Admonition Podcast

Good morning.

It was mentioned

in the prayer this morning, that we do
have a number of individuals within this

congregation that are dealing with
illness,

that are dealing with hardship,

loss of loved ones, and struggles that
come with this life

that aren't always even readily apparent
to those who are around us.

This morning I want to spend some time
discussing things

to remember when life happens.

Because life does happen. The good things,

the bad things, the good times,

and the hard times. They happen to every
one of us.

Some seem to get their

overwhelming portion in life. And others
go through it

a little more quietly. Some

Have a longer life. And some a shorter.

But when it comes to life, the reality is
this trials will come.

James is going to write and he's going to
open his letter

to the churches, to the Christians who
were scattered abroad,

and he's going to emphasize that very
point as he opens this letter.

And so I want to spend some time gathering
some details,

both from James but also from Genesis,

as we see an example of a person who truly
lived

out exactly what James is writing about.

We're going to open in James chapter 1,

and in verse 1, we read James,

a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ.

As you consider James as he opens,

he opens really in a similar way to what
Paul will open many of his letters,

describing himself as a bond servant.

And when you look at that terminology,

the idea here is not that.

James is a slave that has been captured
and carried away from his homeland

by some slave trader or by some army and
has been forced into slavery.

No, that's not the idea of a bondservant.

That's a different term. This idea,

the idea of a bondservant, is one who has
become indebted.

They have become indebted to the point
where they can no longer pay the debt.

And instead of going into a circumstance
where they could no longer live

or where they would starve to death,

they have sold themselves to the person
they owed the debt to.

They have engaged themselves in

the service of the person to whom the debt
is owed for a period

of time until their service can repay
their debt.

If you grow up in the Kozort household,

you will often hear it joked that
sometimes we'd be at a restaurant and be
like,

Well, who's paying? I don't know.

I guess one of these kids is gonna have to
go wash dishes till the till

the bill's paid.

Under the laws in Israel, a bond servant
who

was an Israelite had a period in which
their debt could be repaid,

but on the seventh year,

every seven years, that debt would be
released.

And on the fiftieth year, every seven
sevens and then one more year,

on the year of Jubilee, all debts.

Would be released. And there was a law in
the Old Testament that

if a servant came to the time of their
release,

but during the time that they had been a
servant to their master,

they had married a wife, perhaps who was
another one of the servants.

They they had had children, and now those
children and that wife,

because of the relationship of a
bondservant,

belonged to the master.

They would have to leave their wife and
leave their children to be released

and be free. So they would have a choice.

Would they remain a servant? Would they go
and be free and leave their family

behind? And so the law had a provision for
the servant.

That if they chose to stay,

if they chose to remain a servant of the
master,

either for their love for those who they
might have to leave behind,

or for the love of the master.

themselves. They would go to the door

and they would have their ear pierced
through with an awl.

And that piercing would declare that they
were

a permanent, lifelong servant by choice.

So we have a song in our songbook Pierce
My Ear.

So as to say I choose

to serve my entire life for the master.

So when life happens,

remember number one, just like James,

your position.

James says I am a bond servant.

Of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the one who's writing this letter is
James,

by all indication of scripture,

the half-brother of Jesus. He's one of the
brothers of Jesus,

that is, one of the sons of Joseph and
Mary,

who did not.

believe that Jesus was the Christ for the
time that Jesus was on this earth

and was going through his ministry,

that ridiculed Jesus' belief and others'
belief that Jesus was the Christ,

the Messiah, that said at one point to his
half brother,

go ahead, go up to Jerusalem and prove it
to them that you're the Christ,

the Messiah.

And yet he is also one of the brothers of
Christ that after Christ was resurrected.

did an about face and was faithful

by all indications for the remainder of
his life in service

to his brother to whom he was a
bondservant.

But as we consider as life happens,

remember your position as a bondservant.

I want us to notice a bondservant who
lived out that very idea.

Turn, if you will, back to Genesis chapter
39.

In Genesis 37, you will have.

Remembered if you have read this recently
or remember the account,

that there was a young man whose name was
Joseph.

This young man was one who was favored by
his father Jacob.

He is one who was diligent in his service,

and he was a individual to whom God had
granted to see a number

of dreams and to know the interpretation
of those dreams.

And so Joseph would tell his brothers the
dreams that he had.

His brothers didn't like the dreams.

They didn't particularly like Joseph.

Joseph was from a different wife of Jacob
and was favored above all of them,

even though he was younger than all of
them.

And so the dreams didn't sit well with the
brothers,

neither did the dreams sit well actually
with Jacob and with.

Rachel. And yet the dreams were not at
Joseph's decision making,

rather they were given to him by God.

Now, as the period of time occurs that
Joseph's brothers are out tending the
sheep,

Jacob sends Joseph out to check on his
brothers,

he being the youngest of them,

and so he sends him out to go check on the
brothers.

They're not where they're supposed to be,

so they go he goes and goes and goes till
he finds them where they were.

As they see him approaching, they see him
adorn in the coat of many colours that

his father had had made for him to show
his love and affection for Joseph,

and they say, Let's kill this dreamer.

Let's get rid of him. Let's be done with
this guy.

And one of the brothers will hold them
back and say,

you know what, why why do that?

Why don't we just throw him in a pit and
figure out what to do with him then?

So Joseph arrives where the brothers are,

they take him, they cast him in a pit,

because the one brother, Reuben,

decided that it surely he could figure out
how to get the brother out,

get him back home to his father,

and gain some favor with his father.

But in the midst of the events they decide
rather instead to sell Joseph,

they sell him to the Midianites,

their cousins, and they sell Joseph down
into slavery,

actually through both the Midianites and
the Ishmaelites,

both of their cousins, and they sell them
into slavery into Egypt.

In chapter thirty-nine you find Joseph has
now been taken down into Egypt,

and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,

captain of the guard, an Egyptian,

brought him from the Ishmaelites who had
taken him down there.

The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a
successful man,

and he was in the house of his master,

the Egyptian, and his master saw that the
Lord was with him,

and that the Lord made all that he did to
prosper in his hands.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and
served him.

Notice that Joseph did not say,

I'm the son of a free man. I have no right
to be a servant.

I am not required to serve you.

I've been enslaved beyond my choice.

I have been sold to you. And just because
you've bought me doesn't mean that

I owe you anything. Joseph could have
started a rebellion.

Joseph could have started an insurrection.

Joseph could have influenced the other
servants to rebel against their master.

Joseph did none of those things.

Rather, you see in the text that Joseph
found

favor in his master's sight because he
served him.

Then he, Potiphar, made him Joseph,

overseer over his house, and all that he
had he put under his authority.

So it was from the time that he made him
overseer of his house and all that he had,

that the Lord blessed the Egyptian house
for Joseph's sake,

and the blessing of the Lord was on all
that he had in the house and in the field.

Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand,

and he did not know what he had except for
the bread which he ate.

Joseph as a servant,

understanding not his allegiance to
Potiphar.

But his allegiance to the Lord served
Potiphar

as if he was serving the Lord.

Joseph understood his position

as a servant of God, no matter where he
was.

If he was at home with his father in his
father's house,

he was a servant of the Lord. If he was
out tending the sheep with his brothers,

he was a servant of the Lord.

If he was sold into slavery through and
dropped into a pit and then taken down

to Egypt and then sold to a man who was
the gatekeeper at the prison,

he was a servant of the Lord.

James points out as he's about to write
about the things that happen in this life,

you remember first your position.

As a servant of the Lord.

Because everything else comes into view
when you first remember who you serve.

But then go back. You should ~ perhaps
leave a ribbon or a finger

in Genesis thirty nine, we'll be back.

Go back with me to James chapter one and
consider the second thing

to remember when life happens,

and that is remember the possibilities.

In James chapter one, James writes,

James, a bondservant of God and of Jesus,

of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve
tribes which are scattered abroad,

greetings. My brethren, Count it all joy
when you fall into various

trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces patience.

As James writes to these Christians.

He doesn't paint a flowery picture of how
life's gonna turn out.

He doesn't tell them, you know what,

if you just remain faithful to God,

you're not going to have any problems,

you're not gonna have any issues,

all the storms are gonna bypass your life,

and you're just going to sail right on
through.

Easy as can be. That's not what James
writes.

James rather writes to these Christians
and says,

Start counting your blessings.

We've got a song in our psalm book.

Count your many blessings, name them one
by one.

That's an admonishment to us to sit down
and consider all of the things

in our lives that God has blessed us with,

the things that we think about,

the things that we don't think about,

the things that we often don't ponder and
take for granted.

Raise your hand if you woke up this
morning without any oxygen.

No? Good. I'm glad you're here.

But did you think to go, you know what?

I woke up this morning, oxygen was still
here.

Probably should thank God for that.

How about gravity? It would have been fun
trying to get here without it.

How about the sunshine? How about the how
about the dirt?

How about the grass, the tree?

All of the things that we see around us,

the very world that we live in,

created by the word of God, created by the
hand of God,

hell upheld by his power, is something for
which we should be thankful.

And sometimes we pause and consider enough
to go,

Lord, thank you for all the things that I
often don't think about and

for which I should be thankful.

But how many times do we pause and say,

Lord, thank you for my trials?

Far beyond the things that we pass over
because we simply have failed

to consider them, we should be counting

it all joy when we enter into trials

and difficulties. How many times do we
pause and consider

That The trials in life, the hardships in
life,

the difficulties in life are a blessing
from God.

James writes to these Christians that are
scattered abroad.

They're not all together.

They're not all able to rely on the
strength of one another.

They're scattered abroad.

And he tells them, because you remember
your position to the Lord,

you count it all joy when you fall into
diverse temptations.

Why, James?

Why in the world would I look at the
struggles,

the difficulties, the hardships,

the pain, the difficulties that face us
because of those outside and those that
face

us from inside and say, thank you,

God.

And James says, because they produce
patience.

The word for patience is hippomeno.

It is to stand up under a load.

He says, God is building in you through
the trials that you

go through the strength to stand up under

the load of life.

When you step back to the life of Joseph,

you find Joseph is serving faithfully.

Joseph is doing exactly what he's supposed
to do.

Joseph is serving Potiphar just as if he
were serving the Lord.

He's faithful to Potiphar, he's faithful
to the Lord,

and the Lord is blessing him, and
everything seems to be going great.

You would think this would be the time for
Joseph to start counting his blessings.

Yes, he's enslaved. Yes,

he's in Egypt. No, it's not where he
planned to be.

No, I'm sure it's not exactly what he
imagined when he had those dreams.

But he's being blessed and he's being
cared for and taken care of,

and responsibility has been placed in his
hand.

So surely he can count his blessings.

But you come forward to verse 6,

Genesis chapter 39. Now Joseph was
handsome

in form and appearance. And it came to
pass after these things that

his master's wife cast longing eyes on
Joseph,

and she said, Lie with me.

But he refused and said to his master's
wife,

Look, my master does not know what is with
me in the house,

and he has committed all that he has to my
hand.

There is no one greater in this house than
I,

nor has he kept back anything from me but
you,

because you are his wife. How then can I
do this great wickedness

and sin against God?

As his as Potiphar's wife comes and seeks
to entice Joseph,

Joseph says, Listen, I know what is my
responsibility,

and I know what has been placed in my
hand,

and you're not it.

And there's someone who I serve,

who's greater than your master,

than your husband, and it's God.

And he refuses. So it was as she spoke to
Joseph

day by day, that he did not heed her to
lie with her or to be with her.

But it happened about this time when
Joseph went into the house to do his work,

and none of the men of the house was
inside,

that she caught him by his garment,

saying, Lie with me, but he left his
garment in his hand in her hand

and fled and ran outside. And so it was
when she saw that he had left

his garment in her hand and fled outside,

that she called to the men of her house
and spoke to them,

saying, See he has brought in us a Hebrew
to mock us.

He came in with me into me to lie with me,

and I cried out with a loud voice,

and it happened when he heard that I
lifted my voice and cried out that

he left his garment with me and fled and
went outside.

So she kept his garment with her until his
master came home.

Then she spoke to him with words like
these,

saying, The Hebrew servant whom you
brought to us came in to me to mock me.

So it happened as I lifted my voice and
cried out that he left his garment with

me and fled outside.

So it was when his master heard the words
which his wife spoke to him,

saying, Your servant did to me after this
manner,

that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph's
master took him and put him in the prison,

a place where the king's prisoners were
confined,

and he was there in the prison.

But the Lord was with Joseph,

and showed him mercy, and he gave him
favor in the sight

of the keeper of the prison.

And the keeper of the prison committed to
Joseph's hand all the prisoners

who were in the prison. Whatever they did
there it was his doing.

The keeper of the prison did not look into
anything that

was under Joseph's authority, because the
Lord was with him,

and whatever he did, the Lord made it
prosper.

James is going to write over in James
chapter 1 concerning temptation.

In James chapter 1,

James is going to warn the Christians
about where temptation comes

from. He says, verse 12:

Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

Now, this temptation, I know the King
James says temptation in verse

3 and temptation in verse 12, but they're
not the same Greek words.

This temptation is the temptation to sin.

The previous temptation, verse three,

is the trials of life. And he says,

Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

When he has been approved, he will receive
the crown of life,

which the Lord has promised him to or
promised to those who love him.

Let no one say, when he is tempted,

I am tempted by God, for God cannot be
tempted by evil,

nor does he tempt him, he himself tempt
anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn
away by his own desires and enticed.

Then when desire is conceived it gives
birth to sin and sin when it

is full grown giv brings forth death.

Notice

That Joseph wasn't enticed.

Because Joseph's desire was on the Lord.

Joseph desired to serve God

far more than he had any desire for
Potiphar's wife.

So when Joseph was enticed by Pharaoh's
wife,

Joseph said no. Joseph said,

listen, my desire is toward God,

not you.

So when the woman sees that she day after
day after day after day is rejected,

she finds another way to get it,

Joseph. This time retribution.

And so Joseph is thrown into prison.

Joseph is gone from being taken by his
brothers,

thrown into a pit, sold into slavery,

sold into Egypt, to being blessed.

To being thrown again in prison.

Some might say, like they did to Job,

Joseph. What great sin have you committed
that God is doing this to you?

What evil have you done that God keeps
doing these things to you?

You must be some great sinner.

And much like Job, Joseph would have had
to have said,

no.

Rather, I've done nothing to deserve this.

And yet Job is going through the trials of
life.

Joe or sorry, Joseph is finding himself
now in prison,

and yet what do you find? Because Joseph
knows his position as a servant

of the Lord. Joseph is a servant of the
Lord,

whether he's in his house.

Whether he's in his father's house,

whether he's tending his father's sheep,

whether he's with his father's brother,

whether he's with Potiphar in Potiphar's
house,

or if he's now in the prison, Potiphar was
the captain of the guard over.

It didn't matter where Joseph was,

Joseph was a bond servant of the Lord.

And so now the keeper of the prison starts
to observe Joseph,

and he realizes that everything that
Joseph does turns out well.

Everything that Joseph does is done
faithfully.

Joseph won't even rebel against the keeper
of the prison when he

was unlawfully and unrighteously cast into
prison.

Rather, he's faithful in not only himself,

but everyone who's put under his
authority.

To the point that the keeper of the prison
no longer even has to keep track

of the prisoners.

Because Joseph is in charge.

Then the events come, as you may remember,

and two of Pharaoh's servants are cast
into the prison.

They are as well with Joseph,

and during their time in prison,

they dream some dreams, and Joseph
interprets those dreams.

But consider number three in James chapter

one that when life happens,

you need to remember the promises.

In James chapter one, James writes,

beginning in verse four, but let patience
have its perfect work,

that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing. If any of you lacks
wisdom,

let him ask of God who gives to all
liberally without reproach,

and it will be given to him.

James writes to these Christians and he
tells them when you're going through
trials,

when you're going through hardships,

when you're going through the difficulties
of this life,

don't give up. Let patience have her
perfect work.

Endure faithfully till the end,

because there's something that is produced
in you when you do.

Sometimes I imagine, while we may not say
it this way,

sometimes I in our own prayers we might
have the substance of saying to the Lord,

Lord, I'd like a year with no problems.

I'd like a quiet year, a year with no
difficulties,

a year with no sicknesses, a year to just
get a break from life.

To which James would ask, You want a year
with no growth?

James says, Let patience have its perfect
work,

that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing. If you go back to what
Paul would write in 2 Timothy,

Paul writes to this young preacher in 2
Timothy chapter 2,

and he writes to him and tells him.

Be diligent to present yourself,

approve to God a worker that does not need
to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.

But then you go down into chapter three,

and he says, beginning in verse tw verse
fourteen,

but you must continue in the things which
you have learned and been assured of,

knowing from whom you have learned them,

that from a child you have known the holy
scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith which

is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is given by the inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine,

for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete,

thoroughly, and completely,

utterly furnished or equipped for every
good work.

You see, Joseph knew something.

He knew that no matter what came in life,

no matter what trials he was going to
endure,

he was going to remain faithful to
whatever God said.

So when those two servants of Pharaoh came
down into the prison

and were placed under his authority,

and those two servants of Pharaoh told him
concerning the dreams that

he they had dreamed, and when he was given
the interpretation of those dreams,

he was faithful to what God had said.

He had to look at one of those servants
and say,

Tomorrow you're dead.

And to another tomorrow you'll be restored
back to your position.

He was faithful to the word of God.

He was faithful in service to God.

But he asked them one who would be
restored back to his position when

you return back to your position with
Pharaoh.

Remember me.

Verse thirty or twenty-three of chapter
forty reads,

But the chief butler did not remember
Joseph,

but forgot him.

When you've been faithful in trial,

and when you see the golden opportunity
and the light at the

end of the tunnel, I'm finally gonna get
out of my trials,

just be faithful a little longer.

And then it all falls apart and you're
back in

the trials and you're still in the prison.

for another two years because somebody
forgot you.

That must be when you give up,

right? Not Joseph. Joseph just continued
to serve the Lord.

And so chapter forty one, then it came to
pass at the end of two full years,

that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold he
stood by the river.

Suddenly there came up out of the river
seven cows,

fine looking and fat, and they fed in the
meadows.

Then behold, seven other cows came up
after them out of the river,

ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other
cows on the bank of the river,

and the ugly and gaunt cla cows ate up the
seven fine looking and fat cows.

So Pharaoh awoke. He slept and dreamed a
second time,

and suddenly seven heads of grain came up
on one stalk,

plump and good.

Then behold, seven thin heads blighted by
the east wind sprang up after them,

and the seven thin heads devoured the
seven plump and full heads.

So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed it was a
dream.

Now it came to pass in the morning that
his spirit was troubled,

and he sent and called for all the
magicians of Egypt,

and its wise men, and Pharaoh told them
his dream,

but there was no one who could interpret
them for Pharaoh.

Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh,

saying, I remember my faults this day.

When Pharaoh was angry with his servants
and put me in custody in the house

of the captain of the guard, both me and
the chief baker,

we each had a dream and one night he and I
each of us dreamed according

to the interpretation of his own dream.

Now there was a young Hebrew man with us
there,

a servant of the captain of the guard.

And we told him, and he interpreted our
dreams for us,

to each man he interpreted according to
his own dream.

And it came to pass just as he interpreted
for us,

so it happened, he restored me to my
office,

and he hanged him. Then Pharaoh sent and
called Joseph.

And they brought him quickly out of the
dungeon,

and he shaved, changed his clothing,

and came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to
Joseph,

I have had a dream, and there is no one
who can interpret it,

but I

Have heard it, said of you that you can
interpret a dream to and

~ you can understand a dream to interpret
it.

So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying,

It is not me, but God will give Pharaoh an
answer of peace.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold,

in my dream I stood by the bank of the
river.

Suddenly seven cows came up out of the
river,

fine looking and fat, and they fed in the
meadow.

Then behold, seven other cows came up
after them,

poor and very ugly and gaunt, such
ugliness as I have never seen in all

the land of Egypt.

And the gaunt and the ugly cows ate up the
first seven cows,

the fat cows. When they had eaten them up,

no one would have known that they had
eaten them,

for they were just as ugly as at the
beginning,

so I awoke. Also I saw in my dream,

and suddenly seven heads came up on one
stalk,

full and good. Then behold, seven heads,

withered thin and blighted by the east
wind,

sprang up after them. And the thin heads
devoured the seven good heads.

So I told this to the magicians,

but there was no one who could explain it
to me.

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dreams of
Pharaoh are one.

God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to
do.

The seven good cows are seven years,

the seven good heads are seven years,

the dreams are one. The seven thin and
ugly cows which came up after them

are seven years, and the seven empty heads
blighted by the east wind

are seven years of famine.

This is the thing which I have spoken to
Pharaoh.

God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to
do.

Indeed, seven years of great plenty will
come throughout all the land of Egypt,

but after them seven years of famine will
arise,

and all the plenty will be forgotten in
the land of Egypt,

and the famine will deplete the land.

So the plenty will not be known in the
land because of the famine following,

for it will be very severe. And the dream
was repeated to Pharaoh twice,

because the thing is established by God.

And God will shortly bring it to pass.

Now therefore let Pharaoh select a
discerning and wise man,

and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint
officers over the land to collect

one fifth of the produce of the land in
the seven plentiful years,

and let them gather all the food of those
good years that are coming,

and store up the grain under the authority
of Pharaoh,

and let them keep food in the cities.

Then that food shall be a reserve for the
land for the seven years of famine,

which shall be in the land of Egypt.

And the land may not perish during the
famine.

So the advice was good in the eyes of
Pharaoh and in the eyes of

all of his servants. And Pharaoh said to
his servants,

Can we find such a one as this,

a man in whom is the Spirit of God?

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Inasmuch as
God has shown you all this,

there is no one as discerning and wise as
you.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, verse forty
one,

See, I have set you over all the land of
Egypt.

What you see in the text? Joseph let
patience have

her perfect work. And what was produced
out of that

was a wisdom that the king of Egypt said,

I can't find a wise man like you.

I can't find anyone to compare with you.

Because you speak the word of God.

James says, if any of you lack wisdom,

let him ask of God who gives to all
liberally and without reproach,

and it will be given to him.

When the trials and the difficulties of
life come,

we need to remember the promises of God.

But then fourthly and finally,

when the trials of life come, we need to
remember the peril.

The peril that can come if

we don't trust God. In James chapter one,

verse six, but let him ask in faith with
no doubting.

For he who doubts is like a wave of the
sea,

driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord.

He is a double minded man and unstable in
all of his ways.

James says, When you're going through the
trials of life,

when you're remembering your position and
you're remembering the possibilities.

And you're remembering the promises,

be warned that you don't doubt your

God.

Do not doubt what he is able to do,

and do not ask in your doubt.

Because the one who doubts will receive
nothing.

When you turn over to Genesis chapter 45,

you find Joseph's now second in the
kingdom of Egypt.

The famine is severe in the land,

ten years have transpired, and now here
are his brothers,

the faithless ones, the ones that were
willing to take their brother,

sell him.

throw him in a pit, sell him into slavery,

and then take his coat, dip it in blood
and deceive their father into convincing

him that the son, whom he loved,

was dead.

And they come before Joseph trying to buy
enough food to survive.

And Joseph will tell them in Genesis 45
who he is.

And that God had been the one who had been
doing this all along.

That yes, they had sinned against him,

but it was God who was doing it to save
their lives.

When we remember the peril of doubt,

we also can be reminded

of the patience and of the promise and of
the willingness

of God to fulfill it, to care even for
those who are faithless.

As you consider life today,

if you're going

Through the hardships of life.

Remember your position. Remember the
possibilities.

And remember the promises. And remember
the peril

of doubting God. If you have need of the
invitation this morning,

if you're outside the body of Christ and
need to put Him on as Lord and Savior,

you can do that this morning. You can
enter into that covenant relationship with

God.

Joseph was in a covenant relationship with
God.

And he was faithful to that covenant.

You can hear the word of God and believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,

because Jesus said, Except you believe
that I am He,

you'll die in your sins. You can repent of
your sins,

because Jesus said, Except you repent,

you shall all likewise perish.

Luke chapter 13, verses three and five.

You can confess the name of Christ because
there is no other name under heaven

whereby men must be saved, and you can be
immersed in water for

the remission of your sins, dying to sin,

rising to walk in newness of life.

But when you do

Be warned, Jesus said you better count the
cost before you become my disciple.

Because it's not all roses and easiness
after that.

It's faithfulness until death to receive a
crown of life.

If you have need of the invitation,

why not come now as we stand and as we
sing?