A sermon on the strongholds of lusts, but that in Jesus we ARE free of bondage IF we cling to Him. The repercussions of continually giving into these lusts have eternal consequences. The lack of fear of God in today's church coupled with a lack of preaching on hell, are almost additions to people's sins of lust. Think with me here. Did Joseph have enough authority in that house to probably not have to be with her in that house by himself? You know what? I get the sense he was over all of the other slaves. And if there was a duty inside that house that could have been done by another... but even if he didn't want to put another one of the slaves in that situation, he certainly was in a position where he probably could have required one of the other slaves at least to remain in that house with him. Because, look, he was not ignorant. This didn't happen in one day. She was throwing herself at him day after day. You would have thought... and I would think that if you were put in a position of authority like he had... he had the ability to not be in the house, or he had the ability to require some of the other servants to never leave him alone with her. I believe he had it more in his power to have avoided that situation. Now, maybe out of ignorance. But, look, how ignorant can you be when some woman is saying "lie with me"? That's not even being discrete folks. That's laying it all out on the table. You are not in the dark about what her intentions are. And if you fear doing that kind of sin against God... look, when you come to the New Testament... flee fornication! And I think if we're honest, he did not flee fornication to the extent that he should have. Now I know when it came right down to it and she grabbed hold of him, he fled and he didn't do it, but the fact is, he certainly gave cause for accusation to be brought against him. I'll tell you, as a pastor, and I think as a Christian man, as well, not just as a pastor, we need to be very careful, because I tell you what, there's a devil out there looking to bring accusation against you. And even if you get into a situation where you flee and avoid the actual sin, if a wicked woman decides, young man, to bring a charge against you, even if it's false, it can stick enough to tarnish your reputation so that you have to suffer the consequences of it just like he did. You need to be very careful. We need to be very, very careful. You got to watch out. Look, there's no substitute for purity. Don't tarnish your reputation. I can tell you as a pastor that there are certain men in the church that unless God were to do something really supernatural, I will never let teach, preach, or be in any position of ministry, simply because of the sloppiness of sexual sin in their life. I will not do it. You say, "Never?"... probably never. Why? Because, there's standards. Look, you can fall into sin and still be a Christian. You fall into it too much, fornicators and adulterers don't inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. You better watch out. But there's degrees you can fall into and still be forgiven, but it destroys your testimony. And all it takes is once. Be careful. I caution you. Be careful.

• published: 23 May 2014
• views: 39451