Tom Lowe
4-06-03
A Godly Man
Text: “So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:8).
Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:1-15
Whenever a person is chosen to be the subject for a sermon on godly men it is usually Joseph, and I am no different than anyone else, because he is my idea of the ideal man of God.
I want to speak about godly men today, because we live in an age, when it is difficult to identify what a godly man should be like.
So much of what we are told by the media, about “good” men, doesn’t line up with the Word of God.
So, today, let’s go to the Bible, and using Joseph as our example, see if we can find out what it takes to be “a godly man.”
Ladies, I believe that this lesson is for you too, since you all had fathers and grandfathers, and most likely you were married.
I hope that you have all known godly men, and that if you had sons, that you raised them to be godly men.
And let me tell you, it is impossible to be a godly man, unless you are influenced by a wife, a mother, or a grandmother who were godly women.
Joseph is one of the most interesting characters in the Bible.
He was born with natural abilities that we admire.
He was smart, good-looking, educated and well-mannered; and he began life with a great future ahead of him, but his world began to unravel.
His life, which at one time was so very promising, changed suddenly, and became plagued with danger; and there were harsh conditions that stir up our sympathy.
However, despite the circumstances of his life, he displayed godly qualities that demand our imitation.
Moses is the biblical writer, who tells the story of Joseph in thirteen chapters in Genesis.
Genesis gives us a great deal of information about Joseph, and he is also mentioned in the New Testament.
He was certainly a man who had great faith in God, and he lived like a godly man, despite the many difficulties he encountered.
His story begins in the land of Canaan.
Joseph was his father’s favorite son.
And his father showed his favoritism in many ways.
He let Joseph stay at home and run things while his brothers worked like farm hands.
He gave him a beautiful multi-colored coat that set him apart from his brothers.
In some ways old Jacob was responsible for Joseph’s brothers becoming jealous of his privileges and for their plan to kill him.
But instead of killing him, they decided to make a profit and they sold him to some Ishmaelite merchants, and he soon became a slave in Egypt.
His story continues in a mixture of sorrow and happiness and concludes with a great reunion with his family.
This morning, let’s consider the godly qualities of Joseph’s life.
I want to read some of his story from Genesis 45:1-15.
At this time in his life, he is second in command in Egypt.
Only Pharaoh, himself has more power.
Joseph is at home in Egypt, and his eleven brothers have been brought to him.
He knows who they are, but they haven’t recognized him, as of yet.
Remember, his brothers had plotted to kill him, and wound up selling him into slavery.
Now, let’s see what happens, when Joseph confronts his brothers.
1 Joseph could no longer control himself in the presence of all his attendants, so he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!” Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
2 But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him, and so the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.
3 “I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still in good health?” But his brothers could give him no answer, so dumbfounded were they at him.
4 “Come closer to me,” he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
5 But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.
6 For two years now the famine has been in the land, and for five more years tillage will yield no harvest.
7 God, therefore, sent me on ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance.
Let me stop for a moment, because we need to understand that there was a world wide famine at this time.
Only Egypt was blessed by God with bountiful harvests.
The nations were forced to come to Egypt for food, and they paid a high price for it.
Old Jacob had sent his sons to Egypt to buy food for their families, because Canaan was hit hard by the famine, and they were all going to starve, unless they could get what they needed in Egypt.
In verse eight, we read…
8 So it was not really you but God who had me come here; and he has made of me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.
Now, this is very important.
Joseph’s faith can be seen, as he tells his brothers that God used their evil act for His purpose.
This is how He brought him to Egypt.
Then God continued to guide his life as he went from a servant in the house of Potiphar, to a long stay in prison; until finally he becomes a ruler in Egypt.
In that high position of authority he was able to help his family.
All seventy souls, who made up his Fathers family, would go into Egypt.
They would come out some four hundred years later, a great nation of close to three million.
Let’s begin again with verse nine.
9 “Hurry back, then, to my father and tell him: ‘Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come to me without delay.
10 You will settle in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything that you own.
11 Since five years of famine still lie ahead, I will provide for you there, so that you and your family and all that are yours may not suffer want.’
12 Surely, you can see for yourselves, and Benjamin can see for himself, that it is I, Joseph, who am speaking to you.
13 Tell my father all about my high position in Egypt and what you have seen. But hurry and bring my father down here.”
14 Thereupon he flung himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept in his arms.
15 Joseph then kissed all his brothers, crying over each of them; and only then were his brothers able to talk with him.
Joseph is my example of a godly man.
There are three things about Joseph’s life which I believe should be present in the life of every godly man or woman.
They are:
1. A godly person forgives injustices.
2. A godly person withstands adversity.
3. A godly person resists temptation.
Let’s begin by seeing how he dealt with the injustice.
Joseph suffered numerous injustices.
First, his brothers mistreated him.
They put him in a large pit and threatened to leave him to die.
Later they sold him to some slave traders, and these traders in turn sold him to Potiphar, an official in the Egyptian government.
Second, Joseph was treated unfairly by Potiphar’s wife.
She lied and accused him of molesting her.
That led to him being thrown into prison, with little hope of ever getting out.
Third, while Joseph was in prison he did a favor for Pharoah’s baker.
The baker promised to bail Joseph out of prison, but later forgot him.
Joseph’s story contains one injustice after another, but what we need to understand is this: Joseph suffered many injustices, but he forgave each injustice.
Even when Joseph rose to a position of power in the land of Egypt, he did not seek vengeance.
Instead, he forgave those who had treated him unfairly.
The mercy he showed to his brothers is a prime example of how we should forgive others.
We read that, “Joseph then kissed all his brothers, crying over each of them; and only then were his brothers able to talk with him” (Gen. 45:15).
The best way to deal with injustice is to do as Joseph; overcome evil with good.
We must resist the impulse to retaliate, but instead, we should do good to those who do evil to us.
Our life is on exhibit before a watching world, so we need to have a life that has been transformed through faith in Christ.
Jesus never promised us a life without hardships.
Actually he said that there would be persecution and troubles for the child of God.
What he did promise was that he would give us grace to get through the hardships and troubles.
He said, “My grace is sufficient.”
Now, our second point is this, A godly person will not only forgive injustice, he will also withstand adversity.
We saw that Joseph suffered injustice, but he also knew adversity.
Joseph’s story is filled with physical and mental hardship.
Joseph knew the sting of disappointment.
As a young man who was filled with dreams of the future, his ambitions were stifled when he was sold as a slave.
He loved his brothers, but they acknowledged to his face that they hated him and wanted to kill him.
Potiphar’s wife became so outraged by his rejection of her advances that she lied to her husband to get her revenge.
Joseph had made a friend of the king’s baker, while he was in prison, and the baker promised to help him, when he got out.
But when he was released from prison, he refused to keep the promise he made to Joseph.
Joseph could have easily grown bitter and resentful after living as a prisoner and slave.
This man knew the meaning of hardship.
Remember, believers are not exempt from hard times.
The apostle Paul was another person, who could talk about hard times.
Paul wrote about what he had gone through in his letter to the Corinthian church: “I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, and been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again and again. Five different times the Jews gave me their terrible thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I was in the open sea all night and the whole next day. I have traveled many weary miles and have been often in great danger from flooded rivers and from robbers and from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the hands of the Gentiles. I have faced grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts and in the stormy seas and from men who claim to be brothers in Christ but are not. I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (2 Cor. 11:23-27, Living)
That was Paul, the great apostle of Christ describing the suffering and pain he had endured for Christ’s sake.
Study the Bible and you will discover many accounts of godly people who faced harsh conditions.
We must learn to withstand hardships without allowing our spirits to turn sour.
But here is what I believe is the secret to Joseph’s victorious life-he saw adversity as part of God’s plan.
Listen to how he viewed his hardships.
When he revealed himself to his brothers he said, “But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you…to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance. So it was not really you but God who had me come here; and he has made of me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:5-8).
Joseph was seventeen years old when he was brought into Egypt.
And now as he stands before his brothers and makes this great statement, he is thirty-nine years old, and he has been living in the land of Egypt for twenty-two years.
He sees God’s hand in all that’s happened to him.
We need to evaluate hardships from a biblical perspective, realizing that God’s plan is bigger than ours.
We need to remember that sometimes God is the one who brings the hardships for own good.
Even when God doesn’t bring the troubles, he may not remove them.
Instead, he may leave them.
He didn’t remove Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”, but he did give him the grace to live with it.
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
Paul acknowledged that his “thorn in the flesh” was given to keep him humble, because he was in danger of being exalted above measure due to the revelations from God that he received.
Now our third point is that a godly person resists temptation.
Joseph resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife, and that’s another reason that we can consider him a godly man-he resisted temptation.
At the time, he was the manager of Potiphar’s household, and as such he had great authority.
He was a handsome man, and Potiphar’s wife was attracted to him.
She tried to seduce him several times, but he always refused her appeals.
Temptation is a part of life for all of us.
As we get older, certain temptations are easier to resist.
But there will always be temptations, of one kind or another that will trip us up if we don’t resist with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Satan continually seeks to lure us from the straight and narrow path.
So we must turn to God for strength to defend ourselves against Satan’s enticements.
The only way we can resist temptation is by having God’s power within to say no.
There is a TV info spot, which I see from time-to-time, which uses the slogan, “Just Say No.”
But the truth of the matter is that you can’t just say no to temptation.
You need the help of the Holy Spirit; you need the power of God that He can bring to your life.
Jesus was not exempted from temptation.
After He was baptized by John the Baptist, he went immediately into the wilderness, and I believe He was looking for Satan; Jesus sought out the temptation of Satan.
I believe that He was tempted so that He could experience what we face.
I don’t believe that there was ever a chance that He would give in to Satan’s temptations.
The test that He submitted Himself to should be compared to the test that a diamond must go through.
A true diamond will never fail the test.
Jesus could not fail His test either, because He was the Son of God.
He had more than Satan could offer.
He is King of Heaven and Lord of Earth.
He promised that He would never leave us or forsake us and that with every temptation that He would provide a way of escape.
How about Joseph; how was he able to resist the temptation of Potiphar’s wife, the beautiful woman who threw herself at him?
Joseph resisted the woman’s appeal for several reasons.
First, he had respect for Potiphar.
Listen to what he said to her when she tempted him with sexual advances; “As long as I am here,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. He wields no more authority in this house than I do…” (Gen. 39:8-9).
Potiphar trusted him with everything, including his wife.
He could not betray that trust.
Second, Joseph had a great sense of responsibility to God.
He said, “How, then, could I commit so great a wrong and thus stand condemned before God?” (v. 9).
He knew that every sin is ultimately a sin against God.
Third, Joseph had respect for himself, as well as Potiphar’s wife.
He knew how destructive an illicit sexual affair could be.
It’s a sin that can destroy both parties; it can destroy a marriage, a home, and it damages the children.
Joseph wanted to be able to live with himself, and to be able to live close to God.
He knew that if he gave into her advances that he would sin; and sin hurts our relationship with God.
But Joseph didn’t give in, because he had the resources to face temptation, and to be victorious over the temptation.
Would you like someone to say about you, “He sure is a godly man” or “she sure is a godly woman?”
Well, if you do, you have a good model.
Joseph’s life is a good example for you.
If you try to imitate his godly qualities, you will know how to be a good person.
But even better than following Joseph’s example, is having a relationship with Joseph’s God.
If you open your life to God, you will have the resources to be a godly person.
And the way you open up your life to God is by believing in His Son and accepting Him as your Savior.
That’s how to become a child of God.
That’s salvation!
Then to become a “godly man” or “godly woman,” you must live your life by being obedient to God as his will is revealed in His Word and through the guidance of His Holy Spirit.
Joseph was a “godly man;” that’s why at the end of his life, after all that had happened to him, he could say to his brothers: “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Amen.
