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Blessings and Trials: How God Makes Us Stronger Part 1: Part 2: Introduction: A.
The Importance of These Chapters 1. The importance of this chapter and the next chapter cannot be overstated. 2. These experiences of Joseph show how God prepares a believer to be the person he should be and to do the work he has been called to do. 3. God does the preparing by doing four things. a) God takes the blessings and trials of everyday life to purge the sin from the believer’s life. (1) In Joseph’s case, the sin was pride, arrogance, haughtiness, and cockiness. b) God takes the blessings and trials of everyday life to teach the believer whatever he needs to learn to become the worker and servant and leader God wants him to be. (1) God has called the believer to do a particular work, to complete a specific task while on earth. (2) (3) The believer must be taught what is needed to fulfill his God-given purpose and work. (4) In Joseph’s case, his call and work was to save c) God takes the blessings and trials of everyday life and strengthens the believer to make better decisions in the future. (1) God wants to entrust us with more and more to do for Him and for others. (2) Every tough experience is to enrich us and to help us to make future decisions. d) God takes the blessings and trials of everyday life and teaches us the greatest of all lessons: (1) He and He alone can take care of everything, both now and eternally. (2) We must, therefore, trust Him. (3) And God works all things out for good to those who love Him, those who truly love Him. (4) God has both the knowledge (omniscience) and the power (omnipotence) to work all things out for good. (5) God wants us to turn to Him, so He takes the trials of life and stirs us to trust Him. (6) He stirs us to call out for His help and deliverance. (7) We will see this in Joseph’s life. 4. This is what this chapter and the next chapter are all about: how God prepares us through the blessings and trials of life. a) God made Joseph stronger through blessings: he learned leadership and hard work (v.1-6). b) God made Joseph stronger through temptation: he learned self-discipline, and control (v.7-12). c) God made Joseph stronger through trials: he learned of humiliation and compassion (v.13-20). d) God made Joseph stronger through God’s presence: he learned to depend more and more upon God (v.21-23). I.
Through
Blessings: he learned leadership and hard work (vv. 1-6) A.
Sharing God’s Blessing 1. When
he was at home in a) God
promised Abraham that his descendants would bring blessing to other nations (12:1–3),
and Joseph fulfilled that promise in b) Like the blessed man described in Psalm 1, everything he did prospered c) 2. Joseph is a good example of a believer who trusted God and made the best of his difficult circumstances. a) Joseph
would rather have been at home, but he made the best of his circumstances in 3. The blessing of the Lord was very evident to the people in Potiphar’s household, and they knew that Joseph was the cause. “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (Genesis 39:5, kjv), just as God had blessed Laban’s house because of Jacob (30:27, 30). a) Potiphar gradually turned more and more responsibility over to Joseph until Joseph was actually managing the entire household, except for the food Potiphar ate. 4. Joseph was well liked by the people in Potiphar’s house and Joseph was a testimony to the true and living God. a) He was an honest and faithful worker, and the people he lived and worked with got the message. b) God took note of Joseph’s character and conduct and made him a blessing. c) God planned to fulfill the dreams He had sent him. B. God’s Method (Matthew 25:21) 1. Faithful service wasn’t only a blessing to the household, it was also a blessing to Joseph himself. 2. Had he stayed home with his pampering father, Joseph might not have developed the kind of character that comes from hard work and obeying orders. 3. God’s method for building us is to give us a job to do and people to obey. 4. He tests us as servants before He promotes us to being rulers. a) 5. Before He allows us to exercise authority, we have to be under authority and learn to obey. 6. We need to do what Joseph did: We need to cast ourselves upon God, to trust God to strengthen and help us through our sufferings and trials. a) Psalm 91:1 - He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. b) 7. We need to get busy at our tasks and work very, very hard. a) This will help keep our minds off our problems, making us far more productive and valuable to both ourselves and society. b) Moreover, hard work always pleases the Lord and stirs Him to bless us. c) II.
Through
Temptation: he learned self-discipline and control (vv. 7-12) A.
Overcoming
Great Temptation 1. Joseph had suffered in a pit because of the hatred of his brothers, but now he would face an even greater danger because of the lust of an evil woman. 2. Joseph wasn’t about to sacrifice either his purity or his integrity just to please his master’s wife. 3. It took a great deal of courage and determination for Joseph to fight this battle day after day, but he succeeded. a) He explained to her why he wouldn’t cooperate: (1) She was another man’s wife, and that man was his master; (2) He was trusted by his master and didn’t want to violate that trust; (3) Even if nobody else found out about it, God would know it and be displeased. 4. There are times when fleeing could be a mark of cowardice, but there are also times when fleeing is evidence of courage and integrity. a) Joseph
was wise enough to follow the same advice Paul gave to Timothy, “Flee the evil
desires of youth” (2 Tim. 5. Self-control is an important factor in building character and preparing us for leadership. a) “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28). b) When there are no walls, anything can get in or come out. B. Potiphar’s Response 1. Since Potiphar was involved in the Egyptian judicial system, we wonder why he didn’t try to put Joseph on trial or even execute him. 2. Of
course, God was in control, working out His wonderful plan for 3. Potiphar knew that Joseph was the reason for the prosperity of his household, and he may have questioned whether his wife was telling the truth. a) But Potiphar had to choose between justice and a happy home; and Joseph was a slave. b) We wonder how Joseph dealt with Potiphar and his wife a few years later when he was the second ruler of the land. C. “This Great Wickedness” - v. 9 1. Notice the striking statement made by Joseph: This sin is a “great wickedness.” a) Joseph called sin just what it is, sin. b) God strongly forbids sex outside of marriage (true marriage, marriage between a man and woman). 2. Man has perverted the truth calling illicit sex: a) an alternate lifestyle b) sexual freedom c) sexual preference d) a normal, legitimate expression of one’s nature 3. But no matter what man calls it, God strongly condemns it as sin! a) It destroys a person’s heart, his self-control and discipline, and eventually the person’s life. b) It destroys trust within families, parents, children, friends, and neighbors. c) This is truly a “great wickedness”. D. All Sin Is
Against God Himself 1. Joseph knew that all sin is against God Himself (Genesis 39:9c). a) Joseph would have been sinning against God if he had given in to Potiphar’s wife. b) There was no way that Joseph was going to damage the relationship he had with God. c) He knew that sin would break and sever the relationship. 2. God is always displeased with and hates sin. a) “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalm 51:4). b) “For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God.” (Deut. 25:16). 3. Sin always breaks our relationship with God. a) “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). b) “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). III.
Through
Trials: he learned of humiliation and compassion (vv. 13-20) A.
Enduring
Injustice 1. Once again, it was the Lord who made the difference. 2. Whether Joseph was a steward in Potiphar’s house or an accused criminal in the prison, “the Lord was with Joseph” and gave him success. 3. Some believers suffer terrible humiliation. Sometimes the fault is theirs; sometimes the fault lies at the feet of others. No matter who is at fault, humiliation is one of the worst sufferings ever experienced. 4. Some suffer the humiliation... a) of separation and divorce b) of job loss and unemployment c) of homelessness and poverty d) of sin and shame e) of failure and lack of success f) of false charges and accusations g) of imprisonment and injury 5. When we are humiliated, we must learn what Joseph was to learn. a) God wants us to know what people feel when they are utterly humiliated so we can be compassionate toward them. b) God also wants us to learn to endure even the most severe humiliations and trials of life. c) IV. Through God’s Presence: he learned to depend
more and more upon God (vv. 21-23) A.
Learning
to Wait 1. It wasn’t long before the prison warden released him and put him in charge of the other prisoners. a) The warden turned everything over to Joseph and watched the work prosper in his hands. b) The prison would be where Joseph would learn to wait on the Lord until it was God’s time to vindicate him and fulfill his dreams. c) Joseph had time to think and pray and to ponder the meaning of the two dreams God had sent him. d) He would learn that God’s delays are not God’s denials. e) It’s
through faith and patience that we inherit the promises (Hebrews 2. Two years later, God would use the cupbearer to help deliver Joseph from prison. a) During those two years of waiting, Joseph clung to the dreams God had given him, just the way you and I would cling to His promises. b) God had promised that people would bow down to Joseph, and he believed God’s promise. c) He didn’t know how God would accomplish it or when it would happen, but he knew that God was faithful. B. God Cares for Us 1. He cares enough to help and strengthen us. a) He cares enough to bless us and make us a success, no matter where we are and no matter what our circumstances are. b) Believe God; believe the Scripture. c) God wants to use the trials of our lives as well as the blessings, use the trials to make us the people we should be and to make us a better workers and servants upon earth. 2. God cares for us, cares enough to help and strengthen us and to make us what we should be. |
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