WEBVTT

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Morning kids, junior highers, high schoolers,

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you guys are dismissed at this time. Otherwise,

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let me invite you to open up in your Bibles with

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me to John chapter 14. John chapter 14 is where

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we're starting out today, it's not where we're

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ending. We'll be where we start. As you're turning

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there, I just want to take a minute, if you are

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visiting with us, if this is your first week

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with us, we are glad you are here. At Cornerstone,

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we are convicted that it is no accident that

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you are here this morning, and we are really

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excited for what God has for us today. I just

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want to encourage you, you know, this passage

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that we're going to be looking at today, actually

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out of the book of Genesis, I think is really

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applicable for us with maybe where our world

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is right now. You know, some of us might be kind

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of on top of the world thinking that life's going

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great. Maybe you're here this morning and you're

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struggling a little bit. You're mourning the

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loss of life in Minneapolis or the shooting in

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Evergreen. Maybe you're mourning with so many

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today as we remember Charlie Kirk at his funeral

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later today. And friends, sometimes the world

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can feel like it gets worse and worse and worse.

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And you have a bad Monday and then a bad Tuesday

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and an even worse Wednesday and things start

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to feel like they're spiraling a little bit out

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of control. And in the middle of all of that,

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when it feels like life is getting worse and

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worse and worse or harder and harder and harder

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or we're processing things and we feel like we

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cannot keep up with everything that's going on,

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we can begin to lose hope and get a little bit

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frustrated. And I would encourage us that when

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we look at the life of Joseph today in Genesis

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chapter 39, we're going to see that Joseph wrestled

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with some of those very same emotions, that his

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life felt like it was spiraling out of control

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faster and faster and faster. And so before we

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look at Genesis 39, I want to give you three

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reminders that we need to remember as we look

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at that chapter. We're going to then stand and

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read in a minute from John 14 because it reinforces

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these three reminders. So here's what I want

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you to hear this morning. First, No matter where

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you are, how you feel, Jesus loves you. Please

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know that. Above everything else in the world,

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Jesus loves you. Secondly, I want you to hear

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this. Jesus gave his life to redeem you or to

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buy you back from sin. Jesus paid the price for

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you. And third, Jesus is preparing a place for

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you personally in heaven right now. Let me encourage

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you to stand with me as we read John 14, 1 through

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3 to begin our time together. This is the word

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of God. Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe

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in God, believe also in me. And my Father's house

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are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have

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told you that I'm going to prepare a place for

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you? If I go away and prepare a place for you,

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I will come again and take you to myself so that

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where I am, you may be also. And verse 4 says

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this, you know the way to where I am going. Let

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me pray for us. Father God, thank you so much

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just for this chance that we have to be gathered

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here this morning, God. Lord, as we look at the

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life of Joseph, help us never to forget, God,

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that you love us, that you redeemed us, and that

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you are preparing a place for us. God, as we

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face trials and difficult times in life, Help

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us to cling closely to you, Father. And God,

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I ask right now that you would clear our minds

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of any distractions, God. Still our hearts. Quiet

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them in your presence, Father. Lord, I ask that

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you just speak to us this morning, God. I pray

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all of this in your name. Amen. You may be seated.

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Well, like I alluded to, we are actually going

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through the book of Genesis. If you want to flip

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back to Genesis chapter 39 with me, that's where

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we'll actually be this morning, is Genesis 39.

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But I think it's important that we start off

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by seeing that the very reminder that Joseph

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needs in Genesis 39, the very lesson that Genesis

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39 teaches us, is also a New Testament lesson.

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That God is never going to leave you. God is

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never going to forget you. God will always forgive

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you. It's not those words wrong. But I want to

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encourage you with something else this morning.

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Our main point as we look at Joseph's life is

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this. Obedience to God isn't about convenience.

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Obedience to God isn't about convenience. It

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can be really tempting for us, I think sometimes

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at least for me personally, to start thinking,

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well, if it's convenient to follow God, then

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that's what I'll do. If it's convenient to care

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about that neighbor, that's what I'll do. If

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it's convenient to live this way, that's what

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I'll do. But what Genesis 39 shows us is really

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twofold. One, that God will never leave us. But

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secondly, that obedience to God is not about

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convenience. Because I can promise you this,

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it was not convenient for Joseph to obey God

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as a slave. It was not convenient for Joseph

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to refuse to worship the gods of his master.

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It was not convenient for Joseph to worship God

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while he was in prison. But obedience is not

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about convenience. Obedience is not reliant on

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it being convenient. Instead, we are called to

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always be obedient to God. regardless of the

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cost that might have. And I promise you this

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morning, Cornerstone, there is a cost to being

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obedient to God. When Jesus says, pick up your

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cross and follow me, he isn't just saying, hey,

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you're going to do some hard things in life.

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Hey, don't do that thing that your friend's doing.

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He's alluding to the fact that it is a sacrifice

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to be obedient to God, that it is not convenient

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at all to be obedient to God on a daily basis.

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But it is what we are called to do. That's what

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we're going to see in Genesis chapter 39. But

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before we jump into chapter 39, let me just back

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up to chapter 37 for a minute. In Genesis 37,

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we see that Joseph's introduced to us. He has

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a pair of dreams. His brothers absolutely despise

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him for these dreams because he dreams that all

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the brothers, all his older brothers, are bowing

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down to him as though he is a king. And beyond

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the dreams, we also see he's given this long

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-sleeved robe, a garment that was only given

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to kings or the extremely wealthy like his father.

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But the expectation would have been that Jacob

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would have given that cloak to Reuben, his firstborn

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son. Or if not Reuben, because Reuben kind of

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disgraced his father in many ways, maybe give

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it to his second and thirdborn sons, who also

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disgraced his father. So the expectation would

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have been that he would have given it to Judah,

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who at that point in time had not yet done something

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to disgrace his father, although he soon would.

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But he doesn't do any of that. Instead, Jacob

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gives this robe to his 11th born son, Joseph,

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the 17 -year -old. and his brothers despise him.

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One thing leads to another. He has these dreams.

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He obeys his father's instructions to go check

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on the work that his brothers are doing, and

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they decide they're going to kill him for who

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he is. Finally, Judah talks some sense into them,

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decides they won't kill him, and instead they

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decide to sell him into slavery in Egypt. And

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chapter 37 ends with Joseph being sold to Potiphar.

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And then chapter 38, which we looked at last

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week, kind of takes a step out of Joseph's life.

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and instead focuses on the life of his brother

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Judah, and we see how evil Judah honestly is.

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We see the sin that Judah commits. But there's

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actually something really interesting going on

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here. See, Genesis 37 -36 and Genesis 39 -1 are

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parallel verses. The writer Moses would have

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been using this to bracket Genesis 38 to draw

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our attention to the major theme throughout that

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chapter, which is twofold, that God has released

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us from shame, and secondly, that God has a bigger

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plan than what we can see. And so Moses does

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this, and now as Moses brings us back into Genesis

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39, let me invite you to look at verses 1 through

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6 with me. It says, now Joseph had been taken

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to Egypt, and an Egyptian named Potiphar, an

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officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards,

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bought him from the Ishmaelites. who had brought

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him there. Now, if you remember way back in about

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Genesis 12 to 20, we see that Abraham has two

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sons. First, he has Ishmael, who is the son of

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his wife's slave, Hagar, and Ishmael grows up,

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his descendants become the Ishmaelites, so there's

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this weird family dynamic going on in verse 1,

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but let's keep going with verse 2. The Lord was

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with Joseph, and notice that also, those are

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the four capital letter Lord, that means Yahweh.

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God, the God that we are worshiping this morning,

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was with Joseph, and he became a successful man

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serving the household of his Egyptian master.

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When his master saw that the Lord, Yahweh, was

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with him and that Yahweh made everything he did

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successful, Joseph found favor with his master

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and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also

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put him in charge of his household and placed

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all that he owned under his authority. From the

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time that he put him in charge of his household

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and of all that he owned, the Lord Yahweh blessed

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the Egyptian's house because of Joseph. Yahweh's

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blessing was on all that he owned in his house

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and in his fields. He left all that he owned

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under Joseph's authority. He did not concern

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himself with anything except the food he ate.

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Let's talk about that. When Joseph arrives in

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Egypt, he's bought by a man named Potiphar, who

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is the captain of Pharaoh's guard. Potiphar is

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essentially the head of the secret service for

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Egypt. He's extremely important. He's very popular,

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very influential. If anyone in the entire nation

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has Pharaoh's ear, it is Potiphar. But as influential

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as he was, and he was already very successful,

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things begin to grow even more and change even

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more when Joseph enters his house because the

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Lord God was with him. Joseph. I cannot stress

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enough how important it is throughout Joseph's

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life. Whenever we see those four capital letters,

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LORD, you stop and understand that is the God

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that we worship. That is Yahweh, our God. That

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matters significantly because what's going on

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in this chapter is not caused by an idol. This

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is not the Egyptian god Ra causing this to happen.

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This is not some pagan deity. This is God of

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the universe who is with Joseph, creator of all

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things in heaven and on earth. who sees Joseph,

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a humble slave in Egypt, and cares about him

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personally. And we see that as time goes on,

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everything that Joseph does succeeds. Potiphar

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grows in wealth, he becomes more and more wealthy

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because of Joseph, and Joseph succeeds because

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of God. And if I'm honest, at least, it can be

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really easy for me to think that Joseph was all

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alone when he went to Egypt, because that's how

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it reads. His brothers sell him. He doesn't speak

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the language. He just shows up in Egypt, and

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who is with Joseph? But he wasn't all alone.

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He wasn't all alone because God was still with

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him. God was working to make Joseph successful

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because God had a much larger plan in place than

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what we see on the surface. On the surface, his

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brothers had a plan. Sell Joseph into slavery,

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and before we know it, our brother will be killed,

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and it won't be our fault specifically. But God

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has a much larger plan, something that Joseph

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addresses in Genesis 50, verse 20. He looks at

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his brothers and tells them, you intended to

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harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish

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what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

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Friends, God has a much larger plan in place

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in Genesis 39. And as Potiphar sees that everything

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that Joseph is doing succeeds, Potiphar puts

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Joseph over everything. He trusts him with everything

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that he has, with his wealth, his reputation,

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his influence, and as we'll see, even with his

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own family. And in all of this, God blesses Joseph,

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who in turn blesses Potiphar with his work. As

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we see in verse 6, Potiphar has no worries except

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what he eats. And to be very clear, this is not

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talking about food insecurity. This is saying

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that all that Potiphar has to worry about is

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whether he wants chicken or fish that night,

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steak or lamb. Those are the choices that Potiphar

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is worried about. Nothing is on his mind as a

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concern. He is carefree because of Joseph. And

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so I actually want to stop and just make a point

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of application to us here. Joseph is definitely

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blessed by God. That's very explicitly clear

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in the text. But that's not the only thing going

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on here. We know this also from Genesis 37. Joseph

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works hard. Let's be really clear on that. Joseph

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works hard. We saw in Genesis 37 that he's a

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man of integrity and that this continues in Egypt

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as we'll continue to see. He works hard and God

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blesses his hard work. And here's the application

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part. It's easy for us sometimes to quote 1 Corinthians

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10 31 or Colossians 3 23 over and over and say,

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I'm going to do everything that I do to glorify

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God. Whatever I'm doing, I'm going to do to glorify

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God. I'm going to clean this toilet for the glory

00:12:41.710 --> 00:12:44.450
of God. But let me challenge, we don't always

00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:47.490
actually mean that. Sometimes it's easy for us

00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:49.090
to say, I'm going to do everything to glorify

00:12:49.090 --> 00:12:52.070
God, but our hearts actually say, I really don't

00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:53.950
want to do this. So I'm going to do this halfway.

00:12:55.579 --> 00:13:00.159
I'm not actually going to try my hardest. It's

00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.440
kind of like the group project maybe you get

00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.899
in school at some point where you know that you've

00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:05.940
got three other really great partners. And so

00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:06.980
you're like, I don't really have to work that

00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:09.519
hard on this because they can pick up the slack.

00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:11.440
I say that as though I was not always the one

00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.159
having to pick up the slack. But it can be really

00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.019
easy for us to almost start to slip into that

00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:18.620
in our lives in any different area. Well, I'll

00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:22.879
do 75 % of my best here. And God, just do with

00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.370
that what you can. You know, I'm doing that to

00:13:24.370 --> 00:13:27.129
glorify God. But friends, we shouldn't be 75

00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:29.970
% worshiping the Lord Almighty. We should be

00:13:29.970 --> 00:13:33.409
100 % worshiping God. And so I want to challenge

00:13:33.409 --> 00:13:35.110
us this morning. Do we really mean when we say,

00:13:35.129 --> 00:13:37.129
I will do everything to glorify God, do we really

00:13:37.129 --> 00:13:39.590
mean that? Do we really mean that we will work

00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:41.269
at whatever we are doing with all of our hearts

00:13:41.269 --> 00:13:44.529
to glorify the Lord? Understand, Joseph is a

00:13:44.529 --> 00:13:46.750
slave. When he's bought, he would have gotten

00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:51.580
to do the absolute worst possible jobs. But yet

00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:53.799
he still worked hard, and Potiphar was blessed

00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.600
by his hard work. Joseph glorified God with his

00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:58.740
work. Whether it was managing financials for

00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:01.000
Potiphar, taking care of the livestock, Joseph

00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:05.980
glorified God with his work. And friends, we

00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:07.919
need to understand this. If God is with us always,

00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.320
and we know God is with us always, then God is

00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.620
with us when we are working also. Remember that.

00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.860
God is with Joseph even in this really hard season.

00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.860
He's going to use this hard season to get it

00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:21.549
so much worse. and Joseph's life for something

00:14:21.549 --> 00:14:25.710
so much greater. Consider even the lesson we

00:14:25.710 --> 00:14:28.370
learned last week with Tamar. God is with us

00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:30.809
always, but that doesn't mean that everything's

00:14:30.809 --> 00:14:34.710
always easy. So keep that in mind as we look

00:14:34.710 --> 00:14:36.429
at Genesis 39, and let me challenge you to just

00:14:36.429 --> 00:14:40.090
think about that this week. Are we actually doing

00:14:40.090 --> 00:14:41.990
everything that we do? Are we actually working

00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:45.330
for God's glory, or are we just saying that because

00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:48.149
that's what we heard at church? Look at verses

00:14:48.149 --> 00:14:51.370
kind of last half of 6 through 10 with me. So

00:14:51.370 --> 00:14:52.789
moving to the last part of verse 6 through verse

00:14:52.789 --> 00:14:54.710
10, we're going to see that Joseph's matured

00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:56.909
and something really, really bad is about to

00:14:56.909 --> 00:14:59.509
happen in his life. Verse 6 says this, once again

00:14:59.509 --> 00:15:01.950
it says, he left all that he owned under Joseph's

00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:03.929
authority. He did not concern himself with anything

00:15:03.929 --> 00:15:07.570
except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built

00:15:07.570 --> 00:15:10.129
and handsome and he is strong. And after some

00:15:10.129 --> 00:15:12.450
time his master's wife looked longingly at Joseph

00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:16.799
and said, sleep with me. But he refused. Look,

00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:20.159
he said to his master's wife, with me here, my

00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:21.840
master does not concern himself with anything

00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.399
in his house. He's put all that he owns under

00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.919
my authority. No one in this house is greater

00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:29.159
than I am. He's withheld nothing from me except

00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:32.500
you because you are his wife. So how could I

00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:34.360
do this immense evil and how could I sin against

00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.779
God? Although she spoke to Joseph day after day,

00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.509
he refused to go to bed with her. So what do

00:15:40.509 --> 00:15:42.029
we see at Joseph? Well, we see that Joseph is

00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:44.470
strong, he's handsome, he's good -looking, he's

00:15:44.470 --> 00:15:46.710
been in Egypt for a little bit, and Potiphar's

00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:48.629
wife makes a decision. She wants to have an affair

00:15:48.629 --> 00:15:51.250
with Joseph. Let's be really blunt about this.

00:15:51.509 --> 00:15:55.269
She wants to take advantage of Joseph. In her

00:15:55.269 --> 00:15:57.070
mind, there's no way he can say no. After all,

00:15:57.090 --> 00:16:00.110
he's a slave. She can do whatever she wants to.

00:16:01.450 --> 00:16:06.129
But look at his response. Joseph says no. He

00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:07.870
doesn't say, you know, actually, you're right.

00:16:08.769 --> 00:16:11.870
I built all this wealth for Potiphar. Everything

00:16:11.870 --> 00:16:13.529
that Potiphar has has become greater because

00:16:13.529 --> 00:16:19.250
of me. I deserve this. No. Instead he says, how

00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:25.049
could I sin against God? Not just how could I

00:16:25.049 --> 00:16:27.289
sin against Potiphar, how could I be mean to

00:16:27.289 --> 00:16:29.429
Potiphar, how could I do that? He says, how could

00:16:29.429 --> 00:16:33.440
I sin against God? Again, we see that Joseph

00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.600
is a man of character and integrity. He chooses

00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:38.919
to obey God rather than chasing what might be

00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.120
nice in the short term. But I'd actually go one

00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.580
step further. See, last week we saw Judah make

00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.559
decisions that positioned him to walk away from

00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:49.220
God. He left God, he left his family, he decided

00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.279
to do things his own way. I didn't make a big

00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:54.080
deal out of this last week, but when Judah slept

00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.820
with what he thought was a shrine prostitute,

00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.759
what he was trying to do there was actually worshiping

00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.179
an idol. That was how they would worship their

00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:05.519
pagan idols, was through that type of situation.

00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:10.039
It shows us actually when he does this with Tamar

00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.920
that Judah is worshiping gods other than God.

00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.640
Judah made decisions that directly led him away

00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:18.160
from God. But Joseph, Joseph is different. He

00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:19.980
was dragged away from his family, away from his

00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:21.799
support system. He has every reason on earth

00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:25.079
to say, God, where are you? I don't know about

00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:26.880
you, but if it was me in that situation where

00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.210
I'm sold into slavery by my brothers, I mean,

00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:33.289
I would have to have brothers, but if I found

00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:34.849
myself in that spot, I think I'd probably be

00:17:34.849 --> 00:17:36.509
wondering, God, where have you been in all of

00:17:36.509 --> 00:17:39.589
this? God, what did I do that was so wrong to

00:17:39.589 --> 00:17:42.990
deserve this? Like, God, all I've tried to do

00:17:42.990 --> 00:17:45.109
is listen to my dad and listen to you, and I

00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:46.769
told my brothers about the dreams that I had

00:17:46.769 --> 00:17:49.210
that are from you. What did I do wrong here?

00:17:51.970 --> 00:17:55.089
But Joseph doesn't do that. Joseph holds God

00:17:55.089 --> 00:17:59.609
close, and he continues to obey God. His life

00:17:59.609 --> 00:18:03.230
was different than the people around him. His

00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:05.910
work was different. He worked harder. He honored

00:18:05.910 --> 00:18:09.170
Potiphar. And we see that the way that Joseph

00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:12.049
responds to sin is different. He doesn't say,

00:18:12.069 --> 00:18:14.029
well, yeah, this would make me feel good. No,

00:18:14.089 --> 00:18:17.230
let's go back to what he says. Look back at that

00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:22.349
with me. How could I do this immense evil and

00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:27.670
how could I sin against God? So who is Joseph

00:18:27.670 --> 00:18:29.630
following while he's in Egypt? He's following

00:18:29.630 --> 00:18:32.970
God. And friends, let this be an encouragement

00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:34.990
to you. I know sometimes it can be like, well,

00:18:35.049 --> 00:18:36.849
I don't have as much time as I want to have.

00:18:36.869 --> 00:18:38.809
I don't have the conveniences I want to have.

00:18:38.950 --> 00:18:40.809
You know, I don't have the perfect fellowship

00:18:40.809 --> 00:18:42.609
right now. I don't have the perfect community.

00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:46.130
It's just, it's a really hard season. I just,

00:18:46.170 --> 00:18:50.750
I can't follow God as well as I want to. Let's

00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:52.769
just take that head on. Joseph doesn't have a

00:18:52.769 --> 00:18:56.430
Bible. Joseph doesn't have worship on Sunday

00:18:56.430 --> 00:18:58.130
morning. Joseph doesn't have a church. Joseph

00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:00.589
doesn't have another Christian. Joseph doesn't

00:19:00.589 --> 00:19:04.329
have any of those things. But yet Joseph still

00:19:04.329 --> 00:19:07.809
follows God. He continues to obey God. See that

00:19:07.809 --> 00:19:10.029
when he talks like, how can I sin against God?

00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:12.289
And understand this is not just a one -time thing.

00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:14.829
This temptation comes day after day after day.

00:19:15.170 --> 00:19:18.170
Potiphar's wife wants this to happen badly. In

00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:20.569
fact, actually some extra biblical sources, we

00:19:20.569 --> 00:19:24.119
actually see other parts added into this. And

00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.319
it goes so far as to suggest that Potiphar's

00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.380
wife throws parties with her friends just so

00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:31.240
they can all look at Joseph and tell her how

00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.940
attractive he is. Potiphar's wife really wants

00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:38.140
this to happen. And day after day after day,

00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:40.940
she tries to wear Joseph down. And if we're honest,

00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.380
it can be kind of easy for us to avoid sin that

00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:45.680
first time that we're tempted. And let me be

00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.000
really clear on this. Being tempted is not a

00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.440
sin. Being tempted is part of living in a sinful,

00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:54.200
fallen world, but giving in to temptation, that

00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.980
is where we sin. So yeah, for Joseph, that first

00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:00.000
time, he's able to say, hey, why would I sin

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.579
against God in this? But what about that second

00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:04.440
time, she asks him? What about that third time?

00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:06.740
For us, what about that second time we're tempted?

00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:09.559
What about that third time we're tempted? We

00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:10.900
want to do something really selfish. We're done

00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:13.519
listening to our spouse for the day. We want

00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.740
it to be about us, and we're just tired. It's

00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:18.329
easy that first time, you're like, nope. Let

00:20:18.329 --> 00:20:20.569
me stop and listen. What about that second time,

00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:22.569
that third time? What about that fourth time?

00:20:22.930 --> 00:20:24.809
What about the Friday of that really hard week

00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:27.589
when all you want to do is just have no contact

00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:30.630
with anybody else? And then your kid or your

00:20:30.630 --> 00:20:37.170
friend calls you. One of my hardest memories

00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:39.970
from college, I'd gone home for a week and I

00:20:39.970 --> 00:20:42.450
was driving back into Laramie, made a plan to

00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:44.710
go over to my girlfriend's house at the time.

00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:48.980
And so I was driving into Laramie, and she lived

00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:50.380
right next to where I was coming to town at.

00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:52.420
I was about to turn to her apartment complex,

00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:54.420
and I got a call from a freshman I knew on campus.

00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:59.599
And he called me, and he said, hey, one of my

00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:03.759
friends committed suicide, like, yesterday. He

00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:05.319
goes, I don't really know a whole lot of people

00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:06.660
yet. This is, like, the third week of college,

00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:08.519
right? He doesn't know that many people. And

00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:10.759
he goes, but I know you, and I'd really like

00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.059
to, like, talk about this. And just, like, I'm

00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:19.170
really struggling. I'm not okay. And in that

00:21:19.170 --> 00:21:21.490
moment, I'm faced with this decision, right?

00:21:23.109 --> 00:21:25.089
Selfishly, what I want to do is just go be with

00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:29.569
my friends, turn my brain off, go sit there,

00:21:29.650 --> 00:21:31.849
watch Sunday Night Football, and just pretend

00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:33.990
that nothing else in the world exists, right?

00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:36.289
Just go yell at the TV about how terrible the

00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:38.430
Broncos are and laugh at Trevor Simeon as our

00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:43.109
starting quarterback. Now, I know in my heart

00:21:43.109 --> 00:21:44.609
of hearts as he's calling me and on the phone

00:21:44.609 --> 00:21:48.309
with me, what I should say is, yeah, man. listen,

00:21:48.450 --> 00:21:51.890
I'll be at my apartment in like 30 minutes. Come

00:21:51.890 --> 00:21:54.210
over then. You know, I can balance this. I can

00:21:54.210 --> 00:21:56.269
still go by my girlfriend's for a few minutes

00:21:56.269 --> 00:21:57.710
and say hi, and I can go to my apartment. I can

00:21:57.710 --> 00:22:03.190
be there for him. And then that second part of

00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:05.309
temptation comes up. It's like, well, yeah, when

00:22:05.309 --> 00:22:06.569
do you want to talk about it? And he goes like,

00:22:06.609 --> 00:22:09.250
well, like right now. Like, I'm really not okay.

00:22:10.430 --> 00:22:12.970
I feel that temptation a second time. And then

00:22:12.970 --> 00:22:16.140
a third time. And clearly, because I'm a pastor,

00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:18.220
I totally looked at him and was like, yeah, absolutely.

00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:20.960
Oh, wait, that's not true at all. I said, okay,

00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:23.579
I'm really sorry to hear that's going on. Yeah,

00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:25.579
I'll be praying for you. Bye. And hung up the

00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:29.140
phone on him. Friends, I'm not telling you that

00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:30.519
the second or third time you're tempted is hard

00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:32.359
because I don't have experience with this. I'm

00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:34.500
able to say that because I know that. I know

00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:36.279
how hard it is to continue to fight off that

00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:38.700
selfish temptation to do things our way rather

00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:42.000
than God's way. And so friends, the fact that

00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.259
Joseph is able day after day after day after

00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:46.119
day to resist this shows us something about Joseph.

00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:49.200
Joseph is mature in his walk with God. He has

00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.359
been justified by God. He's been declared righteous

00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.859
before God, but he's also been sanctified. He

00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:56.559
is continuing to grow. See, sanctification or

00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.839
the act of being sanctified literally means our

00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:01.799
gradual growing righteousness, or simply put,

00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:06.619
becoming more like Jesus. And Joseph is growing

00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:09.609
to be more like Jesus. He's relying on the Holy

00:23:09.609 --> 00:23:11.390
Spirit day after day after day. He's relying

00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:14.910
on God day after day after day. And even though

00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:16.970
he can't be in a church, he can't be gathered

00:23:16.970 --> 00:23:19.710
with God's people, the Israelites, even though

00:23:19.710 --> 00:23:21.930
none of that's going on, he's growing closer

00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:25.150
to God. And so day after day after day, this

00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:27.890
temptation comes. But day after day after day,

00:23:27.950 --> 00:23:31.650
Joseph refuses. But even as he says no, she doesn't

00:23:31.650 --> 00:23:34.390
quit. Look at verses 11 through 15 with me. It

00:23:34.390 --> 00:23:36.869
says, now one day Joseph went into the house

00:23:36.869 --> 00:23:39.029
to do his work, and none of the household servants

00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:43.849
were there. She, Potiphar's wife, grabbed him

00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:46.809
by his garment and said, sleep with me. But leaving

00:23:46.809 --> 00:23:49.190
his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:52.609
When she saw that he left his garment with her

00:23:52.609 --> 00:23:54.509
and had run outside, she called her household

00:23:54.509 --> 00:23:57.470
servants, saying, look, she said to them, my

00:23:57.470 --> 00:23:59.430
husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of

00:23:59.430 --> 00:24:01.650
us. He came to me so he could sleep with me,

00:24:01.710 --> 00:24:04.230
and I screamed as loud as I could. And when he

00:24:04.230 --> 00:24:06.150
heard me screaming for help, he left his garment

00:24:06.150 --> 00:24:10.250
beside me and ran outside. Okay, Potiphar's wife

00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:12.789
does not give up quickly or easily, and she concocts

00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:14.490
a plan. She's going to get Joseph by himself,

00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:16.509
and she's going to force Joseph to do what she

00:24:16.509 --> 00:24:19.329
wants. So one day she sees this perfect opportunity.

00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:21.089
Only her and Joseph are in the house. No one

00:24:21.089 --> 00:24:23.529
else is there. And so she grabs him and tells

00:24:23.529 --> 00:24:25.589
him very bluntly to sleep with her, thinking

00:24:25.589 --> 00:24:29.930
this is finally the solution. Let me be really

00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:32.920
clear. This is an absolutely huge gamble. Let's

00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:35.700
say Joseph says no and manages to talk to Potiphar

00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:38.539
before she can and Potiphar believes him. She

00:24:38.539 --> 00:24:45.779
will be executed. Full stop. It's a very small

00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:49.299
likelihood this works out for. She commands Joseph

00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:51.539
to do this and Joseph escapes and he runs outside

00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:53.160
without his cloak, basically his outer garment.

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:56.779
Friends, that is how Joseph handles sin. Joseph

00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:59.240
goes sprinting out of the house. He does everything

00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:01.619
that he can to avoid her. And he's done the right

00:25:01.619 --> 00:25:03.140
thing right here. That's how we need to respond

00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:05.160
to sin. We need to run away from sin. Listen

00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:07.240
to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6 .18. He

00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:11.880
says this, flee sexual morality. You can honestly

00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:16.980
substitute in flee sin. Flee from sin. Let me

00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:20.220
just bluntly ask you, if you are confronted with

00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:22.119
sin that vividly, and I'm not just talking about

00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:25.750
sexual sin. Would you run from sin or would you

00:25:25.750 --> 00:25:29.930
run to sin? Because if we're honest, typically

00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:35.349
our response is not what Joseph just did. Typically

00:25:35.349 --> 00:25:39.390
our response is to kind of slowly back away from

00:25:39.390 --> 00:25:43.829
sin. Say, okay, well, not right now, not right

00:25:43.829 --> 00:25:47.410
now, not right now. Two days later, three days

00:25:47.410 --> 00:25:49.529
later, we find ourselves doing the very thing

00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:53.450
we don't want to do. But let me be clear, this

00:25:53.450 --> 00:25:55.109
needs to be our response to sin, where we see

00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:58.309
sin and we run straight away from it. I remember

00:25:58.309 --> 00:26:00.630
being in an accountability group in college that

00:26:00.630 --> 00:26:02.970
was made up of our campus ministry's guy leaders,

00:26:03.089 --> 00:26:04.890
and we were talking about different ways to help

00:26:04.890 --> 00:26:07.349
ourselves and our students in our Bible studies

00:26:07.349 --> 00:26:10.470
avoid sexual temptation. How can you just avoid

00:26:10.470 --> 00:26:13.970
it? How can we try to avoid it? And listen, it

00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:15.849
did not hurt that we lived in Laramie, Wyoming,

00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:18.710
and so by like September 3rd, it was like 26

00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:22.289
degrees and snowing. but I vividly remember the

00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:23.970
leader of this group looking at us and saying

00:26:23.970 --> 00:26:28.410
this phrase, go nuclear. I was like, okay, that's

00:26:28.410 --> 00:26:30.650
pretty intense. Like, all right, talk more about

00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:32.950
that to me. And what he was saying was don't

00:26:32.950 --> 00:26:35.509
get cute with sin. He said if your phone causes

00:26:35.509 --> 00:26:37.609
you issues, get rid of your phone, get a different

00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:39.150
phone that can't go on the internet or do whatever

00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:40.789
you're struggling with, or put it in a different

00:26:40.789 --> 00:26:44.390
room. If you use your laptop to sin, don't use

00:26:44.390 --> 00:26:46.710
your laptop in private. And listen, that's what

00:26:46.710 --> 00:26:48.589
Joseph does right here. He goes absolutely nuclear.

00:26:48.690 --> 00:26:51.069
He just goes sprinting out of the house. He's

00:26:51.069 --> 00:26:55.170
in the middle of working. Don't miss that. Joseph's

00:26:55.170 --> 00:26:56.829
also the accountant for Potiphar. He's probably

00:26:56.829 --> 00:26:59.710
sitting down there working on the books. Probably

00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:01.089
something we should finish up before we move

00:27:01.089 --> 00:27:03.529
on. This happens, and he just goes sprinting

00:27:03.529 --> 00:27:05.549
out of there. He doesn't care at all. He sees

00:27:05.549 --> 00:27:07.950
sin, he sees the trap, and he runs from it. And

00:27:07.950 --> 00:27:10.170
as he goes nuclear, Potiphar's wife creates a

00:27:10.170 --> 00:27:12.430
new plan. She's holding on to his outer cloak.

00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:14.420
something he would never have taken off in the

00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:16.799
house unless he was trying to sleep with her.

00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.279
And she decides she's going to lie, so she calls

00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:20.819
her household servants in to explain that Joseph

00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:22.599
tried to sleep with her, and that she yelled

00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:27.420
and that he ran away. Let's be clear. That's

00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:31.940
not the case. It's a lie. Joseph didn't try to

00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:34.099
rape Potiphar's wife. And let's also be clear,

00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:36.359
that's what she just described. He tried to force

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.640
himself on her. This is someone else yet again

00:27:39.640 --> 00:27:42.099
sinning against Joseph. It's happening again.

00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:44.079
And for Joseph in this moment, as he's running

00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:45.519
out of the house, it has to feel like his entire

00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:48.180
world's crashing down. He's like kind of finally

00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:49.779
made peace with the fact that, hey, he's doing

00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.559
a good job for Potiphar. God's blessing him.

00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:55.299
He's able to kind of do his own thing right now.

00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:58.079
He's already stuck in Egypt because of his brother's

00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:00.579
sin. He's already a slave. He's worked his way

00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:03.160
up. And now Potiphar's wife is lying about him.

00:28:03.549 --> 00:28:06.329
And again, Joseph's going to be hurt by other

00:28:06.329 --> 00:28:10.470
people's lies. So look at verses 16 through 20,

00:28:10.529 --> 00:28:12.269
we'll see where Potiphar's wife kind of lands

00:28:12.269 --> 00:28:14.849
this at. It says this, she put Joseph's garment

00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:16.910
beside her until his master came home, and then

00:28:16.910 --> 00:28:19.769
she told him the same story. The Hebrew slave

00:28:19.769 --> 00:28:21.750
you brought to us came to make a fool of me,

00:28:21.809 --> 00:28:23.809
but when I screamed for help, he left his garment

00:28:23.809 --> 00:28:27.329
beside me and he ran outside. And when his master

00:28:27.329 --> 00:28:30.549
heard the story, his wife told him, these are

00:28:30.549 --> 00:28:32.369
the things your slave did to me. Notice the tone

00:28:32.369 --> 00:28:34.660
of that. It's not just like, oh, these are the

00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:36.440
things that Joseph tried to do. It's like, these

00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:39.019
are the things your slave tried to do to me.

00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:43.220
He was furious and had him thrown into prison

00:28:43.220 --> 00:28:46.019
where the king's prisoners were confined. So

00:28:46.019 --> 00:28:49.700
Joseph was there in prison. So Potiphar's wife

00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:51.859
sets the scene. She comes up with this idea.

00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.880
She sets the lie up. She puts Joseph's cloak

00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:55.440
next to her until her husband comes home, and

00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:00.839
then she lies to him. Potiphar's furious. So

00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.680
he's taking this accusatory tone. She tells this

00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:06.759
huge lie. And in his anger, Potiphar acts and

00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:08.420
doesn't stop to ask questions or to think, hey,

00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:11.920
is all of this true? Rather than saying, listen,

00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:16.839
I know Joseph. Joseph's done a great job. I trust

00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:21.319
Joseph. This doesn't sound like Joseph. Instead,

00:29:21.720 --> 00:29:23.380
he goes and immediately has Joseph thrown in

00:29:23.380 --> 00:29:25.160
prison with the rest of Pharaoh's prisoners.

00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:27.920
Now, let's be clear. It is understandable that

00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:32.250
Potiphar is angry. That's a pretty normal response

00:29:32.250 --> 00:29:35.490
to that situation. But that does not excuse what

00:29:35.490 --> 00:29:38.690
Potiphar does. Please hear me this morning, Cornerstone.

00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:40.910
You can be mad in life, and there are times where

00:29:40.910 --> 00:29:43.750
it is okay to be mad. But that does not give

00:29:43.750 --> 00:29:46.089
you a free pass to take your anger out on everyone

00:29:46.089 --> 00:29:50.230
else. Jesus gets mad in the temple, and he flips

00:29:50.230 --> 00:29:54.769
tables. But Jesus doesn't sin. See, the actual

00:29:54.769 --> 00:29:58.849
feeling of anger and being upset is not sinful,

00:29:58.869 --> 00:30:01.710
but what we do with our anger can be. And here

00:30:01.710 --> 00:30:05.309
again, Joseph is sinned against. Not only has

00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:07.609
he lied about, now Potiphar takes all of his

00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:10.390
anger out on Joseph and throws him in prison.

00:30:12.470 --> 00:30:14.849
Let's look at where Joseph's at now. He's gone

00:30:14.849 --> 00:30:16.730
from being the favorite son of a wealthy father,

00:30:16.910 --> 00:30:19.549
given this long -sleeved robe like a cloak, to

00:30:19.549 --> 00:30:21.630
now being stuck in an Egyptian prison, which

00:30:21.630 --> 00:30:23.839
is actually more of a pit in the ground. where

00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:25.759
he's actually bound in chains. See, Psalm 105,

00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:28.140
18 gives us a little more information about Joseph's

00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:30.259
time in prison. This is what it says. It says,

00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:33.420
they hurt his feet with shackles. His neck was

00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:37.299
put in an iron collar. This prison stay was absolutely

00:30:37.299 --> 00:30:40.839
miserable. It is. I think sometimes, maybe just

00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:42.039
because of how we've seen like Joseph in the

00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:44.059
Technicolor Dreamcoat done on stage, we think

00:30:44.059 --> 00:30:45.980
Joseph's in prison, but he's kind of like wandering

00:30:45.980 --> 00:30:49.740
around free, just like, hey, prison's not great,

00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:53.099
but it's not the worst thing ever. Joseph's feet

00:30:53.099 --> 00:30:55.339
are bound together in shackles, his neck's put

00:30:55.339 --> 00:30:58.839
in an iron collar. Day after day, that's what

00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:02.200
he wakes up to, sleeping on a cold floor in a

00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:06.539
pit. This prison stay is awful, it's miserable.

00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:09.259
And yet again, he's suffering, not because of

00:31:09.259 --> 00:31:11.380
something he's done, but because of somebody

00:31:11.380 --> 00:31:14.859
else's sin. So how does Joseph respond to all

00:31:14.859 --> 00:31:18.099
of this? Look at verses 21 through 23 with me.

00:31:19.980 --> 00:31:23.740
But Yahweh was with Joseph and extended kindness

00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:25.960
to him. He granted him favor with the prison

00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:28.240
warden and the warden put all of the prisoners

00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:30.279
who were in prison under Joseph's authority and

00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:32.339
he was responsible for everything that was done

00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:35.759
there. The warden did not bother with anything

00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:38.799
under Joseph's authority because Yahweh was with

00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:41.680
him and Yahweh made everything that he did successful.

00:31:42.460 --> 00:31:44.279
So how does Joseph respond to prison? Does he

00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:45.900
just throw in the towel and quit, give up on

00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:50.759
life? No. No, he again works hard. He does the

00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:52.200
things he's given. And again, we see that God

00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:55.500
protects him and God provides for him. I know

00:31:55.500 --> 00:31:56.940
that sounds really weird to say when we just

00:31:56.940 --> 00:31:59.500
established that Joseph's in chains and in these

00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:01.660
shackles and this iron collar and he's stuck

00:32:01.660 --> 00:32:04.660
in a pit of a prison. But God is providing for

00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:07.339
him. Remember, God's provision does not mean

00:32:07.339 --> 00:32:09.420
everything is always comfortable. It's a huge

00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:12.700
fallacy that we can have. But Joseph rises up

00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:14.660
through God's provision and position and he ends

00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:16.039
up actually being entrusted with the responsibility

00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.000
of running the prison. Friends, what a testimony

00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:20.819
to the way that Joseph lives and how his life

00:32:20.819 --> 00:32:24.980
glorifies God. That Joseph, a prisoner, is running

00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:30.359
the prison. Listen, God is with Joseph, but Joseph

00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:33.039
also lives differently. I want to make sure we

00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:35.619
hear that this morning. Joseph's life doesn't

00:32:35.619 --> 00:32:38.140
call us to a passive faith where we just float

00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:40.099
through life and say, well, I got saved when

00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:43.920
I was six. I'm good for life. It calls us to

00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:47.670
actively live out our faith. in Jesus. It calls

00:32:47.670 --> 00:32:51.210
us to be obedient when it is inconvenient. It

00:32:51.210 --> 00:32:52.569
calls us to live differently than the people

00:32:52.569 --> 00:32:57.390
around us. And through it all, even when it's

00:32:57.390 --> 00:33:01.309
not comfortable, God will provide. God's provision

00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:05.269
means that we are provided for. Joseph is provided

00:33:05.269 --> 00:33:08.609
for even though his life isn't comfortable. But

00:33:08.609 --> 00:33:10.529
I will also give you this as a reminder before

00:33:10.529 --> 00:33:12.910
we come back together next week. God's provision

00:33:12.910 --> 00:33:15.599
in the end will be better than Joseph ever could

00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:17.839
have anticipated. When you're going through a

00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:19.519
trial, when you're going through that hard season,

00:33:20.059 --> 00:33:22.799
God's provision for you will be better than you

00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:25.480
could anticipate. And I'm not saying, you know,

00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:28.180
hey, I graduated college with $6 in my bank account,

00:33:28.299 --> 00:33:31.059
but now I have a Lamborghini. I'm saying God's

00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:33.900
provision will meet all of your needs at the

00:33:33.900 --> 00:33:37.880
perfect time to bring God all of the glory. Let

00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:39.859
me give you two points of application this morning.

00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:44.059
First, we are called to run from sin. There's

00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:45.519
two parts to this that I want to talk about.

00:33:45.900 --> 00:33:49.220
But first, we are called to run from sin. There

00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:50.500
are three things I mentioned at the start of

00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:53.160
our service, that Jesus loves you, Jesus redeemed

00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:54.960
you, and that Jesus is preparing a place for

00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:59.019
you personally in heaven right now. Ephesians

00:33:59.019 --> 00:34:01.680
1 .7 says this, in him, in Jesus, we have redemption

00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:04.519
through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses

00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:07.579
or our sins according to the riches of his grace.

00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:11.659
You know, we've used this word sin a lot this

00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:14.510
morning. Sin is anything that is not perfectly

00:34:14.510 --> 00:34:19.650
holy and honoring to God. And every person on

00:34:19.650 --> 00:34:21.489
earth is sin. That's what Romans 3 .23 tells

00:34:21.489 --> 00:34:24.429
us. But God did not leave us in our sin. God

00:34:24.429 --> 00:34:26.449
did not leave us in our brokenness and the hurt

00:34:26.449 --> 00:34:29.309
that we experience because of sin. God sent Jesus

00:34:29.309 --> 00:34:32.409
to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life without

00:34:32.409 --> 00:34:35.909
any sin. He gave himself on the cross for our

00:34:35.909 --> 00:34:39.690
sins, redeeming us by shedding his blood, the

00:34:39.690 --> 00:34:43.199
fulfillment of every sacrifice ever. And he secured

00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:46.420
for us the forgiveness of our trespasses according

00:34:46.420 --> 00:34:50.780
to the riches of God's grace. Friends, please

00:34:50.780 --> 00:34:54.340
hear this morning. Jesus loves you. Jesus loved

00:34:54.340 --> 00:34:56.039
you before you loved him. That's what Romans

00:34:56.039 --> 00:34:59.659
5 .8 says. But God demonstrates his own love

00:34:59.659 --> 00:35:01.340
for us in this. While we were still sinners,

00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:06.679
Christ died for us. Jesus loves you. Secondly,

00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:10.139
Jesus redeemed you. You'll notice that's a past

00:35:10.139 --> 00:35:12.760
tense word I just used. It's completed. It's

00:35:12.760 --> 00:35:16.559
finished. Jesus has paid the price. He has made

00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:18.699
a way for you to be bought back. He has redeemed

00:35:18.699 --> 00:35:23.159
you. He redeemed you through the blood that he

00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:25.960
shed on the cross, through the grace that he

00:35:25.960 --> 00:35:28.420
has given us. And finally, Jesus is preparing

00:35:28.420 --> 00:35:31.019
a place for you in heaven right now. So if you

00:35:31.019 --> 00:35:33.219
are here today and you have not placed your faith

00:35:33.219 --> 00:35:37.510
for salvation in Jesus, Jesus who spilled his

00:35:37.510 --> 00:35:39.550
blood so that you can be saved, so that you can

00:35:39.550 --> 00:35:42.889
be removed from all of your sin, then today can

00:35:42.889 --> 00:35:46.349
I encourage you, let me plead with you to put

00:35:46.349 --> 00:35:50.050
your faith in Jesus right now. Here's the second

00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:53.289
part of our call to run from sin. We have to

00:35:53.289 --> 00:35:55.650
run away from temptation. We need to be like

00:35:55.650 --> 00:35:58.090
Joseph. We need to run. We need to not mess around

00:35:58.090 --> 00:36:00.590
with sin, not tolerate it, not let it just kind

00:36:00.590 --> 00:36:03.050
of cling around the edges of our lives. We should

00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:05.650
be on a mission to kill sin every chance we get.

00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:08.159
We need to run away from it. So how do we do

00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:09.820
this? How do we fight back against sin? Well,

00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:11.699
I've got four points I want to make on this.

00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:15.119
First, we are called to run with the Spirit.

00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:17.679
We need to run with the Spirit, the Spirit that

00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:19.619
God has given us when we enter into a personal

00:36:19.619 --> 00:36:22.280
relationship with Him. Galatians 5, 19 through

00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:25.880
25 gives us this really beautiful contrast between

00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:27.780
life with the flesh and life with the Spirit.

00:36:27.860 --> 00:36:35.130
Let me read it for us. It says, Pretty sure we've

00:36:35.130 --> 00:36:36.829
just heard all three of those today in this passage.

00:36:37.630 --> 00:36:39.090
Idolatry. Yeah, we know that one's in there too.

00:36:39.329 --> 00:36:42.130
Sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts

00:36:42.130 --> 00:36:44.269
of anger. There's Potiphar. Selfish ambitions,

00:36:44.829 --> 00:36:47.949
dissensions, factions, envy. If there wasn't

00:36:47.949 --> 00:36:50.130
envy, Joseph wouldn't be in Egypt. Drunkenness,

00:36:50.170 --> 00:36:53.369
carousing, and anything similar. I am warning

00:36:53.369 --> 00:36:55.130
you about these things as I warned you before

00:36:55.130 --> 00:36:57.170
that those who practice such things will not

00:36:57.170 --> 00:37:01.190
inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of

00:37:01.190 --> 00:37:05.000
the Spirit. What we should live out as we run

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.460
with the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,

00:37:08.699 --> 00:37:11.579
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

00:37:11.719 --> 00:37:14.639
and self -control. The law is not against such

00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.440
things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus

00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.539
have crucified the flesh with its passions and

00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:23.960
desires. And it says this, if we live by the

00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:26.300
Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:29.579
Notice the contrast between the way that the

00:37:29.579 --> 00:37:31.519
flesh tempts us to live and the way the Spirit

00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:34.579
leads us to live. Live by the Spirit, like what

00:37:34.579 --> 00:37:36.440
Paul says here. That could be a sermon for a

00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:41.119
different Sunday, but run with the Spirit. Run

00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:44.559
with the Spirit. Live by the Spirit. Live Galatians

00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:47.360
5, 22 through 25, not Galatians 5, 19 through

00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:52.420
21. Secondly, how do we run from sin? You don't

00:37:52.420 --> 00:37:55.739
run alone. That's how you do it. I'm a terrible

00:37:55.739 --> 00:37:59.159
runner. I'm awful at it. My wife loves running

00:37:59.159 --> 00:38:01.159
and she's training for a half marathon right

00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:02.820
now and one of the things she talks about is

00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:04.780
how helpful it can be to have something like

00:38:04.780 --> 00:38:07.139
Strava where she can share her runs and people

00:38:07.139 --> 00:38:08.760
can see and kind of encourage there. It feels

00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:10.400
like she's like running with other people as

00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.880
she's training. As for me, it doesn't matter

00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:14.960
if I run by myself or with other people. I just

00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:20.260
don't like running. My point is this. Don't isolate

00:38:20.260 --> 00:38:22.510
yourself from Christian community. If you're

00:38:22.510 --> 00:38:24.829
going to run away from sin, don't isolate yourself

00:38:24.829 --> 00:38:27.130
from community. We don't need to make our faith

00:38:27.130 --> 00:38:30.110
harder than it is. It is hard, factually speaking,

00:38:30.190 --> 00:38:32.469
to follow God because we are the minority of

00:38:32.469 --> 00:38:36.909
people. It's not legalism, it's reality. In Champaign,

00:38:36.909 --> 00:38:39.550
the most generous estimates say that 18 % of

00:38:39.550 --> 00:38:43.489
people are Christians. We are the minority. It's

00:38:43.489 --> 00:38:47.269
okay to say that. So don't run alone. Run together

00:38:47.269 --> 00:38:49.170
with other Christians. Don't isolate yourself.

00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:51.900
Hebrews 12 .1 is one of my favorite reminders

00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:54.659
of this. It says this, Therefore, since we also

00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:57.619
have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding

00:38:57.619 --> 00:39:00.840
us, let us lay aside every hindrance in the sin

00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:04.300
that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance

00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:08.380
the race that lies before us. But what does it

00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:11.119
all start with? Since we have such a large cloud

00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:15.139
of witnesses surrounding us. Friends, do not

00:39:15.139 --> 00:39:19.409
isolate yourself from Christian community. It

00:39:19.409 --> 00:39:21.610
is different to get up on a Sunday morning and

00:39:21.610 --> 00:39:23.449
say, I'm going to go to church now. That's absolutely

00:39:23.449 --> 00:39:26.449
different. But do not isolate yourself from community.

00:39:28.710 --> 00:39:31.789
Find a community group. Get involved. Find a

00:39:31.789 --> 00:39:33.869
good Christian friend. Run through those hard

00:39:33.869 --> 00:39:36.630
parts of life together. Be vulnerable and open

00:39:36.630 --> 00:39:39.389
about your sin. And run away from it together.

00:39:39.929 --> 00:39:42.610
Third, how do we run away from our sin? We change

00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:45.769
what we're running to. So run for the new mission.

00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:48.460
See, we have a new mission in this world. Listen

00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:50.139
to what Paul says about his life in Acts chapter

00:39:50.139 --> 00:39:52.539
20. In Acts 20, Paul's addressing the Ephesian

00:39:52.539 --> 00:39:54.000
church. It's the church he spent the longest

00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:56.199
amount of time with. He loves the Ephesian church.

00:39:56.280 --> 00:39:58.039
I don't want to say they're his favorite, because

00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:00.079
like parents don't have favorite kids, but in

00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:02.000
the sense that parents don't have favorite kids,

00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:04.139
Paul doesn't have a favorite church. But if he

00:40:04.139 --> 00:40:06.519
did, it would be the Ephesian church. And listen

00:40:06.519 --> 00:40:08.219
to what he says as he's talking about his life

00:40:08.219 --> 00:40:10.119
to them. This is how he defines his entire life.

00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:14.250
I consider my life of no value to myself. My

00:40:14.250 --> 00:40:16.389
purpose is to finish my course in the ministry

00:40:16.389 --> 00:40:18.730
I received from the Lord Jesus. Here's his new

00:40:18.730 --> 00:40:21.409
mission. To testify to the gospel of God's grace,

00:40:21.429 --> 00:40:23.989
the good news of God's grace. Run for that same

00:40:23.989 --> 00:40:27.030
new mission. Fight sin because you want to follow

00:40:27.030 --> 00:40:30.030
God. Don't fight sin just to be better because

00:40:30.030 --> 00:40:32.829
your pastor said so. Fight sin because you want

00:40:32.829 --> 00:40:36.050
to follow God. Live differently because you're

00:40:36.050 --> 00:40:38.949
called by Jesus and in turn run for the new mission.

00:40:41.369 --> 00:40:43.289
Listen, we don't run for our glory, we run for

00:40:43.289 --> 00:40:45.750
God's glory. That includes the way that we battle

00:40:45.750 --> 00:40:48.130
sin and flee from sin. And practically, let me

00:40:48.130 --> 00:40:49.969
give you a tip on this when it comes to running

00:40:49.969 --> 00:40:54.670
for this new mission. Scripture memory is so

00:40:54.670 --> 00:40:57.389
helpful for this. In that moment when you're

00:40:57.389 --> 00:41:00.090
feeling tempted, being able to stop and remember

00:41:00.090 --> 00:41:04.809
God's word is so powerful. Scripture memory isn't

00:41:04.809 --> 00:41:06.269
just a thing for kids to do in something like

00:41:06.269 --> 00:41:08.170
Awana. It's not just a thing for college students

00:41:08.170 --> 00:41:10.800
doing their campus ministry. we should be memorizing

00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:13.099
Scripture and meditating on it. So that when

00:41:13.099 --> 00:41:15.360
we're tempted, when we face that, we have a place

00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:20.059
to run to. And we can run to God. When we're

00:41:20.059 --> 00:41:21.719
dealing with temptation, we can remember the

00:41:21.719 --> 00:41:24.360
new mission that we're given by remembering Scripture.

00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:27.079
So for instance, we could sit down and remember

00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:29.019
maybe these verses that we're going through for

00:41:29.019 --> 00:41:31.940
these four steps. So when temptation feels irresistible,

00:41:31.980 --> 00:41:34.219
we can run to those verses instead of just trying

00:41:34.219 --> 00:41:37.400
to fight it on our own. Here's the fourth part.

00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:41.219
If you want to run away from sin, run the race

00:41:41.219 --> 00:41:44.380
of life with your eyes on the prize. Run with

00:41:44.380 --> 00:41:47.280
a new mission and then fix your eyes on the prize.

00:41:48.199 --> 00:41:52.840
Like I said, I'm not much of a runner, but when

00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:54.539
I was playing basketball, we would run lots of

00:41:54.539 --> 00:41:57.840
suicides in practice, day after day after day.

00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:01.960
And our coach would do a thing called 12 and

00:42:01.960 --> 00:42:04.119
12, which was 12 suicides in 12 minutes that

00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:06.650
would get faster and faster as we went. It's

00:42:06.650 --> 00:42:08.050
as miserable as it sounds. And if anybody did

00:42:08.050 --> 00:42:09.730
not finish one of these suicides, we'd have to

00:42:09.730 --> 00:42:12.949
start back over at one. In three years, that

00:42:12.949 --> 00:42:18.210
never happened. You know, you ran with your eyes

00:42:18.210 --> 00:42:20.030
on the mission, the mission of being done with

00:42:20.030 --> 00:42:21.730
this, but you also ran with your eyes on the

00:42:21.730 --> 00:42:23.829
prize. Because the prize of being done with the

00:42:23.829 --> 00:42:25.969
12 and 12 was always a shooting drill. It was

00:42:25.969 --> 00:42:28.530
way more fun than having to run more suicides.

00:42:29.130 --> 00:42:30.969
Let me encourage you in life, when you are fighting

00:42:30.969 --> 00:42:33.429
sin, run the race of life with your eyes on the

00:42:33.429 --> 00:42:35.429
prize. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Timothy

00:42:35.429 --> 00:42:37.909
4, 7 -3. This is his final words, basically,

00:42:37.909 --> 00:42:39.690
in the Bible. It says this, I have fought the

00:42:39.690 --> 00:42:41.750
good fight. I have finished the race. I have

00:42:41.750 --> 00:42:43.949
kept the faith. There is reserved for me the

00:42:43.949 --> 00:42:46.650
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

00:42:46.650 --> 00:42:48.469
judge, will give me on that day, and not only

00:42:48.469 --> 00:42:52.010
to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.

00:42:52.670 --> 00:42:54.449
We have a new mission. We have a new end goal.

00:42:54.570 --> 00:42:56.849
We want to testify to the gospel of God's grace,

00:42:56.949 --> 00:42:58.829
and we also want to run with our eyes on the

00:42:58.829 --> 00:43:01.650
prize. And what is the prize? The prize is simple.

00:43:01.710 --> 00:43:04.110
The prize is the crown of righteousness. The

00:43:04.110 --> 00:43:06.750
prize is eternity with our Savior in heaven.

00:43:07.489 --> 00:43:10.829
So friends, let me encourage you, run from sin.

00:43:11.769 --> 00:43:15.369
Run from sin. And when we're hurting, when we're

00:43:15.369 --> 00:43:18.449
feeling low like Joseph was in Genesis 39, let

00:43:18.449 --> 00:43:19.510
me encourage you with our second application

00:43:19.510 --> 00:43:26.550
point. Run to true comfort. In all situations,

00:43:26.710 --> 00:43:29.349
our true comfort is found in Jesus and only in

00:43:29.349 --> 00:43:32.309
Jesus. I love the words of Psalm 34 just in general,

00:43:32.329 --> 00:43:34.650
but especially verse 15. It says this, the eyes

00:43:34.650 --> 00:43:36.829
of Yahweh are on the righteous, that is those

00:43:36.829 --> 00:43:39.610
who follow him, and his ears are open to their

00:43:39.610 --> 00:43:45.829
cry for help. Friends, our true comfort comes

00:43:45.829 --> 00:43:50.269
from God, not from counseling, not from therapy,

00:43:50.489 --> 00:43:52.389
not from time with friends. Those are all good.

00:43:53.130 --> 00:43:57.690
but our true comfort comes from God. I want to

00:43:57.690 --> 00:44:00.429
do this pretty quickly, but I want to encourage

00:44:00.429 --> 00:44:02.550
you with something that I find really helpful

00:44:02.550 --> 00:44:04.869
when I think about finding true comfort in God.

00:44:06.170 --> 00:44:07.789
Psalms are a great place to go if we're feeling

00:44:07.789 --> 00:44:10.710
low. I love the Psalms. There's one in particular

00:44:10.710 --> 00:44:13.190
I think really speaks to me a lot when I'm feeling

00:44:13.190 --> 00:44:15.130
low and feeling far from God or feel like I'm

00:44:15.130 --> 00:44:17.210
in a difficult situation and need some comfort,

00:44:17.289 --> 00:44:20.030
and that's Psalm 42. And there's a kind of a

00:44:20.030 --> 00:44:22.030
structure to Psalm 42. I want us to very quickly

00:44:22.030 --> 00:44:24.349
walk through. We will not read all of Psalm 42.

00:44:24.409 --> 00:44:25.730
It's not very long. We won't read all of it.

00:44:25.989 --> 00:44:28.409
But here are four steps for actually finding

00:44:28.409 --> 00:44:30.630
your comfort in God, for actually running to

00:44:30.630 --> 00:44:34.550
true comfort. First, focus on God. You're hurting.

00:44:34.690 --> 00:44:37.570
You're feeling low. Stop and focus on God. This

00:44:37.570 --> 00:44:40.369
is what Psalm 42 says. As a deer longs for flowing

00:44:40.369 --> 00:44:44.030
streams, so I long for you, God. David is in

00:44:44.030 --> 00:44:46.010
a low spot. The psalmist is in a low spot. He's

00:44:46.010 --> 00:44:49.110
hurting. But he stops right away. before he gets

00:44:49.110 --> 00:44:50.610
to that part about how he's hurting, he says,

00:44:50.750 --> 00:44:54.710
listen, I long for you, God. Let me refocus myself.

00:44:54.889 --> 00:44:58.449
I long for God. So step one, focus on God. Step

00:44:58.449 --> 00:45:02.369
two, acknowledge that you're not okay. Psalm

00:45:02.369 --> 00:45:05.530
42 .3 says this, my tears have been my food day

00:45:05.530 --> 00:45:08.070
and night, while all day long people say to me,

00:45:08.130 --> 00:45:12.090
where is your God? And then in verse four, he

00:45:12.090 --> 00:45:14.429
goes on to talk about how he used to be in a

00:45:14.429 --> 00:45:16.909
great place, how he used to feel close to God.

00:45:18.539 --> 00:45:20.679
Friends, acknowledge that you're not okay. If

00:45:20.679 --> 00:45:22.400
you're running to God for true comfort, it's

00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:24.539
okay to acknowledge to our God, our great God

00:45:24.539 --> 00:45:26.960
who loves us, that you're not okay. That's fine.

00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:31.659
Step three, speak truth to yourself. Go back

00:45:31.659 --> 00:45:34.000
to God's promises. Remember God's examples, like

00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:37.219
what happens in Joseph's life. One of my favorite

00:45:37.219 --> 00:45:41.300
quotes about depression and frustration and anxiety

00:45:41.300 --> 00:45:43.539
comes from a guy named Martin Lloyd -Jones, who's

00:45:43.539 --> 00:45:47.239
an English pastor, and he says this. So I say

00:45:47.239 --> 00:45:49.420
that we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing

00:45:49.420 --> 00:45:52.019
ourselves to talk to us. He said that about Psalm

00:45:52.019 --> 00:45:54.239
42, actually. What he's saying there is that

00:45:54.239 --> 00:45:56.659
when we're feeling anxious or depressed or like

00:45:56.659 --> 00:45:59.960
life's hard, we need to stop and speak truth

00:45:59.960 --> 00:46:02.000
to ourselves. We need to stop and say, okay,

00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:04.260
wait a second. What does God say about this?

00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:06.239
What does God's Word say about this? Hey, I'm

00:46:06.239 --> 00:46:08.619
feeling like life's hopeless. Well, when has

00:46:08.619 --> 00:46:10.280
God been with somebody else and life seemed hopeless?

00:46:10.380 --> 00:46:14.369
Well, man, Joseph's life was really hard. Instead

00:46:14.369 --> 00:46:15.769
of just allowing ourselves to tell ourselves

00:46:15.769 --> 00:46:18.949
over and over and over again, wow, life is terrible.

00:46:19.289 --> 00:46:26.210
Life's awful. Life's hideous. I love what the

00:46:26.210 --> 00:46:29.269
psalmist says here. At the very end of this section,

00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:31.510
verse 8, he says, the Lord will send his faithful

00:46:31.510 --> 00:46:33.969
love by day. His song will be with me in the

00:46:33.969 --> 00:46:36.690
night, a prayer to the God of my life. He pours

00:46:36.690 --> 00:46:38.449
out his heart and all the pain that he's dealing

00:46:38.449 --> 00:46:40.170
with in the first eight verses, and he says,

00:46:40.210 --> 00:46:44.420
listen, here is actual truth. Here is actually

00:46:44.420 --> 00:46:47.300
what I need to remember. The Lord will send his

00:46:47.300 --> 00:46:49.380
faithful love by day and his song will be with

00:46:49.380 --> 00:46:52.000
me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.

00:46:52.179 --> 00:46:54.440
And here is the fourth and final part of running

00:46:54.440 --> 00:46:58.900
to God in that. Respond to discomfort. We've

00:46:58.900 --> 00:47:01.239
acknowledged that we're not okay. We focused

00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:04.019
on God. We've spoken truth into the situation.

00:47:05.179 --> 00:47:07.420
And then go one step further, respond to discomfort.

00:47:07.659 --> 00:47:09.219
And what I mean by that is remind your heart

00:47:09.219 --> 00:47:12.559
again and again about what God is going to do.

00:47:13.639 --> 00:47:18.139
God will be faithful. In verses 9 and 10 in this

00:47:18.139 --> 00:47:20.480
section, the psalmist yet again kind of cries

00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:23.780
out saying, hey, listen, things are hard. It's

00:47:23.780 --> 00:47:26.179
not going to get better immediately. My adversaries

00:47:26.179 --> 00:47:27.739
are still taunting me. People are still making

00:47:27.739 --> 00:47:30.539
fun of me. He says this, my adversaries taunt

00:47:30.539 --> 00:47:33.059
me as if crushing my bones. Well, all day long

00:47:33.059 --> 00:47:36.739
they say to me, where is your God? The psalmist

00:47:36.739 --> 00:47:38.219
is acknowledging things don't just get better

00:47:38.219 --> 00:47:40.539
overnight immediately. But then he says this,

00:47:40.969 --> 00:47:43.190
Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you

00:47:43.190 --> 00:47:46.190
in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I

00:47:46.190 --> 00:47:48.309
will still praise him, my Savior and my God.

00:47:48.389 --> 00:47:51.269
He responds to discomfort by focusing on the

00:47:51.269 --> 00:47:56.190
praise or on praising God. I promise you this

00:47:56.190 --> 00:47:57.690
morning, Cornerstone, Joseph may not have called

00:47:57.690 --> 00:47:59.610
those things the same way that we did. He did

00:47:59.610 --> 00:48:02.530
not have Psalm 42 to go to. But Joseph had to

00:48:02.530 --> 00:48:04.909
do those same things. He had to focus on God

00:48:04.909 --> 00:48:07.030
while he was hurting. He had to acknowledge that

00:48:07.030 --> 00:48:10.320
he wasn't okay. I can only imagine Joseph sitting

00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:11.679
there in prison the first night being like, what

00:48:11.679 --> 00:48:16.320
did I do wrong to end up here? I literally didn't

00:48:16.320 --> 00:48:19.659
do anything. He had to speak truth to himself

00:48:19.659 --> 00:48:23.260
that God was still with him even in prison. You

00:48:23.260 --> 00:48:24.780
know, it's just like earlier on in Genesis 39

00:48:24.780 --> 00:48:27.119
we saw Joseph stop when Potiphar's wife's tempting

00:48:27.119 --> 00:48:29.679
him and say, hey, I'm not going to sin against

00:48:29.679 --> 00:48:33.219
God like that. He had to speak truth to himself

00:48:33.219 --> 00:48:34.739
and then finally had to respond to his discomfort.

00:48:37.269 --> 00:48:41.130
Friends, in Genesis 41, you see probably the

00:48:41.130 --> 00:48:44.150
low point of Joseph's life, where he starts to

00:48:44.150 --> 00:48:47.289
get discouraged, where he starts to wonder if

00:48:47.289 --> 00:48:48.730
God's really going to do anything with this.

00:48:50.869 --> 00:48:54.650
And it's right then that God moves. I share that

00:48:54.650 --> 00:48:57.690
because I think sometimes we want so badly to

00:48:57.690 --> 00:48:59.690
think that in our hardest parts, in our hardest

00:48:59.690 --> 00:49:01.849
times, as we cry out to God, that just immediately

00:49:01.849 --> 00:49:06.099
on our timeline, God will intervene. That's not

00:49:06.099 --> 00:49:10.360
the case. But God does promise that he will be

00:49:10.360 --> 00:49:12.920
with us always. That is a promise we can count

00:49:12.920 --> 00:49:17.480
on. So let me encourage you. When you go through

00:49:17.480 --> 00:49:19.119
a difficult time this week, because we will go

00:49:19.119 --> 00:49:20.599
through a difficult time at some point this week,

00:49:20.900 --> 00:49:25.280
remember those four steps and run to God. Run

00:49:25.280 --> 00:49:27.980
to our true comfort. Let's pray. Father, God,

00:49:28.019 --> 00:49:30.480
thank you so much for your word. God, thank you

00:49:30.480 --> 00:49:32.579
so much for Genesis 39, God, and just for the

00:49:32.579 --> 00:49:35.699
chance that we have. to stop for a little bit,

00:49:35.760 --> 00:49:41.940
just to remember, God, everything that you're

00:49:41.940 --> 00:49:48.519
doing. God, I ask that we would be quick, God,

00:49:48.519 --> 00:49:51.699
to focus on you, God, that we would be quick,

00:49:51.780 --> 00:49:57.579
quick to acknowledge when we're not okay. God,

00:49:57.679 --> 00:49:59.280
that we would run to your word and that we would

00:49:59.280 --> 00:50:05.179
speak your truth in our lives. And God, I ask

00:50:05.179 --> 00:50:07.239
that you would help us to repeat that truth over

00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:11.219
and over and over again, God. We would remember

00:50:11.219 --> 00:50:13.179
that you are with us and that you are working

00:50:13.179 --> 00:50:16.260
all things out, God, even if it's not on our

00:50:16.260 --> 00:50:20.099
timeline. God, we are just so thankful for this

00:50:20.099 --> 00:50:22.099
morning. We are so thankful for this example

00:50:22.099 --> 00:50:26.380
of Joseph's life, God. God, I ask that you just

00:50:26.380 --> 00:50:30.179
help us to run after you and to run away from

00:50:30.179 --> 00:50:33.079
sin this week, God. In your name we pray, amen.

00:50:36.590 --> 00:50:37.889
Please stand as we respond.