 Well, I'm really going to challenge your ego this week and I'm going to talk about the seven trials of the call that have been released by the Holy Spirit to now continue this series and this week I'm talking about the test of jealousy. Those of you who are in ministry, this is a test that you must pass before the Lord will promote you and this is one of the more difficult ones because it plays on insecurity. It plays on ego, it plays on ambition and I'm going to show you in the scripture what happens when you pass this test that's going to encourage you to put your flesh in check and pass the test of jealousy. But first, Stephen Mock the Zuma is here with me. He's going to lead you in worship and then we're going to get right into this lesson. Here is Stephen Mock the Zuma. Progress of the life of Joseph as he begins to walk toward the destiny that God had for him. Now, there's a destiny that God has given to you and you are walking toward that destiny with every act of obedience. Every step of obedience brings you closer to the destiny and the call of God to the fulfillment of the plans of God for your life. And as you move in, as you day by day progress in your accomplishment of the will of God in earth, you begin to pass test and as you pass these tests, you become promoted in the spirit. So, as I said during this series before, we're looking at the life of Joseph and we are seeing him pass various tests on his way to the fulfillment of the dream that God had given to him. And at the same time, I'm also talking about some things that I've experienced in my life that hopefully will also help you and encourage you as we look at these points. Now, go to Genesis chapter number 40. Now this is where Joseph is already in the prison and where I talked in number five of this series about the test of blessings. This is Joseph went from Potiphar's house to the prison. What looked like a demotion in the natural was a promotion in the spirit. Even though he gave up blessings, he was actually promoted. So I encourage you to look at number five in this series. But let's go now to Genesis chapter 40, beginning at verse number one. Joseph is in the prison here. He's been there for a while and this is where the story picks up. The scripture says, some time later, Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief baker offended their royal master. Pharaoh became angry with these two officials and he put them in the prison where Joseph was in the palace of the captain of the guard. They remained in prison for quite some time and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them. While they were in prison, Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker each had a dream one night and each dream had its own meaning. When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. Why do you look so worried today? He asked them and they replied, we both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean. Interpreting dreams is God's business. Joseph replied, go ahead and tell me your dreams. So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream first. In my dream, he said, I saw a grapevine in front of me. The vine had three branches and began to bud and blossom and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. I was holding Pharaoh's wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup, then I placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. This is what the dream means, Joseph said. The three branches represent three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cupbearer. And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh so he might let me out of this place. Now the baker also had a dream, but his interpretation was not in his favor. In fact, Joseph interpreted the baker's dream and told him that he would be executed, which he was. Now recall here that Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he finally stood before Pharaoh. When he was finally restored to his position before Pharaoh and when he was finally released from the prison, he was told that at that time he was to remember Joseph. So this was Joseph asking that cupbearer to remember him for having interpreted his dream. Now the scripture tells us in verse number 20. Pharaoh's birthday came three days later and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cupbearer and chief baker to join the other officials. He then restored the chief cupbearer to his former position so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. Pharaoh's chief cupbearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. I want you to think about this. Joseph was in prison for longer than the cupbearer. So Joseph was in prison for quite some time. Then the cupbearer comes to prison, has a dream, Joseph interprets that dream and the cupbearer is restored to his rightful position in front of Pharaoh. This is amazing to me because I see that the cupbearer is receiving that which Joseph is believing for. So the question of jealousy is not whether or not you can celebrate another minister of the gospel. And let me tell you the truth is that ministers of the gospel are very competitive. And it's sad. It's not just in my generation, it's in former generations and it's something that I pray in our generation that we finally do away with because if we are to focus on winning souls, if we are to focus on what truly matters in the kingdom of God, then we must set aside our egos. We must set aside our ambitions. We must set aside our desires to be the top person or the main person or the center of attention. I don't care what any preacher tells you. Everyone struggles with ambition and ego. That is in the human nature. And so we must live close to Christ to defeat that. Now Joseph interprets this man's name. So imagine being the one to declare over somebody that they're going to receive what you've been asking for. So the issue is not just being able to celebrate someone else, not being able to promote someone else. The issue is, are you able to celebrate someone else and promote someone else who flows in your gifting? Who operates like you operate? Who's believing for what you're believing for? Because if we're not careful, we get this sense of entitlement. Joseph could have been entitled. And he could have said, Lord, I was in prison long before the cup bearer got here. So I'm due for a release before him. How often we think that because of the time we put in that we deserve to be blessed with something for which we're believing before someone else. But can I tell you it doesn't work that way? Everything is in God's perfect timing. Now ministers of the gospel, those of you who sense the call of God in your life, I'm going to tell you this. No matter how pure you begin in ministry, no matter how pure your heart, no matter how pure your motives, no matter how close you are to the Lord, there will always be a danger that you can drift into egocentric ambition, that you will drift into competition and jealousy. You know, you write a book because you want to help people. But oh, how quickly writing that book becomes about having bigger sale numbers. You can do a broadcast because you want to teach and preach the Word of God. But how quickly, if you're not careful, will that broadcast become about the viewership? You want bigger crowds than others. You want to sell more books than others. You want a more popular name than others. You want greater miracles than others. And I'm telling you, if anybody tells you that doesn't enter their heart at some point or doesn't try to enter their heart at some point, they're lying to you. We must all acknowledge that we have human nature. We must all acknowledge that we have a flesh that we have to battle. I remember in my ministry, when the Lord began to promote me, even though I started without any ambition or impure, I'm telling you, when I first began to seek the Lord, it was pure. But as I began to grow, the enemy started to tempt me with this. Now, it's not a sin to be tempted, but we have to be honest with ourselves. And we have to be realistic about the flesh. And we have to acknowledge that there can be a very real problem with jealousy and competition in the body of Christ and even in our own hearts. Because if we don't acknowledge that that's a possibility, then we leave our guard down and we can slowly, subtly drift into competing in ministry instead of complimenting in ministry. The kingdom of God is not about competition, it's about cooperation. It is a joint effort, not a solo effort. It is about lifting the name of Jesus, not lifting the name of self. When I began first to battle with this area in my heart of ambition and jealousy, I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, please take this from me because I know how the Lord is, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And I said, Lord, how quickly I can get off of track. I mean, think about King David who started as a shepherd boy, tending the sheep, worshiping God in the fields. And one day found himself as a king who was so filled with pride and arrogance that he committed murder and adultery and thought that he could get away with it. It can happen to anyone. And that is why I'm talking to you now. You have to pass this test. Can you celebrate other ministries? So this is what the Lord did for me. He said, this is how you know you can pass the test of jealousy. When someone else begins to be blessed in the area that you want to be blessed, if you are able to bless them, you pass the test. If you are able to pray more blessings on them sincerely, you pass the test. If you are able to contribute more to their success, you've passed the test. So are you able to lift those who have what you want? Are you able to compliment those who are gifted in the areas that you want to be acknowledged for? And so we have to crucify the ego. I see myself now, I find myself in situations where I'm gonna be honest with you, especially in the world of Christian television. Oh my gosh, world of Christian television. I love it, but at the same time, you get in those green rooms. I used to look forward to the day when I would get to the back rooms and be able to sail. But man, you get into those green rooms, those back rooms, there is so much ego there. There is so much competition there. I don't know how many times I've talked to people who, as soon as they see me, they start dropping names of all the people they know who are famous. They start telling me about all their success and they just wanna give you their resume. They take pictures with the popular people, post them on social media and say, look how favored I am. Yeah, that's real. But we need to be people who are pure. And so what I do when I get into those situations, I call it crucifying the ego. Sometimes I'll get around people and they'll begin to just talk down to me and tell me how much they've accomplished. And what they're trying to do is assert dominance. Now, especially as a male, I wanna assert my dominance back. And if I wanted to, I could list my resume and assert myself and push back on that. What does the Lord have me do, the Holy Spirit, will lead me to be gentle and humble. And instead of pushing back and giving them my resume, what I'll do is I'll begin to ask about theirs. I'll begin to compliment what they're doing. We'll say, that's powerful. That's awesome that God is using you that way. Man, you are so anointed. And I begin to encourage them. And that encouragement does away with their insecurity. And when that insecurity is gone, their guard drops and they can be real with me. And so that's just one example. But it takes a lot to crucify that ego. I've had people talk down to me. I've had people treat me poorly. I've had people try to give me their resume to impress me or to outdo me. But I have to say, I must acknowledge that I died to self a long time ago. You cannot offend a dead man. You cannot stir the ego in someone who's dead. So we must be willing to keep our ego in check, watch our motives and be willing to bless other ministries, be willing to take the lower step, be willing to allow people sometimes to assert their dominance. That's fine. And in that you show more strength than they do. In that you show that you're passing this test of jealousy and competition. Bless those who are blessed with what you want. Pray for those who are being favored in the area you want to be favored. Talk well of those who are gifted in the areas that you are gifted. Promote those who have similar ministries to yours. And watch the Lord promote you. Do it with a pure heart, do it sincerely. You'll pass the test of jealousy and God will expand your influence. Well, that's it for that lesson. And next week, I'm gonna be finishing up this series talking about the test of faith, but I wanna pray for you now that God would help you to subject the flesh and move into this area of humility. Humility is so key to ministry. You stay humble and there is no limit to where God will raise you. You don't speak negative of people who you're jealous. And you know that you speak sometimes jealously negatively of other ministries and people. If you know that, you need to repent right now. So I want you to repent before the Lord and let's pray that his power would come on you in a fresh way right now. Lord in Jesus' name. I pray for that one receiving this prayer. And I ask Lord that you would anoint that one. Holy Spirit, we can't do this without you. Stay close to us and constantly remind us that we belong to you. Be our constant reminder that it's all about Jesus. It's all about souls. Help us to be those who will carry the gospel with pure motives, pure hearts. Help us to pass these tests Lord in the name of Jesus we pray. And I want you to say it if you agree, say amen. Well that is it for the lesson. I wanna welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you, we are praying for you. I always say that because I always mean it. If you'd like information on how you can join the Spirit Family, use the information at the bottom of the screen. Join today, it's free and I will send you a brand new teaching every single week in your email inbox. I send that to you on Sundays and you can even reply to that email for prayer support from our ministry staff. And I would encourage you join the Spirit Family today. We have over 2,500 members from all around the world. I wanna read your comments now. And these comments are taken from last week's video which was a spirit-led disruption to our sermon series. And that video was entitled The Holy Spirit in the Last Days. Joseph McLaren writes, God bless you David. Thank you for this lesson. I felt the power of the Holy Spirit come on me when I was listening to you preach. This is truly an amazing ministry. I hope you have a good day David. God bless everyone. God bless you Joseph. I know many people write into us and tell us that they feel the power of the Holy Spirit while watching the broadcast. And that to me is amazing because that's my heart. I want people to experience the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Nadine writes, I needed to hear this today. Thank you for shifting my focus back into the right direction. God's perfect love does cast out all fear. And Jay writes, I have noted one major element which makes brother David and the spirit church a star above the rest. It is the listening accordingly and obeying accordingly to the Holy Spirit. Prior to this sermon, we were all awaiting the seven trials of the called series to continue. But it was not to be as you were directed by the Holy Spirit to teach more on the Holy Spirit in the last days. I am really touched by this sermon. Thank you brother David for that powerful teaching which I think is second to none. Although all your sermons are second to none and you're writing from Zimbabwe. Well, I do believe that there are many gifted, many women of God who can expound on these topics. But I must give all the glory to Jesus. It's his ministry, it's his word, it's his anointing. And that's what you sense. That is what makes this ministry unique. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit being able to move through the content and touch people right where they are and all glory belongs to Jesus. Annette writes, thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit in bringing his message of rationality to oppose manmade social media fear mongering. Man, I could talk about that comment all day but I totally agree with you. And then the final commenter writes, I believe that we are in the last days and God promised to pour out his Holy Spirit upon us. The good news of the kingdom will spread throughout the nations before the end comes. We must pray that the children of God who are falling asleep will be awake. That's why we must teach the gospel of Jesus Christ with urgency to save souls. I agree 100%. We truly must preach the gospel with urgency. Now, while we shouldn't be paranoid or fearful when it comes to the last days or the idea about the last days, we must also acknowledge that we have to preach the gospel with urgency. Now, whether or not these are the last days and I believe we are living in the last days, we must acknowledge that today is somebody's last day and that should be enough to cause us to preach the gospel with urgency. We must preach this gospel. The scripture says, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. Souls, this is about souls. Jesus deserves to reap the reward of his suffering and souls, we must have compassion for souls. So I ask you viewer, listener, how much is the soul worth to you? I mean, we talk about how we're all in for Jesus but does our life show it? I'm asking for your help now. Help me win souls all around the world. Now, for those of you who don't know, we've been doing a ministry campaign now and this ministry campaign is focused on getting us a new ministry facility. Now, where we are right now, we're out growing it and we have a vision that's expanding and we want to do more than ever before. We wanna spread the gospel through events and media. That's simply what the ministry does. We win souls and we build believers through events and media. Now, the media side and the event side are both being impacted by our recent campaign and the campaign goal was this. We needed to add 1,000 new $30 monthly, not one time monthly supporters. These are people who sign up on the automatic plan and say, I'm gonna pledge to give $30 every month to your ministry automatically. We needed a thousand more of those. Here's where we are in our progress. Look at how close we are. We are so close to that goal. Now, let me tell you where that monthly support is gonna go. That monthly support is gonna go toward the monthly cost of the new facility and with that new facility, we're going to do weekly meetings, live broadcasts, bring in studio audiences. We're going to be able to put out more content than ever before, higher quality than ever before and ultimately win more souls than ever before. Also with that support, we're going to do more events in more places all around the world. You've seen the Miracle Services here on YouTube or possibly on Facebook and I'd like to do more of those events. And in fact, if you look at our calendar, we've been adding more events recently and that's because of your support. So, once we reach that goal of 1,000 monthly supporters, that means we have enough to cover the monthly cost of a facility that we wanna get into. And once we get into there, I really believe that's gonna be a game changer and we're gonna see exponential growth and we are going to win souls. Listen to me, I've told you this often, mark my words, you will see a day when stadiums are filled with people giving their hearts to Jesus. You will see it with your own eyes and you'll remember me saying it in this moment but you can be a part of it. You can get it on the ground level. You can say I was there at the beginning. God is gonna do big things. We are just getting started. We haven't even scratched the surface here at this ministry. You watch, you're gonna see it with your own eyes and I want you to be a part of it. Lend me a helping hand. You've received from this ministry, you've received from the teachings, maybe you've attended the events, maybe you've read one of our books or the podcast or whatever, however you receive from this ministry. Now is the time. Now is the time to gather around and support. Help me take the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit all around the world. If you're watching this on YouTube, you can wait until the end of this video. A red button is going to appear. Click on that link, it'll take you to the partnership link. If you're watching this on the app, wait for the video to end and you'll see the links to click right after the video ends. If you're watching this anywhere else, just use the information at the bottom of the screen. When you sign up to become a $30 month supporter, I will send you either Carriers of the Glory or 25 truths about demons and spiritual warfare and I'll send it to you signed. So do that today, don't wait on it, do it today. I believe the Lord is leading you, obey him and he'll supply all your needs and you'll be involved in spreading the gospel. Well, that is it for this edition of Spirit Church. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God. Thank you for watching Encounter TV. Don't forget to subscribe. Also, help me win souls by spreading the gospel through events and media. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.