Tested and Tried

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for another opportunity and occasion to study your holy scriptures before us. And Lord, we thank you that all of scripture is God breathed and it's profitable for teaching, for correcting, for rebuke and for training. And Lord, as we look at the text before us and we see the temptation set before Joseph, Lord, we thank you for his victory and I pray that you give us victory over our temptations. And Lord, we thank you for the tests that you send in life. And I pray, give us the power of the Holy Spirit to not just pass the test, but pass them with flying colors and graduate to ever higher levels of usefulness in your kingdom. Lord, if there's anyone who's not yet a believer in Christ today, save them, draw them to yourself. Remove condemnation and replace it with your love and your mercy. And Lord bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.

We're continuing our study in Genesis 3750. We've entitled the series, Graduate Level Grace Studying the Life of Joseph. The title today is Tested and Tried. We never graduate from needing grace, although becoming a Christian happens by grace through faith, you repent, you believe you're saved. But there are times where God wants us to level up. He wants us to grow in our faith and he sends us grace to test us and to mature, and season us to make us more useful in the hands of the Father. This grace often comes when we are tried with temptation and testing, and often temptation and testing is one and the same occasion. Temptation comes from the flesh, Satan and the world, whereas God uses that temptation to test us because God does not tempt any one of us.

And Genesis 39 is one of the truly great chapters on a subject that each of us is more than familiar with. It's the subject of temptation. We've all been in the situation where we've been tempted. Oscar Wilde, Tongue-In-Cheek, he said he could resist anything except temptation. The lesson is before us that temptation is not just something that we should grit our teeth and just get through as some useless thing to endure. No, temptation is an occasion to grow. We are to use that experience to grow. For example, look at the progression in James 1:12-15, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is conceived, gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

In the previous chapter, we went through the episode of Judah and Tamar and here we are back to Joseph. And throughout the narrative we see that God seasons Joseph, matures, grows him. Why? What's the point? So that later he's able to endure. When he is placed in the position of prominence, he becomes a prime minister, so to speak in Egypt, the number two person in Egypt. When he's in that exalted position, will he be able to endure the temptations that come without falling into conceit? So that's what God is doing. He's purging Joseph's character of any dross. We've already seen that he has been a person of integrity, although probably naivete, maybe inexperienced.

And yes, there was probably an admixture of pride in his disposition. So what is God doing through this narrative? He is refining Joseph. He's purging the dross out of his life and once he's refined, he becomes a more useful instrument in the hands of God. The same language of testing to describe Joseph is used in Psalm 105:16-19 "When he," God, "summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters. His neck was put in a collar of iron until what he had said came to pass. The word of the Lord tested him," explicitly spoken that Joseph in his hardest years, darkest years, those are years of testing from the Lord. Surely Joseph was asking, "Lord, what are you doing?"

He had been a favored son and now he finds himself suddenly as a slave, but the passage emphasizes eight times. Moses emphasized eight times, Joseph is not alone, for the Lord is with him. Despite the slavery, despite the temptations, despite the jail, the Lord is favorable to him even when it doesn't feel like it. We're going to walk together through Genesis 39 verse by verse three points to frame up our time. First, if God is for you, no one can stand against you. Second, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And third, how to win against temptation? First, if God is for you, no one can stand against you. Verse one of Genesis 39, "Now, Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard and Egyptian had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there."

So we meet Potiphar, he's a big shot. He's the captain. It says of Pharaoh's guard or his body guards, meaning he's the captain of the executioners. He's a big deal. He's a dangerous man, keep that in mind. In verse two, "The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man and he was in the house of his Egyptian master." What's fascinating is after the experience of being sold by his brothers, we don't see Joseph just stuck in a place of hatred. You don't see bitterness or vindictiveness in his soul, and the Lord is with him. The word Lord here is Yahweh, the God of covenant love, and not just the reference to God's omnipresence. Yes, God is everywhere, but in a particular favorable way, God's presence was with Joseph. God takes special note of Joseph when he's in his time of need and God draws near.

We see this repeated over and over and over. One fascinating thing to note is that Joseph isn't told that he's heard God's voice audibly. He's heard about God from his father and from his grandfather. He's heard that God spoke to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Joseph did not have the same experience. He had the divine dream. He still believed that God was with him, but he operates here in the same way that we do. By faith we believe that God is with us. By faith, we as Christians believe that Jesus Christ, God is with us, Emmanuel God is with us. So Joseph believes, and Joseph is working to be faithful. Potiphar's name in Egyptian means he whom ra'ah has given. The Egyptians worship this idol, ra'ah. That was their God. But ra'ah isn't given blessings here on Potiphar's household. No, it's Yahweh, it's God, and it's on account of Joseph and his faithfulness.

Joseph doesn't have a friend in the world. He's thrown in. He doesn't know the language. If anyone has come here from a different country without knowing English, perhaps, you've been forced into immigration, you show up, you don't know the language. Joseph doesn't have any friends. He doesn't know the culture. He doesn't have a skillset that would make him valuable in Egypt. All he has is himself and his belief in God. How does he respond to the situation he finds himself in? Does he get angry at the world? Does he get angry at God? Does he play the victim? Is he paralyzed or immobilized by resentment? No, he can't control the circumstances he's in, but he can control how he responds and he chooses to be present and useful. He chooses to work hardly at whatever task he is given because he knows he's not serving Potiphar, he's serving God.

He takes life by the horns and he does so quickly and speedily rises through the ranks in the house of Potiphar. And verse three, "His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. Whatever the young man took in his hands thrived." Here's a young man who has been living in the presence of God. He's been working in the presence of God. And as shocking as this may sound, young men can be useful. This is what the text... Even when they're young, men can be useful. Charles Spurgeon put it like this. He says, "Chins without beards are better than heads without brains," and what he's saying is, young men when wise, they're to be preferred to those without sense who don't even have youth as an excuse for their folly. Now, he understands that God has given me this time.

He was 17, 18 years old at the time, and he understands that yes, he isn't in a situation that he wants to be, but God is sovereign, so he is seeking to be faithful. So Genesis 39:4, "So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him." So Joseph becomes the personal attendant servant of Potiphar, "And he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. And from the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and in field," so God is with him. God is prospering Joseph and prospering the Egyptians house. Potiphar notices that this blessing is much more than usual. Something here is coming from the supernatural realm.

And this is what God promised Abraham. He said, "Look, if people bless you, I will bless them. And if people curse you, I will curse them." Joseph is being blessed by Potiphar, and Potiphar is being blessed by God. Joseph could hardly have risen higher, and this is incredible achievement. Thanks be to God and Joseph's work ethic, and this is a work ethic that is taught to us from holy scripture in Colossians 3:22-24, "Bondservants," or we can translate that to the modern day of employees, "obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work hardly as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord you'll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." And that's Joseph's mindset.

He could have said, "I'm 17, this work of a slave is beneath me. I am not doing this or I'm going to do it just enough to get by." No, he throws himself into this work. He says, "The Lord is with me. I'm put here for a reason. I'm going to do the best work I can to the best of my abilities because Potiphar's not my ultimate boss. God is." Verse six, "So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge. And because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance." So the text, everything was going great for Joseph and then all of a sudden the text takes a turn, and we go from Joseph's work ethic to what does he look like? Apparently he looked really good, well-built and good-looking. That phrase is only used of two other men in scripture, David and Absalom.

And the same phrase is used of Rachel, Joseph's mom, so apparently the looks were in the genes. So yes, Joseph apparently is good-looking. What does he do with that? What's the text telling us? Well, this takes us into the great temptation and this is point 2, "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" So this is Genesis 39:7, "And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie with me." And first of all, I do want to note that the temptation comes in Joseph's life. The timing's uncanny, when it seems everything's finally going well. He was a slave, now he's worked himself up in the hierarchy. He's in a place of influence. He's probably got the nice garments keeping up with his station of being a personal attendant of Potiphar. Everything is going swimmingly, that's when the temptation strikes.

So just be careful, know that when everything's going great, be on guard. So as he's advanced in the household, we see Mrs. Potiphar notices him. She observes and the observation rapidly turns into lust and desire, and she propositions him, "Lie with me." And strictly from a human perspective, it wouldn't make sense to be nice with the boss's wife and he could justify everything that is happening. From a spiritual perspective morally speaking, he had no authority over him other than himself. It's him and God. He has no family. His family certainly wouldn't find out if he commits to sin. And moreover, he's a slave. He's got to do what he's told and sexual promiscuity was a daily part of the slave holding households. And face it, he could have said, "Old Potiphar is gone all the time and he's not meeting his wife's needs and she's entitled to some affection," et cetera, et cetera.

And he could have even blamed it on his genes. He could have said, "It's in my blood. Look at my brothers. Look at Ruben, look at Judah," look at the previous chapter. No, we don't see any of that. He had all the reason in the world to act out. He had every reason to be angry and bitter, and resentful and cynical, and self-serving and self-pitying. He could have rationalized all of this, but Joseph has not forgotten who he is. He is not just a slave. He knows that, "I'm not just a slave and I'm not here because of anything I've done. No, I'm not a slave. I am the son of Jacob. I am the son of Isaac. I'm the son of Abraham. I am the son of God. How can I sin against my God?" His identity was rooted in God. He knew God's will.

So in verse eight it says, "But he refused and said to his master's wife, behold because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house. And he has put everything that he has in my charge. He has no greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" His answer is unmistakable. He refused, and we see his wisdom. We see that even as a young man, he gives a response and his response very measured. It's very logical. He forges a powerful argument against the temptation with reason, and it shows his wisdom. And his wisdom is evidenced because he fears God. The root of his wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The three major reasons he gives for, "Why would I ever even think to do that?"

The first, he's like, look, the master, Potiphar has bestowed so much trust in Joseph, so much trust in him and to betray this great level of trust would be the basis of betrayals. And then he emphasizes to Potiphar's wife that she's Potiphar's wife. He emphasizes, he's like, "You are Mrs. Potiphar. You're literally Mrs. Potiphar and have you forgotten your husband's an executioner? What are you tempting me with?" Here, even if she's forgotten her role, he reminds her. And then third of all, and this is the main reason why he doesn't sin, he realizes yes, the sin is against the people involved. Yes, he'd be sinning against Potiphar, he'd be sinning against his... But he'd be sinning against God. And for Joseph, this is the greatest of sin. And it echoes the language here does, of when David after repenting, after committing a sin against Uriah and Bathsheba, he repents in Psalm 51.

He says, "God against you and you only have I sinned." And also if you compare this text with a temptation of Genesis 3, Satan comes to Adam and Eve and he points to the tree that God said, "Do not eat of it." And Joseph says, "Look, the master hasn't kept anything from me except you." Adam and Eve used the prohibition to actually be tempted by the thing that God kept from them. And Joseph here on the opposite, he says, "No, no, no. I will not take the thing the master has kept from me." In verse 10, "As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her." So the overtures are daily, she's persistent in her solicitations and he continues to remain steadfast. You see, she's flexible in her seduction. First she says, lie with me. She realized that doesn't work. And then she lessens the proposition. She says, "Lie beside me. Joseph, you had a long day come snuggle with me," and then that wasn't working. So she said, "Just be with me. Just sit here, just relax a little bit."

She's trying to coax him into the sin and he does not. And Potiphar's wife is precisely the picture of the adulterous woman painted by the father in conversation with his son in Proverbs 5:6 and 7. By the way, the book of Proverbs was written for young boys. So these boys as they were entering manhood, they were given the book of Proverbs and said, "There's 31 chapters, read one a day." And by the way, if you have children, one of the best ways to form them spiritually is that. Proverbs, learn the fear of God. But look at Proverbs 5: 1-8, "My son, be attentive to my wisdom. Incline your ear to my understanding that you may keep discretion and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she's bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life. Her ways wander and she does not know it."

"And now, oh, sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house." Realizing Mrs. Potiphar that she's not winning the war of attrition, we see one final ambush, and this is verse 11, "But one day when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled out of the house, she called to the men in the household and said, see, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came into me to lie with me and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that, I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled, and got out of the house."

Joseph, by the way, the unluckiest guy in the world with his coats. If I were Joseph, I'd just stop wearing coats. I refuse. I'd rather get a cold, no. So she's got his coat and she's not happy about it. Someone said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." She desired him and he rejected, and then her lust turns to anger. And there's many a lesson here. If you analyze what's really driving her, it was a matter of pride. When she was unable to seduce him, her pride was bruised, her ego was bruised when she realizes she is not going to have victory here. So she goes on the attack, she gathers all the men in the household, she builds her case against him. She calls him a Hebrew slave. She doesn't even name her husband, "Look my husband," she blames the husband. She makes herself a victim. By the way she puts the garment as incriminating proof on her bed, et cetera. Many a lesson here, but the root of sexual immorality is not just desire, it's always a spiritual root, and what's at the root is pride.

Who is God to tell me what to do, his scriptures? I decide for my... It's pride. And that's what she's dealing with here. A lesson here from Moses. What is Moses doing in writing the text as he does, presenting the story as he does? Well, he is showing us that when God chooses to use a man, he first needs to test the man's uprightness. That's what's happening here. Joseph can't control his circumstances. He's a slave and he has no control over his destiny. All he can control is his faithfulness. Will I be faithful in this moment of temptation? And that's the quality that God wants for every man or woman that will be used by him, he wants faithfulness. That's what he wants for those to build his kingdom. This is the quality of a good steward. If God has entrusted something to us, will we be good stewards of a good managers of it?

If we want to be put over much, are we faithful with the little that is before us? And how do you learn faithfulness? You don't learn faithfulness from a book. You don't learn faithfulness by just reading about it. No, you learn faithfulness by being tested at moments like this. When there's every reason to skirt faithfulness, do you stay the course no matter the consequences? And Joseph does. And Genesis 39:16, "Then she laid up his garment by her creating this optical illusion until his master came home and she told him the same story saying, the Hebrews servant whom you've brought among us came in to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house." The phrase here, "You brought him to laugh at me," implies attempted rape, that's the accusation.

Verse 19, "As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, this is the way your servant treated me, his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in prison." So Potiphar comes home, here's a story. He looks at Joseph, he looks at his wife, he looks at the other servants, and he has a decision to make. His anger is kindled. It's fascinating that the text doesn't say his anger is kindled at Joseph. Most likely, and this is what all the c, they're shocked by his reaction. Well, how do you expect him to react? Well, you expect him that he's the chief of the executioners to execute Joseph and execute him swiftly in order to maintain order. That's not what he does. Not only does he not execute Joseph, he also puts him in a prison where the king's prisoners were.

And that's why in the next chapter of the cup-bearer and the breadmaker, that's where Joseph meets them. So it wasn't regular prison, it was a king's prison for the important people. Most likely what the text is telling us is that Potiphar wasn't convinced by Mrs. Potiphar. And this is the goal, to become such a person of integrity that when false accusations are made against you, the people who know you best refuse to believe them. So Joseph's faithfulness throughout the entire episode seems to be unrewarded. What does he get for being good at that moment of temptation? What does he get? He gets prison, but we know that ultimately that's the path that God has for him from the prison to the palace.

And verse 21, "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. And whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. And the keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed." We don't know how much time elapsed, how much time he had spent in Potiphar's house and then how much time in prison, but it was years. And I wonder how often Joseph remembered his dreams, the dreams that God had sent him, the dreams that he will be put in a position of prominence and power, whatever it was God was with Joseph, and Joseph remained close to the divine presence.

God was with him and everything that he did as Joseph continued to work diligently. What God's presence meant in Joseph's life, it wasn't that everything's easy, smooth sailing. Yes, God was with him, but Joseph was still in prison. Yes, God is with him, but Joseph is still a slave. And what this means is from a theological perspective, yes, everything's settled, everything is secure and ultimate all is well and as safely in God's hands. But as we look at the life of Joseph, there's still risk and there's still uncomfortable circumstances and danger, and difficulty and even disappointment, but he continued to stay close to the Lord. He continued to work out his salvation with fear and trembling, and that's the same before us. We don't see the full story of God's plan for us. We know his purposes are to glorify his name, to do good, but we don't know all the details. And while we are alive, we must remember that we are still living in warfare. Day by day, we need to be conscious of the fact that we do have an enemy.

We have adversaries of Satan and his lackeys and demons. We are living life in the thick of combat, in a battlefield strewn with a carnage of those who have come before us. And the scripture speaks about this often, that we are given weapons, weapons for our left hand and our right weapons to fight the good fight of faith. We are given a sword, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And so often we forget this, we meander through life. We forget that we are pilgrims headed to a country, a kingdom that is not of this world. A large part of why we forget is because most of the people around us don't have that worldview. They live with a faithless worldview as if the material is all there is. Well, we must never lose sight of the fact that our lives are epic, that our souls are eternal.

Everything we do in the body has eternal consequences. We are not to stop thinking of our lives as being inconsequential and we are to think of our lives as God does, and walk by faith, not by sight. I think one of the greatest temptations before modern people is this. It's the temptation to live for nothing, of no purpose greater than just enjoying ourselves or enjoying the short years we've been given. There's a writer called Plantinga who wrote a book called Not the Way It's Supposed To Be, and this is, and I'll read the quote, it's so powerful. It says, "Many live life making a career of nothing, wandering through malls, killing time, making small talk, watching television programs until we know their characters better than our own children. Well, this robs the community of our gifts and energies, and shapes life into a yawn at the God and Savior of the world. The person who will not best stir herself, the person who hands himself over to nothing in effect says to God, you have made nothing of interest and redeemed no one of consequence including me."

"C. S. Lewis has the devil's Screwtape explained to the junior devil wormwood that the man he is after can be drawn away from God by nothing. Nothing is very strong, strong enough to steal away a man's best years not, in sweet sins, but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why. And the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, and drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, and whistling tunes that he does not like. The only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the enemy. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

Joseph thankfully remains faithful and he wins in this battle against this temptation. And this brings us to point 3, how to win against temptation in our lives? First of all, it's not a sin to be tempted. It is a sin to yield to temptation. As one writer says, "A mob may batter at the palace gates but if it's unable to enter in, there's no damage done to the kingdom." I'll give you three points to win against temptations. Tips first, forge a forceful argument using God's word, and we are to know God's word in order to apply God's word. You must make this argument with Satan sometimes, sometimes with people tempting you in your life, more often than not, with yourself.

You have to learn to preach to yourself in particular in the moments of weakness, and you have to make a case. You have to convince yourself this is what Joseph was doing. He's making arguments. The sin Potiphar's wife was proposing would've been an outrage, yes, against Potiphar, but specifically against God himself. And a Christian can think of countless arguments, some of them specific to the certain sins you are tempted to commit, but many of the reasons we can marshal to not commit sin at any time in any way. How's this for one, how about the love of God that God loves me, I belong to him, that I am a son of God, that you are a son or daughter of God. That God loves you so much that he doesn't want me to die for my sins, therefore he sent Jesus Christ, the cross of Christ.

How about the presence of the Holy Spirit, that we love the presence of the Holy Spirit so much that we do not want to grieve him. The damage to our own soul, that sin does have consequences. The unworthiness of it all, the fruitlessness in your life. The tendency of when you give into one sin that sin begetting another sin and then all of a sudden you are spiraling out of control. Well, what about the example to an unbelieving world? What about giving the evil one victory, the one who hates you? What about the fact that we will even as Christians be taken to a second judgment, a judgment where the Lord will judge us? What do we do in our body? What do we do with the gifts and talents he's given us? Joseph here is animated by his conviction that his life is not his own.

That he has a God who is over him and a God who is with him, and a God who loves him, and a God who is not to be dishonored. He did exactly what Jesus Christ was doing in the desert when Satan comes to tempt him. Christ marshaled arguments from the word of God. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 when he talks about fighting the good faith and spiritual warfare, he says, "Take up the sword of the spirit." It's the word of God, meaning the stress there is on the precise application of the word of God when we are tempted, so we are to know the word of God and apply it specifically. Second is avoid tempting situations. Joseph did as best as he could. As soon as he saw Potiphar's wife's interest, he tried to avoid her all to together. The father in Proverbs says, "Do not go near the door of her house."

Why? Because of the attraction of sin. It does lure us. It's like the closer you get, the more powerless you become. And such as the power of sin, even our love of it that we often want to get as close as possible without breaking the commandment. This is what Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a holy man as there ever was. He wrote the following, "Satan tempts me to go as near to temptations as possible without committing the sin. This is fearful, tempting God and grieving the Holy Spirit. It's a deep-laid plot of Satan." This is what Romans 13:11-14 says, "Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep for salvation is near to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the days at hand, so then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires."

And third is flee temptation. When Joseph had nothing else to do, he took flight and it was deliberate act of the will, abrupt, decisive and he runs. 1 Corinthians 6:13-20, the apostle writes, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make the members of a prostitute? Never. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her. For as it is written, the two will become one flesh, but he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexual and moral person sins against his own body."

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price to glorify God in your body." And then 2 Timothy 2:20-22. In this text, I just notice the connection between righteousness with sexuality and our usefulness to the Lord. And I'll never remember this text, I was 13. I was at Slavic Youth Camp. If you don't know, I was raised in Slavic churches. And at 13 they got all the boys in one room and they're like, "We're going to have a talk." And then they bring in just a savage, this old dude, just a savage guy, bearded, just massive hands, although he was 85 he could still kill you. And he walks in and he just said, "Gentlemen, remember this. 2, 2, 2. 2 Timothy 2:22." He said, "Memorize this and live by it, and the Lord's going to keep you from sin."

And just look at the connection between usefulness and righteousness. 2 Timothy 2:20-22, "Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." Flee youthful passions and pursue these great things, don't do it by yourself. Do it with others, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. So flee when faced with temptation, don't tarry.

Thomas à Kempis in his famous description in The Imitation of Christ, he gives these successful steps of temptation. He says, "First, there is first the bare thought of the sin. Then after that, there's a picture of the sin formed and hung up on the secret screen of the imagination. A strange sweetness from the picture is then let down drop by drop into the heart. And then that sweetness soon secures the consent of the whole soul and the thing is done." Today, is Communion Sunday, and I do want to think through fighting temptation from the perspective of the cross that when we are faced with temptation, you've got to ask yourself, how can I sin? How can I, for whom Christ died, continue to sin? How can I, the object of God's electing grace, the object of the work of the Holy Spirit, the object of God's efficacious grace, he sought me when I was lost. He converted me. He regenerated. He filled me with the Holy Spirit, how can this great God that bled from me, how can I sin against him?

What about those who have given into temptation? Well, that's every single one of us. We have all sinned. And what are we to do? Well, do you see the wickedness that your sins are before the Lord? Can you say, "Yes, I have done this egregious thing against God?" Do you understand that you are condemned because of your sin, that you will be judged for your sin? And once you do, once you understand that, well, then flee to Christ for refuge, then flee to him to receive everlasting life. The comparisons between Joseph and Jesus... Well, they're not just incidental. I think it was all part of the story, but you see the comparisons. Joseph was the A beloved son of the Father.

Jesus Christ was the beloved son, the only-begotten son of the Father. Joseph was sent by the father to the brothers and Jesus was sent to his brethren by the Father. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery, Jesus was as well. Joseph later on forgives his brothers. Jesus Christ forgives those who are crucifying them. On the cross Jesus said the following, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," he's forgiving them. But also notice that not knowing that you're sinning against God is not enough. That's not enough of a defense. We all know that we have sinned. We all need forgiveness. Jesus Christ was numbered among the transgressors in order to intercede for us. Isaiah 53:12, "Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors."

Upon the conception of Christ, the Messiah, and the womb of the Virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel, explained to another Joseph in Matthew 1:21, "She will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us." Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he can be with us because Jesus Christ was rejected by the Father on the cross. "He said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He did that so that we would not be forsaken when we come to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. We are now going to transition to holy communion, which is commanded in scripture to be celebrated as a remembrance of the suffering of Christ. For whom is holy communion?

It is for repentant believers in Jesus Christ. So if you do not trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we ask that you refrain from this part of the service. Or if you're living in unrepentant sin, also refrain from this part of the service. But if you trust in Christ and if you are repentant, you're welcome to partake. If you'd like to partake and don't have the elements, the cup and the bread, raise your hand during prayer and the ushers will hand them out. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you that you did not leave us in our sins. We have all transgressed your holy commandments. We have all sinned against your holy name. And Lord, we come to you with humility and contrition of heart, and we repent and we ask, Lord, forgive us for our sins and our many transgressions. We thank you Jesus, that those transgressions were placed upon you.

Lord, we thank you that at the moment of your greatest test when you were in Gethsemane under pressure that we can't even begin to imagine, and as the capillaries in your face were bursting and you were sweating blood and you asked if there's any other way, you said, "Father, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me, the cup of wrath, yet not my will but yours be done." Jesus, we thank you that despite the fact that you saw how difficult that would be, Lord, you gave into the will of the Father. And Lord at those moments of temptation, when we are tempted to do our will instead of the Father's will Lord give us more grace. Give us power, the power of the Holy Spirit to be a righteous people continuing to be useful to you. Lord, bless this time, the holy communion. Jesus, we meditate upon your sufferings. We thank you that your body was broken so that we might be healed and your blood was shed so that our souls might be cleansed.

Lord, we thank you for the gospel. We thank you for the gift of grace. And Lord, right now minister to us as we partake in holy communion. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. If this is your first time with us, the bread is at the bottom, open that up. On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he took the bread and after breaking it, he said, "This is my body broken for you. Take eat and do this in remembrance of me." Then he proceeded to take the cup and he said, "This cup is the cup of the new covenant of my blood, which is poured out for the sins of many. Take, drink, and do this remembrance of me."

Heavenly Father, as we meditate the sufferings of Christ, we also remember the perfection of Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you never sinned. We thank you that you never gave in to temptation, not even once. And because of Jesus, your faithfulness, you provided a way for us to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Lord, make us the people that on a daily basis choose to remind ourselves that we are yours and we're not yours just once because you've created us, we're yours twice because you have redeemed us by the blood of Christ. Therefore, make us the people who live in a manner worthy of this gospel. And we pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.