Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002650
|
00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated the world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:16 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the everlasting gospel with 00:26 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:34 treasures in God's word today. 00:39 Good to see each of you here and we know during this time of 00:43 year sometimes we're blessed to have a few extra visitors as 00:46 people are coming and going and seeing their families. We want 00:49 to welcome those who are visiting here at Sacramento 00:53 Central and we hope that God speaks to you and you're blessed 00:58 by our time together today. Our message today is dealing with 01:04 a Bible study subject and also something that would be 01:08 appropriate for the season. It's Joseph, a Father's Legacy. Now 01:12 I've been a little conflicted before because I thought about 01:16 preaching about Joseph during Father's Day but I thought, 01:19 well folks are going to think it's a Christmas sermon. Now if 01:23 you do it in December, it sounds like a Father's Day sermon. But 01:27 can't win either way. But I wanted to talk about this unsung 01:32 hero in the Bible and what a very important role he had that 01:36 God gave him, what lessons we can learn and what it says to 01:41 each of us. Now, of course, most of us know the Christmas story. 01:46 You haven't heard too many sermons about Joseph. I'll tell 01:49 you one reason. He never speaks. There are no words of Joseph the 01:57 Father of Jesus that you can point to. I mean Mary utters 01:59 a prayer. Mary says several things during the course of 02:03 Christ's life. Joseph does several things, he thinks 02:07 several things but he never says anything that's recorded. And I 02:13 think there's a reason for that. You don't know what the 02:18 personality type of Joseph was. And I think the Lord did that 02:24 deliberately because he is a template for every father. 02:29 You can't say well he was more sanguine than I am, he was more 02:33 of an extrovert, he was more quiet. You can't say that about 02:36 Joseph because you don't know. But what it does say in the 02:40 Bible about Joseph every father or grandfather can apply to 02:43 themselves. So I think it's significant to remember that. 02:48 Some of the things we do know are recorded about him. Go with 02:54 me in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 and 02:57 this was part of our memory verse this morning. You've heard 03:01 these verses hundreds of times. Please indulge me as I have you 03:05 look at them one more time because there are some things 03:08 I'd like to attract your attention to. Evidently Joseph 03:11 was a very good man. He was a man. Think about the confidence 03:18 that Almighty God invested in this man in that he entrusted 03:24 to his care during the most formative years of our Savior's 03:31 life, Joseph held the role of his earthly father. That's 03:36 significant when you consider it. The Bible says, Now the 03:42 birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After his mother Mary 03:47 was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was 03:53 found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her 03:56 husband, being a just man... All right, what kind of man is 04:01 he? He's a fair man, he's a just man and that word there 04:05 encompasses quite a bit in it's definition. He's a good man, 04:09 he's an honest man, he's a just man. Now look at the 04:15 circumstances. Joseph is probably older than Mary. 04:21 When I say that I don't mean a couple of years older. He may be 04:26 15-20 years her senior. Now I always have to explain this to 04:30 people and sometimes folks just don't hear anything else I say 04:33 when I talk about this subject after they hear what I'm about 04:39 to say. Joseph, the scholars are almost unanimous, probably had 04:45 a family prior to his engagement with Mary. Just so I can get 04:50 some support, how many of you have read this before. 04:52 Let me see your hands. All right good. I remember saying this 04:55 once with a group of ministers going to Israel and they looked 04:58 at me like a heretic. They were shocked that someone would say 05:03 something. Joseph probably had the brothers and sisters of 05:08 Jesus before he married Mary. Now there's good reason for 05:12 that, biblical reason. Let me take you there. I just want you 05:16 to have the picture of what's happening here when Joseph is 05:20 first appearing on the scene of the scriptures. The Bible tells 05:24 us that Jesus had at least four brothers; they are named and it 05:28 says, And sisters. The sisters are not named but because it 05:32 says sisters, there are at least two, four brothers, two sisters, 05:36 a minimum of six. That would be interesting if that's what it 05:40 is because then Jesus would be the seventh. Can't prove that 05:45 though but no more than two sisters, at least two. Think 05:51 about it now. Joseph ceases to appear after Jesus 12th birthday 05:59 probably because he was older. Somewhere between Jesus' 06:06 baptism at age 30 and age 12 Joseph dies. Why does Jesus 06:13 commit the care of his mother to the apostle John who may be a 06:19 second or third cousin, but why would not the natural children 06:25 take Mary in unless they were stepchildren from a former 06:30 marriage. Another reason the scholars think that Joseph had a 06:34 family prior to marrying Mary, and that's where the other 06:39 siblings come from, is because it would have been greatly 06:43 disrespectful and highly improbable for the oldest son, 06:48 if Jesus was the oldest of these other siblings, to leave the 06:52 family and become an itinerant preacher. Usually the oldest is 06:56 the one who gets the inheritance He sort of becomes the manager 07:00 of the family in the event of the father's death. You remember 07:03 which of the prodigal sons, which of the father's two 07:06 children runs off? The younger. What does the older do? He stays 07:12 at home and works with dad. Between Jacob and Esau, which 07:16 one is younger? Jacob. Who leaves home? The younger one. 07:20 And I could go down the line and show you a lot of examples of 07:23 that. The older ones always felt the obligation to be sort of a 07:27 surrogate father and they stayed home. It would have been really 07:30 unusual for Jesus to leave his mother after the death of the 07:34 father as the oldest of the children and become an itinerant 07:39 preacher, but they would wink if the youngest did that. And his 07:43 brothers are always referred to in sort of a detached manner. 07:47 So many think that Joseph may have lost his first wife. He may 07:52 have had four boys, this adds a lot to the story, and at least 07:57 two girls and this man who is middle aged needs to marry again 08:02 and he finds this pretty young Jewish girl who is from 08:07 Bethlehem. He proposes to her. Maybe there are arrangements 08:10 made with her parents though they don't come into play. 08:14 She is related somehow to Elizabeth. We know that as far 08:18 as her family is concerned. They have a contract, an engagement. 08:23 He pays a dowry. Everyone knows that they are engaged. They are 08:27 looking forward to the wedding. The nuptials have not taken 08:31 place yet, but they're betrothed He thinks that he has gotten the 08:36 cream of the crop. Mary is a godly young lady. Now in the 08:40 midst of that you know what happens of course. The angel 08:45 comes and talks to Mary. Says surprise. You're going to get 08:50 the greatest honor that any human woman has ever had in 08:56 that you're going to have this miracle child conceived within 09:01 you, the Messiah, the anointed one you will be the mother of. 09:04 That's a great honor. But to keep her humble, she has to live 09:08 with the humiliation of explaining to everybody in the 09:14 community, really I'm still a virgin. Do you think that would 09:18 have been accepted back then much better than today. 09:21 This has been a miracle? 09:24 I'm sure that people, I mean, you know, you can only 09:29 hide it so long. She's an honest young lady. She goes to Joseph 09:33 and says I've got to tell you something. I'm pregnant. 09:36 Probably very early in the pregnancy because she knew 09:39 before it even happened. Didn't have to take a test. The angel 09:45 told her. And then, sure enough, things are late. She tells 09:49 Joseph it's true and he's probably just as cynical. He's 09:53 thinking, Ah you know this girl is delusional and he's wondering 09:56 what to do. He doesn't want to humiliate her. According to the 09:59 law... Let's read what the Bible says here. Deuteronomy 22 verse 10:04 23. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband... 10:09 is that Mary? This is a definition of Mary, they're 10:12 betrothed... And a man finds her in the city and lie with 10:15 her... not the betrothed... Then you shall bring them both 10:19 out to the gate of the city and stone them with stones that they 10:23 die. That was the law. Matter of fact, remember when the woman 10:26 caught in adultery was brought into the temple before Jesus the 10:30 Jews quoted this law. They still practiced that law if the Romans 10:33 allowed it. At least, if the Romans didn't allow it, there'd 10:38 be a public spectacle. The engagement is called off and she 10:45 is humiliated. But Joseph is a just man. He loves Mary. He's 10:50 considerate of her needs. That's another criteria that we 10:56 discover. He's not just thinking about his mortification. He's 10:59 not thinking vindictively, well I'm going to teach her a lesson 11:02 so this never happens again. I got to make a statement for 11:05 society so we're going to humiliate her. He's trying to 11:09 find some way as gracefully as possible to protect her and not 11:14 humiliate her because he cares about her needs. And you'll find 11:18 that several times during our study this morning. Joseph is 11:23 very concerned about Mary. The legacy that a father has is to 11:28 care about the mother. I remember hearing an Adventist 11:31 minister say at a seminar one time, this quote is not original 11:36 with him, but that's where I first heard it: The greatest 11:40 thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother 11:44 because if you love their mother (I was waiting for Karen to say 11:49 amen). If you love their mother then obviously that will play 11:54 out in the lives of the children and by the way, I've got a 11:58 confession to make. As I studied Joseph and thought about husband 12:02 father I feel something like a 500 pound pastor talking about 12:07 the health message. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Matter 12:10 of fact, we have an ongoing joke among the pastoral staff when 12:14 we get together. We know that the family is so important and 12:17 every now and then I'll kind of nudge Pastor Mike. I said 12:20 Pastor Mike, you want to preach a sermon on the family. I said 12:22 we really need it. He said, Ah Doug, you know I just never feel 12:24 qualified. You preach it. I say, Harold, Pastor White, I say, 12:26 You're a seasoned pastor. You preach on the family. Oh, but 12:29 you know, I just don't every feel worthy. So we all decided 12:32 that from now on Pastor Steve Allred is going to preach about 12:38 marriage and the family. He can't lose, right? So when I say 12:44 these things I'm always preaching to myself along with 12:46 everybody else. But if Joseph had any natural feelings at all 12:51 and you're engaged to this pretty young lady and then you 12:55 find out that she's pregnant and you know you had nothing to do 12:58 with it, he must have been devastated. 12:59 But instead of just thinking 13:02 about what it meant to him and his reputation and his plans, 13:06 he's thinking about Mary. He doesn't want to humiliate her. 13:10 He's a just man. That means he's a kind man, he's a considerate 13:15 man. He cares about her needs. The Bible also tells us that 13:21 Joseph is a man of vision. Now I was surprised to discover 13:27 this. There are five dreams in the first two chapters of 13:32 Matthew. Four of those five supernatural dreams come to 13:36 Joseph. As a matter of fact, God speaks to Joseph through dreams 13:40 probably more than anyone else in the New Testament. This is a 13:43 man of vision. He had spiritual insight. He was plugged into 13:48 heaven. He was a man that was led by the Spirit. God could 13:52 talk to him, he listened. You know it says in Acts chapter 2 13:56 verse 17, Your old men will dream dreams. Now there are 14:00 places in the Bible where young men dream dreams too, but Joseph 14:04 was one of those older men who dreamed dreams and God gave him 14:07 supernatural guidance. In this way he was a man of vision. 14:11 By the way, Acts 2:17, you'll also find that in Joel chapter 2 14:16 as well. He was a spiritually guided man that God could speak 14:21 to. The next important point is a very obvious one. He obeyed 14:26 the messages that God gave him. One of the best things you can 14:30 do as men in your families, of course this is true of the women 14:35 mother, grandfathers, grandmothers is to not only be 14:39 someone who hears what God is saying but to be willing to do 14:41 what God is saying, but to be willing to do what God is saying 14:46 Think about it. Joseph is going to take this young lady to be 14:52 his wife. That first baby is going to be premature. In other 14:56 words, suppose that right after the angel comes to him he 15:01 marries Mary. She already is a couple three months pregnant. 15:06 That baby is born full term. Might be a good thing they were 15:12 out of town when he came. You with me? If there are other 15:17 siblings, they know something's up. When he goes ahead and he 15:22 commits to marrying Mary he knows that he is going to be the 15:27 object of tongue wagging over the course of his life. 15:30 He married that young girl that was running around. They got 15:34 pregnant before they even came together. Or they must have been 15:38 foolin' around before the wedding. I mean, there's also 15:41 that option. But he was willing to obey the commandment of God 15:46 even though it might reflect on his reputation. God said do it, 15:50 he was willing to do it. It says in Matthew chapter 1 verse 24, 15:55 And Joseph being aroused from his sleep did as the angel of 16:01 the Lord commanded him and he took to him his wife, Mary. 16:08 The Bible says also, The angel said, and he called his name 16:15 Jesus. Now Jesus was a name that was not only given to Mary when 16:21 the angel appeared to her. Jesus is a name that is given to 16:25 Joseph when the angel appears to him. It was the father's right 16:30 to name the child. How many of you remember when Zechariah did 16:35 not believe, his tongue was tied and he was mute. He could not 16:39 speak. When did his speech finally come back. They asked 16:43 him what are you going to name John the Baptist. They said name 16:46 him after your family name and he said, No, his name is John. 16:51 It was the father's prerogative to pick the name for the son. 16:55 Now the mother could make suggestions as Rachel and Leah 16:58 often did with Jacob. But it was really a father's right 17:02 when it was recorded in the temple. So the first one when 17:05 the priest said and what is the name of the baby, it was Joseph 17:10 who said, His name is Jesus. Also I think that we should not 17:15 run past a very important point that may not be well received. 17:21 God honored his position as father and priest of this little 17:27 family in giving him this information. If he had only 17:30 given this information to Mary, it would have been disrespectful 17:34 of his position as the father in the relationship. So he 17:37 recognized that. Joseph was the first mortal to utter his name 17:44 publically and say his name is Yeshua, Jesus. As many fathers 17:49 Joseph realized how important it was that the son, that the 17:54 children of the family be protected. He was interested in 17:59 their protection, their shelter. Luke chapter 2 verse 7: And she 18:04 brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling 18:08 clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for 18:14 him in the inn. He found shelter I meant to say, up there, when 18:20 he asked to go down to the home town to pay the taxes. Now let 18:25 me give you the background here, too. At the time when all this 18:31 is happening Augustus Caesar is on the throne of Rome. Rome is 18:35 experiencing what they called pax romana, the Roman piece. 18:39 It was the longest period of prosperity in the Roman kingdom 18:43 under Augustus Caesar. Augustus Caesar takes a census. The word 18:47 for that really means is he wants to make sure that every 18:51 body in paying their empire tax. You can't really call it a 18:55 national tax. And in order to count everyone they had to go to 18:59 the town where their birth was registered. Joseph being from 19:04 the house of David and Mary also was from the house of 19:07 David, they go to Bethlehem. Now you know I talked to the pastors 19:13 yesterday. I said, do I dare say this to the church and we 19:16 weren't even agreed on whether or not I should mention this but 19:18 I look at the clock and I see I've got time. I want to get you 19:21 to think about something here. Have you ever noticed the 19:24 discrepancy between the genealogies that you find in 19:27 Matthew and in Luke. How many of you have read that? Of course, 19:32 the genealogy of Matthew takes Christ, those generations, and 19:37 tracks him as the son of David to his birth. Luke goes all the 19:43 was back to Adam. There's a difference between who the 19:50 father of Joseph is in Matthew and who the father of Joseph is 19:55 in Luke. It's because in Luke it's talking about Joseph's 20:00 father-in-law, which is Mary's father. Now there was even a 20:05 dilemma among the early church fathers because they said if 20:10 Jesus is of the son of David and the genealogy is traced by 20:14 Joseph but the conception is by the Holy Spirit and if there is 20:18 no part of Joseph in Mary then why bother even tracing the 20:23 genealogy. Have you ever wondered that? Why go through 20:27 all this trouble to talk about Jesus' colorful family tree and 20:30 go through the genealogy if when you get to Joseph there's really 20:34 no connection, that it is totally a divine insemination 20:39 and I'm using that term correctly. It means to implant 20:45 seed. I was speaking to a Hebrew scholar that teaches at one of 20:49 our schools, Southwestern University, Dr. Morris Lewis. 20:53 Years ago I asked this question. He's a Jewish expert and he 20:58 said, where does it say in the Bible that nothing of Joseph was 21:03 in this miraculous conception. It doesn't say that. It says the 21:08 conception was affected by the Holy Spirit. Now just think 21:11 about this. You don't mind my trying to stir up your thinking. 21:15 When God made Eve where did he get the parts. Did he take part 21:20 of Adam and use it to make Eve. Would it be beyond the Lord to 21:24 say, you know, this is going to be a divine child, but I'm going 21:28 to take something of the genetics of Joseph and put them 21:31 in Jesus, or put them in Mary. Sorry, I said that wrong. 21:34 He could have done that couldn't he have. Now I'm not trying to 21:39 detract from the divine nature of Jesus, you understand me? 21:45 But if you know anything about science, if he's conceived by 21:50 the Holy Spirit what DNA did God pick from? God could have picked 21:59 from many, he could have manufactured it. He had to pick 22:01 something, right? I mean, the features of the male and the 22:04 female chromosomes that unite to make that one unique new 22:07 life. What did God do. Did he go through the cosmos and say 22:11 eeny, meeny, miney, moe and assemble some new DNA? Where did 22:14 the different components come from? They had to come from 22:18 something, some template somewhere. Could God have used 22:21 Joseph. I'm not arguing that. I have no burden to bear, but I 22:25 just want you to think about that. If that's true, that would 22:28 then explain why did he go through all of the colorful 22:34 characters of Jesus' family tree following the lineage of Joseph? 22:39 Unless there was something of Joseph in Jesus. It is possible. 22:44 You can't disprove it. So I'm just going to say it to get you 22:49 to think and that would explain that. But of course whether you 22:54 go through Mary or whether you go through Joseph, Jesus was 22:58 the son of David either way and so I just wanted you to think 23:03 about it. I have no burden. I just shared what Dr. Lewis 23:06 shared with me and it made me think. Joseph was interested in 23:10 he found shelter. Of course, not only did he find shelter when he 23:14 went up and down the streets of Bethlehem during that taxing and 23:18 ultimately he found shelter there in the stable, but later 23:22 it says that when the wise men came... Evidently they stayed 23:26 in Bethlehem for a while. You don't want to move right after 23:30 the baby's born. We don't know how long after it was but when 23:34 the wise men met before Herod after interviewing them about 23:38 when they saw the star and it could have been the star 23:41 appeared to the wise men in advance to give them time for 23:44 their journey. But all the babies in Bethlehem two years 23:48 old and under were executed. So we don't know how long Jesus 23:52 was in Bethlehem but when the wise men came, it never says 23:56 they came into the stable. The Bible says they came into the 24:00 house. Now it could have been that after a few days and people 24:04 left Bethlehem a hotel room emptied. It could have been a 24:07 few days later, it could have been weeks or even a year later. 24:11 The Bible is unclear about that but Joseph had found a better 24:15 place for Mary and the baby by the time the wise men came. 24:18 And I don't mean to explode your mental pictures but all those 24:22 Christmas cards that you've seen all your life with the shepherds 24:26 and Jesus and Joseph and Mary and the wise men all in the 24:30 stable are inaccurate. It is very likely that the wise men 24:33 and the shepherds never laid eyes on each other. It sounds 24:37 from the Bible like the wise men came into the house, is what it 24:41 says. There were no donkeys in the house or sheep in the house. 24:46 So you just need to know. Part of the reason for that is God 24:50 was confirming to Joseph and Mary. It just wasn't for the 24:54 wise men. You have been given a divine charge. What do you 24:57 think it says to them. Here they are in the stable. They think 25:01 God's forsaken. They can't even find a hotel room and all of a 25:04 sudden these shepherds come and say angels just came to let us 25:07 know that the king of Israel has been born and this is where he 25:10 is. Do you think that was confirmation for Joseph and 25:12 Mary to encourage them that even though they couldn't find a room 25:15 to stay in that this still was true; they had this special 25:19 child. Then just before they have to flee to Egypt, some more 25:22 time has gone by. They are wondering, was this a 25:24 hallucination. Then the wise men come and they say we've been 25:28 sent to confirm to you that this is the king of prophecy we had 25:31 heard about. So all these events that are happening, what do you 25:35 think, what's the effect on Joseph and Mary. God is 25:38 continuing to remind them that this child they have is no 25:42 ordinary child, that they have been given a unique and a sacred 25:48 charge. So he found shelter for the family. He protected his 25:52 family. Now I'm going through some things that I think every 25:57 father should do. The problem is many fathers stop at these 26:02 things. I know that with my dad the bottom line for him was you 26:08 know the main paternal responsibilities are to feed and 26:12 to shelter and to discipline. Any of you grow up with a dad 26:17 like that? Don't complain. You got food. I don't want to hear 26:21 anything. Doesn't matter that I never play baseball with you. 26:24 You got food on the table, don't complain. You got a roof over 26:27 your head, don't complain. If you don't want to listen to me 26:30 get your own food, get your own roof. Did any of you have a 26:34 father like that? Yeah. I guess all that great generation that 26:39 came out of World War II and the father's principle 26:42 responsibility was you were to be the protector, the provider 26:47 for the family. But you know what? We downplay that sometimes 26:52 but not too many women want to marry a man that won't protect 26:57 the family, that won't provide for them. We all know that some 27:02 women have a husband they got to protect him and provide. 27:07 And I think it creates a little insecurity. Now I'm not trying 27:10 to ridicule some who might have unique circumstances but we're 27:14 not talking about those. When Herod sought the life of Jesus 27:19 he was there to protect. I remember reading about one five 27:22 year old boy was talking to another five year old boy and 27:26 he said, My father can beat up your father, and his friend said 27:31 Yeah, my mother can beat up my father too. Matthew 2 verse 13 27:35 and 14: Now when they had departed, behold the angle of 27:39 the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream (another dream), saying 27:43 arise, take the young child... Now the word there, young child, 27:46 is different from the word infant. So he has grown a little 27:50 bit there. Take the young child and his mother and flee to 27:54 Egypt and stay there till I bring you word, for Herod will 27:58 seek the young child to destroy him. And he arose and he took 28:02 the young child and his mother by night and they departed to 28:06 Egypt. He protected. Some of you remember reading in Revelation 28:10 chapter 12. It says that the dragon was wroth with the woman 28:15 and he sought to devour the man child as soon as it was born. 28:20 The devil wanted to destroy Jesus and of course there were 28:24 angels giving protection. Can you imagine being Joseph and 28:28 here you've got this cosmic battle going on and all of the 28:32 devils of hell are wanting to destroy your baby and you are 28:37 the earthly protector. He doesn't have an army does he? 28:42 That's a heavy responsibility isn't it? So he protected his 28:48 family. Again, Matthew chapter 2 verse 19. But when Herod was 28:52 dead, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared again in a dream 28:57 to Joseph in Egypt, saying arise take the young child and his 29:00 mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought 29:04 the young child's life are dead. And then he arose and he took 29:08 the young child and his mother and he came into the land of 29:12 Israel. Father should protect. You know, we just heard a couple 29:17 of weeks ago about, I think I'd actually seen him on computer 29:21 before, James Kim. You all heard about the young family, 29:25 this gentleman who took the wrong road. You know that 29:29 happened to me once. I was alone didn't have my family with me. 29:34 I wanted to take a shortcut from Paradise, California to Covelo. 29:40 And you drive across 60 miles of rugged, dirt, mountain roads 29:46 very high mountains and I thought I'm sure the snow is 29:49 melted by now and it's so much quicker to go across the 29:52 mountains rather than go all the way down to highway 20, back 29:54 across and back up again. So I took off going across the 29:57 mountains with my four-wheel drive pickup truck. I ran into 30:02 some snow. But I'm stubborn and I'm also a man and it's a sign 30:06 of weakness to turn back. So I kept going. And I saw tracks in 30:10 the snow. I said someone made it across the mountains so I kept 30:13 going and I kept going. Finally I came upon a vehicle that was 30:17 stranded up in the mountains. This German tourist... This 30:21 doesn't directly relate with our sermon here but I thought you'd 30:24 find it interesting. This German tourist had also tried to go 30:27 across the mountains. He had a two-wheel drive pickup truck. 30:30 He'd gotten stuck and he'd been up there, I forget, two or three 30:34 days waiting for someone to come and get him out. He didn't want 30:38 to leave all his stuff. He had stuff in the camper up there 30:41 on the truck. I was so disappointed I couldn't make it 30:45 across the hills because the snow was so deep but I knew the 30:47 Lord sent me up there because I was able to use my winch and 30:51 pull this guy out. But that happens. People say oh I think I 30:53 can make it and they take off, make a wrong turn, end up on a 30:56 logging trail. This young family stayed up there for days and the 30:59 father finally took off to protect and save his family. 31:02 He took off through the elements to try to find help and he died 31:07 in the process. I was watching a nature film this week. Colobus 31:12 monkeys. Chimpanzees like to hunt, now it's not pretty, but 31:16 they like to hunt, they're not all vegetarians, chimpanzees, 31:21 Colobus monkeys. And when a tribe of chimpanzees finds a 31:26 tree filled with Colobus monkeys they surround the trees and they 31:29 try to get them. The father monkeys are the best able to 31:33 escape. But you know what happens? The father monkeys 31:36 throw themselves at the chimpanzees and sacrifice 31:39 themselves so that the wives, is that what you call female 31:44 monkeys, yeah, the mothers and the infants can escape and they 31:49 basically are killed by the chimpanzees. Fathers should 31:54 protect their families. Not just physically. I think God has 32:00 wired many fathers that way. We should be interested in 32:05 spiritually protecting our families. And sometimes, and I'm 32:10 not without guilt in this area, sometimes fathers would lay down 32:16 families, but if the kids are quiet while they're watching TV 32:21 sometimes we're not as worried about what they're watching as 32:26 long as they're out of our hair. And we're not as interested in 32:31 their spiritual protection. What's coming into our homes 32:38 spiritually? What kind of attacks are happening 32:40 spiritually? A lot of fathers are very aloof and indifferent 32:44 about the spiritual attacks that happen where they would lay down 32:48 their lives if there was some physical attack, some intruder. 32:52 Someone tries to assault their wife or their children on the 32:56 street, I think most fathers here would say, Yes, I would put 33:00 myself in harm's way to protect my family. But when the devil 33:04 does it in the home spiritually, ah, as long as their quiet. 33:10 Someone say amen. That was almost all women saying amen to 33:17 that. Joseph was a man who had self-control. There's no record 33:23 of him ever losing his temper or shouting or becoming impatient. 33:29 And I deliberately left something out when I read 33:32 earlier because I wanted to save this verse for this point. 33:37 Matthew 1:25: When he woke up and he took Mary as his wife it 33:42 says and he did not know her till she had brought forth her 33:46 first-born son. In other words he forfeited the honeymoon 33:52 nuptials because he realized this is a sacred child and there 33:57 should be no doubt in Mary's mind or anyone's mind, but that 34:02 God is the father of this child and he wouldn't even come near 34:06 her. He respected that relationship and he exercised 34:12 self-control. I think that's a legacy that every father should 34:18 give their families and their children is control of your 34:22 passions whether that's your temper, whether it's physical 34:26 passion, whether it's food, whatever it is there should be 34:31 an example of self-control. If you don't have discipline over 34:35 yourself, no other theology will be of any good because the 34:39 ultimate theology is by the grace of God Jesus came to save 34:43 us from our sins and that's going to involve a battle 34:48 between the spirit and flesh. And fathers ought to leave a 34:52 legacy to their families, to their children of self-control. 34:57 Amen? If you conquer a city and you can't control yourself you 35:01 are a weak man. That's one of the most important things. 35:05 Galatians 5 verse 22, this is one of the gifts of the Spirit. 35:09 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering 35:12 kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness... Now King James 35:17 says temperance here, New King James, self-control, same thing. 35:21 Against such there is no law. One of the fruits of the Spirit 35:25 is self-control. I believe that Joseph had that fruit of the 35:29 Spirit. He was concerned for their environment. You notice 35:33 after they leave Egypt, we don't know how long they were in Egypt 35:36 Now this confuses people but since I'm on the subject we may 35:43 as well cover everything. Jesus was not born the year zero. 35:49 By the way, there was no year zero. You got 1 A.D. and 1 B.C. 35:54 If someone tries to fool you about the year zero, there was 36:00 no year zero. Three hundred years after Christ they tried to 36:05 figure out a new dating system. The church leaders, the church 36:09 had now become accepted in Rome Instead of dating all history 36:14 from various kings and religious leaders it was very confusing. 36:17 They wanted a universal dating system that everybody could use. 36:21 So they tried to pinpoint the birth of Christ. They said let's 36:25 date all things from Ano Domini. Now you know they're getting 36:29 away from that. I forget, Roger, what is the new thing? CA circa? 36:32 Yeah. They have a new dating method. They tried to get rid of 36:36 A.D. because it was Ano Domini, year of our Lord. And B.C. what 36:40 did that used to stand for? Before Christ. Well the atheists 36:44 are really troubled by the idea. How can you be an atheist and 36:47 date all history from Christ's birth? So they've got some new 36:51 terms for that now. But the year that they picked for Christ's 36:54 birth they found out years later they were wrong. The reason is 36:58 King Herod the Great who killed all the babies in Bethlehem died 37:03 two B.C. Well obviously he had to die after Jesus was born and 37:08 so the best research says that Jesus was born approximately 37:12 4 B.C. So when he fled and he went back to Egypt he may have 37:16 stayed in Egypt anywhere from a matter of months to a year and a 37:20 half. When they came back... How many of you have seen the 37:24 post cards, The Flight to Egypt? And it's got a picture of Joseph 37:30 and Mary and Baby Jesus is in Mary's arms and she is sitting 37:34 on a donkey and they're across a desert. The silhouette of these 37:37 three people going across the desert. Now you know in your 37:42 post card now you've got to have Joseph and Mary, Baby Jesus, 37:47 and Judas and Simon and Joseph, I forget the fourth brother's 37:52 name and three more kids. You've got a big silhouette going to 37:56 Egypt and the silhouette coming back from Egypt. He had to work 38:01 hard to provide for all of them didn't he. Self-control. He was 38:05 concerned for their environment. When he heard that Archelaus the 38:09 son of Herod was reigning over Judea instead of his father and 38:14 that he was afraid to go there being warned. That doesn't mean 38:18 that Joseph was a man of fear. He was concerned for the safety 38:22 of his family. He didn't think that would be a safe environment 38:27 He was warned by God in a dream. He turned aside into the region 38:31 of Galilee and he came and dwelt in a city of Nazareth. It was a 38:35 blue collar town. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 38:40 the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. Joseph provided for 38:44 the family. He provided by way of example. He provided by way 38:49 of sustaining them. Now you notice it says in Matthew 38:54 chapter 13 verse 55, speaking of Jesus, Is not this the 38:59 carpenter's son? Now at this point it never refers to Joseph. 39:04 He has probably died at this point but they remember Joseph 39:08 who was the carpenter. They say Jesus is the son of the 39:13 carpenter. You might be thinking I thought Jesus was a carpenter 39:16 too. Well you read in Mark 6 verse 3. It says, Is not this 39:20 the carpenter, the son of Mary? So not only was Jesus the son of 39:25 a carpenter, but Jesus picked up the trade of his father. 39:30 So Joseph set an example of work for Jesus. He worked along side 39:36 of his father, learned a trade. I think that every father ought 39:42 to teach their children as much practical information as they 39:48 can. Amen? How to work, even if your work, like mine, is largely 39:52 book work and sedentary work. I try to teach my boys to work 39:57 with their hands, whatever I know about construction or 39:59 building or painting or making things. I think that's some of 40:02 best time a father can spend with his son is doing things 40:06 creative and productive. I'm sure Joseph did this with Jesus. 40:10 So he provided for the needs of the family. Nowhere does it ever 40:14 say that they went hungry. Of course the time of the greatest 40:18 dire straits were when they went to Bethlehem there and they 40:23 had to stay in the stable. Joseph was, in some respects, 40:29 Jesus' foster parent, a step father. Now I think I've 40:36 established that at least everyone will agree, Jesus had a 40:39 blended family. We all know that term in our culture today, 40:44 blended family. It presents unique challenges. I've got my 40:49 black belt on what those are. Not only because I'm in a 40:54 blended family, but because my mother and father were both 40:59 married five times, not to each other. I had stepmothers, I had 41:05 stepfathers, I had stepbrothers and stepsisters and I know what 41:10 it feels like to have a step father. I know what it feels 41:17 like to have a stepbrother. Did Joseph treat Jesus with less 41:23 love because he didn't know how much involvement he had in the 41:28 the actual birth; well I should say he did know. Or did he love 41:34 him just as much. Matter of fact I'm going to suggest that if you 41:38 are a parent and you have any stepchildren, mother or father, 41:43 you almost need to treat them a little better. Not that you 41:48 treat them better, but they need a little more love just so they 41:53 can have security that they're not being slighted. Now I think 41:56 my father did pretty good with my stepbrother. Matter of fact, 41:59 I used to be jealous and think that I sort of got the tail end 42:01 of the stick. He bent over backwards to make Jonathan feel 42:04 like he was part of the family. He was actually my father's 42:06 stepson and I sort of felt well you're treating him better than 42:11 you treat me. But what's the most important heritage you can 42:17 give to children? Your DNA or your character. There's a lot of 42:21 fathers out there that say you better listen to me because I'm 42:25 your father. You got my genes and so you've got to obey me. 42:28 Now there's something about you know God wants children to obey 42:32 their parents but the most important heritage, the most 42:35 important legacy that a father can give their child is their 42:41 example. You've heard it said, three ways to teach your 42:44 children, example, example, and example. And whatever you are 42:49 your children are going to end up modeling various aspects of 42:53 the mother and the father. So you want to give them your 42:57 character. It doesn't matter if that daughter or that son has 43:02 none of you genes in their body. If God has put you in the 43:05 position of being their parent whether you're stepmother or 43:10 stepfather model Christ before them. This is probably one of 43:14 the most important things that I could talk about, what an 43:20 awesome responsibility that he had. Joseph taught Jesus how to 43:27 talk right along there with Mary Did Jesus come out of Mary's 43:34 womb suddenly with this cosmic understanding and he was 43:37 suddenly talking and he knew everything, or did Jesus have to 43:41 learn many things the same way any child learns from a parent? 43:45 Can you think about what an awesome responsibility Joseph 43:50 had in that he had to communicate to this Holy Child 43:56 principles and behavior that would prepare him for his divine 44:02 work. Wow! What an incredibly awesome responsibility that he 44:08 had. Now think about this. Was it only Joseph that had that 44:13 responsibility. Can you imagine raising a child that you know is 44:16 not really your property but God's property. You know this 44:21 point, are you with me, is the person next to you with me? 44:25 Do you know? Take a look at them are they with me? I want you to 44:29 hear this. This is why I picked this sermon. This point, I 44:33 think, is the most important point. What God did for Joseph 44:37 in many respects he does for every parent. You're children 44:43 are not your own. You're children are God's. You have a 44:48 responsibility to raise them for God. Sometimes we treat our 44:54 children like they're our pets at our disposal. But our 44:58 children really belong to God. They've been bought by God, 45:02 they've been created by God. You might think well didn't I have a 45:07 part in it. Didn't have to think about it very much. The design 45:12 of procreation is God's plan. You simply participated in that. 45:16 It is a miracle he is responsible for. Life is a 45:20 miracle. You know I was talking with Karen last night about the 45:24 miracle of life that we were talking a little bit about 45:26 creation and evolution and some of these issues. Scientists can 45:32 talk about reproduction. They understand the continuation of 45:37 life. But they don't understand the origin of life. They can 45:43 explain how a kernel of corn opens up and forms a new plant, 45:47 but how the essence of life is in there they don't understand. 45:52 It's a miracle. Every one of your children are miracles. 45:56 And you're somebody's child. You're a miracle. And God wants 46:00 us, especially I'm talking to parents now, whether you've got 46:05 children or stepchildren, they are not yours, they're God's. 46:10 And the responsibility that God gave to Joseph to love them, to 46:14 teach them, to provide for them, that's something he's offering 46:18 you. And here's another really important point about Joseph I 46:22 don't want you to miss. Joseph brought his sacred charge to 46:27 church. You didn't think I was going to miss that point, did 46:31 you? Luke 2:22: Now when the days of her purification 46:35 according to the law of Moses were complete, they brought him 46:39 to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. We just had a baby 46:43 dedication and that's biblical. Some people baptize their babies 46:46 and that's not biblical. Jesus was dedicated as a baby. He was 46:50 baptized at 30. We don't baptize babies, we dedicate babies, 46:54 right? And we present them to the Lord and say God this child 47:00 is your property. Give me wisdom give me self-control, help me to 47:05 protect, help me to lead, help me to provide and be a good 47:10 example and you read on here. It says in Luke 2 verse 27: 47:14 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. They brought him to 47:18 Jerusalem. Where was he in Jerusalem? In the temple. They 47:23 brought Jesus to the house of the Lord. You can also read in 47:29 Luke chapter 4 verse 16: So he came to Nazareth where he had 47:33 been brought up. Who's this talking about? Jesus. And as his 47:37 custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day 47:41 and stood up to read. Where did he get this custom in Nazareth? 47:46 From his parents, from the very beginning. And Luke chapter 2 47:52 verse 42. When Jesus was 12 years old they went up to 47:55 Jerusalem according to the custom and where they end up 47:59 finding Jesus? He's in the temple because that's where he'd 48:04 been trained to go. Joseph brought his family to church. 48:09 He brought them to the temple. He brought them to the synagogue 48:12 one of the best things that a father can do for the children 48:15 whether you feel like it or not whether you're in the mood or 48:18 not is to have that commitment to bring them before the Lord 48:21 to take them to the place where the word is taught. Oh, by the 48:24 way, Joseph taught Jesus the word. Well Pastor Doug I thought 48:28 that he just got that because the Lord just put a Holy Spirit 48:31 funnel in Jesus' ear and just poured it all in at one time. 48:34 When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and he quoted to the 48:38 devil, who knows what book he quoted from? Deuteronomy all 48:41 three times. Did Jesus get that supernaturally or did Jesus 48:45 resist temptation the same way you and I do. Joseph taught 48:49 Jesus the word right along with Mary. That was part of the 48:54 father's responsibility. And fathers, in my family if I'm 48:59 there typically I'll read. If I'm not there Karen will read. 49:04 We read to the kids. We have a devotional every morning some 49:08 scripture. You don't have to read them three chapters, you'll 49:12 wear out the poor kids. But read them some verses, give them a 49:16 principle, let them digest it. Try to help them memorize some 49:20 scripture. Joseph! Can you imagine. Jesus is out there in 49:23 the wilderness, the devil is firing his missiles at him and 49:27 he remembers what he had learned at his father's knee. I'm sure 49:31 Mary had a part in it too, but typically the father was the 49:34 priest of the family who read these things. You never ever 49:37 hear where a woman got up to read the scriptures in the Bible 49:40 It does talk about Timothy's mother and grandmother, but I'm 49:44 talking about publically. Joseph read the Bible to his family. 49:47 And you read about the book of Jude, the book of James. These 49:50 are probably the brothers of Jesus. They knew the word too 49:55 didn't they? He had that example Now I think it's interesting 50:00 when Jesus' last scene, Joseph had taught him the word, he 50:05 taught him the scriptures. When Jesus' last scene with Joseph, 50:10 the last time he appears is in the temple, he is sitting 50:14 surrounded by the scholars of Jerusalem. They're asking him 50:18 questions, he's asking them questions and they're giving 50:22 biblical, scriptural answers, they're in a Bible study 50:25 together and they were amazed at his knowledge of scripture. 50:29 I have a feeling that Joseph was a man who understood the word of 50:33 God and that God deliberately picked that man and that's one 50:37 of the reasons he was a just man and a good man and an honest man 50:41 and a man of vision is because he was a man of the word. Do you 50:44 think I'm reading too much into the story or is there evidence 50:48 for that. I think there's good evidence for that. Now this to 50:54 me, I think, is profound. Luke 2:49, the last words that you 50:59 find Jesus uttering to Joseph and Mary. It says, Why did you 51:03 seek me... He's in the temple. It's like he said father Joseph 51:08 you've raised me to prepare for my life mission of serving my 51:13 heavenly father. Why did you seek me? Did you not know I must 51:18 be about my Father's business. When Jesus turned 12 years old, 51:22 that was a transition point for a Jewish boy. Today they do bar 51:26 mitzvahs at 13. It used to be 12. Why they changed it I don't 51:29 know. But at 12 years old he technically was to start 51:34 transitioning into manhood. They start going through puberty 51:37 during that time and they had picked that age. Jesus says to 51:41 Joseph, I now must be about my Father's business. From this 51:44 point on there's never any reference to Joseph in the Bible 51:48 It's almost as though the Lord is saying I am now transferring 51:53 the responsibility from this earthly father to the heavenly 51:57 Father. When he went to the temple at 12 years of age Jesus 52:01 finally got an epiphany, a revelation of what his mission 52:04 was. He saw the Passover lamb and he knew I am that lamb. It 52:09 all began to jell in his mind. Up to that time Joseph was his 52:13 father. Joseph had to represent the heavenly Father to Jesus. 52:17 Can you imagine that responsibility? Do you know you 52:20 as parents must represent God to your children. They are going to 52:25 take what they learn about you and they will later superimpose 52:30 the template you have given them of a parent on God. And some of 52:35 you, for you to learn to love and appreciate God maybe you 52:39 didn't have good fathers and mothers. In your mind, you may 52:42 have to at some point divorce yourself from your earthly 52:44 father and mother to get a real picture of God. If you had some 52:50 areas of dysfunction, and most of us did, Amen? In our families 52:54 most of us had a little baggage, dysfunction, these words we like 52:58 to use. You need to separate those issues and not blame God 53:02 for those things. And Jesus said I must be about my Father's 53:06 business. Now it tells us he went back to Nazareth and you 53:10 know what it says? He was subject unto them. He was 53:15 subject to Mary and to Joseph and up until his 30th birthday 53:18 he was at home helping. We don't know exactly when Joseph died, 53:20 we don't know how he died. There's almost universal 53:23 agreement that Joseph died before Christ began his ministry 53:27 but he had left an indelible impression on Jesus by his 53:31 example. I'll bet you, even if Jesus had none of the physical 53:36 DNA of Joseph, I'll bet you that after 20 years, 15 years of 53:40 watching this man before him, that there was something in the 53:45 idiosyncrasies, in the gait, in the mannerisms, in the 53:49 vocabulary that when people looked at Jesus they said, you 53:52 know, he's got some of Joseph in him. And what a privilege, 53:57 what a responsibility, for a man to know I am going to leave, 54:01 I'm going to impress, like a photographic plate, on another 54:05 life who I am. Well friends, fathers, you've got a chance to 54:09 adjust the camera right now to make sure you get a good 54:13 exposure, to make sure you make a good impression on the lives 54:17 of your children, and if you've made mistakes, don't think it's 54:21 too late. Children are very forgiving. Confess to them and 54:24 say I want to be a better father I want to leave you a better 54:28 legacy and do your best to spend time with them because children 54:31 aren't going to know, they're not going to care so much about 54:34 what you believe if they don't think you love them, if they 54:37 don't think you care about them. It's more than just providing 54:40 and protecting. They want a relationship with you and I 54:44 believe Joseph had that with Jesus. Amen? The last time you 54:51 find him Jesus says I must be about my Father's business, he 54:56 never appears again. He is an example. Joseph is sort of a 55:01 model for us as earthly fathers for our families, for our 55:05 children, for their spiritual welfare, knowing they're not 55:09 our property, they belong to God. We are all children of our 55:13 heavenly Father and all of our children belong to him. I pray 55:18 that we'll all have the same attitude that Joseph had, 55:20 realizing that we have a sacred charge and it is our privilege 55:25 to impress upon these young minds the divine character and 55:30 prepare them for their life's work, a great work, a work to 55:35 be sons and daughters of God. Our loving Father in heaven, 55:39 Lord, we are so thankful that you have invited us to address 55:43 you as our Father. We've seen today that in your choice of 55:48 Joseph you chose a good and a just man because he can be a 55:52 model for every man. I pray, Lord, that we will all have a 55:57 renewed interest in not only the protection and provision for our 56:02 children but also the spiritual environment and protection, the 56:06 spiritual provision. Lord I pray that by word and by example we 56:11 can leave them a legacy that will strengthen the church, that 56:15 we can teach them the word, that we can bring them to the house 56:19 of the Lord where he can inspire them and speak to them. Thank 56:23 you Lord for this example that we find in your word of this 56:27 very important holy father that we see in Joseph. I pray Lord 56:31 you'll help each of us to recognize we have a similar 56:34 sacred charge in the children you've given us, whether they 56:38 are our genetic children, whether they're stepchildren, 56:41 help us to love them Lord as far as humanly possible as you love 56:45 them. So bless us Lord that we might take this responsibility 56:50 this awesome responsibility as a sacred charge and fulfill it 56:53 to the best of our ability. In Christ's name we pray and we 56:57 thank you. Amen 56:59 ¤ ¤ 57:30 Amazing Facts Ministry has been broadcasting the gospel since 57:33 1966 when it aired its first radio program in Baltimore, 57:38 Maryland. Elder Joe Cruz was the speaker/director for more than 57:42 30 years. At that time, no one dreamed that Amazing Facts would 57:46 become a multifaceted, world wide ministry. The heart beat of 57:50 the gospel pulsating from this ministry is heard today on radio 57:55 television, the internet, the correspondence Bible school, the 58:00 publishing ministry and local and world wide evangelism. 58:04 Pastor Doug Batchelor stepped into the leadership of the 58:07 ministry after Joe Cruz died in 1994. Currently Amazing Facts 58:12 is on more than 100 TV stations and 11 satellite and cable 58:16 networks throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, 58:20 Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia. |
Revised 2014-12-17