LIFE INTERCEPTED By GOD-III—Matthew 1:22-25(:18-25)
Attention:
Back in the day(1963), a vinyl album was released that was entitled, ‘The Andy Williams Christmas album.’
The first side had 6 secular Christmas-Holiday songs. Side two had 6 Christian Christmas songs. On that album, Mr. Williams introduced a song that is still popular at Christmas time today--
‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year’
It’s been covered by the likes of Johnny Mathis, Garth Brooks, Barlow Girl, Harry Connick, Jr., & Stevie Mackey w/ Jennifer Lopez, & many others.
It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle-belling
And everyone telling you, “Be of good cheer!”
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call.
It's the hap-happiest season of all
There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow.
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
There'll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: George Wyle / Eddie Pola
That song says nothing about the birth of Jesus!...It is about a celebration of winter.
•What makes the Christmas season ‘Wonderful’ for Christians is not necessarily what makes it wonderful for everyone else!
The ‘Holiday season’ is called that, because there are a few religious ‘holy-days’ that coincide in December. As Christmas is special to God’s people, so is Hanukkah to Jews, Kwanzaa to Africans, & the Solstice to Animists. Plus there are many who have no firm religion at all!
•And so ‘the Holidays’ is all that some people ever have to celebrate!
Your celebration of ‘the Holidays’ changes dramatically & drastically, into a celebration of Christmas, WHEN your life is INTERCEPTED by God thru Christ Jesus!
‘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. LIFE INTERCEPTED By GOD-III—Matthew 1:22-25(:18-25)
So far we’ve found that Life Intercepted By God...
1. INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY(:18a)
2. Is CRISIS DRIVEN(:18b-19)
3. Is FULLY INFORMED(:20-21)
Today we’ll also find that:
4—Life Intercepted By God...
Is PREDICTED Or PREDICATED(:22-23)
Explanation:(:22-23)Expected
:22—“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:”
:23—““Behold, the virgin shall be with child, & bear a Son, & they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””
:22—“So all this was done” references all that Matthew has written up to this point in his Gospel.
Here(1:21) Matthew calls attention to the ultimate “fulfillment” of specific prophecy, by the means of what he has written in verses 1:1-21! And that includes Jesus’ genealogy(1:1-17), as well as the angel’s revelations to Joseph in his dream(1:18-21).
“All this was done” in order to bring about the far/future “fulfillment” of the prophecy of Isa. 7:14--Stated in 1:23, which is a ‘double-fulfillment’ prophecy!
•And with that, Matthew has ushered his audience into the imperceptible convolutions & details of that “fulfillment”!
“So all this was done” in order to bring about the actions necessary for God’s sovereign will to reach it’s “fulfillment.”
•Matthew’s purpose in recording those events, is to inform his audience, that certain events &/or actions, that he himself witnessed in real-time, were FORETOLD in the Scripture:—cf.- Matt. 2:15, 23; 8:17; 12:17; & 21:4.
:23—““Behold, the virgin shall be with child, & bear a Son, & they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””
Matthew(or possibly the angel) quotes Isa. 7:14 for Joseph’s enlightenment & encouragement. The Isaiah quote is applied from a ‘near & far’ or double-fulfillment prophecy.
In Isaiah’s prophecy, the virgin “Is not an old woman or a married woman... not a bride or a girl, necessarily but an ‘almah.”[Hebrew--hmle; Greek--paryenov; English--“virgin”]. “Isaiah’s choice of ‘almah’ is deliberate. It seems to be the only word in the language which unequivocally signifies an unmarried woman”, & particularly a virgin.....“No other word would have been suitable for fulfilling the requirements of the sign such as” both near & far contexts demand. “None of the other words would have pointed to an unusual birth.”.....As the prophet Isaiah “beholds the virgin in vision, she is with child, but the birth is to take place in the far future” beyond Isaiah’s time.....“The one to be brought forth is a son, & the birth of that son, is the sign that [King]Ahaz[near-fulfillment] has nothing to fear from the northern kingdoms[of Israel or from Syria].”.....YET, “The child cannot be just any child, but only such a child as would serve as a sign."—E.J. Young
In the ‘near-fulfillment’ of the prophecy, BEFORE Isaiah’s prophesied ‘Immanuel’ would begin to have the ability to discern right from wrong, “both Syria & Ephraim would be devastated.”.....That is to say, their devastation would occur within the span of a very few years.—F. C. Jennings in ‘Studies in Isaiah’(1935)
“In the next chapter[8], Isaiah becomes the father of a child who is also a sign.” The mother of the child is [also] an ‘unmarried young woman’, who is ‘the prophetess.’ She conceives & bears a son by Isaiah, but he is OBVIOUSLY NOT “Immanuel”, NOR is he called “Immanuel.”
And so, the ‘FAR-FULFILLMENT’ of Isaiah 7:14, is made apparent/plain!
•And in the NT text of Matthew 1:18-25, the apostle Matthew boldly tells his readers/hearers that Jesus of Nazareth is the answer of Isaiah’s ‘far-fulfillment’! So the child that Isaiah spoke of, is none other than Jesus the Christ!—F. C. Jennings in ‘Studies in Isaiah’(1935)
So the ‘far-fulfillment’ of Isaiah’s prophecy, would ultimately be fulfilled in Joseph & Mary’s time, & nowhere near Isaiah’s time(some 700yrs. earlier)!
•Isaiah’s promised “child” of the ‘far-fulfillment’ could only rightly be called “Immanuel” or “God with us”, because the “virgin”[paryenov] Mary’s “child” would be conceived of the Holy Spirit(1:18; Lk. 1:30-35)!
*So therefore, the ‘far-fulfillment’ of Isaiah’s prophecy declares a magnificent truth about Jesus....And that truth, is that amazingly, ‘Jesus’, would be BOTH: 1)A fully human “child”, YET 2)He would simultaneously be God!...Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God....or ‘God in human flesh’!
*And so, only thru Jesus—being God in human flesh—the world experiences “Immanuel” or “God With Us”!
Argumentation:
Jn. 4:34-38—“Jesus said to them[the 12 disciples], “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, & to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months & then comes the harvest’? “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes & look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, & gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows & he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows & another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, & you have entered into their labors.””
Eph. 1:3-10—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him.”
There is no way, with the reality of freewill, combined with the limitations of human intelligence, that I or you can perceive of all the intricacies involved with God’s sovereign outworkings!
But God’s goal for His people is simple...Be faithful to Him! And thru your faithfulness, you aid the accomplishment of His will.
Illustration:
First Responders. They are specially trained & equipped to ‘respond’ in a ‘predictable fashion’ to QUICKLY attend to a multitude of needs involving physical &/or mental difficulties. They save lives & prevent further harm thru their TIMELY INTERVENTION.
First Responders are MOBILE, & their work sets the stage for more involved care in a STATIONARY setting. And then the stationary medical staff, will complete the care needed. It is Predicated/Predicted/Set/Determined that each serves the other. And those parameters of their service do not vary!
PREDICTED Or PREDICATED
Application:
?Is YOUR Life PREDICTED Or PREDICATED thru God’s Interception?
?Has YOUR Life been Intercepted by God??
5—Life Intercepted By God...
Is FAITHFUL To FOLLOW THRU(:24-25)
Explanation:(:24-25)
:24—“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,”
:25—“and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.”
:24—“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,”
Though the message from the angel came to “Joseph” “in a dream,”(:20), it was enough to convict & convince “Joseph” to correct his actions! “Joseph” knew without-a-doubt, that the dream was from God.
“Joseph” was a man of complete dedication to the Lord God. Without hesitation, & regardless of the situation’s appearances to men, Joseph gladly surrendered himself to God’s desire thru the angel’s urging/exhortation!
And so, “Joseph” in willful obedience, did “take to himself” Mary as “his wife.”
*To be ‘Faithful To Follow Thru’ is to SO trust God with your life, that you do what God desires, with no hesitation!
:25—“and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.”
“and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son....”
Joseph allowed God’s full control of his self-restraint, so that there was no ‘sexual intercourse’ between Joseph & Mary until AFTER Jesus’ birth. They would have at least 6 other children(Mk. 6:3—at least 4 brothers, & at least 2 sisters).
Joseph’s as well as Mary’s ‘self-restraint’ would have been heightened & maintained, because both of them were now aware of the marvelous, high, & noble duty to which both of them were called, as parents of the Savior of God’s people!
“And he called His name JESUS.”
Significantly, eight days after “Jesus’” birth, when the time came for their “firstborn son” to be circumcised & named, Joseph ensured that their child was ‘officially’/legally named “Jesus”(Lk. 2:21) meaning: ‘Savior’ or ‘YaHWeH is salvation’—D. A. Carson in EBC
Argumentation:
*An example of personal faithfulness is found in the OT book of Numbers:
Num. (13:17-33)13:30-31; 14:6-10, 24, 29-30—Prior to entering the Promised Land, Moses sent 12 leaders into that land(Num. 13:1-16). Each leader was chosen from each tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel, so that everybody was represented. The leader’s job was to collectively “spy out the land of Canaan”(the promised land) for 40 days. After fully observing the land & it’s inhabitants, they brought back a report to the children of Israel. Their overall report was a bad one. They related that the land was indeed a good land(flowing with milk & honey(13:27)). However the people of the land frightened them —
Num. 13:30-31—“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, & said, “Let us go up at once & take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.””
Num. 14:6-10—“But Joshua the son of Nun & Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; & they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land & give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk & honey.’ “Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, & the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” “And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.”.....14:24—“But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him & has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, & his descendants shall inherit it.”.....14:29-30—“‘The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old & above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh & Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.”
*Another example of personal faithfulness is in the book of Daniel:
Dan. 3:1-2, 4-9, 12-13, 16-18—:1-2—“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits & its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, & all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”.....:4-9—“Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, & languages, “that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, & psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down & worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; “& whoever does not fall down & worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, & lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, & languages fell down & worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward & accused the Jews. They spoke & said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!”.....:12-13—“There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage & fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king.”.....:16-18—“Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego answered & said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, & He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.””
•And they stood firm in their faith to the point that the king forced them into the furnace!
AGAIN: “To be ‘Faithful’ is to SO trust God with your life, that you do what GOD desires, with NO hesitation.”
Prov. 20:6—“Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?”
Luke 16:10—Jesus said,—“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Illustration:
Any Military.
It operates properly by respect for authority(faithfulness).
It is strong ONLY when that authority is ‘trustworthy’(faithfulness).
It operates within the confines of a recognized hierarchy(faithfulness).
It maintains it’s own legislative, judicial, & enforcement systems.
NO ONE in the military system, stays in the military system, IF they are NOT FAITHFUL To FOLLOW THRU!
Likewise, A Life intercepted By God Is FAITHFUL To FOLLOW THRU!
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.”
Application:
?Is YOUR Life FAITHFUL To FOLLOW THRU, by God’s Interception?
?Has YOUR Life been Intercepted by God??
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The secular song: ‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year’
•What makes the Christmas season ‘Wonderful’ for Christians is not necessarily what makes it wonderful for everyone else!
•So ‘Happy Holidays’ is all that some people ever have to celebrate!
But, YOUR celebration of ‘the Holidays’ changes drastically, to a celebration of Christmas, WHEN your life is INTERCEPTED by God thru Christ Jesus!
Action:
Life Intercepted By God...
4. Is PREDICTED Or PREDICATED(:22-23)
5. Is FAITHFUL To FOLLOW THRU(:24-25)
1. INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY(:18a)
2. Is CRISIS DRIVEN(:18b-19)
3. Is FULLY INFORMED(:20-21)
Pt#s 4-5 presented 12/29/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
