The man behind the Alpha Course, Nicky Gumbel, once said, “Of all the prisons I have visited around the world, the worst is in Lusaka, Zambia.”
It was built in 1950 to hold 250 men. Today, it is 265% over-capacity. There isn’t enough room for all the inmates to lie down at the same time, so they take it in turns to sleep. If, when they enter the prison, the prisoners do not have AIDS or tuberculosis, they usually become infected soon after.
When Nicky went there, his team held an outdoor evangelistic event in a central courtyard. With the stench and the heat unbearable, unsurprisingly, virtually every prisoner attended.
Amazingly, the event was led not by a chaplain, but by one of the inmates; a church leader awaiting trial in that jail. He had been falsely accused of a minor offence (for which the penalty in the UK if proven guilty would be a small fine). He was innocent, but he had been behind bars for over four years, framed on a politically motivated charge, without trial, without legal representation, and not knowing when he would be released – if ever.
His opening words as he began the service were these: “God is good – all the time.” Here was a man expressing absolute assurance of the goodness of God, despite having been appallingly mistreated. Even in such depressing circumstances, he seemed to radiate the joy of the Lord.
We’re following the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, a man who was likewise terribly, terribly wronged in life. Time and time again, in fact. It was so unjust. And we’re asking ourselves the question; what can I learn about growing in faith from his life?
Do you want to be a giant of faith? Do you want to live victoriously? Do you want to be an overcomer and more than a conqueror? I do. And the story of Joseph shows how we can triumph in faith, even when we are badly wronged.
Last week, we saw that he was given prophetic dreams by God. That is significant, because the Book of Acts says that, in these last days, God is pouring out his Spirit on men and women, young and old, and that will be expressed in signs and wonders, in spiritual gifts, and particularly in visions and dreams. So Joseph, in many ways, kind of prefigures or embodies the Spirit-filled church that God wants to raise up in every generation.
And when Spirit-filled churches speak prophetic truth, like Joseph did, (“God gave me a dream,”) it bothers and annoys people, because people prefer darkness to light. People block their ears to truth from God. They find it provocative and offensive. It was the same for Joseph, so one day, as we saw last Sunday, his jealous brothers sell him to some passing slave traders.
According to the International Society for Human Rights, which is a secular organisation with members in 38 states worldwide, 80 per cent of all religious discrimination in the world today is directed at Christians. How should followers of Jesus, like us, live by faith in light of the fact that statistically we are more likely to be wronged than adherents of any other religion? That’s the question we are going to try to answer this morning.
Here’s how the story of Joseph continues after his brothers fake his death and sell him to human traffickers: Genesis 39, verse 1.
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 so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. 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 he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her. 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.
When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. ‘Look,’ she said to them, ‘this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.
Then she told him this story: ‘That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, ‘This is how your slave treated me,’ he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder.
So the warder put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warder paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Forgiveness and favour
If I were to tell you about a friend of mine who was rejected by his family, and then became a victim of modern slavery, and was then falsely accused of sexual assault, and was now in jail with no prospect of release, I think the last thing you would say to me would be, “Oh, it really sounds like God is blessing him.”
And yet, despite all that happening to Joseph, twice in this chapter it says, “the Lord gave Joseph success” and it also says, “he prospered” (which is the same word in Hebrew). In addition, it twice says, “Joseph found favour.” Twice more it speaks of blessing in his life. And it clearly says in this one chapter alone, no less than four times, “the Lord was with Joseph.”
I find that really challenging. Would people say that God is with me, just by looking at my life? Would they say it about yours? Even if everything was going well?
How is it that God’s favour is so evident in Joseph’s life even when he has been so obviously and severely wronged?
Let’s take a look. Verse 1 tells us that Potiphar, his new master, is captain of the guard, and on the palace staff. Some commentators describe him as Pharaoh’s top-ranking bodyguard. Others say it possibly means head executioner. Tim Keller thinks captain of the guard is more like commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In any case, he is a top official, with access to the most powerful man in the land. We read here also that Potiphar has property and land and servants, so he is evidently very wealthy.
Joseph is sold, as a foreign slave, into Potiphar’s service. He has to learn the local language, and become accustomed to an alien culture, adjust to having no rights or any time off, not to mention recover emotionally from the trauma and ordeal of family rejection. The stress and shock of all that could wreck some people for life.
And yet, by v4, Joseph has already risen to become managing director of Potiphar’s entire estate. He distinguishes himself by the excellence of everything he does. He runs the household with outstanding success. Everyone can see it. He works hard. He works well. He proves totally trustworthy. And v5 tells us that the blessing of God is on everything he does.
In v3 we’re told, “his master saw that the Lord was with him.” Joseph doesn’t have to tell Potiphar that the Lord is with him, he can see it clearly for himself. What do you think Potiphar sees?
I think he sees a man who has forgiven and forgotten and moved on. Do you think Joseph would have earned such respect and admiration if he had spent his days sulking in self-pity? Would Potiphar have promoted Joseph so quickly if he was always seething and resentful about his misfortune? No. He’s not stuck in a rut of bitterness. He’s not going round and round in a cycle of constant moaning.
How has Joseph not become a hostage to all his hardships? What’s his secret? Romans 8.28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
It says, “we know.” Not “we hope,” or “we think,” or “we suppose.” Yes, we can see very well that life is unfair. It can be cruel. But we know, the Bible says, we know, that God works all things for good. Do you believe that?
Can you say, “I have read God’s promises and I believe they are true, and whatever happens, however bad it gets, I know God is good, all the time, and he is for me, and nothing can separate me from his love or pluck me from his hand”?
Joseph had heard from God in his dreams. One day, his brothers would bow before him. God had said it. And so, by faith, Joseph knows that, in the end, all things will work together for good.
He didn’t have Romans 8.28, it wasn’t written yet, but Joseph knew the truth of it. He himself will say to his brothers in chapter 50, something strikingly similar; “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
Some of you here have recent experience of being wronged. It’s very raw. Someone lied about you. Someone cheated on you. Someone insulted you for no reason. Someone treated you unfairly. Someone stole from you. Someone slighted you or blanked you. You can’t get it out of your mind.
For others, it might have been years back, but it still stings every time you think about it. Have you given it over to God yet? Don’t carry it in your heart another day. Leave the burden in this room this morning and resolve to walk out of here free.
You might not understand why God allowed you to be wronged, but you know that God can work all things for good and so you’re going to let it go and leave it here. This is key, so key, to receiving God’s favour and God’s blessing on your life.
Forbidden fruit
But favour and success and prospering and the Lord being with you does not always mean “problem free.” Just when things are beginning to look up for Joseph, everything is poised to come crashing down.
It doesn’t take a creative mind to imagine Mrs. Potiphar as a bored and disgruntled wife. Stuck at home all day. Unfulfilled. Unsatisfied. Unhappy. And Potiphar is an important man, always busy.
Time passes slowly, and she notices the new chief servant who is doing so well. It says in v6 that Joseph is well-built and handsome. She starts to fantasise and, with Potiphar always at work, she befriends him and begins to flirt with him.
And, as so often with sexual temptation, in v7 it is sudden and full-on. Joseph of course will never have encountered anything like this before. “Come to bed with me!” she says. In the Hebrew, it’s a crude and direct imperative of just two words.
Being a rich man’s wife, she’s probably attractive, well-dressed and perfumed. The neckline on her dress is getting lower every day. Joseph is a single man in his prime. He suddenly has access to immediate pleasure.
Why not? Just this once. It would be just their little secret. Who would ever find out? And, who knows, maybe someone with her influence could pull a few strings and put in a good word for his freedom? This could be his big opportunity. It’s an open goal for Joseph.
But he refuses. It's tasty looking fruit. But it's forbidden fruit. He tells her not only that it would betray Potiphar’s trust, but in v9 he describes sex with her as “a wicked thing and a sin against God.”
God is looking for a people who, like Joseph, call a spade a spade and a sin a sin. Are you refusing the world’s narrative and the world’s language on sexual issues?
But Potiphar’s wife is persistent and explicit. “Day after day,” says v10. Just like in our world, the pressure to conform is relentless.
You can imagine the kind of thing she says to him again and again. “My husband is never home and I’m so lonely. He could never meet my needs like you could. I’m sure God brought you into my life. You’re so handsome and strong. How could anything that feels so right be wrong? These are natural feelings. It would be unhealthy to suppress them. No one would ever know, we’re alone and safe.”
Like two strong magnets; you inch them towards each other until suddenly the attraction is overpowering and they slam together. You have to keep them at a safe distance.
Like on the motorway, where you need to stay two chevrons behind the vehicle in front to avoid a crash, Joseph takes great care to keep a safe distance. He refuses to even be with her, says v10.
The world is constantly saying to the Spirit-filled church, “get into to bed with us. Embrace our standards. Fly our flag. Come under our roof. Accept our morals. Adopt our vocabulary. Support our causes.” But Joseph refuses to go to bed with her or even be with her.
Are you clear where the line is? Are you rejecting the world’s agenda? Are you putting your foot down and saying, “no”? This is what faith looks like in 2026.
One day though, Joseph’s going about his work, focusing on the tasks ahead, and he notices it’s quiet. Unusually quiet. There are no other servants about today. That’s strange… “I wonder wh….” Bang!
There she is. It’s an ambush. And it’s not just flattery and seduction this time; she physically grabs hold of him, pleading, “Come to bed with me!”
The Bible never tells us to reason with temptation, or consider it, or analyse it, or let it linger. “Flee from sexual immorality,” says 1 Corinthians 6.18. Run away.
Dallas Seminary professor Howard Hendricks examined the cases of 246 men in full-time ministry who fell into adultery.
The shocking thing is this: as far as Hendricks could discern, these full-time church leaders and evangelists seemed to be born-again believers in Jesus. And after interviewing each one, Hendricks identified four common denominators:
- Every one of these 246 men had been convinced that falling into sin “would never happen to me”
- None was involved in any kind of personal accountability
- Each one had all but ceased having a daily time of prayer, Bible reading, and worship
- Over 80 percent became sexually involved with the other woman after spending significant time with her, often in counselling situations
But Joseph won’t even be near her, so he runs away, leaving his outer cloak in her hands.
It keeps happening, doesn’t it? This is the second cloak he’s had removed from him; his ornate coat seized by his jealous brothers in chapter 37 and now his servant’s cloak snatched by this cheating wife in chapter 39.
The 17th Century playwright William Congreve famously observed, “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.” Potiphar’s wife is scorned and she is furious.
Now she has to face Joseph every day, humiliated and rejected. What’s she going to say to him now? So rather than live with the shame and awkwardness, she frames him. When Potiphar hears about it, he burns with anger and throws Joseph in prison.
Did Potiphar really believe her story? Pete Wilcox, in his excellent book on Joseph called Living the Dream perceptively writes, “Potiphar knew what sort of man Joseph was and probably also what sort of woman his wife was.”
What if Potiphar’s anger was about losing his best servant? What if it was because he suspected his wife was a seductress and a liar?
The standard punishment for such an offence would have been death for Joseph. But instead, he is imprisoned. And not in the common jail, where conditions would have been worse. It says in v20 that he was confined in a special category, with the king’s prisoners, curiously a place where Potiphar, as captain of the guard, could keep an eye on him.
All things work together for good. And, as we’ll see in the coming weeks, this detail of the special prison Joseph is in will prove significant - in fact, decisive. God is sovereign.
Ending
I hope you feel you’ve learned about how to grow in faith from Joseph this morning.
But I hope even more you’ve met with Jesus. Already, after two weeks, we’ve seen how Joseph points to our Lord and Saviour.
- Like Joseph, Jesus was deeply loved by his father
- Like Joseph, Jesus was a good shepherd
- Like Joseph, Jesus was betrayed by his own and handed over to Gentile
- Like Joseph, Jesus was sold for pieces of silver
- Like Joseph, Jesus proved faithful and above reproach
- Like Joseph, Jesus was falsely accused and badly wronged
And in the weeks to come, we’ll see more foreshadowings still.
I want you to draw inspiration from Joseph, but I want you more to draw near with faith to the one he so clearly points to; Jesus Christ.
No one in history was ever more wronged than him. And because of him, in the end, no matter how wronged you have been, God works all things for the good you who love him and are called according to his purpose.
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 2 August 2026
