NO ORDINARY JOE
Lesson One: Temptation
“Joseph Takes a Fall”
(Genesis 39:1-40:23)
— How Joseph was Tested —
I. BY ALARMING CIRCUMSTANCES (GEN 39:1-6)
A. Refuse to be Discouraged by Your Circumstances (39:1)
1. Remember Where You are Planted
a. See Jer 17:7-8
b. God controls our circumstances,
we control our responses
c. Ps 37:23-24
2. Remember Why You are Planted
a. God builds us up by giving us a job to do and people to obey
b. Rom 8:28
B. Remain Faithful in Your Circumstances (39:2-6)
1. God is always with us (v. 2)
2. The darker the night, the brighter the light (v. 3)
3. Serve other as if they were Jesus (v. 4)
a. “Least of these . . .” (Matt 25:40)
b. Eccl 9:10, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do . . .”
c. Col 3:23-24
4. Others will be blessed because of you (v. 5)
5. You will be blessed by others (v. 6)
II. BY ALLURING TEMPTATIONS (GEN 39:7-19)
A. Understanding the Kinds of Temptations
1. General (1 John 2:16)
a. Sensual: The lust of the flesh (“to do”)
b. Material: The lust of the eyes (“to have”)
c. Personal: The pride of life (“to be”)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Gen 3:6)
2. Specific (39:7, 10-12)
a. Joseph’s temptation was constant and continual (vv. 7, 10)
b. Convenient (v. 11)
c. Compelling (v. 12)
B. Understanding the Keys to Victory
1. Determine
2. Dedicate (v. 9)
3. Depart (v. 12)
Flee fornication. (1 Cor 6:18)
Flee also youthful lusts. (2 Tim 2:22)
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:13)
III. BY APPALLING DISAPPOINTMENTS (GEN 39:20 - 40:23)
A. Don’t Rely on Perception (39:20)
1. The reward of virtue (like the penalty for sin) is not immediate
2. Joseph lost his coat and his privileged position twice
3. He ran out of Potiphar’s house and into a prison cell
4. Life is not fair . . . eternity is fair
5. The Lord will not forsake you (v. 21; Heb 13:5)
B. Don’t Rely on People (40:1-23)
1. Ps 118:8
2. 2 Tim 4:16-17
C. Do Rely on the Lord
Ps 56:11, “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Ps 146:5 & 7, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: The LORD sets the prisoners free.”
Ps 40:1-2 & 4, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust.”
