One of the great saints of the Old Testament who lived by faith was Joseph. It is Joseph who overcomes evil by faith as he takes hold of the Word spoken by his father and clings to it so that the Word planted in his heart would become an immovable work against the devil. As a result, he does not allow Satan to rob him of his promise (LW 7:55).

"For Joseph had the entire Psalter in his heart, in actuality and in effect he does everything taught in the Psalms about faith, patience, and waiting. He waits, and he sustains himself with the divine promises which he heard from his father. He does not despair nor does he murmur against God" (LW 7:56).

Joseph, through his faith, conquered all. First the devil assailed him on the left with all sorts of troubles while he was sold into slavery and was away from his parents and family. Next the devil sought to assail him on the right with the allurements of the flesh such as lust and pleasure. This is especially the more difficult trial because of Joseph's youth. He felt all of these temptations in the flesh but he was able to overcome these temptations because he had the Word of God in his heart.

All this was possible because Joseph was well taught in the faith by his father, his mother Rachel, and his nurse Deborah (LW 7:125). Luther especially speaks of Deborah who was like a grandmother to Joseph and who still had a fresh memory of the patriarchs such as Noah, Shem and Eber. Isaac too was still alive and he also carefully impressed the Word upon Joseph as he recounted the histories of the patriarchs. Joseph also was an eyewitness to the crosses and joys of his father Jacob (LW 7:125). It was with this teaching, and the Lord's presence, that Joseph was kept in the faith while he served in exile. For "that Wisdom, that is, God's Son, did not leave the righteous man when he was sold but went down with him into the pit and prison. Joseph had Him as a Teacher who gave the increase, so that he kept the Word which he had heard firmly fixed in his heart. He had the punishment of the flood before his eyes, the burning of the Sodomites, and other disasters, then also the various liberations of godly recounted by his father. From this source the fear of God, faith, hope, and other virtues grew and were strengthened in him, so that his heart could not be made to totter by any commotions" (LW 7:125).

Joseph was the model of the perfect man and was the most precious treasure yet this treasure was unknown to the world and hidden from it (LW 7:70). Though all seems hopeless for Joseph and that he is alone in his trials and afflictions, yet Christ, the Bishop of souls, sees Joseph and cares for him (LW 7:100).

The life of Joseph is an excellent illustration of the manner in which God governs His saints. When He works, He turns His face away at first and seems to be the devil, not God. This is to see His back as Moses records in Exodus 33:20,23. "You must not see My works and counsels with which I am fashioning and refashioning you according to My good pleasure" (LW 7:104). Joseph beheld His back and waited until God should reveal and show forth His salvation.

"These examples [from the life of Joseph] are set before us to instruct and strengthen us, in order that we may learn faith and hope in the Lord. But it is not a faith in things that are seen. No, it is a faith in things that are invisible" (LW 7:105-106).

Thus, the Christian life is one of learning faith and hope in the Lord. In trials we learn patience, faith and hope. If Joseph did not have the Word of God with him, "if the Holy Spirit and God's Son had not gone down with him into the pit and had not sustained him with the Word which he had learned, he would not have been able to bear the assaults of Satan" (LW 7:128). Joseph learned that a man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the Lord's mouth.

"Therefore it is not due to human help and consolation that he conquers and endures against Satan, the world and the flesh. Nor does he live in any other life than that which is in the Word of God. For he simply clings to the promise and is prepared to endure even greater evils. Although according to the flesh and also according to the spirit he desires to be freed, nevertheless, because he sees that it is God's will, he rests content with God's good pleasure and mortifies the flesh when it cries out and murmurs, saying: 'The Lord's will be done!'" (LW 7:128).

The purpose of the cross in the life of Joseph, and in the life of every believer, is so that God can crucify, mortify and reduce the old man to nothing. In the cross, He seeks to form you according to His plan. Because Joseph waited on the Lord, he became a savior of the world. God uses all of Egypt to restore Joseph and deliver him from his imprisonment and Pharaoh, and the entire nation, are moved by God to serve His purpose and to deliver Joseph from his cross (LW 7:136).

The life of Joseph shows us that faith must precede and then the waiting must follow (LW 7:174). Just endure and wait for the Lord. Be content with His Word and cling to His promises. This is how God exercises, exalts and plays with His saints. It is out of God's great love for us that He plays with us in this manner. To God these crosses and trials are a game but to us it is death. Due to original sin, the rod of discipline is necessary (LW 7:233). Because He is a loving Father, He must discipline us and it is paternal love which demands blows and stripes be administered in order that children may be improved.

This Christian life of the cross began, for every believer, in Baptism for we receive in our Baptism not only the forgiveness of sins but also the purging away of sin. Forgiveness of sins is free due to the merits of Christ yet this forgiveness is followed by distress, tribulation, and mortification. In and through our Baptism God, like a good and caring physician, proceeds with purging, burning, cutting, even though this is not done without pain in the believer's life.

God accomplishes all this in us for our own good lest we snore through life and perish in our sins. The cross and trials become the medicines with which God purges away sin (LW 8:7). Thus, one of the key distinctions between the true and false church lies in the response to His discipline and the cross.

"For this is the difference between the children of God and unbelievers. The latter offer resistance and refuse to endure the discipline of the Lord. But for the godly this discipline is necessary because of the flesh, which is corrupt and is full of sins, smugness, contempt of God, wrath and lusts. It is because of these that they do not pray, do not believe, do not hope, do not love, and do not trouble themselves about God (LW 8:9-10).