Joseph; A Type of Christ

Genesis 39:1-20
Richard Spencer | Sunday, January 29, 2023
Copyright © 2023, Richard Spencer

As Rev. Broderick pointed out in the first sermon on Joseph, Joseph was a type of Christ. Which means that there are ways in which his life prefigured the life of Christ. And therefore, his life has great relevance for us because we are commanded by the apostle Paul, in Ephesians 5:1, to, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”. And that command is a present imperative in the original Greek, meaning that we are to do so continually. In other words, hour after hour, day after day, for all of life, we are to strive to imitate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And the scriptures do not leave us with any doubt about how the life of Christ can be described. As John Murray says in his book Redemption Accomplished and Applied, the specific categories the Bible uses to describe the atonement can all be classified under the rubric of Christ’s obedience.

And the Bible tells us the same thing. In Philippians 2:5-8 Paul wrote, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” That is the most extreme example of obedience imaginable; in fact, it goes beyond our imaginations! Who can truly imagine what it was like for the eternal God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, to condescend to become a man? Let alone to die an atoning death to pay for the sins of men. It simply boggles the mind.

And that is at least part of the reason why the Bible gives us human examples like Joseph in addition to the perfect example of Jesus Christ. We can be astounded by the work of Christ. We can hold him in the highest possible regard. But Jesus is so far beyond us that we can’t personally relate to his work of obedience in the same way we can to the works of other creatures such as ourselves.

And it isn’t just the apostle Paul or John Murray who tell us that obedience is the rubric under which we can classify all of Christ’s work. Jesus himself told us essentially the same thing. In John 17:4 he said to the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” In other words, he brought the Father glory by his obedience. In John 8:29 Jesus said that he always did what pleased the Father, he never failed to obey. And in John 15:10 Christ said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

Therefore, there can be no doubt about how we are to imitate Jesus Christ. We are to humble ourselves, being aware of our nature as creatures, walk in the obedience of faith, seeking to know and do the will of God for his glory. And the life of Joseph gives us a wonderful human example of how to do that in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Five times in the verses we are considering we are told that the Lord was with Joseph, or that the Lord blessed Joseph or his master. That fact could be a sermon in itself, but I want to focus today not on the fact that the Lord was with Joseph and blessed him, but rather on why the Lord was with Joseph to bless him. In Psalm 103:17 we read that “from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children”. Joseph feared God and was blessed. And I want to take a more detailed look at how that fear of God manifested itself in Joseph’s behavior and what lessons we can learn from him.

But first, we must be aware that we have very real and powerful enemies opposing us every step of the way; the world, the flesh and the devil. In Genesis 3:5 we read that Satan’s original temptation to Eve was that “you will be like God”. Now, if you think about that for a moment, it is in one sense a very strange temptation given that we are made in God’s image! In other words, we are already, by design, like God in some sense. But the real nature of the temptation was, and is, rebellion. It is the idea that we can somehow transcend being mere creatures and stop being dependent on God. That we can become autonomous beings.

And so, Satan is a powerful enemy working to lead us into rebellion. And because Adam and Eve sinned, as Paul explains in Romans Chapter 5, we are all born sinners, subject to the penalty of eternal death. That sinful internal nature is what is meant by the flesh, and it is also a very powerful enemy. It rises up within us and wants to lead us into rebellion. And since all people are sinners and, as we are told in 1 John 5:19, are under the control of Satan, the world is also our enemy and will try to lead us into rebellion.

Therefore, we should examine the life of Joseph carefully to see what lessons we can learn and put into practice ourselves to help us imitate Christ. And the first lesson we can learn from Joseph, which is also my first point this morning, is that the way up, is the way down.

I.       The Way Up is the Way Down

What I mean by that is that the way that leads to eternal bliss in heaven, the way that leads to exaltation, is the way of humility. Humble submission and obedience to the will of God. We saw this same point earlier when God wrestled with Jacob in Genesis Chapter 32. God brought Jacob down to see his weakness and need and that was the way up for Jacob. The apostle Paul learned the same lesson. After God gave him a thorn in the flesh to torment him, we read in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 that God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul then said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

And, as the ultimate example, I mentioned earlier that Christ was obedient unto death. And that is why he obtained his ultimate reward. We are told in Philippians 2:9-11 that in light of his perfect obedience, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So let us now take a look at that same principle applied to the life of Joseph. The first two verses of our passage say, “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”

Think about that for a moment. Having been sold by his brothers to these Ishmaelites, Joseph was now sold as a slave to this Egyptian, Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. And what is Joseph’s response? Is it to try and escape? No! We are told that he lived in the house of his master. Now I’m not saying it would be wrong to try and escape if you were captured and put in slavery, but it is significant that we see no rebellion in Joseph. And we are told that God was with him and, as a result, he prospered.

In other words, Joseph not only didn’t try to escape, he worked hard in the situation in which he found himself. We hear a lot these days about so-called ‘quiet quitting’ or ‘silent quitting’, which is doing the absolute minimum necessary to avoid being fired. Personally, I don’t think this is a new phenomenon at all; people have been doing this ever since the fall. And, if we are honest, we must admit that we have all done it at least a little bit at some point in some position or specific task that we didn’t want to do. And it isn’t the only way in which people sinfully avoid applying themselves to their assigned work. When I was an undergraduate I majored in creative procrastination. I wasn’t lazy, but I certainly wasn’t always doing what I was supposed to be doing either. And we have all heard of the Friday blues, or short-timer’s syndrome and other similar ailments.

Surely, it would have been completely understandable for Joseph to give less than 100% effort to his work given his terrible situation. But God was with him and Joseph knew it. He lived Coram Deo, that is; before the face of God. He consciously lived in the presence of God and tried to please God. And, therefore, he worked hard and did his best in order to honor God even in this terrible situation as a slave.

And it is important to note that Joseph didn’t do this for a few weeks or a few months. He did this for years, possibly close to eleven years. We are told in Genesis 37:2 that he was seventeen when he brought his father a bad report about his brothers, and although we aren’t told how much time transpired between then and when his brothers sold him into slavery, it doesn’t appear that it was a long time. Then, we are told in Genesis 41:1 that he spent two years in prison before being promoted by Pharaoh at the age of 30 as we are told in Genesis 41:46. That leaves eleven years unaccounted for, and it appears that most of that time was spent as Potiphar’s slave.

Also note that we are told he was living in Potiphar’s house. Surely that is not where most of his slaves lived. It had to take time for Joseph to distinguish himself so that Potiphar took notice of him and promoted him. And Joseph didn’t know the language when he was first taken to Egypt, so he had to learn that as well before he could earn such a promotion. All in all, the picture we get of Joseph is that he worked very hard and did his work with great diligence and care even though he was a slave. In Ephesians 6:5-8 the apostle Paul gave a command to slaves. He wrote, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” Is that how you do your job? None of us are slaves, but certainly this command applies to us as well.

Also, although we aren’t explicitly told, it is clear that Joseph must have spoken to his master and others about God. Verse 3 tells us that “his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did”. But how could his master have known anything about the Lord unless Joseph told him? And it is worth noting that if others know we are Christians, that itself can help us avoid temptation because it makes us more self-conscious of the fact that we represent Christ to the world.

And there is again a clear lesson here for all of us. We should do the same as Joseph did. First, people must know that we are Christians. And then, secondly, we must live in a way that honors God. No matter what task we are assigned, we should work at it with all our energy and God-given ability to do the job in a way that honors God. We bear the name Christian and 1 Corinthians 10:31 commands us, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” And in the Greek the main verb in that verse is again a present imperative; we are to do this all the time without exception.

Don’t ever think that you are too good to be doing some job. Trust me, you’re not! If your boss, or your teacher, or your parents think that you should do something, then do it! And do it to the very best of your ability. If the job really is beneath you, then others will recognize your ability and you will be given more important tasks to do. Which, by the way, always come with more responsibility and greater difficulty, so be careful what you desire. But the message for us here is simple; humble yourself as Jesus and Joseph did and do the work you have been assigned to do to the very best of your ability.

And as is always the case, humble obedience leads to blessing, which is my second point.

II.      Humble Obedience Leads to Blessing

I am speaking now about blessings here in this life, not our final reward in heaven. But we must take note that the blessings we receive here may not always be immediately evident to us, nor will they normally be the blessings we desire. Now notice what our text says. In Verses 4 through 6 we read that Joseph found favor in Potiphar’s eyes, was put in charge of his entire estate, and that everything prospered as a result. Our obedience leads to blessing for those around us as well as for ourselves. But we do not see Joseph being set free at this point, which I’m confident would be his desire.

And just as Joseph did not immediately receive the blessing he probably desired, so it will often be with us. The blessings we receive may not be the ones we want, but they are blessings nonetheless and they will be the blessings we need. God always does what is best for his children. In other words, our lives are better when we walk in humble obedience than they are when we don’t. And, of course, if we are walking in humble obedience because that is what God commands and we want to please God, then that itself is proof that we have been saved and will, therefore, also receive a glorious heavenly reward when we finish our earthly pilgrimage. But that reward is entirely by grace; it is not something we earn.

And the lesson for us is again clear. We will benefit in this life if we walk in humble obedience to the commands of God and, therefore, to the commands of all legitimate God-appointed authorities. And, as I noted, those around us will often be blessed as well. But I must again say, as we will see clearly illustrated in a few minutes, the blessings we receive in this life are sometimes not apparent to us at the time.

But first, let’s move on to my third point, which is that humble obedience resists temptation.

III.    Humble Obedience Resists Temptation

Obeying God does not always take the form of doing something, it can often take the form of not doing something. And Joseph gives us a wonderful example of this. In Verses 6b through 7 we read, “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’”

But Joseph knew that such an action would be a violation of God’s law and an offense against God, his master, and Potiphar’s wife. And so, we are told that he refused. We aren’t told specifically what the temptation was. Some have imagined that Joseph was so pure, or Potiphar’s wife so old and unattractive that the temptation was solely that of gaining influence. Others have suggested the exact opposite, assuming that Potiphar’s wife was young and lovely. Either way, Joseph would certainly have been aware that refusing her entreaty could turn Potiphar’s wife into a very powerful enemy. But the exact nature of Joseph’s feelings and thoughts is not really important, which is probably why we aren’t told. What matters is simply that this was obviously a serious temptation and yet Joseph refused. In fact, in Verse 9 Joseph says, “How [] could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” He was living, as I said, Coram Deo. He knew that God sees everything we do and he refused to offend God by doing that which God has forbidden. And he didn’t minimize sin. He didn’t say that going along with Potiphar’s wife would be a slip-up, or a mistake, or a temporary weakness, or any other euphemism he could have used. He said it would be a wicked thing.

Sin is ugly. It is cosmic rebellion against God and we need to see it that way. Don’t minimize it. Call it what it is. And sin is always destructive. It harms the sinner, but it always harms others as well. So learn this lesson from Joseph also; be honest about sin like he was and it will make it easier to avoid.

And notice that this wasn’t a one-time temptation. Potiphar’s wife kept coming at Joseph over and over again. He didn’t just have to resist this temptation one time, or two times, no, he had to resist it many times over some extended period of time. This required real fortitude and strength of character. This demonstrated a firm resolve to walk in obedience no matter the cost. And notice how Joseph handled this repeated temptation; he simply avoided it as much as possible! We are told that he refused to even be with her. That is a great lesson for us to learn. Avoiding temptation is always easier than resisting temptation.

To give a trivial example, I like cake. I know that if I buy or bake a cake, it is going to get eaten even if no one else helps me. No cake is ever going to find its way into my garbage can. Therefore, the best way for me to not eat too much cake is to simply avoid having too much cake around! And there are many other forms of this same strategy. If you are tempted to buy things you don’t need, don’t wander around stores just looking at things. Don’t go window shopping. Instead, make a list of what you need, go in and buy what you need, and get out. And if you are tempted to drink too much, don’t go to a bar with your friends to sit and talk. Meet them somewhere else. If you are tempted to waste time when you quote-unquote “work at home”, then don’t work at home; go into the office instead. If you are tempted to view things on the internet that you shouldn’t view, then don’t let yourself browse around aimlessly on the internet. And you can come up with your own personalized version of this very simple but very effective counsel. Avoid temptation whenever possible.

But, with that said, we can’t always avoid temptation completely and neither could Joseph. In Verses 11 and 12 we are told, “One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” And here we learn another lesson from Joseph; when you can’t avoid temptation and it comes, flee! Get away as quickly as you possibly can. Don’t toy with temptation and think you can play with it just a little bit. The minute you do that, you have already lost the battle. But it is very comforting to know that there will always be a way to get away from temptation. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul wrote that “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

We need to feel the full force of this statement by the apostle, because we need to see our full culpability for our sins. If you are a child of God, you never have to sin. The old line that “the Devil made me do it” is simply false. It is a lie. Neither the devil nor anyone or anything else in all of creation can make you sin. Whenever we sin, it is a deliberate act of cosmic rebellion. It is spitting in God’s face and saying to him, “You have no authority over me! I will do what I want to do.”

Now, let me be clear. I am not saying that the way out of temptation will always be easy, or painless. But there will always be a way out. God promises it. And God’s promises are true. Joseph was a model of avoiding temptation and refusing to sin. But he is also an example of the fact that avoiding sin can be costly. Our passage goes on to tell us that this final act of rejection pushed Potiphar’s wife over the edge. Realizing that she was never going to succeed in getting Joseph to sin, she got angry, turned against him and lied, trying to destroy him. She told her husband that Joseph had tried to molest her. The result was that Joseph was thrown into prison. He went from being a slave, to being a prisoner, which is even worse.

But now remember when I said that humble obedience always leads to blessing, but that the blessing may not always be apparent to us at the time? Well, here is a clear example of that. Because I contend that Joseph being sent to prison was a great blessing. First and foremost, it eventually led to his being made second in command to Pharaoh. In other words, it was part of God’s eternal plan, which is always good – although that is for another sermon. But even in a more immediate sense his being thrown into prison was a blessing. How? You ask. Well, think of the alternative.

Potiphar certainly had the authority and power to kill Joseph, but he didn’t. It may be that Potiphar was not blind and had some inkling of what had been going on, and so he didn’t really believe his wife. But he either wasn’t completely sure she was lying or, for one reason or another, didn’t want to confront her lie. In either case, he put Joseph in prison as a kindness to Joseph. For no matter the reason, it is clear that being put in prison was actually a blessing compared to the likely alternative.

And so it may be with us. If your boss asks you to do something dishonest or something that as a Christian you cannot do, you may lose your job. But I guarantee there is blessing that will come as a result, even if you can’t see it. If nothing else, you have kept your Christian integrity and witness intact. Now you may think such a situation is extremely unlikely, but that is not the case anymore in this country. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a Christian doctor, or nurse, or policeman, or – as we have seen in recent years – even a Christian baker or florist or web designer – and not be confronted with serious temptations to do things that are in conflict with your standing as a servant of  Christ. But we can look to the life of Joseph to help us see that saying “No!” to sin is always the way of blessing. And that is true even if you end up in prison. So look at the example of Joseph and take courage to stand for what is right. Do the will of God in every situation no matter how bad you think the consequences may be and then trust God for the results.

And that leads us to my fourth point, which is that our true reward comes later.

IV.    Our True Reward Comes Later

While it is true that blessing always follows humble obedience, the blessings we receive in this life are not, as I have said, always the ones we want. And, in and of themselves, they may not be things that are pleasant for us now. Certainly, being thrown into prison was not a pleasant thing for Joseph, even though it was undoubtedly better than the likely alternative.

But, as I said earlier, if our humble obedience comes from a heart that desires to please God, then that is a sure sign that God has given us a new heart. In Romans 8:7-8 Paul wrote that “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” Therefore, the mere fact that we desire to please God is a sure sign that we have been born again, from above.

And if that is true, then we are God’s adopted children and the promise of Romans 8:28 applies to us; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Think about that statement! It is an ironclad guarantee from the sovereign Lord of the universe that even the trials we experience in this life will turn out to be blessings in the end.

Therefore, when we examine our motives as well as our outward actions, our good works are important because they are evidence of a changed heart. But the proper place of our good works in God’s plan of salvation has been and still is a major cause of great confusion for some. It is one of the main differences between the true biblical doctrine of justification and the doctrine accepted by many professing evangelicals and the one proclaimed by the Roman Catholic church. Although the Bible is crystal clear, men have jumped into the stream and muddied the waters when it comes to the doctrine of justification.

The truth is, that even at their very best, our so-called good works are all tainted by sin. They are all filthy rags in the sight of God as the prophet Isaiah declared in Isaiah 64:6. None of our works are ever perfect, and God’s standard is perfection. Therefore, our works cannot be the basis of our justification. We need the perfect, unimpeachable righteousness of Jesus Christ to be justified. Nothing else will satisfy the justice of God.

Therefore, the fact that God accepts any of our works as good works is pure grace. Our salvation is by grace from beginning to end. Grace is God’s favor shown to those who deserve his wrath. God’s electing us unto salvation in eternity past is grace. His sending the Holy Spirit to give us new hearts is grace. His working in us day by day to enable us to put our sin to death and to be conformed to the likeness of Christ is grace. His accepting our pathetic attempts at good works because we are his children is grace. And his perfecting us and bringing us into his presence for all eternity when this life is over is grace. Praise God for his grace! As Paul went on to write in Romans 8:29-30, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” If God has called you and justified you, you will certainly be glorified.

And to be glorified is to be made perfect, without sin, and to have a new resurrection body and to spend eternity in the presence of our great, loving God in heaven. That is our ultimate blessing, our eternal reward. Nothing on this earth can compare in the slightest degree. The greatest blessings we receive here are but shadows. And this ultimate reward is all of God’s grace. We merited hell, but God gives us heaven.

And it is in the light of this ultimate gracious reward that we should live in humble and grateful obedience to God. Notice that the verse in Romans said that God predestined us “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son”. And, given that Joseph was a type of Christ, we should, therefore, strive to live like Joseph. Not letting our joy, or our obedience, or our love for God, or our diligence to do his will be in any way dependent on our earthly circumstances. If you find yourself in humble circumstances, take courage. It can’t be anywhere near as humbling to you as it was for Christ to become a man. So get over your pride and do your best to honor God no matter what your circumstances.

This life is a pilgrimage; that is, a journey made by a stranger in a foreign land. That is an accurate description of this life because this present earth is not our eternal home, we are just traveling through. That is how Joseph’s father Jacob described his life. In Genesis 47:9 we read that when Jacob was brought to Pharaoh by Joseph he said, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”

Viewing life as a pilgrimage is a good thing to do because it emphasizes three important facts: First, that we are not home, we are strangers here; Second, that the journey has a clear destination – our eternal home in heaven with God; and third, that we will get to our final destination, God guarantees it. Praise God!

Look at Abraham, the father of all believers. He lived his life as a stranger on a journey. We read in Hebrews 11:9 that “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”

Abraham lived by faith, and in Hebrews 11:1-2 we read that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” Friends, we need faith. We need to live by faith and not by sight. If Joseph had been led by his sight, he would have seen a hopeless situation as the slave of Potiphar. He most likely would not have been able to resist the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. He probably would have been executed rather than going to prison and then rising to be second in command in Egypt.

This life is a terrible place if you are completely honest and you have no faith in the living God. You can have a lot of fun if you are young, healthy and free. You can play sports and music and travel and party with your friends. But what if you are sick? Or poor? Or live in some horrible set of circumstances? And even if you are relatively healthy, free and prosperous, just think of how terrible it is to grow old if you believe that you are just the result of random combinations of atoms. That your life has no real purpose or meaning and that when you die you simply cease to exist. And that, in fact, the whole universe is doomed to simply die out. As you grow old you realize that all of the things you used to enjoy aren’t so enjoyable anymore and Albert Camus’ statement that “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”[1] starts to sound reasonable. Or you may find yourself agreeing with the great English philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell who wrote that “only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”[2]

But friends, I’m very happy to be able to tell you that such a dismal, materialistic view of the universe is entirely nonsense! This universe is not an accident and we are not accidents. We are creations of a loving, intelligent, infinite, eternal and unchangeable triune God. And the purpose of this universe is the manifestation of his glory. And, more to the point, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism famously declares, man’s chief end – or you could say his ultimate purpose – is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

And in order to do that we must first recognize that God exists. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” And so we come back to faith and back to Joseph. He believed in God, the true and living God of the Bible, the Creator of all things, the Sustainer of all things and the Judge of all things. And, therefore, he lived with the realization that God knows everything. And Joseph wanted to please God even when his circumstances were unpleasant. He did this because it is the right thing to do and because he knew that God will reward those who earnestly seek him as we just read.

And we must do the same, which leads to my final point, the practical application of this story from Joseph’s life.

V.      Application

We must stop and think. Look at the world around you. Look in your own heart. Look into the word of God. Be convinced that God exists. That he created all things and that he will judge all things. And then live each day in light of these eternal realities. Live Coram Deo, before the face of God. And know that God will reward you on that day.

Even Jesus Christ was motivated by the eternal reward he knew was coming. In Hebrews 12:2 we are counseled, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” We should love God for who he is and we should want to obey him because that is what is right and good and pleasing to God, but it is not wrong to also consider that we have an eternal reward awaiting us.

Near the end of his life, the apostle Paul wrote, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

We should long for the appearing of our Lord and Savior. And if we do, then there is a crown of righteousness that awaits us. Therefore, the first point of application is simply to be certain that we believe in God and God’s word. Make your calling and election sure. Study the word, the world and your own heart. See that God’s word is true and then do what it says. Live Coram Deo. We must understand the Creator/creature distinction, which will humble us and cause us to fear God. And, as Job said in Job 28:28, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”

And that verse leads directly to the second point of application; shun evil. Follow Joseph’s example and avoid temptation when possible, but when temptation comes, and it will, remember that God will always provide a way out. Be so filled with his word and Spirit and have a mindset like Joseph’s that will say, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

The third point of application is that we must seek to do our best to please and honor God with everything that we do independent of our earthly circumstances. Joseph sought to please God when he was honored and loved best of all in his father’s house, but then he still sought to please God when he was sold into slavery and when he was sent to prison and on throughout life. Therefore, whether you find yourself in pleasant and prosperous circumstances or you find yourself in unpleasant and humble circumstances, make it your goal to honor God. Remember that the way up is the way down, the way of humility. Work hard at every task. As Paul commanded us in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

The fourth point of application is to speak to others about Christ. If you live a good, honest hard-working life and no one knows you are a Christian, then who do you think will get the glory? You have, in a sense, stolen from God because you have taken the glory for yourself that rightly belongs to him. Remember what Jesus told us in John 15:5, he said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Therefore, if Jesus enables you to bear good fruit, be sure that others know it is Jesus working in and through you and not your effort that matters.

The fifth point of application is to stand firm in times of trouble, knowing that God is always working for your good and his glory. You may not be able to see the blessing you receive for humble obedience, but know for certain it is there. Even if you are in chains for Christ, there is blessing.

The sixth point of application is to help others to walk in humble obedience. Joseph was concerned about the people around him even though, as far as we know, none of them were believers. But you have the privilege of being surrounded by believers. How much more should you be concerned to help them to honor God. Remember that we are all part of the body of Christ. There is a unity that we need to be aware of. It isn’t that we are competing with one another to see who can get to heaven, we should desire to bring as many along with us as possible. And we should realize that we all need each other’s help. And we should desire to lead others to Christ. In Galatians 6:10 we are told, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

And the seventh point of application is that when you fail in obedience, in other words, when you sin, do not give up hope. In 1 John 1:9 we are given a great promise. It says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” But don’t go too far with that truth and think that sin doesn’t matter! It is always best to obey. And if your desire is to get away with as much sin as possible, then you are not born again. But sin need not bring us down. God is faithful to forgive.

The eighth point of application is to view this life as a pilgrimage. Be conscious of the fact that your home is not here on this sin-ravaged earth. Your eternal home is in the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness, where there is “no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

And the ninth and final point of application is to persevere to the end. Whether you enjoy great victory over sin and prosper or you sin and need to repent and get back on the narrow way, keep on doing it. Pray for strength. Read the word. Fellowship with other believers. Use every means of grace at your disposal to help you, and to help others, persevere to the end. Trust in God’s promise, he will not let you fail. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 that he was, “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Brothers and sisters, we have a glorious and wonderful God. No one can snatch us out of his hand and even our own sin cannot take away our salvation. But be a Joseph and imitate Christ. Walk in humble obedience in whatever circumstances God ordains for you and you will be blessed both in this life and in the life to come, and those around you will be blessed as well. Live Coram Deo, before the face of God. And know that one day the trumpet will sound for his coming. He will return and all of his blood-bought children will join him to spend eternity in heaven.

[1] The first line of Albert Camus’ The Myth Of Sisyphus.

[2] From Bertrand Russell, A Free Man’s Worship