RULING AND REIGNING WITH GOD Part 4
August
21, 2020
Let’s continue today with
where we were last week in our discussion.
We have a ways to go with these scriptures as a part of our foundations.
Let’s explore the real
cost of true authority. We are going to
look at the lives of some individuals in Scripture who exercised the authority
given them by God. That authority did
not (and does not at any time in history or the present) come without cost.
The authority of the Lord
is not cheap! If we are going to operate
in all that we’ve been designed and created for, our flesh is going to undergo
pain, deprivation and occasional periods of what seems like torture.
The big difference between
what our flesh endures and what our spirits experience is that our spirits
prosper, and we grow into the level of spiritual maturity that must exist in
us. We were designed from the beginning
for dominion and rulership, but we know from the
original Creation that there were commands and restrictions for that dominion
to function and continue.
Before we begin today
taking a look at the life of Joseph, and all that he experienced before he sat
on the throne of Egypt as second in command over the whole nation, let’s wrap
up the last part of last week’s discussion.
I want to come back
to the revelation of Jesus Christ. That
comes by and through the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation — one of the Seven
Spirits of God.
The rational-thinking
human mind cannot even begin to comprehend the depth of the love that Jesus has
for us. Understand that Father God has
that same love. He would not have
appointed Jesus (and Jesus fully agreed) before time began (knowing in advance
that Adam and Eve were going to blow it) to become our redemption and
deliverance from the resulting curse that came upon the human race. Jesus had imbred in
Himself a calling, a drawing, a driving force to see that we, who were first
designed by Him and for Him to become a Heavenly family imbued with His Glory,
His authority and His power.
The natural, unredeemed
mind just goes TILT when trying to conceive all of that!
Consider how the
apostle Paul put it when writing to the Ekklesia in
Corinth:
I Corinthians 2:9-12: But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God.
For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Chew on that for
awhile!
I Corinthians 2:9-10: Natural mind cannot
grasp, cannot conceive, cannot wrap its head around the things that God has
developed, matured and seasoned, for and on behalf of, all those who are
immersed in His love, and are totally given over to Him.
But God
has, and continues to reveal them to us through and by His spirit, which is the
Holy Spirit because Holy Spirit has taken off the veil of our minds, and
revealed the heart of God to us, by virtue of the fact the He continually
studies and investigates the deep and profound essence of Father and Son. (RAC Translation & Amplification)
Are you seeing it?
THAT is a revelation
of Jesus Christ. That is how Holy Spirit
reveals to us the true character, the nature, the essence of Who Jesus Christ
IS!
We are talking about
ruling and reigning with Christ. That
cannot happen until we have a real revelation of Who Jesus is — not only in
Heaven, or as the Son of Father God, but IN US!
Let’s review again
some statements that Jesus made.
Matthew 28:18-19: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 10:5-8: These twelve Jesus sent
forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and
into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.
And as
ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at
hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have
received, freely give.
You see, it begins
with the fact that Jesus says, All power in heaven and
in earth is given unto me. The Greek
text uses the word exousia
instead of dunamis
for power. Jesus was saying, All authority in heaven and earth has been given
to me.
When Jesus sent the
twelve disciples out, He commanded them with that same authority to state
unequivocally that the ruling authority and power of the Kingdom of God had
come — and here’s the kicker — vested in them! They were commanded with that authority to
heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons.
Luke 10:1, 9:After
these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two
before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come…...And
heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come
nigh unto you.
Again we see the
authority of the Lord in action. The
Greek word translated “appointed” means to commission and make evident to all
who see and hear that His Kingdom authority and rulership
are at work.
Now, on to the life
of Joseph as the first example of the processes that get
worked out in us as we are prepared for rulership.
Genesis 37:5-11: And Joseph dreamed a
dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And
he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For,
behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose,
and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made
obeisance to my sheaf.
And his
brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over
us? or shalt thou indeed
have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for
his words.
And he
dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have
dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars
made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren:
and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, Whatis
this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren
indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
And his
brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
So Joseph receives these dreams from the Lord. They excite him, and yet he finds them very
unusual, so he shares them with his parents and his brothers. Let’s not forget that Joseph was the youngest
of all. The fact that he would share
these dreams with his family — and the dreams showed him in a rulership position over his family — didn’t exactly make
him popular.
His sharing, however, unwittingly opened the way for him to
experience the cost of his preparation.
The dreams were real, but Joseph was going to go through a lot of things
before he could ever become the ruler for which he’d been given him a vision by
God. A whole lot of things are going to
unfold.
Genesis 37:13-22:And Israel
said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send
thee unto them. And he said to him, Heream
I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy
brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out
of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
And a
certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and
the man asked him, saying, What seekest
thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray
thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They
are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went
after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
And
when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired
against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer
cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit,
and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him:
and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
And
Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let
us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him
into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay
no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to
his father again.
What happens when you experience a vision or dream from the Lord and
you share it with folks who have not had such experiences and are not walking
in communion with the Lord? They begin
to conspire against you!
Those who conspire may be members of your own family or they
could be people you associate with and consider your friends.The
problem is fear and jealousy. It is also
a case of their viewing themselves as less than worthy of the same experiences.
(I know this because of what I experienced in my youth as a
result of sharing my experiences with angels, with the Lord appearing at my
bedside and with my first visitation to heaven. I was mocked, made fun of and criticized by
my own brother — not to mention the kids I played with. So I shut up for years to come.)
Genesis
37-23-36: And it
came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph
out of his coat, his coat of manycolours
that was on him; And they took him, and cast
him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
And
they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and,
behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead
with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,
going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay
our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is
our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Then
there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew
and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites
for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 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, whither shall I go?
You see what is
unfolding for Joseph. He’s done nothing
to deserve this, but his brothers are determined to be rid of him. Were it not for Judah’s suggestions, there is
no doubt that Joseph would have been killed.
The circumstances intervened and the Ishmeelites
solved the brothers’ problem by buying him to market as a slave.
Nevertheless, this is
part of the testing process;
Joseph has had some important dreams that bear on his future, the
future of his family and the future of one or more nations. He doesxn’t know that yet but before all that can come to
fruition and manifestation. This is part
of the cost of authority.
And 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 manycolours,
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, and 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 he said, For I
will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And the
Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of
the guard.
First, Joseph is sold
to the Ishmeelites for the price of a slave — 20
pieces of silver. They journeyed to
Egypt where the Ishmeelites sold Joseph again as a
slave to Potiphar, who was captain of Pharaoh’s
guard. Now a strange thing occurs. Joseph is not going to take all of these
experiences like some defeated, doomed individual. Joseph obviously hasmaintained
his faith and trust in the Lord. While
none of this makes sense, he walks in absolute integrity before the Lord,
before Potiphar and before everyone around. Consider what we see next.
Genesis 39:1-6: And Joseph was brought
down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,
captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the
LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous 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 hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he
served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that
he had he put into his hand.
And it
came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house,
and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s
sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and
in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not
ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And
Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
Notice
something? And the
LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; By all natural reasoning, that’s a
contradiction in terms! Joseph is a
slave! How do you reckon that he was
prospering? Did he have lots of
money? Nope! Did he have his own elegant home? Nope!
Did he wear the finest tailor-made clothing? Somehow, I don’t think so! Was he recognized as a man having authority,
one who mingled with the “upper crust”?
Well, not yet anyway!
Then how can the
Scripture say that Joseph was prosperous?
The answer is simple.
THE LORD WAS WITH
JOSEPH!
Prosperity is not
measured by what you possess in a material realm. Prosperity is measured by your standing with
God. If you walk in intimate fellowship
with the Lord, then everything you do will prosper. And that’s exactly what we see unfolding
here.
And his
master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that
he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he
served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that
he had he put into his hand.
Joseph’s faithfulness
and integrity were a standout to Potiphar. He wasn’t used to seeing that kind of
integrity. So Joseph gets his first elevation
to a place of authority. But thyis is not the first experience with authority. Watch!
And it
came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house,
and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for
Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the
house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and
he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did
eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
Brother! THAT is a place of trust! Potiphar left
everything that he had into Joseph’s trust, and his control. Joseph was now number two in Potiphar’s household.
His level of authority is increasing, and he is being groomed by the
Lord for what comes next.
But wait! The Enemy is going to try and throw a monkey
wrench into Joseph’s life.
Genesis 39:7-20: And it came to pass after
these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s
wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is
with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There
is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how
then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass,
as she spake to Joseph day by day,
that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it
came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into
the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there
within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie
with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
Joseph, in his youth
and naivete, missed the fact that with Potiphar’s wife making daily passes at him, passes which
did not succeed with other workers being present, didn’t think about the fact
that if there were no other witnesses present, he needed to take someone else
with him into the house to take care of business. That’s a lesson for all of us!
And it
came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was
fled forth, That she called unto the men of her house, and spake
unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came
in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass,
when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment
with me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until
his lord came home. And she spake unto him according
to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us,
came in unto me to mock me: And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and
cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
And it
came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this
manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph’s master
took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners werebound: and he
was there in the prison.
So, once again,
Joseph’s integrity has been challenged.
Despite the great integrity and trust that Joseph had shown to Potiphar, Potiphar was so used to
the Egyptian mentality and lack of morals that his first thought was to believe
the accusation against Joseph.
From his perspective,
he had no option but to get rid of Joseph.
Because of the perceived disrespect and dishonor of his household, there
was no other choice he could make but to put Joseph into the prison reserved
for those who committed offenses against Pharaoh. These were considered the worst of the worst
offenders in the land.
But, wait! Joseph’s integrity hasn’t suddenly
vanished. He is still the man of
God. He still has favor with the Lord. It is that favor that is going to make all
the difference in what transpires next.
And that, folks, is where we will pick up this narrative next week!
In case
you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia,
our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at
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number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings available
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not yet, anyway.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER
WORSHIP CENTER
Temple,
Texas 76502
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Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com
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