How to Handle Temptation | Trip Lee

Well, hello, Southeast Pando family. My name's Josh Head. I serve here with the Connections team at our Blankenbaker campus, and we love connecting people to Jesus and one another, and we would love to connect with you. You are welcome to write us at the address on the screen or also in the description down below. We'd love to hear a little bit of your story, maybe some prayer requests, or just get to know you a little bit better. Also, if you would like to join the Southeast Pando family, please subscribe. Join the 33,000 others that have done so and have said that we wanna be a part of this family. We're continuing to walk through the book of Genesis, specifically Joseph's story in our Meant for Good sermon series. Today, we're gonna be jumping into Genesis 39, talking about Joseph and Potiphar's wife and how to handle temptation. We're gonna be hearing from Trip Lee, a guest preacher this morning, and so I can't wait to hear what Trip is gonna say about this story. Let's jump into worship. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

Come on, we sing. Every stronghold. ♪♪♪ Every stronghold, every mountain. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Come on, Trip, you make it slow. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ You just wanna thank You, Lord ♪ ♪ We give You words to sing together ♪ ♪ All my words won't show it ♪ ♪ I've got nothing new ♪ ♪ How could I express all my gratitude? ♪ ♪ I could sing these songs as I often do ♪

♪ But every song must end, and You know it ♪ ♪ So I've caught my ends and please You again ♪ ♪ And again we sing, cause all I have is love ♪ ♪♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, and nothing else fit for a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got one song, I've got just one move ♪ ♪ With my arms stretched wide, I will worship You, oh ♪ ♪ I've caught my ends and please You again ♪ ♪ And again all I have, all I have is a Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, and nothing else fit for a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, I wanna give You praise, Lord ♪ ♪ I wanna lift You higher, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Forever and always, Lord, You deserve it all ♪ ♪ Come on we sing, oh come on my soul ♪ ♪ Don't you get shy on the end of your song ♪ ♪ Cause You've got an iron inside of those hearts ♪ ♪ To get up and praise the Lord, oh come on ♪ ♪ Oh come on my soul, don't you get shy on the end of your song ♪ ♪ Cause You've got an iron inside of those hearts ♪ ♪ To get up and praise the Lord, oh come on it's worth it, oh ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, don't you get shy on the end of your song ♪ ♪ Cause You've got an iron inside of those hearts ♪ ♪ To get up and praise the Lord, oh come on ♪ ♪ And praise the Lord, oh come on ♪ ♪ And praise the Lord, oh come on ♪ ♪ So I fold my hands and praise You again and again, come on ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have, all that I have ♪ ♪ I want to give You words of love, hallelujah ♪

♪ I know it's not much, I'm nothing less than Your world to You ♪ ♪ So we set forth our singing, and Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ So I'll throw up my hands ♪ ♪ I'll please you again and again ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have is a heart ♪ ♪ And we know it's not much ♪ ♪ We've nothing else fit for you, King ♪ ♪ Except for our hearts singing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ We'll praise you for all eternity, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your glory in our lives, Lord ♪ ♪ Let us praise you, Lord ♪ ♪ When did I start to forget ♪ ♪ All of the great things you did? ♪ ♪ When did I throw away faith for the impossible? ♪ ♪ How did I start to believe ♪ ♪ You weren't sufficient for me? ♪ ♪ And why do I talk myself out of seeing miracles? ♪ ♪ Help us believe, Lord ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Oh yes, you are, Father ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ I see it and I know, yes, you are ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Beyond what I can understand ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪

♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny you, Lord? ♪ ♪ And I see all that I have ♪ ♪ Oh, I've got my confidence back ♪ ♪ I cannot trust the one who still does miracles ♪ ♪ You do miracles ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Yes, I know ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ Can you deny it? ♪ ♪ With all of the faith in the room, what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen, just let the way make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, yes, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Can you imagine? ♪ ♪ With all of the faith in the room, what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen, just let the way make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, yes, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Can you imagine? ♪ ♪ With all of the faith in the room, what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen, just let the way make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, Lord, we know anything, anything is possible ♪

♪ Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can do? ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, yes, anything is possible ♪ And anything is possible Anything is possible Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can't see Oh and anything is possible Yes anything is possible And anything is possible Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can't see Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can't see Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can't see Yeah I love you Lord, we know you're good Lord You are more than able You're so able You are more than able We've seen it in our lives Lord, yes you are You are more than able Beyond what we can see, you've done it, you'll do it You are more than able Who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord can't do God we worship you today To the one who can do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine We thank you and we love you God we bring everything to you today With whatever we walked in here with today God Whatever brokenness, whatever hurting God Whatever we're seeking Lord You are there, you are our provider Our comforter, our healer, our protector And anything we need can be found in you God

We are expecting for how you're going to work in our lives today God And we ask that we leave here changed Lord We will forever praise your name And everybody said amen Amen, church let's take a seat together And we'll take a look at the screens Good morning How's everybody doing this morning? Good, good Well I'm excited to get to be here with you this morning again Every time I get to come here I'm grateful Even though I don't know everybody here Something that's an encouragement to me is When I hear these songs we sing You're singing about a God who is more than able And I think that's my God And we're singing about a Savior who saves from sins I'm like wait, that's my Savior And the scripture's really clear There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism So even though I don't know many of you I feel like we're family We're brothers and sisters under the same Lord So I'm grateful to get to be here and serve you Thank you Pastor Kyle for inviting me And for the kind words And yeah, I want to get into God's Word I told the service before One of the ways I know That yeah, there's some trust being built

With me coming here time and time again Is they just threw me right in the series They were preaching And you know, normally people are like Oh you can do whatever you want They're like no, you're going to preach Genesis 39 And we trust that you'll do a fine job And so I'm grateful for that opportunity So let me pray And ask the Lord to give us grace Father, we come before you again In Jesus' name We're grateful to sing to you As more than able Father, because we We see so many ways That we try to do things In our own strength and our strength for you And we're so grateful to have access to a Father whose power is unlimited. So even in this moment, God, we need you, and we pray you would speak to us from your word. Father, we pray you give us open hands. There's something we are distracted by. We pray you would help us to be able to focus in on what you've said. Help me not to say anything you haven't said, and we pray your Spirit would guide us. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, this morning, I want to talk to you about resisting temptation. I want to talk to you about resisting temptation, and I want to start with a, by telling you a story.

It's something that I had heard about before, but I came across last week. I was reading just an old profile of a former politician. I'm not going to mention his name, because I'm not—I don't want us to be distracted by his politics, what we think about him. That's not really what I'm interested in. But in this profile, they talked about something that had happened to him. So before he was serving as a politician, he was in the military, and he was a pilot. And so he was on one of these flights as a pilot, and his plane was shot down. And so as soon as his plane got shot, he ejected himself from the plane, and as soon as he hit that eject button, the force was so strong that it broke two of his arms and one of his legs, which was already incredibly painful. And so he fell to the ground, and he fell in a body of water, and it's in the middle of an enemy city. And so people in that city see this enemy pilot fall to the ground in the water. And they run, and they pull him out of the water with his three broken limbs, and they continue to beat him more, and he's captured. Someone else stabs him in the groin with a bayonet, and they take him prisoner, and they put him in solitary confinement in what is about the space of a box. And they keep him there, and they continue to torture him, and they try to get information from him. And then they figure out that his dad has been promoted to some new authority in the military, and they say, okay, well if we can, you know, let him go, then maybe that'll work well for us. And so they offer him the chance like, hey, you can be freed, and he says no. And they said, well why would you say no? And he said, well usually with prisoners of war, what's supposed to happen is whoever was captured first gets to be released first. Now the person who was writing about this was saying, I know it's hard for us to believe that politicians care about anybody but themselves, but he said, no matter what you think about what this man has to say, we at least see that he can be driven by something other than

his own self-interest. Because after he said no, he was sent right back to that box, and his ribs were broken, and he was there in solitary confinement being tortured for four more years. Now when you hear something like that, you think, what would drive someone to have the opportunity to get relief, to get something that would interest them and to turn it down? Because what we know is we are normally driven in the decisions we make by self-interest, by what feels good to us in the moment. We know this to be true. We experience this in the morning when our alarm goes off, and we hit the snooze button. You didn't hit the snooze button because it was a good idea. You did it because it felt good in the moment, and you convinced yourself that if you had five more minutes, then maybe it would solve all your problems. This is how human beings normally make decisions. What feels best in the moment, our own self-interest, and there are so many decisions that are put in front of us each and every day, but here's one of the problems with that is the God who created us wants something better for us with our decision-making. With everything that's in front of us, He wants more for us than just what feels best to us in the moment. So, for someone like that soldier to decide, even though this isn't what's going to feel good, I'm going to make this decision, there has to be some higher reality or some value of his that seemed bigger to him than how he felt in the moment. The story we're going to look at today is looking at the life of Joseph. That's the series that y'all have been in. I'm excited about that, because Joseph is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. His life is crazy. If someone wrote a movie like this, they'd be like, this isn't believable. But Joseph, born the youngest, he was beloved by his father, chosen by God, sold into slavery, and yet God is still with him through it all. And one of the things I love about it, too, is sometimes we think of the Bible as this perfect book with these.

Perfect characters making perfect decisions. When in reality, what we find in the Bible is really about a perfect God loving imperfect people with very imperfect lives. And that's a comfort to me because I am an imperfect man with an imperfect life. And I need that perfect God. One of the things about this imperfect life that the Bible reminds us of is that this world is just full of temptations. All these decisions in front of us. And the way I'm gonna define temptation for today is an invitation to go the wrong way. Almost like we're walking in a particular direction on the right path and someone is inviting us to take wrong turns all the time. Almost like when my five-year-old is sitting on the couch with me eating a snack or at the table and I'm like, hey, take this trash and walk to that trash can. You would think it was 30 miles away. The way he gets distracted with each step. I'm like, that Lego has been there for four days. Why are you just noticing it? Temptation is for us everywhere. And one of the problems with that is because we're sinners, our hearts long for things that God tells us are not good for us. And God wants more for us

than when those decisions are in front of us just deciding what feels good in the moment. And it is a hard road to walk. God has called us to faithfulness and it's for our good. So one may ask then, how can we stay faithful to this God if he's pointing us in a direction for good? How can we stay faithful to him in the midst of temptation? And I think we have a great example here in the life of Joseph. And the main point today I think is this, when God is with you, no enemy is too big. The temptations may seem big, the enemies may seem big, but when God is with you, no enemy is too big. And I love how we'll get to see this in this story about Joseph. The way we'll look at it is we'll look at before the temptation, during the temptation, and then after the temptation. All right, y'all still with me? All right, so let's start there. Number one, before the temptation. Have you ever witnessed the exact moment where the tide turns for someone and things start to go their way?

I've witnessed this recently while watching the NBA finals. And I was pulling for the Spurs. And Greg Popovich is here today. No, I was pulling for the Spurs. And in game four, I'm like, oh yes, y'all got, they're up 27. I mean, they really, they're showing they're the superior team. They got it. And then at a point I was like, uh-oh. Because it seemed like all of a sudden everything was going the next way. They were making every shot. They like sneezed and got seven points for that. Everything, you could imagine just everything was working. And the Spurs, everything was going wrong for them. This is kind of what's happening with Joseph at this point. He had been sold into slavery by his brothers. And then he ends up in a new place. And then every single thing starts to go right for him. Let's read. Genesis chapter 39. And I'm gonna start reading at verse one. And you know, there's a lot of verses here. So stick with me. Genesis 39. I'm gonna start reading at verse one. This is what God's word says.

Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and the captain of the guards, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house because of Joseph. The Lord's blessing was on all that he owned in his house and in his fields. He left all that he owned under Joseph's authority. He did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. We can stop there. Now I want you to imagine this. Because what we can learn from the text is that Joseph was only 17 years old at this time. So he's been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, a teenager in a new place, in a new culture, in a new language. You would think that he would crumble under this pressure. I mean, for some of us, think about what you were like at 17, we were struggling to navigate the hallways

of our high school. Meanwhile, Joseph somehow was flourishing under this kind of stress. And it's because there was something very special going on in Joseph's life. The Lord was with him. And when the Bible says that the Lord is with somebody, it doesn't just mean that God is there. It's more than that. For an example, if there was a kid who a bully told him, hey, I'm going to beat you up after school in the parking lot, obviously the kid is very scared. Let's say he goes to his teacher and he's like, hey, Ms. Johnson, he said he's going to beat me up in the parking lot. Can you come to the parking lot after school so I can be safe? And let's say Ms. Johnson comes to the parking lot after school and watches him get beat up. Well, you would say, well, thank you, Ms. Johnson, that you were with me. You didn't do anything. When the Bible says that God is with us, it doesn't just mean that He's there, because God is present everywhere. He's omnipresent, present everywhere all the time. But it also means that God will work on our behalf according to His purpose. Means His hand is on us. His favor is on us, and that's exactly what we see here with Joseph, that it says the Lord is with him. And what happens, verse 2, he's prospered, ends up working his way up the ranks. Potiphar puts him in charge of everything, and it says everything in Potiphar's house was going great because Joseph was with Potiphar, but mostly because God was with Joseph. God's presence, His favor makes a difference. When God decides on something, that is what is going to happen.

Think about us. When we decide something, we've got to strategize. You think about threats and risks, but nothing is up in the air like that with God. Some of us have big plans for how our life will go well, and we'll live a satisfied life, and maybe it hinges on something like getting that promotion, or finishing that degree, or finding that spouse, and we think, oh, that's the key. If only I had that thing. When I get that, everything will be good, but I want to tell you that those things are not the key that you think they are. Those things are fickle. Maybe those things will never come. What good is that degree when they're not hiring in your field, or when you're too sick to work, or when the people you're dependent—those things are not strong enough to hold all of our hopes and dreams, but God's favor, on the other hand, makes all the difference. Some of those things we hope in are limited in how they can help us. The favor of God is not limited. Nothing goes well unless God decides it will. The Psalms say, unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain. God's will is always the deciding factor, and that's very important for us to know. Joseph had amazing favor with his boss, and he was doing his job with excellence, and his boss saw that. The Lord is the one whose success is in his hands. Now, you may say, Trill, what does that have to do with temptation? I'm pointing out this part of the story, because this is the backdrop for how Joseph sees the temptation that's coming to him. Everything looks different when the Lord of Lords is with you, and what we know from Scripture is if we are in Jesus, then God is with us. That God has promised, even when hard things show up in our lives, that He's going to work it for our good, and that changes how we receive things. It also changes how we hear His commandments.

To give you one example, when my oldest son was really little, he would sometimes do this thing where he wanted to stand on his dresser and jump off and fly like Batman. Many problems with that. One, Batman don't even fly, so bad first step. Two, his little baby legs could not withstand that force, and so now it's a negotiation. I'm like, hey, Q, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't jump off of there. He's like, but Dad, this will be fun, so now I'm starting to try to tell him my track record so he can trust me. I'm like, hey, I know more than you. I'm like, you know, it's me, Dad. You know, I'm always, we're always playing games and having fun, games I don't even really want to play, but we're doing it. Don't I always come through with the special treats, the goldfish? Not even the regular ones. Flavor blasted, extra cheesy, like, it's me. I'm reminding him of my track record, that I am trustworthy and wise. God's track record in your life is absolutely perfect. Right, Joseph, by the time the temptation has come up, he's already experienced the favor of a God that is stronger than any enemy or circumstance that's been put in front of him and friends. That is the exact same situation you find yourself in, a God who every good and perfect gift you've ever received is from God himself. And in Romans 8, where it says that God will work all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That's you. So, the way that God has committed himself to Joseph's good, even in the midst of difficulty, he has done the same for you, and that should change how you hear his commands. His track record is absolutely perfect. If God is with you, then no enemy is too big. That's clear before the temptation.

Let's look at number two, during the temptation. There are times in our lives where we felt it, where we feel like in order to succeed or to have favor with other people, we have to kind of go along with the current, and that's not a good feeling if we're followers of Jesus. I remember talking to a friend of mine who was a teacher, and she was saying she resented the fact that the only team building that the staff at her school did was going out for happy hour from time to time, and she resented feeling like she had to get drunk with her coworkers in order to team build. There will be so many times where it seems like there's an invitation to go the wrong way that's the key to all the kinds of success in our life. That's about to happen for Joseph. His story's taking a crazy turn. Look with me at verse 6, Genesis 39, verse 6. It says this, now Joseph was well built and handsome. After some time, his master's wife looked lovingly at Joseph and said, sleep with me. But he refused. Look, he said to his master's wife, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he's put all that he owns under my authority. No one in his house is greater than I am. He's withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife, so how could I do this immense evil and how could I sin against God? Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her. We'll stop there. Now Joseph was clearly a good looking dude. It says it right here in the Bible, he's well built and handsome. Imagine if somebody tried to tell you he wasn't good looking, I was like, well actually God's inspired words is otherwise. Well so his master's wife has noticed, and you know, I don't know how it happened, but one day she looked over, she was like, Joseph looked kind of good. And she was very bold in her approach.

She is straightforward, she just says, sleep with me. Now Joseph may be thinking, things were just starting to go good. That's how I can feel for us sometimes, like things are just starting to go the way we want them to and new temptations pop up and new difficulties do, and that can be very discouraging. So then Joseph is left to decide, things are going well, do I want to rock the boat by resisting and move forward? It had to be hard for him. One thing it says is, this wasn't a one-time offer, it says she spoke to him about this day after day. She wouldn't stop. She kept pouring it on. Some of us may think sometimes that if we are trying to follow God, that means all the difficulty will be taken away. We won't have to face temptation. I am sorry to tell you that wasn't even true of Jesus himself. In fact, sometimes your obedience will bring about more temptation around you. The other thing is, if you're only strong enough to resist temptation one time, then I am worried for you, because temptation usually doesn't just knock once and then take no for an answer. So we actually have to trust this God, because it's going to be difficult. Now for Joseph, we don't know if he found her attractive or not, but I imagine this would have been tempting, because Potiphar, this rich man, he probably could have had his pick of any woman he wanted. He probably had a beautiful wife. Joseph, of course, is not married. This probably was enticing. Not only that, he knew this could be used against him. This is his master's wife. She has power over him.

Not only that, he probably could have gotten away with it, because it says she waited until the house was cleared one of these times. And Potiphar didn't even pay attention to what Joseph did. He trusted him so much. Also, like many of us do, Joseph could have said, but I've been through a lot. I deserve something nice. It feels good. Or he could have said, look how successful I am. I'm the man now. I deserve this. But none of these are the way that Joseph responded, it says in verse eight. But he refused. Again, what would make someone, when an invitation for relief comes their way, to say no? Well, he gives the reason. He says, look, with me here, my master doesn't concern himself with anything in this house. He's put all that he owns under my authority. No one in this house is greater than I am. He's withheld nothing from me except you, because you were his wife, so how could I do this immense evil? We have Joseph here obeying the great commandment before Jesus ever called it that. One thing he's doing is loving his neighbor, right? He's pointing to the effect it would have on his master, and he lists all these reasons it would be terrible for him to do that. And for us, too often, when we're facing temptation, we're only thinking about the stress it brings upon us, but we're not thinking about how it would affect others. Joseph is saying, how could I do this wicked thing to him? Sometimes we imagine that God's commands are just some random rule book, when really, it is loving guidance that leads us... to wholeness and joy because sin is not something randomly he called bad.

It is actually destructive. It is actually poisonous. It is cancerous. It is a flame that will burn everything down. It is not to be played with. Sometimes we'll hear about these wildfires that will break out somewhere, often in California and there's devastation and damage and then they'll try to get to the bottom of it, what started it. And often it'll be like one match or one cigarette. And once the flame has gone, it's hard to control all the damage and the devastation. And I want you to know that is like sin. Sin cannot be easily controlled. We think sometimes that we can give in and then control the damage when the truth is you are not gonna be the only one that is hurt. There's damage and devastation that goes far beyond you. One of the things we should think about with our sin when we give in to temptation or not is how it's gonna affect those around us, our friends, our family, our coworkers, those we trust. I have talked to so many brothers who wished they could take back one horrible decision because they look around and that flame has burnt down everything around them. And God loves us so much that he's saying, instead of the stress that comes with trying to put out that fire,

how about you don't even strike the match? But then Joseph says something else that may be unexpected because not only does he say, how could he sin against his master? He also says, how could I sin against God? This God who's been with him. Somebody may say, by the way, when do we bring God into this equation? This isn't God's wife. God has big things to worry about. Why is he worried about what's happening in this household? Well, let me give you an example. There's only one video game I really play. I play with my son, it's NBA 2K, and I'm very good at it, frighteningly good. And every time me and my son play, I destroy him. I'm trying to build character in him by beating him by 20 points every time and talking trash. Anyway, so let's say you invite me to your house to play NBA 2K, all right? And let's say you beat me, would never happen, but hypothetically, let's say you beat me. I know this is so unrealistic, but just stick with me. And I'm so mad that you beat me that I rip your PlayStation out the wall and I kick it. And then I punch a hole through your TV. And then I'm like, all right, I feel better. See you later. And one of you are like, Tripp, I thought we were friends. Why would you do that to me?

And what if I said, I didn't do anything to you. I did something to your PlayStation and your TV. You would probably say, but those are mine. And I bought that TV so I could watch it and that PlayStation so I could play it. And now I can't do what it's meant for. So of course, that would be something I did to you. What the Bible says is the earth is the Lord's and all that's in it, everything belongs to God. And that God made things in creation for particular purposes. So there is no person that I can sin against where it is not a personal offense against the very God that made them and loves them, who they belong to. And especially as someone who's been purchased by the blood of Jesus, my body belongs to him. There is no sin that is not a personal offense against God. God is not being petty, taking it personally. It is a personal offense against him. Joseph understands that and he's saying, this God who's been so good to me, I cannot sin against. So family, what should we do when we find temptation showing up at our doorstep? We got a few lessons here from how Joseph responds. Verse 10, let's look again. He says, and though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties and another household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, come to bed with me.

But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. One of the things we notice is his responses kind of escalate. First he refuses, then he avoids her and then we see him trying to escape. Just three lessons that we can learn from how Joseph responds. The first one is this, you can refuse. One of the lies of sin, one of sin's best lies, temptation, is convincing you that you have no freedom to actually say no. There's sometimes when temptation is in front of us and it feels like we have to give in or it's inevitable so we might as well now. That is a lie you are never in too deep to resist. What Scripture says is if you're in Jesus, you've been freed from slavery to sin. Sin is not your master. It cannot tell you. you what to do. One of the amazing things that happens, too, when we resist temptation is it helps to show us that we can resist temptation. When the alternative is this same cycle of feeling like we have to over and over again. One thing I'd like you to keep in mind, too, is that your fight against temptation is not a solo fight. I would encourage some of us, when that temptation is in front of us, we feel like we have no option but to give in. Make a phone call. Call somebody and say, hey, here's what's going on, can you help me? God knows that it is hard to follow hard after him and he's given us one another to help in that fight. You can refuse. Number two that we're learning from Joseph is you can avoid. It says he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. He is avoiding this lady like the plague. He's social distancing. He is allergic to her presence. I do not want to see her. Some of us, we don't want to get burned by the fire, but we do

want to stand right outside the door and sniff the fumes. Or just touch the hot doorknob just a little bit. And one of the reasons is because we trust ourselves far too much. We think I'm going to tiptoe up to the line, and I'm so strong that I will never step over there. Or I'll be around, I will just take in a number of those invitations to go the wrong way, and I'm so strong I will refuse them each time. You are lying to yourself. You are denying what the Bible says about the nature of the human heart. We are vulnerable. Not only is poison being offered to us, but we have a taste for poison. You have to be honest and realistic about what you like. I want to encourage you to avoid. It is not cowardly to avoid situations that would tempt you. It is courageous and faithful. I ask my wife not to buy Dr. Pepper because if it's in my house, I will drink it. And I won't just drink one, I will drink all of them. I remember talking to an older man, he was in his late 50s, and he was asking for prayer for lust and temptation. And it was like 15 years ago, and I was like, wait, what? I was like, wait, I thought we would be past that by this point. It was very foolish of me. What he understood is no matter how old we are, how mature we are, we are vulnerable. And we should live with that in mind. Third lesson we see from him right here is you can run. Joseph does not sit down with her and talk about it. He doesn't call HR. He fled. So should you. You should run. You should escape. You should flee. Listen to these other passages that talk about fleeing sin. First Timothy 6 and 611, you, man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness. Because he says that, you know, many have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. First Corinthians 618, flee sexual immorality. Second Timothy 2, flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness. First Corinthians 10, flee from idolatry. Some things are so dangerous that you run. You run away. You hear loud bangs in public, you run. You see somebody you don't know running after you, you run. I do have a family full of people who run when it's not really a situation to run. Everybody's scared of bugs in my family, illogically. I remember early on in my marriage, I came home and my wife was in our basement just standing at the bottom of the stairs. I'm like, babe, what are you doing? She was like, oh, it's a bug at the top of the stairs. I said, how long have you been standing down there? She was down there for over an hour just waiting for me to come home. I'm like, you can't sneak by. If there's like a buzz of a fly and we're all outside,

everybody starts running and ducking for cover. My son sometimes would come inside from playing basketball. I'm like, oh, I thought you was hooping. He's like, oh, there's a bee in the next town over. I'm like, can y'all relax? There are some things that's like it's not that serious. Just leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. This is not the case with sin. It is that serious. It will not leave you alone. It will keep knocking, so we should run. You are in danger, and you don't need to be dignified about it. Because Joseph, she grabbed his cloak, and he spun right out of that cloak, and now he's streaking through the property. Because he understands this temptation is so serious and so dire, I cannot risk anything. I will flee. And this is true not only of sexual temptation. Some of us are tempted to envy. Some of us, when we open up Instagram, we are tempted to sinful envy and jealousy. It's bad for our hearts. Brothers, sisters, you need to flee. Some of us are tempted to anxiety. When we're with certain friends who all they do is complain, I want to encourage you, don't flirt with that temptation, flee. Whatever that sin is, he says to flee. Last thing I'll say before we move on is this, do not wait until temptation has showed up to get ready to fight temptation. Once the first punch is thrown, it is too late to train for the fight. I want to encourage you to live in such a way where you are training towards righteousness so when that temptation shows up, you are prepared to refuse and to avoid and to run. Now let's look at what happens after the temptation because when God is with us, no enemy is too big. So let's see what's happening with both Joseph and his Lord. Verse 13, when she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, she called her household servants. Look, she said to them, my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me and I screamed as loud as I could. And when he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment beside me and ran outside. So she lies about what happens and then her husband comes home and she lies to him.

And the husband is so furious that this Joseph who he loves so much, he throws him in prison. Some of us, when we obey God, we expect God to be waiting right outside the door with a piece of candy. But sometimes the truth is, our faithfulness will have consequences, negative consequences. And my question for you is, do you trust God enough to still resist temptation when you think there are negative consequences tied to it? If really, the decider of how things go in your life is this God who holds everything in His hands, do you trust Him enough to say, God, I'm going to do what you've called me to do even when bad consequences are threatening? Is that broken relationships or that's the pain of denying yourself something? I want you to notice, the best thing for you is always what God calls you to in any and every situation. A promotion that you can only get with compromise is not best for you. A marriage that you can only get with sin is not best for you. A friendship that you can only keep with immorality is not best for you. A community that only accepts you when you embrace your sin is not best for you. God knows what's best for you. And we should trust Him when God is with us. No enemy is too big, and here's one of my favorite sentences in this whole passage. At the end of verse 20, it says, but while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him. He showed him kindness, and He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in prison. You can't keep Joseph down. Every time you try to do something worse to Joseph, the Lord is like, and I'm going to show him favor there, too. We'll just throw him in jail. We're going to put him in charge of the jail. That's crazy. But when God is with us, no enemy is too big.

Joseph is an example, but not an example of how to earn God's favor. Joseph is an example of how to respond to God's favor with obedience, resisting temptation. You may say, Tripp, but what happens for those times that I do give in to temptations? Do I lose God being with me? Here's what Scripture says we should do. Verse 9 of 1 John chapter 1, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you give in to temptation, I do not want you to run away from God. Don't flee from God. God is saying, I loved you before you gave in to temptation, and I love you now. Don't try to clean yourself up and then come back. He's saying, come to me and let me clean you up, because we have a loving Savior in Jesus. If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, you may say, well, look, if God being with me, His favor is the key to things going well, how do I get this favor from God? I'm so glad you asked that question. There's this word that the Bible uses a lot, grace, and what that means is unmerited favor. Favor from God that you did not earn. The Bible says that we're saved by grace, that unmerited favor through faith. The incredible thing about following Jesus... is Jesus. Everyone else in the world wants you to earn your way in, do good things, to earn favor with God. That's how you can get on my good side. God is saying, I'm going to send my son Jesus. And the Lord Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live. And he's saying, come after me. Oh, but there's some sin that you can't defeat. Jesus says, I defeated that on your behalf. Come after me. But there's evil that we can't overcome. Jesus said, I defeated that evil. Come after me. But there's death. Jesus said, I already submitted myself to death and rose from the grave victorious. Come after me. And Jesus is saying, I've committed myself to those who trust in me. I will give you that favor freely. The only thing I ask is trust in me and come after me. You will never be able to live such an incredible life that you can get on God's good side. God is saying, the Lord Jesus gave his life. Come after him and I am with you. That is the good news of

Jesus. And then we can commit ourselves to him because he's already committed himself to us. Last thing I'll say is this, Joseph, you look in his life and you see that God's favor was with him everywhere. And what we see in Scripture is those of us who are in Christ, I mean, we are Joseph. Romans 8 says this, if God has already given his own son Jesus, won't he with him freely give us all things? God has already promised us far more than what we see him doing in the life of Joseph here. He has promised to pour his grace and goodness on our heads for an eternity. And my encouragement to us today is to respond to that grace and that favor that is freely offered in Jesus by trusting him. Jesus says he tells us all these things so that our joy may be full. Trust this God who has such a good track record working towards our good. And my prayer is that that trust would show up and remembering that no enemy is too big because this God is with us. Amen. Amen. Let me pray. Father, we come before you again in the name of your son, Jesus. We thank you for what you've done in Jesus, Father. God, I pray for my friends in this room, my brothers and sisters in this room, that we would see how good you are, how good your commands are, God, and we would see the favor that you've offered us in Jesus. God, I pray for those in this room who feel trapped by temptation, who feel handcuffed by their own habits, Lord, that you would show them the freedom that you've given us in Jesus and that you'd help them to trust you through seeing your track record. And those in this room who aren't sure where they are with you, that you would help them to see the freedom that you offer us in your son. Help us to walk in joy and wholeness, and we ask all of this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. We're going to continue worshiping together as we take communion. Every single week we slow down and we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I know Kyle mentioned it last week, but I just, I can't get away from our text this morning. As we look at scripture, we are so reminded of Joseph's faithfulness. We see how faithful he remained underneath persecution, underneath temptation. But I think as we come to the table of communion, we are reminded that Jesus is the greater Joseph. We're reminded that Jesus was betrayed by friends. He was tempted to sin. He was wrongfully accused. He suffered innocently. Jesus suffered greatly. What we know about Joseph's story is that he suffered, but that

he was vindicated. He was exalted to the second hand of the Pharaoh. And as we look at Jesus's life, what we know is that he suffered greatly. He died, but he was no man. Every other man dies and he stays in the ground, but Jesus resurrected. On the third day, he came back to life. And the Bible says that he went to the second in command. He was at the right hand of God. He is God. And today we worship him. We worship Jesus who has ascended and is at the right hand. and of the Father. And so as we continue in worship, as we take that cracker that represents Christ's body that was broken for us, and as we take that juice that represents Christ's blood that was poured out for us, we remember the faithful God who died and gave himself for us. And my prayer is, is that for those of us who are faithless that we would come to him with our sin, we would come to him with our shame, and we would lay it down at the foot of the cross, receiving grace in our time of need. Over the next few minutes, we're gonna worship together. For those of you who are believers in Jesus, who have placed their faith in Christ, my prayer is, is that you would take communion with us. If you're not a believer, if you've never said yes to Christ, I pray that you would consider what that looks like. We'd love to have a conversation with you. If you wanna head over to the next step room on my right, your left, we'd love to slow down and talk about what it means

to place your faith in Jesus's hands. I am also excited because some of our kids just got back from kids camp this past week, and we've got about seven or eight of our kids who are gonna be placing their faith in Jesus and declaring it through baptism. And so I just wanna encourage you. I know traffic is a little crazy, especially at the 1115. Would you stay? Would you honor the decision that they've made? Here in a few moments, you can take and eat whenever you're ready. I'm gonna ask you, when at a meal time, your family becomes together, your heart becomes clean. When you hear of a problem, your Bible becomes a book. When you have the revelation of our sin, your place within that place, immunity within that place. It's not talking about you because you can't go. It's the promise within that promise. It's so important when it's hot, so it's important when we're learning. And it doesn't have to happen at meal time. ♪ How I need You now ♪ I want you to do this. I want you to begin knowing your God. ♪ For a, for a thousand ages ♪

I want you to recognize how deceived you are. ♪ I'm standing on Your faithfulness ♪ Your heart is inside of you, that you brought yourself together. ♪ On Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need You ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need You now ♪ ♪ How I need You now, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ For a, for a thousand ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey ♪ I need you now ♪ ♪ You heard your children then ♪ ♪ You hear your children now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You answered prayers back then ♪ ♪ And you will answer now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You were providing then ♪ ♪ You are providing now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You boomed in power then God boomed in power now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You were a healer then you are a healer now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪

♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You were a savior then you are a savior now ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ Oh, I need you now, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh God, oh God, courageous ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ Yes, we need you Lord, God, we need you now, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh God, courageous ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Yes, your faithfulness, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God ♪ ♪ Oh, oh God, courageous ♪ ♪ Oh, oh God, we need you now, oh yeah. We need you now, ooh. Oh, Lord, we need you Lord. Oh, we need you now Lord, yes, we need you now Thank you God, I greet you Lord. Amen. You're ridiculous. There's no one else that can. Jesus said, there's only God. He will place Jesus on the road to maturity. To incredibility. It's the only one, you need more than the Romans did. ♪ Jesus is my Lord ♪ ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time ♪ ♪ Born of His spirit, washed in His blood ♪ ♪ Washed in His blood ♪

♪ And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Perfect submission, all is at rest ♪ ♪ I know the author of tomorrow, torn at my step ♪ ♪ Torn at my step, so this is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song, I'm praising my risen King and Savior all day long ♪ ♪ Oh, I trust in God, my Savior Lord, all day long ♪ ♪ The one who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Oh, I trust in God, my Savior Lord, all day long ♪ ♪ The one who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, that's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, that's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him, God ♪

♪ He is my Savior, no one will ever fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh I trust in God, my Savior, no one will ever fail, He will never fail ♪ Come on, we testify, yes sir. ♪ Yes I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, that's why, that's why I trust Him, I saw the Lord, He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ Yes I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, that's why, that's why I trust Him, I saw the Lord, He heard and He answered ♪ Well thank you for worshiping with us, Pando family. I loved Tripp's words. They just really hit home, especially when he talked about how Potiphar's wife just continually was tempting him. And just to encourage you all, man, temptation is going to come. And it's not just something you're going to refuse one time, that you're going to flee one time. It is going to be a constant battle. And my encouragement to you is that through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, you can overcome this temptation. the Lord and so continue in these seasons where you may feel that you're constantly being tempted just know that God's plan for you is the most fulfilling purpose-filled life that you can live and though it may not feel like the most fun thing in the moment the Lord wants what's best for you and he as a kind and loving father is calling you to flee from temptation to continually resist the urge to give in to sin and so my hope and prayer is that you and me both would be strong enough empowered by the Holy Spirit obedient enough courageous enough to continue to refute and to flee from sin we have a resource that we would love to continue to equip you with it's called Eden to eternity it's a seven-week study where we're gonna be walking through the entire biblical narrative walking through from Eden Genesis to eternity revelation and so that's gonna be dropping on Wednesday we would love for you to check that out if you're interested and another resource we have coming to you is gonna

be on Thursday we've got a exclusive podcast for you to check out we'd love for you to check that out on the Pando app so you can continue to be equipped and grow in your spiritual maturity and biblical literacy with that being said I want to close our time by praying a prayer over you written specifically for you from one of our staff members so bow your heads as we pray this prayer together Jesus thank you for being a great Redeemer even when life doesn't look the way I planned it you are good I trust your promises I feel your provision I love your word please protect me from temptation please restore what I've lost please fill me with your Holy Spirit I am not in control I'm waiting on you in chaos I need your peace in the loss I need your comfort in confusion I need your truth I trust you with everything I love you it's in your name we pray amen well thank you all so much for joining us we love you we would love to continue to connect with you again my name was Josh had I hope you have a great rest of your day you