Saying "No" to Sin, Part 1

Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Genesis chapter 39. Genesis chapter 39. The life of Joseph.

What it means to say no to sin. What it means to say no to sin. Joseph is a man that is unlike most of us.

Meaning that Joseph, when he faced difficult situations, when he faced hardship in life, he really relied upon the truth of God. He relied upon his God. For the most part, we don't do that.

Unfortunately, and my prayer is that as we study his life in Genesis 39, we will learn what he learned. We will do what he did and thus be able to say no to sin. And notice it's not saying no to temptation, but it's saying no to sin.

Why is that? Because we're all tempted. Every man is tempted. In fact, the Bible says in Hebrews 4 that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was tempted, yet without sin.

So temptation is common demand, but we can say no to sin. We need to know how Joseph said no to sin. How he was able to stand strong.

And we're not just talking about sensual sin either, and although that's the context of Genesis 39. There is materialistic temptation as well, right? It's the lust for more things. It leads us to covet what our neighbor has.

Wanting to have a bigger house, a better car, or nicer clothes, or more money, or more of this, or more of that. And we can become very materialistic in our approach to life, and that becomes a major temptation for us. And we got to say no to sin there.

I really thought that we'd be able to finish this sermon today, but we're not going to be able to. Realizing that every day we have to say no to sin. Every moment of every day, we are somehow saying yes to God and no to sin.

Will you fall into sin? Yes, you will. But we want the habit pattern of your life to be saying yes to God more than you say yes to sin. Wanting to follow God more and more, and sin less and less.

That's our objective. And we'll see that in the life of Joseph in Genesis chapter 39. Let's read it, and then we'll examine it together.

Verse number one, now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguards, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. And the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him, and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

So Joseph found favor in his sight, and became his personal servant. And he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned, he put in his charge. And it came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph.

Thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge, and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph. And she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold, with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.

There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God? And it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day that he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.

She caught him by his garment saying, Lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us.

He came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. And it came about when he heard that I raised my voice and screamed that he left his garment beside me and fled, and went outside. So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.

Then she spoke to him with these words, The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came in to me to make sport of me. And it happened as I raised my voice and screamed that he left his garment beside me and fled outside. Now it came about when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him saying, This is what your slave did to me, that his anger burned.

So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the jail. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

And the chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail, so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. Saying no to sin.

Two things I want you to see. Number one, Joseph's situation and then Joseph's solicitation. Number one is situation.

The three things you need to see. Number one is the background. The background.

You'll notice that in verse one, it says that the Israelites sold Joseph to Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. You'll recognize that in Genesis chapter 37, that Joseph had gone after his brothers. And when they saw him coming, they weren't very pleased.

So they took him, ripped off his garment, and threw him into a pit. And while he was there, they decided they were going to kill him. But Judah had another idea.

Judah's idea was to sell him, to make money off of their brother. And so they would sell Joseph to the Israelites. Now there are a couple of things you need to realize that are not in the text.

One is we don't know how long he was with the Israelites. It doesn't tell us. It could be a week, a month, a year, two years.

We do not know. That's important. The text also doesn't tell us about if there were any traumatic events that took place or emotions that Joseph was going through.

Now he's a slave in Potiphar's home. Now that's a good thing. I mean, he could have been a slave for some low life in Egypt, but instead it was the captain of the bodyguard.

So his food would be better than other slaves' food. His accommodations would probably be better than any other slaves' accommodations. And so you see Joseph.

And what you need to understand is that there are 13 years, by the time he is sold to the Israelites, to the time he becomes second in command in Pharaoh's court. He's 30 when that takes place. He is 17 when he's sold to the Israelites.

That's important to note because in the 13-year span of nothing but turmoil for Joseph. You have to understand the background. You have to understand the context of Genesis 39.

Because you see, when we move to the second point is that there's a blessing. Joseph has a blessing. But I want you to see in the first six verses the blessings in Joseph's life.

Because for all practical purposes, when we are going through a difficult situation, when we are going through heartache, what happens? We don't even think about God. All we can think about is ourselves. But in this, through the pen of Moses, through the inspiration of God himself, we are able to see what was taking place in Joseph's life.

And Joseph had perspective. And Joseph could see what was happening in his life. You and me, we too need to see that no matter what happens in our lives, God is constantly at work.

The very first thing you see in verse number two is what? And the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. That's a blessing.

That's a great blessing. Why? We've been emphasizing the fact that throughout the book of Genesis, one of the key doctrines is the doctrine of God's sovereignty. And to understand that God rules overall.

And the way you better understand God's sovereignty is to understand the on the presence of God. That God is everywhere. You see, what you need to understand is that we think that when bad things happen, God is nowhere around.

That's not true. If you're a child of God, God is with you. Like he was with Joseph.

God was with Joseph amidst his enslavement. I don't know what you're going through today, but I can guarantee you this. If you're a child of God, God is with you.

The second thing you see in terms of a blessing is that he had complete acceptance. Complete acceptance. It says, and the Lord was with Joseph, verse two, so he became a successful man.

You see, your success is directly related not to your education, not to your experience, not to your family background, but to the presence of God in your life. Joseph was a successful man, not because of Joseph, but because of God. And because he was a man who learned to trust his God, the Bible says he became a successful man.

How successful was he? Well, read on. And the Bible tells you. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian, verse three.

Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. And then it says, verse four, so Joseph found favor in his sight. And became his personal servant, verse number four, and he made him overseer over his house.

And all that he owned, he put in his charge. Now he's got authority. Not only is he achieving success in the eyes of the world, but this man has now authority in the place that he is a slave.

You see, God is blessing his life. And the point being is that when we are in a trial, when we are in a difficulty, that people on the outside need to be able to see our God in our lives as we respond to the situation. And Potiphar saw that in Joseph's life.

That's an amazing testimony for God. That's what it means to be salt and light in the world. And that's where all of us need to be, right? And then the Bible says that he was handsome in form and appearance.

That's also important to understand, right? Joseph was a man with probably a sculpted physique and he was a man who was well pleasing to the eyes. He was, you know, not hard on the eyes by no means. That's as Potiphar's wife would attest to that fact, but he was a good looking guy.

And so all this is the situation in Joseph's life. You see his background, the blessings. But thirdly, beware.

Beware. Because when things are really moving well and things are escalating and God is blessing your life and you're becoming more and more successful, guess what? Beware. Beware of the temptations.

Beware. God will provide the route of escape. But don't become so arrogant and so proud that that you are no longer able to be tempted or that you are unable to fall into sin.

That is so crucial. You got to be aware of that. And you know what? For the most part, we're not.

I think Joseph was, but we're not. You see, the Bible says that we're not to be ignorant about certain things. Joseph was not unaware.

He was aware. And we're going to tell you about how he became aware and how he knew how to deal with that temptation so he could say no to sin. But the point being is that we cannot afford to be ignorant about Satan's devices.

And so we need to take note of Joseph. His background was bad, but the blessings that came his way were incredible. God was using him in a marvelous way.

And it was at that time when Joseph was on the upswing, his family had forsaken him, the world had accepted him, they had seen the working of his God in his life, everything he touched was successful, he had complete authority over the household, that the temptation came his way. And Joseph was able to say no to sin. How do we handle the temptation that comes our way so we can say no to sin? Yes to God.

What needs to take place in our life? I want to give you some principles this week and next time together that you might understand that for your life. Number one is this, God's presence is reliable. That's point number one.

The Lord was with Joseph. And the Lord wasn't with Joseph just to observe what Joseph was doing. The Lord was with Joseph to assist him and to help him through his situation.

Just like the Lord is with you in your situations. That's why the psalmist says in those familiar verses in Psalm 139, Where can I go from thy spirit? Or where can I flee from thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there thy hand will lead me, and thy right hand will lay hold of me. If I say surely, the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to thee. And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to thee. God is everywhere and we need to understand that his presence is reliable. Every time you worry, listen very carefully, every time you worry, you deny the presence of God in your life.

Did you know that? We need to stop worrying about things we have no control over. None. Why? Because the Lord is at hand.

God's presence is reliable. Either God is God and in charge of everything or God is not and in charge of nothing. And Joseph understood how reliable his God was.

Even though he was sold in his favor. God says the reason you are to be content with what you have is because of me. And if you are discontent, that means you value those situations, those possessions more than you value me.

Is that not true? Sure, it is. The cause of discontentment in our lives is because we don't value the presence of God in our lives. We value the presence of whatever it is we value, whether it's a home or a physical condition or more money or whatever the case may be.

And God says, wait a minute, be free from the love of money. Be content with what you have. Why? Because God said he'll never leave you nor forsake you.

Jesus is all you need. But Jesus is never all you need until Jesus is all you got. The problem is we got everything else.

And so we understand now the basis of contentment, the basis of not being anxious and worried. It's about the presence of God in your life. It's reliable.

So that means we are to understand the Spirit of God that resides within our lives, right? God gave us another comforter, himself, the Spirit of God in the form of the Spirit, in our lives. And that's, that comforter, that Spirit of God is with us all the time. And so the Bible says in Galatians 5, 16, we are to walk in the Spirit so that you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.

So in order not to succumb to sexual, sensual temptation, we are to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5, 17 says that the Spirit and the flesh are in opposition against one another. There's a battle going on.

And you face the battle every day, don't you? Sure you do. I do, you do. We all face that, that battle of, of what the Spirit says that we are to do and the flesh saying, no, you got to be doing this way.

And we, we had that battle inside of us to say yes to God and no to sin or yes to sin and no to God. And that battle rages on every single day, every decision that we make, every conversation we have, every temptation that comes our way, we got a decision to make. And the flesh wars against the Spirit.

So the Bible says, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now the flesh is that element of our lives that is easily attacked by temptation and is susceptible to sin. Satan knows that is in your life and in my life.

And so we are to walk in the Spirit. So, so what does that mean? The Bible says there is to be a daily progress, a daily step by step of walking in the Spirit of God so that we don't succumb to the desires of the flesh. How do we do that? Turn with me in your Bible to Romans chapter 13.

Romans chapter 13. This is all under God's presence is reliable. Can't walk in the Spirit of God.

Spirit's not there, but it's there. Paul says this Romans 13 verse number 12. The night is almost gone and the day is at hand.

Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. Now listen carefully.

When you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. When you put on the Lord Jesus Christ, what does the text say? Text says you will not make provision for the lusts of the flesh. Meaning that to walk in the Spirit is the same as putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because the results are the same. The results are you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You will not give in to your sexual temptation.

You will not give in to the sensualities of life. You will say no to sin if you walk in the Spirit or if you put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So what does it mean then to put on the Lord Jesus Christ? It means this, that we are to be saturated with the presence of God himself.

It means that we are to be dominated in our thought life by the Lord Jesus Christ. You see God's presence is reliable. So much so that he says this is what you want.

I want you to do. I want you to walk in step with me every day. I want you to put me on every day, every moment of every day.

I want you to live as if I'm right beside you. I want you to live hand in hand side by side with me so that when you walk into that room you and I are together and you recognize my presence and the reliability of my presence in your life to take you through that difficult time. So as we saturate ourselves with the Word of God, the Spirit of God points us to Christ so we know how to put on Christ and live in the light of his presence.

That's what we are supposed to be doing every single day because God's presence is reliable. Now let's take for a moment Joseph. Let's say Joseph said yes to sin.

What would it reveal about Joseph? It would reveal about him the same thing it reveals about you and me when we say yes to sin. Let me tell you what that is. Number one, number one, a lack of contentment.

A lack of contentment, right? That's that's important for us to grasp. Why? It's important for us to grasp because the Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. The Bible also says that a man is to rejoice with the wife of his youth.

So if Joseph says yes to sexual temptation, it reveals his lack of personal contentment. That is in his situation he is discontent. That is he is not seeing the presence of God there.

When we give in to sexual temptation, we are saying we are discontent with our wife, discontent with our family, discontent with our situation, that if I give in to sexual sin and say yes to it, it will enhance my being, it will enhance my situation. It'll make me feel better about myself and then I will be content. But that's not true.

And we'll talk more about that in days ahead. But it would reveal a lack of personal contentment. Number two, if you if you say yes to sin and no to God, it reveals a lack of moral character.

A lack of moral character. Over in Proverbs chapter three, it says this in verse number seven, If you fear the Lord, you turn away from evil. If you don't fear the Lord, you don't turn away from evil.

You engage in evil and it reveals a lack of moral character. So when you say yes to sin and no to God, you reveal a lack of personal contentment and you reveal a lack of moral character. Number three, you reveal a lack of biblical commitment.

Of biblical commitment. Because all sin is transgression. All sin says, God, I'm going to step over the line.

No matter how deep you draw it, no matter where you put it, I'm going to step over it because I'm in charge of my life and you are not. Fourth, we lack relational concern for others. You don't care about their spirituality.

You don't care about where they're going, what they're doing. All you care is about you. Not them.

So you demonstrate a lack of relational concern and care and compassion toward those you come in contact with. And then fifthly, if you say yes to sin and no to God, you reveal a lack of spiritual confidence. For same chapter, Romans chapter 14 verse number 23, it says this, whatever is not from faith is sin.

When you say yes, yes to sin and no to God, what you are saying is that you lack in your own personal life spiritual confidence. Because you are not relying upon God to do his work in and through you. And God is saying to you, I want to do that.

In fact, I want to do it so much. I've given you my spirit to dwell your life. So as the psalmist said, no matter where you go, I'm there.

You can't hide from me. I'm with you everywhere. My presence is so reliable.

I'm always there. I'm there to see you through that temptation. I'm going to provide a route for you to escape.

Every time you're tempted, God says, I'm going to show you the route, the route to escape. And if you don't take that route, you are saying yes to sin and you are saying no to God. And if you do that, you reveal a lack of personal contentment, moral character, biblical commitment, spiritual confidence, relational care and compassion for others.

But if you say yes to God and you say no to sin, what happens? You got Joseph. And what happened? You say, well, he said no to sin and yes to God. And look what it got him.

It got him imprisoned. Well, a lot of good that does. Really? Let me tell you something.

That's why the Bible says while he was in prison and the Lord was with Joseph. Because every time you say yes to God and no to sin, it is a painful choice. Temporarily.

But ultimately will be the pleasurable choice. If you say yes to sin and no to God, it will bring you pleasure temporarily. But it will bring you pain ultimately.

And that's where point number two comes in. God's presence is reliable, but sin's penalty is inescapable. Inescapable.

And God doesn't want you to face that penalty. God wants you with him to face the joy of saying no to sin. It begins with understanding that God's presence is reliable.

As you leave today, you leave with that truth. And may God give you the grace and mercy to follow through in obedience to your Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Let's pray.