1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,760 Hello everyone and thanks for listening today to Trinity Sermons. 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,520 Now here at Trinity Church, Streetsville, we want to share encouraging sermons rooted in 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:18,120 biblical truth that guide us in our faith journey as we seek to love Jesus, to live 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,000 like Jesus, and to lead other people to Jesus. 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,480 Now this is episode 3 of our sermon series that we are calling, Live in the Dream, about 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,600 Joseph and Genesis, and Rob Hirkmans will be preaching today about that time when Joseph 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,560 faces the temptation of Potiphar's wife. 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,760 Now before we begin, don't forget to follow our podcast to stay up to date on all of our 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,840 future sermons and episodes, and to learn more about who we are, feel free to check 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:48,440 us out on social media or visit our website at trinitiestreetsville.org. 11 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:49,960 God bless. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,360 Good morning. 13 00:00:52,360 --> 00:01:00,880 A reading from Genesis, chapter 39, beginning at the first verse. 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,840 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:10,880 Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought 16 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,780 him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 17 00:01:15,780 --> 00:01:22,240 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian 18 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,340 master. 19 00:01:24,340 --> 00:01:30,080 When his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord gave him success in 20 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:38,520 everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. 21 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:45,560 Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything that 22 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,700 he owned. 23 00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:55,420 In the time he put him in charge of his household and all that he owned, the Lord blessed the 24 00:01:55,420 --> 00:02:00,680 household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. 25 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:06,560 The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the 26 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,160 field. 27 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,600 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care. 28 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:20,960 With Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. 29 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:28,320 Now Joseph was a well-built and handsome man, and after a while his master's wife took notice 30 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,160 of Joseph and said, come to bed with me. 31 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,520 But he refused. 32 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:39,720 With me in charge, he told her, my master does not concern himself with anything in 33 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,480 the house. 34 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,620 Everything he owns has been entrusted to my care. 35 00:02:45,620 --> 00:02:49,620 No one is greater in this house than I am. 36 00:02:49,620 --> 00:02:56,420 My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. 37 00:02:56,420 --> 00:03:03,260 How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? 38 00:03:03,260 --> 00:03:10,320 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be 39 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,280 with her. 40 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:19,120 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants 41 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,280 was inside. 42 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,280 She caught him by his cloak and said, come to bed with me. 43 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,920 But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 44 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:36,240 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she 45 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:42,240 called to her household servants, look, she said to them, this Hebrew has been brought 46 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,000 to us to make sport of us. 47 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,520 He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 48 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:55,880 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house. 49 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,760 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 50 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:08,000 Then she told him this story, that Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport 51 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,480 of me. 52 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:16,000 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house. 53 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:22,520 When his master heard the story, his wife told him saying, this is how your slave treated 54 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:23,520 me. 55 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,000 He burned with anger. 56 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,560 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison. 57 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:35,080 The place where the king's prisoners were confined. 58 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,360 But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him. 59 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:46,520 He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 60 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:51,840 This is the word of the Lord. 61 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:56,960 As Grace mentioned, this is just the second time we've had a service at 1115, at least 62 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:02,360 in a good number of years, so we're very glad that you've joined us this morning. 63 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:09,280 So the other day, my wife Sally and I, we were on our way to visit some friends. 64 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:14,400 And while we were on the way, you know how it goes, we got talking, I got a bit distracted. 65 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,800 And before you know it, I had taken an exit that I shouldn't have taken and we started 66 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,080 going in the wrong direction. 67 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:25,920 And it's a good thing we didn't go too far because we never would have reached our destination 68 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,840 if we hadn't turned around. 69 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:30,680 But I just, I got distracted. 70 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:36,800 Now many people, as they set out to pursue their dreams for their life, their vision 71 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,920 for their life, sometimes they too can get distracted. 72 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,180 They might start out with a very, very clear vision, right? 73 00:05:44,180 --> 00:05:47,800 Some of you here today, you have a clear sense of where God is calling you and where you're 74 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,800 going. 75 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:53,080 Maybe if you're a student, you have some clear academic goals or if you're older, some career 76 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,480 goals or some vision for your family. 77 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,520 Even if you're retired, you will have plans for your retirement. 78 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:05,680 And so you've set out to achieve those goals and maybe you're making absolutely great progress 79 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:06,760 toward those. 80 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,960 But then sometimes you stop and you look and you say, oh no, I've kind of, I've gotten 81 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:11,960 lost. 82 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:12,960 I've gotten off track here. 83 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,040 I was headed from here to here, but now I'm over here. 84 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:23,800 And you might wonder how on earth did I get so distracted from my dream, from my goal? 85 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:29,520 I have to tell you, there are millions of things today that are there to distract us 86 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,120 from reaching our dreams and reaching our goals. 87 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,840 We live in a culture that is known as a culture of distraction. 88 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:41,720 And what they mean by that is our culture is full of everything from technology to media 89 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,940 to a 24 seven news cycle to the busyness of life. 90 00:06:45,940 --> 00:06:48,000 There is always something distracting us. 91 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:52,520 There was always something trying to pull our focus and grab our attention. 92 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:58,360 And this is a problem because it is really hard to accomplish the big things in life 93 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:04,120 if we're constantly distracted by the little things that are going on all around us. 94 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:09,640 A distracted existence leads us to no goal. 95 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,160 That is a scary statement. 96 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:17,120 It's a scary thought that all the distractions in life could actually lead us away from God's 97 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,640 dream for our life. 98 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:25,000 Now there are a couple of big distractions that can come to us throughout our life from 99 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,000 time to time. 100 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:27,680 These are challenges. 101 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,960 There are choices we have to make. 102 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:35,080 And if we do not handle these changes and choices very carefully, they can totally derail 103 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:40,000 our life and they can totally take us off the path of our dreams. 104 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:45,560 Now we have been reading the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. 105 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:50,360 Joseph had a dream that one day he was going to be a great ruler, a great leader. 106 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:56,480 But in today's story, Joseph will come face to face with two major distractions that he 107 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,800 must overcome if he's going to achieve that dream. 108 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,680 And we too must overcome these distractions at some point in our life. 109 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:08,920 I'm sure we all will face them at some point or another in the pursuit of our dreams. 110 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:10,640 And those two distractions are this. 111 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,600 They're the distraction of power and the distraction of pleasure. 112 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,920 The lure of power and the temptation of pleasure. 113 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:26,880 Now for Joseph, the lure of power was this. 114 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:32,160 Will he let his newfound popularity go to his head? 115 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,280 And for Joseph, the lure of pleasure was this. 116 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:40,840 Will he let this pretty lady take him to her bed? 117 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:46,600 So you've got on the one hand, you've got this thing over here which you could say he's 118 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,000 is Joseph going to end up on a power trip? 119 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,560 And over here is Joseph going to let his morals slip? 120 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:58,840 Both of these are major, major distractions that would keep you or me or Joseph from getting 121 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,240 where God wants us to go. 122 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,680 Flaunting around with power or fooling around with temptation and pleasure have derailed 123 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:07,520 so many dreams. 124 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,760 They have disgraced so many leaders and they've destroyed so many organizations that I don't 125 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:14,160 even need to tell you. 126 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:20,440 But the good news is Joseph shows us that we can face these distractions, we can overcome 127 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,880 these distractions and we can stay true to the dream that God has given us. 128 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,840 Let's start with the distraction of power. 129 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:34,920 Here is a saying that goes, the greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. 130 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:40,920 Now maybe you've seen this, maybe you've experienced this, the abuse of power. 131 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:42,800 Maybe it's in your workplace. 132 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,740 Somebody got a promotion and they turned into a real jerk and they became really obnoxious 133 00:09:46,740 --> 00:09:48,800 after that promotion. 134 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,080 We see it in politics sometimes. 135 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,480 The politician will make all sorts of promises in order to get elected, but once they're 136 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,440 elected they'll do whatever suits them. 137 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,720 Unfortunately we see it in the church as well. 138 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,640 You will see a church leader that grows in influence and is allowed to do whatever they 139 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,200 want and it has horrible and disastrous consequences. 140 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,920 You may even see it in yourself as well. 141 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,740 You get just a little taste of power, a little bit of power and pretty soon it goes to your 142 00:10:15,740 --> 00:10:18,800 head and your friends are saying, hey man, you've changed. 143 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,880 You're not the same person anymore. 144 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,320 They did a little study back in 2012 where this researcher had two people play a game 145 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:33,260 of Monopoly and what he did is he totally gave one player like twice the amount of money 146 00:10:33,260 --> 00:10:39,040 and two dice to roll and he gave the other less powerful player half the money and one 147 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,200 dice and then of course he let them go and play. 148 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:47,960 Well it didn't take long before the player with more money and more dice started acting 149 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:49,680 really obnoxious. 150 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:52,240 They were totally power tripping. 151 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:53,960 They started talking louder. 152 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,800 They started avoiding eye contact with their opponent. 153 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,560 They started hogging more of the table. 154 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:03,600 They even started reaching across and moving their opponents game pieces and when they 155 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:08,400 moved their own game pieces they were often very loud and obnoxious about it like boom, 156 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:13,160 boom, boom, I pass go, give me two hundred, you know, deal with it, right? 157 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,200 And everyone knew it was a game and it was rigged and yet they still acted like they 158 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,440 had real power. 159 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:26,680 The conclusion was that even a little bit of power can corrupt ordinary people even 160 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:28,840 when it's a game. 161 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,080 Now Joseph though, Joseph didn't have a little bit of power. 162 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:38,880 He had a lot of power and it wasn't a game, it was real power and this is how we know. 163 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:39,880 Let's take a look. 164 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:44,280 First of all, we know Joseph had power because of the people that he was around. 165 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:49,080 First of all, you have to understand Joseph was bought as a slave by this fellow named 166 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:50,080 Potiphar. 167 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,920 Potiphar was the captain of the guard. 168 00:11:53,920 --> 00:12:00,160 Put another way, Potiphar would have been the commander in chief of the Egyptian armed 169 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,760 forces. 170 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:06,960 That made Potiphar one of the most powerful people in one of the most powerful countries 171 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,360 on the face of the earth in those days. 172 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:15,160 So right away Joseph is surrounded by some pretty big power players, okay? 173 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,480 It's the people he's surrounded with. 174 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,120 But secondly, it's the place he finds himself. 175 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:23,760 We are told that Joseph actually lived in the house of Potiphar, right? 176 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,400 Joseph, in other words, was living in the White House. 177 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,120 He was living in the center of power and all those visiting heads of state and all those 178 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:36,920 dignitaries and all the who's who of Egypt would have surely brushed shoulders and come 179 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,680 across Joseph as they came in and out of that place. 180 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:48,320 He had a group of people, he had a place, but he also had a position that gave him power. 181 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,960 Joseph found favor in Potiphar's eyes and became his attendant. 182 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:57,920 Now you may say, retentant, that doesn't sound like a great position. 183 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:03,080 But you gotta understand, that is the same word the Bible uses to describe Joshua's relationship 184 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:04,920 to Moses. 185 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:13,500 So in other words, Joseph became the COO of all the affairs and all the estate of Potiphar. 186 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:17,940 He had incredible responsibility and he had incredible authority. 187 00:13:17,940 --> 00:13:23,080 This was a high position with high control and high power. 188 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,520 Not only that, but Joseph enjoyed prosperity. 189 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:32,560 Seven times in the passage that we just read, we come across words like prosperity and success 190 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:34,040 and favor. 191 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:38,040 I don't think there's anywhere else in all the Bible where you will find the story of 192 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:45,120 someone who ascends through the ranks, who ascends from slave to ruler as fast as Joseph 193 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:46,120 did. 194 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:51,160 Normally when young people are given that much power that quickly leads to disaster, 195 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:56,120 but Joseph prospered in that role. 196 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,480 Also we have to consider his popularity. 197 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:04,620 The text makes it clear that when Joseph came on the scene, things started changing. 198 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:09,000 People started noticing that he has the touch, he's got the gift, this guy's special, there's 199 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,140 something about him. 200 00:14:10,140 --> 00:14:13,960 Before Joseph got here it was all meh and now look at the place. 201 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:15,720 Joseph's our man, he's our guy. 202 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:16,720 Joseph. 203 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,640 So his popularity is going up too. 204 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,020 And finally I want to mention this and you can put as much weight on it as you want, 205 00:14:24,020 --> 00:14:29,000 but the scriptures are clear to tell us that Joseph was a good looking fellow as well. 206 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:35,200 He was handsome in form and appearance and some people have tried to establish is there 207 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,400 a connection between the power people have and their appearance? 208 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,720 Is there a connection between our looks and our power? 209 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,000 Well Joseph had both. 210 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,040 He had good looks and he had power. 211 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,200 Hey I just want to give you a little side note here. 212 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:53,400 This is in Genesis 39, but if you go back to Genesis 29 you will come across a description 213 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,040 of Joseph's mother whose name was Rachel. 214 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:04,860 And we're told quote that Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance, which answers the 215 00:15:04,860 --> 00:15:06,880 age old question. 216 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:13,720 Yes, children get their good looks from their mothers. 217 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:14,920 So there you have it. 218 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:15,920 There you have it. 219 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,800 Joseph, a young man who has been given incredible power. 220 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,560 People he knows, the place he resides, the position he holds, the prosperity he achieves, 221 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,240 the popularity he enjoys and the appearance to boot. 222 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,720 So now the question is will this power go to his head? 223 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:36,880 Will he go on some kind of power trip that will distract him from his God given dream 224 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,360 like has happened to so many others before him and after him? 225 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:44,120 You see when you have power there's really just two ways you can go with it. 226 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:49,080 The first way is you can use your power to benefit yourself. 227 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,440 This is called the abuse of power. 228 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:53,440 The abuse of power. 229 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:58,240 When you use your power for personal gain to coerce or harm someone else in the process. 230 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,800 Of course this can take the form of physical abuse, financial abuse, psychological abuse, 231 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,200 even sexual abuse. 232 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,960 And I know that you have heard or maybe you've even experienced this kind of abuse of power 233 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:10,960 in your own life. 234 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,960 But hey, you don't even have to go that far to find an example of it. 235 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,640 Just look right here in the story and you will see someone who is abusing their power 236 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,080 for personal gain. 237 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,960 And that person is Potiphar's wife. 238 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:25,360 She's got power too, by the way. 239 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,200 She's got power, maybe more power than Joseph. 240 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,920 And man, oh man, is she trying to abuse that power. 241 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:33,680 She catches him, grabs him. 242 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:34,980 Is that physical abuse? 243 00:16:34,980 --> 00:16:36,160 Come to bed with me. 244 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,080 Is that sexual abuse? 245 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,120 In Hebrew it's even more blunt. 246 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:44,160 There's only two words there and they're both in the imperative which basically means sex 247 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:45,160 now. 248 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,200 I want sex and I want it now. 249 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,000 But it's important to know this is not just about sex. 250 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,760 This is about power, right? 251 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,520 She's using power to get what she wants. 252 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:02,160 Now, the abuse of power isn't always so obvious as this. 253 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,840 In fact, I want to just take a side note here and say all of us who work or volunteer or 254 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:11,920 serve even here at Trinity, you have power. 255 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:13,240 You have some power. 256 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:20,200 Whether it's in men's ministry, women's ministry, prayer ministry, life group ministry, if you 257 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:26,120 are praying with someone in our part of our prayer ministry, you have a power relationship 258 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:27,120 over that person. 259 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:28,960 You may say, I don't have power over them. 260 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:29,960 We're just friends. 261 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:30,960 We're just talking. 262 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:31,960 We're just buddies. 263 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:32,960 We're church members. 264 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:41,040 No, no, when you're in that role, there is real and or perceived power in ministry. 265 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:47,520 And so we need to be extremely careful here at Trinity as we care for one another. 266 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:52,920 Churches get into a load of trouble in a whole bunch of hot water when we cross boundaries 267 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,360 and when we abuse power. 268 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:59,400 So let's make sure we're being careful with that. 269 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,200 We can't use power for our own benefit. 270 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:03,840 Is that what Joseph does? 271 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,320 Does he use his power to benefit himself? 272 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,640 And the answer is no, he does not. 273 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,640 He uses his power, in fact, to bless others. 274 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,520 And so must we read this. 275 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:21,280 From the time he put him in charge of his household, the Lord blessed the household 276 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,320 of the Egyptian because of Joseph. 277 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,840 So who benefits from Joseph's power? 278 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:27,840 The Egyptian. 279 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:28,840 Potiphar does. 280 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,920 In fact, all of Egypt ends up being the beneficiary of his power. 281 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,520 I just want to tell you this. 282 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,400 Joseph's great grandfather was a guy named Abraham. 283 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:44,360 And God told Abraham, he said, Abraham, one day through your descendants, all the nations 284 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,360 of the earth are going to be blessed. 285 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:52,320 And here we see Abram's great grandson, Joseph, and it's actually happening. 286 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,000 The nations of the earth are being blessed through him. 287 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,460 In fact, this is just the beginning. 288 00:18:57,460 --> 00:19:02,060 Joseph is going to go on to launch a massive hunger relief program that is going to save 289 00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:06,320 many nations and thousands and thousands of people. 290 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:13,480 So that is the way you use power, not to benefit yourself, but to bless others. 291 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,280 Now again, you might be saying, Rob, I don't have that kind of power. 292 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,320 But I would actually say all of us have some power in some of our relationships, in our 293 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,800 workplace, again, even here in the church. 294 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,380 Or one day you may be offered more power or you may be tempted with power. 295 00:19:29,380 --> 00:19:32,440 What are you going to do when that day comes? 296 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:33,920 You're going to let that power go to your head. 297 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,860 You're going to use that power to benefit yourself or will you use that power for others 298 00:19:37,860 --> 00:19:38,860 instead? 299 00:19:38,860 --> 00:19:40,360 I hope so. 300 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:46,880 So Joseph didn't get distracted when it came to the distraction of power, but that's not 301 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:48,080 the only distraction he faced. 302 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,720 He also faces other really tough distractions, which we're going to call the distraction 303 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,680 of pleasure. 304 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:55,680 And here's what happened. 305 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:56,680 Here's what happened. 306 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:05,120 One of the greatest tests of our lives often comes during our high moments, our times of 307 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:06,620 great prosperity. 308 00:20:06,620 --> 00:20:10,360 When things are going along great, that's often when the tests and the trials really 309 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:11,360 come. 310 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:12,360 And that's what happened for Joseph. 311 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:13,360 He was at the zenith of his career. 312 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,220 He was at the top of his game. 313 00:20:15,220 --> 00:20:23,660 And that's when Potiphar's wife took notice of him and said, come to bed with me. 314 00:20:23,660 --> 00:20:27,000 This is the distraction of pleasure, sexual pleasure. 315 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,100 It's an invitation to an extramarital affair. 316 00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:36,080 And I know each and every one of us have seen how this kind of distraction can absolutely 317 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:41,040 destroy a person's life and throw all their dreams up into the air. 318 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:46,480 We live in a culture though that says, hey, if it feels good, just do it. 319 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:47,480 Just do it. 320 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,440 And Joseph lived in a culture that said the same thing. 321 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,880 If it feels good, just do it. 322 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,080 So what I'm trying to say is what Joseph was facing and the culture he lived in is not 323 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:57,080 all that different from ours. 324 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,200 And so we can learn from Joseph. 325 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,660 What can we learn from Joseph? 326 00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:08,240 The first thing we can learn is what these distractions look like and how they operate. 327 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,360 And the first thing that this story teaches us is that these distractions and temptations 328 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:17,360 often come to us at unexpected times and in unexpected places. 329 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,920 I don't think Joseph saw this coming. 330 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:26,240 Joseph was a slave boy who had just been bought by a master and shoved in the house and put 331 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:32,200 to work for the princess of the house to take notice of him and to see him. 332 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,280 I bet he was like, what, me? 333 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,360 Are you talking to me, me, little old Joseph? 334 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,120 Meet Hebrew slave boy Joseph? 335 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:42,000 You think you want to go to bed with me? 336 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,000 I'm flattered. 337 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,280 I can't believe it. 338 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:45,280 Wow. 339 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:46,640 I just, I don't even know what to say. 340 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,720 I'm so surprised. 341 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,560 And temptation often catches us off guard. 342 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:52,840 We don't expect it. 343 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:54,400 We don't see it coming. 344 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:55,920 We're not ready for it. 345 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,280 It comes unexpected times from unexpected places. 346 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,520 But secondly, it wasn't just that this temptation was unexpected. 347 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,260 It was unrelenting. 348 00:22:06,260 --> 00:22:09,500 She spoke to Joseph day after day. 349 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:12,640 It wasn't just that she propositioned him once and said, hey, go to bed with me. 350 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:14,360 And Joseph said, no, thanks. 351 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:15,880 And then she said, okay, I'll leave you alone. 352 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,680 No, it was day after day after day. 353 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,520 After day, hey, Joseph, the offer still stands. 354 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,880 Day after day, hey, Joseph, you know, anytime you want it, I'm over here. 355 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,280 Day after day. 356 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:33,280 Being tempted once is hard, but being tempted in an unrelenting day after day way is very 357 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:34,280 different. 358 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:39,160 So you may resist at first, but will you cave in over time? 359 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,280 It was an unrelenting temptation that he faced. 360 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:47,800 Thirdly, though, this was a largely unseen temptation. 361 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,200 Hey, Joseph, it'll be our little secret, right? 362 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,960 You know, it's just you and me in this great big house. 363 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,360 Nobody is really ever around here. 364 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,280 My husband's always out on business. 365 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:00,720 He doesn't really care. 366 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,720 And so, hey, why don't we just, you know, we can just do this on the sly. 367 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,200 Nobody will ever know. 368 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:12,760 So John Wooden, who's a basketball coach and a leadership guru, once said, the true test 369 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:19,480 of a person's character is what they do when no one is watching. 370 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,600 This temptation was completely under the radar. 371 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,760 It was unseen. 372 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:31,480 And fourthly, I think I want to say it was probably also an understandable temptation. 373 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,480 What I mean by that is often when we give in to temptation, it's because we've somehow 374 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:40,120 worked it out in our mind, we've reasoned it through, and we've come up with a reason 375 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:44,320 why we should succumb to that temptation, right? 376 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,480 Joseph might have thought, well, you know, I am a slave and she is my master. 377 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,280 I better do what she say. 378 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,320 Or he might have said, well, you know what, it may be to my advantage to sleep with her. 379 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:01,200 After all, be one more person in a position of power, one more friend in high places. 380 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,880 Or he may have said, you know what, I really should sleep with her because she could wreck 381 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,520 my career if I don't. 382 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,760 So yes, Joseph could have said all these things understandably. 383 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:15,080 He could have rationalized it and given in. 384 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,360 So I hope you see this was a heavy, heavy temptation for Joseph, right? 385 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:21,240 This was hard. 386 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:26,520 And please don't hold Joseph up as some saint like, oh, we could never be like Joseph. 387 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:32,360 Joseph was a flesh and blood human being just like you and just like me. 388 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:38,080 So there are some important lessons we can learn for better within reach for us as well. 389 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:43,760 We can stay true to the dream God has for our life in the same way that Joseph stayed 390 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:48,560 true in the face of this tempting pleasure. 391 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,920 Here's one thing that Joseph obviously did. 392 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:58,080 Joseph decided ahead of time how he's going to react in situations like this. 393 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,720 Did you notice how quickly Joseph refused her invitation? 394 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:03,920 Come to bed with me. 395 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:04,920 Boom. 396 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,720 But he refused. 397 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:07,720 Period. 398 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,400 He immediately said no. 399 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,520 The Bible doesn't tell us he thought about it for a while or he considered it for a week. 400 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:19,040 No, he immediately said no, which means that Joseph had already decided that his moral 401 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:24,520 foundation was going to come from God, that his view on sexuality and relationships, he 402 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:32,640 had already figured that out in his mind ahead of time before the temptation arose. 403 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:39,120 David Jeremiah says, the backseat of a steamed up car is not the place to formulate your 404 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:43,040 standards for dating. 405 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:44,720 And he's right. 406 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,200 Better have those things figured out before you get into that situation. 407 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,600 Sometimes we say, oh, heck, I'll just figure it out in the moment. 408 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:51,600 I'll muddle through. 409 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,600 No, no, no. 410 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:59,560 It's far better to decide ahead of time because moments like that, moments like that don't 411 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,360 make you who you are. 412 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,880 In those moments, it reveals who you are, reveals who you've already decided you're 413 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:07,680 going to be. 414 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,040 So he decided ahead of time. 415 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,160 But secondly, he considered others. 416 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,640 Many people today would say, oh, sex is just between two consenting adults. 417 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,600 It's nobody's business but their own. 418 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,960 But Joseph knew it's always somebody else's business. 419 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:25,520 There's always somebody involved. 420 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,680 There's always someone who can get hurt. 421 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,960 Joseph, he knew and he cared for Potiphar. 422 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:37,040 Potiphar had been so good to Joseph, given him so much opportunity, and Joseph knew that 423 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:44,760 to go and sleep with Potiphar's wife would be incredibly hurtful to Potiphar. 424 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,840 Stuff like this is just never between two people, and you know that, right? 425 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,480 There's always children that are involved. 426 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,160 There's always a family that's involved. 427 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,960 There's always friends or a community that gets drawn up in this. 428 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,640 Everybody pays the penalty for these kind of decisions. 429 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:06,880 But Joseph considered others as he contemplated this. 430 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,720 Thirdly, he avoided the situation. 431 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,720 I love this line. 432 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,120 He says, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her, right? 433 00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:19,040 Now, Potiphar's wife, she could have gone to plan B. 434 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:23,200 She could have said, okay, he has turned down my offer for sex, but Joseph, how about we 435 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:24,440 just get together for coffee? 436 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,680 Or Joseph, you know, it's kind of lonely around here. 437 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:27,800 Okay, forget what I said earlier. 438 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:28,800 Let's just hang out. 439 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:29,960 Maybe we could just go for a walk. 440 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:31,680 It's a big, empty, lonely house. 441 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:36,520 I just want someone to talk to and hang out with. 442 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,920 You know, years ago, I worked with a married couple. 443 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:47,260 The wife had had an affair with someone in her workplace, and as they were working on 444 00:27:47,260 --> 00:27:49,640 rebuilding their marriage, they made a decision. 445 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:56,480 They said, in order to give our marriage a shot, she was going to have to quit her job. 446 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,760 They were set on this. 447 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,660 They determined that she could not go to work every day and be in that same setting as that 448 00:28:03,660 --> 00:28:07,280 person who had tempted her and hurt her family so much. 449 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,720 It was a radical decision, and I think it was the right decision. 450 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,200 You can get another job, right? 451 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,680 But you can't get another life. 452 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:17,640 You can't get another marriage. 453 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,480 You can't get another family. 454 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:20,480 That's forever. 455 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,920 Now, some people might say too extreme, or they might say, man, Joseph's a coward. 456 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,600 You know, surely we can, we're strong people. 457 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,600 We can put up, we can hang out with someone. 458 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,420 I can have coffee with her and not be tempted by her. 459 00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:38,280 But he ran, and he avoided her, and he knew that was the safest and wisest thing to do 460 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:39,280 in this situation. 461 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,560 I think he was right. 462 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:46,040 So the last thing I just want to say related to that is it's very apparent that Joseph 463 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,480 treated this whole thing very, very seriously. 464 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:55,380 How can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? 465 00:28:55,380 --> 00:28:56,380 Those are big words. 466 00:28:56,380 --> 00:28:58,400 Those are serious words. 467 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,840 Nowadays, a lot of people would instead say, oh, come on. 468 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,120 How prudish, how old fashioned. 469 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,840 Don't you know people do stuff like this all the time? 470 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,080 Every book, every movie, every celebrity. 471 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,920 They're all having sex and doing this kind of thing. 472 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,800 My friends, my classmates, my coworker, they're all fooling around with each other. 473 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,360 It's all sex and affairs and cheating. 474 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,440 What, can't people fool around a bit? 475 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,120 Can't people mess around a little bit? 476 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:25,380 Oh. 477 00:29:25,380 --> 00:29:29,840 But people don't take it seriously anymore like Joseph took it seriously. 478 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,300 Joseph said, I'm taking this seriously, and that is one of the reasons why he was able 479 00:29:34,300 --> 00:29:40,320 to persevere through this temptation and ultimately fulfill the dream that God had in mind for 480 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,320 him. 481 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:42,320 He treated it seriously. 482 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,640 So I just want to say, if you've got a dream for your life, for your career, if you've 483 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:54,720 got a dream for your family, be careful when the distraction of temptation comes. 484 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,100 Decide ahead of time to follow God. 485 00:29:57,100 --> 00:29:58,720 Think about others. 486 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,200 Avoid the risk and take it seriously. 487 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:02,920 Don't slough this stuff off. 488 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,080 It's serious. 489 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,960 So just in closing, just in closing. 490 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:15,420 Whether it is the lure of power or whether it is the longing for pleasure, both of these 491 00:30:15,420 --> 00:30:20,640 are serious distractions that must be defeated in order for us to get where God wants us 492 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:21,640 to go. 493 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,320 Joseph's a good example for us to follow, but I would say there's an even better example 494 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,160 that we can look to, and that's Jesus himself. 495 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:29,160 Right? 496 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:34,860 Jesus, of course, knew all about the temptations of power and pleasure. 497 00:30:34,860 --> 00:30:38,360 Picture Jesus hanging on the cross. 498 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:43,340 Surely Jesus had enough power that he could have taken himself down from that cross. 499 00:30:43,340 --> 00:30:45,320 Could he not have used his power to escape? 500 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:51,320 Could he not have used his power to claim the throne as king and rule as he rightly 501 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:52,320 should? 502 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:58,560 Of course he could have, but he resisted that distraction, the distraction of power. 503 00:30:58,560 --> 00:30:59,560 What about pleasure? 504 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,600 Surely Jesus could have lived a more pleasurable life than this. 505 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,200 He gave up the comforts of heaven. 506 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:05,720 Couldn't he have had some comforts on earth? 507 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,560 Couldn't he have avoided this suffering, avoided this pain, avoided all the suffering of the 508 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:10,560 cross? 509 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:17,400 And of course he could, but he resisted the temptation of pleasure as well. 510 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:24,360 You see, Jesus, like Joseph, sacrificed both power and pleasure. 511 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:29,440 He could have benefited himself, but instead he chose to benefit others, you and me included. 512 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:37,120 He could have saved himself, but instead he chose to save others, you and me included. 513 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:42,680 And that, ultimately, as we know, is how God's dream comes true. 514 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,720 That's how it came true in the life of Joseph. 515 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,080 That's how it comes true in the life of Jesus. 516 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:54,000 And that's how God's dream is going to come true in your life too. 517 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:55,000 So thanks be to God. 518 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,000 Amen. 519 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:01,680 Thank you so much for listening today and it is our hope that you enjoyed this message 520 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,240 and are inspired by Rob's words and this relevant sermon. 521 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:09,480 And if you enjoyed the sermon, please take some time to rate and review our podcast so 522 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,200 that we can continue to share the good news with others. 523 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,880 And don't forget to come back next week where we'll be learning about the next stage of 524 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,760 Joseph's life as he continues to live out the dream that God had for him. 525 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:27,280 Today's sermon was taken from the November 12th, 2023 service at 11.15 a.m.