Matthew chapter number one and we're going to not read through all those wonderful names but we are gonna pick up in verse number 17 and if anybody wants to volunteer you go right ahead. This is all yours. I will say this, I was reading through the genealogy today and you know there's four ladies mentioned in there who are not of Israel descent. In fact some of them are prostitutes, some of them are harlots The reason I bring that up is because I'm thankful that God can take messed up people and He chose to come through their line and I believe He's just communicating through that that He can take up messed up people and do something great with them. Let's start reading in verse number 18. The Bible says, was on this wise, that's the King James Version of saying, in this way, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David." Now, if you back up with me to verse number 16, David is not Joseph's daddy. In fact, the Bible tells us in verse number 16 that his dad's name was Jacob. What the angel was reminding Joseph is that you have a royal line and that should have alerted Joseph that something important was getting ready to happen. Son of David, look with me again in verse 20, Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and call it his name, Jesus. Lord, we love you tonight. Lord, I ask God that you'd help us from your word. Lord, I ask God that you'd challenge us tonight, feed us. Lord, we need to be fed. Lord, I ask God that you'd help me. Lord, I'm just explaining what's already been said in scripture. Lord, would you stir our heart. Lord, and just convict us. And Lord, I ask God tonight that we'd leave encouraged from your word. Lord, apply it to our life. We love you. In your name we pray, amen. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. When you come to, we've been doing characters of Christmas. Zachariah and I think maybe two weeks ago and then on Sunday, I forgot who I preached on Sunday. Does anybody remember who I preached on Sunday? Who was it? Anna, there we go. And Zachariah was God was doing the impossible work through him and then Anna was that person who stood out. She was one and when nobody else stood out from the tribe of Asher, she did what was right and she stood out. There's another character of Christmas that I'd like to deal with tonight. And obviously, he's probably one of the more familiar individuals. His name is Joseph. And when you come to Joseph, you're going to find out that out of all of the millions of men of that day, God the Father selected him to be the earthly individual to raise his son. In fact, Joseph would be responsible for the early years of the life of the Lord Jesus. Now listen, my mind can't fathom the deity of Christ as he's a young child and also having an earthly father telling him what to do. Listen, I just can't comprehend it, but it's in there, it's in the Bible, we understand that. And that's what Joseph's responsibility was. was to, especially in the early years of the life of Jesus, was to form Him, to mold Him to be the caretaker, if you would. And He'd be the one that would put shelter over Jesus and Mary. He'd be the one, Joseph would put food on the table. Joseph would be the one that would teach the young son of God. In fact, if you go to Mark chapter 6, you're going to find that not only was Joseph a carpenter, but Jesus also picked up the carpentry trade, and Joseph would be the one to pass along that trade. In fact, the Jews had a motto that if you didn't teach your son a trade, they'd go up to be a thief. So it was strongly encouraged in the Jewish culture that they would pass along that trade from the father. And you find another interesting thing I find out about Joseph is this. In all of Scripture, he's not recorded speaking one time. In fact, there's not one word, not one sentence, not anything ever recorded that Joseph ever spoke. In fact, some ladies laugh. They'd say, well, he'd be the perfect husband. I don't know about that, but he's never recorded speaking in all of Scripture. I'm sure that he spoke a lot of things, but we don't see anything. But can I tell you, there's a lot of things that he may not have spoke, but his actions did a lot of talking. The way he conducted himself, and I want to remind us tonight that you don't have to do a lot of speaking because your speaking don't really mean a lot if what you're doing don't back up what you're saying. And that is considered in the life of Joseph. We don't have a lot of words or any words by him, but his actions did. a lot of talking. I remember when my children were little they used to, in Austin not so much anymore, Natalie not so much anymore, Eli still does a little bit, but when they were little they used to love to climb up on things and jump off and I would catch them. In fact, I remember I would always tell them, I'd say, open your arms up like a bird and they would jump off and I would catch them. In fact, sometimes it was by the grace of God that I was even paying attention because they wouldn't even think twice and they would just jump off expecting me to catch them. And you know there's one reason, one reason alone that they would do that and it's this, because I was their father. They trusted me to catch them. They didn't have to think about it. They just did it knowing that I was going to catch them. that they didn't worry about falling, they just trusted me. And when you come to the narrative of Joseph, you're gonna find that he's put in a situation where all he can do is trust God. He's put in a predicament, a crazy predicament. We read it every year, we just skip over it, don't think nothing about it. But he's put into a crazy, unbelievable situation where all he can do is trust God. And can I tell you tonight, there's gonna be times you're gonna be put in situations You ain't going to understand it. You may not even believe it. You've got a lot of questions. But all you can do is sit back and trust the God of heaven that He knows what He's doing. Joseph, when we arrive at him, he doesn't understand it all. He don't even know why it's him. He don't know how it all is gonna work out. But God is gonna use a man whose words are never recorded to fulfill his plan through him. And can I say tonight that God wants to fulfill his plan through you. God's interested in carrying out his plan through you. There's times you may not understand it. There's times you may not comprehend it. You may ask, Lord, why in the world is it me? But can I tell you, if God's going to fulfill His plan through you, there's going to be times you're just going to have to trust Him. You're just going to have to trust Him. I googled, saw what Mr. Webster, how he defined trust, and this is how he defined it, and I like it. He said, trust is the firm belief in the integrity, the ability, and the character of a person. Can I tell you, that's what ought to be said of us. We ought to be people who firmly believe in the integrity, the ability, and the character of God. Let me give you three things tonight. Number one, I want you to notice the predicament of Joseph. The predicament of Joseph. Preacher, what do you mean the predicament? Well, I want to just show you, bring to light the predicament that Joseph sinned. Now if you remember, with Anna and with Zechariah, God's been quiet for 400 years. Ain't nobody heard nothing from a prophet. God ain't spoke through a priest. Ain't no angels came down for 400 years. Ain't nobody heard from God. In fact, the only thing they know of God at this point is what they're reading in the Law and the Prophets. I'm sure there's been stories passed down of when God would speak through the Prophets and stories of when God came down on Mount Sinai with Moses and stories, but that's all they've got. All they've got is just stories and accounts in the Word of God. God has not spoken to anybody in 400 years. Up until this point, and we understand this, God is the angel spoken to Zechariah, but it was unbeknownst to them. Up until this point, they don't know that God's dealt with anybody. So for 400 years, it's been silent. We find a man by the name of Joseph, he's betrothed to a young girl by the name of Mary. Look with me in verse number 18. The Bible says this, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. You need to understand tonight that there are three stages of an Eastern wedding or an Eastern marriage. The first is you have the betrothal period. That's what the espoused is here. Then you have the wedding festivities or the wedding feast would last anywhere from one week to 30 some days. And then you would have the consummation of the marriage. That was the intimate act that finalized the marriage. That was three stages of an Eastern wedding. Many people would compare the betrothal period to an American engagement period, but can I tell you tonight, that's the furthest thing from the truth. You say, Preacher, why is that? Because an American engagement period simply goes like this. If a guy likes a girl, regardless nowadays, regardless if he buys her a ring or not, they get engaged. They can have sexual relations. They can break up. They can split it off. In fact, they can have kids, not be married. And unfortunately, there's no real cultural standard of an American engagement. Y'all follow me tonight? But that's not the case with a biblical Eastern marriage. Really, even in America, an engagement period doesn't mean anything anymore. But an Eastern betrothal period was completely different. In fact, when you study a betrothal period of their day, the family of the groom would sign a written contract with the family of the bride. In fact, that groom would be so serious he would pay what they call the dowry price. In fact, he would pay showing his commitment to that family. And that's why you'll find that Jacob worked for seven years to marry Rachel. That was his dowry price, if you will. In fact, in the betrothal period was so serious, if you look in the Bible, verse number 19, it already considers Joseph her husband. So this wasn't just something you broke off. In fact, if you was to break off the betrothal period, that was considered a divorce. In fact, that's what it's going to say when Joseph's considered to put her away privily. To put her away is actually where we get the word divorce from. The betrothal period was a serious legal contract. It wasn't like the engagement that we have today. In fact, if you look at verse number 20, the angel already defers Mary as Joseph's wife in the present tense. So I want you to think with me just for a moment. You've got 400 years of silence. God ain't spoke to nobody. You've got Mary who's a godly lady according to Luke chapter number 2. You got Joseph who did everything right, but it seems now that infidelity has crept into the betrothal period. Because guess what? Mary's pregnant. She's a godly lady. Joseph's a godly man. Believe he's done everything right? God hasn't spoke for 200 years. And Joseph's going to find himself in what I call a Virginia word right in the smack dab middle of an unbelievable predicament. I want you to put yourself in Joseph's shoes. God ain't spoke for 200 years. And all of a sudden your wife comes up and says, hey, I just want you to know, an angel talked to me and I'm pregnant. Mary, God ain't spoke to nobody in 400 years and now you're telling me that you're pregnant and the baby inside of you is God? I mean, we read this stuff like it ain't nothing, but I want you to put yourself in Joseph's shoes. He's done everything right. He's a godly man, she's a godly lady, but God ain't spoke, and now she's coming up to him, and she says, by the way, I'm with child, and an angel just got done talking to me, and the angel inside of me is God. Put yourself in Joseph's shoes. That's an interesting predicament he finds himself in. Joseph being, the Bible calls him just, means he's righteous, he's saved, being a just man. He's got moral standards. He knew that he was not the father. He knows he's not the dad. So he knows that he should not go through with the marriage because of Mary's pregnancy. He naturally assumes that Mary had relations with another man. We all would. We would all assume that. That is just how nature works, right? He assumes it. That's why he's considering divorcing her or breaking off the betrothal period. So you've got to understand now, you've got Joseph's moral dilemma. See, the law says, according to Deuteronomy, that she should be handed over to Jewish authorities, taken outside of the city gate and stoned to death. But you've got the other side of Joseph who loves her. She's faithful, but now his whole world's come crashing down. He loves her, but yet what does the law say? And he finds himself in an interesting predicament. So he's battling. The law says she should be killed, but he loves her. He doesn't understand why she would do this to him. Here's what Joseph knows, alright. Mary's pregnant. He's not the father. If he turns it over to Jewish authorities, she's going to be killed. If he stays with her, then people are going to assume that they had sexual relations outside of wedlock, which was a big no-no in Jewish times. And now they're going to have to deal with the shame and the mockery and all the garbage that's going to be spoken about them within the community. So either I hand her over or I'm just going to have to assume it and I'm going to have to deal with it. That's what Joseph's facing. By the way, people can do the math. That ain't no nine months. Y'all know how people, let me just say it, y'all looking all spiritual. Y'all know, hey Mary, y'all's wedding, that wasn't nine months. That's what Joseph would have to deal with. If he's gonna take it, I'm gonna have to embrace the mockery. What do I do? So, here's what I know. God ain't taught nobody in 400 years. Mary just told me it. God taught to her. She's pregnant. I'm not the dad. I hand her over. She should be killed. If I stay with her, I'm going to have joined in with the shame with her. Those are the things that Joseph knows. But here's what Joseph does not know. God's at work behind the scene. His world is going crazy, but yet unbeknownst to him, God is putting some things in place. Can I throw out this little nugget tonight? There's times in our world we have no idea what in the world is happening, but God's at work behind the scene. He's working in ways, even in crazy things, that we wouldn't understand. Can I remind you tonight that every problem you face, regardless of what you do or don't understand, God is always at work behind the scenes. You realize this tonight, and I debate it, I don't even say it, but even the natural consequences of our mistakes. How many of y'all know this tonight? That sin has consequences. You do dumb stuff, you get dumb consequences, right? Yeah, if I go do something dumb, my dog tried to lick a candle the other day. Burnt himself. I ain't never seen a dog so stupid. I thought that stuff was ingrained in them not to do stupid stuff like that. And he'd burn his nose. You do dumb stuff, you get dumb consequences. And that's the same thing in our life. We do dumb stuff, dumb things happen to us. And when we sin, there's consequences. God is not mocked. It's every salary will also sow. Here's what I've learned though. And this may mess up a lot of people's theology. Even in the consequences of my stupidity, God is at work. I can't fathom that. I understand it if I'm a good boy. And there's things I don't understand. But when I've messed up because of my own ignorance, you mean tell me God's still working? Yeah, I'll prove it to you. Not New Testament Joseph. Go to Old Testament Joseph. His brothers tried to throw him in a pit. How many of y'all agree that's wrong? They wanted to kill him. How many of y'all think that's wrong? Well, preacher, they didn't kill him, but remember what Jesus said. They wanted to kill him, it was wrong. They sold him into slavery. How many of y'all think that's wrong? That's pretty messed up, pretty wrong. Then they lied to their father. Well, we found his coat in blood, must have been killed by a wild, so all this stuff. Watch this though. God was gonna take all their mess ups. He's gonna work in the life of Joseph just to feed the very brothers that sold him into slavery. All their messed up sin, God took it and now He's going to feed them from Egypt so that the nation of Israel will be saved. God can take even our messed up, dumb stuff that we do and can still work it out to our good. Now, by the way, I don't find the Bible just with anything wrong. I'm just trying to get you to understand that God is at work behind the scenes, whether it's because you messed up or whether you've been really good. God is all, listen, it don't matter. If you're a believer tonight, God is always working things out to your good, regardless if it's tragedy, regardless if it's great things. He's always behind the scenes working. And sometimes we don't understand that, but we have to simply trust God that He's at work in our life. We have to trust and believe in the integrity, the ability, the character of your Heavenly Father. The predicament of Joseph. Let me give you number two. The principles in Joseph. So we see the predicament of Joseph, but then the principles in Joseph. You say, preacher, what kind of principles was in Joseph? Well, I find this one. Joseph was pious. What do you mean, pious preacher? He was reverend. He was a religious man in a good sense, not in a negative sense. Look with me in verse number 19. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man. You know what just means? It means righteous. It means that Joseph lived a life according to the laws of God. He obeyed the laws and the ordinances of the Lord. He was a saved man. Do this for me real quick. Go over two books and go to Luke chapter number two. Hold your spot, Matthew, and go to Luke two. Luke chapter number 2. How do you know he obeyed the laws and the ordinances of God? Let me show you. Luke chapter number 2. When you arrive at Luke chapter number 2, find verse number 22. You're going to find that Jesus has already been born. Look with me in verse number 22. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, what's the next word? They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Who's they? Mary and Joseph. They're doing things by the law. They are pious people, reverent people. And I want to say something that's contradictory. It shouldn't be, but sometimes it is. You cannot trust the Father if you don't have one. Lost people don't get a heavenly father. I know that's unpopular belief, but people say, well, I'm just a child. You ain't no child of God if you're not saved. Listen, God is not your father if you've never been born again. Only believers, born-again Christians, saved people have a Heavenly Father. Joseph placed his faith in God. He was a just man. He was just because of his faith. And can I tell you the same thing applies today? Well, preacher, what have I got to do? You've got to be saved through faith. It's by grace, through faith. You want a Heavenly Father that you can trust tonight? You've got to make Him your Heavenly Father by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. He was a just man. He was pious. But then also this, let me throw this out there. Joseph was pure. Joseph was pure. Verse number 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, in this way, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, notice this next phrase, before they came together. Now do I need to break that down for y'all? Y'all know what that means? Yeah. Jump down verse 25. And knew her not, until she had brought forth her firstborn son. In other words, there was no intimate act until Jesus was born. Can I tell you something that's unpopular today? Joseph was a pure man. He wasn't defiled by a bunch of sexual immorality that was running rampant in his day and running rampant in our day. He was a pure... Listen, you know how easy it would have been for him to dismiss her privately and go find him somebody else? No, he didn't. He didn't do that. He was a pure man. The entirety of their betrothal period, Joseph remained pure. He had no intimate actions with Mary. And can I tell you tonight that God is still looking for pure people? He's still looking for men that are pure? He's still looking for women that are pure? Listen to me. He's still looking for marriages that stay pure? God's still interested in that tonight. Joseph was pious, he was pure, but then Joseph, what I call Joseph preferred. And what do you mean by that, preacher? Look with me in verse number 19. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Joseph didn't put all his wife's problems on Facebook. Well, preacher, they didn't have, I know they didn't have Facebook. He didn't put it in the Jerusalem Post. He didn't put it in the Bethlehem Bugle. He didn't put it in the Jerusalem Times. How dare her? Can I tell you there's people that do that? They put all their family problems on social media. And they publicly embarrass them. Privily means privately or secretly. And I'll remind you tonight that Joseph had every right to have her openly shamed and even killed. His worlds crashed around him, his dreams of his family are gone, the wish of passing on the family business has banished, and instead of doing what he could have done, he did what he should have done. Listen to me, just because you can doesn't mean that you should. You may be entitled to do something, doesn't mean you should do it. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean that you should. What did he do? Now, I want you to think in Joseph's mind. Y'all, even the most spiritual people would be in a rage. You understand. You put yourself in Joseph's shoes, what he's going through right now. In his mind, But what does he do? He prefers Mary above himself. Isn't it interesting? He's more interested in the character of Mary than to make her a public example. He says, I'm just going to put her away, probably. I'm not going to shame her. I don't want to hand her over to the authorities. I don't want nobody. I'm going to do it secretly. I'm just going to give her that bill of divorcement. I don't want her to be shamed. I don't want her to be embarrassed. He's preferring her above Himself. He's not going to tell the community, He's not going to tell the family, He's not going to tell the in-laws, but privately. He didn't succumb to natural rage. He's not going to embarrass her, but He preferred her. Can I tell you what the flesh says tonight? The flesh says get even. The flesh says get revenge. The flesh says she deserves it, Joseph. But He didn't do it. She said, I'm gonna take care of, I'm gonna watch for her character. You know the word of God says in Philippians 2, 3, in the lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. It's easy to esteem people who are godly, but it's a whole nother level to esteem people who have just spit in your face. Please understand, Mary didn't do that, but what's going on in his world? To him she did, but yet he's still interested in her character. Joseph was pious, he was pure, he was preferred. Joseph was patient. I'm almost done tonight. Verse number 20, while he thought on these things, can I tell you tonight, what a lot of us would do is we'd make a hasty decision. We'd be quick. I'm going to take care of her. I'm going to jump to action. But you know, I don't find Joseph doing that. The Bible says he paused, he was patient, he thought about it. Can I say tonight that hasty conclusions get us into trouble? Do you realize that when you operate hastily, we do not allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart when you rush to conclusions? I want you to think with me for a moment. What if he wouldn't have waited on God? Hey everybody, Mary's pregnant and I'm not the dad. Oh then an angel shows up two days later. Hey Joe, just want to let you know that the baby inside of her is God. He done messed up. What if he would have been patient? Can I tell you so many times we want to rush to conclusions and we want to jump to assumptions and we want to move hastily and we do not give the Holy Spirit time to work in our life. He didn't. He was patient. The Bible says He thought. He thought on these things. My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. Slow to speak, slow to wrath. Ecclesiastes 12, 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Now, I'm not going to put things in there, but it is my personal belief because Joseph was a saved man, a pious man. I believe his thanking involved praying. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine because it doesn't say. But I believe that he was praying. I believe he heard Mary's story. I believe he had his story. And I believe he was simply waiting and leaning on God. Bible says, while he thought on these things, behold, in the interest in God showed up in his patience. God showed up in his waiting. Can I tell you, there's something spiritual about being patient. There's something spiritual about not jumping on things too quickly. God showed up in his waiting. And if Joseph didn't wait for God, he would have been up at night with anxiety and worry, but God showed up. Now, here's a tongue twister, you ready? When you don't know what to do, do what you know to do. And wait on what you don't know what to do, because the one who knows what to do will tell you what to do. I'm not gonna repeat that, but it sounded good. One more time. When you don't know what to do, do what you know to do, and wait on what you don't know what to do, because the one who knows what to do will tell you what to do. All these principles, pious, pure, patient, preferred, you know, all these principles were revealed because of the predicament that Joseph was in. Can I tell you that sometimes God's going to put you to the test to see if some principles, some morals, some real faith come out in you. Oh, you want to talk the game? You really think you're a Christian? You think you're pure men? You'd be surprised what the devil's going to throw at you tomorrow. You think you're patient? We'll see about that when you get cut off on I-95 or 85, whatever interstate is over there. You think you're patient? OK. You think you're going to be preferred? What about when your wife snaps at you? We'll see. I'm just telling you, these principles will come out when we're tested. We wouldn't know them if Joseph was not in the predicament that he was in. The God never said a word, but yet we see what comes out in his life. We see the predicament of Joseph, the principles in Joseph. Let me give you number three, lastly tonight, the proclamation to Joseph. Verse number 20, while he thought of these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of or from the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not, till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and called his name Jesus. Can I tell you tonight what appeared to be a predicament ended up in being a proclamation that God was actually behind the scenes doing a great work in the life of Joseph. What seemed to be a problem for Joseph was actually the plan of God. And can I tell you what sometimes we view as a problem is actually God's plan. We just don't understand it at the time. Can I remind you tonight There are no problems for the believer, there are only plans. Now listen, wait a minute preacher, you tell us all the time there's trouble. I get that. But in all reality, if we're going to believe our Bible, they're not problems, they're plans. They're not problems, they're divine appointments that God has put us through. They're plans. By the way, let me throw this out there. Believing, the Bible says that the angel told Joseph, and you know what he didn't do? Well, that's good. That's good. Yeah. Okay. I'll consider that, Angel. I'll consider that, I think. The Bible said he did. You know, there's a difference between reading and applying. Oh, that's good. That's good what I read this morning. Well, let me ask you this. Do you apply it when you leave for the next day? Do you actually put it into practice? The Bible says Joseph got up and he did. He did what the angel told him. He didn't delay his obedience. And let me remind you that the angel didn't appear to the community, didn't appear to the Jewish council, but the angel only appeared to Mary and Joseph. In other words, this is what happened, y'all. The only people that knew in that moment that that child was the son of God was Mary and Joseph. Guess what everybody else thought? God ain't taught nobody in 400 years. Their marriage is defiled. They had relations before the wedding. Look, that math ain't adding up. Could you imagine the mockery? The disdain that was put upon them? But Joseph got a word from God. And can I tell you tonight that there are times that you're going to get something from God, from His Word, that others will mock, others will disdain. When you start to put it into practice, oh, that's old-fashioned. Nobody does that anymore. You go to church. You go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night. Wow, we don't do that no more. Can I tell you, there's things that you read in your Bible that God says you need to do these things that the world will mock you of. But you've got a decision you've got to make. Are you going to be like Joseph? And say, you know what? Don't understand at all. Crazy predicament. But I got a word from God. And I'm just going to trust God and I'm going to believe God. Or are you going to bow down to the pressures of society? Man, what is everybody else going to think of me if I do this? Somebody wrote this. I like it. It said, Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee. Trust Him when thy strength is small. Trust Him when to simply trust Him seems the hardest thing of all. Trust Him He's ever faithful. Trust Him for His will is best. Trust Him for the heart of Jesus is the only place of rest. Can I tell you tonight? You may not understand it all. But can I tell you what you ought to do? You ought to just trust Him. Let's pray tonight. Lord, we love you. Lord, I'm thankful, Lord, for the account of Joseph. Lord, a man who didn't say anything according to the Scripture, nothing recorded. But Lord, his actions proved everything. Lord, I'm thankful for his faithfulness. God, how you used his life to fulfill the plan of God. Lord, in bringing about, Lord God, the Son in flesh incarnate, Lord, we know, God, tonight, based on what we've read and we saw, Lord, that you want to use us. Lord, sometimes you'll put us through things, God, we'll not understand. Lord, even this side of eternity, we may never understand why. Lord, we have to know and we have to trust, God, that you are at work behind the scenes, whether we know it or not. Lord, I ask God that you'd help us tonight to simply trust you, Lord, not to bow down to the pressures of society, the pressures of this world, but Lord, just to stand on your word, standing on the promises, Lord, and to keep going forward for you. Lord, I ask God that you'd encourage us tonight in your word. Lord, give us a safe trip home. We love you. In your name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed tonight.