Reigning As King In Youth From The Life Of Joseph Part 2 by Dr. Paul Enenche: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Genesis 39:7-20

And his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, lie with me. But he refused. And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her. And she caught him by his garment, saying, lie with me, and he left his garment in her hand and fled. His master's wrath was kindled, and he put Joseph into the prison.

It is better to suffer for doing the right thing than to enjoy the benefits of doing the wrong thing. Joseph's only crime was refusing to do what he knew was wrong, and it cost him everything he had built in that house.

What Standing on Principle Actually Costs

1. It May Cost Approval

   It is better to receive condemnation standing on the side of right than commendation standing on the side of wrong. Many people are addicted to approval and assume being disliked always means they did something wrong; sometimes people are unhappy specifically because the right thing was done, not the wrong thing.

2. It May Cost Favor and Recognition

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   It is better to lose favor for doing right than to gain favor for doing wrong. It is better to be castigated for doing right than celebrated for doing wrong. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fire, and Daniel went into the lion's den, not for wrongdoing but for refusing to bow. Sometimes people attack a person not because they did something bad, but because they are too devoted, too principled, too unwilling to bend.

3. It May Cost Relationships

   It is better to lose friends for doing right than to gain friends by agreeing to do wrong. Joseph lost his standing with Potiphar and the entire household, favor he would have kept, and gained further, had he simply given in. The satisfaction of iniquity today is the sacrifice of destiny tomorrow. What is protected by saying no is never the present moment; it is the future.

Three Commitments for Standing Firm

1. Never Bow to Pressure, Regardless of Who Applies It

   Potiphar's wife was powerful and influential, and Joseph still refused. Most people will resist pressure from an ordinary person but bow the moment authority or influence is behind it. Nobody is important enough to be worth sacrificing a destiny for. Samson eventually bowed, not to a king, but to sustained pressure from one person, and lost his strength, his sight, and ultimately his life for it.

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Dr. Paul Enenche
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2. Never Give Up the Conviction to Do Right in the Face of Confrontation

   Confrontation will be intense at points. The conviction has to outlast the intensity of the pressure applied against it.

3. Never Bow to Evil for the Sake of Acceptance or Approval

   Wanting a community, friend group, or peer group to be pleased is not worth trading a future for. You may go through real pain for doing the right thing, but the outcome must still end in gain. Joseph went through prison unjustly and still became prime minister of Egypt. Principled people in the immediate become principal people in the end; unprincipled people rarely arrive anywhere worth arriving at.

When No One Will Hear Your Side

Nobody spoke to Joseph before he was condemned. Not the household staff who heard the accusation first, not Potiphar, who took him straight to prison without a single question. Proverbs 18:13 says he who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. There will be seasons where people condemn a person before ever asking their side, and the pain of being judged without being heard is a different kind of pain than being judged fairly and found guilty.

Let God Speak for You

1. Maintain a Clear Conscience

   Acts 24:16

   Paul exercised himself to always have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man. Whatever accusation is circulating, make sure the conscience underneath it is actually clear.

2. Ask for Mercy Where There Was Real Fault

   Proverbs 28:13

   He who covers his sins shall not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy. If there was genuine wrongdoing, even indirect, carelessness, wrong association, a poor decision that gave the accusation room to exist, bring that specific piece honestly to God rather than defending the whole account.

3. Allow God to Judge the Case

   Psalm 50:6

   The heavens shall declare His righteousness, for God is judge Himself. When God finishes judging a case, both the accuser and the accusation lose their place forever. Nobody stood to answer for what was done to Joseph once he became prime minister of Egypt, there was no trial, no reversal, no reckoning demanded, because what God did was simply large enough to swallow the accusation whole. One move of God can deliver a knockout blow to false evidence that would otherwise have held up in any human court.