Look at verse 7 of chapter 39.
Now, was he sinning against Potiphar? Yeah. Was he going to sin against his women? Yes, absolutely.
Was he going to sin against his parents? Absolutely. But ultimately, what was his mindset?
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
You know what the principle that we learn there is that in the absence of authority, I'm accountable to God for all my actions.
You see, we're accountable to our bosses, to our parents, to everyone who God has placed as an authority over our lives, but ultimately, if they're absent, God is the one who I'm accountable to.
You see, it's important that Christians understand the fear of God. What is the fear of God? It's the recognition that God is always watching.
Now, I heard that here in Texas or in Houston that the driving is pretty bad here. Is that true? Is this statement true? Is this testimony?
Okay, I hope no one was bearing false witness here, okay? And they're telling me, you know, they cut you off. Well, that's exactly how it is in L.A., okay?
L.A. is bad. Do you guys have traffic here? Okay, I bet you it's not as bad as Los Angeles traffic.
Los Angeles traffic is like, I live 10 minutes away from the church. On a Thursday, I basically live like 40 minutes away from the church because it's so bad.
But one thing you'll notice is that when you're on a freeway, for example, we have a freeway called the 710 freeway, and everyone's going, you know, kind of fast, and they're kind of just speeding along because they're known for speeding, and they're just driving, and all of a sudden, everyone starts slowing down.
Everyone's driving fast, and all of a sudden, you see these red lights, you know, just breaking a little bit, and you wonder, like, why is everyone just automatically slowing down?
And when you kind of finagle your way through the crowd there, you see a police officer, okay? Why? Because as soon as the authority is present, everyone just starts hitting the brakes, you know?
As soon as you know the police officer's there, it's like, you make the complete stop. Okay, we have something called the California roll. And what that is, it's a brake, but it's just you brake ever so slightly, but not all the way, and then as you're braking, you hit the gas.
That's what it is. But here's the thing is, you know that these people are going to start slowing down as soon as there's a highway patrol officer there. Why? Because it's the authority that's present, and it's causing them to obey the laws.
Well, in like manner, a Christian can basically stay away from the things that can destroy their lives. They can stay away from the things that they know is displeasing to God, if they understand the authority's always present.
You know, that authority is always on the highway, it's always in our bedroom, he's always in our household, he's always at our job, he's always at, he's everywhere, he's all night present.
But it's up to you whether you want to recognize that. It's up to you if you want to understand, oh wait, God is here, we can't do that. God is here, I can't watch that. God is here, I can't do this, I can't say that. God is present. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
You see, in the absence of authority, at the end of the day, we need to recognize that God is always there.