Life’s Most Important Questions
Do You Know Who You Are?
Genesis 39
 
Some of you may be familiar with the work of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.  In many way, Kierkegaard was more liberal than I, but I find much of his writing very thought-provoking and intriguing.  I want to use one of his quotes as I begin tonight.  He said,
 
    “Now, with God’s help, I will become myself.”
 
In many ways, that is a dangerous statement.  With the cry of today being individual rights and freedoms, almost anyone could justify their behavior with the claim of “becoming myself.”  In today’s society, that statement could very well be heard from a homosexual, a liberal or a conservative Southern Baptist. 
 
But for the sake of tonight’s subject, I want to use it the context of the person who is committed to trusting God no matter what and believing that He is in the process of remaking them into the very image of Jesus Christ.  And in that regard, any one of us can say, “With God’s help, I will become myself.”
 
And to that, without God’s help, you will never become who you were meant to be but when you know who you are, you can serve Christ anywhere.
 
We are trying to find the answers to some of life’s most important questions by studying the life of Joseph.  Perhaps life’s hardest question is the one we’ll look at tonight: “Do you know who you are?”
When we last saw Joseph, he is a 17 year-old boy who has been betrayed by his brothers and sold to desert traders who took him to Egypt.  According to chapter 39, verse 1 he is eventually sold to a man named Potiphar who was head of Pharaoh’s security detail.
 
So all of a sudden his life has turned upside down.  Yesterday he was his daddy’s favorite son, wearing designer clothes and expecting to become a great man.  And now, he’s far from home, he’s a slave in Egypt, his brothers are glad to be rid of him and his father thinks he’s dead.
 
So as Genesis 39 opens, his future appears pretty bleak indeed. There is one fact, and only one fact hat should give us any hope that his story will turn out well and it is found in the opening line of
 
verse 2
 
Now I would suggest that one fact makes all the difference in the story.
 
Chapter 39 is the story of Joseph’s battle with sexual temptation.  British playwright Oscar Wilde once remarked, “I can resist anything except temptation.” When we hear them, we chuckle because we all know, in various ways, how true they are.  If we will live successfully (Joseph’s description, verse 2), we desperately need to know the Lord is with us
 
On the other side we have C. S. Lewis who observed that “no man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.”
 
I would say the first quote proves the second. It is precisely because we can’t resist temptation that we learn how bad we really are and how greatly we stand in need of God’s grace.
 
Temptation is not new in any sense. Temptation is the same for us as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan tempts us today in the same way he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. From the very beginning a battle has raged for the souls of men and women, a battle that touches all of us sooner or later.
 
Spo before we get into the particulars of this chapter, let me share with you some general information that will help us understand what’s going on with Joseph. 
 
Let me give you a good, working definition of temptation: “Temptation is the inner urge to do wrong that hits us in the place of our own personal weakness.”
 
Know what I’m talking about?  All of us have some weakness that is easy to exploit.  Personally, I don’t find it hard at all to resist the temptation to go play golf because I could care less about golf.  Temptation always hits us at the place of personal weakness. 
 
That is extremely important because it reminds us that temptation ultimately comes from the inside. The attraction may start from the outside, but the urge to do wrong comes from the inside. That’s hugely important because we all tend to blame something else or someone else when we fall into sin.
But it’s not the devil that made us do it.  It is not  some titillating scene or some irritating person or some questionable relationship or some attractive lover or unresponsive spouse. We can’t blame our parents or our grandparents or our children or our wife or our DNA. Those things are factors in the equation, but the inner urge is all ours. 
 
We can’t lay it off on people or circumstances.  No one makes us sin.  We do that on our own.
 
And remember, we are talking in the context of  born-again believer who is committed to trusting God no matter what and believing He is the process of remaking us into the image fo Jesus Christ. 
 
That means we’ve got some assistance available to us that lost people don’t have.  First Corinthians 10:13 remind us that while we all face temptation, God will always provide a way of escape if we are willing to take it.
 
There is no better example of this truth than the case of Joseph in Genesis 39. So from this familiar story, let me suggest five principles that will help us in our personal struggle with the temptations of life.
 
Principle #1: When Things Are Going Well, Be On Guard!   
 
In your mind’s eye, travel to the royal court of Egypt. A man named Potiphar enters the room. He is the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, a position of great honor because it meant he was personally responsible for the Pharaoh’s safety.
 
At his side is a young man who is obviously not an Egyptian.  And it is this young man that captures the attention of the room.  As he follows Potiphar all eyes follow him. He has it all—good looks, self-confidence, poise, and a playful sense of humor. His name is Joseph.
 
Wherever Potiphar goes, Joseph follows. They look good together, these two. Not father and son exactly. As a matter of fact, Potiphar had purchased Joseph as a slave from the Ishmaelites. So they couldn’t be father and son, but they didn’t seem like master and slave either. There is something else at work—a kind of friendship seems to erase the culture that separates them. Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, likes this young man. For his part, Joseph admires his master.
 
This is how Moses puts the matter in
 
Genesis 39:2-4
 
Now Potiphar was no dummy. He knew that the Lord’s hand was upon this young man he had purchased as a slave. So he puts Joseph in charge of his house.
 
Verse 5
 
Just in case you weren’t counting, that’s five times in four verses that Moses mentions how God blessed Joseph. There are two things we ought to learn from this.
 
First, lost people are not stupid. They are lost in their sins, but even in their spiritual confusion, they can see the hand of God at work in a believer’s life. Sometimes we act like lost people have no perception at all. It’s true that they don’t understand our doctrine. They don’t know what it means to be premillennial, but most of us aren’t too clear on that either. They don’t get the Trinity, but we have trouble with that too. Lost people may not understand the finer points of doctrine, but I will guarantee that this much is true:  Lost people are not stupid
 
Lost people can spot a phony a mile away.  And they can recognize God’s hand at work in a believer’s life.
Potiphar may have followed a pagan religion, but he understood that Joseph was different, and he respected him for it.
 
And here’s the second thing:  God’s blessings and Satan’s temptation are traveling companions. 
 
In fact, our most vulnerable times in life are when things are going well. After all, when we are enjoying God’s blessings, we often become complacent and take those blessings for granted and that’s exactly when Satan wants to strike us.  He hits us when things are going well.  Victory and temptation generally go together.
 
We need to learn from that.  When everything is going your way, when you’ve got the world by the tail on a downhill slide, when you just got a promotion, when your popularity has never been higher, when your business is doing well, when you’ve never felt better, when your dreams start to come true, you better watch out and be careful!   …
 
Today’s victories often lead on to tomorrow’s trials.  When things are going well, be on guard!
Principle #2: When You Are Tempted, Remember Who You Are
 
It is exactly at this point—when Joseph seems to be sitting on top of the world—that a new character enters the story. We do not know her name, only that she is the wife of Potiphar and is connected to him in name only. To use a modern phrase, she is a “cougar.”  She is a older married woman on the prowl for some young stud.
 
Verse 7
 
The Hebrew has a wonderful way of putting it. It literally says that she “lifted up her eyes” at Joseph. The Living Bible says she “made eyes” at him. As he crossed the room she followed him with her eyes, a smile of satisfaction crossing her face.
 
He was a fine looking man, young and strong the way Potiphar had been when they first met, before too many court dinners had spoiled his waistline and before too many late night meetings with Pharaoh had placed permanent bags under his eyes. Yes, this Joseph looked like an excellent prospect for a casual affair, a brief meeting between “a younger man and an older woman.”
 
She must have been persistent because when Joseph turned her down (verses 8-9) she came back again and again. Perhaps she thought he didn’t mean it when he said no. Perhaps she thought she could wear down his resistance. Perhaps she thought he wanted to but was afraid to say yes. Back she came, slinking into his life, offering him forbidden fruit, ripe and juicy, his for the taking. Still he said no.
And at this point, it’s worth pausing to ask why a red-blooded young man would say no to an available woman.
 
Verses 8 and 9 suggest two answers:
 
Verses 8-9a
 
2.  He was loyal to his God.
 
Verse 9b
 
Joseph did the right thing because he knew that adultery was wrong. He called it “a great wickedness” and a “sin against God.” These days we like to rename sin to make it sound less sinful. It’s no longer homosexual or sodomy, it’s an alternate lifestyle and same-sex marriage. 
 
Christians are now under great pressure to compromise our convictions.  Already in three states, Christians are being sued for refusing to perform or accommodate the homosexual agenda.  They will be required to attend sensitivity training and pay fines and even go to jail.  In Houston, the sermons of pastors have been subpoenaed, accused of violating anti-discrimination ordinances by preaching the Bible.
 
We know longer need to worry if that will ever happen.  It’s here.  The barbarians are at the gate.  In fact, they have scaled the wall and are streaming in on every hand.
 
How shall we respond? I suggest that we remember four simple words:
 
The Supreme Court isn’t.
 
There is a court higher than the court that sits in Washington. That court is never divided, never uncertain, and never wrong.
 
We show proper respect to earthly courts even when we disagree, but we reaffirm our conviction that there is a Judge who cannot be swayed by public opinion and whose rulings will never be overturned.
 
We will carry on with God-given courage, not changing our convictions about right and wrong. We say with the psalmist, “Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).
 
I’ll tell you what we need in times like these.  We need a little of the spirit of Joseph to unashamedly stand and do what he did.  He called Bible things by Bible names.  He called it “wickedness” and a “sin against God.”
 
Instead of a hard word like “adultery,” we use words like “affair,” “tryst,” “fling,” “one-night stand,” and we even call it “making love.” Call it what you like. Adultery is still sin because God says so. Renaming sin doesn’t change its character any more than calling rat poison food turns it into bread.
 
Despite his flat refusal, she continued to seduce him day after day, and finally she made her move.  :
 
Verses 10-12a
 
So what do you do now?  She’s grabbing him and pulling him down with her.  It’s the moment of truth.
 
Joseph knew he belonged to God. When a man knows that he belongs to God, it makes the decisions of life easier. If you belong to God, you can’t sleep with your boss’s wife. It’s just that simple. It doesn’t matter that she’s lonely or attractive or available or anything else. You just can’t do it. Period. End of story. No discussion needed.  If you belong to God, you can’t sleep with another man’s wife. 
 
He didn’t mess around.  He didn’t flirt with trouble.
He didn’t say, “How far can I go?” He just said no!
 
And he didn’t apologize for saying no, and he didn’t worry about hurting her feelings.  Which leads to the third principle:
 
Principle #3: When You Are Tempted, Act Fast
 
Verse 12b
 
There are all kinds of excuses Joseph might have given for sleeping with Potiphar’s wife:
 
    1)     We’re all alone (true).
    2)     She begged me to do it (also true).
    3)     No one else will know (probably true).
    4)     She’s in a bad marriage (very possible).
    5)     I’m single and I have needs too (definitely true).
    6)     I deserve this (not true).
    7)     Everyone fools around (not true, but it sounds good).
    8)     God will understand (definitely not true, but a popular excuse).
Instead, notice how Joseph responds.  When she said, “Why don’t you stay for a while?” he said, “I’d love to, but I’ve got to run.” And that’s exactly what he did. Out the door, across the lawn, over the hedge, dodging camels as he went. He left her holding his coat while he ran the other way.
 
The King James Version uses a quaint expression to describe how Joseph responded to the final seduction: “He left the garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out” (v. 12). Why does it say, “He got him out”? Because no one else could get him out so he got himself out of trouble.
 
There’s one other point that is begging to be made and that is you’ve got to make up your mind in advance what you’re going to do. It’s too late to pray about it when Potiphar’s wife is playing kissy-face with you.  There’s a time to talk and a time to stop talking. There’s a time to stay and a time to go. There’s a time to walk and a time to run away.
 
Or as that great theologian Kenny Rogers sang,
 
    You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em,
    Know when to fold ‘em,
    Know when to walk away
    And know when to run.
 
When temptation comes, you’ve got to move fast.
God isn’t obligated to give you a second chance to get out clean. He promised to make a “way out” but he isn’t obligated to give you three choices in case you don’t like the first two.
 
Here’s
 
Principle #4: When You Do Right, Don’t Expect A Reward
 
As you can imagine, Potiphar’s wife wasn’t too happy about all this. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. While Joseph is running half-dressed across the countryside, she’s left with nothing but a handful of dirty laundry. This is not a good situation. Two things happen in short order:
 
1) She makes a false accusation (13-18). In essence, she accuses Joseph of attempted rape. When she calls him “this Hebrew” (15), there is even a touch of racism in her words. Her words sound plausible because she’s got Joseph’s coat in her hand.
 
2) Joseph is unjustly imprisoned (19-20). The Bible says that when Potiphar heard this story, his anger burned. So he had Joseph thrown into jail with the common criminals.
 
So how could such a thing happen? It happened because the world cannot understand a believer with conviction. That’s why Joseph was locked up. He knew who he was and he acted on his convictions. His reward was a quick trip to jail.
 
The good news is, you can stand up to temptation. The bad news is, you may end up losing your popularity in the process. After all, the world crucified Jesus. Why should you and I expect to get off any easier?
 
One final priniciple:
 
Principle # 5: When You Do Right, God Will Honor You
 
Before we leave this story, we need to see how it ends. It’s not the way we might have expected.
 
Verses 21-23
 
Now at this particular moment, Joseph is chained in a filthy pit. Psalm 105:18 tells us they put his feet in iron fetters.  And because of his faithfulness to God, he lost his job, he lost his freedom, and he lost his reputation. He appears to be a ruined man.
 
This story proves that God honors those who dare to say no. It may not appear that way at first. Things may not work out exactly like we think they will. But when we have the courage to say “No” to temptation, God takes care of the details. In the end, we will never be disappointed. Remember, it’s always better to do right the first time.
 
There are some things worse than going to jail for doing right. One of them is living in the prison of a guilty conscience. It is better to do right and sleep well than to toss and turn because you couldn’t say “No.”
 
There is a neat symmetry to this story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. It opens in verse 2 with Joseph enjoying good success because “the Lord was with him.” Although he ends up in jail, even there he prospers because as verse 21 says, “the Lord was with him.”
 
In between he proves himself worthy of greatness because he knew how to say no.
So how did it happen?  The answer is not hard to find. Joseph knew who he was. That was a settled issue even though he was a teenager.
 
He knew he belonged to God and that made his decision easy.
 
So let me leave you with Four Great Don’ts to remember when you are tempted to sin:
 
    1) Don’t forget who you are.
    2) Don’t be surprised when temptation knocks at your door.
    3) Don’t be deceived by persuasive voices.
    4) Don’t be confused by the immediate results.
 
If we are going to be victorious over temptation, we must do what Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce him: Just Say No.  When you are tempted to do wrong this week, Just Say No.
 
When someone says, “Come sleep with me,” take a deep breath, leave your coat behind, run the other way, and Just Say No.  When Satan whispers in your ear, “Go on. Everyone else is doing it.” Remember who you are and Just Say No.
 
When you feel like giving someone a piece of your mind, remember that you don’t have a piece to spare, so grin and bear it and Just Say No.
 
When your mind plays tricks on you and says, “Go ahead. No one will see you,” remember that God sees everything you do, and then Just Say No.
 
 
When it’s 5:30 p.m. and the kids are cranky and your husband isn’t home yet, and supper isn’t ready and the house is filled with dirty socks and dirty diapers, before you lose your cool, take a deep breath, look to heaven, count your blessings instead of your problems, and Just Say No.
 
When you find yourself down and out, up against the wall and under the pile, when nothing is going right and you are hopelessly entangled and you see no way out of the mess you are in, before you say something you shouldn’t say or do something you shouldn’t do, before you blow your top or give up the ghost, remember that God still loves you and then Just Say No.
 
In the end, it comes down to a simple question:
 
“Christian, do you know who you are?”
 
Tim Tebow once said, “The world looks at me as a football player who’s a Christian, but I look at the world and say, ’I’m a Christian who happens to play football.’”
 
Soren Kierkegaard said it this way: “And now, with God’s help, I will become myself.”
 
Here is my whole sermon in one sentence: If you know you are, you can serve Christ anywhere.
 
Christian, do you know who you are?
 
Let’s pray.