Saying -NO?

Now I'd like to read in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis please in chapter 39. Genesis chapter 39. I said said to someone before the meeting if all of you young people are as tired as I am there's not a chance you're going to stay awake but I know you've got an extra energy and so we'll look to the Lord for help now as we read the scriptures together.

Genesis 39 and Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh captain of the guard and Egyptian bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites which had brought him down thither and the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian and his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand and Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had put into his hand and it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptian house for Joseph's sake and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field and he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he knew not ought he had save the bread which he did eat and Joseph was a goodly person and well favored and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eye upon Joseph and she said lie with me but he refused and said unto his master's wife behold my master what if not what is with me in the house and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand there is none greater in this house than I neither hath he kept back anything from me but but thee because thou art his wife how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God and it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day that he hearken not under her to lie by her or to be with her and it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business and there was none of the men of the house there within and she caught him by his garment saying lie with me and he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out and it came to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth that she called unto the men of her house and spake unto them saying see see he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us he came in unto me to lie with me and I cried with a loud voice and it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried that he left his garment with me and fled and got him out and she laid up his garment by her until his Lord came home she spake unto him according to these words saying the Hebrew servant which thou hath brought unto us came in unto me to mock me and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried they left his garment with me and fled out and it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife which he spake unto him saying after this manner did thy servant to me that his wrath was kindled and Joseph's master took him put him into the prison a place where the king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison we have read a lot of words but out of all of this I want to speak on one single word tonight just one word I know you're weary and you heard a lot of ministry but I would just like you to think about one little word it's a word that your parents when you were younger worked really hard to get you not to say and now tonight I'm gonna work really hard to try and get you to say this word it's not a bad word it's a good word and it really is not a negative word it's a positive word I want to speak to you about saying the word no no that's it now maybe some of you are actually struggling with the ability to be able to say no perhaps you have decided that you and your friends or you've decided that you're no longer going to talk negative about other believers in the assembly and then you do it again and then you do it again you say I I'm done I am NOT going to those internet sites anymore you said no but you go back all the others are getting together on a Friday night to watch a video that your conscience says it tells you you shouldn't be watching and you want to just tell them all no everybody's going out to do something and you're not ready for me you're not having prepared your worship for Sunday morning and you want to tell them all no I can't go no but you just don't say it and you're wondering why do I say it and I don't mean it and why can't I say it when I should say it the word no or maybe maybe I'm speaking to someone who's in a dating relationship and you're struggling over this issue of being able to say no I have read this example because this is a man who learned what it is to truthfully really be able to say no that's what happened to Joseph he was in a moral situation here and I want you to think about with me first of all about the difficulties in which he had to say no he was tempted morally there was a woman he was all alone with a woman and he had an opportunity to commit sin very pleasurable sin and he said I refuse no think with you with me about this difficulty the difficulty of his own liability look what it says in verse 6 at the end of verse 6 it said Joseph was a goodly person and well favored I think if you read in other translations what you would find is what that says is he was one good-looking fellow now some of us can relate to this good-looking you say I that's not a liability I would love to be good looking that's why I spend the time in the mirror trying to make myself I'm not saying ugly is better but we all need to understand when it comes to temptations where our liabilities are and maybe your liability is like Joseph it's your good looks there's a lot of good-looking people here and that very thing that was a positive characteristic was a liability around the wrong person maybe with you it's your technical expertise maybe with you your liability you have an ability to to read and you love to read and but that's a liability when it comes to the use of your time maybe you're just a very outgoing social person and that's great you can get anybody to talk we need those kind of people but listen that could be your liability that could draw you into a situation and you just what are your liabilities you say what I'm good-looking I'm outgoing I'm rich maybe whatever you're like what are your liabilities you have some areas somewhere that the devil knows that's a liability it may be something good I don't just mean a liability that you're inclined toward something evil I'm talking about even things that are legitimate and good that could be twisted and turned to become a liability as in the case of Joseph but I want you to think about the society in which he lived one of the first mentions you have of this society in Egypt you have a man goes down there and he says to his wife don't tell him you're my wife because if you do that they'll kill me this is the kind of society Egypt where they kill men to steal their wives this is a man who's now has an opportunity to take another man's wife and he doesn't even have to kill him this is this is in that society this is a golden opportunity this is the morality in which he is surrounded in that society that this is perfectly normal this is acceptable just go ahead as long as you don't get caught it's okay this man's not gonna get caught this woman has all the resources to protect him but listen that society in which he lived made it all the more difficult to say no and maybe your society your grandparents say what's pornography I don't know what's www mean is that wrestling what is that HTTP I don't even know what that means I'm that old you come websites that's the society we live in email chat rooms text messaging there's the extent of my technical knowledge that's it and all of that is a new society it's a new morality we live in and a new society and it's all different and it all just fosters up and it's very hard to say no in our world but I want you to think now about the insistence this woman comes along and says I would like you to sleep with me he says no and she says day by day today now please and it keeps Adam and keeps Adam and keeps Adam it is very difficult to say no once it's even harder when everything it just keeps coming and coming and at you and at you and at you and at you right but then there's even something worse it's not just his own liabilities it's not just the society it's not just that it's the insistency of this thing I want you to think about the opportunity there's nobody around mr. Potiphar wherever he's off all the servants are gone there's nobody in the house this is the perfect opportunity and with all of that here's a young man who's able to say two letters no difficulty is never any excuse before God to say yes when we should say no we have never any reason to be able to say well Lord I really wanted to say no and I would have said no but the society I live in is just so different it's so difficult and I'm just so good-looking and I'm so muscular and I'm so famous and I'm so rich and I'm so popular and my liabilities and my technical expertise and they just keep pushing me Lord I couldn't help it and it was just an opportunity I learned from Joseph and even in the most difficult situation a person can say no so stop blaming stop excusing difficulty for Joseph is no reason not to say no but now no is a decision it is not just a reaction is a decision every good decision has a basis I want you just to quickly think about this what was the basis for him to say no first thing was his reputation he says my master has trusted me my master is confiding in me he has he has he has he looks at me and he has put me everything in my hand the only thing he worries about is his bread whole wheat or white those are the big worries of my boss that's all he has to be content with and I am responsible for everything else my reputation is on the line what was the last time you said no because you were worried about your reputation the Bible says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches take all the money you want in the world and put a good reputation beside that and God says the reputation is worth more it's worth more to have a good reputation to have a character a character that is well represented and he says now but not only that Pharaoh if Potiphar has looked on and he has seen the Lord has blessed me the Lord's reputation the Lord's reputations at stake my reputation and my Lord's reputation are linked and if my reputation goes down his reputation goes down I've got to say no the basis of saying no for Joseph is the reputation mine and his and I cannot participate and he says no you ever thought what you're doing what you're thinking of doing what others are doing the pressures about how that's going to affect your reputation what you're doing in the chat rooms if those people whoever in the world they are ever found out yeah they could you're a Christian what are they gonna think of you what are they gonna think of your Christ Christian those people in the workplace if they ever got onto your computer and they saw it at school what would they think of yours you have the lovely screensaver verse and then you get behind up you see this is real my reputation if other people found out what no no no what about not just yours but the reputation that is linked with yours the man who died at Calvary for you Joseph says my decision is no woman no because of the Lord do you read out remember how many times and went down to the Lord the Lord the Lord the Lord my name his name it's all in one package for the name the reputation I will say no but I want you to think with me now not only about the reputation as being basis for decision but his actual reason was Lord what does that mean well I thought his boss was Potiphar yes but he worked and he did it as unto the Lord the overall supremacy and sovereignty of God in his life and so when this woman says he says and the reason why he says you're you're his wife where did he ever learn that he hadn't read the New Testament he hadn't read the Old Testament where did he ever learn that the tradition passed orally down was what God had one day said to a man his name was Adam that a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh you're you're his you get the reason now for his decision to say no revelation from God is what's guiding me Joseph had it in his heart what God had said and that revelation from God was what it was the real reason for him to say no why is it so hard for us to say no sometimes because we don't know this book and when I get a reason from God in this book and I get it into my head it is so much easier to stand up and say no because God has said and if I don't can't stand up and say no because God has said thou shalt or thou shalt not I've got to find the principles and the more I get to know the book the more I'm able to stand up and have the courage and the strength and the conviction to be able to say no but the third part of his decision reputation and the revelation and third of all I want you to think about what he said he said this is interesting to me he said how can I do this he says talks about his master he says this is a thing I can't do this how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God that situation many a person would have talked like this how can I do this kind of thing and embarrass my parents how could I do this thing and get an unwanted child how could I do this thing and get an STD or how could I do this thing and get put out of the assembly and then they do it anyway why because they missed the whole reason for saying no Joseph says how can I do this thing I'm not gonna say no because I'm afraid of consequences it's because of my resolve to not sin against God this is all about my relationship with God that's what's at stake not as a salvation but the enjoyment of that relationship what gives a person the ability to say no concern about their own reputation that should definitely play into it and the reputation of God that revelation what God has spoken to us that is enough to strengthen us and guide us as we were hearing today but just how could I do this how can I keep going what is but about God to keep a have a God centered thinking is that that is what will give us the ability the capacity the fortitude to be able to say no because of God and so you're sitting around the table and I'm getting tired I almost said something in Spanish fulano so-and-so says waiter Bud Light may I help you sir what would you like to drink opportunity pressure what are you gonna do my parents they find you missed it what if I get drunk and I get pulled over by the police I'm out of here no because I'm thinking now about my God and what he says in his word a dating couple what's gonna preserve them emotions and impulses are very hard to control the only thing that will preserve them is a longing for a good reputation a desire to complete this revelation and an enjoyment of that relationship to keep myself pure for God the answer is no but just think with me about the defenses now how do you actually how can you defend yourself and put up the defense to say no first of all it is interesting that generally he had but he said no when there was people around because it comments and says there were people not there was no one in the house as if that was the first time safety in numbers applies and so many things as long as those numbers are on your side surround yourself with people who are going to help you to say no right now and then we'll see you there's a young fella he's trying to quit smoking he's not in the assembly he says he say well they got saved before I ever met him and he's struggling day off work where does he go he goes to visit all of his friends that he works with and they all smoke bad choice why can't he say no because he's not surrounding himself with people who are going to help him to do that decision and if your decision young sister is to say no for moral purity for the Lord's sake and that young man is not helping you in that decision sorry young man I got bad news for you I'm gonna tell her what to do with you dump you because you're not supporting what she wants to do for the Lord and if you have friends at work or at school that are not supporting you and what the nose that you want to say you got to find a new peer group you got to get down before God on the other hand I am so thankful to God that when I was raised here and this this Paul I didn't actually live here although it felt like it at times that God and his grace surrounded me with Dave Jeff my brother the other young men a peer group that had values that I wanted to have and they were used by God to preserve me to say no find it positively but I want you to think as well about this firmness it says that he harkened not unto her when she spoke to Joseph day by day I looked up the word Harkin not and if I understand it right I think it's maybe mr. vine that says to means to hear with attention Harkin means to hear an attention with interest afternoon I was going through the line down there and they they offered me a dessert to my shame I want to show you how I said no I said no no no no no no that's it no no no there wasn't my tray I was not harkening not the woman offered this occasion this sin to Joseph and he made it so clear he was firm no interest how was that the mr. Oliver said you know just getting near the edge just just close as you can close close close but just a little more over the edge that's not Joseph the way to say no is to surround yourself with people that are gonna help you say no the way to say no is to not even get close to saying yes just to absolutely just to keep the distance and be clear but then I want you to notice what it happened as you well know when that special opportunity for her took place and there was no one else around she grabbed a hold of him and he bolted out the door and he left his coat behind the New Testament says flee from fornication flee youthful lust there are times when it requires radical action to be able to say no and that rattle that radical action may be it may be that you're gonna have to go and get a new job because everybody flipping burgers with you at flippy's burgers are all people who are tempting you the wrong way you better go to flappy's burger because over there there's Christians wherever maybe it will be you will require radical that you'll have to you'll have to do something radical like go to your parents and say mom and dad I need some help would you mind if I put the computer in the middle of the living room there's no parent that has any sense in their head that would have a problem with that they would love to support you you see it requires radical action safety in group couples young couples dating couples safety of numbers stay in public and at times it requires radical action no you know in Phoenix where we live for four years we have cockroaches ever seen cockroaches here some well in Mexico we have cockroaches on steroids big things and one of the things I noticed about cockroaches not that I've made professional studies of cockroaches is that they tend to be well if you had a cockroach sitting there on the floor and you threw it some food it would grab the food and disappear and you say until it comes back with bigger biceps and three friends so you give him a little more food so they go away and then they come Joseph was not interested in throwing food to cockroaches it was no no no no no and if I have to fly out the door and I have to leave my expensive coat behind I'm gone radical as part of defense to be able to say no but let me just end now after talking about the difficulties and he could say no and you can to the decision based on reputation and the revelation of the Word of God and relationship with God the defenses of friends and the firmness we must have and fleeing at times let me get now to the what I said at the beginning that no is a positive word because when you say no you're actually saying yes now please don't think I've been drinking too much tequila or eating too many chilies no means yes so you're trying to drop a few pounds and along comes dessert and you say don't get radical with the ladies downstairs no thank you you just said yes you said no to junk and yes to health and when you say no to fornication you are saying yes to sanctification and when Joseph said no I will not sin no to sin he was saying yes to the reputation and the glory of God holiness for me I'm glad there was a man who really knew how to say no one day he was offered the opportunity to become king he had just fed 5,000 people and they all came around him and they said they were gonna make Jesus King what an opportunity he's gonna that's biblical he's gonna be the king he's gonna reign we heard a little bit about he's gonna be King he had the opportunity and he said no we're going to another city why because when he said no to becoming King he was saying yes to the cross and if he had not said no to the to being King then we wouldn't be here today you see don't think about it in some kind of a drudgery duty I gotta say no find the positive what are you saying yes to what are you preferring purity versus impurity unholiness versus holiness to seek the Lord how seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and so every time we say no we are actually saying yes to something else and so when you say no to your friends who invite you from school I'm gonna be with my family you're saying yes to family and when you say no I'm not going to talk to my parents that way anymore I'm not using that tone and God help me it's not right no I will not do that I'm what are you doing you're saying yes to honoring your parents no means yes you follow me now the declaration to feel good about to be positive about to thank God about to pray about it's not just I run around and I say no no no no no no no no like a little kid it is a conscious deck conscious declaration I will say no to that temptation no to that legitimate thing I say no because I say yes to something positive something biblical something spiritual and so when my friends say to me you know what we have a Spanish singer coming to town he's really really good his name is funky is he seeing English don't answer me funky in Espanol funky's coming to town and he's gonna be over at the church with a concert funky and you're invited and all your friends at school are going they're all professing Christians and they want you to hear funky and because of the ministry you heard this morning based on the Word of God say I will I'm in the assembly where Christ is Lord and all of his word is practiced I could not possibly go there and then come here that doesn't that doesn't go and so when I say no to the funky concert I'm sending a message to my Lord I want to say yes to your testimony may God help us to be like Joseph Joseph was a man that God prospered because he learned at a young age what I long and pray that you'll learn tonight and I know many of you are very good at it already that you'll just learn to be able to leave the Stark Road Conference and at the right times for the right reasons make that declaration two-letter word and the old slogan I am praying and preaching tonight so you'll learn to just say no