It's not very loud. Are we there? Genesis chapter 39. Genesis and chapter 39 as we continue in our Sunday morning series through this very important foundational book of the Bible. Genesis and chapter 39 and I'm speaking this morning on the subject, Joseph passes his greatest test. And that is my perspective of it. As you look at the life of Joseph, I think this would represent the greatest test, if not one of the greatest tests of his life. And if Joseph had failed this test, he would have disappeared into the sands of time, into the sands of Egypt and the story of Joseph's life would have been over as far as the biblical record is concerned, I believe. But Genesis 39 and we see Joseph's victory over Potiphar's wife and I'm going to read verse 1 to 12, we're going to pray and then we're going to ask the Lord's help for this very important portion of Scripture. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, brought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, 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. 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 Egyptians 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 aught he had save the bread, which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person and well favoured. And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, Lie with me. But he refused and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master watteth not what is with me in the house, old English word there meaning to know. 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 anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? it came to pass as he 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 into in her hand and fled and got him out let's pray father we thank you for this passage of scripture And Lord, the very important lessons of purity we learn, Lord, really in chapter 38 and chapter 39 of Genesis, as well as many other portions of your word, I ask you now for the strength and the grace that is needed to be able to proclaim all that you would have me to proclaim this morning from your word. Lord, we ask for a receptivity in the hearts of the hearers. Lord, that the sword of your Spirit would discern and would probe our hearts and that we would be challenged and changed, we pray. So we ask for unction, we ask for utterance today and we look to you and to you alone and your sufficiency for this message now and for your blessing. In Jesus' name, Amen. You remember last week we covered the example of Judah, the bad example of Judah and his immoral lifestyle and it's no mistake of the Holy Spirit of God that we have this profile of Judah's life in chapter 38 and then this pure example of Joseph in chapter 39 and you take Genesis 38 and 39 together and you have some powerful lessons in the area of purity. And if there was ever a need for purity amongst God's people, it would have to be the day and age in which we are living. And we can learn not only from the bad example of Judah in chapter 38, but praise God, we can also learn from the good example of Joseph in Genesis chapter 39. How old was Joseph at this time, is a question we could ask. Well, we don't know exactly. We know that Joseph was 30 years old when he was promoted by Pharaoh as second ruler in Egypt. We know it was two years before that, that he had helped the butler and the baker interpret their dreams in prison. So how much time Joseph had been in prison before he interpreted the Butler and Baker's dreams? We don't know, but probably around one or two years. So we would suggest that Joseph was around 25, 26, maybe 27 at the time of this temptation. So we're dealing with a young man in the prime of life with all the natural desires and struggles that a young man at this age would face. I believe the chapter before us records what would be the greatest test of Joseph's life, a temptation here that would test the very fabric of his walk with God, would test his morality and his stand to the absolute maximum. We saw Judah in chapter 38 falling under much less difficult conditions and yet now we find Joseph coming out of this Syrian temptation victorious. And so that will be our theme this morning, Joseph passes his greatest test. And I'm gonna divide our section here of scripture into three parts for our study and I want you to notice firstly in verse one to six, what I would call Joseph's testimony in Potiphar's house. This sets the scene for what is to follow, Joseph's testimony in Potiphar's house. several truths about that. Notice in verse 1 what I would call God's providence in Joseph's life. Joseph is brought down to Egypt by the Ishmaelites and in the providence of God, amongst all the potential slave buyers, he is sold to this one by the name of Potiphar, who was a high-ranking official of Pharaoh. He was an officer of Pharaoh, he was the captain of Pharaoh's personal bodyguard and also oversaw a special prison for political prisoners and where Joseph would eventually be incarcerated himself. And it's just a part of the whole story of Joseph. You see the providential leading of God. You see the hand of God directing every phase, every stage of Joseph's life. And we can see how God in his wisdom allowed Joseph to be purchased by Potiphar because this time in Potiphar's house would be very important preparation for Joseph for the life he would have later in Egypt. Think about it, in Potiphar's house he would have learned the Egyptian language. he would have learned about the Egyptian customs, he probably would have learned a lot about Pharaoh's household because Pharaoh was closely associated with the captain of the guard here. God's providence in Joseph's life. Look at God's presence in Joseph's life, verse 2 and 3, and the Lord was, what? With Joseph. What a wonderful, comforting word that is. 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, what? With him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. What a testimony in Joseph's life here. reality of God's presence. What a comfort this must have been for Joseph. Think about what he has just been through. He's been sold by his brothers, he's been through that terrible trial and he's still in the trial and what a comfort for Joseph to be consciously aware of the presence of God in his life. Isn't that a comfort in trial? You may be going through some deep waters this morning, but when you have that sense of the presence of God, even your feelings might be down, but you know by faith God is there. And what a sustaining blessing that is in times of trial. Joseph had lost a lot, hadn't he? He'd lost his coat of many colours, he'd lost his family, his home, contact with his father and yet he had not lost the presence of God. Could I encourage you in that this morning? You may be going through a trial of loss, you feel you have lost this in your life and that in your life. If you are saved this morning, one thing that cannot be taken away from you is the presence of God. You have not lost the presence of God. because God's Word says, I will never leave thee. It's God's personal promise to us, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13, 5. The reality of God's presence, the results of God's presence, God's hand was upon Joseph here as he went about his duties as Potiphar's slave and God caused him to prosper. because of that, his master saw that the Lord was with him. So we have the recognition of God's presency, Joseph's life was a good testimony before Potiphar. as he went about his duties, as he worked, as he laboured, Potiphar watched on and saw there's something different about Joseph amongst all his slaves. He's a high-ranking official, he probably had a lot of slaves but here you have Joseph who's going through a terrible trial and by his attitude, by his life, he is showing forth a good testimony. That tells me that Joseph's attitude was right towards his trial here. Joseph wasn't slouching around and just approaching things with a bad spirit, Joseph was clearly walking with God to where it became evident to his unsaved master here that the Lord was with him and so he recognized the presence of God in Joseph's life and the prosperity from God in Joseph's life. I wonder what kind of testimony are you at your work? Can people see Christ in you? Can people see God's hand upon you? If you're walking with God, then by the grace of God, that should be your testimony over time. What a wonderful thing when an unsaved person can look at your life and say, there's something different about that person. The way they speak is different. The way they approach life is different. There's something different about them. And then you, by the grace of God, have the opportunity to say it is because of my relationship with God. It's because I know God. God's presence in Joseph's life. Look then at God's promotion in Joseph's life, verse 4 to 6, and Joseph found grace in his sight, that's Potiphar's 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 Egyptians house for Joseph's sake and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. So Potiphar recognised Joseph, Joseph's worth and God's hand upon Joseph and now God allows him to be promoted to where Joseph was overseer of Potiphar's entire household. Now you're going to see a pattern emerging in Joseph's life. Even back in the home he became essentially second in command to his father as the one holding the rank of firstborn. Now you find him rising to second-in-command in Potiphar's house. He's going to fall from that in the providence of God, there's going to be another trial. Then in the prison, guess what? He becomes second-in-command to the jail warden. Then he becomes ultimately second-in-command to Pharaoh. So you can see a pattern of God's preparation in Joseph's life as he works through this situation. And God blessed Potiphar, because of Joseph. Isn't that amazing? have here a heathen man, doesn't know God, undoubtedly he worships the false gods of Egypt and God blesses the house of Potiphar for Joseph's sake. I don't think the world understands how much blessing it owes to Christians and that's not a statement of pride, I'm just saying the presence of a believer in a workplace, the presence of a believer in a society, in a nation, in a community, very often brings the blessings of God, God blesses on behalf of His people. And so, so much did Potiphar grow to trust Joseph that the Bible tells us that in verse 6 that he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he knew not all he had save the bread which he did eat. Means he just, the only thing he really took notice of was what came on his table. he was eating. Everything else, he trusted Joseph so completely, that's amazing for a slave in those days, you have to understand, in those days in Egypt, if you were a slave, you were basically a piece of property. Joseph really proved himself here, not only by the character of his life, but Joseph was a very gifted administrator. God had gifted Joseph in a number of areas. He was gifted in the area of interpreting dreams, that's true. But Joseph, you look at Joseph's life, he was a gifted administrator and he knew how to organize things and how to get things prospering. And the Bible says that the blessing of God was upon all that he had, not only in the house, but in the field. So it tells you the scope of God's blessing. God's blessing was coming upon Potiphar's household in all that he had because of this godly man, Joseph. Joseph's testimony in Potiphar's house. What kind of testimony do we have where we are? It is important you think about that. If you lose your temper at work and just let off a bunch of swear words, how are you showing any difference in your life to the unsaved person? If you go about your work duties with a foul attitude, a grumbling attitude and a complaining attitude. How is that a good testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ? You've got to think beyond yourself, don't you? And how God could use you in that situation. And I understand we all have our down moments. Don't be afraid, by the way, to go to a work colleague, an unsaved work colleague, and apologize if you did something wrong. That's a good testimony. But they're unsaved. Well, because they're unsaved means they don't need an apology. Who do you think you are? Joseph's testimony in Potiphar's house. But I really want to get to the heart of the message now, you see the scene is set, we look now at Joseph's temptation in Potiphar's house in verse 6 here, and on. And Joseph, the last part of verse 6 says, and Joseph was a goodly person and well-favoured. Verse 7, and it came to pass after these things, after what things? after what has just transpired. Do you see the picture here? Joseph has gone from the pit of slavery, as it were, up to the heights of success. He's now second in command to this very high-ranking and powerful official in Egypt by the name of Potiphar. And after these things, during this time of success, during this time where Joseph is prospering, this temptation comes to Joseph's life. May I remind you that the temptation to drift from God does not only come during seasons of sorrow and seasons of trial. Yes, there are dangers during seasons of trial, but you better mark it down. There are great dangers that come during times of success. when everything is going well, when everything seems just right, watch out, that's just when the devil is going to try and make you fall. And I want us to observe six truths concerning Joseph's temptation here because it will help us to learn about temptation in our own lives and how by the grace of God we can have victory. Number one, the temptress in the temptation. temptress in the temptation. Let's look at Potiphar's wife for a moment. We don't know her name, we just know her as Potiphar's wife. And the Bible sets the scene in verse 6 where it says, and Joseph was a goodly person and well-favoured. You say, what does that mean? Joseph was a stunner. Joseph was a very handsome, very good-looking man. In fact, the exact same Hebrew words are used to describe his mother, Rachel. She was a goodly person and well-favoured, a beautiful woman. And so you can see the picture here, Joseph has inherited his mother's good looks, and we all get our good looks from our mothers, don't we? Just put that in there to get the brownie points for the ladies, okay? My children get them from me, yeah, but I'm a unique person, there's not many in that category. No, I'm just joking. Joseph was a stunning young man but I think the lure for Potiphar's wife was more than that, he was a man who had it together, he had some things going for his life, he had some poise, there was something different about him. She could see, unlike the other Egyptian men, he was a pure man and therefore that made him a prize for her as a seductive woman. You know, think about it, Joseph had faced the pit of pain, hadn't he? Remember he was cast into the pit by his brothers? He had faced the pit of suffering and the pit of sorrow and that pit in our lives comes with certain temptations. But there's another pit that I think for a young man is even more dangerous, it's the pit of pleasure. Joseph is now going to face the pit of pleasure and did you know the Bible actually uses those terms in reference to a wicked woman? In Proverbs 23, 27 it says, for a whore is a deep ditch and a strange woman is a narrow pit. you're going to have to be aware of that, that you're going to face at times in your life the pit of pain where you're going through sorrow and sufferings and the devil's going to try and blow you off track in that time. But mark it down, you're going to also be faced with the pit of pleasure and if the devil can't destroy your life in the pit of pain, mark it down, he'll get you with the pit of pleasure if he can. I think it's more dangerous in many ways. I believe that this presented a greater challenge to Joseph than even the trial of being betrayed by his brothers. And so she lusted after Joseph and sought to lure Joseph. It's not just men that are involved in seducing others. I have to say that in a culture and I'm not trying to justify any men who are seductive and wicked and any wicked man who's done something wicked should be brought to justice. I'm not justifying any of that but I'm saying we're living in a culture today that's become very skewed where it's always the men's fault for every act of immorality. May I say there are also women out there who are women of the street who think nothing of bringing down a young man like this. don't care whether you're male or female, to seduce someone against God's order there, into sin, is wrong. The temptress in the temptation. Number two, the seductiveness of the temptation. This was a very powerful temptation for Joseph. It came with awful power and appeal. Why was it so seductive? Well, let me give you a few thoughts as to why it was so seductive. Number one, it appealed to a powerful and natural God-given drive. It appealed to a very powerful God-given drive. Is there anything wrong with this drive in and of itself? Who created that drive? God did. There's nothing wrong with the God-given desire here for the one flesh union. What Satan does is says, you come and have it your way. Have it outside of God's will. Is that not what Satan does? He takes a God-given drive and tries to use it in a corrupt way. If there's one God-given drive that is absolutely being misused by the devil today, it's this whole area. I mean, the world, our society at least, is just drunk and drowning in sensuality, drowning in the sordid sins of the flesh. It appealed to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Doesn't Satan have a way of making sin look glossy and glamorous? True? Satan has a way of airbrushing sin. He makes sin look so good, like it's the most desirable thing in the world. I would suggest to you that Potiphar's wife was probably a seductive woman. Archaeological discoveries have revealed that Egyptian women were devoted to external appearance, physical beauty and sex appeal. The women at least in high society were devoted to cosmetics. Archaeologists have discovered mirrors, perfume and lotion bottles and cosmetic containers. They've discovered containers and applicators for coal and ancient cosmetic used to highlight their eyes with black to make them more alluring and attractive used in a similar fashion to modern eye shadow and mascara. There was jewelry for the neck, arms, hands, ankles, feet and ears. There were revealing tight clothing styles. In fact, many of the ancient Egyptian paintings cannot be looked at by a Christian. You get a sense, don't you, for a society's morals by what they paint, by the pictures they promote, by the things they want to put out in the open. Can you see what Joseph's going through here? He's in an environment and a culture that is seductive, where promiscuity is promoted, where promiscuity is endorsed and encouraged. You better be aware of that. Satan knows how to appeal to the desires of the flesh and how to make sin look attractive and make sin look glamorous, make sin look glossy. Don't believe the lie. Sin is never a gorgeous thing. There's pleasure in sin for a season. But at the end of it, heartbreak, sorrow, scars, seductiveness of the temptation, it appealed also to the pride of life. And this is a deeper, we get a bit deeper into the temptation here, it didn't just appeal to Joseph's physical lust here. Temptation of this nature for a young man appeals to the pride of life, I must be really someone. I mean, here we have a woman of high society and I'm a slave, And I must be a real macho, musty, hoo-hoo-hoo man for her to want me like this. Do you see how Satan appeals to the pride of life? Somehow you're going to discover your manhood with this person. Somehow you're going to discover your womanhood if you just indulge in that sin. You can be a wonder woman. You can be a powerful man, you know, be a real man. No, no, a real man like Joseph knows how to say no to temptation. That's what takes courage. It takes no courage at all to go down the drain with the rest of the moral sewer, but it takes courage to swim against the tide and say no! And you better be very careful about that because Satan knows how to appeal not just to your sinful, lustful desires, but he knows how to appeal to your pride. astute writer warns, it is too little observed, and especially by young men who have most need to observe it, that in such temptations it is not only the central that needs to be guarded against, but also two much deeper lying tendencies. The craving for loving recognition and the desire to respond to the feminine love for admiration and devotion. I just have such admiration for you. Really? By the way, it goes both ways and you've got men that flatter women to get their selfish ends accomplished. Be careful of someone who's flattering you. The strange woman flattereth with her lips. He says, a large proportion of misery is due to a kind of uncontrolled and mistaken chivalry. I just, you know, this woman really needs me. Right, yeah. She'll use you and destroy you. Number three, the forwardness of the temptation. I think you'll agree with me, there was no shame in Potiphar's wife here. She was bold and unashamed in her approach. And it came to pass after these things, verse seven, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, lie with me. That's bold. That's in your face kind of temptation. That's the society we're living in today, aren't we? A bold, in your face temptation to sin. That's a feature of an ungodly society. There was a time in our nation where these sins were kept more hidden, and I'm not saying that that made them any more godly or any more appropriate, but I'm saying my own father said to me as a teenager, he said, I feel sorry for you young men because you have to face way more pornographic pictures out there than I had to in my entire youth years. In my father's era in Australia, you would go through the checkout and not be confronted with glossy magazines. You would not be confronted with the kinds of billboards we're confronted with today. But as we keep going down the moral slide, we should not be surprised if like Egypt of old, we start putting up the pictures and the portrayals of deep depravity. This is not even a natural trait of womankind. If they're raised in a decent home, godly, women don't tend to usually be this forward, they have to learn this and it's a feature of a society that's rife with immorality. archaeologists and the historians tell us that the Egyptian women were noted for their lascivious and unfaithful ways. You say, what kind of sins were prevalent in Egypt at that time? Well, we get a sense for those in Leviticus 18 because God commanded His people, the children of Israel, after the doings of the land of Egypt wherein you dwelt, shall ye not do? Don't live like the Egyptians. What kind of sins are then listed in Leviticus 18? incest, verse 6 to 18, adultery, verse 20, sodomy, verse 22, and even bestiality, verse 23. That was Egypt. All of those sins prevalent. That's the day we're living in today, where there's no shame in this area anymore. And men are encouraged and pressured to be playboys, be aware of that. your school you're going to be under pressure to just go down the moral sewer with the rest of them. Staggering the kind of things that are going on now with the smartphones and with young people and and the encouragement of those sins. Women are pressured to lower themselves to the level of a skank on the street. In fact the sordid sins of the flesh life are now being even aggressively promoted to children. forwardness of the temptation. You know, you get a sense here, Satan's not half-hearted in his attempts on our lives. Sin is not neutral, sin is not half-hearted in its attempts to destroy our lives. Number four, look at the relentlessness of the temptation. She spoke to Joseph, the Bible says, day by day. temptation of this nature would be hard enough to resist if it just came once in your life. But imagine now, this is happening to Joseph over a period of time, how long we don't know. Some of the ancient Hebrew commentators from oral tradition suggest that this went on for a year. don't know, but if Joseph was in his mid-twenties, if he left his family, if he was sold into slavery at the age of 17 and went into prison somewhere in his mid-twenties, he may have had the greater part of, you know, seven to ten years in Potiphar's house and it would appear towards the end of his tenure there, well clearly it was towards the end of his tenure that this began to happen, whatever, the Bible makes it very clear that this was not a once-off temptation, but it came to Joseph day after day after day after day. Maybe you're discouraged this morning, you say, when will I ever get to the point in my Christian life where I don't have to say no to temptation? Get ready for it, you're going to have to say no to temptation every single day of your Christian life. And at some times, the battle's going to be more intense than others, but mark it down, I guarantee you, if you're seeking to walk with God, at some point during your day, you're going to have to make a conscious decision to say no to a temptation. But imagine being under this kind of pressure and duress, and Joseph as a slave couldn't just decide, well, I'm going to go and work for someone else down the street. She had him captive here. couldn't escape her. You try bearing up under that as a young man with all of the hormones and all of the struggles in your mid-twenties and day after day this opportunity to sin in this way is presented to you. Think about that. I can imagine Joseph waking up in the morning a sinking feeling comes over him, I might have to face this today again. She's going to be there today again. Young men, can I encourage you? I want to encourage you this morning, when you get up in the morning, you're probably going to face Potiphar's wife somewhere. You're going to face that temptation somewhere. it's going to take a strong walk with God in this polluted society that's just like Egypt with all of its filthy paintings portrayed on the walls, it's going to take a strong walk with God like Joseph and a zeal for God and a zeal for purity to navigate it. It's the nature of temptation, isn't it? You think about it, wholesome opportunity, someone's pointed this out, often only knocks on your door once, but temptation pounds it repeatedly. Number five, this temptation. Number five, the secretiveness of the temptation. secretiveness of the temptation, verse 11. Lord help me on this one. This sin thrives in an environment of secrecy. in an environment of anonymity. And we have to be aware of that today, that sin of this nature often exerts itself in our lives most powerfully when we are out of the sight of others. Do you know what concerns me greatly? The digital Potiphar's wife has found her way into the rooms of many Christian homes. the digital pot of his wife. Do you understand what I mean by that? And it's decimating our homes, it's decimating our young men. I've thought about this a lot lately. I think, wow, there's a lot of wonderful Christian single ladies around. Where are all the men? I believe with all of my heart, many Christian men who should have been candidates for some of these ladies to marry are out there destroyed by the strange woman. no doubt in my mind at all. It's decimating our churches, it's destroying homes and guess what happens? It's all just silent, it's going on behind the scenes in the secretiveness of the home environment where nobody knows and nobody sees. And we've got to educate our parents today. I've said to Pastor Dan before, I said, I wish as pastors, we didn't have to face this central culture. I wish we didn't live in a society that had the accessibility to the strange woman and the technology. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. As pastors and parents, we're going to have to get our heads out of the sand and fight it with all of our strength. We have to fight this battle for the very life of our children and the very life of our young men. And may I say, not just young men today, but young women. You're a fool if you think that a woman is exempt from getting into the sordid sins of the flesh life online. They're showing up in pastor's offices and Christian counselors offices hooked on the same sordid stuff. No, it doesn't affect me. I'm a woman. We're all affected by nakedness. We're all affected by the wicked culture in which we live. Yes, often in different ways, but it can affect you. By the way, if you're a mother here and you say, Amen preacher, preach that. My son and my husband need to keep off of the dirty images. What about you and your slushy romance novels? I said, what about you and your slimy, slushy, steamy romance novels? Because what pictures are to men, books are to women. And you can be living in this fantasy world and you expect your son not to look at the wrong thing, but you're indulging your flesh, reading those murder mysteries and those sappy romance novels with their affairs and everything else that go on in them. If it's wrong to look at it, it's wrong to read about it. Is that true or am I just imagining things there? You need to think as parents about any breach you might be allowing in your home. Do you understand what I mean by a breach in your home? Allowing a little crack for the devil to get through. And you might say, look, I'm so tired, you know, pastor drums on this about smartphone things all the time. Well, I'm sorry, there are too many pulpits silent about this. And guess what's happening? It's destroying the next generation. And if you as a parent, give your young child or your teenager a smartphone, could I say with all the love I can muster, you are a fool. You are a fool. Think! unrestricted access to the internet. Well I just don't believe my little darling would ever do something like that. Your little darling is a devil apart from the grace of God. We all have the devil, the devil nature. Well my child might think I don't trust them. They better know you don't trust their sinful nature. Do you trust your own sinful nature? I don't trust my own sinful nature. Why would you trust a 12-year-old who's got zero wisdom? We've got to think about these things. You let your 13-year-old on Instagram, what do you think they're going to get into? And even if they're not trying to guarantee you, Mrs. Potiphar, we'll find them. I listened to an interview with a lady, she's a non-Christian feminist but to her credit, she lobbies against all these pornographic portrayals of women in shopping centres and things and does good work in that space, she needs to find the law. But she said this, with all of her research and experience dealing in this field, lobbying against that industry, she said, as a parent you must understand, your child is not looking for pornography, pornography is looking for your child. You know why? These big companies know the earlier we get them hooked, the more money we're guaranteed to make out of them. Because they know they make their most money out of the addicts where it starts young. So what has that got to do with Potiphar's wife? Well, I'm just saying it's in the secretiveness here of the environment where Potiphar's wife makes her move. And it's just going on. So easily, so privately, but it's decimating Christian men on an alarming scale. And I wish we didn't have to face it, I wish I didn't have to talk about it from the pulpit. But we have no choice! It's fight or perish in this battle! And I have some sympathy for the older generation who just haven't kept up with the pace of technology. I grew up in the pre-smartphone generation. In fact, I grew up really in the pre-internet generation. Internet really only exploded in the 90s. I remember when the first smartphones came out. When we were going out, my wife and I, the cool phone was a Nokia 3310. That was the phone. Nokia. Most of you haven't even heard about Nokias probably. That was the big brand. Remember you had to pay by text too? You run into two texts, cost you 30 cents a text or something. We burnt through a lot of cents when we were going out, just back and forwards on these things. Amazing though, my dad ran one over, picked it up, kept working. But it happens too often and I can pretty well pre-write the script. amount of Christian young people who got hooked on a family unprotected device in the home would shock you. And it could have been prevented if you had been wise and thought about those devices. Maybe this cuts deep this morning but let's get down to business here. need to think about every single digital device in your home and how the devil might get through that and damage your home. Do you really think the devil's not interested in your home? Satan hates the home, he hates Christian families, he hates Christian parents and he's absolutely having a field day with the digital pot of his wife. The secretiveness of the temptation. Number five or six here, Number six, the forcefulness of the temptation. Verse 12, "...and she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And he left his garment out in her hand and fled him and got him out." Up until this point it's been words, trying to wear Joseph down with words. Potiphar's wife takes it now to the next level and actually physically gets in his space, hoping to stir his passions and overcome any resistance, last resistance he might have. And I like what one old godly commentator labels her here, he calls her the shameless hussy. Oh, let me tell you, the devil, sin and temptation are not half-hearted in their attempts to bring you down. Forceful! Do you ever feel the force of the temptation as it comes to you? Satan is not half-hearted and you cannot afford to be half-hearted in your response or you're going down! That's the temptation, that's how it works in our lives. Thirdly, here's the good news, Joseph's triumph in Potiphar's house. Amen? Joseph's triumph in Potiphar's house. The odds were stacked against Joseph here, but he came out victorious. What was the secret to his victory? Well, it's very simple. Number one, he refused the temptation. He refused the temptation. Learn in the Christian life to say a wholehearted, sanctified, no to temptation. Learn to say no. It'll set you in better state than a university degree. Learn to say no to temptation. Now think about Joseph here. He could have excused this sin with any number of excuses, couldn't have he? He could have used his older brother's bad example as an excuse. They weren't a very good example to him, were they? He could have used his trial as an excuse. He could have said, well, I deserve this after all I've been through. He could have used Egyptian culture as an excuse. Couldn't have he? Well, affairs like this are accepted in Egypt, therefore it's fine. Aren't you glad Joseph was not taking his morals from the Egyptian culture? He was getting his morals from a holy God. We do not get our morality from Hollywood. We do not get our morality from a sin-soaked culture. We get our morality from the holy character of God revealed in his word. One person agrees with that, but I'm telling you that we're living in a day where Christians are allowing the wickedness of our culture to shape their morals. He could have used the excuse that no one would ever find out. Think about this, Joseph's there all alone. He's got no other believers around him to support him. He has no family there. He has no accountability. He's alone in the greatest nation on earth, a long way from home and family. Who would ever know? You know, we're really tested as the fabric of our Christian lives when we are alone. That's when the real test is. When you're here with all of God's people around you, and that's a good thing, by the way, we need to have that, but it's when you are alone and tempted, that's the test. the fabric of your Christian life. He refused the temptation. Let's think about this for a moment. Number one, the perspective or the reasons behind his refusal. Why did Joseph refuse? Well, we get an insight into Joseph's heart, his inner thoughts and his godly convictions from his reply to Mrs Potter. Look back at verse 8 and 9, but he what? Are you there? Verse eight, but he refused and said unto his master's wife, here we get a window into Joseph's heart and to where he stood. Behold my master, whateth, meaning knoweth, whateth 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 anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Joseph had some perspective, didn't he? Why did he refuse? Why did he not yield to this sin? Well, Joseph believed in a number of things. He believed in personal honesty and integrity. Do you see how Joseph is governed by a sense of responsibility here? He says, Behold my master, what if not what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he hath to my hand. Joseph said, I can't betray Mr. Potiphar. really we go from the lowest to the highest motivation here in Joseph's speech, but that is a good consideration. Joseph was a man who was governed by a sense of personal responsibility and personal integrity and he said, hang on a second, your husband has entrusted me with all of this responsibility, he doesn't even know really what's going on so much as he trusts me and I just can't do that to him. That'd be a good thing to live by, wouldn't it? A good philosophy to live by in a culture that encourages betrayal. unfaithfulness. Joseph believed also in the sanctity of the marriage bond. This is remarkable, he's a young man in his mid-twenties, he didn't have the completed Word of God like we had, in fact he probably didn't even have a written copy of the first book of the Bible, hadn't been written yet. Moses would compile the book and write the book later under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And this is amazing that Joseph knew enough, and he no doubt knew about the creation account and how God made male and female, man and woman, and brought them together. And Joseph had enough knowledge of God's character and the creation order to know that this was wrong. How much more we shouldn't be in any doubt about marriage today. Oh, it's just so difficult to, you know, it's such a debatable thing that marriage is between a man and a woman for life. It's not debatable at all. It's very clear. If Joseph could know it without the written copy of the Word of God, we should know it with the completed revelation of God. "...believe in the sanctity of the marriage bond. He has committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his..." What? Wife. I can't do this. You're not my wife. Do you understand that? That's God's model. One man, one woman, devoted to one another for life, anyone else is on the banned list. It's very simple. Sin makes it very complicated though, doesn't it? What was the highest motivation for Joseph though? Joseph feared God and saw sin from his perspective. Here's the crowning part of his speech. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against who? God. Oh, that's a powerful deterrent to sin, isn't it? when you see sin as first and foremost, not a sin against others, but a sin against God himself. That is a powerful motivation to say no to sin. Here's Joseph and he refused. Why did he refuse? Because he saw sin from God's perspective. How we need to get back to that. And he didn't just call it wickedness. He said it was great wickedness. immorality and breaking one's marriage vows and fornication are still great wickedness in the eyes of God. I don't care what Hollywood says, I don't care what Australian culture says, God has not changed his perspective on these sins. And praise God, if you have been in those sins in the past, the blood of Christ can cover those. And if you've been saved and washed in the blood of the Lamb, thank God it's under the blood, but you should not excuse these sins now that you are saved, because you committed them in the past, you should have the biblical standard. And so, I've been there, done that, I've committed those sins, I've been saved, praise God, he's cleansed me, and this has no part in your life. Joseph had the fear of God in his life. The story is told of a young lady, she was raised in a Christian home, had godly parents and she was invited by an unsaved teenager at school to attend a dance, a party. And this Christian young lady said, oh no, I can't go to that dance because of my father, my dad. And the sassy teenager replied, well is your dad going to hurt you? She said, oh no, I'm not worried that he will hurt me, I'm worried I'll hurt him. See the attitude there? That was Joseph's attitude. I can't do this to my God. That's the perspective you've got to get into your heart and life. Joseph clearly had a close walk with God. The presence of God was in his life and that was Joseph's perspective. I can't do this to my God. Don't you see there that Joseph loved his God? The perspective behind his refusal. The persistence of his refusal. persistence of his refusal. Well, we saw, didn't we, before that this temptation came to him day by day. That meant Joseph had to say no more than once. No today, no tomorrow. You see the picture? Temptation comes to Joseph in a very forceful manner, very powerful manner. Joseph says a very forceful and very determined no. I submit to you, if Joseph had been double-minded, if Joseph had sat on the fence slightly one day, boom! He would have been a goner. No, no, no. You cannot afford to face temptation in a passive manner. You have to have the passion in your heart and life and a zeal for God to say, no! Number three, the precaution of his refusal. I hadn't picked this up, I've preached on this passage before a number of years ago, but I hadn't picked up on this little detail here and that's the wonderful thing about the Word of God, you restudy it and there's usually something fresh there that the Spirit of God can show you, it's an eternal book. But I want you to see in verse 10 that there was a precaution he took here because it says here, and it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day that he hearkened not unto her to lie by her, don't miss the next bit, or to be with her. Do you know what I believe was taking place here? Joseph not only said no, I'm not going to engage in this act with you, but Joseph refused to be with her, he tried to stay away from her. Now obviously he couldn't completely avoid her all the time because as a slave he had to go about his duties, but we see here Joseph avoiding the temptation. She's very subtle, she probably tried multiple ways. Here's Joseph coming into the house carrying a big thing of grain, well hi there Jelsea boy. You didn't know Potiphar's wife had an American accent but now you do. Come and rest here a while. He said, I just heard the sheep bleat outside and I think it needs me to go and pat it. I'm out of here. Please, it's not unspiritual to avoid temptation. Well, I should just be strong enough. You're not strong enough, that's the point. avoided being with her as much as possible. That's a very wise way to live. Don't hang around the place of temptation, if you know that section of the mall is going to lure you or tempt you to sin, don't walk through there, simple. I don't go to the Elizabeth Mall very often but occasionally when I have to, thank God for a godly wife who says don't go down, you know this shop here, don't go down that row there, there's a lot larger than life screen there, don't go down there. I just think your wife should trust you. She doesn't trust my flesh and nature and neither do I. And she loves me enough to try and shield me. She went in there once. You've got to know my wife, she's a non-confrontational person. She runs from confrontation. She was so disgusted by what this shop was depicting on the screen, she went in there, spoke to the manager and gave her both barrels and said, this is degrading to women. Oh no, we're empowering women, she said. No, I find this degrading. All those men standing out there and watching that screen, it's degrading, it's disgusting. Try and avoid destructive source of temptation. If you know certain places are a temptation to you, certain streets, stay away. If your phone's becoming a temptation, then work out a system to avoid those temptations. That's scriptural, that's biblical. Proverbs 4, 14 to 15 says, enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away. That's a biblical way to live. Stay away from temptation as best you can. Now, if like Joseph, in the center of God's will on a given day, you get assailed with temptation, you can trust God then to give you the power to say no, but that's quite different to just sort of loitering around the fringes of temptation. That's exactly what the foolish young man did of Proverbs 7, it was the opposite. What did he do wrong? Well, before he ever got to that place of temptation, he unwisely went through there. I think there was some power behind his refusal here. You say, how do you know that? Well, the Bible says in verse 2 that the Lord was with Joseph. It says in verse 3 that the Lord was with him. It says in verse 21, but the Lord was with Joseph. I submit to you, if Joseph had not been walking with God, he would not have had the power to say no. Don't think that if you live a half-hearted, backstabbing life, that when you get hit with the temptation, you'll have the strength, spiritual strength to say no. No, no, no, the time to start preparing for that temptation is in your walk with God, staying close to God and building up, as it were, some spiritual muscle and some spiritual strength to say no when the temptation comes. God's hand was upon Joseph and I believe God's power was working in Joseph. It had to be working in Joseph to say no to this. Only the power of God is powerful enough to defeat this kind of lust. You can't defeat it in your own strength. So Joseph's triumph, very basic, he refused the temptation. Don't be afraid to learn to say no. Get invited to the work party? No thank you. Get invited to the school party? No. Get invited to that friend's house? No. Get invited to go to this movie? No. Just learn to say no! You still awake? This is where we're up to. Boy, if there's one thing Genesis 38 and Genesis 39 teaches, it teaches that God's people ought to be pure. We're living in a moral sewer today, we need purity. Second solution, ready? He refused the temptation, number one. Number two, he ran from the temptation. I just think Joseph should have been spiritual enough to just stand there and deal with it. No, Joseph was spiritual enough to know he couldn't deal with it, he had to get out of there. No, I say that for a reason, because I think the devil was getting some Christians with this subtle thought that well, you know, I should never run from this challenge, I should never run from this temptation, I should never retreat. No, no, no, no, no, if your spiritual life is going to get destroyed, turn and run! And sometimes the most spiritual thing to do is to run from that temptation. Yes, there'll be times in your life where you have to stand and face something, but there are also going to be times like this where the only way of escape is to literally and physically remove yourself from the temptation. Exactly. She caught him by his garment, saying, lie with me, verse 12, and he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. Look at the sacrifice in his retreat. Joseph lost something here. It's the second garment he's lost. He lost his coat of many colors. Now he loses his coat in the hands of Mrs. Potiphar. Don't be surprised if you have to sacrifice something to get away from the temptation. But I like what one person said, Joseph lost his coat, but he did not lose his character. And it was better for Joseph to suffer in prison than to lose his purity. It was better for Joseph to suffer in prison than to lose his purity. We need to get our priorities right. Well, what is it going to cost me to say no to this? He, Joseph, would have known this is a powerful woman. She's married to Potiphar. This could be the end of my career. Was it your career first or Christ? I couldn't say no to my boss about that. I might lose my career, but you might lose your character and you might lose the close presence of Christ in your life. Who's first in your life, your career or Christ? And better to suffer for righteousness sake, better to be in prison with Joseph than to lose your purity and to lose your character. There are some things worth losing to keep your purity. You might lose a friend. If that friend's dragging you down, it might be God's goodness to you. You might lose a friend. You might have a family member who gets their nose out of joint at you. You might lose that promotion. But it's so much better to aim for eternal rewards and to stick with the Lord and to have his blessing on your life. The sacrifice in his retreat, the speed of his retreat, he fled and got him out. This wasn't a walk in the park. Joseph ran. literally ran from Potiphar's wife. He lived out the truth there of 2nd Timothy 2.22, flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. This is not a passive response to temptation. Just learn to run, get out of there, flee, Again, I emphasize this because I see this thinking in some Christians minds, well I should just be spiritual enough to face this. Excuse me? You need to know your own potential. You're not super saint. There are no super saints. And it's not unspiritual for at times in your life for you to walk away from a situation, to run away from a situation. And it may not even be in this kind of temptation, it might be something else that's going to potentially destroy your Christian life. And you just need to turn and run. Joseph took the way of escape God provided 1 Corinthians 10 13 says there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that year able but with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it we have to believe that God's Word is true because I hear sometimes Christians say well I was tempted and God didn't provide a way of escape escape no sorry I don't mean to be unkind you missed the exit sign you find yourself traveling down the road of temptation, be alert for God's exit sign and take it. It's a choice. Take the exit from that path of temptation. God will provide a way of escape and sometimes it's literally this, you simply have to physically remove yourself from the source of temptation. you're sitting in your bedroom and you're about to look at something, get out of there! Get out of there! If you're driving down a street and you know you're about to hit that billboard that's going to cause you to stumble, then get out of there! Take a detour. You say, that's extreme, we're living in wicked times. The amount of times we're driving down the street as a family and we have to say, eyes down, close your eyes children, because there's some freak on the bus, not even just essential stuff now, it looks so demonic some of that stuff. The demonic stuff portrayed, I'm sure some of these movie makers are in touch with demons and know what demons even look like and betray them in their films. One author says, it is dangerous to drive restive horses near the edge of a precipice. It is dangerous to bring gunpowder near the fire. It is dangerous to come near an adder's fang, and it is equally so with these fallen natures of ours to approach temptation. Therefore, avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Proverbs 4.15. So one of the best weapons against temptation is to flee and to get out. When temptation comes your way, get out. When the band begins to play, then get out. When at work, the party starts, grab your Bible and depart. God will bless you for opting out, but get out. When immodesty you see, turn your head in victory. Trust the Lord for purity and get out. When at school the swearing starts and dirty stories assail your heart, end the chat and go out back, just get out. When she comes with wily tongues saying let's go and have some fun, say a prayer, turn and run and get out. When he says his love for you means to wait, he will not do, tell him no, turn and go and get out and slap him on your way out. A useful tool, a smartphone may be, but unguarded it feeds impurity. Choose the right and make it tight. Please get out. Television, your life will ruin. With this promotion of perversion, make your home a holy haven and yes, I would suggest literally get it out. The internet can be a tool. But it is also a pawn-filled pool, hence the need to be accountable. So get out. Joseph's life to us doth speak, inspiring us in to defeat. From temptation we must flee. This is how God gives victory. So learn this lesson, tried and true. It will work for you too. Learn to run and to retreat. And get out. Get out. Get out! Get out of the place of temptation. Joseph passes his greatest test. You will face at times the pit of pain in your life and you're going to have to pass that test with God's grace. You're also going to face at times the pit of pleasure and it's only the grace of God and the power of God that will see you through. Let's bow for prayer shall we as we close.