The Obedience of Joseph — Joshua Daniel

Joseph’s Obedience to the Angel’s Command

Now dear friends, let's turn to the first chapter of the New Testament, Matthew, chapter 1, 24th verse. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.

Faith Must Become Practical Action

Now theory, you know in the physics classroom, I learned a little bit of physics and somehow the lab did not interest me so much because it interfered with my tennis. So I was anxious to get away to my tennis court, so I was poor with my practical lab work.

Suppose every engineer, every mechanic, every mechanical person says, oh I know it all in my head, and that's enough for me, and that's enough for you. I'll present you with a gleaming beautiful automobile like you have never seen on earth, but don't you try to get into it or run it.

It will not run. Do you want that? The New Testament begins with a man of action. No words here. Not one single word of Joseph's was recorded, and the kind of assignment which was given to him would have knocked anybody out.

Anyone would have said, balked and said, hey this is too much for me. This is quite beyond me. You know I have noticed when it comes to marriage, many people are so calculated. They think of the financial prospects.

Is this girl going to bring in any money? What will I get out of it? Now that's, that is a motivation and thought which will destroy any marriage. What will I get out of it? I am boss, and so I don't want to be running errands.

What was Joseph really doing? He had taken on such a big job. You know people want a kind of affiliation. I won't call it commitment. An affiliation which does not carry any responsibility with it. See I'm not going to be responsible for Mary.

Joseph’s Responsibility to Mary and Jesus

You know that don't you? Well if I am to be your future husband, all right, but I can't be responsible for your safety. The king is after the babe. Herod the king wanted to eliminate the Lord Jesus, and so he sent and killed all the children below 20, sorry 2, below 2 years.

Just think of that. Killing all the children below 2 years. What a carnage, but you see that was the kind of hatred which comes out until we make Jesus Christ King. This man felt his position was in jeopardy, danger.

Now another king is born, not in my country. I'm going to eliminate him before he threatens my crown. You see my dear friends, and who was this poor man? He was just a working fellow, a carpenter. And was he going to take on the king when he sought to protect Jesus?

Obedience to God’s Word and the Power of the Cross

You see obedience to the Word of God has behind it many booster rockets. You know we say hey how can I humble myself? How can I go and return this money? You know I had quite a battle with my pride. Quite a battle.

When I cheated my family tailor, he used to make our clothes you know. Measure us out and make our clothes. Well when I knew that he had forgotten to bill me for a court and just kept silent. Saying he has overcharged me for the rest of the clothes anyway.

And five years after God was saying go and return that money. Boy it was quite a humiliating thing for me because he had known me. He had seen me grown up. He had made my clothes for years. To say hey I owe you this money.

I cheated you or some thing. It went against the grain with me. Pride. No. Irresponsibility and the cross of Jesus never go together. When you come to the cross of Jesus you feel hey did Jesus suffer this pain?

This death? All because of my sin and guilt? To be my Savior? To rescue me? Did he suffer this? You know my dear friends that sends a booster into your life. A booster rocket. Okay then if this is so then I'm going to act upon it.

If my sinless Savior humbled himself thus in this manner for me I'm going to do something about it. I'm not going to be sitting around twiddling my thumb. You know religion has become an utterly impractical kind of thing today.

Christian Faith Must Produce Changed Lives

And I can see that certain working people say hey we are hard working people you know. What do you fellows do? Give a sermon or two once a week. That's about all you do. And bury a few people. You know there are some pastors who actually count up the number of burials they have conducted.

And the prayers for the dead which they have made. My dear friends is that any record for a Christian? My record should be hey so many alcoholics have been rescued by Jesus. So many broken families have been built up again.

So many broken lives were put together again. Jesus did it. Well instead of that to say hey I went over and buried this man. He was always a drunkard. He was always a slave to alcohol. He ill-treated his family.

He ill-treated his wife. And of course I said my prayers over his grave. What? Your prayers should have been said before he died. Your prayers if they were real prayers should have changed the man before he died.

After his death there's no change. The worm takes over and makes a little. You see you dig up the grave after one year. You will see a big skull looking at you. That's all you'll see. Your prayers should have made a difference before.

Oh people do not even think about these things. Religion has become so unreal that I feel disgusted when I see talk without application. What's the good of any carpenter coming and telling me this is how I'll make the place.

It'll be firm. It'll be strong. And one year after I'm still thinking about how to do it or when to do it. Certainly I'm not going to engage that man to do any other work for me. He's useless as far as I'm concerned.

He might be the best thinker but his thinking and his application don't come together. Unless the physics, the physicist and the mechanical engineer come together you don't have a product. You don't have a running engine.

See we don't have a much fine theorizing. Now my dear friends, religion is more than entertainment and it's very sad that so many people who love music, love singing, love oratorios. Oh my. Over on the continent in many great cathedrals you'll see the place full.

Why? It's a great choir rendering an oratorio. Beautiful voices but alas so little reality. So little reality. Now so we see action. He arose and did what the angel said. That's it. That settled the matter for him.

Joseph’s Decisive Response to the Virgin Birth

Here is Mary to whom I am engaged and I couldn't tolerate this situation that she should conceive. What kind of stuff is this? I can't tolerate this. I'm going to be rid of this girl and when the angel says fear not to take to you marry your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

You see belief, trusting produced dynamic action. Not hesitating dithering kind of action. Dynamic action. Now am I going to be saddled with this great job of being the caretaker of the King of Kings?

I have no great qualifications. I have no palace to offer. I have no great money. I have got to go to Bethlehem to be taxed. If I can find that little money to be taxed or for the census which is ordered by the Emperor of Rome.

Well now I'm saddled with Mary and the impending birth of a baby. I have got to find some way to back out of this predicament. Some little excuse. Excuses, excuses, excuses. You know people are full of blaming others and finding excuses.

I couldn't do this because of this person and that person and this person. Well my dear friends there are no excuses offered here. Only action. Clear, dynamic, decisive action. So he rose up and said let me do just what I have been told by the Lord.

I'll do it. So in doing this he found himself in a collision course. That is with the King. He was he had to protect the baby Jesus from the king of the land who was out to slaughter him. He didn't have an army.

He couldn't command the police to come and say hey watch over us. Look at that trust. Look at that faith. Just an ordinary carpenter taking on the king of the land. And then came the angel of the Lord to him again.

Fleeing to Egypt in Faith and Obedience

13th verse 2nd chapter 13. And when they were departed behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt. Oh boy. Intercontinental travel.

Here's a jet plane waiting for you. Just get in and off you go. How did he do it? How did he do it? Was he rich enough to find a mule or an ass or a horse? How did he do it? When the king was after him where is this babe which was born in Bethlehem?

Where is he? I'm I must get him. When the king was ready to get him the angel said no Joseph you have got to go right now. Take the young child and his mother and flee to Egypt and be thou there until I bring you word.

For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose he took the young child and his mother by night. He didn't look for a farewell send-off. Give me a farewell party and let me take an offering for the journey.

Nothing of the sort. He set out for Egypt. Someone said to me a man who used to sell cars in Germany and in fact he was smuggling liquor and cigarettes into the army camp. The US Army and when he came and heard the Word of God he said I have to go and put things right.

Repentance That Leads to Restitution

Both the German customs and also with the US Army. So he went to the army and said this is what I've been doing smuggling liquor and cigarettes into the army camp. Here's the money. He was told by the officers we don't have any accounting for this kind of money here.

So you take it and give it to some charity. Do you see? And then what did he do? He went to the German customs. You see to fall into the hands of the German police is a most dreadful thing. And the customs said in 30 years we've never seen a case like this.

And they forgave him. How extraordinary that he was not put in prison. And he became a witness for the Lord Jesus. Now so going to a different country he said to me that it was the passage to Egypt across Gaza was so hot, so dreadfully hot.

He said you could fry your eggs on the hood of your car. So hot. How did they take this little baby right through that hot region whatever the temperature was? Fleeing from the king. Flee. And he did it.

Faithfulness Through Continued Obedience

After Herod was dead again the angel said now you can take the babe back. What tremendous faith all this took. It took action. It took obedience. It took faith. The Christmas message must bring all this into our hearts.

It must get into the bones. Action, obedience, and faithfulness. Oh to be found faithful to this great Savior. To be found faithful. Let us pray. Let us tell the Lord, Lord the cross puts booster rockets into me such that I can't just sit around twiddling my thumbs.

The booster rocket drives me, fires me into orbit, into obedience. The love of the cross fires me into obedience and faithfulness. I want to be a person who obeys and sees the great fruit of obedience.

Please help us in Jesus holy name. Amen.