It was mid-afternoon before the entire staff finally left. Khnumet [Potiphar’s wife] had counted and kept track so she would know when she and Joseph would be totally alone.

Finally she managed to ring her servants’ bell. Within moments, Joseph stood in the doorway of her bedchamber.

“I forgot to have Zeneb draw my bath for me, Joseph. Would you see to it?” Her heart was pounding and accelerating wildly, but outwardly she was a picture of composure, and she took pride in her secret accomplishment.

While he filled the tiled pool adjacent to her bedroom, she sat at her cosmetic table combing and recombing her long, silken tresses. She pretended not to notice his progress, but when she had calculated that he would be bringing the last of the buckets of water, she removed the looped golden earrings from her ears, stepped out of her robe and waited for him just inside the door of her bath chamber.

As he poured the last water into the pool, she stepped up behind him and said, “Joseph, you have some other duties to attend to today, and they are here with me.” He whirled around to face her and the bucket clattered against the marble floor. He stood frozen, as it were, in time and space. . . .

 “My lady. . . .” He was embarrassed, “Don’t call me ‘My Lady.’ . . . My name is Khnumet.” Finally, as if her words had awakened him from a shocking dream, Joseph found himself. He said with unprecedented authority, “No, my lady, your name is not Khnumet. . . . It’s Shechem.” “Shechem?” she repeated. “And who, might I ask, is Shechem?” Joseph said, “Shechem is not a person. It is a place. An evil place. And long ago I was told that if the day ever came when I faced my Shechem, I was to flee from the evil of it.” (Joyce Landorff, Joseph)

All-too-convenient evil is prevalent in our society, as well. And some temptations are so folded into our lives that we have gone past the point of feeling them. I should stand up for friends without legal status, but my week is too busy. I should repeat to the President that his war and new tortures revealed today in the New York Times are evil, but it’s too depressing. Temptation comes in two forms, the temptation to do wrong and the temptation not to do right.

We’re going to look today at the story of Joseph and I believe you are going to gain new strength to flee evil in your quest to be More Than a Survivor.

Joseph set a good example as more than a survivor by fleeing the all-too-convenient evil that tempted him. Sexual temptation in the Bible is a metaphor for all temptation and I don’t want to discount the destructive power of sexual temptation as we include other types in our discussion.

When faced with similar circumstances, whether they be sexually oriented or not, what are we to do? Our Adventure Application for this week is called “Agree to Flee.” Let’s look the passage with this acronym in view: FLEE

I. Feel the danger. Joseph sensed the danger as soon as Mrs. Potiphar “took notice” (literally, “lifted up her eyes at”) of him and made advances. If we don’t feel any danger, we are precariously naïve and are setting ourselves up for failure—sooner or later.

 I don’t know what your struggle is, but the most sinister drug you can take is the one that dulls your sense of danger. The only way to succeed in struggle is to do something today. If you are struggling with sexual temptation, just be honest and admit its danger. Its not a sign of weakness to feel temptation. At the age of 83, the great missionary statesman E. Stanley Jones was asked in what sin he felt most vulnerable to. Without hesitation he responded, “Lust.” Temptation that had plagued him as a youth was not all that far away.

If you were planning not to tithe today, forget your reasons and just admit that greed is a dangerous force. If you don’t plan to do anything to stop the war or immigration powers, just admit that you are exposing the nation to God’s divine judgment.

 Your greatest danger is when you have just had a success. We relax suddenly after a victory. If you have trouble with alcohol, beware the night when your team wins. Success is often the context for defeat.

 Your greatest danger is in the area of your strengths. We tend to sin in the area of our spiritual gifts. I’ll talk about the sins of pastors. We have seen two leading pastors removed this year for sexual sin in Manhattan. I imagine that they are good counselors who lost control of their gift. Doesn’t it make sense? If you are an obnoxious insensitive klutz, you are unlikely to have an affair. Don’t even worry about it. Just a thought.

 In The Christian Warfare, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote: “Not to realize that you are in a conflict means . . . that you are completely defeated by the devil. Anyone who is not aware of a fight and a conflict in a spiritual sense is in a drugged and hazardous condition”.

II. Leave the area. A. Mrs. Potiphar pursued Joseph so relentlessly that eventually his only option was to run. Farrar comments, “Because some things are more important than life itself. Like removing myself from situations where I could possibly be tempted”. If possible, when temptation confronts we need to flee—look away, get away, leave the room, drive a different route, stop an activity, change plans—even if it seems awkward or ungraceful, or causes a temporary misunderstanding. Joseph didn’t leave a forwarding address to temptation—neither should we.

 When our ministry began a religious television show, “You Need to Know,” my husband, David, and I bought a television set. I am one of those persons who is susceptible to spending time in front of a television set. Subtly, perversely, I began to spend more and more evenings using the remote to flip channels. The television room was on the way to my bedroom; on my way to bed, I would pause “just to see what’s on.” It took a little while, but with the Holy Spirit’s nagging conviction, we moved the television set to the basement, deliberately not connecting the antenna so we could only watch videos. The VCR now has a padlock on a little homemade lock box—thanks to the efforts of one of my sons—so that it takes a real act of intention to get the key, unlock the padlock, hook up the two plugs, and put in a video. How can an intelligent woman develop a viewing addiction? I can give you a thousand rationalizations, but the simple truth is, I—a woman who loves stories—am susceptible. I need to FLEE all-too-convenient evil. —Karen Mains

 Flee the right temptation. Don’t pick an easy one and set aside the ones where the power of God is your only hope.

III. Experience God’s pleasure. The moment we turn away from temptation, God is pleased, but we may not feel his pleasure at that moment. Some attractions are harder than others to refuse. It was Franklin Jones who said, “What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don’t want to discourage it completely.” But when we assail the temptation head on, like Joseph, sooner or later a settled satisfaction will set in, like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day.

 I have to confess that I have only made trips of public conscience a few times. I went to Washington to lobby for more food aid to prevent starvation. I went to Senator Clinton’s office to protest the war. I joined the Peace March here in December.

 Each of these times, it was inconvenient. I was nervous. But I can tell you that when you leave one of those experiences, you experience God’s pleasure. I had the chance to take one of my daughters to Washington so I was also being a Godly influence that Christian life is standing up for our beliefs in justice, against greed, and for the dignity found in all persons because of the image of God in them. If you go to one of these protests, you will glow afterwards.

IV. Establish protections. As Mrs. Potiphar pursued Joseph, he resolved to be with her as little as possible. Arterburn and Stoeker, in Every Man’s Battle, suggest preparing with “war game simulations.” Simulate the temptation mentally in advance and set up defenses.

 One of the most effective measures we can establish is the protection of accountability. In his classic, The Man in the Mirror, Patrick Morley contends: “One of the greatest reasons men get into trouble is that they don’t have to answer to anyone for their lives.” He calls it “the missing link”.

Think of the temptation you face. What shields of protection need to be established? Who could you team up with for mutual accountability? What verses could you memorize and have ready? Are there cable channels that need to be blocked? Is what you are reading reinforcing temptation? Are you getting gratification from anyone or anything else besides your spouse?

 At the beginning of this service, I said that Temptation comes in two forms, the temptation to do wrong and the temptation not to do right. Each of us walk from this sanctuary back into one of those two temptations. We have been safe for the moment to gain the strength we need from sanctuary. Have you let the Holy Spirit show you the areas where your defenses are low? Have you been open to the Lord and not just focused on the temptations you like to defeat? Have you resolved again not to half defeat a temptation? At the time Joseph dealt with temptation, it seemed like a huge defeat. And yet he rose to be deputy prime minister of Egypt. Let’s Flee convenient evil and expect great things from God.