WEBVTT 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:09.919 You know, this morning I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you before we even start the sermon the punchline. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.480 You're not supposed to do that, you're supposed to save it. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.320 But the thing is, is that it's so prevalent in this text. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:24.320 And that's that in in life where our plans fail, God's plan prevails. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.199 And that's what I'm gonna come really clear through the story of Joseph in just a little bit. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:34.560 But there's a shortened version, so if you needed to get home, you could know. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.520 Let's read through the text and and let's see how it plays out. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.840 Matthew chapter 1, starting in verse 18, says this. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.359 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:58.000 His mother was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:06.959 Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:22.239 But after he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.480 She will give birth to a son, and you were to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.799 All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:41.040 And they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:53.519 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded, and he took Mary home as his wife, but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:55.120 Let's pray. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:16.159 Lord, we ask that you would use these verses today to teach us something of your plan, of your heart, of your control, of your power to resurrect our failed lives, and that when things are falling apart around us and our plans are breaking, teach us to have faith that your plan is never thwarted. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:19.840 In Jesus' name. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:20.719 Amen. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:25.199 You know, we come into this, and it's very simple. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:34.080 We start this passage with an engagement that then becomes shattered. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.919 I mean, reality is a man's plans are shattered. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.120 Joseph, a man, was engaged to a young woman. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.240 He intended to marry her, and then it all crumbles right before his eyes. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:50.080 It just crumbles. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.400 Once he learns, she's pregnant. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:57.759 And it that's it. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.120 It's that simple. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.599 A man's plans are shattered at the start of this. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:06.879 And we don't have all the details. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:20.800 We don't have all the explanation of how he found out, when he found out, how long it took him to wrestle through what was going on, when he came to the conclusion that he would divorce her quietly, as opposed to bring her out and disgrace her publicly. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:22.159 We don't have all the details. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.400 As a matter of fact, we don't have a lot other than a man's plans are shattered. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:33.520 And I'm going to tell you, as someone who had to preach this text, I was frustrated with the fact that we didn't have the other details. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.439 I wanted the details. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:37.280 You can preach the details, right? 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:43.599 They give you holes to fill in, timelines to construct, conclusions to make. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:49.439 And I first thought when I was going to preach today, I'll teach Joseph's story. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:50.639 And I thought that'll be simple. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:55.680 But it wasn't as simple as I wanted because I wanted details that weren't there. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.439 I mean, did Mary tell Joseph she was pregnant? 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.199 Or did he hear from townspeople that were spreading rumors? 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.680 Or did her parents sit him down? 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.599 Or did it just wait till she started to show? 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.879 I mean, who knows? 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:11.680 Who knows? 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:12.560 It doesn't say. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.000 All it says is that he was pledged to be married to her. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:21.120 It says, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.120 She was found to be with child. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:24.399 No conversations. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:25.439 No, she told him. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:26.639 We don't have an explanation. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.759 If she talked to him, did she try to go, no, no, no, Joseph, you don't understand. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.639 An angel came and told me this was going to happen. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:34.480 And is he going, oh yeah, right? 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.839 An angel told you. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:37.600 No, you know, is there disbelief? 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:38.879 Is there an argument? 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:39.839 Is there crying? 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.360 Is it I don't know. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:47.839 I'm imagining how he would have responded in each circumstance, depending on how he heard. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.959 How long did it take him to conclude that he was going to divorce her quietly after he heard the news? 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:55.759 Minutes? 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:56.560 Days? 00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:57.040 Months? 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:58.240 I don't know. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.160 I want to know. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:07.920 I wanted to figure these things out because I thought if I could figure out his circumstances, I could better understand how to preach this passage. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.439 So I worked at piecing it together. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.160 I thought, you know, scripture's broad, there's a lot going on. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:13.680 Let's compare some of the other passages. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:18.240 Let's go to Luke and look at the accounting in Luke and see what we learn about when the angel visited Mary. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.720 See, Mary had the benefit of an angel telling her what was going to happen before it happened. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.040 Joseph didn't have that benefit. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.519 Joseph didn't get visited by an angel until after he found out she was pregnant. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.360 Might have been easier if an angel came and said, Hey, guess what? 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:34.639 This is going to happen. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:36.399 But it didn't. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:37.360 Why? 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:48.800 So I go to Luke and I learn in Luke that when the angel visits Mary, he tells Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, is pregnant and that she's in her six months of pregnancy. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.879 So I'm going, okay, so six months of pregnancy there. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:54.959 She's pregnant with John the Baptist inside of her womb. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:02.000 And it then says, after the angel visited Mary, that she went with haste to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:02.959 Okay, so with haste. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.120 So she probably left town quickly. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.040 And that's kind of confirmed because it then says that Mary visited Elizabeth for three months. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:23.360 And if if you take the fact that she visited Elizabeth for three months, and then it says that she went home, and after she went home, it says in Luke, that Elizabeth gave birth. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:30.240 So you take, if Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary found out, and Mary visited her for three months before she gave birth. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:36.639 Well, we have nine months, which could only have been possible that she left before the baby was born if she had hightailed it out of town. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:46.319 So, so if you look at then what are the chances that she told Joseph before you let out of town, you piece these things together, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I still have no clue how Joseph found out. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.639 And I wanna know. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.319 This thing's making noises. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:51.920 I want to know. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:53.519 I want to know the details. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:54.959 I want to know the circumstance. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.480 Why doesn't God put it in here? 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.120 Is this me making the noise? 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.160 I don't am I doing something wrong? 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:03.199 Sorry. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.759 Uh I want to know. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:08.240 I really, really, really want to know. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.240 But why isn't it here? 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.519 Doesn't God know that if he gave me more details, I could preach it better? 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:23.279 Doesn't he know that if I had circumstances to refer to, maybe I could do one of those cool narrative storytelling things that Pat did a couple of weeks ago and then I could look as cool as him, but I can't. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.720 I don't have enough details to tell you a story. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:29.680 And then I realized something. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:39.439 We don't have the circumstances around how all of this happened because this story isn't about Joseph's circumstances. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.959 This story is about his God who's in control of the circumstances. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:57.279 And we don't need to get bogged down in the details of human circumstance when there's a God in heaven telling Joseph and us, I've got this. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.759 I'm in control. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.920 See, Joseph's plans have failed. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.399 Joseph planned to marry this woman and thought, you know, the life goes a certain way. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.399 You get married, you have a family, it goes on. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.360 And all of a sudden she's pregnant before they're married. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.680 Now, a couple of interesting things we do have in the text, which just interesting. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.240 There's a lot we don't have, but some things we do have. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:32.399 One, before they're married, it says Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but it refers to her, him as her husband, and says that he planned to divorce her quietly. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:40.159 In that culture, when an engagement happened, it was so strong that to break it required a divorce. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:42.799 Just an interesting cultural tidbit. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:44.720 It's different than our culture. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.120 But this was serious. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.080 It's not like they were dating, playing with the idea of getting married. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:51.039 They were getting married. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.960 This thing was gonna happen, and to break it required a legal contract. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:06.159 But if you look at Joseph's life and how he does respond to his plan falling apart, I find it interesting. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:11.360 Because it says that because he was a just man, and when I read it, it said righteous man, by the way. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:12.480 I read out of the NIV. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:15.679 If you were reading along with your Pew Bibles in the ESV, that might have confused you. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:16.240 Sorry. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:28.000 But in the in the NIV it says righteous man, in the ESV it says just man, and it says because he was just, he planned to divorce her quietly so as not to shame her. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.759 And I'm going, why is that a just move, right? 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:32.720 Why is it just? 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.960 Just is where we get the term justice. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:37.279 They're part of the same root there. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:10:01.840 And justice under the law, if she had committed adultery, which he's assuming she did, by the way, and he had every reason to come to believe that she committed adultery, because every single other time on the planet Earth that a woman was with child, it came about because she'd come together with a man. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.279 And so he's assuming things are happening the way they've happened throughout all of history. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:17.600 And if she had committed adultery, the law would have allowed him to shame her, to stone her for committing adultery, to demand justice. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:25.759 So why does it say he was a just man for trying to handle it quietly so as not to shame her? 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:27.919 I found that interesting. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.960 And so I looked at the word that's used, it's translated just or righteous there. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.000 And the Greek word there is de chaos. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:47.440 And if you look at this Greek word, dechios, it's often translated righteous or just. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:54.799 As a matter of fact, of the 79 times this word appears in the New Testament, 48 of those times, the New American Standard Version, translates it righteous. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:56.960 And I'm going, what was righteous about this? 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:04.799 But when you look deeper at the Greek word, you see that it bears this meaning of conforming to the standard, will, or character of God. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:11.600 And all of a sudden I get it, because what conforms to the character of God more than showing mercy when you believe you've been wronged? 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:18.639 And all of a sudden it makes sense why it says he was a Dekios man, a just man. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.519 Now, this isn't to say that Joseph is this great example that we follow. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:28.559 See, he was so good, so we should be good like Joseph because we know that we can't be good like Joseph. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.799 We know that Joseph wasn't inherently good. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.759 We know that if he came to this conclusion that it was because the Holy Spirit was already working on his heart. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:41.440 As a matter of fact, it was because of God's work in his life that he was conforming to the will of God. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:45.039 He was being conformed to the will of God. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:52.879 And so we see evidence, even before the angel tells him what's going on, that he is reflecting God's will. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:02.320 And in the face of his plans being shattered because he's submitting to God's will, because God is working in him, he does not throw a fit publicly. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:04.639 He does not drag her into the town square. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:10.879 He does not demand this justice, and he says, I'm gonna let it go. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.159 This is a man accepting when his plans fail, but we don't like to do that, do we? 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:17.919 We don't like to accept. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:25.600 If things fall apart with what we had intended, we fight and scratch and claw to make it happen, don't we? 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:35.440 We rail against our circumstances instead of turning to the God in control of our circumstances. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.080 So what does this mean for us, right? 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:52.639 Well, when our plans blow up, which they will and they have, and they will again, what do we do? 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.720 Because our lives fall apart, do they not? 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.879 How many of you can say that you've never had your plans fall apart? 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.759 Everything's gone exactly the way you intended from the day you were born. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.279 And this happens in small ways and big ways, right? 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:14.799 Whether it's the dinner plans we had with old friends, and then the snowstorm comes and we can't get out, and so okay, well, those plans didn't work out. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:22.960 Where they get a little bigger, I talked to a young woman not long ago who was talking about when she was 16 years old, all she wanted to do was try out for American Idol, right? 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:35.279 She just wanted to try out for American Idol, and her parents, she had a singing gift, and her parents were willing to support that, and they were gonna take her on a trip, had hotels booked and everything, to go to another city so she could try out for American Idol. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:44.879 And and the night before they left, they're reading the fine print of the terms and conditions, and she had to be 16 to try out, and so she was 16 and had just turned 16 right before she was gonna go try out. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:52.159 But if you read the fine print, she had to turn 16 before the first tryout city started, which was like a week before. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:59.679 And so they had to cancel their reservations and cancel their trips, and that's one example of our plan so now it gets more serious than that, though, doesn't it? 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.720 A man and a woman get married with every intention to raise a family and they find out they can't have children. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:17.440 We swear when we have children, when they're not going to be raised in a house full of turmoil and drama like we were subjected to. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.200 We don't want them to know that, and then we find out maybe it's not that simple. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:27.039 The dream job we've been working at forever is always out of our grasp. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.840 And things fall apart right in front of us, and our plans don't come to fruition. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:41.360 That dream vacation that we want to go on, we finally get to go, and then right before we leave, major car repairs are needed. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:49.679 I say these things, and you can probably all identify similar situations that have happened in your lives or those close to you. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.720 And the reality is man's plans fail. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:58.080 Our plans will fail. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.600 But what we learn here is that God's plans never fail. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:08.000 God's plans prevail even when our plans fail. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:16.559 As a matter of fact, the failure of our plans are a part of God's plan, and he will use it to grow us to him and through him. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.000 And we see that in Joseph's life. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.320 We see this in the first chapter of Matthew in extreme ways. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.919 The entire first chapter of Matthew is screaming out God's plan cannot be stopped. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.159 God's plan cannot be stopped. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:51.840 Look at the genealogy that we went through with Luke last week as he taught us Matthew chapter 1 and the genealogy right before the story of Joseph, and it walks through the descendants of Jesus and it takes us through this giant roadmap that God's plan happened exactly how he said it would happen, exactly when he said it would happen, and nothing stopped him. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:53.840 How many of you like superhero movies? 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:54.639 Anyone here? 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.279 I love superhero movies, I love action movies. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:05.440 And inevitably, in every action movie or superhero movie, there's some scene where everything looks like it's hopeless, right? 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:15.039 That you know, that the world's about to explode under threat of alien attack, or the damsel in distress is tied to the railroad tracks and the trains coming careening down. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.320 You know what I'm talking about. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:25.200 And everything looks completely hopeless, and then all of a sudden the hero of the story steps on the scene and goes, Don't worry, this is all going exactly as I planned. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:31.759 And at that moment we go, ah, and we sit back in our seat instead of on the edge and we breathe deeper. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.120 And why is that? 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.879 Because we rest easier knowing a plan is in place. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:41.200 Plan makes us feel good. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:54.080 And Matthew chapter 1 in that genealogy is God looking at a macro view throughout the history of his people in a large scale across nations and travel and time, he protected his plan. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:56.960 And he walks through that entire entire genealogy. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:05.839 And as Luke pointed out, there were murderers, there were thieves, there were adulterers, there were baby killers, there were prostitutes in Jesus' family tree. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.559 And did any of that stop his plan? 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:13.599 Do you think that their lives were going according to their plans when that was happening? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:19.680 When David was running for his life from Saul and the foothills of Israel? 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.519 Do you think he was going, I think God's doing exactly as he planned? 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.279 Well, sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:26.400 Look at the Psalms. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.799 Sometimes he was really sure of that, and sometimes he doubted and questioned. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.759 And in our lives, sometimes maybe we have an easier time trusting God and sometimes we don't. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:41.440 But you look at this genealogy and you say, if that couldn't stop God's plan, then what can? 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:50.799 And while we have that macro view right before Joseph's story, Joseph's story serves as a micro view where we narrow into the details of one man's life. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:56.480 And in Joseph's lives as well, in each and every one of your lives, God is saying, I'm in control. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.400 My plan can't be stopped. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:04.880 Your plans fall apart, and not only am I still in control, but my plan is going to work out better than yours. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:18.960 And in the moment that life is destroying you, when you are depressed and hurt and broken and without hope and without answer, and the ones that you love are in pain and you're powerless to stop it. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:34.799 Do you stop to realize the promise that in this not only is God's plan not stopped, but his plan is going to work out better for you in the long run than what you think should happen? 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:36.799 That's what we have. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:49.039 In Romans 8, 28, when God says, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:19:01.920 So when things in our life fall apart and are ruined, are we going to stop and realize that our hero is saying, Don't worry, this is all going exactly as I planned. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:25.039 Joseph's story at the end of this chapter provides this micro view that we get to see the details, and God sends an angel to visit Joseph in his dream and tells him that though your plans seem to be falling apart, God is actually using this to carry out his plans, and they're better than what you could have done for yourself. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:43.599 And it says, After he had considered this, in other words, after Joseph had considered divorcing Mary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:49.279 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.039 And this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.680 And the angel lays this beautiful plan in front of Joseph. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.240 And Joseph, it says, obeys. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:18.400 It says, when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded and took Mary home as his wife. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:23.359 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son and he gave him the name Jesus. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.839 And so we have this beautiful story. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:33.759 This beautiful story about a man's plans failing and God's plans prevailing. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.599 And that man walks in trust of his Savior. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.720 And you say, Well, that's great, Craig. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:43.599 But Joseph had something I don't have, right? 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:53.920 Joseph had a benefit I don't get to partake in, and that's that he sent an angel of the Lord in a dream to speak the very voice of God to him to tell him exactly what was going on. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:21:00.000 I mean, if God was telling me audibly what I should be doing, then maybe it'd be easier for me to obey too. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.759 But in the midst of my turmoils, I don't get to hear the voice of God. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.400 God's words don't minister directly to me like they did to Joseph. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:11.440 Do they? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:13.440 Don't they? 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:24.480 Is that not what we see in 2 Timothy 3.16, where it says, all scripture is God breathed, in other words, directly from the mouth of God? 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:33.839 And we have our Bible and we sit there in our turmoil and it stays closed, and we don't seek his plan spelled out. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:43.200 And he has given us his word directly from his mouth the same way he did Joseph. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:47.920 So do we lean on it? 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:49.519 Do we lean on his promise? 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.519 Do we lean on the promise of 828? 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.799 Do we lean Romans 8 28? 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.759 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.319 Who have been called according to his purpose. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.400 And what is this plan that he's working out? 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:06.079 What is this plan that isn't stopped? 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:12.000 Well, the plan that he has for you and me is the same plan he had for the nation of Israel that we trace in the genealogy of Matthew 1. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:14.240 And it's the same plan that he's working through Joseph. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:26.319 And that is a plan that a loving, powerful God chose to love an unlovable, undeserving, sinful people, and that he gave his only son to do it. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:38.319 And it's what he did when he told Abraham that the nations would be blessed through his offspring, and the promise of the Messiah was born, and he looked forward to that moment, and everybody looked to the arrival of Christ. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.799 And as Joseph sat there and the angel said, He's coming through you. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:46.960 And you will father the Christ. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.599 And now he looks at us and he says, My plan for you is the same, my son. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.599 It's a central point of all of human history. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.960 God's plan is the gospel. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:12.160 It's the story of a perfect and loving God rescuing an imperfect and unlovable people and adopting them as his own children, despite the fact that we don't deserve it and our lives are a train wreck. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:18.000 If anything proves that God's love is not halted by our messed up lives, is that list of names at the beginning of Matthew? 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:23.759 Jesus' own family tree includes those murderers, prostitutes, and self-serving bunch of sinners that we talked about. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:31.759 And if you really think your mess-ups are gonna stop him after you look at what hasn't stopped him, then you're missing the big picture. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.400 And where your plans fail, God's plans prevail. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:38.799 That's love. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.920 That's God's plan. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:55.599 It was working itself out then, and it's working itself out now, and it's gonna keep working itself out until we sit in glory beside our Father in heaven with no pain, no failure to distract us from his goodness. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.279 And trust me, that plan is better. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:07.200 It's better than that perfect family you wish you had, or that perfect job you wish you had, or anything you can plan for yourself. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.559 And the reality is when I'm dangerous up here. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.160 I'm just gonna stand like this, okay? 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:30.240 The reality is that when our plans break, it's usually not as simple as our broken dinner plans. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.559 It breaks our heart. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:34.640 It breaks our spirit. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:36.480 It breaks our will. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:39.440 It takes away years of effort. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.960 It makes us feel hopeless and helpless. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.440 The ones we love are hurting and we're powerless to stop it. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:53.200 Circumstances beyond our croll control keep us locked into a life we wish we didn't have. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:56.720 We hurt. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:19.680 And that's when we need to realize that this story isn't about our circumstances, but about the God in control of them who brings these things into our lives to grow us, shape us, mold us, teach us that he's gonna be there when no one else will. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:23.680 And that his plan is better. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.000 So I want to close with a video. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.440 We're gonna do this a little differently. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.559 And after the video, we'll still have our usual closing song. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:33.519 But this is a song that's ministered to me this week. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:35.519 It's called Though You Slay Me. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:48.000 And it was a song written out of a place of pain, realizing that though there is pain in my life, though you've brought pain into my life, God, I mean, Joseph's engagement was broken because of God's choice, right? 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.960 And though sometimes God may bring pain into our life, he does it for our good. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:11.039 He does work.