Transcription
Genesis chapter 37 verse number 29. Genesis 37:29. And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not, and I, wheither shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat. Pay attention to this, please. They took Joseph's coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood. And they sent the coat of many colors. And they brought it to their father and said, "This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." And he knew it and said, It is my son's coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted and said, "For I will go down." Notice this now. For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
We pick up the narrative now 20 years later out of Genesis 45 and 25. And they went up out of Egypt, speaking of his brothers, who had come to Egypt, and discovered that Joseph indeed was alive, came into the land of Canaan, unto Jacob their father, told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive, and I will go and see him before I die."
I preached to you this morning on this subject. Don't bury what's not dead. Don't bury what's not dead. Put your Bible down and give the glory of glory a great hand clap. And you may be seated. It is normal for me in my ministerial modus operandi to try to hold my audience captive for some time before I cause them to realize what I'm trying to preach. Now, I never want to be like my friend who said this. I really believe it was a joke. I don't really think this happened. I think he was being humorous. He said he had preached a message and he felt that God didn't help him. He felt all alone. He felt like a total failure. And he said he was praying and he said, "God, I thought for sure you would help me." He said, "The Lord spoke to him and said, "Son, if I could have understood what you're trying to say, maybe I could have helped you." So, if God don't understand what you're trying to say, we're really in trouble. I hope you'll understand what I'm trying to say. Traditionally, I will drag out a point, hide my real message, cloak it beneath a term, words. Today, I'm going to cut through the chase. I'm going to dismiss the intrigue, and I'm going to reveal the mystery at the first rattle out of the box. I am inspired of the spirit greatly today to perhaps startle, shock, and even surprise some of you or maybe just one of you with these words, I feel from the Lord. What you gave up on years ago, you can now have. What you said goodbye to, you can now say hello to. What you released, you can now retrieve. What you thought was lost and can never be found is now right here before you. What you have learned to live without, somebody get excited about this with me. What you have learned to live without, you can once again learn to live with. The challenges don't bury what's not dead. You are not destined, designed, or doomed to just survive and not thrive. Dreams do become realities for those that don't oversleep. Psalm 126 and 1 the Bible reads, "After Israel had come out of their captivity, they said, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed. It was so phenomenal. It was so marvelous. It was so fantastic. We felt like we were in a dream. I want to tell you, it's not beyond God's power and your reach this morning to live a life where you truly can say, "How you doing? I'm living the dream. I'm living the dream." Can I get a witness today? Am I preaching to folks who know you are truly living the dream? God has blessed you. [Applause] I want to remind you he can do exceeding abundantly more than we could think or even imagine. But my challenge to this assembly this morning is don't bury what's not dead. Don't bury what's not dead.
Notice in our text and make note with me. The envious, jealous, evil brothers of Joseph did not tell their father that Joseph was dead. If you paid attention to the scripture, they never said your your son is dead. All they did was fabricate preconceived false evidence to support and substantiate what they wanted their father to believe. And that was that Joseph indeed was dead when in reality they knew he was alive. Let me first say to you this morning, your adversary cannot kill your dreams, your visions, your goals, and your ambitions. Furthermore, let me say to somebody that might be a little sick this morning, he can't kill you. He can't kill this church. If he could kill us, none of us would be alive. If he could kill this church, we wouldn't be here this morning. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Clap your hands for victory this morning. So since he can only fabricate false evidence to make you accept an incorrect conclusion, he wants you to make the error that was engineered by your adversary, which is totally wrong. I've come to tell you this morning that your dreams are still alive. Your prophetic word is still alive. Your God designed conclusion which is found in the unalterable writings of Jeremiah 29 and 111 is still real. And here it is 29:11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, sayeth the Lord. Anybody want to know what God's thinking about you this morning? Let me tell you what God's thinking about you this morning. They are thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. Woo! Anybody expect to go to heaven? God's plan is to give you that expected end. Your life is not going to end sour. Your life is not going to end bitter. Your life is not going to end broken. Your life is not going to end in poverty. God wants to give you an expected end. So don't bury what's not dead.
So let me pause and just inject this on a larger scale. If you'll follow my theology, everybody say, "The Son, the Son is not dead, but he is alive. And he's ruling, and he's reigning, and he's soon returning. I want to declare in the midst of all the confusion, the chaos, and the craziness in our land today, God is still alive, and he's large and in charge. There's no surprise with our God. [Applause] As soon as Jacob saw the false evidence indicating Joseph's horrible fate that has happened to I have me a Jacob's coat of many colors Thanks to the ingenious department of drama that we have in this church and the consistent faithful support of Lindy and Shelley Bllelock who are not able to be here this morning. They are watching online. Yesterday afternoon about 5:00 I called Lindy and said I need a coat of many colors. It's 5:00 Saturday afternoon. I need it Sunday morning. A lot of people would have passed out, fell back and said, "Can't do it. He's been doing it for over 40 years. Why should he fail now? He won't." He's like, "God, he won't." So, they had delivered to me this morning my coat of many colors. The brothers took a coat, took Joseph's coat, took the blood of a goat, splattered it all over that coat, ripped it to shreds, brought it to the father, and said, "Oh, father, bunch of hypocrites. Father, we found this coat." Oh, father. Father, do you know whose coat this is? Do you have any idea who this belongs to? We We're so afraid. It kind of looks like Joseph's. Is this Joseph's coat, father? Is it? Oh, I know it. I know it. It's my son's coat. An evil beast has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt red in the pieces. Oh, I will go down into the grave of my son morning. I tell you, Joseph was not dead. Joseph was alive. It was just false evidence. [Applause] It was incorrect evidence. It was prefabricated evidence to get somebody to believe a lie, to believe what's not true. I'm tired of the devil waving bloody coats in front of the saints of God trying to make us believe our dreams are dead, our visions are dead, our love is dead, our joy is dead. I wish I could have been there standing beside Jacob. I would have screamed, "Jacob, it's a lie. It is not true." Clap your hands and shout, "The devil's been lying to me." But this morning I rise to say it is a lie. [Applause]
But the tragedy of the story is this. When Jacob saw that coat, he went in his mind, everybody say in his mind. To a shady spot under the branches of a low hanging limbs. Took a shovel in his heart, in his mind, and in his spirit with great sorrow and tears. He buried Joseph. He buried him. He had a private funeral for a boy that was not dead, but was still alive. Rejecting the attempts of his family to comfort him, Jacob sinistered and condemned himself to sorrow, grief, and remorse for the rest of his life, mourning only what he assumed to be dead. My job this morning is to shake some of you, startle some of you, rattle your cage, until before you leave here, you'll rise to your feet and shout, "Devil, my life is not over. My dreams are not dead. My goals are still alive. I can still have peace. I can still have joy. I can still have purpose. I'm not going to pay any attention to a bloody coat that the devil has been waving in front of my face for years trying to get me to give up. I'm telling the church, it's a lie. It's still alive. Don't bury what's not dead. Your ministry is not dead. Your calling's not dead. Your giftings are not dead. Your blessing is not dead. But in his mind, in his heart, in his spirit, he buried that boy. That's why he said, "I shall go to my grave. I'll go to the grave unto my son." He had already thought he was in a grave. Already put him in a grave. When in reality, he was very much alive. You may be seated. The Bible quoted quite descriptively that when Jacob was told that Joseph was alive, I really didn't have time to research this like I would have liked to. The Bible said his heart fainted for he believed them not. It was so shocking what he'd been crying over for 20 years. You mean to tell me all these years I've been crying for nothing? All these years I've been mourning for nothing. 20 years of pitiful waiting and sorrow but nothing. They said dead. Joseph is alive. And the old man grabbed his heart and started wobbling back and said, "Oh, it's overwhelming." And I know today I haven't got the response yet that I want because what I'm preaching is overwhelming to some of you. It's It's almost like a heart attack. You got to be kidding me. This cannot be. So, it's still alive. What you buried in your mind, what you buried in your heart, what you buried in your life some years ago because of a negative circumstance, because of somebody waving a bloody coat in front of you, you jumped to the wrong conclusion and thought the rest of your life you're doomed. I preach to you today, you're not doomed. You're going to be released this morning because it's not dead. Don't bury what's not dead. Somebody jump up and shout, "It's not dead." You hear me, devil? It's not dead. My dream is still alive. My goal is still alive. My miracle is still alive. I can't have a blessed life. I can't have a happy home. I can't live for God. I can no peace. I can no joy. Don't bury what's not dead. [Applause] Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Applause]
Can I reveal to you where this message came from? Two or three you may be seated. Two or three Sundays ago I was privileged to be in Raleigh. I was standing on the platform at the end of the service. I believe we had a guest speaker that morning. Right now I don't remember who it was. Recently somebody guest speaker who yeah Tim Richmond was preaching and while he was preaching the anointing that was on him came on me and the Lord said, "When this service is over, I want you to go back to Sister Gryom, if you don't mind, so the people that don't know, you'll know who I'm talking about. Would you stand up?" The Lord said, "You go tell her that what she thinks she's lost forever is coming back. What the devil has tried to convince her, she can never have." Waving that old bloody coat saying it'll never be the same again. You can never I'm in the name of Jesus. I'm telling you, what you thought was gone forever is in this room right now. What you thought you could never see is in this room right now. What you thought you could never have is in this room right now. Thought what you thought you could never be is in this room right now. Clap your hands and shout. I refuse to bury what's not dead. [Applause] I know it's overwhelming. I know it's shocking. I know it's startling. But the devil is a liar. Somebody shout, "I receive it." I receive it. Shout, "I receive it." I receive it. Clap your hands and tell the devil, "I receive truth. I receive truth. I receive truth. I receive truth. I receive truth." Let me take you one step further. I'll get back to my notes. I shall live. I shall live. I shall live. I shall live and not die. Get out of that casket this morning and dance before the Lord and let the enemy know you're not about to give up. You're not about to go down. You're not about to be defeated because your dream is still alive. [Applause] [Applause] Woo! [Music] [Applause] Turn around. Somebody give him a high five. Shout, "Your dream's still alive." Your dream is still alive. Your hope is still alive. Your goals are still alive. Your miracle is still alive. [Applause] [Music] You're going to see people saved you thought never would be saved. Matter of fact, you're so convinced they're going to be lost, you quit praying for them. But God's going to save them anyway. We got backsliders that's going to come back. They've been out so long, you quit praying for them, but God's still going to bring them back. Clap your hands and shout, "Yes, I refuse to bury what's not dead. I am not going to bury what's not dead. You may be seated. I'll preach this a few more minutes. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Don't let it pass you by. Don't let it be too great for you. Don't let it be too large for you. Rise your feet and shout, "If God said it, he can do it. It's not too late. I'm not too old. I haven't gone too far." Sheila, we pray. We We pause for praise. That's what She sila means. We pause for praise. Anybody want to go after your dream this morning? Go after it because it's still alive. Go after your vision. It's still alive. Go after your miracle. It's still alive. Don't bury what's not dead. [Applause] Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. [Applause] Give me about three young men to get behind brother Flesher. Encourage him in the Lord. I'm telling you, we're not going to bury what's not [Applause] [Music] [Applause] there. Join hands with our sister Belinda. I'm telling you, God is convincing her today. It's not dead. It's not dead. It's not dead. [Applause] Remain standing just a minute. I still got some time. You know, I am I am prone for my mind to make contracts my body can't deliver on. A few years ago, I jumped over our monitor speakers. They were higher than these. I felt the Holy Ghost. I jumped over that monitor. Brother David said, "It's back there, wave your hands so the guests know who you are." Brother David said, went to my wife at church. He said, "Sister, honey, I got to ask you to tell brother one thing." She said, "What?" Tell him, "Don't do that again. Don't do that again." Why not? David said, "By thee, I've run through a troop and I've leaped over the wall." But you ain't David, right? So, I tell you what we're going to I've been doing this a lot lately. In baseball, they have designated runners. Brendon, I want you to run up on this platform. Run around there and go back to your seat. Just run up here. Run around this way. Come here. You do it in my name. That's me right there. Years ago. Years ago. Where's Joe at? I need Joe up here. We got a few minutes. Joe, come up here and help me. Come over here. Help me, Brother Joe. Remain stand. It'd be good if you take a break. Come up here, Brother Joe. I want to show you something. Then I'll get back to preaching in a moment. We're having too much fun here today. Joe, one of our presidents said, "All men are created equal." He didn't know what he's talking about. I am not equal to Joe. But I want you to know when I get to heaven and I get my glorified body, it's what I'm going to [Applause] do. Me and Brother Joe, we going to tear heaven up. We going to tear heaven up. We going to shout all over that place because I refuse to bury what's not dead. [Applause] You may be seated. Let me finish this cuz it may be some of the most important part for you is coming. Jacob's heart fainted. It It wiped him out. It just overwhelmed him. It was just too much. The words were not enough to really convince him. Why should it? They lied to him one time already. They lied to him already one time. Why should he believe him now? But they said, "Hey, Daddy, look way back there behind us. You see that clouded us? Those are wagons that Joseph, who's ruling, who's reigning, who's a governor over all of Egypt, he has loaded those wagons with everything you're going to need, I'm going to need to get from where we are to the promise. He's going to provide everything we need and you need to get to Y'all hear some preaching now? You hear it? He's going to provide everything you need to get from where you are to where he is. I see the wagons pulling into 2312 Lake Wheeler Road. And in those wagons are everything you need to get from where you are to heaven, to get from where you are to your promise, to get to where you are to your dream coming true. He will provide everything you need. [Applause] So when Jacob saw the wagons in his mind, in his heart, and in his spirit, he returned to that grave site where he had buried Joseph in his mind. And he started digging through the doubt, through the long dark nights, through the tearfilled days, through the heartbroken moments, and he started casting out of that ditch the loss, the pain, the unbelief, the negativism until he resurrected faith. Till faith came back alive, hope came back alive, trust came baited me. You can end your presentation. I believe my son is alive and I'm going to go to where he is and I'm going to see him. My goal this morning is that somebody will shout just before I get through preaching, that's enough. That's enough. I don't need any more promises. I don't need any more proof. I don't need any more presentation. I see the wagons and I know my promise is alive. I'm going to jump through some other points that we could make. Let me bring it to conclusion. One time my wife said, "I love to hear you preach, but she said, "Sometimes you got more points than a porcupine." So, I'm going to limit my points this morning. I got some good points, but if you want to hear me receive them, see me after church, but I I'm going to cut through the chase. This is the most exciting part of the whole message to me. I may have to have a runner. I may take that whole row right there. So, let me give you greater evidence and proof of the living promises, prophecies, and provisions of God for you. Jacob was robbed. Jacob was restricted. Jacob's ripped off. Woo! By the blood of a goat on a coat. But this morning, no matter how long it has been, you can be forgiven. You can be healed. You can be healed. Not by the blood of a goat on the goat, but by the blood of the lamb on the cross. [Applause] Let's go, boys. One time. Let's go. One time. I want you to get your eyes off the blood of the goat that's on the coat and get your eyes on the blood of the lamb that's on the cross. Clap your hands and look at the cross. There's mercy there. There's grace there. There's goodness there. There's blessings there. There's forgiveness there. There's love there. Don't pay any attention to the blood of the goat on the coat. Get your eyes of the blood of the lamb on the cross. Everybody remain standing. I'll quickly throw this in. Conclusions. Move to the altar. The Bible said the spirit of Jacob revived. I don't know how you see that verse. Here's how I see it. For 20 years. For 20 years. He was a humped over, heartbroken, no life, just merely existing, broken, sorrowful, sad, grieving for 20 years. But when he saw the wagons, the spirit of Jacob revived. You know what that meant? All of a sudden, he turned back into the heel grabber. He turned back into the way he was born. Reaching for what was in front of him, reaching for that first place, reaching for that great blessing of God. He reverted back to the angel wrestler, who would wrestle all night and say, "I won't let you go until you bless me." You can't just sit there this morning. You got to recognize, "I got to get my drive back. I got to get my aggression back. I got to get my hunger back. I got to get my desire back. I got to get my faith back. I got to get my expectation back. I got to get my anticipation back. And like Jacob, who is now revived, I'm not just going to sit here. I'm going for it. I'm going to see my son. I'm going to get my miracle. Somebody needs to run to this front right now and shout, "I refuse to bury what's not dead. My dream's still alive. My miracle is still alive." Let that spirit of Jacob revive in [Music] you. Don't sit there just existing. Don't sit there just letting life pass you by. Don't just sit there accepting what you know is really not dead. Don't just sit there accepting your your lie in life and saying the bloody coats convince me it's going to be this way from now on. It's not it's a lie. It's a lie. Lift your hands and say, "Devil, you're a liar. I'm not going to watch the bloody coat anymore. I'm not going to be deceived by the bloody coat anymore. I'm moving my eyes from the blood of the goat on a coat to the blood of the lamb on the cross. Lift your hands and praise him right now. What you got? Give that for no telling how long your devil has lied to you. Your enemy has weighed a bloody coat in front of you and told you it can't be. It's over. It's ended. It's beyond you. And all the time it's right in front of you this morning. Your dream is not dead. Don't bury what's not dead. [Music]