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                            The Joseph Company!

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By David Wilkerson
December 21, 1992
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          I know of one Bible scholar who has discovered more
          than a hundred ways in which Joseph was a type of Jesus
          Christ. Yet, as much as I believe Joseph was a type of
          Christ, I also believe He was a type of last-day
          remnant - a people whom God is raising up right now to
          show His church how to break out of its spiritual
          famine!

          Let me show you the Joseph Company - a small body of
          last-day believers wholly given to the Lord. They
          commune with God daily. 'They are led by the Spirit in
          every detail of their lives. And at this moment they
          are coming out of great trials and testings to enter a
          place of revelation, wisdom and fruitfulness. God is
          working in them, giving them His truth and knowledge.
          And the time is coming soon when He is going to call
          upon them as He did Joseph!

          Right now, the church of Jesus Christ is growing
          increasingly worldly, sensual, wicked and cold. Our
          ministry receives literally thousands of letters from
          pastors and laypeople who are burdened down by the
          condition of their church. People complain that they
          don't hear convicting, life-changing sermons. Pastors
          complain that few want to hear the truth.

          Yes, there are some powerful "lamp-stick" churches in
          America - full of light and glory and the holiness of
          God. The pastors are on fire, preaching righteousness,
          and God is moving mightily among the people.

          But for the most part the church today is experiencing
          widespread spiritual famine: shallow sermons, dead
          hearers, "lively" worship that is not backed up by
          righteous living. A Laodicean blindness has fallen like
          a cloud over the eyes of multitudes who once were on
          fire for God. Many true ministers of God are becoming
          disheartened. One pastor wrote recently:

          "A great number of godly pastors are being fired or
          forced out by their churches. I resigned my church last
          December 31. A colleague just ten miles away also left
          his church under a cloud. A third pastor sixty miles
          away submitted his resignation under duress, A fourth
          was fired by his church in October....

          "In my region, churches are not growing by making new
          converts, but from Christians moving around, shopping
          with a consumer mentality. It's a revolving door....
          Please find out for yourself how many men of God are
          heartbroken, defeated, discouraged - yet also saying,
          'Even so, come, Lord Jesus'!"

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                      What Is God's Solution to
                     Such Backsliding and Famine?

                      -------------------------------

          God has always been at work far in advance of every
          spiritual famine in His church. In every generation He
          has moved ahead to prepare a way out for His people!

          The seventy-five members of Jacob's clan would have
          died in the great worldwide famine (and the promise of
          Israel would have been destroyed) had not God been
          working ahead of it all. In fact, some twenty years
          before the famine hit, God was already setting in
          motion a plan to save His people from destruction.

          He sent Joseph ahead to Egypt! For twenty years God
          worked on this man - isolating him, trying him,
          preparing him for a place of authority - because Joseph
          was to become the life-saver of God's chosen, He kept
          Joseph from the limelight - to be discipled for a
          coming day of chaos and death!

          Beloved, just as surely as God isolated Joseph, He has
          a Joseph Company today that is hidden from all eyes.
          These are in the furnace of affliction, prisons of
          testing, battlegrounds of trials and temptation, They
          are dying to this world, wanting nothing of its fame,
          honor, money or pleasure. And they are growing hungry
          to become more intimate with Christ - to know His heart
          and His voice.

          You may not understand all the mysterious testings,
          trials and troubles in your life. But if your heart is
          fully set on following Christ, you can rest assured God
          has purpose in it all: He is wanting to bring you into
          His Joseph Company!.

          There are three things that went into the making of
          Joseph as a tried and tested servant. An d you too will
          experience these things if you are a part of this
          last-day company:

          1. Joseph Responded to the Spirit's Call to a Holy,
          Separated Life.

          God's Spirit has always been calling mankind to Himself
          - to holiness, purity of heart and a separated life.
          Tragically, few ever respond - but in every generation
          God has a small remnant who do answer His call. They
          separate themselves, purify their lives and give them
          selves wholly to Him.

          Joseph responded to God's call at a very early age. And
          he had ten older brothers who received the same call to
          surrender, walk righteously and separate themselves.
          But they chose to remain in the world - and their walk
          with God was halfhearted.

          There were at least two occasions when all of Jacob's
          sons received the Spirit's call very clearly. The first
          was at Shalem, in Shechem, where Jacob built an altar
          to THE GOD OF ISRAEL. Jacob called his sons to the
          altar to become worshipers with him - to kneel before
          the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly.

          But Joseph's brothers instead turned to revenge and
          bloodshed. When a Shechemite defiled their sister
          Dinah, they rushed into the city, burning it down and
          killing every man, woman and child (see Genesis 34).
          These ten brothers hadn't given themselves wholly to
          trust and serve God. No - their violence made Jacob a
          stench among the Canaanites!

          Yet God called cut to them clearly once more, this time
          at Bethel. Jacob knew his sons were bound with idolatry
          and were rejecting God's call to purity and
          righteousness. So he warned them: "Put away the strange
          gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your
          garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and 1
          will make there an altar unto God" (Genesis 35:2-3).

          Beloved, this is one of the clearest calls in all of
          God's Word! The phrase "change your garments" in Hebrew
          means a moral and spiritual purification of the mind
          and heart. Outwardly, Jacob's sons surrendered: "And
          they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in
          their hand, and all their earrings" (verse 4). But
          their repentance was only on the surface - they never
          had a true heart-change. They went right back to their
          rebellion, becoming full of hate, envy and strife!

          Yet there was something different about Joseph: his
          repentance had been from the heart. He had responded to
          the Spirit's call - and from the age of seventeen, he
          was wholly set on following the Lord. In the midst of a
          wicked, evil environment, Joseph maintained clean hands
          and a pure heart.

          Now, Jacob had other sons who were born to Bilhah and
          Zilpah, his maid and concubine. These sons cared for
          the family flocks, and Joseph was sent out to the
          fields to work among them, But he was soon grieved -
          because his brothers spoke and lived like heathen! His
          pure heart was crushed by the wickedness in his own
          family.

          "And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report"
          (37:2), Joseph unburdened his heart to his father: "You
          wouldn't believe the way they live, Father. They speak
          against your God and mine. They're grieving Him!"

          Beloved, this is a mark of the Joseph Company: they
          have a grief for sin! They have forsaken all idols and
          are in love with Jesus - their hearts are aflame with
          His holiness! They see the sin in the land, but they
          are grieved most of all by the sin in the church. They
          cry out from their souls, "Oh, Father - look at what is
          happening among Your children!"

          If you are a part of this last-day company, you can't
          overlook sin. Rather, something has to rise up in you
          that says, "Oh God, I can't stand what they're doing to
          Your name!" You begin to pray - not against people, but
          against the in roads of demonic powers into the church
          of Jesus Christ!

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                     Joseph's Father Favored Him,
                     Clothing Him With a Special
                     Garment That Made Him Stand
                       Out Among His Brethren!

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          Does our heavenly Father favor certain of His children?
          Or doesn't the Bible say God is no respecter of
          persons?

          When it comes to eternal salvation and His wonderful
          covenant promises, God treats all alike. But God also
          responds to all who respond wholeheartedly to His
          calling. He puts His special favor on those who yield
          their lives to Him entirely!

          Job said: "Thou hast granted me life and favour" (Job
          10:12). And David said: "For thou, Lord, wilt bless the
          righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a
          shield" (Psalm 5:12) . "Lord, by thy favour thou hast
          made my mountain to stand strong" (30:7). Scripture
          also tells us: "And the child Samuel grew on, and was
          in favour both with the Lord, and also with men" (1
          Samuel 2:26).

          The fact is, our heavenly Father puts a special garment
          on those who seek after Him and give Him their heart
          completely: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my
          soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me
          with garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the
          robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).

          Joseph responded to the Spirit's call, surrendering all
          - and he received favor from his father. He was given a
          robe that set him apart. But that favor of his father
          was costly! It cost Joseph every relationship. It
          brought him rejection, misunderstanding, mockery: "All
          his brethren... hated him" Genesis 37:4).

          Why did Joseph's brothers turn on him? The key is in
          verse 11: "His brethren envied him." When they saw the
          robe Joseph wore, they knew it spoke of favor,
          righteousness. And they hated it - because it reminded
          them of the Spirit's call they had rejected! Joseph was
          a reproach to their halfhearted life-style!

          You see, Joseph's brothers sat around trading in petty
          gossip and self-centered talk. Their hearts were
          occupied with land, possessions, their future, But
          Joseph's was elsewhere. He spoke of the things of God,
          of supernatural dealings. God had given him dreams,
          which in that day was synonymous with hearing the voice
          of God.

          Yes, Joseph was of a different cloth - and that
          difference made him hated and envied among his
          brothers. And beloved, the same thing will happen to
          you if you have sold out to Jesus!

          Lukewarm believers around you will want to talk about
          their cars, houses and jobs - but you'd rather talk
          about eternal things, about what God is saying to you.
          Soon you'll become a reproach to their halfheartedness.
          They'll envy you - because you represent the call of
          the Holy Ghost they turned down!

          Indeed, those of the Joseph Company remnant know all
          about rejection. They know the pain of being tagged a
          fanatic, a spiritual kook, an "unbalanced" believer.
          Even preachers mock them, calling their separation and
          devotion to Jesus "spiritual pride." They tell their
          congregation, "This one is too far out. God does not
          expect such fanaticism!"

          2 . Joseph's Greatest Trial Was the Word of God He So
          Loved and Trusted!

          "He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold
          for a servant whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was
          laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the
          word of the Lord tried him" (Psalm 105:17,19). Joseph
          was tested and tried in many ways - but his greatest
          trial was the word he had received!

          Consider everything Joseph endured: At only seventeen,
          he was stripped down and cast into a pit to starve to
          death. His cold-hearted brothers laughed at his pleas
          for mercy. He was sold to Ishmaelite traders, taken by
          caravan to an Egyptian slave market and then sold as a
          common slave.

          Yet Joseph's greatest trial wasn't his rejection by his
          brothers. It wasn't the human indignity of being made
          into a slave or being cast into prison. No - Joseph was
          confused and tried in spirit by the clear word he had
          heard from God!

          God had revealed to Joseph through dreams that he would
          be given great authority, and that he would use it for
          God's glory. His brothers would bow before him - even
          the sun, moon and stars would bow! He would be a great
          deliverer of many people.

          Yet I believe none of this was an ego trip for Joseph.
          His heart was so set on God that this word instead gave
          him a humble sense of destiny: "Lord, You have put Your
          hand on me to have a part in Your great, eternal plan.
          Oh God - why choose me?" Joseph was blessed just by
          knowing he would play an important role in bringing
          God's will to pass!

          But all the circumstances in Joseph's life were just
          the opposite of what God had put in his heart. He was
          the servant - he had to bow! How could he hold to such
          a word from God, that he would one day deliver
          multitudes, when he was a slave himself? He must have
          thought, "This doesn't make sense. How could God be
          'ordering my steps' into prison - into oblivion? He
          said I was going to be blessed. He didn't tell me this
          was going to happen!"

          For ten years Joseph served in Potiphar's house
          faithfully - but in the end he was misjudged and lied
          about. His victory over temptation with Potiphar's wife
          only landed him in jail. During such times he must have
          pondered the awful questions:

          "Did I hear correctly? Or did my pride invent these
          dreams? Could my brothers have been right - that I'm
          too given over to this word? Maybe all these things are
          happening to me as discipline for some kind of selfish
          desire....

          Beloved, there have been times when God has shown me
          things He has wanted for me - ministry, service,
          usefulness - yet my every circumstance was the very
          opposite of that word. At such times I thought, "Oh
          God, this can't be You speaking - it has to be my
          flesh," I was being tried by God's word to me!

          I know a dear pastor who is being tried by God's Word.
          He believes what the Bible says about healing - yet,
          for the past five years he has watched his wife
          deteriorate with a rare disease. He prays for the sick
          at his church - and then he comes home to feed, dress
          and bathe his wife. He believes God for her healing,
          yet she grows worse every day.

          Yet I see revealed in this man the grace and patience
          of Christ. He is one of the most loving, caring men of
          God I have ever met, the tenderness he shows his wife
          now comes out in his ministry to his congregation!

          A dear sister wrote recently that over a year ago she
          finally determined to go all the way with Jesus. God
          began to reveal Christ in her - yet soon after-ward,
          she discovered her husband was seeing prostitutes. He
          was staying out every night in bars and brothels.

          This woman was forced to leave her home and get a job
          to support her three children. The more devoted she
          became to Christ, the more her husband turned away from
          God, She couldn't under stand why, when she set her
          heart on Christ, such an awful tragedy would happen.
          But I sensed in her letter a power, a heavenly
          strength.

          She too is being tried by the Word! God has given her
          His promises - yet her circumstances are the exact
          opposite!

                      -------------------------------

                 Even in the Midst of Every Trial and Hard
                  Place, God Prospers His Joseph Company!

                      -------------------------------

          Even while Joseph was a servant in Potiphar's house, he
          was blessed by God. And soon after he landed in prison,
          he prospered there as well. How did God prosper him? It
          wasn't with money or possessions; it wasn't with
          position. No - all along God was prospering Joseph's
          spirit - speaking to his heart, giving him dreams and
          interpretations!

          This is what kept Joseph going on with God. He had
          faith that, in spite of all his hardships and
          situations beyond his control, God was with him. Joseph
          was never for a moment without the manifest presence of
          the Lord - and that constant, abiding presence produced
          a peace within him.

          I believe God must have longed to show Joseph the end
          of the story - to whisper to him, "Don't worry, Joseph.
          This is how it's going to end...." But He dared not -
          because Joseph was still in school!

          You see, Joseph didn't know that one day he was going
          to "teach (Pharaoh's) senators wisdom" (Psalm 105:22).
          Yet how could he teach God's wisdom to Egypt's leaders
          unless he first had learned it himself? God's children
          learn such lessons only by faith! We get God's wisdom
          through trials, tribulations, hardships and testings.
          We don't pray it down - we live it out!

          If you are in God's last-day Joseph Company, then you
          are learning to lean on Him in your trials. You're
          learning to trust and not complain - to rest in Him
          completely. You may not comprehend all the mysterious
          ways God has led you. In fact, everything around you
          may seem the very opposite of the word God has given
          you.

          But you're learning that in all things, Christ is your
          resource. And God is keeping you in school for the day
          when He will call on you!

          3. The Day Came When It All Made Sense to Joseph! God
          Brought Everything Together - And Every Word and
          Promise Was Fulfilled to The Letter!

          I believe it happened during Joseph's darkest hour -.
          when he was lonely, downcast, about to give up his
          dreams, questioning his place in God. Suddenly, the
          call came from one of the king's guards: "Joseph! Get
          cleaned up - Pharaoh is calling for you!"

          In that moment, the Spirit of God must have come upon
          Joseph mightily. I believe his heart leapt - an
          excitement grew within him: he was about to understand
          what it was all about!

          As Joseph shaved and trimmed his hair, he probably
          thought, "This is the beginning of what God promised
          me. Now I know I heard from Him! The devil was not in
          control - my life hasn't been wasted. God has been
          directing everything the entire time!"

          In a matter of minutes, Joseph was standing before
          Pharaoh, listening to his dream. He gave the
          interpretation of the coming famine and told Pharaoh he
          had to gather and store the nation's grain: "Someone
          must be in charge of the storehouses. You have to find
          a man who's full of wisdom to oversee it all!" (see
          Genesis 4l).

          Pharaoh looked around - and then he turned to Joseph:
          "You, Joseph! I appoint you second ruler. Only I will
          have more power in the kingdom than you. You will
          oversee it all!"

          How quickly things had changed! Within an hour, Joseph
          had gone from being a forsaken, unknown prisoner to the
          second most powerful man in Egypt. As he rode a royal
          chariot through the streets, the people were bowing
          before him - and suddenly he realized, his dream, was
          being lived out!

          I can just see Joseph riding along in deep but joyful
          contemplation. He must have relived every hard time of
          the past twenty years. He thought of all the trials and
          tests - of his brothers' rejection, and of being sold
          by them into slavery.

          But now a joy came into his heart - because everything
          was coming together! He said, "Now I can see it! A
          famine is coming - and God is wanting to save my father
          and my brothers. He sent me ahead of them. This was His
          plan all along!"

          The day came when Joseph stood before his brothers and
          was able to say: "But as for you, ye thought evil
          against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to
          pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive"
          (Genesis 50:20).

          "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in
          the earth, and to save your lives by a great
          deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither,
          but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and
          lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the
          land of Egypt" (45:7-8).

          Joseph was saying, "God was behind this, every step of
          the way! Every hardship the devil brought upon me -
          even the harm you meant to do to me - God turned to
          good and made a part of His eternal plan!"

          Dear saint, if you are a part of this Joseph Company,
          very soon you're going to understand your present fiery
          trials. God is going to bring you into the promise He
          gave you - and suddenly it's all going to make sense.
          You'll see that He has never forsaken you. He had to
          take you this way - for He has been training you,
          preparing you, teaching you to trust Him for everything
          . He has planned a time for you to be used - and that
          time is just ahead!

                      -------------------------------

               The Last-Day Evangelists Will Not Be Primarily
               in Pulpits: They Will Be in the Congregation -
                  Avoiding Attention, But Mightily Used!

                      -------------------------------

          A time is coming soon when there will be a spiritual
          famine such as the world has never seen . People are
          going to be starving spiritually on all sides. Yet the
          broken and famine-stricken will be taken one by one and
          told, "Come with me - I know someone full of Jesus.
          They've been tested, they've been through the fire, and
          they're full of the Holy Spirit. They will have a true
          word of deliverance for you!"

          Beloved, already I see this happening! I know a number
          of the Joseph Company by name, because I've talked to
          them. They are able to give out the Bread of Life to
          the starving - because they have the keys to God's
          storehouse! They know the ways of the Lord, because
          they have come through their tests and trials with a
          grip on God. Something powerful is being revealed in
          them - and that is a heart fully persuaded that God
          answers, prayer!

          How are you responding to God's mysterious dealings
          with you? Are you fully persuaded that God is at work
          in all things, fulfilling His promises to you? Can you
          say, "It's enough right now that I know Jesus is with
          me - and He's prospering my spirit"?

          Hold on in faith! Don't be afraid - because you are in
          Christ's school. Everything is under His control.
          Suddenly the hour will come when your battle will end
          and your victory will be made real. You'll come out of
          the fire a vessel of honor - to do His will as part of
          the Joseph Company!

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