Lessons from the Saints: Joseph and Resisting Sin

Read: Genesis 39 (emphasis on 39:6b-13)

Joseph has been betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. Now in slavery the Lord has shown favor on him and helped him to find success even as a slave. He becomes second only to the master of the house, Potiphar. But the Lord is not the only one who showed Joseph favor. As he worked in the house of Potiphar, Potiphar's wife also became interested in Joseph. She continually tried to get him to sin, but he resisted. Finally when he was alone with her and tempted he ran away, resisting sin.

In doing so he became an example to us all on the how to resist sin rather than give into it. Through his story and principles taught in Scripture we can learn how to also resist sin rather than give into it.

First a definition of sin to understand what it is.

Sin: Deciding to live your life your way instead of God's way; it's saying you know better than God.

God has told us how we should live in a way that brings Him honor and means only good things for us. But in sinning we are saying that we know better than He does what is good for us.

How to overcome sin:

1) Decide that you will resist sin and live for Christ.

see: Joshua 24:14-15; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9

If we are going to resist sin we need to first make a decision on how we will deal with it before we are faced with temptation. It is nearly impossible to make a Godly decision against sin when faced with sin if we haven't decided before hand how to handle the temptation. We have to decide that we will serve Christ rather than ourselves.

2) Prepare accordingly

Study Scripture, get accountability partners, have quiet time alone with the Lord, fast, etc. All these activities help place our minds on Christ and help us to either learn about a life of holiness or help us to quiet our hearts and give us strength to resist sin. Jesus, when He was tempted spent forty days fasting in preparation. How could we not prepare if Christ Himself had to.

3) Call sin sin

see: Genesis 39: 9

I believe that what helped Joseph in resisting sin was that he decided before the temptation that what Potiphar's wife was asking him to do was sin. Then when faced with the temptation head on he did not try to justify it, he called it out as sin. He said that what she wanted to do was a sin against God. We need to do the same thing. When in the face of temptation we need to admit that its sin (even saying it outloud). "No, I'm gonna do [insert sin here], because it is sin, and will dishonor God who has saved me from my sin."

4) Run away from temptation

see: Genesis 39:12, 1 Corinthians 6:18-19; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:9-11; 2 Timothy 2:22

The biggest mistake we can make in sinning is thinking we are strong enough to face temptation and logic our way out of it. We can't do it. I know I can't. When face with temptation we need to run away. Just go! Don't stand around. Don't debate, get yourself away from the temptation. Just like Joseph did. So when you face sin- RUN! RUN! RUN! Are your friends gossipping and you feel yourself wanting to join them? Walk away! Fighting with your sister? Walk away. Watching bad stuff on tv? Turn off the tv and go do something else with your time. Just run away!

this week we will talk about how the 5 Pillars of the JHC can help us in resisting sin.

Lessons from the Saints: Abraham's Radical Faith

see: Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 22; Hebrews 11: 8-19

In these passages on Abraham leaving his father's home and sacrificing his son at the Lord's request we are shown an example of a man who has radical faith in God.
In looking at Abraham's example and looking Biblically at the concept of faith we see there are five principles to learn about the life of radical faith.

The life of faith will:

1. Be difficult.
The life of faith is not easy. God calls his people to do difficult things, things that may go against popular opinion. The sacrifices we have to make will be hard at times, there's no avoiding that. If you want to follow Christ at times it will be difficult. But its worth it. We have to accept that at times it will be difficult, count the cost, and realize that it is worth the sacrifice every time. Living a life of radical faith may be difficult but its better than the alternative: living a safe life that doesn't serve the kingdom of God.




2. Come from trust in God.
see: Hebrews 11:1; 1 Corinthians 2: 5; Galatians 2:20
We see in Hebrews 11 that Abraham believed that even if he did kill his son the Lord would resurrect him, he was so confident in the Lords promise that he knew that not even death could stop Him from making Isaac his son through whom the whole world would be blessed. We can live lives of radical faith if we believe God's promises to us and know that He is faithful!

3. Brings praise to Christ.
see: 1 Peter 1:7
Our lives of faith in Christ bring Him honor as He is able to prove His nature again and again in our lives.

4. Make us more like Christ.
see: James 1:2-4
There is no one who lived more of a life of radical faith than Christ. As we step out in faith we take on more of His character as we follow His example. Living a life of faith builds more faith and that faith produces Godly character.

5. Be worth it in the end.
While stepping out in faith is difficult and may not make sense at times it is worth it in the end. Now that Abraham is in Heaven he does not regret leaving his father's house or obediently preparing to sacrifice his son. The Lord has proved Himself over and over in the lives of others, so we can count on Him that whatever He asks us to do (while it may be difficult) it is best for us.

Lessons from the Saints: Noah's Unquestioning Obedience

Noah's example provides for us an example of a life of unquestioning obedience to God's call on our lives, to follow Him no matter what the cost may be.

God told Noah to make an ark to hold himself, his family, and two of every kind of animal because He was going to make it rain for 40 days and flood the earth. This command seems crazy. Some think that there was no rain before God sent the flood, making it all the stranger for Noah to tell his neighbors that he was making a giant boat in preparation for water falling from the sky. Whether or not it had rained before this event it is clear that building the ark would have been a difficult experience. It would have been grueling, back breaking work. Not to mention having everyone think he's crazy for devoting his life to building such a large boat-no one could understand his sacrifice.

God isn't calling any of us to build a giant boat for an oncoming flood. But He is calling us to be obedient. So I thought we should focus on to whom we should obedient to help guild us in our faith.
See: Hebrews 11:7
We are called to be obedient:

To God
See: Acts 5:27-33, Romans 6:16, 1 John 5:2-3, James 4:7-8
Warning: this may not be popular! In Acts 5:27-33 the disciples take a stand against the government, proclaiming that it is better to follow God's law over the laws of men. The result: the people try to kill them! While the response for us will not be so intense, we can expect to meet resistance from the world when we choose to follow after Christ.
Roman’s 6:16- we are obeying someone/something- Paul tells us that we are either obedient to sin or righteousness, but we are always obedient to something. The question we must ask ourselves i will be we obedient to the right thing?

To our Parents
see: Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20
A big part of the Christian life is honoring parents by obeying them. Do you argue with your parents? Do you talk back? Do they have to ask you multiple times to take out the trash or do the dishes? As Christians we are called to honor our parents in everything, lets being in the small things.

To authorities in our lives
see: Hebrews 13:17; Ephesians 6:5; Mark 12:13-17
If you want to be an example of Christ to the world being obedient to authorities is a good place to begin. No one respects authority anymore, which is a bad thing. You wanna look different? You wanna stand out? Start by listening to teachers and other authorities.

Lessons from the Saints: Cain and Abel (who are you going to be?)

Passage: Genesis 4

Pillar: The fifth- God's glory

Notes:
In considering the lives of these two men we are challenged to ask three questions in order to determine are we going to be more like Cain or Abel in our lives of worship to God (as Romans 12:1 calls us to).

• Will you give your best to God?

see Genesis 4:3-5; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:10-11
As Christians we are called to present our whole bodies as living sacrifices to God, not simply a lamb or produce like Cain and Abel did. The question we must ask is are we going to give the best of our lives to God, to glorify and serve Him, or are we going to keep some for ourselves?
Consider the gifts God has given us and the places He has placed us. We are to use our talents to honor God and serve Him. God has given us each families, friends and activities to participate in. Are we honoring God in those relationships or seeking to live for ourselves first? These are hard questions to answer. But we need to be asking "am I giving my best to God in this (activity, relationship, homework assignment, etc)."

• Will you be ruled by sin?

see Genesis 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:8; Romans 6:16-18
1 Peter warns us that our enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring liking seeking for someone to devour. The Devil wants to pull us from glorifying God and make us think about ourselves first. Will we give into the temptation to sin or will we rule over sin and deny its temptations? We have to determine to not give into sin and to live lives that honor God.

• What will you be remembered for?

see Genesis 4:10-16; Hebrews 11:4
Cain was marked as cursed by God and was in fear of being killed by others. Throughout history he is remembered as the first person to commit murder and the example of giving a poor offering to God. R.C. Sproul calls him the archetype of Satan's followers (in The Reformation Study Bible notes).
Abel is forever remembered as a man of faith who gave an acceptable offering to God and is commended as righteous, "and through his faith, though he died, he still speaks", as Hebrews 11:4 shows us.
When our lives are done how will we be remembered? Will we be seen as people who gave our best to honor and serve God in all we did? I hope we will. We will be continuing in the JHC to encourage and push each other towards righteousness and holiness, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. Amen.

Lessons from the Saints: Adam Waits

Passage: Genesis 2: 15-24

notes:
Fact: Waiting is part of the Christian life
we see this idea constantly through Scripture, authors talk about waiting on God, learning to wait, and be eager for the things they wait for. As Christians it is in our nature especially to wait because we are people who wait for Christ to return (as shown in the last two verses listed below), all of our hope hinges on that!
Psalm 27:14, 37:7; Romans 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and James 5:7-8.

When waiting remember:

• God knows what you want and what is best for you
  

God recognizes that Adam being alone is not a good thing and plans to give him a partner, just not yet...

1. God wants you to pray and tell Him about what you want, desire, and need.
2. prayer helps you to release those desires to God.
3. see Philippians 4:6,7

As an example of learning to pray and release desires to God I sited a prayer I learned for Martin Luther on how to pray as a single man desiring someday to be married. A year or so ago it was a help and instruction for me in my life and I used it to encourage many other guys at my school. The prayer goes as follows:
"Dear Lord God, if it be thy divine will that I continue to live without a wife, help me to do so. If not, bestow upon me a pious girl with whom I can spend all of my days, whom I hold dear, and who loves me. Amen."
The point of giving this example is to show how prayer can release concerns and desires to God, to take care of in His time, releasing us from concern or worry about those things any longer... it is now in His hands.

• Waiting produces Godly character and appreciation for what we have

see Galatians 5:22 and 1 Corinthians 13:4
Instead of immediately giving Adam a wife the moment He recognized the need God gave Adam an assignment to name all the animals. This showed Adam (it might have even rubbed it in his face) that he was the only one without a partner, producing in him a desire for a partner. When that desire is met he would appreciate it all the more.

• There is work to be done

see Ecclesiastes 9:10
What if Adam, so consumed with his longing for a partner, decided to not name the animals in protest? There would be anarchy! All kinds of nameless animals causing havoc! How could I tell people I am afraid of a shark if there was no name for it, how could I describe that fear?
There is work for us to do while we wait, we cannot sit by and wait, there are things today that the Lord has given us to accomplish, people to love, and truth to pursue. We cannot be so consumed by what we lack that we are stopped from doing what needs done today.

The Five Pillars

When thinking on the JHC I wrestled with the idea of what our group was going to be about; what was going to be our mark as an individual group and within the body of Christ?
I came to conclusion that our group would be marked by five pillars. These five pillars would be what held up our group and supported us. The JHC would be about these five pillars in every activity and meeting.

1) Scripture: We are dependent on God's Word and are committed to studying it and allowing its teachings to transform our lives (2 Timothy 3:16). God has revealed Himself through Scripture so we are committed to learning from it and devoting our lives to what it teaches.

2) Gospel: We want to be people who know the Gospel, are transformed by the Gospel, and proclaim the Gospel. Understand the Gospel is understanding what we've been saved from (sin, death and Hell) and what we've been saved to (forgiveness, transformation into Christ's character, eternal life in glory with God) through Christ's life, death on the cross (as punishment for our sins that have separated us from God), and resurrection (conquering sin and death!), and ascending to glory. (Romans 10: 10-11; Ephesians 2:4-9; 1 Corinthians 15: 52-58)
We are people who proclaim the Gospel:

• To ourselves- reminding ourselves daily what Christ has done for us and allowing that to transform us and influence our decisions and how we see the world.
• To others who believe- encouraging other believers in the faith to take refuge and find strength in the hope of who Christ is and what He has done for us.
  
• To those who do not yet believe- telling them who Christ is by proclaiming it with our words and living lives as examples of who Christ is and the hope and peace He gives.

3) Family: We are committed to meeting together as the JHC and being firmly connected with all of Temecula Hills Christian Fellowship. We know that meeting together is essential for living our lives for Christ. (Hebrews 10: 24,25).

4) Prayer: We are committed to living lives of prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), communicating with God. We pray because the Bible tells us to, it changes things (giving us a chance to participate in what God is doing in the world), and because our lives depend on it as we seek first God's Kingdom and High righteousness and resist sin. We will continually learn how to pray both individually and as a group.

5) God's glory: We live with a desire to bring Glory to God in all we do (1 Peter 4:10-11, 1 Corinthians 10:31-a verse we have displayed on our youth room wall). We continually are learning and remembering how great God is and live lives of humility as a response.