When you encounter temptation. How do you respond? Do you follow it? Do you flirt with it? or do you flee from it?
Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah returns to Joseph's encounter with temptation. and his very literal and very godly response of running from it. continuing the series God Meant It for Good, the story of Joseph. Here's David to introduce the conclusion of his powerful message, Temptation.
There is not a place you can go to in the Bible, that is Going to give you a stronger presentation of dealing with temptation than the one we have in front of us right now. The 39th chapter of Genesis is viewed by all of us who teach the Word of God. As the signature passage on dealing with temptation And Joseph is the poster child for all of this. And we're so happy to have this passage because it is filled with principles. that really help us understand.
How this works. And of course, when you pair this with the New Testament passages, that are available to us in James and First Corinthians and other places, you have a really good doctrine of temptation that will help you be victorious in your life.
So I hope you listen carefully, take some notes, and we'll finish up our discussion of Genesis chapter thirty-nine in just a few moments. First, Let me remind you that During the month of September every year, we Roll out our calendar for the Coming year. We do this for the new year. It is a 14-month calendar, so we want to get an early start. In fact, I just was looking through the calendar this morning, and there's a whole page in this calendar for next year on how to plan for Thanksgiving for this year.
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of temptation. I need to say to you that temptation once. and temptation daily are two very different experiences, are they not? First temptation could have come as a great shock. But what happens when you're tempted over and over and over again is the impact of your ability to withstand the temptation is weakened.
You become accustomed to it, you become used to it, it becomes a normal kind of thing, and you are setting yourself up. For failure. It was a surprise temptation. It was a sustained temptation. And number three, it was a secret temptation.
Watch this. It happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside. This story tells us that on that particular day, When Joseph went to work in Potiphar's house, all of the other male servants were gone. It sounds like it was Joseph and Potiphar's wife in the house by themselves. And Potiphar's wife made her move.
She thought privacy would ensure her success. She'd get him today, if never before. And let me just tell you something that you need to write down in your notes if you don't get anything else. The test of a person's character is what they would do if they were absolutely certain. Nobody would find out.
What you are is what you would do if you're absolutely certain nobody would ever know. I often think that some righteousness, in fact, a lot more righteousness than we would like to admit to, is not due to our love for God, but it's born out of our fear of getting caught. We are not righteous because we want to be righteous for God. We just don't want to get in trouble. But Joseph knew there was little chance of him getting caught.
And so it was a secret temptation that made it even more powerful in his life. Are you building the case for Joseph? Watch this. A surprise temptation? A sustained temptation.
A secret temptation? Here's the fourth one. It was a sensible temptation. You say, how can temptation ever be sensible?
Well, if it didn't make a little bit of sense, you'd never do it at all. This was a sensible temptation. Listen. From worldly perspective, giving in to the temptation might have seemed advantageous for Joseph. he wouldn't have been the first, certainly not the last, to sleep his way to the top.
He could have gained a powerful ally in Potiphar's wife. and it could have been a means of coping with his past trauma. Joseph had been through a lot. Yeah. came from a dysfunctional family.
His brothers turned on him and sold him into slavery. He obviously had some things going on in his heart. Maybe he thought this was a way for him. to enjoy some pleasure. at the expense of his own situation.
And then finally, His temptation was a subtle temptation. It played on emotional and psychological aspects like the need for recognition and admiration. The subtleness of Joseph's temptation could be summarized. by a statement that I read from a commentary on the book of Genesis. By Marcus Dodds, this is what he wrote: It is too little observed, and especially by young men who have the most need to observe it.
that in such temptations It is not only the sensual that needs to be guarded against. but also the much deeper lying tendencies. the craving for loving recognition, the desire to respond to feminine love or admiration and devotion. A large proportion of misery, he wrote, is due to a kind of uncontrolled mistaken chivalry. And I'd like to add my own thoughts to what he said.
Over the years, I've had the unfortunate Experience of talking to numerous people who have gone through affairs. and have committed adultery. and ruined their lives and their homes. At the beginning, they have said It really was nothing to do with the physical. She just listened to me.
She seemed to respect me. She had time for me. She showed me honor and all of a sudden we were spending more and more time together and then before we knew it, We were involved. Charles Swindahl said marital infidelity is not a blowout. It's a slow leak.
He's right about that. It happens over a period of time as we let down our guard, as we begin to think about the fact that maybe at home we don't get an audience like we're getting from this person. And so what happened as Joseph was exposed to all of this, he knew. what the temptation was. But he didn't yield.
And now I want to give you the positive part of this story. How did Joseph win over this temptation? And you know what? This could have been written yesterday. Could have been written last week.
Could have been in a Sunday school lesson that somebody wrote in But it's in the Bible. and for that reason all the more powerful. How did Joseph overcome such a powerful temptation? Number one, He had convictions before the crisis. The Bible says that when she made this pitch to Joseph.
Genesis 39, verse 8. It just says this, but he refused. Notice the Bible says that Joseph refused. It doesn't say he prayed over it. It doesn't say he called his small group leader to see what he thought he should do.
And I promise you he didn't call his pastor. It just says he refused. Why would it say that? Here's the reason, because he had already determined long before this event ever happened. What he would do if such a thing ever happened to him.
The conviction was in his heart. before the crisis was in his life. Dr. R. A.
Torrey said that the reason why many fail in the battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came. Anticipate your battles, he wrote. Fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory. Taught this passage of scripture to a bunch of young people when I was a youth pastor.
I know you all don't think I could ever have been a youth pastor, but I was. when I was more youthful. I remember teaching this passage, because this is a passage that's great. for young people to hear, they need to hear this. I remember saying something like this to them.
I wrote it in my notes, or I wouldn't have remembered it. I said The back seat of an automobile is no place for you to make your decision about what you believe concerning premarital sex. And it got as quiet with those young people as it is right now. But you understand, Joseph succeeded because he already knew what he was going to do when the temptation came. My friend, if you don't know that, you better make sure you figure it out and make a covenant with God and with your partner.
about your own sexual purity. Number two, Joseph succeeded because he knew that love involved loyalty. Verse eight, but he refused and said to his master's wife, Look. My master does not know what is with me in the house. And he has committed all that he has to my hand.
There's no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you. Because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Sinned with Potiphar's wife. would not only be a sin against Potiphar, But Joseph said it was a sin against God.
In his book, The Obedience Option, David Haig. Tells a story about a young man who felt he couldn't resist his strong desires. He justified his actions because he believed his urges were inevitable. Haig challenged this belief with a hypothetical question. He said, if I offered you $1,000 to resist, what would you choose?
And the young man admitted he would take the money. Haig concluded, We both realized a very simple truth. One passion may seem irresistible until a greater passion comes along. The only way to overcome a passion for sin is with an overwhelming passion for righteousness. Joseph's overwhelming passion for righteousness and loyalty to God.
helped him to resist Potiphar's wife's advance. He reminds us that the best way to overcome a negative habit is not through sheer willpower, but by replacing it with a stronger, more positive passion. Henry Newhan once said in a leadership journal, I cannot continuously say no to this or no to that unless there is something ten times more attractive to choose. Saying no to my lust, my greed, my needs, and the world's power. takes an enormous amount of energy.
The only hope is to find something so obviously real and attractive. that I can devote all my energies to saying yes. And one such thing in my life I can say yes to is that I have come in touch with the fact that I am loved by God. And if we're loved by God and we know what Jesus has done for us, In our heart is the passion never to do anything to grieve his heart. or to break his rules.
or to do what he has told us not to do.
So Joseph had convictions before his crisis. He knew love involved loyalty. He was still shocked by sin, number three. He said to her, how can I do this great wickedness? and sin against God.
Joseph was still shocked by sin. He labeled it as great wickedness. he maintained a clear understanding of the grievous nature of the sin he was being tempted to commit. Joseph understood what sin was. Sin is against God.
And we try to Candy coated. with little phrases like, an inappropriate relationship. And when we start to do that, We give away our attitude about sin. Sin is first of all against the person that he would have sinned against, which was Potiphar, But it was also against God. And Joseph was still aware of sin in such a level that he was shocked by it, and he described it as.
great wickedness and sin against God. If you want to stay pure, You need to concentrate on the holiness of God and remember who He is. and stay under the umbrella of that holiness. And then Joseph had enough sense to avoid the source. This is number four.
And so it was as she spoke to Joseph day by day. that he did not heed her to lie with her, or to be with her. That's the thing I've underlined in my Bible, or to be with her. Joseph avoided Potiphar's wife entirely when he saw her coming down the Hallway, he ducked into a room. When he saw her coming in his direction, he got out of the way.
He knew that the best thing he could do was to stay away from that temptation. The book of Proverbs says this. Do not enter the path of the wicked. And do not walk in the way of evil, avoid it. Do not travel on it.
Turn away from it and pass on. And Romans 13, 14 says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Instead of setting ourselves up for failure, we should get rid of the things in our lives that cause us to be defeated. When you remove sin far from you, you will be amazed at how much greater will be your victory. When I first came to this church back in 1981, I'd only been here a short time, and a young man came to see me to tell me about what was going on in his life.
He told me that he loved his wife and he loved his family, but he had gotten himself in a situation. Where he worked, where he was seated right next to a young woman, very attractive, and she was very kind and very. Appreciative of him, and he said, We began to talk first of all, and before we knew it, we were talking and talking, and he said, I know that if I don't do something, we're going to be in trouble. He said, what in the world should I do? I said well Maybe you should see if you can get transferred.
I'll get you a better one. Get another job. And he goes, you're kidding me. You want me to get another job? And I said, well, which do you like the best, your job or your marriage?
Oh, oh, he said. I don't really know whatever happened to him because I never saw him again. But what I do know is what I told him was the truth. Are you better off without your job or without your marriage? I love what it says in the scripture.
He wasn't going to be with her. He stayed as far away from her as he could. You know, I got to imagine that Potiphar's wife was a beauty. I mean, he could have had just about any woman he wanted in Egypt, and I am sure. that his wife was very attractive.
Very seductive. And Joseph knew if he didn't stay away from her, he wasn't going to do very well, so he stayed away from her. And I'd just like to say to you, in a practical way, whatever it is you're dealing with, this temptation.
Somebody said he goes to work every day and he gets tempted because he walks by a porno shop. And I said to him, Find a different route to work. I mean, if you fall in the same hole every time you go down the street, don't go down the street. It's so interesting to me how rational straight thinking objective people Find themselves being irrational and non-objective when it comes to things like this. Use your head.
That's the reason God gave you a brain. Finally, Here's the last point. He had convictions before a crisis. He knew love involved loyalty. He was still shocked by sin.
He had sense to avoid the source. And number 5. He knew that retreat was better than defeat. I love this one. And it happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do his work.
And none of the men of the house was inside. that she caught him by his garment, saying, lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand. Yeah. fled and ran outside.
When Poniphar's wife grabbed Joseph's garment, He fled, it says, leaving his garment behind to maintain his character and integrity. And as you know, It was the garment in her hand. that allowed her to get him thrown into prison. for something he never did. But Joseph knew something we ought to know.
You're better without your garment than your character. And he left his garment in her hand. Mark Twain once said, There are several good protections against temptation, but the best one is cowardice. And he was right. We're told in the Word of God to stand for many things, but not against sexual temptation.
The Bible tells us we're to run away from it. Did you know that? 1 Corinthians 6.18. Flee. sexual immorality.
2 Timothy 2.22, Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness and faith and love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. I used to tell my young people, the best piece of equipment you can have for avoiding temptation is the fastest pair of Adidas money can buy. About these verses, Garrett Kell says. You will not regret resisting sin. you will regret giving in.
Choke temptation by taking refuge in Jesus. and the means of grace he provides. Pray to God, flee the scene, call a friend, make a plan. As you begin to fight afresh, remember that what sin promises to you now. Will only steal your joy and make you a miserable creature in the future.
I want to close with this story. In his book, Unhappy Secrets of the Christian Life, Tim Stafford tells how the nuclear submarine thresher went too deep into the sea. and collapsed under the weight of the water. The sub was crushed into such tiny bits that almost nothing could be later identified. You see, a sub needs thick steel bulkheads to withstand the pressure of the water as it dives.
But there are few walls we can build to withstand the pressure of the deepest oceans. Even steel gives way as the crew of the Thresher found out tragically. And yet, here's an interesting fact. In those same deep waters where that steel submarine had been crushed. Little fish.
swim without a care in the world. What is their secret? Why aren't they crushed? Are they made of some new indestructible iron? Of course not.
They possess only the thinnest layer of skin measured in micrometers. The little fish have an internal pressure that perfectly corresponds to the pressure from the outside. God gave them what they need to swim in deep places. And you and I can spend our lives building walls to block out the temptation. We can make walls of steel, but they'll never be strong enough.
The pressure comes from inside. Listen carefully. What happens when we have a power inside of us that corresponds to the pressure outside of us? The inner man, Paul tells us. to renew that inner man every day.
When we give ourselves wholly to God, we have the inner answer to the outer pressure.
So build the inner man, build the inner woman. Let Christ renew your heart. Let Him renew your mind. Cultivate the ministry of the Holy Spirit every day. Read the Word of God.
Be strong in the Lord so that the pressure within you. will be able to combat the pressure. outside of you. You will never beat temptation by saying, I will not, I will not, I will not, because on the fourth will not, you will. But you beat temptation.
By building the character of your heart. falling in love with God anew, making sure that you treasure your relationship with Jesus Christ. and committing yourself to the fact that you'll never do anything to violate your relationship with him. work on the inner man. and you will do the greatest thing possible.
to find victory over temptation. Amen. Amen. And thus closes the workshop on temptation from the book of Genesis. A great study from the life of Joseph.
Hey friends, we are going to have a very special conference cruise right after Christmas this year. We'll be going to the Eastern Caribbean on this cruise. We'll have with us Michael Sanchez and Uriel Vega. Traveling out in Holland America's Koningsdam. We'll be leaving December the 27th and returning on the 3rd of January.
Already have a good start on a wonderful conference congregation. We'd like to have you along with us if you can come. We hope you will look into it and make your decision. Information about this is available at davidjeremiah.org and we'll help you figure this all out. Maybe you can come with us.
We hope you can. In the meantime, be sure to join us tomorrow. We're going to talk about the possibilities of problems. You're on Turning Point. Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr.
David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. We love hearing how you're encouraged by this ministry.
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Join us tomorrow as we continue the series God Meant It for Good: The Story of Joseph on Turning Point.
