In this sermon, the preacher addresses the question of whether children in the audience are truly listening. He engages with a young boy named David and asks him about the title of the messages they have been discussing, which is about Joseph. The preacher then proceeds to summarize the story of Joseph, highlighting key events such as Joseph being loved by his father, hated by his brothers, and receiving a special coat. He also mentions how Joseph's brothers plotted against him, sold him to a caravan, and ultimately ended up in Egypt. The sermon emphasizes the importance of not taking sin lightly and highlights Joseph's integrity and purity in resisting temptation.

Every Sunday we're privileged to have some boys and girls in the audience. Do you think they listen? Oh, we're going to give them a little quiz to see if they listen. Um, and I'm going to ask David the first question because he's already told me he volunteered the answer. What is the title of the messages that we're giving David? You there? David, uh, fella. He told me, he told me. I know what you're talking about. Joseph, what? That's right. How old are you, David? Good. Okay, all of you. Joseph was loved by his father. He was hated by his... Very good. His father gave him a coat of... Joseph dreamed that his father, mother, and brothers would one day... Listen to those answers. One day when Joseph was looking for his brothers, they plotted to... Good, that's right. But at Reuben's suggestion, they cast him into... Listen to that. Wow. Now, careful on this one, boys and girls. Careful. Then they sold him to a caravan for... Wait a minute. They sold him to a caravan for how much? That's tough, isn't it? Twenty pieces of... Right. The brothers dipped his coat in the blood of a goat and brought it to their... Good. He concluded that Joseph had been killed by a... The caravan took Joseph to... Joseph... Oh, this is a hard one. Joseph became a servant in the house of... Who was with Joseph and made everything he did to prosper? That's right. A hundred percent. Very good. No question that they're listening. Uh, turn in your Bibles and we're going to read in chapter 39 of Genesis today. I am... I'm going to begin just... get right in the middle of things here with verse 6. Uh, Genesis 39 verse 6. And I'll read to the end of the chapter. So, he left all that he had in Joseph's hands. Talking about Hattifar, who was an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard. So, he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. In other words, he just cast everything and told Joseph to take care of it. Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. Now, it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph and he said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, look my master does not know what is with me in the house and he has committed all that he has to my end. There's no one greater in this house than I nor has he kept back anything from me but you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And so it was that she spoke to Joseph day by day that he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was inside. He caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside. And so it was when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them saying, see he has brought into us a Hebrew to mock us. He came into need to lie with me and I cried out with a loud voice. It happened when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out that he left his garment with me and fled and went outside. So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these saying the Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came into need to mock me. So what happened is I lifted my voice and cried out that he left his garment with me and fled outside. So it was when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him saying your servant did to me after this manner that his anger was aroused and Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there it was his doing, that is he was in charge. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's hand because the Lord was within and whatever he did the Lord made it prosper. Well we had that before didn't we? Everywhere this man went things prospered. You remember the story of King Midas everything he touched turned to gold. Well it didn't happen with Joseph but wherever he went and whatever he did the Lord made it to prosper. Now we'll just begin where we left off last time. Joseph was handsome but his brothers could not see it. In verse six at the end of the verse it says and Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. Oh I'm sorry what's the trouble? Joseph makes me think of Jesus however I have to make this acceptance. When it says that Jesus was handsome we're not thinking physically we're thinking of spiritually because frankly I don't think the Lord Jesus was handsome physically. It says that in Isaiah no beauty that we should desire of him but he was beautiful. Seriously wasn't he? He was beautiful morally. A little girl was sitting on her grandmother's knee and she said grandma you're pretty and the grandmother thought of her wrinkled face and sunspots and all the rest and she said oh no dear she said I'm not pretty I'm all wrinkled and the little girl said you're pretty inside and that's the way it was with the Lord Jesus. Beautiful spiritually but when he came people had no appreciation for him. His own people had no appreciation for him. It's amazing isn't it? We don't know exactly what the Lord Jesus looked like physically do we? You see these pictures of Jesus in the Christian bookstores but it's not Jesus don't ever be deceived. Probably wrong to have pictures of Jesus isn't it? First of all the pictures of Jesus are pictures of a Gentile not a Jew. And then many times they're very effeminate too. So we know very well when we look at those pictures of Jesus it's not Jesus at all he didn't look like that. But you never know you know when the Antichrist comes in order to deceive people he might come looking like that and people would be taken in by it. So I would think it'd be a good thing not to go into pictures of Jesus at all but the treasure in your heart the picture of a perfect sinless son of God who was beautiful truly beautiful in all his ways. Well certainly we can say that of the Savior. Okay the next thing is that Joseph was faced with strong temptations, strong temptations. And I notice the stages of the temptation in this chapter. First of all verse 7a he cast longing eyes at him. Two he tried to seduce him to sin verse 7. Three she spoke to him day after day. Four she waited till they were alone. Five in verse 12 she caught hold of him. He caught hold of his garment. It shows you the stages in temptation in the life of Joseph. Incidentally this is the second mention of a garment in the life of Joseph. They both caused him trouble through no fault of his own. So it was a coat of many colors. Now here's another garment the second mention of a garment and they both caused him trouble. Well of course the behind the the wife of Potiphar you can see the devil working and he works in many many different ways. Apostle Paul says we're not ignorant of the devices of the devil and we're not. First of all the devil is a liar. He's a father of lies. He's been a liar from the beginning. And you certainly hear the lies that rolled off her tongue. False accusations that she made against Joseph. And then the devil is an imitator. It's an interesting thing that for everything of God the devil has an imitation. God has a way of salvation. The devil has a way of salvation. God's way of salvation is eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil is salvation by work. By doing the best you can. By joining the church. By being baptized and all of these things. The devil has an imitation for anything that's of God. He's an imitator from the beginning. Remember when Moses was performing those miracles before Pharaoh, the devil imitated the miracles. And he's doing that today. And that's why we have to be very very careful. Just because a miracle takes place doesn't mean that it's of God. All a miracle means is that a supernatural power is at work. The devil can perform miracles. And in the coming day when the antichrist appears upon the scene he's going to have a great image there. And he's going to cause the image to speak. It'll be miraculous and people will be deceived by it. But it will be satanic power behind it. And of course the devil is a master at deception. Paul tells us that his ministers pose as ministers of righteousness. Imagine that. I mean they might even wear clerical garb and have the dog collar and all the rest. And they're in the pulpit and they're just teaching the lies of the devil. Deceiving people on the way to hell. Here of course one of the devil's devices is sexual temptation. And if he can't get people with that he'll try to get them with doctrinal error. False teaching. And that's why we have to go back to the word of God all the time. And that's everything you hear by the scriptures. What says the scriptures? Now I'd like to just speak with you a little while about the whole subject of temptation, because every one of us knows what it's all about. In fact it says that in first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 it says there has no temptation taken you but such as is what it says common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted above that you're able but will with the temptation provide a way of escape that you may be able to dare it. So don't look at the preacher and think oh he doesn't know anything about it you know he doesn't have the temptation. Yes he does. Common to man. And the fact of the matter is probably more than you and I realize we have to say no 10,000 times every week don't we? I mean all the subtle temptations that come to us. If you're in the supermarket and the clerk gives you too much change or something it's a temptation. It's a temptation to pocket it. Pocketing something that doesn't belong to you. Maybe you go to the phone and and you hit the jackpot and a whole cache of money comes down the slot to you. What are you going to do with it? It's a temptation. There are tremendous ethical problems that arise in life today. I face them all the time myself. What are you going to do? Temptations. It's good to know that they're not unique to me. Everybody has temptations. Not everybody has the same temptations all the time but we're all subjects of temptations. Secondly I think it's good to know that a Christian can commit any sin that the bible warns him against. It might shock you. There's some just saying. We might as well face it. We might as well know it. Even after you're saved you can commit any sin that the bible warns you against. That's why it warns you against it. You wouldn't bother to do it if you couldn't if you couldn't commit that sin. Third I'd like to suggest to you that sexual pleasure is one of the strongest temptations. Probably one of the strongest temptations and that's where satan has achieved so many of his tremendous victories. He really shoots at Christian people and tries to knock them out of the race. That's what he's trying to do and he knows how to do it. He's been very very successful in doing it. But I want to say something this morning. Christians don't have to sin. Now don't misunderstand me. I didn't say Christians don't sin. I said Christians don't have to sin. If I say I can't help it, I have to do it, I'm really saying that the Holy Spirit of God is not able to give me the power to resist temptation. That's what I'm saying. I mustn't say that. I mustn't think that. I mustn't think that I have to do it. The only time I sin as a Christian is when I want to. It's good to have this straight in our minds. God is able to give me the power to resist and there never is a time in life when faced by a strong temptation I cry to the Lord for help. There's never a time when he doesn't put it in. Peter goes walking on the water to Jesus. He gets his eyes off the Lord. He doesn't succinct. He says, Lord save me. Lord save me. Christian life is like walking on water. It's a supernatural life and we're ready to fall any time. But if I cry, Lord save me, deliver me from this sentiment, look, when I don't cry that the trouble comes. God is able to provide a way of escape from any temptation that might come to me in life, but there are conditions to be met, and one of those conditions is you have to walk in close fellowship with the Lord. That means staying close to the Bible. It means living the life of prayer. It means keeping vision for the Lord. It means staying in the Christian fellowship close to the Christians. And I think I might have mentioned this before, but, and this is what applied to Joseph. Supposing Joseph had moved into the temptation. We wouldn't have been talking about him today, would we? He'd probably be famous as an Egyptian mummy. For a moment of sexual gratification, a person can lose his testimony, the respect of his family, friends. He can sell his birthright for a mess of cottage. He can lose his self-respect, and he can suffer from guilt and depression with a cloud hanging over his life. I think you can see from this passage of scripture that sin begins in the mind, and we've gone over that before, but I think it's good to remind ourselves of it. Sin isn't something that just comes upon me like the flu or something like that, quite, you know, unasked for. It begins up here in the mind. An evil thought comes into my mind, and I don't like that. I think I'll just nurse that one along, you know. I control what I think, and so do you. And the Bible teaches us that if we think about a thing long enough, sooner or later, we're going to do it. Whereas, if I sell that thought from my mind, and say, you can't do that, oh yes, you can do it. How do you do it? You can't think about two things at once. Why? Do you think about two things at once? Think about a hot fudge sundae, and then think at the same time of the map of South America. I can't think about those things. I've got to separate it somehow in my mind, you know. You can't think about sin and think about the Lord Jesus at the same time. So, the idea is, when an evil thought comes into your mind, sell it, and think about the Lord. That's it. But, if you nurse the thought, and just keep on thinking about it, think about sooner or later, you're going to do it. Maybe not this week, maybe not this month, but sooner or later. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 13 through 20, and I think we should turn to that, because it is very, very important. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 13 through 20, it says in verse 13, food for the stomach, and the stomach for food, but God will destroy both it and them. I mean, that's temporary. Food. Now, the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. That's interesting, isn't it? The Lord is for this body, and he's interested in this body of mine, and he's interested that I should keep it in purity, and God has raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. You say, why does he say that? Because it shows he's interested in the body. If I die, and my body's put into the grave, and returns to dust, God's going to reconstitute that dust someday. He raised that body. God is interested in the body, and he's interested in how we use the body here in life. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? This is speaking to believers now. Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not. How incongruous that would be, to think of taking the members of Christ, and making them members of which which happens a union of persons. Do you not know that he was joined to a harlot as one body with her? For the two, says he, shall become one flesh. That he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him, and there's nothing closer than that. And one spirit with the Lord. Much closer than the union of two bodies. Fleeing sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. And, if we know that truth, the terrible diseases that accompany sexual immorality, the guilt, the depression, the constant jab to wake, the mention of places or people connected with sin. And this is the most telling verse of all, I think. Verse 19. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you're not your own? For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit it are God's. This means that when a person becomes a true believer, a Christian, born-again person, his body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit indwells that person. Temple. Jesus means temple. Temple is a place used for worship, isn't it? The Holy Spirit indwells my body, which is used for the worship of the Lord Jesus, and not for immoral purposes. The Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, who, I think emphasis on the word holy there, who is in you, whom you have from God, you're not your own. You were bought at a price. What an enormous price. The redemption of the human soul, the blood of Christ said it, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit it are God's. Okay, so that's kind of a gizmo. Picture your painting today, Mr. McDonald. Well, let me tell you something. If a person is not a believer, and there has been failure, it's quite possible, and quite easy, to come to the Lord, to repent of sin, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and have the past wiped out. And I think that's wonderful. I think that's wonderful. What a wonderful redemption. Never can a mortal know how our sins, though red-like sins, can be brighter than the sun. This is a wonderful gospel of redeeming grace, that if I come to the Lord, in all my sin and wretchedness, and repent of those sins, and trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, God not only forgives, but he forgets. As far as he eats, is removed from the rest. So far have I removed, I've thanked everything. And God can look down at me, and see me in Christ, and not find a single sin on me, that is to punish me with eternal death. Now that's wonderful. Reach my blessed Savior first, take him from God's esteem, prove Jesus cares one spot of sin, and tell me I'm not sinning. When you trust Christ as your Savior, you stand before God in all the acceptability of God's beloved Son, because you're in Christ, and the past is blotted out. Is that good news? I think it's good news. That's why the gospel means. It means good news. I want to tell you, there are a lot of people going to the psychiatrists, and the psychologists, and the psychotherapists these days, because of this very problem we're talking about today. And what they need is to go to the cross of Calvary, and hear the Lord Jesus say to them, your sins are forgiven. That's something those psychiatrists say. Psychiatrists can't forgive sins, but Jesus can, and he longs to do it. He longs to do it. So, good news for the sinner. You say, yeah, but I'm a Christian, but I've slipped since becoming a Christian. Is there any hope for me? Well, there's tremendous hope for you. Listen, just because a man has failed doesn't mean that God is through with him. So, remember, it doesn't make us want to sin, but it's true just then. Just because a person has failed doesn't mean that God is through with him. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, it says. And I tell you, I love that verse. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, and God is willing to... If I come as a believer, and confess my sin, and forsake my sin, God forgives me. It says that first John 1 9. We confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin. He defends us from all unrighteousness. So, is forgiveness the salvation for the sinner, and forgiveness for the saint? But, I should add a word here too. Lest you think that you can sin and get away with it, you should know this. Although God forgives our sins, sometimes the consequences of our sins remain with us. Sometimes. And so, we shouldn't have light thoughts about sin. For instance, a man whose sin may be smitten with age, shouldn't that man be saved? Of course he can be saved, no matter how deep and dark his sin. He's saying in that hymn, dark passions for doom. No matter how dark his passions may be, he can be forgiven, he can be saved. But, the consequences are very well lingered with him. And, at the present time, they would linger with him, shouldn't they? The Christian went out with that drunken... But, praise God, Joseph proves himself a man of integrity and purity. He is. It's really beautiful to watch this dear son. He gave... he had his reasons for resisting, and I think there are so many. First of all, he said in verse 8, my master trusts me. I like that. My master trusts me. Secondly, his master had given him an exalted position. Verse 9. And then, he was a married woman. He reminded her of that. He was a married woman. He was married to the very man who was his master. But, the most potent argument of all that he gave is in verse 9, see, it would be a sin against God. And, all sin is against God, isn't it? There is no sin that isn't against God. Joseph realized that, and made his decision on that basis. But, you know, the Lord Jesus was faced with strong temptation, wasn't he? Remember how, in the wilderness, the devil came to him? Three times the devil came to him. Healed him of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Now, three times. What does the Lord Jesus do? He disorders his scriptures. He went back to the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy, and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord by God. That's a wonderful thing for us. When there's taste, there's temptation, we go back to the word of God, huh? It often happens that when a person is newly saved, the devil comes with all kinds of doubt. He tempts that person to die. If you were really saved, you wouldn't think that you were. If you were really saved, you wouldn't do that, or you wouldn't say that. The devil is a nasty kind of thing. What do you do? You quote the word of God. Now, how do you quote the word? You quote John 3.15, Thank God for the love of the world. He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I am whosoever, I can fit into that word, whosoever, I have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of God says, I have everlasting life. How do you do that? The devil will leave you alone. The devil cannot stand you to quote scripture. And that's a wonderful reason for having the word of God in your mind, so that you can quote it to him, that he comes to you with all of these doubts. Now, I wanted to say something about the temptation of the Lord Jesus. It says in Hebrews that he was tempted in all points as we are, yet without end. And I want to make this very clear. The Lord Jesus was a sinless son of God. He could be tempted from without, but he couldn't be tempted from within. You and I can be tempted from without and from within. It is different in that sense. And we want to remember that. When you hear a lot of paralysed talking about the Lord Jesus and his ability to change you, God can't do it. God is Christ holy. He can't do it. Now, people say it wasn't a real temptation if he couldn't do it. It was a real temptation. It was a very real temptation. He showed himself to be immaculate, to be absolutely pure, absolutely above. Remember that. There's nothing, there's nothing in Jesus that could be fond of him. He said that. He said, the prince of this world cometh and finds nothing. Others, there's no area that the prince of the world could attack in the light of the Lord Jesus. But, he could be tempted from without, and he was in the wilderness, and that's what this reference in Matthew 4 verses 1 to 11 is all about. Joseph proved himself a man of purity and integrity, and certainly the Lord Jesus did as well. And then, as we saw, he could not sin against God. Turn to John chapter 8 and verse 29, and see what it says there about the Lord Jesus. People say Jesus could have sinned. John 8 29. He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone. Listen, for I always do those things that please him. What a wonderful case. I always do those things that please him. It is pleased the Father, that Jesus has been at his feet. He was, uh, Joseph was falsely accused. You talk about a case of circumstantial evidence. It was terrible, wasn't it? There's no case against, no valid case against Joseph of all. What did that prove? Did that prove he sinned? Of course it didn't. Circumstantial evidence. It's often a case in life, isn't it? You call a falsely accused. The Lord Jesus was falsely accused. Remember, at his trial, they found it very difficult to find witnesses against him. And even when they got witnesses, they couldn't agree among themselves. What about a kangaroo court? That was it. I've heard a few more. Finally, they said, well, he said that he would destroy the temple, you know, build it for three days. Of course, when Jesus said that, he was speaking about the temple of his body. He said, destroy this temple for three days. I will raise it again, completely to death, burial, and resurrection. So, they had to conspire the case against the Lord Jesus, just as this woman conspired the case against Joseph, falsely accused. And yet, Joseph had done nothing wrong. Absolutely outstanding in the way he conducted himself through this whole passage, wasn't he? And we mentioned in the first class that we had on this whole subject, that the Bible never mentions anything against Joseph. One of two men in the Old Testament, nothing negative is ever said about him. It doesn't mean that he didn't sin, but the Bible doesn't just tell about it. Turn to 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 22, to see the correspondence with the life of the Lord Jesus. 1 Peter 2, 23. Who committed no sin, this is the Lord Jesus, who committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth. What is guile? Deceit. No deceit in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile the earth, and when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judged his righteousness. The evidence was completely fraudulent against Joseph. Absolutely fraudulent. Turn to Mark, chapter 14, verse 59, and see that in the life of the Lord Jesus, in the trial of the Lord Jesus. Mark, chapter 14, and verse 59. That even then did their, even then, not even then, did their testimony agree. What an apathetic situation, wasn't it? Here are these men testifying against the Son of God, and they couldn't even agree with their testimony. Shouldn't have stood up in any court of law. The evidence was completely fraudulent. So, we find this dear man of God suffering for righteousness' sake, and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus did, and it's very pleasing to God when people suffer for righteousness' sake too. It's no glory to God if I suffer for wrongs that I've done, but it is glory to God if I suffer for righteousness' sake. Now, most of us in this country don't, don't really know very much about that. You know, none of us have ever had bones on our hands. We've never shed blood, as the writers usually say. We have not yet existed on the blood side of the game. Maybe some of us at work, or at school, have no medical school. We should be proud of that. It's really cool for an individual to take that. Any suffering for righteousness' sake is pleasing to God. We really should read that in 2nd Peter, in 1st Peter 2, I mean, because it's so important to get these things in our minds. 1st Peter 2, verse 19 says, Well, this is commendable if, because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. So, what credit is it when you're beaten for your fault, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer for it, you take it patiently? This is commendable before God, for this we were called. It's hard, isn't it? It's hard to be doing the right thing, and to suffer for it. But, to do it as a Christian, for testimony of Christ, it really makes all the difference. And, I think maybe just one more point, and then we'll close. Um, he was thrown into prison. Joseph was thrown into prison, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And, this is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus. In fact, it says that in Isaiah 53. He was numbered with the transgressors. Joseph was in jail with Pharaoh's butler and baker, and the Lord Jesus was there on that center cross with the two thieves, the two malefactors, beside him. Amazing, isn't it? How the life of Joseph, so beautifully, shines forth in the life of the Lord Jesus. He was to come centuries later. Now, I don't know how all this applies to you. Today, we pray before we speak, but the Lord will keep the message of every heart. You know, the Holy Spirit is able to do that. He's able to take a message of the word of God, and no matter what you might be going through now, something there for you. We hope that's the case today. If you're unsaved here, and are interconnected, and you're not a decided Christian, feel free to stay behind and talk to us. We'd love to talk to you, explain the way of life to you. If you're a Christian and having some problems too, feel free to stay and talk to us. Maybe this has awakened something in your heart that you'd love to get to hear that. Keep your faith and dance. We're going to listen to God and pray a minute. I think Ron has a chosen hymn for us. Shall we pray? Father, we adore the intensity of Scripture. Send me think of your word, and how much is compressed in so little. We do thank you that in this book, we have all things that are necessary for life and progeny. We thank you we don't have to go to the empty cisterns of this world for wisdom, but we have wisdom in the book, and in the Lord Jesus himself. Thank you for these views of the life of Joseph, and we think especially today of how he endured temptation, and how there is a special reward for those who do endure temptation to save our sons. We pray that in all of life, those of us who are the leaders will have the courage to say no. Pray for those who are not believers to say, might know the blessing of being engulfed by the Holy Spirit of God, and empower Jesus to rise to holiness.