Everything…but Thee

Every sermon about marriage is for the whole church

It is for those who are married.

It is for those who will be married three.

It is for all Christians to understand the connection between earthly marriage, and Christ relationship to the church.

It is for all society, because the home is the building block of all cultures.

Happy Valentine’s week to everyone!

According to Guinness Book of World Records, Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher had the longest marriage on records. They were married for 86 years, 290 days. They offered just a few marriage secrets.

A friend is for life; our marriage has lasted a lifetime

There’s no secret to our marriage; we just did what was needed for each other and our family

respect, support, and communicate with each other. be faithful, honest, and true. Love ah other with all of your heart.

Their granddaughter, said of them, “They cherish each other. If they had to be apart, their lives wouldn’t be as fruitful…they are connected…they are soul mates.”

Obviously, the Fisher’s stewarded their marriage for the glory of God.

Stewarding a proper view of life

Genesis 39:6 “And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.” Genesis 39:9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

The word stewardship means “to manage a household.” It is not about ownership; it is about managing— managing the assets of the master.

We have key words here in the passage:

master- אָדוֹן- master; lord; owner

all- כֹּל- everything; total

notice the word “all”:

Genesis 39:3 “And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.”

Genesis 39:4 “And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.”

Genesis 39:5 “And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.”

Genesis 39:6 “And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.”

Genesis 39:8 “But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;”

Genesis 39:22 “And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.”

Notice that word all. Stewardship, then, is not a sometime thing— it is an all-the-time thing. Joseph recognized that it all belongs to God! It is a principle that covers all of your life.

Luke 16:1–6 “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.”

Think about it:

verse 1 says that he is a slave

verse 2 says that he had a master

verses 4-9 prove that Joseph had nothing but was to tend to the possessions of Potiphar

THIS IS THE PICTURE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIAN. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN:

1 Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Psalm 100 “A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.”

If we think that we can tithe and appease God, we are sorely mistaken. We don’t owe God our tithe. We don’t owe him as lords of our money; we give to Him as stewards of His money. It all belongs to God! Somehow, someway, somewhere a young adult got ahold of a concept that changed the trajectory of his life— his family— his nation— the world. It does not belong to me— it belongs to God!

Stewarding a proper view of women

Genesis 39:8–9 “But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

her view of Joseph

Genesis 39:6 “And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.”

SHE SAW HIM WITH HER EYES

his view of her

Genesis 39:9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

HE SAW HER WITH HIS HEART

Genesis 1:26–27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

1 Peter 1:22 “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”

with dignity as fellow image bearers

with protection as sisters

with glory, as co-heirs of the grace of God

1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

Jesus came to restore the glory that sin had stolen from the female- see John 4, woman at well, and John 8, the woman taken in adultery.

“The problem of male lust cannot be solved by looking away from women but by looking at them scripturally, purely, and holistically.”

STEWARDSHIP HAS A WAY OF LOOKING UP—

…up to God (Ecc. 9:10; Col. 3:23; Rom. 12:11)

…up to his master (Eph. 6:5-6)

…up to his master’s wife

Don’t look down— that’s where the serpent lies in the grass of life. Look up— that’s where redemption and protection is found!

stewarding a proper view of Sin

Joseph had stewardship in the domain that is most critical to spiritual victory: his mind.

For eleven years, he had been thinking right thoughts, and right thoughts led to right actions— which resulted in a pure life.

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” 

Joseph tended a soft heart to God, which resulted in right thinking about himself and, ultimately, to sin itself.

Genesis 39:9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

to his master

to his sister

to his God

Here’s what is striking to me. He has the opportunity to do something that, most likely, would NEVER be discovered. Who’s going to find out? Who is going to tell? She’s not!

IT’S BEEN 11 YEARS SINCE HE WAS SOLD INTO SLAVERY!

She was looking for sexual fulfillment outside of her marital union. Also, it seems that in the ancient Egypt there were low moral expectations on women, even married women. It was assumed that women would have sex outside marriage. Potiphar’s wife wasn’t looking for a relationship, just a good time. Again, our modern culture tells us that sex is great and often better apart from meaningful relationships. The truth – both Biblically and lived out in life – is that sex is far better in committed, married relationship; that sex means something.

AGAINST GOD?!?!

Who is God?

Well, there is the

sun God— his name is Rah.

gods of the Nile- their names are Osiris and Hap

the calf god- his name is Apis

the frog god- his name is Heqet

the dust god— from which lice infected the land— his name was Geb

…but Joseph says, I cannot sin against Adonai!

master- adon

God- adonai

stewarding a proper view of marriage

R. Scott Rodin talked about avoiding the mine fields of marriage— you know, my needs, my time, my feelings.

He said, instead, we should turn MINE into OURS & OURS into GOD’S

1 Peter 4:10 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

speech

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

service

Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

sexual life

Proverbs 5:15–18 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, And rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, And not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: And rejoice with the wife of thy youth.”

time

My wife often spells love T-I-M-E

ILL. East Sligh Ave. Baptist—

you all always want to be together; I soon discovered that it was because their relationship was not what it should/could have been

Ed Cole said this: "A man doesn't own his marriage; he is only the steward of his wife's love."