How many of you are thankful for that anchor this morning? If it wasn't for that anchor, we'd be in bad shape. If it wasn't for Jesus Christ, thank goodness for Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for the times when my ship was battered and torn, and I knew there was only one person I could go to, and he held. No matter what happens, Jesus Christ is always there. We face things in life all the time. We face struggles. We face trials. We face valleys. We face mountaintops. And in all those, Jesus Christ is there. Genesis chapter number 39, if you want to get your Bibles and head on over there, Genesis chapter 39. We're continuing our story of Joseph. And last week, we learned about Joseph and the struggles that Joseph had with his brothers and how they threw him in a pit. We learned about betrayal. We talked about how betrayal is something that every one of us face, but today we're going to talk about something that, again, every human being faces. And I want you to look, we're going to look here in chapter 39, verse number 7 is where we'll pick up the story, just to kind of give you a backstory of where we're at. Joseph has been betrayed by his brothers. They throw him in the pit. Then they sell him to these merchant men that are going through, and they take Joseph, Into Egypt and they sell him to Potiphar and Potiphar is now Joseph's boss if you want to put that way Joseph is his slave and he is working in the house and Potiphar gives all that he has to Joseph because Joseph was trustworthy and that's where we pick up our story right here in verse number 7 the Bible says and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and And she said, lie with me. But he refused and said unto his master's wife, behold, my master wadeth not what is with me in the house, and 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--" ooh, this is a phrase. How then? Can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day, that phrase, day by day, constantly she's at his ear, that he hearkened not unto her to lie by her or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice, and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. She laid up his garment by her until his lord came home. What kind of a lie is that? And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me that his wrath was kindled. And I want you to look at verse number 20. Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison. A place where the king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison. Today I want to look at this subject this morning, standing strong in temptation. Standing strong in temptation. Would you go with me to the Lord in prayer? Father, thank you so much for this day that you've given to us. Thank you for the opportunity we have to look at your word this morning. God, I pray that you'd be with us. May we look at this story of Joseph. God, every Christian that's in this room, may you help us today. Such a pivotal part of every Christian's life, every human being's life. I pray today, God, would you work in a mighty way, speak to me, for me, and through me, in Jesus' name, amen. We're talking about standing strong in temptation. Now, temptation is something. Last week, we talked about betrayal, and we talked about how almost everybody is betrayed. Today, we're talking about temptation, and everybody is tempted. The Bible talks about how every man has sinned. The Bible says Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You're not going to fall to sin if you're not first tempted. And so every man's tempted. It doesn't matter if you're old or you're young this morning, you're tempted. It doesn't matter if you're smart or not so smart. And some of you are thankful for that. It doesn't matter if you're pretty or you're ugly. I should have heard an amen from some wives in here. It doesn't matter if you're bald or you have a full head of hair. It doesn't matter who you are in the room this morning. Every person is tempted. And you know what's amazing to me is this. Temptation seems to come when we think everything is going so good in our life. I want you to just think about Joseph's story for a second. Joseph now He's being sold. You would think that's a tragic part of his life. It was. He was sold by his own family. He goes into another country. He goes, and he's now in Egypt, and his brothers that have sold him are away. They're nowhere near, and he's got now a job. He's working, and he's in a consistent environment. He's doing the same thing. He's working. He's continuing what he's supposed to be doing. And you would think, OK, everything's going OK for Joseph. Everything's going to be OK. And I think Joseph probably got to the spot where he thought, OK, I'm in a routine. I'm in a normalcy of what's going on. And then all of a sudden, the Bible doesn't tell us how long that Joseph had been doing what he was doing until all of a sudden Potiphar's wife started coming on to him. But we do know that Joseph had been doing this job and it was Potiphar's slave, if you will. And now this wife of Potiphar is throwing herself at Joseph. And Joseph is now in a routine. He's doing what he's supposed to be doing. He's trying to be where he's supposed to be. He's obeying his master. The Bible went as far to say that Potiphar trusted him with everything in his house. There was nothing that Joseph did not have leadership over. Everything in his hands was in Joseph's. Everything in Potiphar's house was in Joseph's hands. And I want you to think about this. Joseph now has gotten acclimated. He's gotten to earn the trust of Pharaoh. He's getting in a routine and then temptation strikes. And when you and I get comfortable, when we get into our routine, when we get doing what we do, all of a sudden the devil goes, all right, I think there's a little bit of a wiggle room here. They're getting back in their routine. They're in what they're supposed to be doing. And they're going to be a little bit less aware. And I think the devil really thought that if he came to Joseph at a time when he had gotten back into a routine, had gotten away from all this stuff, had already probably thought that God had given up on him because he had sold him into slavery, you probably think, the devil probably thought, oh, I got him now. And Joseph doesn't do anything. He flees. He gets away. He gets away. So I want you to think about this. We have the ability. We're talking about standing strong in temptation this morning. So if we are going to have tonight, today, standing strong in temptation, can I tell you, Christian, today, whether you're tempted every day, whether you're tempted every hour, whatever it may be, there is a way that the Bible, that God has given us to be able to stand strong in temptation. This morning every Christian in this room this morning. I want you to just listen for just a few minutes because this morning I really hope to be a help to you as we look at this story of Joseph and we Encounter countless temptations in the days ahead number one this morning. I want you to look at this number one in order to stand strong in temptation number one you must identify the source of the temptation and Identify the source of the temptation. Let's go, if you would, if you have your Bibles open, James chapter 1. Would you go there with me? James chapter 1. We're going to look at verse number 13 and a couple verses thereafter. The Bible says, James chapter 1, verse number 13. Let no man say when he is tempted. I am tempted of God. Why should no man say that when he's tempted, he's tempted of God? I'll tell you why. For God cannot be tempted with evil. Neither tempteth he any man. God doesn't tempt man. The Bible said it. I didn't say it, the Bible said it. Now look at verse number 14. But every man is tempted, when? When he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Look at that word. The Bible says in verse number 14, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his what? Own lust. You know what's amazing to me? The word lust there that is used in the scriptures literally means any kind of desire. And this morning you go, oh yeah, those kind of desires. No, I want you to think about this. At this point, we're talking about desires. There are good desires in life. God gave us normal desires. Without those desires, we wouldn't be able to do anything. You should think about it. How many of you have plans to go eat lunch after church today? Yeah, amen. Some of you are real happy about that. Some of you are going to run out as soon as I'm done preaching because you've got reservations at 12 o'clock, which, by the way, don't do that. But some of you are ready to go to go eat lunch. I say that because I'm speaking to someone, one person, individually, themselves. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But it means any kind of desire. So how many of you have the desire to eat lunch today? Yes, I hope you do have the desire to eat lunch today. That's a good, that's a wholesome desire to eat. That's a good desire. Look at it this way, when we seek to satisfy those desires outside of God's will is when we get into trouble. Eating is good. Gluttony is a sin, right? Sleeping is good. Laziness is a sin. But when we seek to satisfy those desires outside of the will of God is when we are drawn away of our own lust and enticed. You're not going to be more spiritual by removing those things from your life. Removing sleep from your life is not going to make you a more spiritual person, okay? Straight up. Removing sleep from your life is not going to make you more spiritual. Here's what Warren Wiersbe said. He said, these fundamental desires of life are the steam in the boiler that makes the machinery go. Listen, it's the steam that makes your boiler go. Ready? So listen to what it says. Turn off the steam and you have no power, okay? But let the steam go its own way and you have destruction. So here's what I'm trying to get at this morning. The Bible said every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. When we are doing and following the desires that Christ, the God-given desires that God has given to us, we're okay. But when we start giving in to our fleshly desires, when we start giving in to those things that God has not been okay with and not given us the ability to do, then we get ourselves in trouble. And so point number one this morning, identify the source of the temptation. It comes, notice it in verse number 14. You're drawn away of your own lust and enticed. That drawn away, the way the writer described it is basically this. It's the idea of baiting a trap. Baiting a trap. And then the word enticed in the Greek literally has the idea of to bait a hook. So when we look at it, there's a process of you and I being tempted. There's a specific bait that is being planted for each one of us. Certain things that allure us, that are specifically alluring to us. It's the bait that is exciting. And I want you to listen for just a second, because at the end of the day, when we're drawn away of our own lust, our own lust, and enticed, baited on the hook, I want you to think about this. It's the bait that's so exciting. That temptation is just the bait. And when we look at it, we look at the people in scripture that have fallen. Think about David. When he saw Bathsheba, it was the bait. Think about Lot when he fell and he basically lost his family. When he looked up and he saw the plains, it was the bait. Think about Achan. When Achan lost his entire, everything he had, he lost it because he saw the money. And this morning, I'm trying to get at something, because if you and I, as Christians and as human beings this morning, if we don't identify the source of our temptation, then we are going to constantly fall to the same temptation day in and day out. And if you and I cannot identify the source of our fleshly lust that is pulling us away from what God has given us desire-wise, then we are going to constantly fall to the same thing. And Christian, I tell you that this morning because at the end of the day, I want every one of us in this room to live victorious Christian lives. I want every person in this room. I don't bring this this morning because I have a vendetta against someone specific. I didn't bring this this morning because I know of anything. I bring this this morning because this is where God's word through this story has led me to. And Joseph had to identify the source of temptation. You know what that was? It was Potiphar's wife. It was Potiphar's wife. And today, think about your life for a second. What is it in your life that has to be identified as a source of temptation for you? Everybody in this room may be different. There are things that may tempt me, but don't tempt you in the slightest. There may be things that tempt you that don't tempt me in the slightest. It's the hook. I catch certain fish with certain bait, but I don't catch other fish with that bait. I got to use a different type of bait. So all I'm trying to get at this morning is identify the source. This morning, take a long look at your life. What is it that is a source of temptation for you? For Joseph, it was Potiphar's wife. It was to the point where he had to run. And if we don't identify the source, we're going to keep putting ourselves in position to fail. Number two this morning, identify the source. But I want you to look at this. Number two, know your convictions and stand on them. Know your convictions and stand on them. I want you to go back to Genesis with me. Genesis 39, where we found our text here. This really got me. Genesis chapter 39, verse number 9. As I was reading this, this really just stuck out to me. The Bible says, this is after Potiphar's wife laid her hands on Joseph here. She said, lie with me. He says, there is none greater in this house than I, verse number nine, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. But then he says this phrase, How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Listen, I don't care what the world is saying today, but sex outside of marriage is wrong. I don't care what the world is trying to say. I don't care what agenda they're trying to push, but sex outside of marriage is wrong. I don't care that it's socially acceptable. I don't care if Susie's brother's friend has a cousin that does it, and it seems to work out for them. It's wrong according to scripture. According to scripture, it's wrong. And the temptation is to say, well, the world has accepted this, so I'm just following suit. But can I tell you, wrong is wrong and right is right, no matter what anybody says. God's word says that it's wrong, so therefore it's wrong. And so when we try to follow along with all what the world is trying to push and the agenda that is going on, when we as Christians can't stand strong and be strong in what we believe, then who is going to stand strong? Who is going to be the one that stands and says, no, this is what the Bible says. I'm sick and tired of watching as we as Christians lose our convictions. It's really frustrating. Some of us aren't standing for what's right because we really just don't know the scriptures. And if that's the case, can I encourage you to get into the word of God and learn what God hates? The Bible talks about what God hates. Can I encourage you to get into the word of God and learn what God loves? There's a lot about what God loves. And there's a lot about what God hates. As a youth pastor, for several years now, I've seen this play out right in front of my eyes. You say, really? Yes, I've seen this play out right in front of my eyes. You tell young people, Know your convictions and stand on them. Know where you're going to put a line and you're not going to cross. Know it. I was preaching about Joseph one time in the prisons. I think I've told the story before, but I was preaching in the prisons. I was in college, and we had a ministry where we preached in the prison. And you'd go in, like, in the prison, like, way in there. And we're back there with the guys. And we'd go in, and they're chained to the table. And we'd be there. And I remember preaching. There was probably, I don't know, maybe 20 guys there. And I'm preaching. There was a couple of my college buddies that were there with me. And I'm preaching. And I'm preaching about Joseph and how Joseph just drew a line. And he said, I'm not going to cross that line. That's just something I'm not going to do. Because if we don't make a line in our life and say, hey, I'm not going here, then what is it to say the devil comes in and says, oh, hey, why don't you go here? OK. So draw a line. So I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand and saying, I'm just not going to do, and you name it. And this big guy in the back, big guy, 375, maybe 400, stands up. And I'm like, oh, no. Your heart dropped. You're already kind of like on edge, right? Your heart just kind of drops. And he stands up, and I'm like, Just kind of looking at him. And he says, I've got to draw a line in the sand. And I said, amen, brother. You've got to draw a line in the sand. Now draw your line and sit down for a second, please. But he was serious, because at the end of the day, if we as Christians, we don't draw our line and we don't say, I'm not going to do this, then the devil has more playground than we want him to have. And so today, I've seen it. I've seen it happen with young people. I was going into this. I've seen it happen with young people. You say, know your convictions and stand. Make sure you draw a line. Make sure you don't go past here. Make sure you have to set it for your own self. Make sure you know what you're going to be tempted to do. And make sure you stay away from it. And I've said it, and said it, and said it. And I talk about it, talk about it, talk about it. And I'll watch. And I've been in school. And I've been sitting down. And I've watched. There's a meeting. There's a look, and there's a follow. And I'll go, where's your convictions? What are you standing on? And I'm talking about a young person. I'm talking about a teenager this morning. But adults, young people alike, the human flesh is the human flesh, no matter if you're old or young. And today, what I'm trying to get across, identify the source of the temptation. Know what it is that's going to tempt you. But know your convictions. Know how you're going to handle this. Know what you believe to be true about God and His Word, and stand on it. Because at the end of the day, I want you to listen to this verse, Psalm 51, verse 4. The Bible says, David, He said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. At the end of the day, the person you're sinning against is God, a holy God. The person you're failing is the one that gave his only life, his only son on a rugged cross so that you could live. And when we give in to that temptation, We look at God and we say, I didn't care about that. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this great evil in thy sight. Identify the source. Know your convictions and stand on them. But then I want you to look at this. Number three, real simple. Get away. Just get away. You know what's amazing? Sometimes the most courageous thing to do is just run. Seriously. Sometimes the most courageous thing to do is just run and I've told I've said this before in youth group I've said it many times to young people all throughout the time that I've been doing what I do. I will say Sometimes you get into a position where you just gotta leave Where you just gotta run? Get away Get away. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 flee also youthful lusts and Listen, some of us flirt with our temptation. We know the source, we know what it is, we know our convictions, but we flirt around with the temptation. We know what it is, and we flirt so much to the point where it ends up biting us. And then we look back and we go, why did I do that? Why did I go down that road? I knew it was better. I identified the source. I knew it was wrong. I knew what my convictions were, but I didn't stand on them, and I flirted around with it, and I didn't get away. You say, well, Johnny, I can't. My temptation is so strong. My temptation is so right in my face. It's almost impossible. I can't run from it. I can't get away from it. It's right there. I can't do it. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 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 you are able. But I want you to notice what he says. You're not going to be tempted above that you're able. Well, that's a great thing to know in and of itself, because if I'm not tempted above I'm able, I'm going to be able to get through it. But then he goes one step further and he says, but he will with the temptation make a way to escape. that you'll be able to bear it. You say, Johnny, I can't get rid of it. I can't. It's right in my face. I can't do anything about it. It's right there. I can't do anything about it. The Bible says there is a way of escape. And sometimes the best thing to do is to just run. Joseph came to his wits end. You think there was many times he tried different things? Like, oh no, sorry, running over here. You think there was a couple things he tried? Day after day, the Bible says, she tempted him. There were many things, I'm sure, Joseph, that crossed his mind, and he said, you know, I should probably try this, or I could probably do this, or if I go in at this time, then she won't be there, and then I can go here, and I can do this. And it came to the point where Joseph just realized, I gotta run. I gotta get away. I have got to leave this temptation, because if I don't, it's not going to be good. Identify the source know your convictions and stand on them get away, but then lastly I want you to look at this Number four remember the consequences of sin Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death You know what's amazing is Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say this all the time. I don't know if it's senior or junior, but he used to say, don't sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate. Is that just senior or junior? Senior? He said, don't sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate. You say, well, Johnny, what does that mean? It literally means this, that all too often, men and women are sacrificing their families for a one night so-called gratification. It means that men and women are sacrificing their conscience for immediate gratification with their body. And it means that you and I, when we give into our temptation and that immediate gratification of biting the hook, the bait, we give up the permanent, the family, the love, and all the things that God's given to us. I want you to just be here this morning, and I want you to think this through. Remember the consequences of sin. What we deserve for our sin is death and hell. What we deserve for our sin is separation from God forever. Forever. But God made a way, thank goodness for that. What we deserve, so I want you to remember the consequences of sin. Consequences are just as bad for adults as they are young people. Just asked Akin how it turned out for his whole family. Akin was tempted with taking a little bit of money. And they conquered the land, and the Bible says that God said, do not touch the spoils. And Akin thought he knew better than God, and he took of the money and the spoils of that country. And he knew what he did was wrong because he went back to his tent, he dug a hole, and he hid it. You say, well, Johnny, he didn't really know what was wrong. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He hid it. You and I know what we're doing and when it's wrong. And Aiken, he went home, and he hid it. And we say, well. If you wouldn't have gotten found out, can I remind you of something? There is somebody who knows everything that we do. And when we don't get found out, we're found out. God knows. I know someone who is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present. And that God that you think you can fool, that I think I can fool, we're just as dumb as we really think we are. Because at the end of the day, God knows everything. God knows what you do behind the closed door. God knows what you do when you leave your home and you're by yourself. God knows what you are doing. God didn't find out. God knows the whole time. And you and I can't fool God. And some of you may be here today and you've never put your faith and trust in that God who can take all the sin upon himself. You know what's amazing is I fail every day. Every day. I wish I didn't, but I fail every day. But you know what's so amazing? Is when I fail, that when I was seven years old, I got on my knees and I asked Jesus Christ to be my personal savior. Best decision I ever made. The best decision I ever made. Why? Because now I know 100% sure that if I were to take my last breath right now, I know my faith in Jesus Christ and by me asking him to forgive me of my sins, come into my life and save me, I know that decision based on what God's word says, it gets me into a presence with Jesus when I take my last breath. Some of you are here today and you say, I don't know that. You know what's really cool is when I sin, It's not cool. I don't like sin. Sin is awful. But the greatest thing about it is when I sin, Jesus looks at my sin and he goes, my son has paid for that. My son is, I don't want to cross and gave his blood. So when Jesus looks at my sin, he doesn't see my sin. He sees the blood of a savior that gave his life for John Boucher. And when you sin, if you know Jesus Christ is your Savior and you've given your life over to Jesus Christ and you sin, you know what Jesus sees? He sees the blood of that Savior. But if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus Christ is your Savior, you can't tell me 100% sure that you're on your way to heaven based on what this book says. Then when you sin, Jesus doesn't, God doesn't, the Father doesn't see his blood. He sees your sin. And today you can come this morning and you can know 100% sure that if you were to take your last breath today, the consequences of sin, because the second part of that verse is this. It says, for the wages of sin is death. What I deserve for my sin is separation from God forever. But there's a second part to the verse that's so amazing. It says, but the gift of God is eternal life. You know what gift I accepted when I was 7 years old? It was that gift. The gift of eternal life. I'm sure I got birthday presents at 7 years old, I'm sure I got lots of different things at Christmas, but the best gift I ever got when I was 7 years old was the gift of accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Eternal life in heaven. And today, I don't know how old you are in this room, but you may come today and you may say, I've gotten gifts, I've gotten many things, but the best gift I need and the best gift I can have is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ my Lord. And every single person in this room that knows Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will look with you and they will rejoice with you. Why? The Bible says there's rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents. That repents. This morning, remember the consequences of sin. If you don't know Jesus Christ, today's your lucky day. Today's the day you can get it settled, you can know 100% sure that you're on your way to heaven. But today, if you are saved, I wanna challenge you. Identify the source of your temptation. What is it that drags you? Know your convictions, stand on them. Get away from it, but then ultimately remember the consequences of sin. Father, thank you so much for this day that you've given to us. Thank you for this opportunity. God, I pray that every person in this room Would leave today knowing 100% sure that they are on their way to heaven Every head is bowed and every eye is closed There's no one looking around. I'm the only person looking around and you're here today There's nobody there's nobody's eyes that are open no one's head is up I just want to talk to each individual in this room for just a second. I How many of you are here today and you say, Johnny, I know 100% sure that if I were to take my last breath right now, I know 100% sure that I would spend eternity in a place called heaven. Would you slip your hand up? I see your hands. Yes, you can lower them. How many of you are here today and you say, Johnny, you ask that question and I couldn't give you 100% certainty that I knew I was going to heaven. It's a large room. I couldn't see every hand. Maybe that's you this morning. And you say, Johnny, I just don't know 100% sure. I'm not going to call you out. I'm not going to embarrass you. I wouldn't do that for the world. But you say, Johnny, I just want you to pray for me. I don't know 100% sure that I'm on my way to heaven. Would you please pray for me? Would you just slip your hand up? I'm looking across the room. Anybody here that says Johnny, I don't know a hundred percent sure that I'm on my way to heaven Christian I want to talk to you for just a second I've got this question and I want to ask you and I want you to be honest with yourself How many of you here in this room by a by a raise of hands deal with? Temptation would you raise your hand? That should be 100% of the hands that have been raised this morning. You can lower your hands. If you didn't raise your hand, you're either in denial and trying to hide it or I really need to talk to you after the service because I need to figure that out. But who today would make a spot at this altar? Who today would make a spot at the altar or make a spot in their seat right there and get before God and ask God to help us overcome the temptation? This morning, every person in this room ought to raise their hand and say, I deal with temptation. So here's the question. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? If 100% of us are being tempted, 100% of us ought to be on our faces before God today, begging for his help to overcome this temptation. You may not be being tempted right now. I don't know what your situation is. I don't know what you're struggling with. I don't know what you face. But today, how about we as a church, we get together as a group of body of believers, and we get before God, and we get serious before God, and we say, God, I'm tempted. I'm tempted. But today I'm getting real before you, and God, would you help me as I face the temptation in my life? Would you help me overcome the temptation? I pray these altars, I pray your seat is full of prayers that are being raised to God, asking for God to help every single one of us. If there's someone that's near you that's struggling with something and you know, why don't you put your arm around him then pray with him? How about you get together? How about a group of body of believers that come together and say, hey, let's do this together. Let's help each other out. Let's get through this on... I don't want you going through this on your own. How about we do this together? Father, thank you for today. I pray that you'd help us. In Jesus' name.