Well, tonight I invite you to turn once again with me to Genesis 39, to continue our consideration of the last part of verse 6 through verse 12, but tonight as well if you would turn to Philippians chapter 4 as we first read verses 4 through 13 of Philippians chapter 4. Philippians 4, beginning at verse 4, as we hear now the Word of God. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from Me or seen in Me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoice greatly into the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for Me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He says, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Once again, Genesis chapter 39. The last part of verse 6. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, And after a while, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, Come to bed with me. But he refused. With me in charge, he told her, My master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns, he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, Come to bed with me. But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. Beloved in the Lord, as we began to consider together this morning, Joseph was faced, he came face to face with unsolicited temptation by Mrs. Potiphar. He did not ask for it in any way. He did not give her any indication that he was interested in her in any way at all. In some sense, this temptation, it was one of the most powerful kinds of temptations human beings can face for sexual gratification. As we said this morning, an attack against that which, in some respects, is natural to us. Natural appetites and desires that God has given to us, yet God gave them without sin. But as we said, this temptation was insurmountable, humanly speaking. It's one of those that look like a mountain. How can I ever conquer it? How can I ever overpower it? It was a powerful temptation by Satan through an important and a powerful woman who tried to take advantage of Joseph's circumstances as the number one slave of her husband. In a sense, Joseph was at her mercy. She forced him to make a choice between the favor of man and the favor of God. And some would say that Joseph was in a no-win situation. Either he would anger her or he would anger God. And let's be honest, beloved, sometimes it's a whole lot harder to anger one whose eyes we are looking into, and we just kind of figure, well, God will understand. But the fact is, beloved, sometimes it's not possible to please both God and man. And then, you and I must be ready. And we must know exactly what we will do. But we must also praise God for the truth of His Word that with God all things are possible. Mere man could not triumph over this unsolicited yet insurmountable temptation, but with Joseph now we see the inspiring victory. And the reason is simple. Because God was with him. Indeed, this temptation was powerful. But God is more powerful. He's all-powerful. And the believer's comfort must be, is and must be, as Paul says, I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. In the strength of the Lord who was with him, Joseph determined to walk with God no matter the cost. Of course, we know the story well. Joseph resisted. Joseph resisted the power of temptation that came in the sexual advances of Mrs. Potiphar. Through this temptation from Satan, God was testing and proving Joseph. He was preparing him for leadership. If Joseph had given in to Mrs. Potiphar, he would never have become the prime minister of Egypt. He never would have saved his family. He would have simply blended in with Egyptian history, which no one would have ever spoken of again. But because the Lord was with him and he knew it, Joseph gave his all in resisting temptation and he chose the path that led to prison and true freedom. Matthew Henry writes about this, all things considered, his escape was, for all I know, as great and instant of the divine power as the deliverance of the three children out of the fiery furnace. Boys and girls, Matthew Henry is saying that just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were delivered from that fire which burned up the soldiers on the outside of the furnace. That physical fire, in the very same way Joseph was delivered from this fire, his escape was only as theirs by God's grace and power. And indeed, beloved, it saved him from destruction. As Proverbs 6, verse 32 says, But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment. Whoever does so destroys himself. God with Joseph resulted in the inspiring victory over this unsolicited temptation. And not only are we to be inspired by this, but God teaches us through Joseph how we are to face and how we are to deal with temptation to sin, how we are to do that in the strength of the Lord. And as Joseph knew, we must know what sin is. I'm speaking in a broad, general way here, but we must know what sin is. Joseph says to Mrs. Potiphar, how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? Joseph was clear that sin is ultimately against God. Sin, as we know it, is missing the mark. Think of that bullseye, boys and girls, an archer with a bow and arrow, and he wants to aim for that bullseye, but he's way off direction. In sin, we are way off direction from the bullseye that God has set up for us to hit. Sin is disobedience against God. Sin is the very opposite of what God commands. Sin is the very opposite of what pleases Him. And it contradicts His holiness and His righteousness. And when we do that which is wicked, that which pleases Satan, that which offends God, that is sin. But you see, Satan doesn't want us to see it that way. He wants us to see things differently. Through temptation, He waters down sin as it were. Not the truth of it, but the appearance of it. The thought of it. He waters it down so that we won't see it as so bad. So that we might not think that it's so objectionable. And maybe we'll even see it as something desirable and something that we deserve. Let me give you a simple example. Boys and girls and young people, you may have studied hard for that test, but now you're sitting in the classroom taking that test and there's that one answer you can't remember. You know it. You can see it on the page of your notes. But it just isn't coming to you at that moment. You know that as soon as you hand your test in, it's going to be there. But not when you need it. You did study hard. And you really do in your own mind, you really do deserve to get that straight A. And therefore you might think, well, since I know it anyway, it wouldn't be so bad if I just borrowed that one answer from my neighbor's test. Or young people, as you're dating, you might say, well, we love each other. We are committed to each other and we are sure that we're going to get married someday, far off into the future, but we're positive of it. And therefore, we think it's okay to experiment with our bodies. Beloved, there may be many ways in which we justify sin and we make it out to not be so bad and even acceptable. And I'm not talking about just the big things like murder, mass murder, or stealing billions of dollars or something on that scale. I'm talking about the little everyday things of life that you and I all know about. And we justify things. And our society, well, we know that society renames sin, doesn't it? Calls us something completely different. Unrighteous anger or hostility or a hot temper is called self-expression. Letting it all hang out. And we all have that right, don't we? Once in a while we just have to let it all hang out. Pride is given a new name. Self-esteem. Coveting is called self-improvement. Do you see how these things are watered down and made to seem not so bad, even good? Sexual relationships in the sense of perversions condemned in the Bible are given a new name. Alternate lifestyles. But you see, brothers and sisters, as the saying goes, A rose, by any other name, is still a rose. It feels like a rose. It looks like a rose. It smells like a rose. The thorns hurt like a rose. It's a rose. Boys and girls, you can call it a dandelion if you want. But it's not. It's a rose. Sin, no matter what you call it, or no matter how you try to mask it or change it, is still sin. It's still wickedness. It still hurts and destroys. I heard this analogy of running a marathon race, a 26-mile race. Of course, we know that it's a physical game. It takes strength and endurance, but it's also a mental game. And sometimes, I don't know this by experience, of course, but sometimes when one reaches the halfway mark, the 13-mile mark, that fatigue sets in, that stress sets in, and one might forget the reason for wanting to run in the first place. And because they can't remember why they even started the race, it's so easy to tell themselves, I might as well quit. There's no reason. I can't finish. And it's that moment that that one must tell himself, I had a good reason for starting this race. I can't remember it at the moment. But I had a good reason, and I will remember later on. And therefore, I must keep going. You see, beloved, before temptation comes, we must know what sin is. Because in the midst of the temptation, we might not be clear-headed. Yet, if we can think of nothing else, we must remember that the temptation is to sin. And therefore, we have reason to obey God and live in response to knowing what sin is and live according to His favor and not to live in response to the sinful passions at the moment. We are called to remember what the Lord requires of us, as Micah says, to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Joseph knew what sin is. He knew that wickedness is sin. That sin is the very opposite of what God commands, the very opposite of what God desires. And he also knew then what sin does. It hurts. It destroys. Joseph knew that it would hurt others and that it would offend God. Notice verses 8 and 9 again. But he refused. With me in charge, he told her, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? Now notice there Joseph's concern for the two great commandments. love for God above all, and love for his neighbor as himself. Potiphar trusted Joseph. And therefore, he entrusted Joseph with everything he had. Joseph had a moral debt to honor that trust. He would protect Potiphar's interest, but Potiphar did not give Joseph something very important. Potiphar did not give Joseph Mrs. Potiphar. And Joseph makes that clear because she was his wife. Yet Joseph would also protect that interest of Potiphar. He knew that to violate her marriage vow would not only be sin against Potiphar, but it would also be sin against Mrs. Potiphar, even though she was the one who was asking for it. But at the same time, Joseph was reminding Mrs. Potiphar, Maybe even in a subtle way we might say he was reminding her of her marriage vow. Her husband ought to have been a covering for her eyes from all other men. And beloved, that's true for all of us who have been blessed with a husband or a wife. Our spouse is to be the only one we fix our eyes upon, a covering for our eyes from every other one of the opposite sex. Our spouse is to be the only one that we fix our eyes upon with thoughts and desires that God made to be good and beautiful within the marriage relationship between husband and wife. And our God Himself, for all of us, married or not, is to also be that covering before our eyes that we see indeed when we are tempted to sin. Beloved, guard your eyes. Guard your hearts. Young people, guard your hearts. You see, sin is not just a little thing. It's a serious matter. But our world is filled with proof of sin being treated as no big deal. Poverty. AIDS. Abortion. Murder. Illegal activity because of greed. And many other things that you can add to this. And these, of course, are on a broad scale, but even as professing Christians, how many things have we watered down and we justify to ourselves, but our actions are still sin, gossip, the praise of others for ourselves, selfishness, manipulation to get our way, and any other violation of God's commands. But in some way, you see, our sin still hurts others and may even drive them away from Christ. But even more than hurting Potiphar and his wife, which would indeed be terrible, Joseph knew that sin offends God. After David had been brought to see the truth of his sin with Bathsheba, he wrote about God in Psalm 51, verse 4, and he says against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. He sinned against Bathsheba, he sinned against Uriah, He sinned against his own people, but ultimately his sin was against God, against the commandments of God, against the holiness of God. Joseph says, how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And beloved, this is the question each one of us must ask when we are tempted to sin. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? That's what we must ask. Whether we might consider it some great sin or some small sin. Whether a public sin or in private. With regard to Joseph, others may not see this as such a serious violation had he given in to Mrs. Potiphar, but Joseph saw it as a great wickedness. And notice something interesting, I think. Joseph wasn't condemning her sin. Did you notice that? He wasn't pointing at her, looking her in the eye, pointing at her and saying, You wicked lady! you shouldn't be doing that stuff shame on you but he points the finger at himself and in that way Mrs. Potiphar then should have seen her own guilt but he says how then could I how could I one who knows the mercy and the blessing of God one who knows the difference between right and wrong one who knows that I'm saved by God's grace alone. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? You see, beloved, what Joseph is saying here is, this is impossible. How could I? I can't. I could never do this against the God who loves me and saved me. 1 John 3, verse 9 says, No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. And we know that John is not saying that believers never sin, but we don't live according to that lust of sin. We're no longer ruled by that sin. It is no longer our desire. God was with Joseph. And Joseph was conscious of God's presence and that he was in God's presence always. And beloved, this did not mean for Joseph that this was a burden, that God was always with him. It was not a burden to Joseph as if God is always looking over His shoulders. Mrs. Potiphar, I have to say no because God is looking over my shoulder. That's not it at all. Being in God's presence, God with Him, that was Joseph's delight. And beloved, this is true for you and me as believers. God is with us. And we are always in His presence. His Holy Spirit lives in us and our own personal reaction to temptation must be the very same as Joseph. How could I, one who knows that I have been bought with a price, one who knows that I am not my own but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, one who knows that I am a new creation in Him, one who knows that I have been given the duty to live for and to serve Him, how could I sin against the One who saved me, the One who shed His blood for me, the One who gave His life for me? beloved if this doesn't impact me then what right do I have to call myself a Christian but praise God he provides a way out remembering the work of Jesus Christ for me Jesus Christ and his saving sacrifice is to be the covering over my eyes and your eyes when we face temptation that we might remember how deep the Father's love for us how vast beyond all measure that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure and also that in the power of Christ I'll stand as we sang earlier I don't deserve this but Jesus Christ is to be my covering when I come face to face with temptation to sin that I see Jesus and He is my desire God's presence, beloved, is my delight above all else. It is to be. To give in to temptation and sin. Remember, though, the temptation is not the sin. One has not yet sinned just because you are tempted. However, it is possible to have sinful thoughts as you think about and consider giving in to it. But facing the temptation is not yet to commit the sin. But to give in to temptation and sin is to deny your profession of Christ, your profession of faith. It is to deny Christ. Temptation is all around us all the time. Satan is busy and he will stay busy until the Lord returns. And at times we can be so busy trying to water down sin, going against our God-given conscience and to justify ourselves in that which we know is sin. You see, beloved, each one of us knows in our own hearts where we compromise in life. We talk about a gray area, don't we? And let's be honest, that gray area continues to get larger and larger and larger. If it's not clearly black or clearly white, we stuff it into this gray area. And I'm afraid that more and more we tend to make the gray area acceptable. Yes, Joseph was faced with temptation to commit sexual sin. But this is true of all sin, of thought, word, and action, whether failing to do what God commands or doing what God commands us not to do, yet all sin is against God. But beloved, for some reason, that doesn't seem to bother us anymore. That doesn't seem to bother us anymore. Yes, as believers, we have the comfort of the forgiveness of all of our sins for Jesus' sake. And indeed, that is a blessed assurance. But that doesn't mean that we may let our guard down. That doesn't mean that we are allowed to become lazy. That doesn't mean that we may sin freely. Yet sometimes we do. But we must remember and we must be in awe of the holiness of God as Isaiah was when he saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted. Isaiah came face to face with the holiness of God which clearly revealed Isaiah's unholiness and he couldn't help but cry out, Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips. Beloved, the sin of God's elect children is why Jesus Christ left His home in glory. Why He humbled Himself as a man all the way to the suffering and death of the cross taking upon Himself our curse and the punishment of God in our place. Our sin is why Jesus shed His blood for you and me and to willfully give in to temptation and to sin against God is to say, what He did really doesn't mean that much to me. But those who have been given new life in Him, beloved, desire to avoid temptation and sin and they want to know how to avoid it. Joseph is indeed a wonderful example for us. And we need to be reminded of this every day. The truth is we sometimes do solicit temptations. We sometimes do ask for it outright in a sense. Sometimes we do willingly place ourselves in situations where we know full well that we may find trouble. Young people, if you know that certain things are going to be taking place at a party or at a function and you say, I've heard this all before, well, hear it again, okay? If you know that certain things may be taking place at a party or at a function that you have no business participating in, you might be fooling yourself by thinking, I can handle it. The famous last words of teenagers to their children is, trust me, I would never do that. My parents can tell you a story about me that I'm not proud of. I said the same words, and they were proven wrong. We have no business, for example, watching TV shows, and I struggle with this too, that freely promote, and most of them do, we become desensitized to it, that freely promote though premarital or extramarital sex or filthy language or simply any wickedness that is sin against God. But beloved, notice what Joseph did or didn't do. Follow again as we read verses 8 through 12. But he refused. With me in charge, he told her, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, Come to bed with me. But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. Now, three things in there that I want to bring to your attention that Joseph did or didn't do. First of all, over and over again, he refused with his words. He didn't keep silent. He didn't just hold it in and maybe in that way give the appearance that it would be okay. He refused with his words and in doing so, notice, he witnessed for God and he gave testimony to his relationship with God. You see, we are given the idea here that Joseph never ever even thought about accepting Mrs. Potiphar's offer. He never said, well, you know, I'd like to, but I really can't. He never engaged in flirting with her or even joking about her advances. He never gave her command for him to go to bed with her a second thought. Even if it cost him his job, his position, God's command was more important to him than her command. He desired to please God more than man. The second thing, not only did he refuse her with his words, but he did everything he could to avoid being near her. Again, the text says he refused to even be with her. As we said this morning, it says literally to lie beside her. He wouldn't lie beside her. He didn't even want to be in the same room with her. He would do everything he could to keep from giving her a reason to lust after him. And beloved, we must learn from this. Don't willfully put yourself in a position in which you will be tempted. Or, in which you may cause another to be tempted. And that's important too. For example, be careful how you dress. Again, I've heard that all before. So what? hear it again. Be careful how you dress so that you may not be the cause of the lustful, adulterous thoughts of another. Don't even pick up that magazine or look at those pictures on the internet that will arouse sinful desires in your heart and mind. And then the third thing. Joseph put the principles he professed into practice. Well, he kind of did that in the second one, but here specifically. When Mrs. Potiphar grabbed him and no one but she and Joseph would know, he ran as fast as he could. He tore himself away from her. He didn't worry about that cloak which would later testify against him. Instead, he was more worried or he was more concerned about God's honor. The original language says literally, he, that is Joseph, got him out. Joseph got himself out. There were no other servants to help him. She certainly wasn't going to kick him out. He knew the Lord was with him, and by the grace of God, he got himself out of there. Get yourself out of there. All along, beloved, he never stopped to think about the pros and cons of giving in to her. He didn't debate about what to do. And when the time came, he was ready. His eyes were on God. covering for his eyes and he dealt with this powerful unsolicited temptation in a radical way as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6.18 flee from sexual immorality. He fled for his life. Unlike the young man of Proverbs 7 as we read this morning who was led to his death. What an inspiring victory for Joseph over unsolicited temptation and we know it was because the Lord was with him And Joseph knew that, and by God's grace, it was his desire to honor and to serve the one who called Joseph to be his child. Joseph knew that through his dreams, many years before, he knew that God had a great purpose for him. And this wasn't it. This was not it with Mrs. Potiphar. Through this temptation, God tested and proved Joseph's faith and prepared Him for a much greater position that would be used by God to preserve the line leading to the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The first Adam failed. The first Adam gave in to temptation and made it necessary for the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who alone would be victorious over Satan's temptations and that victory prepared Him to conquer Satan with the sword called the cross. In Him alone, in Christ alone, We are more than conquerors over temptation too. You see, in our own strength, beloved, we would fail every single time, but I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. In His strength, I can turn and run when faced with temptation. In His strength, I can be confident that God's honor is more precious to me than Satan's threat is a danger to me. In Him, I am assured that He is my way out. Beloved, we need to be honest about our weaknesses. If you have trouble with alcohol, don't keep it in the house. If you struggle with lust, avoid anything even remotely pornographic, which pops up, of course, in the most unlikely of places nowadays. In this life, we must be conscious every moment of the Lord's presence and of that which honors Him. Remember, as the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. But as Paul says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. We are called to fill our hearts and our minds with our God, with His majesty, with His saving sacrifice in Jesus Christ our Lord to be our covering. You see, beloved, Satan will not stop assaulting us and therefore the daily activity of a child of God is to resist, to resist, and to resist by the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us strength. We will fail. We will fall into temptation at times, not because we want to, but our comfort is in Jesus Christ who gained the eternal victory for all those who look to Him in faith, for all those who look to Him in faith. And just as Joseph gained no immediate earthly reward by running from temptation, but instead he became a prisoner for a couple of years, in this life, as we strive to be obedient to God, and in the process we offend and anger the world, we may very well suffer. Maybe even terribly. Yet our reward is with God through Jesus Christ who gained the eternal victory for us. Indeed, beloved, we are to be inspired by Joseph's victory because the very same God who was with Joseph is with us today. And He has guaranteed to you and me that because we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, nothing will be able to separate us from His love. Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Take heart, beloved. Our hands are in God's hand and He perfectly cares for us. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You for our hope, even Jesus Christ our Lord, the One who gained a victory over Satan's temptations in our place, who has earned for us eternal life that we could not earn ourselves. Father, we thank You for that blessed gospel message of Jesus Christ which gives us comfort when we do fall. We pray, Father, indeed, keep us from temptation. Deliver us from evil. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.