Could you open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter one? I've decided to step away from the book of Acts for one Sunday because it's Father's Day. That's a little bit of an unusual thing to do because because it's I think it's only Father's Day here in America. It's not like an international holiday or anything like that. It's an American thing. But we're in America, so great thing. Let me say this. Well, let's pray first. We're praying a lot today. Let's keep it going. Let's pray some more. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, we come to the time now where our worship gives attention to your perfect and holy word. And I pray, Lord God, that The message here in your word would come forth as encouragement, teaching that will be received by all of us as edification, instruction, encouragement to worship and praise you. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I have not, if you've known me for any length of time over the years, not typically preached Mother's Day messages and Father's Day messages on Mother's Day and Father's Day. And there's a number of reasons why. I won't go into all of that now, but today I will. But I'll say this up front. There's a few things that are risky about doing that, in my mind. You may think it's a common practice in churches, but I've steered clear of it because, number one, I don't want to take the focus off the gospel and take the focus off of what Jesus did for us. and turn it into a lesson about fatherhood or anything like that. So there's always a little bit of a risk. As preachers, we have to be careful not to do that. It's not the job of pastors in churches to keep their finger to the wind at what's going on out there, whether it's bad stuff or good stuff, and then use their pulpits to respond to it. No, our ears are not tuned that way. A pastor's ears are tuned that way, right? And through this comes what is supposed to come forth from here all the time, again and again and again and again. And so that's one of the reasons. But also, the risk in talking about fathers on Father's Day is Of course, what I'm going to do is I'm going to look at an example in Scripture of someone who I think displayed some really awesome characteristics of fatherhood. Not God Himself, but a man that God used, a man who feared God. and you see the evidence of his relationship with God in his life, that man is going to be Joseph, the husband of Mary, who you usually only hear about at Christmas time, but today you hear about him on Father's Day. Now, here's what happens, though. When you look at a guy like Joseph, that Joseph, you don't find very much to criticize about that Joseph. So what happens is, you preach the Word, and If we don't decide now and train ourselves to receive it right, what happens is we sit there and we think, well, I failed there. Well, I failed there. Well, that's not me. Look, I could stand here today and wax eloquent about all of the best virtues of fatherhood as presented in the Bible by God Himself, but I have the full knowledge of the fact that I fall short in that and everything else that the Lord calls me to do. So what I'm doing is I want to start this off by reminding you, and this lesson, though it's going to deal with Joseph and his fatherhood, the principles are applicable to every Christian, okay? So I want to start off by reminding you of God's grace. Let's be reminded again of God's grace. We are not saved because of anything worthy in us that we have laid before the Lord and said, ah, see, look, now he will be pleased with me. No, we don't have any of that. And I would add that having put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not kept by Him because of any of that either. We are saved by His grace and we are held by His grace. We are kept and sustained and preserved by His grace because we fall short. So when you hear things about fatherhood that make you as a father or even just as a person, as a Christian, feel like, wow, boy, I wish I could be like that. OK, good. Then go to the Lord and pray. But don't sit there within yourself saying, Boy, I really messed that up. Boy, I, you know, I must not be in the favor of God. Listen, if you're sitting here today because you've just spent the last half hour pouring your heart out and praises to God because you understand what He did in saving you through Jesus' Son, you know, you are extraordinarily blessed. Because that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the exit ramp onto the narrow road that will carry you through your life and lead to eternal life. And it's a road that hardly anybody finds, according to Jesus himself. So before you sit there and receive anything and start saying, well, I failed there. I failed there. Remember, we are saved by His grace and we're here today because He's opened our eyes to redemption. He's opened our eyes to eternal life. He's opened our hearts and our minds to receive that which He did to save us. And that is done. If you are here and you have faith, amen, somebody. I mean, you're here in church today. Here's what church is about above anything else. Jesus, the Son of God, died and bore the wrath of God against our sins, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead. And the call of the gospel is to repent and believe. And if you came in here today fired up and hungry to worship and praise Him because He saved you, you are extraordinarily blessed. Thank you, God. Amen. So, remember His grace, receive the words of instruction with humility and a desire to grow. Right? When we talk, I know this is all my introduction and I knew this was going to be long, but I have to because this, I sometimes when you stand up on a mother's day or a father's day and you say all these wonderful things from the Bible about mothers and fathers, it makes people, it does the opposite. It makes people feel like discouraged or sad or something. And that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to like teach and instruct. So if we receive with humility, what the Lord teaches with a desire to grow, we can respond with repentance and prayer, whatever He calls us to, so that we might receive instruction from Him. Listen, I don't care what your situation in life is as a father. If you are a father of young children and you're just struggling to figure it out day by day. If you're a father of teenagers or college-age students and you're wondering, man, I've made some mistakes, I've missed my opportunity, is there still time for me? The answer is yes. You may be an older man as a father, and you have full grown adult children and even grandchildren, and you may sit and think, boy, I wish I would have done this, I wish I would have done that. Listen to me, it's not over, no matter what. You as a father continue to be an influence in your children's lives or even grandchildren's lives. Maybe even, I think we have one with a great-grandchild on the way, right? Or two, a couple with a great-grand, right? So maybe we have some great-grandparents here. You continue to be an influence in their lives. Amen? One more point. This is all one massive caveat as an introduction. Right? See, this is why I don't typically do this on Mother's Day and Father's Day. But listen, when we talk about Joseph, we'll talk about someone who would seem like got everything right. Two responses to that. Number one, Joseph was a sinner, like us. The baby, Jesus, would be his redeemer. You understand? He needed the salvation that Jesus was going to bring. He's not a marble man. He's not perfect. He's a sinner like us. And number two, while we point to Joseph, please be aware that there are plenty of examples in scripture of guys who didn't quite get it right. Or even if we don't know whether they were good fathers or not, Guess what? Your kids grow up and you don't have control over everything they think, everything they say, everything they do. You can raise your kids, but you can't be your kids. Right? And so when you read, for example, 2 Chronicles chapter 35, talking about King Josiah in the Old Testament, do you know King Josiah? He became king when he was eight years old. And by the time he was a young man in his 20s, he had torn down all the false idols throughout the land, restored true worship. I mean, really, one of the great lights among the ancestry of the Lord Jesus, the descendancy of David in the Old Testament. When He came to His death, it says in 2 Chronicles 35, the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness according to what was written in the law of the Lord and his deeds from first to last. Indeed, they're written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. There aren't too many men who are described as good in the Bible. King Josiah was described as having goodness in what he did. And yet when you get into the next chapter, chapter 36, you read of one of his sons, Jehoiakim. That's the name was given to him by the Egyptian king anyway. It says, Jehoiakim, that was one of Josiah's sons, was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Right? So from one generation of one of the greatest kings who's ever walked the face of the earth, to the next generation of his son, you went from great zeal for the Lord to doing evil in the sight of the Lord. So you have examples in the Bible of guys who either A, didn't get it right as a father, or B, got it right, but it didn't work out the way that they wanted it to. Do you understand that? where there's frailty in people. So I don't want to say anything to make it feel like, oh man, I failed here, I failed there. Receive with humility the instruction of the Lord from His Word. Amen? Now I can start preaching, having gotten that off of my chest. Matthew chapter one, ready? Being a father is hard. Being a Christian is hard. Becoming a Christian is not, because that's all the Lord's work. Jesus did all the work to save us, all the work of drawing us to Himself and opening our eyes to the truth, even the granting of repentance and faith itself. It's a supernatural, spiritual work. Regeneration has nothing to do with our work. It's all His work. It's all grace. It's all grace. But then the walk through life, whether as a father or anything else, as a Christian, is marked with hardship, and suffering, and challenges, even failure, and getting up again, getting up again, getting up again, new mercies. Lord, reign in me. Lord, here I am. Lord, I'm back here today. Lord, reign in me. You know? It's a great way to start every day. All right. Verse 18 of Matthew 1. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus." Now, we'll go ahead a little bit later, but what's talking about Joseph and reading this passage on Father's Day, before I even start to unpack the text itself, what's the first and most obvious thing to note? We're talking about Joseph in relation to Jesus. Joseph is actually not Jesus' Father, right? Right? God. God the Father Himself is Jesus' Father. But Joseph, not being Jesus' actual father, is very much in the world, in his life, put in the position of earthly father, right? So use whatever description you want for that, guardian, you know? But he is that. He's a father figure in Jesus' life. And at least in the events surrounding his birth, looks like a pretty good choice by the Lord, right? What does that tell you though, before we even unpack the text? What does that tell you about being a father? This is point number one, ready? Being a good father is about action, not just biology. Yes? A father is not just something that you are, though it is, a father is very much something that you do. being a father, right? And Joseph became the earthly father-like figure to our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at the divine appointment of God, his actual father himself. And so Joseph's fatherhood, if you want to use that word, of Jesus would not be defined by who he was, but defined by what he did. There are a lot of commands in scripture given to fathers concerning what we ought to do, commands and also just admonishments, and I'd like to read a few of them to you. Ephesians 6, 4 says, And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. That is a verse that calls for something very precarious in the life of a Christian father. It calls for balance. Now balance, just for the sake of compromise itself, is not a very good thing. Because just being a compromiser can cause you to skirt hard issues sometimes when they arise. Issues of discipline. Issues of confrontation. Issues that we may not necessarily find pleasure in. But it says here, Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath. Provocation of your children to wrath has to do with how you deal as a father with your children. If your pattern of fathering towards your children is one that is so micro-managing, so picky, so looking at every single thing concerning your kids, everything they do that may be a little bit out of line with what your preference is, guess what? They are their own people. And especially as they grow, they develop some of their own thoughts and their own views. We're called to patience. We're called to pray. We're called to trust the Lord. Right? So there is a certain with that statement, don't provoke your children to wrath, to coin a word that is overused very wrongly in the culture today, but here appropriately can be used. There's a bit of a call for tolerance there. understanding of your children, a remembering that you were young once, right? And sometimes children even by their mistakes learn stuff, right? So you don't so involve yourself that you're provoking them to constant anger and wrath. Listen, do I agree with every single thing my own children do? Do you as a father agree with every single thing your own children do? Maybe not necessarily, but I'm certainly not going to so go to war over every single thing that I disagree with that I alienate them and lose my opportunity to have influence in their lives. And if I want anything, for as long as God allows me to be on this earth, for Jonathan, for Anna, for you fathers, for any children you may have, I want to be an influence in their life. And that's the second part of the verse. Bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Training means to teach them how to live. Admonition means to correct them when they're wrong. So you see the balance? There's a certain amount of pick your battles balanced with I am going to teach them about the Lord and I am going to train them and I'm even going to discipline them and correct them and even punish them in the Lord when I need to and when the opportunity is there. There's a tough thing there, but listen. As fathers, we don't make our children Christian. You know that, right? They need to believe the Gospel. And so what we need to be doing is praying for them, loving them. They need to see us worshipping Him, praying to Him. They need to see us loving Him. We need to witness to them. We need to encourage them. But we don't tooth and nail fight over every issue so that we provoke them to wrath and we drive them away and lose that opportunity for influence. That's how I would unpack that verse. You fathers don't provoke your children to wrath but, it's a contrast, but, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Right? Proverbs chapter 4 verses 1 through 2 says this, Hear, my children. Hear, H-E-A-R, as in listen. Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to no understanding, for I give you good doctrine. Do not forsake my law. Your children need to learn things from you, Father. fathers. And children, you need to learn things from your fathers. On Father's Day, I speak to the fathers, but what it is that distinctly makes a person a father is that they have children, right? And so we need to speak to the children as well and realize that there is a call upon the lives of children to listen to their fathers. Fathers, take the time to teach your children. your careers, your hobbies, your interests, your pleasures, even your ministry. This is an admonishment for myself, even my ministry. I mean, pastors are called to rule over their own house as well. How I rule over my house is not necessarily reflected in every single thing that every one of my house does, because I'm not called to control every person in my house. But I am called to rule over it properly and with wisdom. Listen, fathers, give attention to instructing your children, even in their adulthood. And children, even in your adulthood, keep listening to your fathers. All of society was designed by God. Listen, you see the fingerprints of Satan everywhere when you see in the culture anything that undermines the importance of the role of a father in a child's life. And I'm not going to go into all that today, but you see it everywhere. You don't need to look very hard. Whether it's in entertainment or in popular commentary or in media, you know, Listen, we get our instruction from God. That's why the pastor gets his knowledge here, not from out there. Gets his knowledge from here and stands up and reads this. Okay, fathers and children, give instruction, receive instruction. Proverbs 17.6 says, children's children, that's grandchildren, are the crown of old men and the glory of children is their father. Hear that? Proverbs 17, 6, it goes both ways. The crown on an old man's life is his children and his grandchildren. And the glory of children is their father, right? So that relationship between fathers and children brings great honor and pleasure in both directions. There's, I mean, fathers love their children, love their grandchildren. Children look up to their fathers. That's the idea. There is a sacred, God-ordained relationship there that needs to be upheld and practiced. Joseph was called to practice that. Let's go, I have a few more from Proverbs there, but I want to keep going with Joseph now. So now, let's look at Matthew, and let's actually, like, unpack the text, okay? So, all of that was under the heading of being a good father is about action, not just biology. Right? You can be a good father in someone's life, a father figure even in someone's life, a stepfather, a grandfather, a role model who steps in in that role and helps and guides. But being a father, a good father is about action, not just biology. Anybody can make babies. That's not what being a father is. Let's read about Joseph now, ready? So, we're told that after Mary was betrothed to Joseph, think in terms of an engagement, so they're like engaged, but betrothal is something more than that. Betrothal is an engagement that has all the legal binding of an actual marriage. Betrothal is like you're married without the actual intimacy and consummation of the marriage, all right? A betrothal is like a promise, a solemn promise that can only be broken by a divorce, that someone was going to get married. They weren't married yet, but different than the modern concept of an engagement in our culture where people could just break them if they want to, right? Not so here. So it's a serious thing. Mary is promised to Joseph. So, Mary was betrothed to Joseph, says before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Alright, so the first thing we're told, that is, from the earthly perspective of Joseph, there's a major problem here. Yes? Yes. The woman I'm about to marry, I know I haven't touched her, but she's pregnant. So, now we get some insight into the character of this one who is going to become the father figure of this baby, even though he's not totally aware of that yet. Verse 19 says, Joseph, her husband, look, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. That verse says three very important things, and we'll say them quickly, three very important things that any would-be or present-day father, and let's just say any Christian as well, ought to incorporate in their lives. God certainly knew what He was doing when He chose Joseph for this role, didn't He? As He always does. Number one, it says that Joseph was just. Right? He was a just man. What is just? Just is a desire for justice. A desire for things to be right. Joseph was committed to things being right. that this woman that he was betrothed to him, was pregnant, was an injustice. And so Joseph sought to do something about the injustice. Good fathers in the lives of their children love justice, even if, listen, even if justice may come to the detriment of those children. Right? Good fathers are not just home team players. Good fathers seek for justice in the life of their children, even if justice means they suffer some kind of loss, because, ultimately, in the rearing and training of that child, that is going to be what they need, that is going to teach them something good for the rest of their lives. Not that they can just get away with anything that they want to get away with, because dad will take care of it. That's not justice. Joseph is a just man, and he recognizes there's a problem here. And so Joseph is ready to proceed with the divorce, to end the betrothal. Okay? Justice, that's number one. Then the second thing, though, is what? He was a just man and, you see the word and, so we've got another quality here, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. So the second thing we see is, while Joseph was just, he was also what? Merciful. Merciful. Proverbs 11, 17 says, The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. Good wisdom, right? Joseph is merciful, mercy glorifies God, mercy benefits the recipient of the mercy, and mercy does good for the person who's exercising it. God, recipient, and exerciser. All good. Being a merciful person is always good. Blessed are the merciful, Jesus grew up to say. For they shall, what? Obtain mercy. Amen? Alright, so we see that Joseph is merciful. But then we see one other thing that I think is important. He wanted to put her away, what? Secretly. Here's a big problem in modern society. Everything is done with posts. Everything is done with announcements. Everything is done with, look at me, bring attention to myself. Right? It's one of the really, for me, irritating facets of like the modern culture. Part of it is the emergence of social media, but you can't just blame it on that. You know? But what you see here is Joseph is what? A desire to do things quietly. He's just so he wants to do what's right. He's merciful so he doesn't want to make an example out of her. And he has a sense of decency and privacy. in that he's not going to go and blast it out for everyone. He just wants to quietly, in this little nothing town of Nazareth, to break off the betrothal from this woman who's been found pregnant. Even though he could be very justifiably angry and want to lash out in some way, which is very easy for anybody today to do. Proverbs again, ready? Listen to this carefully. Proverbs 12, 23. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness. Get it? Prudent means wise. Prudent means careful. So someone who is prudent and wise and careful holds on to a matter. Thinks. doesn't just run the mouth, doesn't just hit the post button. There's a sense of minding business my own. There's a sense of keeping delicate personal things contained. The prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools So in that sentence, we see that Joseph is merciful, he's just, and he has a good sense of privacy. Then, verse 20, more about Joseph. But while he thought about these things, stop there. There's another rare quality in a man. There's another rare quality in a father. Stink! One of the biggest things as a father, and I say this to my own criticism, one of the biggest things as a father that can get us quickly into trouble is by acting in haste. Take time. I've learned to do this, I think. But take time. It's okay to sleep on something. It's okay to not give an answer or a resolution to a matter if you don't have one. It's actually smart. think, pray, get counsel. The process of reacting to some situation that needs your attention as a father, a disciplinary matter, and a counseling matter, stepping in to help in a situation, or deciding whether you should or not, or how you should. That requires time and thought. It requires prayer. It may require counsel and getting advice. Joseph thought about things. Joseph did not just knee-jerk react. What do you mean she's pregnant? And then boom, make it some big public thing. He didn't do that. He had it in his mind to put her away privately. He thought about these things. Fathers, fellow fathers, let's all examine ourselves and let's make sure, and all Christians, all of you, all of us, let's make sure before we react or give a resolution or a decision on something important, stop, think, pray. Seek counsel. Sleep on something if you have to. Let the emotion die down. Did you know that emotions are a very powerful thing that God designed into you? They are a terrible thing, though, to make decisions based on. It's not God's intention that the feelings that rise up very quickly in us are the things that we act on. This is what we act on. And sometimes this needs to be calmed down a little bit so this can work a little better. Do you understand? Yeah, amen. Going on. So while he thought about things, now here's one that really had nothing to do with him. But it says, Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying to him, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take you, Mary, your wife. And then he gets the explanation. See, the point here is that he's chosen of God. Right? Joseph as a father, is chosen of God to be the father figure in God's own son's earthly life. Right? Guess what? I am chosen of God to be Jonathan and Anna's father. I just heard Bob say, Amen. Bob has daughters. Bob has a daughter and stepdaughters and a granddaughter coming. And Bob is chosen of God, chosen by God to be that in their lives, and he's good at it. Praise the Lord. Some of you other guys in here, think about that. Recognize, even in hard times, that you as the father of your sons and your daughters, you were put there by God. to do that and pray to Him and ask Him for help. Humble yourself before Him. Seek His guidance and seek His help. He was chosen of God. But the other thing I wanted to add in here before I proceed, the other thing that I wanted to add was that isn't it good that Joseph, listen everybody, isn't it good that Joseph did not lash out in some knee-jerk kind of way? What if Joseph had lashed out before he went to sleep? See? Good to sleep on things. Joseph has a dream, and in the dream, God makes sure that it is explained to him what's going on. Because Joseph didn't know what was going on yet. Do you follow that? Some of you, I'm not sure you follow that. Look at it. While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. So he's dreaming, not a vision, not a vision where he's awake and he's just swept away, but a dream. Dreams happen when you sleep. So he's thinking about these things. What's he doing? He's sleeping on it. You see that? And as he's sleeping on it, rather than acting out immediately in haste, God speaks to him in a dream, tells him, don't be afraid to go forward. Look at this. You ready for a call? What's the call on your life? Here's the call on Joseph's. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She's been faithful. She didn't do anything wrong. Divine providence created the pregnancy in her. She's actually still a virgin. humanly impossible. But that's the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 7 that's quoted in verse 23. Right? Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son. And you're going to be this boy's earthly father. Father figure, if you prefer. Look what he's going to do. You shall call his name Jesus, which means Savior, for he will save his people from their sins. Pretty important call. He was chosen by God to father in his human youth the Savior of the world. Amen. What does he do? Verse 24. You're told there that it's fulfilling the prophecy. We're told the translation, God with us, you know that. Verse 24, then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, what's the next word? Yes. One more time, everybody. You're following along? Look at verse 24. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did. Did. Alright? There's two things there. There's obedience and there's courage. The obedience part is easy to see, right? God told him to do this. He woke up from his sleep. And he did exactly that he was told. And he proceeded to marry Mary even though she was pregnant. May I suggest to you that that was obedience which pleases the Lord, but it was also very courageous, was it not? When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy much later, the Apostle Paul was like a father figure in Timothy's life. And the Apostle Paul could see, when he wrote 2 Timothy, that Timothy was wavering a bit in his ministry. Paul was in prison again, looked like he was going to die again, and Timothy was... I mean, he started the letter by saying, I'm mindful of your tears. He knew that Timothy, a younger man, was struggling. But he writes to him and he encourages him by telling him, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. You just keep preaching. You just keep doing what you're called to do. Here's why. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Right? What is that? That's a great way to break down what courage is. What is courage? It's strength. What is courage? It's love that overcomes fear, strength that overcomes fear, a sound mind that overcomes fear. That's what courage is. And you see that exercised in Joseph as he's about to become the earthly guardian of the savior of the world. So far, here's what we've seen in Joseph's life. Tell me if you think it's a good list. Number one, even though he's not the biological father, in his actions, he is father over young Jesus. He's just. He's merciful. He has a sense of privacy. He thinks before he speaks or acts. He's chosen by God for this amazing, very specific role. He's courageous, and he's obedient. Sound like qualities that would be good for an earthly father to have? Yeah, they are. There's one more thing I want to point out to you. And maybe I forgot to print it out. Well, still in the Gospel of Matthew, turn over to chapter 13 and verse 55. You know, outside the early chapters of the Gospels surrounding the events of Jesus' early life, there's more I could say. There was more that Joseph did than just that. But you don't read much about Joseph. It leads people to speculate that he had died. Thus, that's why Jesus, when he's dying on the cross, says to the Apostle John, woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother. Joseph's not there to take care of his wife anymore. In Matthew 13, 55, this comes after a long period of teaching all kinds of parables. It comes back to his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus does now, as a full-grown man in his 30s. Okay, catch that? As a full-grown man in his 30s. And it says, when he came to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue. The very synagogue that Joseph used to go to. the very synagogue that Jesus himself grew up being taken by Joseph and married to. And he taught so that they were astonished. And look what they said. Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Now listen to this. Is this not the carpenter's son? That just touches me so much. Because Jesus, as a man in his 30s, is still thought of by that society as what? Joseph's kid. In his 30s. That's a little subtle nuance, I know. I tried to explain this to Roberta at home, and I'm trusting her that this comes through clearly, all right? Because I know it's not the direct initial point of it all. But what I'm seeing is that there was a sense of influence over Jesus' life in an earthly sense, as his earthly father, so that when Jesus reached full adulthood in his thirties, even among the folks of his own town, he was still thought of as Joseph's son, the carpenter's son. Fathers, fathers, fellow fathers, there is hope. I know personally of situations, even in this room, in this church, of people who grew up maybe in church and maybe walked away from it for a while and came back to the Lord in their adulthood. Did you hear what I said? What I'm saying is, there is always hope. Joseph was influential in Jesus' life for a long time. You can still pray, you can still order your steps before God and be an example of humble, loving, godliness in the sight of your children. You can pray and a God who is powerful can do anything. You can still point the way to Jesus with your actions and with your words in the sight of your children. There is always time. There is always hope. And God is always a restorer and grace giver to the humble. Because, and I close with this, The ultimate, listen, everyone just look at me, look at me. The ultimate manifestation, I think, of a good father is that he recognizes that his kids are not his own. They have been given to him by God. And what that means is everything that we do in our lives Our steps should be ordered in such a way that we recognize that these blessed children belong to the Lord. Their souls are His. And so we live and lead and train and discipline and worship and work and relate in such a way that God is glorified in their sight. And if you feel like you don't do that well, you can start now. Humility, repentance, prayer, trusting in God, who is a restorer and a healer, not just in the physical, but even in the relational and in the social. Joseph was just and merciful, private, thoughtful, chosen, courageous, obedient, influential, and recognized from before Jesus was born, not mine, God's. I am Jonathan and Anna's biological father, but they're not mine. They're God's. And I must, as long as God permits me, influence them with that in mind. Our Father in heaven, we thank you on this Father's Day, as it's called in our society. We thank you, first of all, for the gospel. Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus, your son, you as a good father, a great father, gave your son who died for our sins and rose from the dead so that through faith in you, we might have everlasting life. We thank You, Almighty Father, for the Gospel. We thank You for the example given in Scripture, Your Word, of Your choice of the man who would be the earthly, fatherly representative of Your own Son. And we thank You for things that we can mine out of Your Word, Your Word that we can learn from. I pray that every father here today would be encouraged and Lord of course these principles are taught in a way that every Christian ought to be just and merciful and private and thoughtful and obedient and everything else. Help us all, Lord God, to learn from the examples given in Scripture, knowing that these things are written for our learning and that all Scripture is God-breathed and is supposed to be used for doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction and righteousness. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for this time together today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.