Why God's Chosen People Are Attacked By The Enemy

Joseph is one of the few people in the Bible with very little negative to say about him his early life is a tragic story of betrayal and pain ten of his brothers were very jealous of him this is because their father favored Joseph due to their jealousy they made a plan to kill Joseph instead of killing Joseph they threw him into a hole and then sold him into slavery his father thought he was dead Joseph ended up working as a slave in Egypt under a man named potiphar he did such a great job and worked

himself up the ladder while not at home with his family in Israel he did an excellent job in Egypt he found favor in the eyes of those around him but among those eyes were the eyes of an immoral woman Potiphar's wife before I read the story of Potiphar's wife and Joseph I want to quickly read a few verses from Proverbs chapter 5. and if you've never read Proverbs Chapter 5 it's basically a chapter of warning against a specific type of woman a type of woman that Potiphar's wife was just listen to this verse 3 to

6. for the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey and Her speech is smoother than oil but in the end she is bitter as Gaul sharp as a double-edged sword her feet go down to death her steps lead straight to the Grave she gives no thought to the way of life her paths wander aimlessly but she does not know it and then verse 8 to 10 keep to the path far from her do not go near the door of her house lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel

lest strangers Feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another just think of how serious and dangerous an immoral woman can be and keep this passage in mind as we look over what happened between Joseph and Potiphar's wife Genesis 39 verse 6 to 10 says so he left all that he had in Joseph's charge and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance and after a time his master's Wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said lie with me

but he refused and said to his master's wife behold because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my charge he is not greater in this house than I am nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God and as she spoke to Joseph day after day he would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her I want you to notice

this she cast her eyes on Joseph other translations will say she looked at Joseph with desire she looked lustfully at Joseph or took notice of Joseph this is the first lesson we should be aware of Joseph had overcome so many different challenges he was betrayed and hurt by his family he was sold as a slave into a foreign land but he had overcome all of those obstacles and he was at a place where he found favor among people in a land that was not his home and just when God had elevated him the devil took

notice of Joseph the enemy wanted to present him with a tough Challenge and to really test his Integrity which is where Potiphar's wife came in keep in mind Joseph was a young man full of drive and energy as most young men and the devil thought the perfect trap would be sexual sin Potiphar's wife continually tempted Joseph yet Joseph did not give in to temptation the Bible says day after day she spoke to him but Joseph wouldn't entertain her words let alone her advances so this temptation wasn't a one-off it was relentless day after day he

was tested now we will all have to face a Potiphar's wife so to speak in our lives while it may not be a sexual sin there is some sort of Temptation that will repeatedly come knocking that Temptation may be a substance such as drugs or alcohol it may be sexual sin such as in the story of Joseph it may not be a physical thing at all it may be Pride whatever it is we need to be diligent against that temptation we must look out for that Temptation daily Satan will continue to try to lure you

away it was a daily Temptation for Joseph and it will be for us as well often that Temptation will happen when we are in a good place Joseph had favor in the eyes of everyone he was an up-and-comer in Egypt it's often when we are in a good place that Satan comes knocking that's because we usually have our guard down when we're in a good place when we're in a bad place we often see our need for God's strength in our life however in moments of success we often rely on our own strengths that's why

it's so important to continually remind ourselves of our need for Jesus we need to constantly remind ourselves of the grace God has given us through the cross it's only through that constant reminder that we see the continual need for God in our life and have the mindset to fight against temptation as you may know prodiper's wife ends up framing Joseph for rape because he does not sleep with her Joseph ends up in prison however while in prison Joseph earns the favor of people yet again he works hard and earns a spot at the top of

the ladder in prison eventually Joseph ends up before the pharaoh of Egypt and interprets a dream of a future seven year famine this interpretation ends up getting him a spot as second in command in all of Egypt he uses this spot to save his family from famine this includes his dad and 10 brothers who almost killed him and then sent him to slavery he ends up saving the promise of God to bless his father Jacob and the promise of the seed of Jacob who will come and save the world that promised child would be Jesus

imagine what would have happened if Joseph had given into temptation with Potiphar's wife he may have ended up in a much worse State he could have ended up dead if caught in the act of adultery he would have never been blessed enough to save his family from famine I'm unsure of what Temptation you have or what Temptation you're giving into however I know that Satan is trying to get you to give in so he can wreck the work God is trying to do but dear friend there's good news Jesus Christ offers us a chance for

mercy and Grace turn to the Lord as he delivers you from your Temptation God will see you through Saints let me tell you it's no coincidence that the loudest voices in this world are the voices that stand to discourage you from living a righteous life and to encourage you to indulge in sin yes we live in a world where many different voices are deliberately trying to influence us to pick pleasure over self-control or to pick selfish gain over a life of serving these voices are in the media they are in institutions they are sold to

us as entertainment even you see the world desires to give us whatever we want or at the very least encourage us to go for what we want the voices in this world will tell you to look after this flesh but they will mention nothing about your soul they will tell you things like enjoy the moment but those voices will never utter a word about where you will spend eternity in the church you'll find voices like the Pharisees those who speak out loud to be heard to be seen they want to appear educated and holy then

there are voices from the doubting Thomases they question everything they want proof before they can believe they'll say things like well how do you know that's real how do you know that's not a trick you get so many different voices in the church there are other voices however which come from the pulpit voices which are soothing and comforting the pat you on the back type of voices however these voices lack the spirit of God behind them they don't convict your heart of sin they don't highlight the need for repentance no instead some of the voices

today will tell you that you're doing well God will always forgive you even if you're living willfully in sin but these are certainly the wrong type of voices the world will tell you don't be too hard on yourself trying to live so perfectly you've got the rest of your life to get it together relax but once again these are the wrong voices now don't forget that in addition to the world we have the voice of the enemy to contend with the accuser of the brethren a voice that lies a voice that condemns and brings guilt

and shame the type of voice we ought to be rebuking the voices that come from this world are controlled by the God of this world and so I'd simply like to encourage you today to take note of what you are hearing take note of the content the music the conversations that you're hearing do you ever just stop and listen to the voices that are speaking around you are they voices that Echo the word of God or are they voices that stand to contradict and question the word of God we hear so many things as we

go about our business on a day-to-day basis have you ever considered whether what you hear repeatedly is affecting you what are the voices around you saying what is it that your ears are hearing I ask these questions because the Bible talks a lot about hearing John 8 verse 47 says whoever is of God hears the words of God the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God John 10 verse 27 says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me now from a personal point of

view the voice of God is what I love to seek and God speaks in many different ways God spoke to Moses through a burning bush as a mighty and as powerful as he is God can speak in a still small voice he can speak through the Holy Spirit he can speak through someone you know he can speak through a worship song the voice of God is the only voice we need to be seeking searching and listening for and on a day-to-day level I desire to hear the voices of men and women of God who will

challenge me voices that will challenge me to be a better Christian and to do better for God voices that will make me feel uncomfortable about how I am living if there's any hidden sin don't get me wrong it's good to hear a word of encouragement it's good to hear a word of comfort however it's important to hear the word of God concerning repentance concerning salvation concerning eternal life concerning Jesus Christ the Bible says in James 1 verse 19. know this my beloved Brothers let every person be quick to hear slow to speak slow to anger

be quick to hear the word of God be quick to hear the voice of Jesus Christ the one that is calling you to repent and follow him be quick to see and search for the holy spirit so that it's his voice that may guide you Saints pray so that the Holy Spirit may be the voice that is loudest in your life a voice that convicts you to repentance a voice that pushes you to the word of God a voice that reminds you of how much you need Jesus Christ [Music] there are two ways of knowing

god we either know him through his word we know him through what the Bible reveals about him the other way that we can know God is through personal experience is when God himself visits you and reveals who he is to you this is why James 4 verse 8 calls us to come close to God with a contrite heart and he will come close to you wash your hands you Sinners and purify your Unfaithful hearts you double-minded people this is so that we can know God you see God is the author of reality he is the

Alpha and Omega The Great I Am he is the Supreme Being and there is nothing that one can do to know about God's nature unless God himself reveals himself now although the word of God has taught us about the nature of God you and I need to know God on a personal level [Music] we need seek to thirst and hunger for an encounter with him we need to be desperate to know the Lord to be desperate for an experience and a personal relationship with God almighty [Music] Moses in Exodus 33 verse 18 had a very

powerful request the Bible says that Moses went on to ask God Show Me Your Glory in other words Moses was asking God to show himself to him to make an appearance to him have you ever had a burning desire to know the Lord like that have you ever had your hearts cry be for the Lord to reveal himself to you [Music] foreign