Pastor Shane L. Johnson, D.Min. 7/18/10 New Life Church

1. Joseph will know great pain and suffering in his lifetime - Do you have a theology of suffering? - In other words, how do you explain it? - CS Lewis; pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world 2. God will use this suffering to make of Joseph much more than the man he would ever be otherwise 3. God will use Joseph to be a pivotal person for millions of people 4. Joseph will only know some of this later on, and never all of it

 Was it chance that Potiphar bought Joseph from the Midianites?  He prospered because of the presence of the Lord in his life  The presence of the Lord was apparent to Potiphar  Because the presence of the Lord was apparent to Potiphar, he made Joseph overseer of his house - Lincoln; “If you want to test a man’s character, give him power”  Because Joseph was handsome, Potiphar’s wife propositioned him  “But he refused.”

 He remembered the confidence his Egyptian master had placed in him - we too soon forget the goodness of God via the hand of others  He called the proposition what it was- “a wicked thing” - you cannot call sin what it is without making others upset  He saw it as a sin against God - all sin is ultimately against the Fatherhood of God  Though she was “unrelenting” he refused to be sexual with her or even be in her presence - Satan never lets up, 1 Cor Joseph put up healthy boundaries  He left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house- why? - to have stayed one more minute would have been dangerous - God’s love for us always offers the way of escape - our love for Him determines if we will take that escape, 1 Cor 10.13

 We live in a culture that enables, glories in, facilitates, and explains away, sin- we blame parents, bosses, presidents, pastors, spouses, children, police officers, anybody but ourselves  There is no longer any individual accountability - if all sin is personal before it is corporate, then we must begin with individual accountability  The 2 biblical responses to sin- resistance (James 4.7) and escape  Understand the process of sin, James