Dream #1 - Contentment In You

Introduction

Today we begin a trilogy of messages based upon the Dreams of Joseph.

As we go through Matthew chapters 1 and 2 God speaking to Joseph multiple times through dreams. And through these dreams, we see instruction given unto Joseph that plays a very important part of history. Without these dreams, we would see a very different Christmas Story.

I believe if we begin to analyze these dreams, what we'll find are principles for you and I. If we apply them to our lives, we can be the better for it.

Now one thing that I want to point out is while God gave Joseph dreams and those dreams were directly from God, you and I cannot expect to be granted dreams from God today. God doesn't work like that anymore - Regardless of what anyone says.

Now, the Bible does say, in Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions:” He’s obviously speaking of a future event.

But then we find when Peter is preaching at Pentecost concerning those speaking in other tongues: (1) Acts 2:17–21 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Prior to Christ and during the early church, God used miracles as confirmation of the Word that was preached. We see an example with Jesus and the man with palsy: (Read (2) Mat. 9:2-7) Here Jesus’ Word was confirmed by the miracle.

But Paul told us something very important in (3) 1 Corinthians 13:8–10 “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

We have His Word today. It’s Perfect & Preserved for you and I. Joseph had to go by a dream, whereas you and I have something better to guide us!

What we have now is better than what they had. Peter declared: 2 Peter 1:19–20 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

So while we will not have dreams, we do have His Word, and that is far greater. In it we have all we need to get all that Joseph got through his dreams… and then some!

The Communication of the LORD unto Joseph through dreams - yet we can gain and so much more by studying the Word of God

Some might say ‘but that’s general information and direction, not personal - I want something personal for me’. Then all you must do is make the Bible personal! The more personal you become to the Word of God, the more you’ll get out of it.

The principles that God communicated unto Joseph are the principles we’ll study.

The first dream that we're going to look at here is found in Matthew 1:18-25.

The title of this message is "Contentment in You."

One attribute that all Christians could use more of is contentment, especially during this season we find ourselves in today.

We are inundated with ads and angst to buy things. We feel compelled to buy things for ourselves or buy things for others to try to satisfy and appease everyone in our lives, as well as ourselves, and rarely do we achieve that.

Paul understood how to be content. Philippians 4:11–12 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Then he finishes the statement by saying: Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

So prayerfully, through the story of Joseph, we are going to understand a little more about how to be content through the trials of our life.

The first thing that we must recognize is that Joseph was torn.

I. Joseph was Torn (v19)

Now in verse number 18, we see a big problem for Joseph.

What He Faced

Joseph was, in our terminology, engaged to Mary. Espoused (def) Betrothed; affianced; promised in marriage by contract; married He had paid whatever dowry was required, and they would have been under a contract of marriage.

Fun fact: America used to have Breach of promise to marry lawsuits. If you proposed, the ring was given and accepted, and then one party backed out, the other could sue for breach of contract.

This has largely been done away with in America, but the principles still apply in Joseph and Mary's day. What I mean by that is marriage used to be a serious matter. The engagement through the conception of marriage wasn’t treated as irreverently as it is today.

So here he is. He is engaged to this woman, and he finds out that she's pregnant. That's a tough one.

He ultimately is faced with three options.

The first is that he can publicly expose and reject her. If he did this, it might be slightly less embarrassing for him.

Secondly, he could do as he had thought about, and that is put her away privately. He might suffer some embarrassment once this becomes public knowledge, but at least he didn't embarrass her intentionally.

His third option, which he's not considering, is to stay with her. Endure the humiliation of going through a marriage with a woman who, for all intents and purposes, looks as if she has slept with another man.

Joseph is faced with a big decision. I want to consider for a moment how he must have felt during that time.

How He Felt

Now, there's nothing scripturally I can point to and show you that this is how he felt, but I think we can all agree with the assumptions that will be made in this point.

I’m sure he felt Hurt / Betrayed

You must remember, he found out about her pregnancy before the angel appeared unto him. So he had to come to the obvious conclusion, that she had been unfaithful to him.

I feel sure he was Confused

Why?

How could this happen?

Didn’t you love me?

What did I do wrong?

He was also I feel sure in Love

This wasn't someone he was vaguely familiar with. This was his expected life partner.

In addition to that, He was under a Covenant bond, so he felt an obligation as well.

So while he's faced with this great decision, we need to consider how he felt about it because it affected his future.

It Affected His Future

This was his life partner, and she is carrying a child that is not his. This decision is going to influence, one way or another, the rest of his life.

Now listen, because here's the application.

You and I are faced with decisions each and every day, sometimes big decisions such as this, sometimes what seems to be very small decisions.

And with each of those decisions, we feel certain ways about them. And they can be very conflicting feelings to where we don't know what to do.

And each decision, the large ones and the small ones, all affect our future in some way.

So in truth, what Joseph is experiencing here is the same thing that you and I experience. (1) We all face these decisions. (2) Our feelings move us in all different directions, and (3) they all affect our future.

We see that Joseph was Torn

II. Joseph was Told (v20-21)

Next, we see that while he thought on these things, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. This angel is going to now tell Joseph and give him guidance and direction for his life.

But let's look at not only what was said, but how it was said, and the circumstances behind it.

Something Confounding

Joseph is told in a dream something that is just off the wall, or at least seems so. Joseph is being told in this dream that Mary hasn't cheated on him and has not been with another man, but is impregnated in a manner in which no woman in the history of mankind has ever experienced…

It's not as if this was just a rare occasion. This is something that has never happened before and most certainly would never happen again.

Now, we are not told the circumstances around Mary breaking the news to Joseph. It's possible that she had told him her encounter with the angel, and he just found it unbelievable. She might have waited to say anything until she showed him, and then he discovered it. It's impossible for us to know.

All I do know is that regardless of circumstance, what the angel has now told him seems to be unbelievable. It is an explanation that defies logic.

He was told something confounding.

About Something Celestial

What he was told was not just that she wasn't pregnant by a man but that she was pregnant by the Holy Ghost of God!

Church, it's one thing to be told something that defies logic. It's another thing to begin invoking the God of creation as the cause. Because if it is not so, then it becomes blasphemy.

He's told something confounding, but it's also something celestial. But lastly, it's from someone in command.

From Someone in Command

The angel of the Lord is someone that has authority. His words carry meaning.

I believe we can all relate to one person saying something vs. another, and the difference in weight that their words may carry.

(Ill.) If you were to go to a United Nations summit and all the leaders spoke, and the President of Monaco speaks, their words would not hold near as much meaning as the President of the United States. Monaco has very little weight and influence in the world, but the President of the United States has great influence.

And so if I or anyone else told Joseph this story, it does not mean anything in comparison to the angel of the Lord telling him.

IN LIKE MANNER…

As I had mentioned, we don't have dreams today, and the angel of the Lord does not come down and visit us in them. But what we do have is the Word of God.

Sometimes the instructions in the word of God will be confounding.

They will not make sense. It defies logic.

(Ill.) How can the great God of heaven take on mortal flesh, live perfectly in a fallen world, yet be crucified for my sins, and then three days later raised from the dead? I cannot explain that. It defies logic why God would die for me. But thank God that he did!

However, the word of God is not like any other book.

It is celestial. It is heavenly. It is something fantastic, something that mortal man cannot understand to the full. nor explain for it is not of this world!

This book is not dead words on a page, but it is alive. It lives to a greater degree than any soul in here! And that's because it's a heavenly book! It is the written embodiment of our Lord Jesus Christ!

But church, the word of God is directly received from one that is in command.

The Word of God has authority.

And the Word of God tells us things just as the Angel of the Lord told Joseph things.

What it tells us matters less than what we do with it! Let's next see what Joseph did with it.

We see that Joseph was Torn; He was Told

III. Joseph Trusted the LORD (v24)

He did what great men of God did in the past - he believed God!

Abraham: Romans 4:3 “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

How did he trust the LORD?

Without Hesitation

Joseph woke up and he did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him. He didn't have to think on it any longer. God had given him his answer.

So he trusted the word of the Lord without hesitation.

Without Reservation

He did not have to study on it. He didn't have to pray about it. He didn't have to consider it any longer. Joseph, in essence, held his hand up and said, "Yes, Lord."

It’s interesting, that Mary’s reaction was just the same: Luke 1:38 “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”

He trusted the Lord without hesitation and without reservation. Lastly, he trusted regardless of perception.

Regardless of Perception

It did not matter one lick what anybody thought about what Joseph was going to do. The only thing that Joseph was concerned about was following the Word & Will of the Lord.

Let me say this, Joseph is a great example of the manner in which you and I should treat the Word of the Lord.

We should hear and heed the word without hesitation.

We should not be putting off next week to do God's will, or the week after that, or when things get better at home, or when the kids go off to school. Just fill in the blank.

We should approach the word of the Lord with the mindset of "Here am I, what wilt thou have me do, Lord?" And then when God gives you instruction, just do it!

We should hear and heed the word without reservation.

No matter how we might feel about the situation, this is where feelings come into play. All of those feelings that Joseph had were valid feelings. But it didn't matter how he felt about it. God said do this and he did it. It didn't matter how he felt about it.

Jesus said: John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Also, Luke 11:28 “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” John said: 1 John 2:3 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”

Joseph obeying the word of the Lord without reservation.

And we should hear and heed the word, regardless of others' perception of us.

Too many times you and I, because of pride, refuse to do what God has told us to do. We don't want others to think we're weird or different. We don't want to stand out and look silly.

Joseph didn't care what other people thought about it. All he knew was God told him to do something, and he did it. Praise the Lord, that's the way we all should be!

We all should just trust the Lord in what He says is worthwhile to obey.

We see that Joseph was Torn; He was Told; He Trusted the LORD

IV. Joseph Gained Tranquility

Tranquil (def) Quiet; calm; undisturbed; peaceful; not agitated.

Joseph was at peace with his decision. He gained a tranquility. Through all the mess that he was in, he got peace.

He was Content with an Imperfect Situation

I think we can all agree that a man espoused to a woman and she gets pregnant during that espousal is an imperfect situation. Yet in the midst of that situation, he found contentment.

Church, I don't know about you. I rarely run into perfect situations. Almost every situation that I encounter in some form or fashion has flaws. I would imagine that that's the way it is for most of you.

Just because you're faced with imperfect situations, and some drastically so as we see in Joseph's case, does not mean that you cannot have peace and contentment in the midst of it.

There is no record of Joseph complaining about it or asking God to change it. Joseph accepted it and was content in it.

We need to go back and see how it is that Joseph found contentment in this situation. In short, he heard and trusted the word of the Lord.

Church, that's the key, that's the key. If you want contentment, if you want peace in the midst of the storm, we need to just hear and heed the word of the Lord.

There is no magic solution. There is no fancy self-help. It is just trusting what God said.

Joseph was content in an imperfect situation.

Listen church, if you’re waiting till ‘things get better’ or ‘this trial ends’ to find your contentment, it’ll never come.

(Ill.) Paul & Silas in the inner prison at Philippi it tells us: Acts 16:25 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

It was most certainly an imperfect situation for Paul & Silas, but they were right where God wanted them to be, and they found contentment in that. You might ask, “Why did God have them there?” to which I’d say “Because there was a guard there that needed Jesus!”

Joseph was content in an imperfect situation, and you and I can be as well.

He Was Conditioned For Further Use

As I said in the introduction, we are looking at a series of dreams of Joseph. This is but the first. But because he reacted the way that he did to the revelation of God, it set him up for success during the next trial.

(Ill.) A young man asked a preacher one time how to grow strong in faith. The preacher said, "Crisis doesn't make you strong. It reveals the strength you have practiced." Those who build daily habits of scripture and prayer and obedience become people who habitually win spiritual battles in their life.

Joseph would go on to win more battles. But it began right here.

Church, you can win your spiritual battles, too. But it has to begin somewhere. I believe the best place and time to begin is right now.

Conclusion

I wonder how many of you are struggling with contentment? You face trials or situations, and they throw your feelings into a mess. It's hard to make sense of them and what to do about it.

I want you to know that there is contentment to be found. There is peace to be found for you. But what you determine to do with the Word of God will determine the peace and contentment you have.

I wonder if there's any here that if you were to be honest, you would say that you don't know that you're going to heaven. The Spirit is stirring within you and demonstrating a discontentment with your testimony.

I want you to know that there's contentment to be found. The Bible tells us, 1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” tells us that we can know. Do you? Why don’t you get that settled today!