November 24, 2017 Show with Marcus A. McKnight III, Esq. on “Joseph: The Quiet Hero of Christmas”

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Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida and the rest of humanity living on the planet earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

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This is Chris Arntzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Friday on this day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 24th, 2017, and I'm delighted to have back on the program one of my closest friends here in Carlisle, Pennsylvania that I've come to know by the grace of God, Marcus A.

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McKnight III, attorney at law, who's also more commonly known as Mike McKnight, and he is a majority shareholder of the

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Carlisle, Pennsylvania, law firm of Irwin and McKnight PC. He is a recipient of the undergraduate degree in 1974 from Drew University of Madison, New Jersey, cum laude, with specialized honors in economics and jurist doctor in 1977 from the

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University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He's a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the

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Cumberland County Bar Association, active member in the Carlisle Rotary Club, past president of both the

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Cumberland County Bar Association and the Carlisle Rotary Club, and member of the

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Westshore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He's also a function speaker for CBMC, which stands for Christian Businessmen's Connection, and today we are going to be addressing the theme,

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Joseph the Quiet Hero of Christmas, which also happens to be the theme of a special event where Marcus will be speaking,

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God willing, on Friday, December 8th from 11 30 a .m to 1 p .m

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at the comfort suites of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and we'll tell you more about that in a little bit, but it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Trip and Zion Radio, Marcus A.

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McKnight III. It's great to be here. And before we even go into our discussion today,

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I wanted to whet the appetite of our listeners for this topic, Joseph the Quiet Hero of Christmas, by playing a song that has become one of my very favorite

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Christmas songs, called Joseph's Song. It's a Michael Card song, and very rarely do you ever hear songs sung about Joseph, but this happens to be a rare exception.

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I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and this is Joseph's Song by Michael Card. Could it be?

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He's not my own, not of my flesh, not of my bone.

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Still, Father, let this baby be the son of my love.

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Father, show me where I fit into this plan of yours.

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How can a man be father to the Son of God?

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Lord, for all my life I've been a simple carpenter.

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How can I raise a king? How can

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I raise a king? He looks so small, his face and hands so fair.

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And when he cries, the sun just seems to disappear.

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And when he laughs, it shines again.

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How could it be? Father, show me where I fit into this plan of yours.

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How can a man be father to the

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Son of God? Lord, for all my life

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I've been a simple carpenter. How can

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I raise a king? How can I raise a king?

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How could it be? This baby in my arms, sleeping now so peacefully.

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The Son of God, the angel said, how could it be?

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That was

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Joseph's song by Michael Card and as I said I hope that blessed you as much as it blessed me and helped set the mood for the

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Christmas season for you after we just enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday. I hope your

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Thanksgiving gathering was a blessing to you and I especially hope that the

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Lord gave peace, comfort, and joy to those who are mourning the loss of loved ones who saw empty chairs or an empty chair that was usually filled during this holiday season by someone precious to you as I have also experienced the same kind of loss and the holidays are never the same when that happens but the

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Lord in his mercy and grace does give us peace if we look to him and enables us to have victory over any kind of sadness and depression that we may experience and I hope that was the case with you as well but as I said for those of you who just tuned us in my guest today is

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Marcus A. McKnight III, attorney at law. He's more commonly known around here as Mike McKnight.

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He's actually a former elder at the church where I'm a member, Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but he is currently a member of the

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West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and a function speaker for CBMC, Christian Businessmen's Connection, and Marcus, how did you come up with this idea to speak on Joseph the

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Quiet Hero of Christmas at your upcoming CBMC event on December 8th here in Carlisle?

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Well over time I've really come to appreciate Joseph and the incredible responsibility that he assumed after finding out that his betrothed was the

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Chosen One, the one who would bear the Redeemer of all men who put their faith in him,

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Jesus Christ. And I think this is something that bears at least some discussion in this holiday season as many people concentrate on the wonderful woman that Mary was and the gift that she was given by the

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Lord in bearing Jesus Christ, but Joseph had the responsibility of protecting all of them and making decisions that were based upon very sound judgment that came of course from his faith in God.

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Yes, well obviously as you know the scriptures speak very little of Joseph.

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In fact, we don't even really know when he passed away. We see that Mary was not with Joseph at the foot of the cross, so we assume that he went home to be with God prior to that, but we do know some pretty remarkable things about him in that he was such a compassionate man that when he learned

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Mary was with child, before it really sunk in and he really, by God's grace, realized that this was a virgin conception of the

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Holy Spirit, he assumed that she was unfaithful to him while they were engaged.

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He assumed that she was impregnated out of wedlock and he, instead of having her hold off to some

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Jewish court where she likely would have been stoned to death, he wanted to quietly put her away.

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If you want to touch on that for a bit. Sure. The scripture reference of course is from Matthew which is the birth of Christ is really written from Matthew's perspective, and in verse 18 we find these words.

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Now the birth of Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with a child from the

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Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and willing to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

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Now we see from this that Joseph was a descendant of David. He was also a man who

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I think, and this is where I'm going to at least add to my perception of Joseph, I don't think he was a man who didn't love

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God before these events happened. I think he had been praying for just the right woman, and he had fixed his mind upon Mary, and then he was betrothed to Mary.

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Betrothed in that culture meant he had paid a considerable sum of money to her father, so that in a sense he was being reimbursed for raising her to womanhood, or at least to the age she was.

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It's generally perceived that Joseph was older, that he had established a profession sound enough so that he could afford the betrothal price.

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And once that betrothal price is paid, Joseph could not ask for it back.

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And he then, basically, when he found out that she was with a child, perplexed, because I do believe he had been praying to the

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Lord about this marriage, decided to quietly deal with her, not embarrass her, not ruin her family's reputation, but take care of this in a way in which he would show the most compassion he could possibly show.

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And that shows the kind of man he was. He was a just man, unwilling to put her to shame.

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That's the sort of compassionate man that he was. And so the question

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I have for our audience to consider, at least, is how was it that Joseph was selected by God to be the earthly father of Jesus?

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What sort of process do you think he went through to find just this man who would react in just this way when he received the news that his betrothed, who he had paid considerable money for and worked hard for, was with a child?

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Now, one of the things that might jump out at people is the term divorce, because they were not yet married.

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So obviously, in that culture, in that day, the Jewish culture, to be engaged was quite different than the engagements that we have in our modern day.

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In fact, probably for centuries, in the Western world, the engagement of a man to a woman was most likely quite different than what

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Joseph experienced with Mary. Because, for instance, as you well know, in American culture or Western culture, most of our listeners would know that if a man was engaged to a woman, he could call off that engagement, even the day of the wedding, if something scandalous came to his knowledge or vice versa.

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The woman could do the same. And this has happened. I even know a couple of people where this has happened, sadly.

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But as long as those in the community or in the family know the reasoning behind the person calling off the wedding, if it's a legitimate reason, there is not much of a monumental cataclysmic occurrence by doing so.

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There are certainly no legal ramifications. But it was quite different, obviously, with the situation amongst

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Jewish people in the first century, or prior to the first century. And the betrothal was more of a contract.

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Money had exchanged hands. And so both parties, Mary and Joseph, felt obligated to one another, as did their respective families.

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But I'm amazed to see how it was that Joseph then received the word, if we follow on that passage in verse 20,

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But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

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Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the

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Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken to the prophet, and that was Isaiah. And then Isaiah is quoted.

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And that's from Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14. Isn't it amazing that, and that's why

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I firmly believe that Joseph had a strong relationship with God well before this came to him.

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And not only, I think, was he praying for the proper wife, but he was also praying for the

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Messiah. As many were in that age, in that land, they were praying for, they were occupied by a foreign power, the

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Romans, and many people were looking forward to the Messiah. And so when the word comes to Joseph, who'd been praying for this thing, in my opinion, he'd been praying for the promised one, when

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God said, your betrothed has become pregnant with the promised one.

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The implication was, now Joseph, that which you've been praying for has come to pass, and you're going to be the earthly father of this child.

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And Joseph, just like a carpenter, did not shy away from the project that was presented to him.

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And his heart, he said, well, how can I say no? I've been praying for this very thing.

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I've been hoping for this thing. And this child, with God's help, is going to be the one who saves people from their sins.

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And that's a remarkable thing that was presented to him, and he accepted that privilege.

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And do you think, I mean, obviously there's some speculation that has to occur, because I said already there is little said about Joseph in the

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New Testament. In fact, there's little said about Mary. But it must have been mind -boggling to him, even though he realized that this was truly from God, because an angel revealed these truths to him.

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Do you think it really sunk in what was his responsibility?

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Do you think he actually realized that he was going to be raising the God man? I do think he did.

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Now, he did have a little bit of time during Mary's pregnancy, of course, to contemplate all this.

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But they were married, they were. And it goes on to say in verse 24, when

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Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but he didn't know her in a sexual way until she had given birth to a son.

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And he called his name Jesus. God summarizes, just as he does in many areas of Scripture, exactly what had happened without giving us a lot of detail.

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But you have to understand that Joseph was an older, mature man, he was a carpenter.

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In one sense, it's amazing that God didn't place his child in the home of a

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Sadducee or a Pharisee, but instead he chose this solid man. And I believe as we go through this discussion, we'll see why he did that and why it was so important that Jesus was raised in the home of a carpenter and not in some other more home which he was more visible or people would be more pointed to him.

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So it's important that we understand God chose Joseph and it wasn't a random choice, it was a choice based on the fact that just as every man is under the scrutiny of the

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Lord all the time, and we see that of course from a further passage in Matthew 10 verse 32, where it says that every man who talks about his faith in Christ is known in Heaven, so every man who denies

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Christ will be known in Heaven. The Lord monitors everybody all the time about our thoughts, our deeds, there are no secret sins.

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They had monitored Jesus, God had monitored Jesus and in fact knew his countenance from the day he was born and before that and he had chosen him as being the place, the man who would take care of his son, raise him to manhood, and would take care of Mary and provide for just the sort of circumstances that Joseph was faced with.

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Yes, and you misspoke very briefly, you said Jesus, but you meant Joseph. Joseph, I did, sorry. That's okay,

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I do that all the time. And one thing I want to kind of get out of the way,

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I was raised Roman Catholic and I have arranged many debates between evangelical

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Protestants and Roman Catholic apologists. One of the primary dogmas of the

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Church of Rome is that Mary, when she conceived, was a virgin.

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That is something that we who are Protestants wholeheartedly agree with our Catholic friends over, that the conception of Christ was a virgin conception by the work of the

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Holy Spirit. Where we part company, however, is something that you hinted at or actually read from the scriptures themselves in regard to the fact that Joseph didn't know

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Mary until after the birth of Jesus. We as Protestants believe that not only because of their own desires that they could lawfully and rightfully enjoy one another in a conjugal way as husband and wife, but it's a duty of one spouse to another to engage in that sexual union, and in fact you would be in sin if you were depriving, one spouse was depriving the other of this kind of behavior, this gift, as you will.

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But the Roman Catholics, you know, they have this very firm belief that is a dogma that Mary, until she ascended or was assumed,

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I should say, into heaven, which is another dogma of Rome that Protestants don't agree on, but they believe that she remained for the rest of her life a virgin and that Joseph never enjoyed a true marital bond with her, that they never did become one flesh.

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But this is something that's totally foreign to the scriptures, isn't it? It is, and often you see during his ministry, or at least several occasions,

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Mary came with her other children to ask Jesus, or to have an audience with Jesus, and it's repeated several times in scripture.

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And one of the other things, economically, if you look at Joseph, he had to, as a carpenter, make a living for Mary and take care of her in a responsible way.

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And as, I think, the Lord blessed them, them with their own children, and as the male children became older,

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Jesus' other brothers became older, they took over the job so that at age 30 approximately,

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Jesus could then become, he could launch his own ministry for his heavenly father, because prior to that, as the oldest child in the family, he had been maintaining

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Mary after Joseph's death, and we don't know when that happened, but Jesus did his duty as the trade of carpenter until he became the evangelist in his own, as his heavenly father had planned.

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We have a listener in eastern Suffolk County, let's see here,

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Ronald in eastern Suffolk County says, have you heard that Joseph may have been a brick mason or a worker of stone rather than a carpenter?

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I know I heard that once on an archaeological documentary, a Christian archaeologist made that claim,

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I don't know if you have ever heard that. Well, I happened to, in high school and then through my college career, work as first a mason tender, and then a carpenter's helper, and I can tell you that both jobs are significant jobs, and they, whether you're a mason or a carpenter, it requires dedication, hard work, and expertise, and problem solving, and I think that's kind of father that our

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Heavenly Father chose to raise his earthly, to be the earthly father of Jesus.

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Well, thank you very much, Ronald, and I hope that you keep spreading the word about Iron Sharpens Iron Radio in eastern

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Suffolk County and beyond. Well, we're going to be going to our first station break right now.

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If anybody else would like to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com,

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C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. Please give us at least your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside the

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USA, and please only remain anonymous if you're asking about a personal and private matter.

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That's chrisarnsen at gmail .com. Don't go away, we'll be right back with Mike McKnight and more of our discussion on Joseph the

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And we are back now with our guest Marcus A. McKnight III attorney at law also known as Mike McKnight and we are discussing the theme

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Joseph the Quiet Hero of Christmas. Before we return to that topic Mike I'd like you to give our listeners a brief description of your law firm and the kinds of cases that you handle on that sort of thing.

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Well we're a full practice or a multi -practice a firm that does a number of problem -solving things from family law to personal injury automobile cases.

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I'm also solicitor of some townships in the borough of Newville and we work hard to try and help people solve problems.

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We do a lot of estate planning we handle a lot of estates and I also am a title insurance agent and handle real estate matters.

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We don't do however bankruptcy although we help people try to manage their finances if they're in financial trouble we don't do bankruptcy.

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Well we will before the end of the program make sure you have all the contact information that you need to contact

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Mike McKnight's law firm. Sorry for getting tongue -tied there and the upcoming event that you are involved in on Friday December 8th at the

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Comfort Suites downtown Carlisle is an event sponsored or orchestrated by CBMC the

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Christian Businessmen's Connection. If you could tell us something about this organization because I know that you speak fairly regularly for this group.

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Well the object of the group is to get the gospel of Jesus Christ out into the business community.

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Often there are people who are hard -pressed with the world and with business matters and we find that they need the gospel just like everyone else and to break through and to get them to focus and reorient their lives towards Christ benefits not only themselves but their families and their firms and so as a person in the community

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I work with these people solving problems and doing other things but often one of the weakest areas of their lives is their spiritual interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ and so my goal is to through various personal exchanges and we meet on a weekly basis to pray for people on our particular lists who we're concerned about and occasionally we do what are called outreaches meaning we talk about a topic which may be of some interest and try and indicate to people from all walks of life that Christ is essential in our well -being both for now and for eternity and to end this life without knowing

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Christ is a personal tragedy so we need to be as clear as we can and as diligent as we can in making this known and of course the local church is essential to the feeding of a

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Christian and proclaiming the word of Christ and I've been privileged to be with churches to do that from when

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I was a young Christian at 16 and now as I'm an older Christian at age 65.

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Well anybody who wants to find out more information specifically about the Central Pennsylvania CBMC you can visit their website which is centralpa .cbmc

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.com that's centralpa obviously for Pennsylvania dot cbmc .com

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and if you're interested in registering for this event of CBMC where Marcus A.

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McKnight III will be speaking on Friday December 8th 2017 from 11 30 a .m.

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to 1 p .m. at the Comfort Suites in downtown Carlisle you can call 717 -395 -5854 717 -395 -5854 obviously

38:00

Marcus is not going to be speaking for that entire time between 11 30 a .m. and 1 p .m.

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that's just the length of time where the the luncheon will be held and how long do you expect the actual message that you're giving to be?

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It's about half hour something like that we do serve a nice luncheon and have some fellowship before and after but anybody who mentions the fact that when they register or when they come to come to the event itself that they mentioned this program

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio will make sure that their cost of their meal is covered.

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Oh really oh that's great to know and we as I said we'll repeat that and the they will give you the contact information for Marcus's or Mike's law firm as well towards the end of the program.

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Well now we're returning to our discussion of Joseph the Quiet Hero of Christmas and I'd like you to continue the train of thought you had before we go to some ways specific ways that Joseph was obedient to God in his being an earthly parent not a biological but an earthly parent to Jesus the

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God -man the most I'm sure the most challenging task in the history of of parenthood but if you could just pick up where you left off and give us some more insights that you have from this these biblical accounts of Joseph.

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Well we're going to switch to the Gospel of Luke which is basically written from Mary's perspective but I'd like the listeners to put themselves in Joseph's place.

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All right you're now betrothed your wife is pregnant where are you going to live where are you going to set up shop where does the

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Lord want you to be and part of that decision was made for him because the

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Romans were in charge of the territory and they required that everyone be registered for a census and we find in Luke chapter 2 and Joseph went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea in the city of David which is called

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Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with the child and while they were there time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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A couple things about this account first of all we know that they had to go up to Bethlehem and when they arrived of all those of the lineage of David Joseph was not treated as some sort of important person in fact he was treated as the least of the line of David because even though his wife was with a child he was given the stables in which to reside for a while and in which she would give birth so it was obvious that in the town of Bethlehem Joseph was not considered the most important of the lineage of David but actually the least important and it's interesting that in the scriptures it says in verse 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn son well that means there were other sons so the question about the fact that that she was a virgin till her death was at least addressed in that verse in that verse alone but we know from other passages that there were other children in fact it talks about both sons and daughters that Joseph and Mary were blessed with who then of course

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Jesus had interaction with and then so if you put yourself in in Joseph's place he might have been a bit disappointed or worried that he was given the least of these places to reside and to have his wife give birth but then you have this remarkable account and in the same region in in verse 8 there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the

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Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with fear the angel said to them fear not for behold

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I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is

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Christ the Lord and this will be a sign to you you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was with with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising

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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth among those with whom he is pleased and among and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased now the amazing thing is

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Mary and Joseph did not send out birth announcements when

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Jesus was born they were non they were non -entities in the town of Bethlehem and suddenly they are then approached with people who've gotten a birth announcement not from them but from God himself

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God sent out birth announcements to these shepherds when the angels went away in verse 13 it says the shepherds said to one another let's go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the

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Lord has made known to us they went in haste you know when you've seen a multitude of angels anything after that is in haste and so they and so they went in haste and they found

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Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger and when they saw it they may known the saying that had been told them concerning the child now the shepherds come and they tell

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Mary and Joseph we've just seen a host of angels and they've told us about you and they've told us that this is the savior of the world who's been born unto you at this place and we're praising

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God because he told us about this birth announcement and that we're here to celebrate it with you and all who heard it wondered at the shepherds but Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart and you can imagine

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Joseph did likewise and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen has been told to them now this is before the internet they didn't facebook this

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God himself sent out a birth announcement to shepherds and they came and found

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Jesus and essentially worshipped and praised God that they could be part of this process by which this baby was born it had to be an amazing event for both

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Jesus for both Mary and Joseph and I think Joseph had to know that God was walking with him every step that he took and God was superintending all this and by the way it's perfectly logical that God would send out a birth announcement with a host of angels because the in in heaven the commander of the angels is

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Jesus we have Arnie in Perry County Pennsylvania who asks have you heard from the

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Greek Orthodox that there is a theory Joseph was a widower who had children from his late wife before marrying

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Mary which would explain the brothers and sisters well it certainly doesn't explain why

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Mary is talked about having Jesus as her firstborn son right so that wouldn't exactly explain that and again

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I don't know of any way to verify that in scripture right that's just pure speculation and ignoring the the wording used in fact there there is a debate that my friend

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James White of Alpha Omega Ministries had years ago with Roman Catholic apologist Jerry Matytix and apparently the

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Greek term haos who which is involved in the fact that Mary uh remained a virgin until the birth of Jesus that word until in the

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Greek requires that there was a change so uh that I think is also a very significant thing but thank you very much

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Arnie and Perry County please keep listening to Iron Trip and Zion and spreading the word about it to those in Perry County and beyond and uh so I'll continue on from that point uh after you just left off there the next major event that happens um that we're given a word about in scripture is that in chapter 2 of Matthew in verse 1 now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the king behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying where is he who's been born king of the

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Jews for we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him when Herod the king heard this he was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people he inquired of them where this

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Christ was to be born and they told him in Bethlehem of Judea so it is written by the prophet and you will

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Bethlehem in the land of Judea are by no means least among the rulers of Judah or from you shall come a ruler who will be shepherd for my people

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Israel now it's important to understand that these people had been searching for Jesus for a considerable amount of time they come from the east

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I personally believe they probably were descendants from Daniel himself in the time that Daniel spent in Babylon and so Daniel was also a prophet and these prophecies had been carried down perhaps to these very wise men and it says in in verse 7 then

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Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them the time the start appeared then he sent them to Bethlehem saying go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him bring me word that I may too may come and worship him now interestingly enough in lawsuits in litigation when you want to make sure you know where the defendant is you send someone or you make inquiries these days you use the internet but what he did was

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Herod decided he was going to send these wise men out under the guise of he wanted to worship likewise as they did this savior he sent them out to find him first locate him identify him then come back and tell me about them because Herod had plans for this child and it wasn't to worship it were secret plans to destroy him and so in that context then

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Mary and Joseph then are visited by these wise men and this is years after the actual birth the the nativity scenes that of the shepherds and the wise men together is incorrect no it is very incorrect and bear in mind that in order to make ends meet

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Joseph would have had to start his carpenter business or his business and his carpenter business then happened in Bethlehem why

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Bethlehem because that's where he had been directed to be that's where the child was born and he could do his his work wherever and so Herod of course by secretly telling these wise men come back and identify him for us believe that they would then communicate to him

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Herod's desire to worship the child and so they'd stay fixed there in the town of Bethlehem and so the wise men after listening to the king they went their way and behold the star that had been seen before that they had sort of lost track of which is why they were in Jerusalem inquiring when they saw the star they were rejoiced exceedingly and going into the house where they now were now the child with Mary his mother and was living they fell down and worshipped him and opening their treasures they offered him gifts gold frankincense and myrrh and being warned in a dream not to return to Herod they departed to their own country by another way now amazingly here come these wise men they have this story they've traveled a long distance

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Mary and Joseph hear this story and of course they also tell them the good news

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Herod wants to find this child and worship him also that must have given

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Joseph some disquiet because Herod's reputation was not very good and that the king himself now knew that he existed this child existed

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I'm not sure he was rejoicing he may have been disquieted by it but without further indication from God as to what he's to do there he was he was going to stay there and interestingly enough the gifts that these wise men gave them were gifts that were totally incompatible with Joseph's work in fact pick right off right pick up right where you left off because we have to go to our midway break right now

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I don't want to interrupt you mid -sentence we'll pick up on the three gifts that are mentioned gold frankincense and myrrh when we return from our station break this is an elongated break that we are required to have by Grace Life Radio 90 .1

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FM in Lake City Florida because they require a 12 -minute break between the two hours so I hope you'll be patient with us but God willing we will be back before you know it with more of Marcus A.

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McKnight III and our discussion of Joseph the Quiet Hero of Christmas.

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that's chef exclusive .com paul wrote to the church at galatia for am i now seeking the approval of man or of god or am i trying to please man if i are still trying to please man i would not be a servant of christ hi i'm mark lukens pastor of providence baptist church we are reformed baptist church and we hold to the london baptist confession of faith of 1689 we are in nofork massachusetts we strive to reflect paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how god views what we say and what we do than how men view these things that's not the best recipe for popularity but since that wasn't the apostle's priority it must not be ours either we believe by god's grace that we are called to demonstrate love and compassion to our fellow man and to be vessels of christ's mercy to a lost and hurting community around us and to build up the body of christ in truth and love if you live near nofork massachusetts or plan to visit our area please come and join us for worship and fellowship you can call us at 508 -528 -5750 that's 508 -528 -5750 or go to our website to email us listen to past sermons worship songs or watch our tv program entitled resting in grace you can find us at providence baptist church ma .org

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that's providence baptist church ma .org or even on sermon audio .com providence baptist church is delighted to sponsor iron sharpens iron radio iron sharpens iron radio is sponsored by harvey cedars a year -round bible conference and retreat center nestled on the jersey shore harvey cedars offers a wide range of accommodations to suit groups up to 400 for generations christians have enjoyed gathering and growing at harvey cedars each year thousands of high school and college students come and learn more about god's word an additional 9 000 come annually to harvey cedars as families couples singles men women pastors seniors and missionaries 90 miles from new york city 70 miles from philly and 95 miles from wilmington and easily accessible scores of notable christian groups frequently planned conferences at harvey cedars like the navigators intervarsity christian fellowship campus crusade and the alliance of evangelicals find harvey cedars on facebook or at hc bible .org

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and help two of my sponsors at the same time and please always remember to mention to any of my advertisers if you patronize them that you heard about them from chris arnson of iron sharpens iron radio before i return to our discussion today with marcus a mcknight the third attorney at law on our theme joseph the quiet hero of christmas i have some special announcements to make in regard to upcoming events and i will repeat one of them that i've already been mentioning on friday december 8th my guest marcus a mcknight the third is going to be speaking at the comfort suites in downtown carlisle for an event orchestrated and run by cbmc the christian businessmen's net i'm sorry not network uh connection cbmc christian businessmen's connection and that's that event is going to start at 11 30 a .m

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for networking and there's going to be a luncheon and obviously as i've mentioned marcus a mcknight the third is going to be speaking on the theme that we're actually discussing today joseph the quiet hero of christmas and then the actual event will conclude somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 p .m

01:06:27

if you would like to register for this event call 717 -395 -5854 717 -395 -5854 and if you mention iron triple design radio as i just learned today your registration fee will be absolutely waived and you'll be able to attend for free i myself am looking forward to being there at this event and i hope to meet some of you from the carlisle area there as well so remember that mark it down on your calendar for friday december 8th from 11 30 a .m

01:07:03

to 1 p .m at the comfort suites in downtown carlisle and the phone number again is 717 -395 -5854 717 -395 -5854 coming up in january from the 17th through the 20th the g3 conference returns to atlanta georgia g3 stands for grace gospel and glory the theme of this january's conference is knowing god a biblical understanding of discipleship the 17th of january will be exclusively a spanish speaking edition of the conference from the 18th through the 20th will be exclusively an english edition of the conference and the speakers at the english speaking version of the conference include steven lawson vody balcom phil johnson keith getty hp charles jr tim challis josh bice james white tom askell anthony methenia michael kruger david miller paul trip todd friel derrick thomas martha peace and justin peters if you'd like to register for the g3 conference go to g3 conference dot com g3 conference dot com and please make sure you tell the folks there that if you are registering or just asking them for information please tell them that you heard about the g3 conference from chris arnzen on iron sharpens iron radio just out of curiosity marcus did you know michael kruger when he was actually a member of grace baptist church in carlisle he's one of the speakers there i did know it okay he uh was actually a pastoral intern and he wound up converting to presbyterianism but he is also now the president of the reform theological seminary and now is the most uncomfortable portion of the program that i do daily and that is i am rattling my tin cup and begging you for money i never like doing this especially because of the horrible reputation that the church at large has received from charlatans on television and hucksters and all kinds of horrible things going on in the name of christ when money is being raised but just because there are charlatans and snake oil salesmen and people really who are nothing more doing nothing more than selling indulgences under the guise of an evangelical umbrella where they're really just rekindling the heresy of rome's selling of indulgences but even though this occurs there is obviously nothing innately wrong with asking for money if you are providing a service that people are enjoying and people are being from which people are being edified and so on so if you do love this program if you love the topics the guests that we have you look forward to it every day if you share the the the recordings with others well please if you don't want this program to go off the air go to iron sharpens iron radio .com

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chrisarnson at gmail .com and put in the subject line advertising as long as whatever it is that you do or want to advertise is compatible with the theology we express on this program we would love to launch an advertising campaign with you because we certainly could use the advertising dollars to remain on the air whether it's your church power church ministry your business professional firm a special event whatever it is uh as long as it's compatible with what we believe doesn't have to be identical just needs to be compatible send us an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

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chrisarnson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line and that's also the email address to ask a question of marcus a mcknight the third on our topic today joseph the quiet hero of christmas if you have a question send it to chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:13:10

and give us your first name city and state and country of residence if you live outside the usa and only remain anonymous if it's about a personal and private matter so let's pick up where we left off uh marcus on joseph and the calling that he received directly from god to be the earthly parent not biological parent but earthly parent of jesus christ the messiah the son of god the god man if you could just pick up where you left off i mean we find that uh mary and joseph have just been visited by these wise men i don't know if there are two or three or many more than that but i do believe that um their entourage was large and significant because they made a stir in jerusalem now they've come to little bethlehem and the reason why a lot of people think there were threes because there were three different gifts right but there could have been 300 and and it would have been wise if they were carrying valuable gifts that they would have a large enough entourage to make sure they were secured against robbers and other thieves and that time was known for having people being robbed by thieves on the roads up and down to jerusalem so so they arrived and they brought these gifts now this is the situation where the gifts were great and they were valuable and they were totally um they were not needed yet because um joseph was a carpenter and he was plying his trade in the little town of bethlehem and suddenly there are these very very valuable gifts so god supplied these gifts by men who had traveled a long distance for a long time and then come from herod himself in jerusalem with the news that herod now knows about them and herod's very interested in them um so they had no need until um joseph gets this word and when they had departed behold an angel the lord appeared to joseph in a dream and said rise take the child and his mother and flee to egypt and remain there until i tell you for herod is about to search for the child to destroy him now interestingly enough this is herod's secret desire god has read known heard there's nothing secret from god god tells exactly what herod's about to do to joseph this is prior to the internet prior to facebook prior to anything we know in our age this is god instantaneously telling joseph exactly what somebody else is planning to do he's he's talking about a crime with joseph in advance it's going to happen in bethlehem and joseph although he's had the news that the king is interested in jesus when he hears this nude news from god in this dream he does not dawdle he doesn't debate he doesn't wonder whether or not this could be true it says in verse 14 and he arose and he took the child and his mother by night and departed to egypt and remained there until the death of herod and this is to fill fulfilled with what the lord had spoken by the prophet out of egypt i called my son interestingly enough the gifts that he received were not that he couldn't use them in bethlehem but he certainly could use them in egypt and in fact in egypt they'd be much more economically valuable because those were objects that were in demand in egypt and so god provided the gift and then told joseph the need and joseph didn't dawdle he didn't worry about it he just took off for egypt and by the way these were times when travel by carpenters was not widespread people who normally stayed where they were supposed to be staying or where they were living or applying their trade joseph took off immediately to protect the child and his wife from herod's secret i don't think herod broadcast this to anybody else in fact when he told the wise men he told them secretly that he desired to worship the child he didn't publicly say it so no one knew except herod his evil plan um but god knows because there are no secrets from god any time anywhere any place and god discloses his secret sins whenever he chooses to do so he did so with with joseph and joseph acted immediately and uh this also shows you the the courage of joseph and the faith that he had the trust that he had in god to keep him and his wife mary alive because of the fact that they were given a calling to not only raise and nurture but to protect this little one who was actually the son of god the god man and it's interesting then herod commits a crime that in this day and would be shocking to anyone and was shocking then also in verse um 16 you read then herod when he saw that he'd been tricked by the wise men became furious and he sent and killed all the and he sent and killed all the male children in bethlehem in bethlehem and in all the region who were two years old or under according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men so emphasize he killed these children and this would have been newsworthy then it would have been newsworthy if it happened today that a ruler would kill children deliberately uh who were two year olds two years old or younger just to make sure that he killed jesus he had no idea that huh god had warned him of his secret plan in advance and that joseph would have been able to escape with mary and jesus of all places to egypt and bear in mind of the roman citizen over the roman of the roman system they had local rulers in their various jurisdictions um and but once you got to the border their power ended so herod's power could not extend to egypt he couldn't follow them there even if he knew he had gone there so they were safe in egypt and god had supplied through the wise men the gifts they needed to support themselves in that place let's see here we have cj in lindenhurst long island new york and cj says let's see why do you think that joseph was called home in death at a very early point in the life of jesus we don't have much mention of him in the scriptures for quite a period of time after the nativity story well i'm glad you asked that question that's an excellent question that i've been thinking about bear in mind two important things and i'll just mention this now when the king herod sought out to kill um jesus that had a profound impact on how jesus was going to be raised and it had a profound impact impact in this way once a ruler of a country seeks you out to destroy you or your family how are you going to live the rest of your life it was important that wherever joseph set up his livelihood from then on that the identity of jesus being god's son was kept strictly strictly secret for example when he arrived at nazareth where he set up shop he didn't announce to the town by the way i'm father to god's son the messiah and if he had other children stepbrothers and sisters of of jesus he didn't tell them that you know your older brother is is god's son that was very important that mary and joseph kept these things in their hearts because it wasn't time yet to disclose who jesus was and this was not uh lying it was just not revealing things uh you know there's nothing sinful about keeping certain things to yourself keeping them secret that there's a totally difference there's a huge difference between that and actually lying well and bear in mind this because they did it that way because that was done everyone in the town of nazareth and everywhere else thought that jesus was um joseph's natural son which meant that jesus could speak in the synagogue an illegitimate child could not ever attend a synagogue or speak in a synagogue or the temple because he was known as joseph's son he was able to do that the other thing that's that's important that people understand is that um as because joseph wasn't alive apparently when jesus began his ministry he was not subject to joseph just was always head of his house as long as he lived but once he went to be the lord and i i know he is with the lord um then jesus was free to begin his ministry as head of his own uh household so in a sense when mary would come with the other children to inquire of him jesus within his rights to say i will or won't entertain what your discussions are or your concerns because he was head of his old household because joseph was not alive speculation might be also as a protection for joseph it would have been very hard after years of protecting jesus um to watch the opposition of the pharisees who called jesus not only a lawbreaker but from satan that would have been very difficult for joseph to see his arrest and his death on the cross mary went through that process joseph did not and that could have been a mercy to him um and so it's important and i wanted to to go to one other um account of how mary and joseph dealt with jesus to sort of uh bring into focus what we've been talking about in terms of the the need to keep secret his identity or at least to not draw attention to it until his ministry actually began um we find at the age of 12 this account in luke chapter 2 now his parents went to jerusalem every year at the feast of passover and when he was 12 years old they went up according to custom and when the feast was ended as they were returning the boy jesus stayed behind in jerusalem his parents did not know it but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey and then they began to search for him among the relatives and acquaintances and when they did not find him they returned to jerusalem searching for him now if you've ever lost a child in a crowd um there it's sheer terror um when my children were younger it happened on one or two occasions with large crowds or in a mall or something that we got separate from our children who were younger at that age and it was sheer panic and desperation we prayed about it and ultimately of course we found them can you imagine you're joseph you're the guardian of god's son and you've lost him and of all places in jerusalem the place where herod sought to destroy him and so the first thought is perhaps he's been injured perhaps he's been taken captive by someone who has heard about him perhaps our security has been breached they were desperate to find jesus um and so they returned with desperation thinking that god's son had somehow gotten lost and after three days of searching for him um they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers when his parents saw him they were astonished his mother said to him son why have you treated us so behold your father and i have been searching for you in great distress not just small distress great distress and he said to them why were you looking for me did you not know that i must be in my father's house and they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them and he went down with them and came to nazareth and was submissive to them and his mother treasured all these things up in her heart the idea that jesus was god's son was a secret held by well at least an understanding held by joseph mary and jesus and jesus maintained that security he did not i believe draw attention to himself as he grew up became a young adult to go over from joseph when joseph died acted as a carpenter cared cared for his mother until it was time to begin his ministry it was a remarkable thing and he respected joseph as his father was known as joseph's son and yet he was also god's son and the three of them understood at least some of that mary could not begin to understand nor could joseph what jesus would become um but they knew he was the son of god yeah well that makes you wonder why they didn't understand when the 12 year old jesus said don't you know that my place is in my father's house that they didn't even understand what he was saying and they already knew from what the angels told them who he was so it's kind of strange that they didn't grasp that well it may be it may be strange but remember they're trying to have a normal life with this child um and the child is submissive and enjoying the normal life uh perhaps with younger brothers and sisters also but suddenly he shows his god aspect the god self as he teaches as he speaks with these learned scholars in jerusalem and he said in essence to them this is the first place you should have looked here i am in my father's house and um my godly father's house and um that's the first place you should have looked you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you'd come to the temple first looking for me mom and dad so do you think uh that from what we read in that account that after jesus the boy jesus returns home and is obedient to his parents that he was no longer this wonder child wandering around teaching in the synagogues that he waited until he was uh 30 to actually begin the ministry i think he did in essence begin that because one of the things you have to understand about jesus ministry is that once he disclosed who he was to the world when started his ministry there was bound to be serious serious opposition um to him now the lord the sovereign god whose plan it was to send his son to earth in the first place to be raised as a child and then into a man and then begin his ministry at age 30 this plan of god's was perfect but the opposition was strong to jesus and to to start his um to disclose who he was beginning miracles and drawing attention to himself before his ministry was ready to begin just was not in the plan of god for that to happen although mary sensed his power how could a mother not sense his power because one of his first miracles was changing water into very expensive and an excellent wine and what mary said to the the servants at that miracle was do anything that jesus tells you to do so she knew of his power just had not experienced it until the ministry began and it so alarmed her to see the opposition of those who hated jesus that she often would come and ask him do you know what you're doing uh is there some other way and joseph would say no yeah even at that point at the uh wedding feast of cana we don't hear anything about joseph being there no joseph was apparently not there and again that's so that jesus could begin his ministry without being under his father's authority now what was mary uh storing his treasure in her heart specifically was it the his christ's obedience to her and joseph when he returned home and that that text there it said that uh mary uh stored the treasures in her heart in regard to what had occurred well because i think it's referring to the fact that she didn't go and tell her friends she didn't put her on facebook she didn't she didn't say do you know what was going on in jerusalem oh i see she was jesus was was uh um amazing the scholars in jerusalem with his knowledge of of god and the kingdom of god she that was not something that she would openly discuss with anybody else except joseph of course and jesus um but these things were kept in her heart until his ministry began and of course um she was there and followed him and um ultimately was turned over by jesus own words from the cross to um to john the disciples john who became the apostle john of course after jesus resurrection um so these these are things that are amazing to me because the more you think about joseph and what he had to go through as a man taking care of jesus protecting him um living in egypt i'm sure when he went when he learned his trade in carpentry he didn't think he'd be practicing it in towns like bethlehem and then egypt and then back to nazareth but he did all this to protect the child and to be obedient to god whose son he was caring for and loving and nourishing and god blessed him with i think a large family um and ultimately some of his um stepbrothers became early um leaders of the church once the day of pentecost occurred well we're going to our final break it's going to be much briefer than the last one and now is your time if you want to join us on the air with a question before we run out of time the email address is chris arnson at gmail .com

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chris arnson at gmail .com and once again please give us your first name your city and state and your country of residence if you live outside of the usa please only remain anonymous if you're asking about a personal and private matter don't go away god willing we'll be right back i am chris arnson of iron sharpens iron radio are you a christian looking to align your faith and finances then you'll want to check out thriving financial you're not your typical financial services provider they're a not -for -profit fortune 500 organization that helps their nearly 2 .4

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and click support at the top of the page but most importantly keep iron sharpens iron radio in your prayers we hope that iron sharpens iron radio blesses you for many years to come hi i'm pastor bill shishko inviting you to tune into a visit to the pastor's study every saturday from 12 noon to 1 p .m

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we bring biblically faithful pastoral ministry to you and we invite you to visit the pastor's study by calling in with your questions our time will be lively useful and i assure you never dull join us this saturday at 12 noon eastern time for a visit to the pastor's study because everyone needs a pastor charles haddon spurgeon once said give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read he who never quotes will never be quoted he will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own you need to read solid ground christian books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the prince of preachers to heart the mission of solid ground christian books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to christians in the present and future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world since it's beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish god centered christ exalting books for all ages we invite you to go treasure hunting at solid ground books .com

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that's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past or present you can unearth from solid ground solid ground christian books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of iron sharpens iron radio welcome back this is chris arnzen this is our final 23 minutes of our interview today with marcus a mcknight the third attorney at law who is speaking on the theme joseph the quiet hero of christmas which is also his theme on friday december 8th 11 30 a .m

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to 1 p .m at an event a special event at the comfort suites of carlisle pennsylvania being hosted by the christian businessmen's connection also known as cbmc and we would love to see you there if you mention iron sharpens iron radio when you register for that event you will get free admission to the event and you can call uh for more details uh to attend this event or to register you can call 717 -395 -5854 717 -395 -5854 and marcus if you could pick up where you left off uh to bring our story in regard to joseph to a close in the matter of the next 23 minutes or so well the thing that's so important i think that we understand that joseph was not just a blank page he wasn't a random person picked out of the crowd who god said ah raise my my heavenly son um to be your own uh protect him and listen to me when i tell you um he was a man who had prepared himself um by loving god far before this message came i think he had prayed about a marriage that to a godly woman but i think he also anticipated the coming messiah and we have that in common with joseph um jesus is coming again and those who believe in god's word take seriously the um jesus own words about his coming um we take seriously what the various apostles have told us about um those last days and we look forward to that in two respects one that means our job here is done joseph completed his mission whenever he passed away from this earth he had taken care of his son up until the point of his death god's son um as if it was his own he had loved him he had taught him a trade um he had protected him from powers herod who was secretly desiring to destroy him um and he and he went to egypt to live these are things that no one else did in that age but he did it because it was god's direction to do so and he took seriously the need to follow god's word and listen to it and obey it those are the same circumstances we find ourselves in um god says that jesus is coming again and this time he's not coming as an infant or as a young man he's coming as the head of his angels bearing the marks of the cross um the same angels who proclaimed his birth are going to be with him when he comes to judge all men and there'll be no secrets from god um he's monitored all our hearts and our minds from the day before we were born um i think it's psalm 139 where david says before a thought it's on our minds or even thought god knows it that is technology that is something more than any technology we've developed so far has because god knows all about us and what we're thinking and what we're going to think and he acts accordingly and so when we come before god there's one thing that we have to do as joseph did he knew jesus the question for us each of us will be do we know jesus do we have a relationship with him have we put our hope and faith in him um and jesus is going to be the judge and when you go to a courtroom and you know the judge that is such a blessing when the judge knows you and says i know you you've been faithful you followed me i forgive all your sins and remember that's the message that was given to joseph he will save men from their sins joseph heard the message took it seriously raised him to adulthood um and um here we are being the beneficiaries of all joseph had done um and we should be grateful for joseph but we should be anxious to form that relationship with christ that will save us and make a difference in our homes our businesses our community um and i hope each one listens to this uh broadcast understands how essential it is that like joseph we know the risen savior jesus christ amen and uh i think it might be helpful to uh let our listeners know that although uh god uh i know that you and i believe in unconditional election god chooses people not because of anything that they do to merit his favor god's elect are found not only amongst the most pious of preachers but also amongst the most perverse of prostitutes and he changes them he rescues them out from their wickedness and he transforms them and gives them new hearts that they may willingly follow him but when it comes to roles and duties in life that god chooses us for obviously as you were saying that joseph was no doubt a godly man we even see that in his compassion upon mary when he originally was going to quietly divorce her uh when he discovered she was with child because this was before he realized that the child was conceived by the holy spirit and also we have mary um we we are obviously certain that since a primary aspect of the birth of christ was his virgin birth he would not have chosen a woman who was known for scandalous behavior and promiscuity because then no one would be certain years later that the child conceived was indeed born of a virgin so therefore there are roles that god uses us for that uh you know we we are involved we are participants in our sanctification even though we're not participants in our regeneration or justification correct that's absolutely correct and we believe in a big god who's the god who knows all secrets all hearts um and just because i worship a big god doesn't mean that i know who god's who god loves uh unto salvation i have to assume that anyone who i come into contact with who doesn't express a love of god um is someone who needs to hear the gospel of jesus christ and um that's that's what it's about for us and that's what it's about for anyone in the kingdom to make known and to pray for those who they know are outside the knowledge of who christ is and have not put their faith and hope in him we uh have harrison and mechanicsburg pennsylvania that asks why is jesus known as jesus of nazareth rather than jesus of bethlehem some cults and enemies of the gospel bring this up trying to prove that the scriptures are inconsistent and contradict themselves i don't believe that there's any contradiction at all because remember um you're you're basically known by the town you grew up in for example i was born in harrisburg but i grew up in southern york county i came from spry or dallas town i went to york township i was known as being from york even though i was born somewhere else so the place of your birth is not necessarily where you're known it's where you grow up where you're um where you call home or where you're your formative years are spent that way and so i think it's very consistent that way especially knowing that jesus um from the start although god made an announcement he made the announcement to shepherds who were out in the fields they were the least on the social scale in the town of bethlehem the town of bethlehem did not take much notice of jesus um when he came and when he left they were done um without a lot of fanfare and they didn't understand why it was that herod then came and killed all these infants because that was a secret plan of herod it was just a tragic thing that happened to them so bear in mind you are known as being from a place and that place is usually where you grew up well before i close the program or take any further uh questions from listeners i want to make sure that you have about five minutes of uninterrupted time to summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners as the christmas season approaches some would say we've already entered the christmas season because it's uh after thanksgiving and now we're going to be hearing christmas music no doubt whenever we go into a a store or shopping center or mall and we are going to be seeing the lights of christmas and all these things that are a part of the traditions and customs of people during this time of year but i want you to really uh hit home with people what you most want them to be thinking about and praying about and having within their heart as this day approaches known as christmas day well to me it's a it's a simple account of a man who had been hoping to someday see the arrival of the savior of the world jesus at his time at his place and suddenly he finds out oh he's coming as an infant and you're going to be the father you're going to be the earthly father of this child and you need to account to god for how you care and raise this child that was an awesome responsibility which joseph embraced if i could say to each one of you if jesus christ the incarnate christ would come to your home and bless it with his presence wouldn't you desire that wouldn't you want that to happen if you could be convinced that christ was real and he would come to your own home and spiritually um convince you and everyone in your household that he was as real as you and i are what a blessing that would be well i'm telling you that based on god's word he is all that he says he is and he's coming again and you're all going to meet him we all are going to meet him on the day that he comes with all his angels proclaiming his power his glory and the fact that he is the savior of all those who put their faith in him and my hope is my hope is that somehow in the process of hearing this message or hearing similar message in this christmas season many would embrace the thought of i need to know this jesus god's word in which it spelled out who he is and what he did and how he loved those so much that he that god it was god's plan to give his only begotten son that many might come to be reconciled to god my sins have i counted to i'm offering the hundreds of thousands i haven't just missed the mark by a little bit i've missed it by a lot as we all have and yet jesus came to say look my blood is sufficient to reconcile you to god that's why he sent me that's why joseph raised me here i am embrace embrace me um and so my hope is for each of your listeners chris that they would understand how essential it is their well -being now and for all eternity that they embrace this christ who came in such a humble way and was raised to adulthood that he could then stand before the pharisees and say i am who i said i am and even though the pharisees opposed him and god used them to do his will and his will was that he would die on the cross for all our sins that he might be raised again and that we might have fellowship with him in fact philippians puts it this way in chapter three but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await the savior our lord jesus christ will transform our worldly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to be subject to all things to himself by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself all knees will bow on that day of judgment and knowing christ will be the difference between eternity with him and eternity in punishment in hell amen and i think that uh in spite of the fact that we have dedicated our entire program to joseph i think that we must be reminded that jesus christ is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but by him and as important as the role of mary and joseph were in the earthly nurturing and raising of jesus they are not to be our objects of prayer and adoration and worship the the customs and traditions of the world's religions that identify themselves as christian but who falsely pray to the holy family and things like this i think that don't you think that there is a reason why the scriptures although they give us some essential and important facts about mary and joseph they do not dwell on them in any way shape or form in an exhaustive manner and you know and and mary is the perfect example because it says time and time again she treasured these things in her heart she didn't tell anybody about these things she treasured them in her heart and she didn't draw attention to herself she didn't want to because it was important that they protected jesus until the time when his ministry began and then and only then did she follow after him saying i'm your mom and he would say my my relatives are now those who believe in me and so it was never meant that mary would be anything other than a follower of his but he was so great grateful for the faith that both of them showed well before he was an adult in in faith raising him loving him and caring for him and setting up as the oldest son in their in their in their family so we have an anonymous listener that wants to know do you think that mary actually believed jesus was insane as her other sons did or was she just going along with them for some reason when jesus ministry became in about the second or third year a confrontation between himself and the most powerful religious leaders in the land the pharisees sadducees she was very concerned about his welfare i don't i don't think she thought he was insane at all i think she thought he had great power he had a great influence but he was also making great enemies what do mothers do when they see enemies are people who hate their child they are very defensive and they are very worried and she was exactly that as a mother and jesus said look my ministry has begun i have limited time and i have so much to do so much to establish with my own disciples that that that's why he seemingly didn't give her much time because he understood she couldn't possibly understand until his resurrection what his life really meant well i want to make sure that our listeners have all of the necessary contact information they need to get a hold of your law firm i know that your website is erwinmcknight .com

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and that's spelled i r w i n m as in michael c k n as in nancy i g h t erwinmcknight .com

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erwinmcknight .com and i know that your law firm's phone number is 717 -249 -2353 717 -249 -2353 the central pa christian businessmen's connection website is centralpa .cbmc

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.com that's central pa as in the abbreviation for pennsylvania dot cbmc .com

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and if you want to register for the upcoming event at the the comfort suites in downtown downtown carlisle on friday december 8th from 11 30 a .m