Uncommon Purity: Joseph Series

Uncommon Purity: Joseph

Genesis 39:1-23

Live an uncommon life.

Jesus Prayed for us: John 17:15-18 NIV

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Last week Uncommon Faith – Hebrews 11:1

Faith is confidence – Trust firm

Faith is assurance - certainty and promise

Today we are going to talk about something that is severely lacking in our culture: Purity

What is Biblical purity? Psalm 119:37 says it all to me. “Turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”

Remember why Joseph was in Egypt: His father Jacob, stole the blessing from his brother, Ran away and ended up with his mother’s brother Laban. Lablen tricked him and had him marry the wrong girl. So he worked another 7 years to Rachel. Rachel had Two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. They were his favorite sons. And the other brother knew it. He gave Joseph a special coat and Jabob had a dream, made his 10 brothers mad and they sold him into slavery.

Let’s look at Joseph’s example:

1. Uncommon purity starts with knowing what is right.

a. It is very hard to do right, when you don’t know what is right.

b. To know what is right, we have to be people of the Word.

i. Our lives have to be defined by the truths that are presented here in the Bible.

ii. Sometimes, we may not like what we read, but that does not make it less true. Instead we need to understand that what we like, is not what God likes.

c. Lets talk about different kinds of Purity

i. First is sexual purity.

1. Sex outside of marriage is impure. Plain and simple.

2. But this is more than just sex.

a. What about Porn?

i. Pornography destroys the mind and crates impurity in our minds.

b. There is the movie coming out this week called 50 shades of gary. Guess what? The book that it is based on, and the movie itself is pornography. Why? Because it places images in your mind that should never be there.

c. God created sex to be something shared whit only your spouse.

d. Those images in your head, you will never be able to eliminate, and they will damage your relationship with your spouse.

e. Listen to what Paul says: 1 Cor 6;18 - Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

ii. Second Relational Purity

1. How do we treat and love the people around us?

2. Are we using people ?

3. Or are we loving them in the way God loved us?

4. We have to make every effort to keep our relationships pure.

a. They should be about us growing closer to Christ.

iii. Third spiritual purity.

1. This is one that is so misunderstood in our world.

a. I can not tell you how many times this week I saw people talking about the “long island Medium” coming to Evansville.

i. Folks, what she does is witchcraft.

2. Uncommon purity is relentless

a. Notice how Joseph keeps turning her down?

b. James 1:12 - Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

c. Often times we will be tempted over and over again by impurity.

d. We have to set ourselves up to be ready to stand firm against this kind of temptation

e. The only way that we can do that is with the power of the Holy Spirit.

f. Without his help, we will never be able to overcome temptation.

3. Uncommon purity flees at the sight of impurity

a. As soon as joseph sees what she is up to, he runs.

b. There is a very fine line here and once you cross it, it is hard to get back.

c. We seem to want to walk right up to the line, and get as close to sin as we can without actually crossing over into sin.

i. When I was a youth pastor, kids would ask me how far is to far?

1. I would respond by saying you are asking the wrong question. The better question is: How far away from impurity can I get?

d. 1 Timothy 6:11 - But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness,faith, love, endurance and gentleness.