. And in verse 15 of Genesis 45, it says, He kissed all his brethren, wept upon them. And afterwards it says, his brethren talked with him.

And it's very clear that in spite of all that had happened, something had been worked into Joseph's soul that he freely forgave. He held no animosity towards his brethren. For all the time that God had brought him through adversity, unparalleled adversity and affliction, the Holy Spirit had been working upon him.

And Joseph now stood in the full sunlight of God's truth. Something deep had been worked in him. He understood why he was where he was.

And he forgave. And it tells us in Genesis 46, the brothers come back to their father, they say, Joseph lives, he says, come. And it says that the father, Jacob, rises with his 11 sons to head to Egypt to be reunited with their son, Joseph.

And it says on his journey he stops at a place for Sheba, and he offers a sacrifice to God. And God, in verse 3 of chapter 46, appears to Jacob. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father.

Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. And, beloved, we see that this patriarch Jacob, though a checkered past, a man that God had put his hand upon, and God in his faithfulness and mercy had brought that man through his trials, tribulations, and failures, and now he too is seeing things to come.

God had had a history with this man, and every time he turned his heart to him, God had shown him things to come. And one more time he was revealing to him, this is of me, this is my plan, take everyone and go down to Egypt. And God is speaking the future to this man.

And, beloved, Joseph and Jacob know, know, because God has been showing them things to come, that they are in the plan of God. But, beloved, the brothers are living with their own actions in their own hearts. The brothers are a type of believer.

The brothers are a type that live in carnality. That means live in the flesh. They do not live in the spirit.

They do not walk in the spirit. Backslidden and lukewarm. The scripture says if you're given to envy and if we're given to strife, are you not yet carnal? The scripture says that carnal being ruled by our flesh, being ruled by what we see.

Never a faith walk. Only what I think, what I feel, how I understand, how I interpret it, what God must be doing. Never a living word.

But walking by the flesh. Knowing the parameters of God. Knowing something of God, but never being brought into the depths.

Never hearing what he has to say now. Never hearing what he has to say for the future. Never known for a surety that your steps are ordered.

You're left by what we, a carnal Christian is left by what they see, what they think, what they feel. And these are these brothers. And the scripture will bear witness that these men are not ruled upon by the Holy Spirit.

That these men walk in the flesh. And the scripture says walking in the flesh is carnally minded and to be carnally minded is death. The scripture, the proof that they are not walking by the Spirit is because they are not being shown things to come.

They are not being shown things to come. They don't know who they're standing before. They don't understand what's going on around them.

They knew they were moved by envy. They knew why they did what they did to Joseph. But they have no spiritual understanding.

Beloved, the Holy Ghost is sent to a New Testament church to show them things to come. And when we're not shown, we're believers who do not live in an understanding of the times. When we're not led by the Holy Spirit, carnal, we do not understand the God we are dealing with.

Carnal Christians can't see the future, so the present has an ever-present fear in it. The concern now is me and mine. The concern now is how do I live in an undisturbed world so I can have my undisturbed pleasures.

God, I will name your name, but I don't want to see except what I want to see. And God had to bring Joseph out of that kind of influence. God had to bring Joseph out of that carnal Christianity, that carnal type of believer.

And God did bring him out and Joseph is now a type of a separated one. Joseph is one that had to be separated from a lukewarm church age and a lukewarm brethren. That could not be shown things.

That would not even look into their own heart. How could they see beyond their own heart? And Joseph was separated from his brethren. But beloved, may I remind us that the end of the road of a separated one is you end up with a crown on your head.

Joseph ended up with a crown on his head. Now Joseph is thoroughly forgiven his brothers and God has granted him an understanding. And because he lived a God-ordained life, he experienced a God-ordained victory.

He walked in a sense that God, though your word tries me, I choose to believe you. So what is God's word teaching us in Genesis 50? Why now after 17 years of Joseph ruling on the throne, of Joseph being vindicated, his brothers 17 years before had come and bowed themselves before him like God had shown him as a young man they would. And now they come and the family is reunited.

And they have been given the best of the land. And now the Bible tells us that after 17 years the father of this family dies. And when they come to him and they speak these words, Joseph weeps.

Was not all forgiven and forgotten? Oh yes. But Joseph is now a type of a believer as surely as his brothers are a type. Joseph is a type of a believer who though tried by the word and circumstances refuses to surrender his faith.

He is able to do exploits and great things because he has had a tested, faith-filled and a surrendered life. But beloved he is now facing another trial. A life of trial and adversity has now prepared him for this trial at this time.

He has a God-ordained life. But beloved it is harder to discern the trials when they come from the brethren. In verse 15 they come of Genesis 50.

In verse 15. And they say Joseph will prevent your haters. That word hate there means Joseph surely opposes us.

That word hate means a lurking hate. Not an open hate. Joseph opposes us and he has a hidden hate.

He says and will certainly requite us of all the evil we did to him. That word requite means movement back to the point of departure. They are saying our father is dead.

So the pretense of this one family unit and the protection that the father gave while he was alive is gone. And now they are saying Joseph opposes us. Secretly still hates us.

And he will want revenge all the way back to the point of his departure from us for all we have done to him. They say nobody will overlook this. Nobody is going to turn the other cheek in this matter.

And beloved they are giving their own hearts away. Because they would deal like this to someone who would wrong them at this level. They are not able to deal with their own hearts because it tells us in verse 16 they sent a messenger with this message to Joseph.

They can't face him. They can't face a man who walks in truth and stands for truth. They can't stand before him and accuse him to his faith.

Lest the light in him find them out. But they send a messenger. They stay in darkness.

There is no thorough searching of their own hearts in this matter. Because if one who supposedly follows Christ beloved he walks in light. The scripture clearly says Jesus says I am the light of the world.

And he that follows me shall not walk in darkness. But shall have the light of life. And in their hearts they did not want to face up to what they had done.

They didn't want to really understand what had moved them. They didn't want to understand now the circumstances they were in. It seemed to have been patched up.

Joseph had been so forgiving. And beloved they didn't want to look in because they had that phrase God had his way as a cloak over their sins. God had his way.

God did what he wanted to do. All seems well. So it's a cloak over what we've been about.

Joseph has forgiven us. All seems to go well. But beloved undealt with things.

When the church has the privilege to walk in truth. And walk in light. And that is our inheritance.

And that is our privilege. And as believers we will not deal with the issues that God is raising. That the Holy Spirit is raising in our life.

If we want to say I don't have to deal with this. It's going along pretty well. We have a Joseph covering over what we've done.

It seems like God has forgiven. But now the Father has died. And the old fears and what they've really gone on in their heart is now springing to the surface.

And they say we have reason to fear now. Because surely he is like us. The Father commanded forgive.

And beloved what a pain in Joseph's heart. Here's our motivation. Not that we're dealing Joseph with what we did.

Not that we're coming to terms with what moves us. Even though we're the same family. Not when Christ looks down at his church.

And he's saying I'm going to be Joseph to you. I'm going to forgive you. It's in my heart to nourish you.

Bring your family to me in a hard time. In a famine time. Come unto me.

He would be Joseph to us. But we as a church that stays afar. And accuses.

And doubts. Because of undealt with darkness in our own hearts. Scripture says Joseph wept.

When he heard these words. Beloved we need spiritual eyes now. Because we have to understand who is speaking here.

In verse 15. And we have to understand what was being said. Who are the spirits that animate.

Who is speaking are spirits that animate cold half-hearted hearts. The who that is speaking in verse 15 are the backslidden. Are those dominated by a lukewarm church age.

It is all well. We don't sit in a time of peril. There seems to be a cloak of covering of forgiveness.

What is being said. What is being said we have not changed. These brethren are saying we have not changed in our contempt and opposition to you Joseph.

We have not changed. Nothing has changed. And the scripture says Joseph wept.

And I can see the enemy. With these carnal spirits and what is animating them. And what animates every Joseph company and every age.

Every man and woman that says I want to walk a Joseph like walk. Lord you can lead me where you have to lead me. Through the fire, through the flood, through the trial, through the adversity.

But I want to walk with you. And I know in the end Lord you will be faithful to me. But for every Joseph company there is that opposite brethren.

Brethren. Those that are being animated by another spirit. And are rebuked by the Joseph company.

And the opposition is still there. The opposition and the hatred in their heart. And I can see that these spirits are coming upon the Joseph and the Joseph company.

They want to come now. To every sincere heart. That has a cry for Jesus Christ.

Saying you have undergone many battles of faith. It has been in your heart to bless people. It has been in your heart to walk the right road.

When God told you to forgive you forgave. But for all that nothing has changed. Nothing has changed.

Joseph wept. Because I sense there is now a battle. There is a battle gathering around him.

In his mind, in his spirit. It is going against everything in his faith. And there is this word that nothing has changed.

Those around you, you have made so little difference in your world. Joseph. All your battles of faith.

All your reaching out to hang on. All your belief in God has brought you to a point that you can bless. You can move in the spirit.

You can know the mind of God. You can talk of things to come. And yet there will be some that will still come around you and they don't believe you.

They judge you. You have fought the hard fight of faith. And it seems to mean so little.

Joseph wept. Because your words and your spirit. Is making the today and the future seem so heavy.

When carnal spirits are speaking. When a lukewarm backslidden church stands and rises. In the sense they are speaking for the church.

Beloved they are going to be focusing on the flesh. And they are going to get up and they are going to preach my hurts. My pains.

My resentments. My missed opportunities. And they are going to try to come against a Joseph company.

And take them down with that like minded carnal thinking. They are going to come across and who knows. But you know beloved we are fighting a spiritual warfare.

We are fighting powers and principalities beloved. That go after a Joseph company. That those that say Lord Jesus by your grace I want to walk with you to the end.

You have raised me up on high. You have made me a king. I am not a king in my own right.

But Lord you have placed me in a place of understanding. You have lifted my head up around my enemies. You have lifted me up higher in understanding.

Because I have bent my knee to you. Because I have opened my heart to you. And God it wasn't my plan.

But you lifted me up on high with a heart for you and an understanding. But those around in a church age. Those around that have not that heart.

Come against the Joseph company. And their focus is the flesh and the hurt and the pain and the resentment and the missed opportunity. And maybe all of a sudden Joseph felt him battling things he hadn't battled for a long time.

Maybe he started thinking you know when I was taken from my father's home. A nurturing place. I was in a place where faith could grow.

And now I had to learn how to walk in a hard dry place. I was brought to a land not of my choosing. And because I was brought here now I have a wife from Egypt.

You know she's not really my soul mate. You know she's not really my choosing. I wouldn't have married someone from Egypt if I had not been brought here.

And now Lord because I have a wife. I have children born in Egypt. Lord I have two sons here.

And Egypt is the code word for a worldly system. And now I battle the world. Now I'm battling things that I shouldn't have to.

Because God I've had a heart for you. But circumstances and things I couldn't control have brought me to a place. And these carnal spirits would want men and women called to faith.

To start battling in this realm. Starting to stir up the flesh. And stir up the resentments.

And stir up the water bins. And stir up the longings that seemingly are unfulfilled. But beloved.

Joseph had an answer to this. And it says. That Joseph when he wept.

I want you to come with me now and I want you to hear that cry. Because in that cry is a miracle. Joseph lifted up his voice.

And there can be a true time for lament and pain. Can never end there. Because I tell you that Jesus Christ.

Has brought healing in his wings. He has brought healing in his wings. And sooner or later.

We're going to be moved out of the hospital. Sooner or later beloved. By faith we are going to open and receive what he has for us.

Beloved that is the battle of the church. Is to open our minds and our spirits and our arms to what he wants to give us. And he has brought healing.

And there is a place for a cry. There is a place we can say out of the depths to thee oh Lord I cried. But then that cry.

Has to turn. And there is a cry that wants truth and there is a cry that declares faith. And there is a cry that says God I don't understand this.

But you taught me to cry. And it's a cry that will always be heard. It's a cry from the depths.

And Psalm 147.11 says the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him. And in those that hope in his mercy. The Lord takes pleasure.

When he hears a cry. Of those that fear him and say God I don't understand it. But you are faithful.

I don't understand it but I choose to trust at this moment. Because that's all you taught me to do. And when I don't understand it I don't need it.

At this moment and a true cry comes out but it says I will hope in your mercy. They are not going to take my hope from me. They are not going to take my future.

They are not going to take today. These spirits I am not, I am turning from them. And the interesting thing is in that cry.

A cry that God always hears. A cry that God says I take pleasure in answering. When we begin to hope in his mercy at the bottom of the cry.

And then in verse 18. It says and his brethren also went and fell down before his face. And they said behold we be thy servants.

It is like God somehow turned it around. And these men and what was animating them. Came and bowed down before him and God is saying.

I kind of cry and that kind of confidence in me I will cause your enemies to bow. That which is harassing you and that which is going after your faith. Believe me a cry to me a heartfelt cry.

And a hope in my mercy. You hope in my mercy. I will say to the righteous it shall be well with them.

And that Joseph company is able to believe it in the darkest moments. And it says the enemies bowed to him. And verse 19.

One more time Joseph is able to say to them. Fear not. He says one more time.

He speaks truth to them. Truth comes and brings light to the situation. Says you thought evil against me but God meant it unto good.

He says to save much people alive. He says even though our father is dead. Now in verse 21.

He goes that situation may have changed. But my heart to you has not changed. And he says in verse 21.

He says fear not I will nourish you. I will nourish your little ones. And he comforted them.

And he spake kindly unto them. Beloved we are beginning to see. How God was faithful to Joseph.

Concerning the things today. He gave them. He gave Joseph still.

That heart. To speak the truth to them. And their hearts were exposed.

He says I have not changed. What is in your heart needs to come to the light. But I have not changed.

And I am going to nourish you. Nothing has changed. In that regard.

You need to change. Your heart needs to come to the light. But he says your little ones I am going to nourish you.

Today. You have tried to shut me down with hope. With saying there is no hope.

By your lament. By your accusation. But I have a faith.

There is something that sustains me. You know not of. And he was able to rise up and say.

I will bless. I will nourish. I will deal kindly with you one more time.

No matter what is in your heart. Towards me. Beloved that is the heart of Jesus to us.

That is the heart. That is true church. To those that oppose themselves.

To those that are found in opposition to us. God is saying this is going to be your response to them. Good will overcome evil.

Faith will be greater than unbelief. And then. God begins to say Joseph.

I am going to speak to you. Concerning things of tomorrow. I am going to confirm again my spirit is with you.

Because I am going to speak to you about things concerning. Things to come. About tomorrow.

And it says in verse 23. Joseph saw Ephraim's children. That is his son Ephraim.

Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Macchae. The son of Manasseh.

Manasseh was his son. And they were brought up upon Joseph's knees. And he not just saw his children's children.

But they were brought up upon his knees. Beloved children speak of the future. And God was saying your future is going to have peace in it Joseph.

You walk this way with me. I have given you my heart. I will give you the faith and the power to live it.

It shall be well with you. You had your season of adversity. You had your time in the prison house.

But those that walk with me. It shall be well with them in the end. He says you are going to have a life where your little ones are going to be nurtured upon your knees.

You are going to pour your life into them. Joseph had a future. That couldn't be taken away.

Couldn't be lied away from him. The brethren and all that they represent. They will come against that Joseph company.

But God is saying that there is going to be something greater in those that are truly mine. My spirit is going to come and take them through. If you will put your hand in mine.

I will take you through it. I will lead you through it. And Joseph received the birthright beloved.

Joseph received the birthright. The birthright were the rights of a first born male. It was in the system of men preferential treatment.

It was a double portion of the inheritance given over the other brothers. In that special position of increased blessing and honor. You received it if you were born into it.

But in God's kingdom the birthright of the first born. Was passed down starting with Abraham who was the father of faith. Who believed in God.

And God said to Abraham because you believe me when I spoke to you. When I made precious promises to you. Because you believe me you are righteous.

And that was a special inheritance. That Abraham was now going to be able to teach his descendants. There wasn't just a physical blessing that was being passed on now to the people of God.

But there was going to be a spiritual inheritance. And they were going to be taught of God. And he says those that believe me.

Those when I speak to them and they have the ability to hear me and believe me. You get a double portion of the inheritance. And Joseph is a type of a believer in this day.

That God wants to give that double portion to. Now beloved Abraham had a son. Ishmael his first born.

But he did not receive that birthright. Just because he was the first born. Did not mean you automatically received it in the spiritual kingdom.

It was not about being first born or your birthright. It was about having a heart right. God says it's not only the first born male.

But God says that was a type in a picture because here is my heart. I have a double portion and a blessing that I put on a Joseph company. With an ability to believe me in the hardest of times.

I can put an anointing and it's your birthright that goes down. Handed down from a father Abraham the first of faith. And so he had a Ishmael but he was not.

He did not receive the promise. The son of promise Isaac did. Beloved Isaac had a son but his first born Esau he did not receive the birthright.

He was a man who despised his birthright. He despised the spiritual blessing. Beloved there one more time God is showing us.

In his body and in his church. Who is going to be so blind as my people he says that's going to despise a birthright. That will despise a double portion that I have for my church.

But he said there are Esau's. There are Esau's today. That counted a light thing of what God wants to hand down.

To his body. To his family today. He's saying you know a Joseph faith looks like so far above many of us.

Unattainable. Unreachable. He said absolutely in your flesh it is.

He says that's why I had to hand down a birthright. I had to hand down a double portion a double blessing. For those that will open their heart to me.

And cry out to me. He says you can turn away your heart from an Esau that despises. The spiritual inheritance that I'm going to give you.

So Isaac had a son Jacob and the birthright went to him. The double portion the blessings physically but also spiritually. And then Jacob had a son a firstborn Reuben.

But he didn't inherit the birthright. He was a man given to immorality and sensuality. And the birthright passed to Joseph and his sons.

And beloved in the New Testament Christ is the firstborn of the father. In Hebrews 1.6. In Hebrews it talks about the church of the firstborn. What God is saying here is all those that come into Christ by faith.

You are the church of the firstborn. You are the church of the birthright. He says when you come into Christ you come into a double inheritance.

You come into a double portion. He says in Christ is the fullness all in all. But he says will we exercise like Joseph an ability to believe it.

We have a double portion as the church of the firstborn. Christ is our double portion. And as we believe him.

As we say God I believe you. That Jesus Christ is the reason I can have peace with you. That you will forgive my sin.

And now I can have fellowship with you because you'll put a Holy Spirit in me. The Holy Spirit. And now you can begin to form my life as it pleases you.

And Lord no matter what comes against me because I have peace with you. And because your blessing is upon me. A double portion blessing.

I can have a Joseph walk. We are the inheritors. We are the firstborn.

We have that double portion of blessing as the church of Jesus Christ. But we live in an age of Esau. And we live in an age of Rubens.

And we live in an age where those that despise and reject the birthright. How can we be so blind love? Turn with me quickly to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11.

In verse 20 it says by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. You know Isaac was a man who had a father who was a great man of faith. But Isaac most his life was not a great man of faith.

He championed the wrong son. Because that son gave him things he wanted. Gave him things he liked.

But the end of his days beloved. As the spirit of God began to move on him. He found faith.

He began to look at his life and he found faith as scripture says. And he blessed his son concerning things to come. The mark of the Holy Spirit is he is beginning to speak and show us things.

About this church. About true spiritual reality. And the scripture says that that man rose up.

And even though he hadn't done everything right. The spirit of God moved upon him and he began to understand the spiritual blessing. That had been entrusted to him.

And though at times he felt like the weak link in the chain. He still found the faith to rise up and to bless his boys. And he blessed Jacob over Isaac because he saw things to come.

He saw that the Jacob was going to be a man with a heart and would pass on the blessing. And by faith the scripture says Jacob when he was a dying blessed both sons of Joseph. And beloved though Jacob is a man a type of a faith.

Where we do. We have failure. It is through that failure God exposes our heart and shows what we're really made of.

We're not mighty men and women of faith by nature. But we walk through failure. We walk through displeasing him.

We walk through our own carnality. Till one day we come to the thing Jesus either I do it by your spirit in you through you or I don't do it at all. And because God he ended up being a mighty man of faith.

And he could turn and he could pray for the two sons of Joseph. And he could say give me the hardest cases in the family. And then it says by faith.

Verse 22 Joseph as he was a dying made mention of the departing of the children of Israel. And gave commandment concerning his bones. And beloved that means when he made mention of the departing it said it was.

That made mention means remembered. Joseph remembered the departing of his of the children of Israel. How can he remember something that hadn't happened yet.

Because it's a type and effect and a type of God showing by the Holy Spirit. He will show you things to come. And Joseph was saying that there was a brethren.

That one way or another God was going to have his way. And he was going to lead that backslidden church. And I don't want my bones buried in Egypt.

Because Egypt had nothing in me. Bones being buried in the land of promise signified. I walked with you all the days of my life.

And Egypt had nothing in me. So Holy Spirit is upon faithful people. And he will show you things to come.

Do you see things to come. Now I'm not asking you to look for phony dates. Where spirits of darkness can animate and try to tell people ridiculous things.

But beloved has he shown you things to come. Has he shown you the strongholds in your heart being broken. Has he shown you.

You in the future. Standing worshiping him. Where you've allowed Christ to take you into the stronghold of fear and it was broken.

He took you into the stronghold of unbelief. And those places that you found so hard to believe him. And yet like a Joseph.

You stood. And you said I don't understand and I may weep through this. But God you're going to take me through.

God you're going to allow me to bless. God you're going to allow me to deal graciously and kindly with those around me that don't understand. Do you see yourself in the days to come.

Standing clean and free in Christ. It is for freedom Christ died. Do you see yourself free in him.

Can you see yourself with a vigorous and strong prayer life. Can you see yourself standing there in communion and union with him. And him speaking things to you that he's never said before.

You hearing things you could never hear before. Every day brought to a place in a revelation that you couldn't have seen with your natural eye. But now you can see things because you have communion with him.

And you're moving in a faith where you see things to come. Beloved do you see things to come. Can you see yourself as you live in Christ and move in Christ.

And your strongholds are shattered. Because if you can. You're in a Joseph company.

You have the Holy Ghost upon you. You have a Holy Spirit faith because you're being led into a place and you're seeing things to come. Hallelujah.

Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah. And though for a season we may be like Joseph and brought through.

Into hard places and adversity. The end of that man was peace. The end of that man was a blessing to the next generation.

The end of that man was able to deal kindly with all those around him. Beloved can we see ourselves like that. Will you stand with me.

Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Beloved we need to start asking the Lord to give us a vision of who we are in Christ and who we're going to be. This is not an idle boast.

God in our prayer life wants us to stand and begin to bless him and thank him for what he's doing in our lives. And what tomorrow brings. We have a future and it is glorious in Christ.

And today we're not shut down either. Because we live. We leave here with a living word in us.

Saying God in you. I will not let the fear of the future. And I will not let the fear of failure today.

Shut my faith out. I'm not going to look at me. I will lose faith if I look at me.

But I'm going to look to you. If the Lord is speaking to you about shattering a stronghold of unbelief and fear in your heart. If you want to give your life to Jesus Christ.

If you don't have a relationship with God and you don't know that your sin is broken. You come as the musicians play. Those in the NXU can also come.

As I'm speaking and make your way to this altar. When you make your way to this altar either in your heart or here. We're making a way to freedom.

The days to come upon us will be one of increasing captivity. For the world. And for those that won't deal honestly in their heart.

But for those that say Lord Jesus you are the light of the world. And you're the light of the life of man. And those that say Lord I want.

I want that freedom. He says you get the double portion. You get the double anointing of the Joseph company that will walk that way.

I'm believing him for that. I'm believing him. For every area of my life.

You know a prayer that I pray regularly is Lord you see the walls in my life. You see the blocked shut doors where light has not yet entered. And Jesus I believe I trust your love for me.

And every day go in. Go into a place that's dark. Go into a place I don't understand.

Go into a place I've not yet yielded. And he's been so faithful. And he's giving me a vision.

Of standing before him free. Of being able to worship him. With full confidence in him and what he's going to do in my life.

What he's going to do in my family's life. What he's going to do in everything that he has ordained for me. Beloved if I looked at me I would turn away.

But I'm looking to him and it's full of hope. Because he loved me and he gave himself for me that I may go free. That I don't have to live in those strongholds.

No one does. No one has to live behind those walls. He wants to give us a vision now.

He wants us to show us things to come of us free and clean and powerful and moving in the Holy Ghost. That's his will for his church. That's the things to come.

That's what he's doing in his body. And for those of you now that are saying Lord Jesus I'm going to believe you now. I'm going to believe you for my future.

And that freedom of every area. Every area that I see and don't see. Every area that hinders your life in me.

I believe you for it. That's what you're going to do in my life. And we're just going to raise our hands now as a symbol of faith.

And I just want you in your heart now. You know what you have to give. You know at this moment what is the area of stronghold.

Where you battle. Beloved let's give it to him now that it comes. And now beloved we're going to believe him that Jesus Christ now.

Comes to that stronghold. Comes to that area of struggle. And says believe me.

And beloved faith arises in our heart. Because we have a double portion anointing in Christ. We have that which is beyond a lukewarm brethren.

Those caught in captivity. Of compromise. But those that want.

Say Jesus I want you to be my all in all. He comes now. He says I'm going to show you things to come.

You're free. You're clean. You're moving in me.

I've broken the strongholds and I will be God to you. Hallelujah. I say to you Lord we thank you for the things that you are thinking about us.

About things to come. The strongholds. The attack.

Oh God I just thank you now. That you're going to save us from delusion. You're going to save us oh God.

We see ourselves in you. Free oh God. Mercy.

We give you the praise Lord. We give you the praise for this. Hallelujah.

There will be people in the back with white jackets. And they will be able to lead you to a room of prayer. Where you can have time alone with God.

You can have prayer with someone. If you're here for the first time and you want that prayer. You want your questions answered.

Go there. There'll be people in a white jacket at the back that will help you. If you have are coming now and you.

I want to know what it is to be a Christian. I want to follow Jesus Christ. I want I see something here.

I want something that here. And you have many questions. Go to someone in a white jacket.

And they're going to take you to someone who will be able to pray with you. Open the Bible to you. And bring you.

Show you the love of Christ for your soul. Our next service is at six o'clock beloved. We need to go rejoicing.

That have received his word to us. Of things to come. And things he's going to do in our hearts.

Let's praise him now. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.