"Radical Obedience"
Matthew 1:18-25
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Introduction: In many respects Joseph is the "forgotten man" in the Christmas story yet when we examine the narrative as a whole he plays a very important part in the plan of God to send His Son into the world to die for our sins. Matthew gives us the genealogy of the Jesus from Joseph's side of the family and there are a few other details provided to us about him but for the most part the thing that stands out in both his character and his conduct is his willingness to obey God in spite of the circumstances he found himself in. Joseph's life was characterized by what I would like to describe as "radical obedience." What is that?
First:
I. Radical obedience begins with revelation
An angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream (aggelos kuriou kat' onar ephanē autōi). This expression (aggelos kuriou) is without the article in the New Testament except when, as in Mat_1:24, there is reference to the angel previously mentioned. Sometimes in the Old Testament Jehovah Himself is represented by this phrase. Surely Joseph needed God's help if ever man did. If Jesus was really God's Son, Joseph was entitled to know this supreme fact that he might be just to both Mary and her Child. It was in a dream, but the message was distinct and decisive for Joseph. He is called "Son of David" as had been shown by Matthew in Mat_1:16. Mary is called his "wife" (tēn gunaika sou). He is told "not to become afraid" (ingressive first aorist passive subjunctive in prohibition, (mē phobēthēis), "to take to his side" (paralabein, ingressive aorist active infinitive) her whom he had planned (enthumēthentos, genitive absolute again, from en and thumos) to send away with a writ of divorce. He had pondered and had planned as best he knew, but now God had called a halt and he had to decide whether he was willing to shelter Mary by marrying her and, if necessary, take upon himself whatever stigma might attach to her. Joseph was told that the child was begotten of the Holy Spirit and thus that Mary was innocent of any sin. But who would believe it now if he told it of her? Mary knew the truth and had not told him because she could not expect him to believe it.
"The angel of the Lord..." Could it be that Joseph received this message from the Lord in his pre-incarnate form? Wouldn't that be an amazing revelation?
a. The Difficulty
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
b. The Direction
Fundamentally Radical obedience is all about our attitude towards the word of God. If the Bible is the word of God do you feel any sense of obligation to do what it says? This is the critical issue.
ILL - OBEDIENCE, NOT UNDERSTANDING
Our denomination has a Pastor's Retreat every year up in the mountains of S. Cal. As I was walking to breakfast one morning, I came across a monument that explained that when Billy Graham first started preaching, he was confused and had some doubts about God's Word. While praying one morning, got down on one knee at this monument and said, "Lord, I don't understand all that is in this book, and there are a lot of different passages that I have my doubts about.... But, You say it's Your Word, so by faith, I'm going to accept it as my authority and live it". That prayer proved to be the turning point of his life! From that moment on God began to use Him in amazing ways.
c. The Decision
Mat 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Mat 1:25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
COME AND DIE
In The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:
"The cross is laid on every Christian. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death--we give over our lives to death. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
SOURCE: The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer
II. Radical obedience bares us to risk
Fear is the greatest obstacle to radical obedience.
Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
I Samuel 15
a. There is risk in full surrender
Recently Bro. Jeff told me about listening to Dr. Adrian Rogers preach on the Principles of Prayer and he used the Lord's Prayer as the foundation for his teaching. When dealing with the phrase "...thy will be done..." Dr. Rogers told about a conversation with a Romanian friend where he asked his opinion of American Christianity and his friend replied the key word in American Christian vocabulary today is commitment but that it was not always so. This word came into widespread usage in the American church in the 1960's. When a new word moves in it always replaces an old word. The word that was replaced is the word surrender. Now you ask what is wrong with the word commitment. It is really very simple but profound. In commitment you are in control and you decide what level of commitment you are going to make but in surrender God is in control. The reason so many professing Christians are not doing the will of God is that they don't know the will of God because God doesn't reveal his will to rebels! He will never bless an un-surrendered, un-sanctified life! My question to you this morning is have you really fully surrendered your entire self to God?
ILL - If God be God over us, we must yield him universal obedience in all things. He must not be over us in one thing, and under us in another, but he must be over us in everything.
[Universal Obedience, Citation: Peter Bulkeley, Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 1.]
THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
Ill - A man was walking through an art gallery when he came upon a picture of the Lord Jesus dying upon the cross. He stopped and looked at the beautiful portrait of Calvary's love. As he stared into the face of Christ, so full of agony the gallery guard tapped him on the shoulder. "Lower," the guard said. "The artist painted this picture to be appreciated from a lower position."
So the man bent down. And from this lower position he observed new beauties in the picture not previously shown. "Lower," said the guard. "Lower still." The man knelt down on one knee and looked up into the face of Christ. The new vantage point yielded new beauties to behold and appreciate.
But motioning with his torch toward the ground, the guard said, "Lower. You've got to go lower." The man now dropped down to two knees and looked up. Only then as he looked up at the painting from such a low posture could he realize the artist's intended perspective. Only then could he see the full beauty of the cross.
Is the same not true in worship? Only as we position ourselves lower and lower in humble submission can we behold more fully the glories of our wonderful Lord.
From David Moore's Sermon "In and Around Heaven"
b. There is the risk of stigmatization
What does this word mean? Well you can see the root word stigma from which we get our word stigmatize which is defined:
STIGMATIZE, v.t.
1. To mark with a brand; in a literal sense; as, the ancients stigmatized their slaves and soldiers.
2. To set a mark of disgrace on; to disgrace with some not of reproach or infamy.
And we also get the word stigmata which are marks on the hands and feet resembling the wounds from Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
Galatians 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
The marks of Jesus (ta stigmata tou Iēsou). Old word from stizō, to prick, to stick, to sting. Slaves had the names or stamp of their owners on their bodies. It was sometimes done for soldiers also. There were devotees also who stamped upon their bodies the names of the gods whom they worshipped. Today in a round-up cattle are given the owner's mark. Paul gloried in being the slave of Jesus Christ. This is probably the image in Paul's mind since he bore in his body brand-marks of suffering for Christ received in many places (2Co_6:4-6; 2Co_11:23.), probably actual scars from the scourgings (thirty-nine lashes at a time). If for no other reason, listen to me by reason of these scars for Christ and "let no one keep on furnishing trouble to me." Robertson's Word Pictures
What does this have to do with Joseph or you and I for that matter? There is much that we do not know about Joseph but we do know that he was much older than Mary, probably in his mid-forties while she was about 15. For us to understand the meaning of what Joseph risked we need to know about Jewish laws and traditions concerning marriage. Verse 18 says that Mary was "espoused" to Joseph which would be the equivalent to our engagement for a period of 1 year with one important exception. For the Jews there was very little difference between being espoused and being married. The penalties for breaching the vows for both were serious. Under Moses law Mary would have been put to death for adultery but by the time of Jesus birth that was not the penalty in these cases and Joseph was going to "...put her away privily..." which means that he was going to give Mary a bill of divorcement without making a public spectacle of her; that is he decided to spare her the shame of a public humiliation. How could Joseph have been stigmatized by obeying the voice of the angel of the Lord? For as long as he lived there would be the perception that Joseph married a woman who had not been faithful to him during the betrothal period and that the baby that irregardless of what the truth was the world in which he and Mary lived would always believe that Mary was carrying would be perceived as the illegitimate issue that was the result of fornication. This is the same charge that was leveled at the Lord himself by his distracters.
John 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joseph would have to endure the whispers and comments of both family and friends to do the will of God and obey the word of God.
This stigmatization is just as relevant today for those who would be radically obedient. Those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, inspired word of God today are called narrow, backward, stupid, slow-witted, and ignorant and if we believe what the Bible says about sins like homo-sexuality and proclaim its truth we are labeled unkind, unloving, homo-phobic! The Bible has another word for this stigmatization and it is the word "...reproach..."
Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
1 Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
Ill - When Hugh Latimer was preaching one day in the presence of King Henry VIII, he reports that he said to himself, "Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the king is here; be careful what you say." Then he said to himself, "Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the King of kings is here; be careful what you do not say." For such unflinching faithfulness Latimer was eventually burned at the stake. But He feared failing God more than he feared offending men.
The faithful disciple values his soul immeasurably more than he values his body, and he will gladly sacrifice that which is only physical and corruptible for the sake of that which is spiritual and incorruptible.
III. Radical obedience brings great reward
a. In the here and now
Have you ever asked yourself why so many believers don't seem to be enjoying their Christian life and experience? The answer may be as simple as an unwillingness to obey God's word and to do His will. God will never bless nor is He obligated to bless a half-hearted, insincere, and un-surrendered life and will and amazingly enough the choice is ours.
Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Ill - "Joy is the byproduct of obedience" (Source Unknown).
ILL - D. L. Moody has expressed it so well: ". . . joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can't see and doesn't know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him" [--Edith draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 6529.]. This is the joy Jesus brought to Mary, to D. L. Moody, and that he still showers on you and me today when we "walk in obedience to Him."
b. In the hereafter
Ill - Nothing shall be lost that is done for God or in obedience to Him. -- John Owen
Ill -- Chuck Swindoll once talked with General Charles M. Duke, a former astronaut who went on the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. I asked, "Once you were there, weren't you free to make your own decisions and carry out your own experiments. He smiled and said "Sure, if I didn't want to return to earth!" He went on to describe the intricate plan, the precise instructions, the essential discipline and the instant obedience that was needed right down to a split second. He explained how they landed with sixty seconds of fuel remaining. Talk about being obedient! (Charles Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip).
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
ILL - Finney noted this about obedience and sacrifice, "Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!"
