LIFE INTERCEPTED By GOD-I—Matthew 1:18-19(:18-25)
Attention:
One day, in 1986, before I knew Jesus, I was sitting the living room of my, my wife’s, & our infant daughter’s newly purchased home in Savannah, Georgia. I was watching a Sunday Bible Study program aired by a local pastor.
He said, “Jesus came to offer the Kingdom of God to the Jews.”
I immediately realized that Jesus had come to offer that Kingdom of God to me as well!
I was immediately was awakened to the fact that I was a horrible sinner, who had denied God for many years. I was overwhelmed to tears with personal guilt. And yet simultaneously absolutely knowing that God would forgive all of that sin & sinfulness upon my accepting Jesus as my Savior & Lord! And I turned my life over to Him in that moment.
When I got saved, my day-to-day Life was Intercepted By God, so that it was set on a dramatically altered course than I myself could or would have ever chosen.
• And from that beginning point, to this day, because of the struggle of my flesh against God’s Holy Spirit, every moment of every day, I continue to make every effort to surrender all the multitude of my daily choices to my Savior & Lord.
Likewise, YOUR life will drastically change when it is Intercepted by God!
‘INTERCEPT’—Mirriam-Webster—“To stop, seize, or interrupt in progress, or course, or before arrival”?OR—New Oxford American Dictionary—“To obstruct so as to prevent from continuing to a destination.”
Need:
The apostle Matthew recorded some key elements/aspects surrounding the conception & birth of Jesus, from Joseph’s perspective.
Jesus’ beginnings, as they relate to Joseph’s perspective, is known.
?What can be learned from Joseph’s perspective about Jesus’ beginnings?
5 lessons learned from a life intercepted by God.
1—Life Intercepted By God...
INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY(:18a)
Explanation:(:18a)Usual/Expected/Mundane/Routine/Commonplace
:18a—“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,...”
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:...”
The following narrative gives the reader/hearer pertinent information about the birth of the Christ.
•The circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth are important to the writer Matthew, as he decides how to share his understanding of who Jesus is.
“After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,...”
Per RWP/ISBE:
*“Betrothal” with the Jews was a serious matter! It was NOT carelessly entered into, & it was NOT carelessly broken!
•It had vastly more official force than an ‘engagement’ holds in our society today! What Americans call ‘courtship’ might be the closest resemblance. There was no such thing as an ‘informal’ cancellation of a “betrothal.”
•A Jewish couple who were “betrothed” to one another, were legally bound together as ‘husband’ & ‘wife’!
•A ‘dowry’ or ‘bride price’ was given by the bridegroom-to-be or his family, to the family of the bride-to-be. The dowry served as a seal of the betrothal covenant agreed to by the two families.—ISBE/RWP
If we pause at this point in verse :18, we will realize that mundane, usual, day-to-day, typical happenings were taking place in the lives of two young people who were pledged to be married.
However, that ‘typical life’ was about to be ‘radically interrupted’ by Almighty God! And that interruption took place “after” the “betrothal” was made official.
Argumentation:
Lk. 12:16-35—“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns & build greater, & there I will store all my crops & my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, & be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, & is not rich toward God.” Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, & the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; & God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? “And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; & yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field & tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, & your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, & all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have & give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let your waist be girded & your lamps burning;"
2Tim. 2:3-4—“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
Illustration:
Bad Excuse—Harry worked in New York City. But he came into the office an hour late for the third time in a week.
“What's the story this time, Harry?” his boss asked sarcastically. “Let's hear a good excuse for a change.”
Harry sighed, “Everything went wrong this morning, boss. The car is in the shop, so the wife attempted to drive me into the city. She got ready in ten minutes, but then the draw bridge got stuck. I swam across the river--see, my suit's still damp--I ran out to the airport, got a ride on a helicopter, landed on top of Radio City Music Hall, & was carried here piggyback by one of the Rockettes.”
“You'll have to do better than that, Harry,” said the boss.
“But that's what happened! Why don't you believe me?”
“Simple! No woman EVER got ready in ten minutes!”
INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY
Application:
?Has YOUR ORDINARY Life been Interrupted & Intercepted by God?
!The ORDINARY aspect of YOUR life is intended to be Intercepted by God!
?Has YOUR Life been Intercepted by God??
2—Life Intercepted By God is also...
Is CRISIS DRIVEN(:18b-19)
Explanation:(:18b)Dominated/Riddled
:18b—“... before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.””
:19—“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
And when God Intercepts the Ordinariness of your life(:18a), CRISIS arises!
:18b—“Before they came together,...”
•Any ‘faithlessness’ on the part of either of the “betrothed” couple, was treated as adultery, & could be punished by death!
•Also ‘pre-marital sex’ was considered crass & was frowned upon in a betrothal arrangement!
•The “betrothed” couple did NOT ‘live together’ as husband & wife, until they were officially & legally ‘married.’
*The TYPICAL nature of Joseph & Mary’s life was about to be ‘radically interrupted & intercepted by Almighty God!....And that would bring about a CRISIS into both of their lives!
:18b—“She was found with child...”
Joseph, was obviously fully aware of God’s revealed written will. And he properly weighed God’s overall word.
•But what was Joseph to do in such a circumstance?
:18b—“of the Holy Spirit.””
*This 4-word phrase states the TRUTH / REALITY of the situation.
•No doubt, Mary had shared the miraculous & REAL circumstances of her conception fully with Joseph....
Cf.-Lk. 1:26-38—“Now in the sixth month[of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
“Joseph”—as all of us do—lived with the tension between God’s written revelation, & how it was to be applied in his personal life! “Joseph” had to wrestle with the fact that God lives! And with the fact that God is active in people’s lives, yet God is flawlessly settled in His determination of right versus wrong.
•“Joseph” had to weigh truth against lies on a human scale. “Joseph” had to weigh God’s truth against what he was familiar with....
And “Joseph” was familiar with & knew human nature. He knew that mankind is capable of just about anything against God. Surely he had heard of &/or seen such things happen in the lives of other couples, even among his own people the Jews.
*Before Mary “was found with child” “Joseph” supposed that he knew the heart of his betrothed wife. Whereas now that it was certain that “she was” pregnant, & not by him, he surely questioned in his own heart, Mary’s commitment to their upcoming marriage.
•“Joseph” surely questioned how his sweet Mary’s heart could have motivated her to concoct, what ‘seemed’ to him, to be an apparent lie.
•You & I know the rest of the story, that Mary was being true to her righteous character, & did NOT lie, but was being truthful with “Joseph”!
And in verse :19 we see “Joseph’s” godly character shine thru his pain......
:19—“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, & not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
“Joseph’s” response to Mary’s being pregnant, makes it plain that “Joseph” did not ‘buy into’ MARY’s reason for being pregnant(Lk. 1:34-35).
“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,...”
Because of “Joseph’s” knowledge of God’s will, “Joseph” was very concerned about ‘doing the right thing’, within the bounds of God’s will. And “Joseph” acted in godly, & righteous fortitude toward what seemed to him, to be his wife’s adultery.
“and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
*Even though “Joseph” reckoned that he had been personally jilted by Mary, he was still able to summon his compassion for her.
“Joseph” saw no sense or benefit in calling attention to what ‘seemed’ in his eyes, to be Mary’s sin. He did not want to ‘throw her under the bus’ as it were. He did not want to cause her undue harm or pain, or ‘kick her while she was down.’
It is not as if “Joseph” was condoning sin either. Rather “Joseph’s” “not wanting to make” Mary “a public example” was a testimony to “Joseph’s” comprehension & apprehension of God’s forgiveness that sees beyond specific sins.
*If you cannot forgive a person’s sin against you, then you place yourself under the power of that person’s sin!
Argumentation:
*Jer. 7:1-7—“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, & proclaim there this word, & say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways & your doings, & I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ “For if you thoroughly amend your ways & your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man & his neighbor, “if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, & the widow, & do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever & ever.”
*Rom. 13:8-14—“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” & if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, & let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry & drunkenness, not in lewdness & lust, not in strife & envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, & make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
*Rev. 1:3—“Blessed is he who reads & those who hear the words of this prophecy, & keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
*Mat. 5:20—“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes & Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
*In order to live by the power of God, each of us must continually face a Crisis of the Soul!
Illustration:
My further testimony:
When God Intercepted my Life....
I lost interest in the job that I loved in marine biological research.
I faced the CRISIS of finding no pleasure in my career job that I had loved for eight years.
I left that job, not knowing what to do. And for 1-1/2 yrs. I floated from job-to-job. But I was never satisfied....because at that time, I didn’t know that my salvation invites Jesus’ Lordship over my life!
Eventually, I surrendered to attend seminary!
I have NEVER regretted doing that!
CRISIS DRIVEN!
My poor wife has had to endure the UPHEAVAL of moving from location-to-location. And she amazes me because of that. She made a marriage commitment. And she has always been & always will be dedicated to our children & our family, including me!
My wife was called to be trained & to work as a nurse. She has never regretted it. And Nurses are needed everywhere. God has seen fit to find her a nursing position everywhere we have lived & on every occasion where we have needed her to work outside our home.
CRISIS DRIVEN!
Application:
?Is YOUR life CRISIS DRIVEN, as a result of God’s Interception?
?OR...Is YOUR life CRISIS DRIVEN, as a result of your own sinfulness?
?Has YOUR Life been Intercepted by God??
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Recall that, The day I was saved, my day-to-day life was given a dramatically altered course.
And from that beginning point, as I continue to surrender my life to Jesus, in all the multitude of my daily choices, my life continues to be set on a dramatically altered course, directed by Him!
Likewise, YOUR life will drastically change when it is Intercepted by God!
Action:
Life Intercepted By God...
1. INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY(:18a)
2. Is CRISIS DRIVEN(:18b-19)
Pt#s 1-2 presented 12/08/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
