Let's open our Bible to Genesis
chapter 39. We're looking at verse six through
the remainder of the chapter. We saw that Joseph The beloved
son of his father, that distinguished son that was exalted above all
his brethren, was sold into a slave and brought down to Egypt, that
wicked, vile, corrupt place. When you think about that thought, the spotless son of God, came to this world. Sin. We really don't know what sin
is. We just don't. Because we're nothing but sin.
But he did. And to be with those people,
to come and live for a reason, for a purpose, to save his people. Everything that he did, he was
a success. He never, ever failed. Not even the possibility of ever
failing. Everything that was committed
into his hands, he performed it perfectly as the willing,
loving servant. Servant. In verse six, Potiphar left all
that he had in Joseph's hands, and he knew not all that he had,
save the bread which he did eat. Joseph here, being a type also,
was a goodly person and well-favored. In being a picture of Christ
with his power, all the government of this house was laid upon his
shoulders. He oversaw this house, all the
affairs of this house he ruled. He made all the decisions. Everybody
in this house looked to him and he was a goodly person. We know
that the scripture says there was nothing about him outwardly
that was appealing to the flesh. But John said, we beheld his
glory. We beheld his glory. The Song of Solomon says he is
altogether lovely. His mouth is most sweet. He is
the fairest among ten thousands. To our soul, there is none like
him. None, none can even compare to him, none. But then we see in this house,
where Joseph was the overseer, where Joseph was the servant,
where everything was committed into his hands, there was this
woman. It says in verse seven, and it
came to pass after these things. After what things? Now you think
about this. You imagine this woman, we're
gonna deal with her a lot. She's been queen in this house
for a long time. She's been married to Potter
for a long time before Joseph ever comes. Now Joseph's in the
house. And now he's ruler over the house.
Can you imagine what that does for her? Can you imagine the
things that are going on in her mind? She's not used to having
not having her way. And it says, it came to pass
after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph,
and she said to Joseph, lie with me. In this woman, we have a
picture of lost, religious, self-righteous men, and that describes us all
by nature. We come into this world, when
we are born, we are born self-righteous, we are born religious. You know
I teach a man to play religion, he's born religious. That's what
we see in this woman. Religious by nature. But you
think about this. Even when our Lord walked this
earth, there was something about him that got the attention of
the religious world. If not, why was there so many
people that would say, Lord, Lord? They claim to identify,
there was something about him that caught their attention.
There was something about Joseph that caught her eye. She cast
her eyes upon him. We're gonna say it was for an
unlawful reason, but she wanted him. She desired him. That's why so many call him Lord.
Lord, it is appealing to the flesh, the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. What is this saying
here? When Potiphar cast her eyes upon
Joseph and she said, lie with me. You know what she's wanting?
She's wanting Joseph. that she's wanting him, she wants
him on her terms. In religion, in this world, they
would desire him, but it's on their terms. She had the rule and the run
of this house. She's part of her wife. And she
thinks that all ought to obey her. I don't think this was an
ask. I don't think she asked him to
lie. I think she commanded him. That's all she ever did. She
said, lie with me, come to my bed. This is how she wanted Joseph. And I tell you, when our Lord
walked this earth, they would have received him if they could
have had him on their terms. And he will never bow to your
terms. In our lust, we want to rule
over God and we want to command him. Listen, let me tell you
something, we're not God. But apart from grace, we think
we're God. We think we are. You know, you
think in Abraham's house, everything was okay when Ishmael was the
only child in that house. And he was probably 13 or 14
before Isaac was born. And there was nothing. Everything
was fine in the house till one day, till Isaac was born. And
when Isaac was born in the house, everything changed. Everything's
changed. Why? Because Ishmael thought
it was his. Potiphar's wife thinks it's all
his. Don't you know how long I've been here? I tell everybody
what to do. And you know what? You know what?
She looked at him, just another servant. Let me tell you something. He's not just another servant.
He's the son of God. But you know, that's all they
thought. Oh, he's just, he's just another, another man. She said, lie with me. But this
look in verse eight, but he refused. And he said unto his master's
wife, now watch this, and you think about this, as he's speaking
to this woman, he's telling her that everything in this house
is under his control. He's telling her this. If she's
ignorant to it, she's gonna find out now. Behold, my master wanteth
not what is with me in the house. He hath committed all that he
hath into my hands. She's not ignorant anymore. You just think you're boss. You just think you're boss. Your
husband has committed everything into my hands, everything. Verse nine, there is none greater
in this house than I. Ain't that pretty plain? There
is none greater. He's equal with Potiphar. There
is none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything
from me. The only thing he's kept back
from me is you. And because, and the reason for
that is because you're his wife. How then can I do this wickedness
and sin against my God. The law forbid this woman from
having Joseph. By nature, we are married to
the law. We are under that law and we
cannot have Christ until that first husband is dead. We want our works and we want
his works. This is our terms and this was
her terms. I want Potiphar, but I want you too, and it can't
be. We will have grace as long as we can have it on our terms.
Turn with me to Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter seven. Chapter, verse one. Know ye not,
brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the
law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth. For the
woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth. But the husband be dead, she
is loosed from the law of her husband. So if then while her
husband liveth, she be married to another, she shall be called
an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is freed from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, you also
are become dead to the law. by the body of Christ, that you
should be married to another, even to him that is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now
we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, not in oldness
of the law. The law has to be satisfied.
It has to be kept. It has to be kept perfectly.
The law has to be taken care of. We want our works and our
righteousness, and we want his too, and it cannot be. When under the law, a man thinks
that he can keep God's law, that he can earn God's favor, and
you can forget it. There's only one who kept the
law, and that's the one that's over the whole house. It's committed
into his And he refused. He refused. He said, my master hath committed
all into my hands. There's none greater than I in
the house. He was equal with Potiphar, and Christ is equal
with God. He's God. He said, he's not kept anything
back from me but you, and you're his wife. Joseph saying there's
a law between me and you and that law has to be satisfied. He said this cannot be because
he was under the law of his master. Christ had to be made flesh and
he had to obey the law and he had to be faithful to God's law
perfectly. Do you see the illustration here?
You remember Adam in the garden? What did God tell Adam? Here's
what he said, Genesis 2, verse 16. And the Lord commanded the
man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may eat freely,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat thereof. Adam, you've got dominion over
everything, but that tree. And the day you partake of that
tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die. And
wherefore, as by one man's disobedience, many were made sin, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. What Adam did,
he disobeyed God's law. And here the second Adam, the
Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilled that law and satisfied him perfectly. in my place. I'm not under the
law. I'm dead to the law. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone. It's dead. If we
ever, God would enable us to believe that, that would set
us free. We're not trying to keep the law. It's satisfied. It's satisfied. That's God's
terms. The law has to be satisfied.
You're not skirting around the law. The law has to be kept perfectly. In thought, in action, and in
deed, must be kept. And Joseph is a type of Christ,
he kept it perfectly. But she ain't gonna give up. It says in verse 10, and it came
to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day that he hearken not
unto her to lie with her or even to be with her. You see this picture. She didn't
just entice him, wink at him. One day she did this day after
day after day after day after day. Every day our Lord walked this
earth, he was tempted. He was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin. Like I said, we don't know anything
about sin and we don't really know anything about temptation
that he does. He was tempted day after day. And he was tempted the most By
religion. By religion. It says in John
6, 14, now listen. Then those men, when they had
seen the miracles that he did, said, this is of a truth, that
prophet that should come into the world. They saw something
about him. They said, this is the prophet
that should come? When Jesus therefore perceived that they
would come and take him by force to make him a king, they gonna
do what? They think that they can come
and take him by force and make him a king? You think that was
a temptation? Surely it was. Surely it was. And he departed again into a
mountain alone. Satan said, all this will I give
you. I can see her saying, I can see
her saying, Joseph, all this will I give you if you will just
bow down to me. And he refused. And this went
day after day after day after day after day. She would not
stop. You know what? She thought she
would overcome his will. No, you're not. No, you won't. She said, why don't you just
bow to my terms? We can make you a king. We want
you to be our king. Why did they want him to be their
king? It was only for fleshly motives. That's all it was for. They wanted him to be their Barabbas
that would deliver him out from Roman oppression. That's what
they wanted. That's the only reason they wanted him as a king.
They said, look what he's doing. Maybe he can perform a miracle
for us. He's not going to bow to those terms, and he didn't. They could only have the religion,
all their works, and have him too. Let us go on playing our
religion, glorifying ourselves. Let us go on fulfilling our ungodly
lust. You just bow to us, that's what
she's saying. On, after on and on. You think this woman was a powerful
woman in this house? You think she had influence?
You think everybody for years had looked up to her? Yeah, they
were scared to death of her. That's what it was. You know,
that's what religion uses, is fear. This week, Kylie Ironic
and Sandy had a few days, so we drove down to Jonestown, I
mean, Jamestown. You know, the first settlement
that survived. And they were saying, you know,
when they came over that they were still, they still had one of
the churches there inside that fort where they would worship.
And they were still under the Church of England, King Henry. And here's what they made those
people do. Every day of the week, twice a day, three hours each
time, that's six hours a day. And those pews didn't have cushions
on them. They had to go to that church
and worship. And on Sunday, they went three
times a day, three hours each time. That's nine hours. Now,
if you missed two or three days, I guess that second time they'd
warn you, but about the third or fourth time you didn't miss,
they came and hung you. That's power, and that's threatenings,
and that's fear. That's how religion works. I
could see her use, say, Joseph, don't you know who I am? You
better bow to me or you'll suffer the consequences. He didn't care. She has the power, and listen,
religion has the power to influence men's minds. It's like you said
this morning, we believe what we believed for years because
that's how we were raised. That's how mama was raised, that's
how daddy was raised, and grandma and grandpa, and that's how we
played religion. I can see her sitting there just
speaking so sweet to him, saying, Joseph, just bow to me. Think
about all the pressure to give in to those temptations day by
day. He knew, listen, our Lord knew
the power of the religious world. He knew the power of the civil
world, but he also knew The authority
of God's law. He said, I cannot do this and
sin against my God. And he wouldn't do it. He would
not. Thank God he didn't. He would
not give in to those temptations. He would not. He did not. He was under the law of his master
and the master had committed everything into his hands. And
you think with me for a minute, what would have happened if Joseph
had a yielded? What would have happened if our
Lord had given? Thank God he didn't. We are no
match. We would have done exactly...
You see, what Adam did with a perfect nature, what would we do in a
sinful nature? Joseph knew a picture of Christ.
He knew that the whole house was committed unto his trust.
He fulfilled all the law of God. He lived in perfect obedience
to that law. He satisfied the law. It was
committed. into his trust. You know, in
the Old Testament, you know where the law was kept. In Moses' hands,
he threw them down because we broke them. You know where that
law was kept? I think exactly where it's kept,
in that ark. The broken law wasn't in that ark. The perfect law
of God was kept in that ark, and that's the only place it's
ever kept. And above that is sprinkled the precious blood
of Christ. It's satisfying. No matter how relentless she
was, he never gave in. Never. Listen, in John chapter two,
verse 23 says, now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover,
in the feast days, many believed in his name when they saw the
miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
to them. because he knew all men, and
he needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what
was in man. He didn't commit himself to them
people. He knew what they wanted. He knew exactly what they wanted. Now you see this picture. She's
gone on day after day after day. He won't give in. Now look in
verse 11. 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. It's
just Joseph and her. And she called him by his garment,
saying, lie with me. And he left his garment in her
hand, and he fled and got him out. And it came to pass when she
saw that he had left his garment, notice how many times it mentions
his garment in her hand, and he was fled forth, that she called
unto the men of her house, and she spake unto them, saying,
See he, my master, my husband, 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." Now we're going to see
she's tried persuasion. Now she's going to do by force.
She grabs him. Does she actually think that
she can force him? She's that foolish, doesn't she? She grabs him. Said, don't, I
can see her. Don't you know who I am? I'm
gonna make you bow to me. No, I'm not. And he didn't. And all, and it's Joseph ran. All she grabs, all she has is
his garment. Who do you think gave him that
garment? I'm just speculating. I believe Potiphar gave it to
him. I believe that garment some way distinguished him from all
the other servants. And that's all she got was his
garment. And let me tell you this, when
she couldn't have what she wanted, it made her angry. When men finally hear that Christ
and God will not bow to their terms, that's when you make men
mad. Religion offers a God and a Jesus that they can accept
and do with them as they see fit. And everybody loves him.
It makes nobody mad. Everybody can get along and be
happy. When Joseph wouldn't yield, she
gets mad. Don't tell me you're not bowing
to my will. She caught him by his garment.
What I want you to see, she calls in the servants. What's she gonna
tell the servants? She's gonna lie. And she's gonna use that very
garment to lie on him. What did she, what was she saying?
He came in here to rape me. That ain't what happened. She's
trying to rape him. In this world, if they had their
way, would rape God of his glory. You know what is rape? It's when
you force someone. That's what she wanted to do.
She will use his garment to turn the truth into a lie. Is that not what religion is
doing? That's what Joseph's brothers did, very same thing. They took
that coat of many colors. They put the blood on it to deceive
their father. They wanted him to think that
an animal killed him. That ain't what happened. That's
a lie. They sold him into slavery. They
knew what they had done, but they wanted their father to believe
a lie. That's what the world wants men
to do. That's what men are believing tonight. They're believing a
lie. A lie. Every false doctrine, every false
gospel is a lie. They're lying on God and they're
lying on Christ. They said Jesus wants to do something
and he can't unless you let him. What a lie. What a lie. A bold-faced lie. She would not
lie with him, so you know what she did? She lied on him, L-I-E,
same word. Lied. Lied. He came, took upon himself flesh
to fulfill the law of God, and when he would not bow to what
we wanted, we accused him of coming to destroy the law. He
didn't come to destroy the law. You know what they say? He came
to destroy. No, he didn't. He came to fulfill
it. Every jaunt, And that's what
he did. But that ain't what she's saying.
She said, oh, he came to destroy the law. He come to break the
law. He committed, he raped me. No,
he didn't. When he took, you think about
this, when all the sin of all the elect of God was laid upon
him, you know what they said? God smitten him for something
he did. God smote him, all right. But
it was not what he did, it was what we did. And we take that
very garment and accuse him. And we take the garment of his
victory. And when he wasn't bowed to what they wanted, you know
what they said? You remember the lie they said? They said,
we're gonna give you money, and you tell everybody that the disciples
came and stole his body. And most everybody believed it.
That ain't what happened. They knew what happened. God
raised him from the dead. Men in their depravity still
use his garment to accuse him. Listen in Romans chapter 1 verse
19, listen to this. because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them.
Did she know who Joseph was? Oh yeah, he told her. For the
invisible things of him, of God, from the creation of the world,
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power in Godhead, so that all men are without excuse. Because that when they knew God,
that when they what? They knew God. They glorified him not as God.
Neither were thankful that he was God, but they became vain
in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, don't you know she thought, I'm
so wise. This is the scheme I've come up with. It's gonna work. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. and they changed the glory of
the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things."
What do you think those servants think of Joseph? Well, he ain't what I thought
he was. He's the worst one in the house. I can't believe he
would do that. That's what she wanted them to
believe. Wherefore God also gave them up to the uncleanliness,
to the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies
between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie. Now listen, you cannot change
the word of God. It's settled. That word means
they exchange it. They exchange the truth of God
for a lie. And they worship and serve the
creature more than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Isn't that exactly what is going
on in the world today? They've exchanged the truth of
God for a lie. And men have believed it for
so long they don't even question it. She takes this garment and turns the whole house against
Joseph. You know, you think about this
for a moment. When our Lord fed 5,000 men besides women and children
at one time, when he came riding into Jerusalem, they laid palm
trees and palm leaves in front of him, saying, Hosanna, blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Well, where they
at on Friday? Where they at on Friday when
Pilate brings him forth? He's been beaten, don't even
look like a man. Where are all those people at
now? They persuade them to say, don't
ask for Jesus, ask for Barabbas. Somebody's believing a lie. Our Lord said, let another come
in his own name. You accept him, you'll bow to him. She wants
to set him forth in a bad light. But okay, now she's deceived
her servants. But there's one more she's got
to deceive. Who is that? That's her husband. That's part of her. Verse 16,
and she laid up his garment by her until the Lord came home. Can't you see her all day? What
am I going to tell him? How can I convince him that I'm
not the one at fault? You know what? She's going to
do this. She's going to use this garment to accuse him and to
justify herself. Men try to justify themselves
and what they're doing. Like you said, their sincerity.
I can see, we justified ourself in killing the Son of God. We
justified ourself. That's the only way we can live
with ourself. But she laid up that garment,
and you think about it, she laid up that garment all day long. It's like her having the garment,
the gospel, all day long. And she says, I will not have
it. And she laid up the garment by
her until the Lord came home and she spake unto him according
to these words saying, the Hebrew servant which thou has brought
unto us. She's even blaming him. She said,
that Hebrew servant that you brought into us, he came in to
mock me. And it came to pass as I lifted
up my voice and cried that he left his garment with me and
fled out. And it came to pass when his
master heard these words of his wife, But she spake unto him,
saying, After this manner did thou serve it to me, that his
wrath was kindled against Joseph. He believes her lie. He should have been mad at her, but he's mad at Joseph. But verse 20, and Joseph's master
took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's
prisoners were bound. 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 keepers of the prison. And the
keeper of the prison committed all to Joseph's hand, all the
prisoners that went to prison. And whatsoever they did, he was
the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked
not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was
with him. And that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. Joseph is faithful, even unto
death. And being found in fashion of
a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Potiphar's wrath was kindled
against Joseph, and Joseph lived in perfect obedience to his master's
law, never broke a single law. When he would not lie with us
according to our terms, you know what we did? We took him outside
of city. We nailed it to a cross. And you know what they did when
they put him in the prison? Go on, read the next chapter.
There was a baker and a butler that was cast into that prison.
He was numbered with the transgressors. Everybody that was in the prison
is under his hands too. He can show mercy to one and
let another one perish in his sins. He's the doer of it. It's all committed into his hands.
It's all on purpose. He had to die to save his people. You think about this, when he
was falsely accused, he opened not his mouth. You know what we would have done? Hold on now! She's lying! Isn't that right? We think our honor's at stake.
We had no honor. He's innocent. He knows it, and
God the Father knows it. Even Pilate said, I find no fault
in you. He never said a word. He believed
that God was sovereign and God's going to save his people. When he was reviled, he reviled
not again. Now that's a servant. He never opened his mouth. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Isaiah 53, he was oppressed,
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before he shears his
dumb. I can see him, they come and
they get, put his hands behind his back, put his feet in shackles. They said, we're taking you to
prison. And never says a word. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off by the land of the living. Why? For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth, yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He had put him to grief and now
shall make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. Verse 21, you see that there
again? The Lord was with Joseph. He was with him in the father's
house. He was with him in the pit. He was with him when he
was in Potiphar's house and he was with him in the prison. He
was with him. He knew the Lord was going to
save his people and whatever it says, verse 22, whatever they
did, he was the doer of it. When we look at Potiphar's wife
and who we see, we see ourself. Who should have been the one
in the prison? Who's the liar? Who's the deceiver? And he opened not his mouth to
save his people. You think about this. He's not going to always stay
in the prison. I would have loved to been a
fly on the wall in Potiphar's house and seen the look on his
wife's face when they bring Joseph out of prison. And they set him
on the throne. I'd love to been a fly on the
wall, sitting there in the room when the high priest and all
the Sadducees and the Pharisees, when they heard the news, he's
not dead! God raised him up, God set him
on a throne. And he's still sitting on that
throne. Why did he do all this? I tell you why, to save his people
from their sin. And we're still preaching the
gospel. It tells a God of a God that sits on a throne and does
everything on purpose. and he's not going to bow to
your will and to your terms, you must come and bow to him
and submit yourself to him and beg for mercy. May God have mercy on us, amen.