Voice of the Nazarene 10-19-25

Voice of the Nazarene 10-19-25

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Ray, coming to you from North Central Ohio. We share with you the voice of the Nazarene. A week by week, venture into the Word of God, sponsored by the Bucyrus Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our pastor, Reverend Ray La Salle and the voice of the Nazarene.

Pastor Ray LaSalle: 0:17

We've been talking about overcoming and started an overcoming series, and we are basing it around the life of Joseph. And I think this makes the third time I've ever endeavored to do a series on Joseph. We had talked about his overcoming his parentage, overcoming the predicaments, overcoming the pit. And the next in line is overcoming Potiphar, his wife, overcoming, and I believe the biggest tool that the devil has to use against us, is temptation, and the greatest weapon is in the area this morning that the Bible covers in just a few verses. And it may be the biggest thing that people face, and it has to do with sexual sin. The Bible calls it fornication, and the Bible condemns fornication. It's a term derived from the Greek word pornia, and we get from that that term pornography, it refers to any illicit sexual conduct, and I believe it's addressed in the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament. If I'm on thin ice, if I'm on walking on glass this morning, forgive me. But by the same token, the word of God is so clear and you'll not get through life, probably without this temptation being thrown across your pathway. First, Corinthians, 618, Paul explicitly commands believers to Flee from sexual immorality. Then he explains that all the sins are outside of the body, except this sin, and it's against our own body, which the Bible says is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So a whole lot bigger issue than you might think. Then in First Corinthians, 69 fornicators, among other wrongdoers, are listed as people who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Did you hear that not inherit the kingdom of God? There's a whole list of those sins you say, Well, I just I've got forgiveness in advance. You better wake up, smell the roses, because over here in First John, that little epistle, chapter two, where it lists this thing, he said, My little children, these things write, I unto you that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have an advocate. So if you do sin, you're not automatically forgiven. You've got to confess your sins, because we have an advocate who is a propitiation for our sins, and not only ours, but the sins of the whole world. So he runs right on from that. And he said, we know that we if we know him, we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, keep it not his commandments. Is a liar and the truth is not in him. So if we sin, we need to confess our sins, and the Bible said He's faithful and just to forgive us. So here in First Corinthians, 72 to avoid sexual immorality, Paul advises every man to have his own wife, and every woman her own husband. And then in Galatians 519, fornication is included in the list of works of the flesh which is in opposition to the fruit of the Spirit. Okay, so I want to take off on this little passage and deal with Joseph's life from it. And in regards to sexual immorality, there are three things, three things that you need to note so you can avoid it. Number one is situations getting into any type of lewd, lustful, alluring situations. I'm talking about suggestive in appearance. I'm talking about compromising in the setting. You need to avoid it. And here in Genesis, 39 verse six. Now, Joseph was hands, handsome in form and appearance. Ladies have never been tempted about anybody, but what they're handsome. Devil always uses the handsome Well, I'm moving along while you're shouting happy, but the Bible said that Potiphar, his wife, cast longing eyes on Joseph, and I want you to notice the longing eyes. I'll get back to that later if I don't forget, but it's the key to overcoming impurity. And she said, Lie with me. And it's like in our modern day language, let's sleep together, kind of our simple way of saying it. But the Bible said, Here's how he overcame. He refused. And said to his master's wife, look, my master does not know what is with me in the house. He's committed all that he has to my hand. There's no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me. But you, he knew his boundaries. You need to know your boundaries, but you, because you are his wife, how then can I do this great wickedness and notice what he calls sexual immorality, great wickedness, wickedness and sin against God. So it was, she spoke to Joseph, day by day. Now I want you to notice something. Our battle is not with flesh and blood. We make it with flesh and blood, but it's not against flesh and blood. It's bigger than that. And I'm not going to talk a lot about this woman to try to put her down, but the devil was attacking Joseph through this woman. And it said, day by day, did you know the devil will never give you a day off? Temptation hits us day in and day out. You don't go through a day without some kind of temptation. And the Bible said, but he did not. He did not heed her, to lie with her, to be with her. And here's a man that had done nothing wrong. And remember, Joseph was a slave. He had to go in the house and do the work. And the Bible said that all the men of the house were gone that day. Now he'd been he'd been in there many, many times. I do know, do not know what she may have done, how she tried to allure him, what what she may have said, how she may have dressed. I'm not into that this morning, but I want you to know that it was a bad situation, got to be careful situation. But he's a slave. He doesn't get a choice. He has to be in there, and he's caught alone. There's no witnesses, there's no safety nets, and the Bible said it happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do His work, and none of the men of the house were inside that she caught him by his garment, saying a Lie with me, but he left his garment in his hand and fled and ran outside. Did you know this is the second time that Joseph lost his coat. He had trouble keeping his coat. His brother stole his coat off of him. Now this this woman steals his coat off of him, but he may have lost his coat, but he didn't lose his character. And he's fleeing. He's running, and that is congruent with what is taught in the New Testament, first, Corinthians, 618, says Flee sexual immorality. Now I want to give you a second example, so we're not just lying on this one truth. Okay, here's another story found over in another book. Absalom, the son of David, had a lovely sister. She wasn't an ugly duckling. She's a lovely sister whose name was Tamar and Ammon, the son of David, loved her, and in verse two, was so distressed over his sister, Tamar that he became sick, for she was a virgin, and it was improper for Ammon to do anything to her. Now she's a half sister. They've got different mothers, same father, and Ammon fell in love with her, and the Bible very explicitly, says twice in Leviticus, once in Deuteronomy, 2722 and it reminds us Cursed is the one who lies with his sister. Now watch how it shows a half sister. It says the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, Ammon, knew it was wrong. This stuff goes on all the time. He knew it was wrong, but the Bible said, but he had a friend. May I simply say, You better be very wise in picking your friends. You pick the wrong friend. They can get you in trouble hanging around with the wrong crowd. I mean, if you lay down with dogs, you're going to get up with fleas. Better pick your friends wisely. And he had a friend whose name was Jonah dab, the son of Shemaiah, David's brother. So this is a cousin, and it's quite a drama. And the Bible said that. Did. Jonadab was a very crafty man. So jonadab said to him, Well, here's here's a way you can handle this. Lie down on your bed, pretend to be ill, pretend. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food and prepare the food in my sight so that I may see it and eat it from her hand. So Ammon asked his father to send Tamar, his half sister. He said, I'm sick, and I want her to fix some food, and I want her to feed me. Now, let me tell you something. David knew better. I had two sisters growing up now, my brother, he had a brother and two sisters, and we were not allowed to ever go to our sister's room, and they weren't allowed to come to our room. We had some boundaries, and I think Mom and Dad just wanted nothing to ever happen. I hope that's not too plain here this morning. But I'm telling you, bad situations can get us into compromising problems. And the dad allowed it. David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go to your brother, ammon's house, prepare food for him. And she went to his house. He's lying down. She took flour needed it made cakes in his sight, baked the cakes, and she took the pan and placed them out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Ammon said, Have everyone go out for me. Now you talk about red flags, I mean they're waving all over the place. You're never to be alone with somebody you're not married to, or somebody that you're attracted to, or somebody that you're in love with, if you don't want to stay out of a bad situation. But the Bible said he refused to eat. And Ammon said, Have everyone go out for me. And they all went out from him. And then Ammon said to Tamar, bring the food into the bedroom. Neither, no, no, that I may eat from your hand. And Tamar took the cakes which he had made, brought them to Ammon, his brother in the bedroom. Now, when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, come Lie with me, my sister, in other words, let's sleep together. And she begged him. She answered. Said, No, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing should be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing. And I Where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel now, therefore Listen, please, speak to the king, for he will withhold nothing from you, however he would not give heed to her voice and bring and being stronger than she. He forced her to lay with her and watch verse 15. Then Ammon hated her exceedingly so that the hatred for which he hated her was greater than the love with which He had loved her. What happened? The respect was gone. Love and respect. If you're going to have a marriage, you need love and respect. No respect. Not a good situation. No love, not a good situation. And Ammon said to her, arise, be gone. So she said to him, no indeed, this evil of sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me. But he would not listen to her. Then he called his servant, who he attended, and said, Here, put this woman out away from me and bolt the door behind her. Now here's the biggest thing that I want you to see from this story. Ammon says to David, please let my beautiful sister come into my bedroom and let me eat from her hand, any father would have known better. But why did he allow it? Can I tell you why? Because David himself had opened the door to immorality before this in his own life, and so it was easy for him to open the door to immorality for his children and the enemy found a way to get into his family, and they begin to deconstruct like you can never believe. All right, there's a second thing to regard, and that sites the eye. The eye gate a million nerve endings from the brain to the eye, and the eye is like an aperture is in a camera, and it opens up and it allows us to see things that can affect our emotions and our mind and our our very lives. Job, made a statement, and I throw it out to you, and I ask you to take note of it in your own thinking job. In verse one of chapter 31 he said, I've made a covenant with my eyes. Why? Then should I look upon a young woman? He made a covenant with his eyes. Be careful. Remember this little song, be careful. Little eyes. What you see? How many have gone down this trail and they weren't careful, and then they couldn't stop? I. Was reading in the book of Judges this week, chapter 14, verse one, the first thing it said about Samson, he saw a woman. He saw a woman, and he said to his father and his mother, he said, I saw a woman. I want you to get her for me. First thing he said, get her for me. He saw a woman, a he, man with the she weakness, and boy, did he have problems. That's that's Samson. What I'm trying to say, we need to put some boundaries into place. Be careful what you look at. May I just say to us guys, it might pay you to put some software on your computer that just blocks things so you don't have to be tempted. Every man is tempted when he drawn away. And there's things that you would look at that can draw you away. It might be important to be careful what magazines you look at. But be careful. Okay, every man's tempted when he's drawn away, and when lust is fulfilled, it turns to sin and it bringeth forth death. Now let's pick up the story here of David, Second Samuel, chapter 11, verse two, that it happened one evening that David arose from his bed, walked on the roof of his king's house, and from the wolf he saw, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. And the weakness that that David opened up of temptation into his own life, first of all, was for his family. For it said in First Samuel 13, and after this, after what, after David had committed adultery that his son raped his own half sister. So in Genesis, 39 verse six, it says, Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and part of his wife cast longing eyes on Him. The Bible said, Whosoever looks upon and thinketh. It goes from a look to thinking to a heart issue. Joseph was handsome. The Bible said that Beth Sheba was beautiful, and it says that Tamar was lovely. I few years ago, I heard an evangelist say he was talking to all of us at a preacher's meeting, and he said, I don't want to ever mess up my life. And he said, the other day, I told God, if you see a beautiful woman down there that's going to bring me down. Would you strike me dead now? And the preacher in the back stood up and said, No, God, strike that woman dead. Well, I thought it was funny, but I'll just laugh at my own stuff. That weakness of David also opened the door of temptation for his faith. And again, each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust is conceived, it bringeth forth birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brother. So when you walk down the trail of immorality, you begin to pretend to lie, and that's exactly what potiphar's wife did when everything fell through, she ran outside and she called to the men said, Come, here's what this Hebrew did to me, and he tried to push himself on me, and I want you to be a witness. And she told the same kind of a story to her husband. And when we start down a trail of deceit, it just goes on and on and on. And when you get opened up to that, the impure sexual relationship before marriage or during a marriage, there's an adrenaline rush. There's a sneaking around. And what happens when you have premarital sex, you develop an appetite that adrenal rush, and it's an appetite for sneaking around sex, and then when you're married, you don't have to sneak around anymore, and suddenly things aren't nearly as much fun, and you start down a trail with an appetite that God never intended for you to have, and That's why we have extra marital problems. So what happens a man? I was reading just last week, I was studying along this line, where a man's number one need one or two is sexual relationship, and a woman's that is clear down about the 12th or the 13th of the 14th, her main needs is emotional security and emotional attention. So if she gets it down here on the job and you're not giving it to her at home, something's about to happen. And let's go back to the man again, the premarital affair with a woman he's going to marry. He gets married, and you don't have to sneak around anymore, and he has an appetite for it, and it doesn't happen. And soon he's going to get into trouble. And then a third thing about David opening the door to temptation can rob your future. Solomon is talking in Proverbs to a young man, chapter seven, verse 18, and this young guy is listening to an immoral woman talking. She said, Come let us take our fill of love into mourning. And by the way, it's not love. Lust is not love. Let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home. He's gone on a long journey. He's taken a bag of money with him, and will come home on the appointed day when her enticing speech, she caused him to yield. With her flattering lips, she seduced him immediately he went after. And listen, watch this as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stalks till an arrow struck his liver, and as a bird hastens to the snare, and he did not know it would cost his life. Now I'm not saying that having an affair will cost you your life, but what I'm saying it'll cost you the life that God never intended you to have, and you're going to miss the life you could have had if you kept yourself as an overcomer. Now, Potiphar, he's an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian. He had bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, and the Bible said of the Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered, and he made him overseer of all the house. And this woman is casting longing eyes, and her eyes can open up a world, three avenues for sin, everything under the catalog of sin is broke down to three things, lust of the flesh, for it says, For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the boastful pride of life. And that's in first John 216 that movie, that magazine, that internet site. Listen, did you know that an alcoholic can't have one drink because he's addicted to the drink? A gambler can't play another hand and break from it. It opens up the door and it keeps going. Kind of reminds me the guy that was trying to lose weight and and he drove by the bakery where the donut shop was boy, he wanted a donut, but he said, I'll tell you what. God, there's a car parked in front of that. If that were to open up, I would take it from you. You wanted me to have a donut. And after driving around the block 15 times, he found a place to park. And if you have a addiction to what we're talking about, and Joseph overcame, you can overcome but if you've got an addiction in that area, you don't need one look, because it opens the door. That's why the Bible says don't fight it, flee it, flee it. And then I want to go to a third thing, staying out of compromising situations, being careful at what our eyes look, at our sight. But a third thing, and I've never heard another preacher preach it, but it's sanctification, sanctification for the very worst sin that the devil can throw across our pathway, this thing of immorality and fornication, the very strongest sin that he can throw across us God's greatest and best tool to defeat it so we can overcome is the sanctified heart, a sanctified life. Now, when you're reading back here in First Thessalonians chapter one, it talks about these people who had turned from idols to follow God. Now they had all kinds of idols in their life. It was an immoral world around that area of the country, but they come across Christ, and their lives are changed, and they're turning from these idols over here to God. But by the time he gets to chapter four, he says to them, I know about what's your background? You had a wife for children, but you had extra marital affairs for pleasure, and you're not going to overcome that without this. And then he writes this chapter, chapter four, verse one. Furthermore, then we beseech you and exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ, that is you've received us how you ought to walk. You want a good walk with God, and that you please God. Do you want to please God? And that you might abound more and more, for we know what commandments we give you by the Lord Jesus, for this is the will of God, even your sanctification. Why read on that you should abstain from fornication, and that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, to think that we can turn from our idols and turn to God and yet temptation is all around us and to have the power to be overcomers, not saying you can't fail, but you're going to fail if you don't have a power within that's stronger than the temptation from without the will of God is your sanctification, my sanctification, And without it, we're going to be tempted to fall. And he said that you should abstain fornication and keep your vessel clean pure. Joseph did that so well. He was an overcomer in so many areas. I look at his life and I say, Oh, God, make me to be like Joseph. I want the Lord to be with me, because all across the pathway there's going to be one thing after another that's going to throw me for a loop, and I'm not going to have the power to overcome those issues in life without you being with me and I, I say to you this morning, be careful. Of situations, be very careful. There are some places I don't go. I collect rent once in a while, and I'll say to my wife, Jan, go with me. I don't want to get into a situation. Just go with me. She said, okay, just keep showing up and be careful what you're looking at. Be careful that you have a sanctified heart, that God has set you apart and filled you with His Spirit. So instead of fulfilling the works of the flesh, I now have the fruit of the Spirit, peace, long suffering, joy, patience and all of the fruit of the Spirit. We can be overcomers. Father, you didn't call us to uncleanness. You called us unto holiness, to live pure and holy and above temptation. And we don't want to be lured down that path, and so we we want to be faithful, clear to the end, and keep ourselves clean and pure as you look into our lives, if there are anybody that's here that's struggling, or those who are watching by internet or by telecast, and they're saying the message was, for me, I'm struggling. I need some forgiveness in some areas, and I can't take a chance anymore. I've got to be careful. I'm addicted, and I want to be free, and so I'm going to live in the confines of a clean heart and the holy call of God all my life, and I'm going to live victoriously.

Unknown: 27:58

Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with B and C's pastor Ray la salle. For more information regarding B and C, visit Bucyrus nazarene.org. You.