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You're there in Genesis chapter 39 and we're picking up where we left off in Genesis 37 with the story of Joseph and if I were to put a title on this is it would be Joseph's tribulation. Joseph's tribulation this is where after he's been sold into slavery or into Egypt and we saw that at the end of chapter 37 but in this chapter there's a couple things that I really want to point out as far as what's going on here two major things but the first thing is dealing with the fact that that God is with Joseph in this passage and when you look at that Joseph's life that's something that you keep seeing over and over again is that the Lord is with them the Lord is with them the Lord is with them throughout this but but starting there in verse one it says and Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh captain of the guard and Egyptian bought 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 and and so it goes on talking about the fact that you know he was he found grace and the sight of Potiphar you know he was a good worker and basically God blessed him he was with them and he made him to prosper and we see this in Acts chapter 7 actually this calls back to this and obviously in Acts chapter 7 you're dealing with Stephen where he's preaching that sermon to the to the Pharisees and to the people that were about to stone him right so we know the end of the story when he preaches a sermon but but he's basically giving a whole outline of the Old Testament up to the point of where they're at but in Acts chapter 7 verse 9 it's just gonna state what we're going what we're talking about here in Acts chapter 7 verse 9 it says in the patriarchs moved with envy sold Joseph into Egypt but God was with him and delivered him out of the out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house now obviously we know the end of the story we know what's gonna happen with Joseph but we won't get to that until chapter 41 so we still have some other things to get through here but but what we see here is that he was delivered out of all his afflictions and what you'll see with the Bible especially with tribulation why do I say Joseph's tribulation well that's used synonymously with tribulation afflictions tribulation trouble you know those those words great such be shall be great afflictions such as the world never seen you know it'll use that the same place and say great tribulation in another place so tribulations afflictions it's the same thing you know dealing with persecutions and all that and so in this passage we see really just Joseph going through tribulation Joseph going through afflictions obviously being thrown into a pit and being sold as a part of that affliction but after this something else is gonna happen but what we need to remember is that God is always with us through those tribulations through those persecutions studios afflictions and when you're going through tribulation and persecution the devil wants you to feel like you're alone and the world wants you to feel like you're alone and your flesh is wanting you to feel like you're alone and so this whole idea of feeling alone is the worst thing that can happen when you're in tribulation and so you got to constantly be reminding yourself that God is with us go to John chapter 16 John chapter 16 because even Jesus when he went to the cross all his disciples forsook him he was left alone but what we'll see here is that he says yet I'm not alone and so that's what we need to remember is even you know like the song I have decided to follow Jesus though none go with me still I will follow and we need to remember that that even if we were on our own we're not really on our own but physically speaking we'd be on our own because we'd be the only ones following God we know in the whole world that's never going to be the case there's always a remnant there's always 7,000 having bowed knee and so but that's the feeling that you get when you're in tribulation I think the worst part is when you think you're alone you think that no one's with you and there's power in numbers you know when it comes to dealing with problems or dealing with an event of some sort but John 16 verse 32 it says behold the hour cometh yea is is now come that he shall be scattered every man to his own to his own and shall leave me alone yet I am not alone because the Father is with me these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace in the world you shall have tribulation be of but be of good cheer I have overcome the world and so we know that we're gonna have tribulation Jesus said you shall have tribulation yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution so we know that that's promises we must must through much tribulation entrance in the kingdom of God so we know that that's something that's appointed unto us we're appointed unto afflictions and so what do you do during that time you know if you're if you're in a state of tribulation and afflictions and I think that the answer with what Joseph did is he worked he just kept working through it wherever city whatever situation he was in he just did his work he just did what he was supposed to do and whatever situation he's in and that's what we see here both with with Potiphar but also when he gets put in prison both those cases he basically just adapts and just works does his work and God is with him through that whole thing and obviously we know the end of the story but the Joseph know the end of the story the Joseph know that he was gonna be put in second-in-command and in Egypt you know you got to understand that we see the whole picture but obviously you know Joseph didn't and that's the way it's going to be with us because we're not looking at our life and stepping back and seeing the beginning in the end you know we're in it so we're not gonna know the end until we're there but also remember this verse Matthew 28 the last verse in Matthew it says teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you and lo I'm with you always even up to the end of the world amen so that promises to us that Jesus is with us always and even when he rose again from the dead remember he said I'm not gonna leave you comfortless and he sent us the Holy Ghost the comforter and so how much more than the New Testament now that we have the comforter the Holy Ghost dwelling inside of us should we know that God is with us I mean Jesus Emmanuel means God with us right that I mean we're not at Christmas yet but we're gonna get there you know when we're talking about a manual coming and obviously Jesus is was God he still is God and but the Holy Ghost is dwelling inside of us and and she'll and we're sealed into the day of redemption and it'll never leave us nor forsake us and so I want you to see that I want you to see the fact that God is with Joseph throughout this from the beginning when he's with Potiphar it says the Lord was with them and not only said that but Potiphar knew that the Lord was with them and that everything that he did prospered and then at the end of the chapter when we're dealing with the prison same thing God is with them and the the master of the jail there you know put everything into his hands and so I want you to see that first but also the fact that we need to we need to work for others as if you're working for God okay now obviously we're not dealing with the fact that we're in bondage now that's a relative term I was just talking about the licenses and everything else right I would say when they take 50% of your income we're in bondage they said that when they took 20% a fifth so you know if a fifth is bondage then I'd say 50% is bondage okay and so that's a relative term when you look at that when you look at the fact that we're in we're basically just working for the government to survive and do their thing right and you anyway so that's a whole nother term for another day but what I'm saying is that we we need to work for others as if we're working for God we need to have that mentality right Potiphar do you think he was a you know sold-out Christian you know soul winner you know godly man probably not okay I'm just gonna take a venture it doesn't say that but I'm just gonna take a venture that he wasn't that guy the jailer do you think he was he was this some godly person and so what we need to realize is that our bosses at work you know who we're working for and here's the thing even if you're let's say you're like I own my own company well you still work for the people that pay you I don't care what you're dealing with if you have your own company there's someone that you're working for to get money and so everybody's working for somebody or you know has someone that they're they're answering to at some point and so we need to remember that go to Ephesians chapter 6 Ephesians chapter 6 because what I see is is Joseph in this story is the humility of Joseph to work in the situation he's in and you know from being a slave to Potiphar to being a prisoner you know I mean I don't know which one's worse I would say that the the prisoner would be worse right that you're in a cell and you can't leave that I think you had it better at Potiphar's house and so whatever situation you're in just work do work as if you're doing it to the Lord and God will prosper that and in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5 it says servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ now let me stop there for a second now of the Bible saying to obey your masters with fear and trembling that has to be that you're doing it because you're fearing God because we're not to fear any man we're not to fear what flesh can do unto us we're not to fear anyone but God okay so you can see how this this translates why you why are you fearing them because God is commanding us to serve them faithfully that makes sense it's not the saying that you're really fearing them as much as you're fearing the fact that God commanded you it's kind of like honor thy father and mother you need to fear that you don't honor your father and mother you know obviously you should fear the rod of your parents you know but it's more so because God has commanded them to give you the rod God has commanded them to have authority over you and so that's where that goes in there now as you go on there says not with eye service as men pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart now what's eye service means it basically just means that you're kind of saying that you're gonna do it but you're not doing it from the heart it's all on the surface right and then it says with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men that's pretty clear when you're serving when you're working you need to be doing it as if you're doing it for God himself that should change the way that your your product of your work is and you see this today that we've talked about this you know and I don't want to go I never want to go to these fast-food restaurants anymore I never want to go out to eat I never want to do anything because the service today is usually horrible horrible I mean the people that are working there don't care about their jobs at all they don't care to serve anybody and they're just I don't know how I think it's just the fact that no one will they're just looking for people to work so bad the fact that they just have to deal with delinquents people that are stoned out of their minds working people that can't add or subtract that are working at a cash register you hand them you hand this is always you know you want to really throw someone off is when the bills like ten dollars and you know 13 cents and you hand them ten dollars and 25 cents you hand them a quarter and be like what in the world do I do with this it's like I mean that type of stuff is lost in the world today and and people don't have you know the the gumption to say hey I need to learn this I need to do this now here's the thing nowadays all you do is punch that number in there and it will figure out how much to give a person a lot of these things have things that spit out the change right have you ever seen those right I think you know but has that I know that I know that can ever has that right you're like you think yeah of course you know but obviously what we have is we have an epidemic of people that do not work hard they don't work hard and why because to them who are they working for you know and a lot of these people are living with their parents they're living either getting supported by other people so this this job doesn't mean much to them and they're not supporting a family and so you have a lot of this stuff that's going on today but we really need to have this attitude let's say you're working at Burger King I'm not against people that work at Burger King we need to work that job as if you're making God a burger you know what I mean you're you're you're working there and you're serving people and you're doing it as if you're doing it unto the Lord and listen people will see that you know what if you did that if you worked hard at a Burger King you'll be the manager probably next week I'm not even joking I they need people like these places and listen I don't I don't go to Burger King that place is reprobate okay I don't know why I'm using that as an example but this this message is not brought to you by Burger King all I'm saying is that it doesn't take much nowadays to really just get on to move up in ladder all you have to do is work a little bit you know show some interest in actually doing your job and but we as Christians should not be guilty of this okay the unsafe world and all that stuff it's going to hell in a handbasket but as Christians let it not be said about a Christian that you're falling by the wayside at work or that you're in you know I'm not saying everybody's got to love their job and you know they love what they do but you need to put in a good day's work and when they look at you they should say I don't want to lose that guy and you know what we were talking about we're kind of talking about tribulation persecutions what if it came down to the point where you know they find out what you believe about the Bible and all these social justice warriors and all these freaks are coming down on your company are coming on the place that you work and they say we want this guy fire you know you should fire this guy or whatever will you have a good enough track record to where the boss is I don't care what these people say I need this guy you know I may not agree with what he says but I need him I can't lose them because I have no one else that will that'll pick up I mean are you the kind of person that when if you left they need to hire two people to take your place and God sees this okay well that's what you need to understand is that when Joseph was going through this and he was working for Potiphar God saw it and to and to God he was working to for God and so we need to remember that and you know whether we're bond or free it says later on there it says knowing that whatsoever good thing any man do it the same shall be received to the Lord whether he be bond or free so whether you're bond or free you know we need to take heed to this now Colossians has a similar similar passage in there Colossians 3 the only thing the one thing I want you to see there is you know the singleness of heart you know obviously you kind of like have those blinders on you know that you're doing it for God fearing God and but then it says in verse 23 and whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men whatsoever you do do it heartily and that's what we need to think about if you're gonna do something do it right do it heartily you know like you know I think about the fact that a lot of the the men and women that help with the church listen cleaning the bathrooms is not a glorious job I think everybody knows that right it's not a glorious job but it needs to be done sweeping the floors cleaning the windows even if you can't reach all the way up you know stuff like that now I'm still waiting for someone to do these windows over here on the outside but no there's a lot of things that aren't glorious as far as what needs to be done but we need to do that heartily unto the Lord because God sees that and listen as your pastor I appreciate it I I may not see you do it but I sure do appreciate it and God sees that you know you're sweeping the floor of a building but the God this is that this is where we're having church this is where works getting done and stuff that needs to be done and it may seem trivial it may seem small but little as much when God is in it and so we need to remember that with even the little tasks tasks that we do at church or you know for God just remember that God is seeing that as a big deal in Titus chapter 2 another place talking about servants and this is thing this is not in a corner this is something to keep being brought up over and over and over again from Paul's epistles to even we're gonna see in 1st Peter because this is an important issue this is something obviously it needs to be brought up and I think people sometimes look passage like well I'm not I'm not a indentured servant you know so this doesn't apply to me no this isn't just talking about that because it says whether bond or free it said that you know in Ephesians so obviously we're not just talking about people that are in servitude and obviously the Bible teaches you know that if let's say you were to be in debt or you were to steal something you'd need to go into being a bond servant for a certain period of time that's not slavery that's called justice right instead of instead of someone steal something from you or or they go in debt let's say they they loan money from you or they they go in the dead or something like that instead of them just getting off scot-free and then them or them paying a fine to the government and then you're not seeing a penny of it that's not justice right where's the restitution for the person that got defrauded and so this stuff is very relevant it's something that should be going on today as far as what we need to be thinking about but in Titus chapter 2 and verse 9 it says exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things not answering again now this is something that we need to think about as far as if your boss tells you something to do you don't answer again just as much children if your parents tell you something to do you don't answer back we would call this back talking right if they say to do something you need to do it now if you're if your boss or your parents are talking about something and you're trying to and they're they're asking you what would you rather do obviously you can talk to them about it right but when they say you know go take out the trash you just do it don't answer back don't say you know well I didn't do I did it last week or you know I did it this this you know it's her turn it's his turn or whatever you know listen I was I was a child you know obviously you got all the excuses in the book but you should just say yes sir yes ma'am you know and take the trash out do whatever you need to do same thing at work though adults you know if you're if your employer is saying go do this and obviously the caveat is that it's not something simple right we're not talking about someone says that hey I'm putting a hit on somebody go out and murder this person obviously that's not what we're talking about we're talking about if you're at work and they say to go do something you just do it you do it the way they want to do it and if they want your opinion they'll ask for it that's the way you should approach it and here's the thing if you're a really good worker they might actually ask your opinion one day because you're just really good at doing what you're doing and they may just say hey you know you've been doing this a good job in this you know do you think there's anything we can do to make this more efficient or you think there's a better way that we can do this but if someone is just talking back I'll say this it and I and now I'm kind of more in a position where I'm more so kind of delegating work and you know I I'm kind of handing out the work and stuff like that if someone talks back to me that means I'm not budging on it you know what I mean like if I say to do something and then they're just like well I don't think that's the way to do it it'd be like well that's what we're gonna do it I don't care if it is the way to do it you know it's just that mentality it's the mentality of a ball employer to employee or a boss to to to a you know the servant so to speak is the fact that if they talk back you're automatically just well now that's definitely we're gonna do it it's never changed now whereas if they just do it and then they're doing a good job and all that stuff and then I'm seeing they're doing a good job and they're in the work they're doing the work they're the you know they they they're they may even know more about how they're doing than I would because they're doing it so much that's probably gonna be like hey you're doing a good job do you think there's anything else we can do to make that more efficient do you think there's a better way of doing this and then that's the time to bring it up and say yeah I think that if we did this you know we could do that see the difference but we need to not answer back our back talk not purloining and but showing all good fidelity now what's fidelity it means you know like someone's an infidel what do you what does that mean they're non-believer or if someone fidelity you know infidelity you're talking about someone being unfaithful so when it says fidelity you're talking about faithfulness so every time you see that word I sometimes when I see that word I think of it negatively because we're always using it negatively you know when you're thinking about like a husband's the infidelity of a husband or a wife or something like that but it's talking about with all faithfulness right showing all good faithfulness that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior and all things now why does it say that well because you're your boss that person may not be saved you know and if you're a good worker you're doing right you're doing what you you should be doing you know what if you end up giving them the gospel they'll probably you know they'll be more apt to hear what you have to say and to hear it and to believe it because they're looking at me like the Christian is the best worker here so obviously the principles he's living by is a pretty good thing and so that's what you need to think about but also if the let's say let's say your boss is just a jerk someone you can't stand I mean that's unfortunate but it happens I go to first Peter chapter 2 first Peter chapter 2 because this isn't just saying to you know obey masters that are all just kind and gentle you know this also applies to husbands you know wives with their husbands you know just because your husband's not the best husband in the world I don't know of course here everybody's the best thing everybody's got the best husbands right so but let's say your husband's not the best or you know you think that there's things that he needs to improve on you know or he's you know you know a taskmaster I don't know you know like that the thing is is you're still supposed to obey them in the confines of the Bible and obviously we're talking about the fact that they're not telling you to sin or something like that but we need to remember that that we're still supposed to be obedient now in verse 18 it says in 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse 18 it says servants be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward so this is showing us that even if they're froward even if they're not a gentle person I'm talking about the bosses that cut you out talking about the bosses that are just a little rough around the edges they're a little crass you know they're not nice to you and they're just mean or whatever right you're not gonna be wanting to hang out at a barbecue with this person right that that person you're still supposed to be subject unto them you're still supposed to do what they tell you to do do it unto the Lord and those are gonna be the hard ones obviously and so but notice that in verse 21 when it talks about this as far as being buffeted you know for wrongdoing or suffering for wrongdoing obviously you need to take it patiently and this is acceptable of God it says in verse 20 but notice that Jesus is our example of this it says in verse 21 for even here unto were you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps who did no sin now that was guile found in his mouth and obviously he went to the cross he died for our sins and he was obedient unto death and he suffered wrongfully but he was obedient unto death and I'm not saying to be obedient unto death your employers like trying to kill you and you're just obedient to death that's not how far I would take that but all that to say is that Christ is our example and Christ suffered wrong doing or he suffered you know to be punished for for not doing anything wrong and obviously that was wrong to do that to Jesus but he's someone that we're looking to and looking forward to now Matthew chapter 20 also deals with this now if you're gonna be if you want to be a great man of God a great woman of God Jesus is telling us how to do that if you're wanting to be exalted by God you need to be humble need to be a servant obviously when we had we talked about the judgment seat of Christ when the judgment seat of Christ happens and we're rolling rain with Christ it's not like that anymore we're rolling and raining at that point but before what we're gonna see before honor is humility and so especially here in this life when we're in the flesh we just need we're servants whether at work whether at church you know as far as with with the work of the Lord listen you know there's a reason why a lot of times I'll call a pastor a minister because the pastor is a servant of the church a pastor is serving the flock it's feet he's feeding the flock right and so we need to remember that what's our job is to serve I'm not here to just get you know accolades and everybody's serving me okay no I'm supposed to be serving you and obviously we're all supposed to be serving the Lord and we all have our different services here at the church you know as far as what we're doing to help that work out but in Matthew chapter 20 verse 25 it says but Jesus called them unto him and said you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them but it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many see how that works out as far as being the servant and the fact that Jesus was that Jesus is the best servant there ever was no one's ever going to hold a candle to Jesus Christ as far as how he ministered unto the lost how he ministered unto the people that when he was here no one's ever gonna hold a candle but we are striving to walk in his steps and if you and no one's gonna ever be exalted as high as Jesus does that make sense you know like we're gonna be joint heirs with Christ but no one's ever gonna be to that glory right we're stars and our stars are gonna shine bright but he's the Sun okay so he and when I say Sun Sun he's the son of righteousness and so no one's ever gonna you know come close I'm sure to the Jesus's glory and his sufferings and and all the servitude that he has done for mankind but we are striving for that and before honor comes humility and he was meek and lowly and we need to have that same mentality in Proverbs 15 verse 33 Proverbs 15 verse 33 this is something that keeps being brought up as far as humility humble yourselves before the Lord before before the mighty hand of the Lord and he shall lift you up I mean there's so many passages from James to first Peter dealing with the fact that if you're humble God will exalt you and Proverbs 15 verse 33 it says the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility before honor is humility and so if you want to have that nice position at work you need to be humble and work for it and this is something that we see with the story of Joseph where before he was honored to give him that that second-in-command seat in Egypt which was the rule the nation of the whole is the Babylon of that of that day you know that was the superpower was Egypt and before he got that position of power where he was only in the throne only when when the Pharaoh sat on the throne did anyone have more power than him before that look what he went through and so if you want to have that that authority this is a good representation of our Christian life trials tribulations persecutions and eventually we're there sitting you know maybe in throne with Jesus you know on his right hand or on his left kind of deal and so obviously we'll never be you know God's always gonna be above us you know praise God for that you know I don't want that position but but we see that before honor is humility Proverbs 18 same thing Proverbs 18 verse 12 it says before destruction the heart of man is haughty and before honors humility notice in Proverbs 22 and verse 4 Proverbs 22 and verse 4 it says by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life so the fear of the Lord is what the beginning of wisdom and obviously humility in there as well so we we need to have that humility the fear of God and that's where God's gonna exalt you and so we need to have that mentality in our lives when it comes into our jobs when it comes to church we need to be humble and and not prideful you know obviously I'm the pastor and I'm up here preaching but I don't want to be prideful does that make sense like when someone's preaching hard against sin or or if I'm preaching a subject or I'm getting fired up about something that that should not be pride you know there's difference between confidence and and righteous indignation and pride God's not prideful but but God does get angry God does you know you know he's angry with the wicked every day and so but we don't want to be proud I don't want to be high and lifted up like I'm some special thing and so we need to always remember that always be thinking about that in our lives now go to go back to Genesis chapter 39 so the one thing to see is that God was with Joseph through his trials his tribulations and God delivered him out of those afflictions eventually and the fact that in every place that he was at he was a good servant he was a good worker everything he did prospered in his hand and so and obviously that that shows me too that he knew the Bible because the Bible talks about that as far as how you know if you meditate day and night and talks about you know everything what's whatsoever you shall do shall prosper it talks about both in in Psalm 1 and then also in Joshua chapter 1 talking about the Word of God meditating in the Word of God meditating in his law so I believe Joseph was doing that because you know that that that only would make sense I mean I don't believe you can prosper with God without the Word of God so but Genesis chapter 39 what we see here now this is the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife and so kind of switching gears here we see this story about where he's fleeing for an occasion literally flee running okay and so this is a great example of this and this is kind of one of the big points I want to just make as far as fleeing for an occasion so in Genesis 39 notice in verse 7 it says and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and she said lie with me but he refused and said unto his master's wife behold my master what if not what is with me in the house and he hath committed all that that he hath to my hand there is none greater in 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 now first of all we see here that that basis she's trying to the day by day here she's trying to do this but notice that he says that this wickedness how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God against God so he realizes that hey I'm not just doing this I'm not just hurting us I'm not hurting you know the relationship between Potiphar and his wife he's sinning against God so just notice where his heart's at with this with the sin and that's what you need to remember with with fornication is you're not just destroying yourself although I'm going to show you a place where it talks about how this is a sin against your own body but you're also you're what you the bigger point that you need to see is that you're sinning against God it also says that it says my master what if not what is with me in the house now what does that mean now this is w ot w ot so this isn't the same as w h 80 and this word is brought up a lot in the Bible so I want to kind of just see you know and it actually defines itself so in verse 6 notice it says my master what if not what is with me in the house and I've committed all that he hath to my hand we'll go over six there says and he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he knew not how I knew not he had say the bread which he did eat and Joseph was a goodly person and well favored so what w ot means to know so I says for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain but if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor yet what I shall choose I what not I know not I don't know what to choose right and when it's talked about Moses remember so we know what not what has become of him w ot mean we know not what's become of him okay and when you see whist and stuff like that so just want to give you that little definition there and actually the Bible defines itself because it's repeating the fact that he Joseph knew everything about his house and Potiphar didn't even know he didn't even know what was going on with all the finances it'd be kind of like if someone was doing all your finances doing all the booking and dealing with everything in the house and he's just like whatever I eat that's the only thing I know of I mean I'm getting food right I see the food because I'm eating it right and so that shows a lot of trust by the way that he's putting into Joseph but as we go on here we see that that Potiphar's wife just doesn't stop he says no he refuses and says he would sin against God and notice what happens in verse 10 it says and it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day that he hearkened not unto her to lie by her or to be with her to notice what he's doing he's distancing himself from her okay in verse 11 it says 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 he literally ran just fled for the for the hill so to speak he just ran out and she got a piece of his garment and now this is actually a great passage to understand why men and women we do not put ourselves in this situation where you're alone with the opposite gender as far as I'm talking to married and unmarried alike okay one for temptation issues don't put yourself in that situation those that aren't married you don't want to put yourself in that situation because it's opening the door for fornication and then also with with with married if you're married and then you're in that situation you're opening yourselves up for temptation to commit adultery and don't make it easy to commit those types of sins listen men and women are weak when it comes to this sin just mark it down don't think you're above this and that way you'll guard yourself and listen I hope that the men and women here are strong in this area and that if this happened with Potiphar's wife you you would head for the hills as well but the thing is is that we don't want to take that chance wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall we need to always take a precaution and if I say you know listen I can't go to this place and I can't have this meeting if it's just gonna be me and her that's not me saying you know like I can't be trusted with women that's just me guarding myself from any type of temptation that would ever come around but also it guards you from false accusations what case in point this whole thing is a false accusation it's put on Joseph and she had his garment so if you wouldn't have been in there if you would have said I can't go in there right now I need someone to go with me and that's the thing just bring someone with you you know if you're in that case to be like listen you know I can do this but I need to bring someone with me someone else needs to be there I don't want to just be me and that person and you know I think the vice president got you know flack for this and you know the Hollywood and all these these media outlets they always pick and choose when they're gonna be righteous you know but they're they were given him flack because he said I don't eat dinner I don't ever go out with just you know a woman just by myself with another woman I've never by myself with another woman unless it's my wife and so he got a lot of flack for that and I'm not here supporting Mike Pence but that's a good thing to have and you know this whole Kavanaugh thing this Brett Kavanaugh thing here's the thing you don't you need to be in the same place with somebody because someone could just falsely accuse you and nowadays you're guilty until proven innocent now listen disclaimer I don't support Brett Kavanaugh because he like was one of the guys that was like the architects of the Patriot Act and not only was that but he was one that dissented to the fact that the Patriot Act was against the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment okay so is Brett Kavanaugh our conservative person to get into the justice I don't think so but that being said I still don't think you should be falsely accused of rape okay and and here's thing is it true I don't know but all that to say is that we need to just make it clear you know so where there is there's not going to be any accusations like that that's why we don't have a nursery I mean those are many reasons why we don't have a nursery but that's one of the big reasons why we don't have a nursery because you don't want those false accusations that's why we don't have a Sunday school a Sunday school where I send a man off to go teach a bunch of like you know third or eighth grade boys I still remember when we were doing the Sunday school at the church I was at and and I'm not here's the thing if people have Sunday schools I'm not against them but you're putting yourself in a big risk I remember one time and I was with it was just me and one kid and I told Dave brother Dave Dandy I said no you need to come in here with me I said I'm not just gonna be in here with one kid you know and so I need witnesses you know and and obviously I'm not afraid of doing anything but but I am afraid of false accusations and someone destroying your life because of it that's something never happened and so how do you how do you get out of that situation you don't put yourself in that situation Joseph you know obviously hindsight's 2020 he was trying to avoid this he was he was denying her left and right and then you know she caught him when there was no one in the house and there was no witnesses to say yay or nay on this this issue and obviously he gets put in prison falsely but this is something we need to think about go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 because we need to flee fornication we need to flee adultery you know we need to flee these things and when it when it's saying flee you need to be like Joseph run run I mean if it comes to that and someone was enticing you let's say you were you were you know man you were in a meeting or you're in an area where it just happens to be it's just you and this there's one woman or whatever and that woman's enticing you I mean hit the ground running you may look really strange okay that you're running away from a woman but if that's what it takes that's what it takes okay because this is a serious sin I mean when it talks about adultery it talks about how you are wounding your own soul and that's an incurable wound on your marriage I mean you some people get you know still get by that never goes away and let me say this fornication never goes away either you know as far as that scar that's on your mind and so you need to know the consequences of those actions and so 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 15 it says know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid what know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body for to set he shall be one flesh but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit flee fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sin if against his own body what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own but ye are bought with a price therefore glorified God in your body and in your spirit which are God's so especially Christian you know your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost you're bought with a price you're not your own this goes back to the servant thing I mean we're not our own I mean we our master is Christ God is our master I am his servant and whatever he says I need to do it and when it comes to fornication we need to flee it like Joseph fled flee into the mountains you know like Great Tribulation right now but but we need to not put ourselves in that situation and first first that's only in chapter 4 we've gone there before but in verse 3 it says for this is the will of God even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication that's the will of God in your life now that's not the only will of God but that I mean people are always like I'm trying to find the secret will of God in my life I'm trying to find the will of God I'm not sure what God wants me to do well I'll tell you one thing he wants you to do flee fornication abstain for fornication that I mean that is spelled out clear as day this is the will of God even your sanctification abstain from fornication now obviously the way that you do this or the way the one of the big ways to do this is to get married right in first Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1 it says now concerning the things where I've you wrote unto me it is good for a man not to touch a woman nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband so obviously Joseph in this case was single he wasn't married and so in the case of fornication and adultery one good way you know to get away from the temptation I'm not talking about the false accusations if you want to you want to clear yourself from having false accusations you should always be with people all the time and never be alone and you know what this isn't even Christians don't Christians aren't the only ones that do this celebrities do this all the time because of all the false accusations where though they won't be alone with people because they want money right there's a bunch of people that just want money and they know they can get it from them and so they're very careful with that type of stuff now obviously there's a bunch of whoremongers and pedophiles and all that stuff so I'm not talking about Roman Polanski and all these other you know pedophiles and and you know what's his name what's Kevin Spacey you know all these actors that are a bunch of pedophiles bunch of rapists obviously that's not how I'm talking about but what I'm saying is that a lot of people that are in power or that are well known and have a lot of money they're very careful about this type of stuff because they know that people will take advantage of it and you know what I don't know the whole case but that that that lady that was bringing an accusation that dr. Ford or whatever with Kavanaugh it's probably lying out out her teeth and she sprays all political ruse they knew about it months ago or like a month ago or something like that and they never brought it up again I'm not supporting anybody in this this whole thing but what I'm saying is that it's just a big circus and you have you have cases where nowadays you're guilty until proven innocent so you definitely don't want to have a case where people saw you with somebody by yourself or they knew you were in a meeting by yourself to where that could easily be accused and so we need to we need to keep that in remembrance also you need to realize God's thoughts on fornication and that includes adultery I believe first Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 8 first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 8 says neither to let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand so 23,000 people died in one day why fornication remember Balaam is the one that cast the stumbling block and caused them to commit fornication and so we need that we need to be careful with that and that's why you need to be careful in these situations and to have good standards like that and listen I don't even view that as a standard I just view that is like that's what the Bible teaches you I mean that's a story in the Bible I mean if you don't see that black and white where he went into the house and none of the men were there within and then what happened that is like a warning like don't do this you know you know make sure someone's in the house with you make sure someone's there with you if you're with especially with somebody that you know is trying to entice you and listen that that could happen you know I you know don't think that that any of us are it could be outside the realm of some let's say some lady like being attracted to you and then they're trying to entice you or the other way around with the women you know as far as men don't think that that couldn't be the case and so if you know that someone's like that you need to put up the guard real quick you know I've had I've had cases you know not cases I mean I think God has blessed me with the fact that I've never had to deal with this you know up to I mean now I mean I just haven't had deals once I got married it's kind of like everybody just looked away and which is good I don't want people you know like coming up to me and all this other stuff but I've had cases where like you know you're at the gym and there's there's there's women there and all this other stuff and they kind of talk you know you can tell when people are talking to you and it's not just like hi how you doing here's the weather you can kind of tell when people are laying in a little more as far as niceness or cuteness I guess you would say and I'm very quick to be like if the conversation is going somewhere I'd be like yeah my two girls you know and you know my wife and I just bring that up like immediately and let them know that hey I'm married and I have kids and like you know I mean and I'm not I'm not like mean about it but I'm very like and even one like I said when I go up there and I'll grab a towel I'll grab with the one hand that my rings on and the funny part you know I wear my ring to like even though I'm not gonna wear it in the like I take this one I've had like a koala one have you ever seen those rubber ones or whatever they're not rubber or something else but all that to say is that well what do you think everybody's after you you think you man you just have women falling and all over you no of course not that's not what I'm thinking but there may be someone in that whole group of people that I'm very explicit that I'm married and have children and all that stuff and why do you mention children because there's a bunch of home wreckers out there that actually like married men when you have children that's a little bit of like all you know that's a little extra baggage you know I mean now that doesn't stop everybody but I'm trying to lay it on thick I'm married I have children I have a wiener dog I mean I don't know if that's gonna help but yeah I'm a pastor you know like what else do you need to know you know like I hate adultery you know like but I'm laying it on thick what people and I usually I'm just very like hey you know like telling them who I am that I'm married all that stuff why because now it's kind of out in the open it's not like they think maybe I'm single or I'm someone that they could go after that nips the temptation in the bud because now unless they're an evil person that just wants to wreck a family they're not gonna be trying to advance on me and if they try to advance on me I know they're an evil person I know they're trying to wreck a family or do something right and so just be very careful with that you know nothing wrong with having some some hardcore standards with that and especially with and here's the thing I grew up you know I didn't grow up in a very like in that kind of fundamental Baptist realm with not being alone with girls and stuff like that I didn't grow up with that you know as far as dating or would you know or and here's the thing here's my thing with dating and listen I'm not there yet obviously my girls are really small when it comes to dating I'm not against let's say let's say they I'm for chaperoning meaning that I think they should but I think that they can go off and like into a like eat at a table where I don't have to be in the conversation does that make sense but I'm still there like I'm still not like allowing them to do something like they're not gonna do something really awful at a dinner table out in the open does that make sense but they can still have a conversation where they're talking and I don't have to listen to every single thing they say okay but there's difference between that and saying hey you know go over and watch a movie at that that boy's house you know listen I grew up with it but all you're doing is you're just laying in the temptation to say hey you know all this can happen and listen just mark it down you're gonna be weak mark it down you're gonna be weak and listen I hope you go into it with all the standards in the world as far as when you're trying to find a husband or a wife that you're just you know I want to follow the Lord I want to get married you know before I do anything that's the standard you should be going into but you also need to be having the mindset that I would fall if I was in a situation you need to be strong as a lion going into it but you need to have the mentality that I could I could fall therefore I need to put up these barriers I need to put up these things to where I'm not going to get into that situation but let's say let's end with the chapter here when he goes to he gets put in prison in verse 20 if I preach on fornication a lot if I preach on adultery a lot it's not because I necessarily think anything's going on in the church it's something that needs to be said a lot though especially in a day and age we live in okay and so even if I don't have I'm not preaching whole sermons on it's not just like flee fornication that's the name of the sermon I'm gonna hit on that subject a lot because it's something that needs to be hit a lot it's something that we all need to be hearing a lot it's something that needs to be just pounded down as far as sins that we could be guilty or we can fall into okay and so Genesis chapter 39 and verse 20 it says in Joseph's master took him and put him into into the prison a place where the king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison but the Lord was with Joseph and showed mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison and whatsoever they did there he was the doer of it the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him and that what he did the Lord made it to prosper now this kind of goes back to the same point with Potiphar the one thing I want you to see is in verse 22 it says whatsoever they did there he was the doer of it now this comes out you know I I hear people sometimes will say well listen it gets annoying when you're at work and someone's slacking they're not doing anything and you got to pick up their weight you know you got to pull their weight around and then they don't get in trouble for it listen with Joseph whatever was done he was the doer of it whatever needed done he did it and that's what we need to think about and not look at others you know that's what first Corinthians comes in we're supposed to not be judging one another because in the end and Peter said the same thing you know when dealing with the disciple whom Jesus loved with John he says what's gonna happen with this guy and Jesus says what is that to thee what if he tarries till I come what is that to thee you know and he's telling you need to get you need to do this and so we needed to stop be looking at others and saying well this is what they're not doing or you know I'm doing so much more than them so therefore I'm good no whatever work needed to be done or whatever was done be the doer of it that's the mentality you need to have and saying something needs to be done you know at my job sometimes I'll tell you know I'll take trash out I'll change the light bulbs I'll do something it's like you know could I get someone else to do it of course but why why why is that beneath me you know to do that and I'll even see you know sometimes you know some of the people in the that are higher up don't like wash my dishes for me I'm like good night you know like I you know because you take lunch in and all that stuff and you know it's just that mentality of like it needs done I'm gonna do it doesn't matter it's even my job to do it or it's even my thing to do you know what can I do to help I'm gonna be the one to do it if obviously if I'm able to do it there's certain things where I'm just like I have no idea how to do that so good luck you know with that but you know when it comes to work we need to be the doer of it Nehemiah chapter 4 you don't have to turn there but Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 6 it says so built we the wall and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof for the people had a mind to work the people had a mind to work and our church I believe has that mind but we need to keep that our mind that our mind is to work whatever it needs to be done I'm the doer of it and I see that with our families where it's like something needs clean you know where's the sign-up sheet something needs done let me do it and that's the mentality we need to keep and I think well this family's not picking they're not pulling their weight you know that's not the attitude we should be thinking and here's why we should never think that is because God's the one that sees it anyway and let's say you know there's something where where you're doing it all and then it looks like other families are doing something or other people are doing something and they're not actually doing anything listen God sees it anyway you should be doing it for the Lord anyway not for recognition and whatever work that needs to be done be the doer of it have a mind to work the Bible says in Titus chapter 3 it says it says put them in mind to be subject principalities and powers to be a magistrate to be ready to every good work be ready to do work have a mind to work and whatever there is that needs to be done be the doer of it go to James chapter 1 I'm gonna end with this because when I see Joseph here I don't know what he was like before he was put in the prison but I have a feeling that if he was if he didn't go through this he wouldn't have been a good leader he wouldn't have been a good worker he was kind of just and obviously we don't have the whole story of everything that was going on but it looked like Joseph wasn't exactly wasn't like the hard worker that he is that we see in this chapter and sometimes you need to be humbled and put into that situation where you have to work and he had the mind to work and that's what everybody saw from him you know what that also is what defines are you know the churches that we see now you know as far as you know pastor Anderson Church pastor Amanda's Church you know Verity steadfast all these different churches as far as you know what defines those churches you know what people see when they see those churches a church that works a church that does something you can find the dead is a doornail church anywhere down here there's plenty of them we're not even in the Bible belt but you can find the Baptist Church that doesn't do anything and they're not working but what defines God's churches those that are doing the first works those that have the first love those that are keeping the commandments of God keeping the works that their faith isn't dead that they're profitable doing the work of God in James chapter 1 verse 22 James chapter 1 verse 22 says but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves for if any be a hearer of the word not a doer he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgives what manner of man he was but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continue it therein he being not a forgetful here but a doer of the word this man shall be blessed in his deed and so when you come to church and you hear a sermon and you hear you hear you know preaching either on hard on sin or you hear a doctrinal sermon do you just hear it or do you use it and we talked about this you know we're talking about strong meat and it talks about strong meat belonging to them that are a full it age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercises discern both good and evil notice the difference between a strong meat milk you're feeding that to somebody right think of babies you know with what you know either breastfeeding or let's say a bottle or a sippy cup or something like that you know what I mean you're feeding that to them you have to get that prepared for him you have to feed it to them as they get older they can start feeding themselves a little bit with the milk and with the other stuff the strong meat it comes down to use you're not just eating it you're eating it but then you're using it and the thing I see with that I see I see protein you know when I'm eating meat I have a bunch of protein and I take that protein I do a bunch of work with it you know what that does the best thing to do when you're working out and this isn't a sermon about working out but is to get a bunch of protein so that your muscles your muscles are the ones that feed off protein and so you want to have a bunch of protein either before or after the workout there's a bunch of debate on when that's been the best time okay they're like five minutes after the workout you need a protein shake you know whatever but all I have to say is that protein builds muscle it makes you stronger but what if you just ate a whole bunch of protein that didn't work out didn't do anything would you really get stronger you know and and aside from steroids I'm not talking about steroids there's like some kind of growth hormone or something like that but I'm talking just natural protein you're eating eggs eating bacon you're eating steak when you eat that are you using it because if you don't if you don't go out and work you know and I'm not saying you have to go to the gym I'm just saying you go out and work you work in the field you do something right that will turn into muscle and so you get stronger because of that but because of reason of use and so don't just hear be a doer and here's the thing if you're if you're just a here do you think God's gonna give you more too much is given much is required and it talks about he that hash more shall be given unto them and I believe depending on how much you use what you've been given will depend on how much more God gives you as far as information as far as knowledge and wisdom why do you think that the churches that we know of know a lot about the Bible and know a lot of deep doctrines complex doctrines why do you think that is maybe it's because through the righteous is a tree of life and he that when his souls is wise maybe it's because by reason of use they have their senses exercises certain both good and evil so we need to be the doer of the work and obviously we're saved by grace we're saved by faith that goes without saying but as a Christian you want to grow you want to get stronger and you want to be put and you want to be in you think about Joseph here and the fact of going through all this humiliation and all the humility that he had to have to go through all of this but he worked through it he worked through it and made him stronger and listen when he when he became second in power how do you think he knew how to speak the language remember he had to speak by an interpreter we haven't got there yet but he has to speak but he speaks by an interpreter to his brothers they didn't understand what he was saying and so all this stuff that he learned and just everything that he went through molded him into the leader that he needed to be but it's because he worked he worked hard whatever they gave him he was the doer of it and whatever it was in his hands prosper because God was with them when he was doing it and so let's end with a word of prayer to Heavenly Father Lord we thank you for this evening and pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest this week in our jobs and Lord just help us to be the servants that you'd have us to be help us to serve those above us as we're sir as if we were serving you directly and Lord help us to be humble and help us to not have pride or to be have a haughty spirit about the business that we do at work I I pray that you protect our families from any temptations and Lord we think of just the world out there and as far as people trying to entice us to commit fornication or adultery Lord just pray that you'd help us to to be like Joseph to flee those cases but also to never put ourselves in a situation like Joseph was in and Lord just help us to give us give us wisdom in that area and Lord to guard ourselves from any type of troubles like that and Lord you pray to be with us again and give us safe travels as we go home in Jesus Christ's name amen