December 19, 2003

Matthew 1:1-2

The Pedigree of Jesus

Your pedigree? Noah was my great, great so many grandfather -

We are all in this together - Rom. 11:33, John 1:3, Col. 1:17-18

The Book of the Generations of Christ.

v. 1 - Two points: (a) He is the Son of David

II Sam. 7:8-16

(b) He is the Son of Abraham

Gen. 22:18, 12:1-4a

“in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be

blessed”

“Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him

for righteousness” - Rom. 4:3

How do you stack up? Do you want to please God during

this Christmas season? How about after January? Any

New Year’s resolutions?

John 6:28-29 - no plainer words in scripture

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” - John 14:15

“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son”

Jesus’ example - John 14:31

“so Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him”

Gen. 12:4a

vs. 2-16 - notice - “begat.......begat....begat....begat” until

v. 16 where there is a variation.

Besides Mary, the only other women mentioned are Tamar,

Rahab, Ruth & Bathsheba and her not by name “wife of

Urias” - All but Ruth were stained with sexual sins.

There was a harlot, an adulteress, incest -

The rest of the women are left unnamed, although

we all know that they too were sinners for “all have

sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

Christ is thus proclaimed as the Friend, even Kinsman

of sinners and as a Savior offered to the Gentiles (Rahab)

as well as to the Jews.

kinsman - near kinsman - Christ extends His closest

kinship to all who do the will of God - “for whosoever

shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the

same is my brother and sister and mother” - Matt 12:50

“heirs ...joint heirs with Christ” - Rom. 8:16-17

“God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful

flesh and for sin” - Rom. 8:3

“He was in all points tempted like we are yet without

sin” - Heb. 4:15

II Cor 5:21 - “He made Him to be sin for us who knew

no sin that we might be made the righteousness

of God in Him” -

Christ is perfectly One with the Father, equally one with us!

Whether we believe or not is no difference - “If we believe

not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself”

Aeosop’s Fable - Ox and the Toad - Ps. 50:21

Point - Poorest, noblest of the earth, sinners as well as

saints have their interest in Him -

Kinsman - I would like to spiritually get this close to Him as

my grandsons and me.

Hank Story (coming with hands behind back & standing

before me just like he was glad to be in

my presence.

Parker Story - Parker sick, I went to bedroom to pray for

him - he came in dark room - stood on my

legs and patted me on the back while drinking

Pedoiolite?????

Rob Story - laying on couch bed looking over my lesson

and how still he got while watching me.

Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat

Judah - Man comes - man goes - a man is born into this

world and another man goeth to his long home - each man

represents a long line of ancestors, a line which each

generation lengthens, a line stretching back to the remotest

past. Most of us know very little of those who have gone on

before us, not so much as their names. They are gone and

we must follow, we too, unless the Lord comes, must follow;

we soon shall be but names in the memory of posterity,

(the Lord knoweth them that are His), But God hath said,

“I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the

God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the

living. Then the dead of ages past are living still, we

speak of them as the dead, but they live unto God”

Cemetery at Olmstead - this week - Natalie’s choir

program - I took pictures - fallen stones - half buried

stones - broken stones - people’s names.

The dead in Christ shall rise first - I Thess 4:15-17

John 5:25,28-29

It matters little now to them what their rank, their wealth,

was in life. The patriarch, the grandpa, the king, the

carpenter, the ditch digger, are distinguished now only

by their faith in Him in whose birth we are now celebrating.

Now is the day of salvation - lay up for yourselves treasures

in heaven - seek first the kingdom of God

v. 5 - “Rachab the harlot” - Josh. 6:25 - place of honor

Tradition that Jeremiah and other known people of his

age descended from her - even read where she may have

married Joshua -

Whether so or not - the New Testament teaches us that

Christ will wed us.

What God did for Rahab, He will do for you - IT IS NO

SECRET WHAT GOD CAN DO!

Bathsheba, not mentioned by name - well known - the phrase

seems to call attention most pointedly to David’s sin - in a

sentence where his kingly dignity had just been emphasized.

v. 8 - Between Joram and Uzziah - three names missing -

Ahaziah, Joash, & Amaziah - look for the reason

to be that they were descendants of Jezebel -

Exodus 20:4-6

Read Rev. 13:8 Rev. 20:11-15

“This same Jesus” came, lived, died and was

resurrected to remedy this.

How can you miss it? How is it that you are left out?

Matt. 8:11-12

vs. 13-16 - seems to be no connection of the names

& it seems likely that the family of David had

fallen into low estate for several generations

before the birth of Jesus Christ.

LOOK UP REFERENCE TO DAVID’S HOUSE

NOT SO - II Samuel 23:1-5

Hab. 2:2-3

v. 16 - Christ - Messiah - The Anointed

v. 18 - Now begins the history this Jesus as the

especially Anointed One of God, the True

Messiah!

Gen. 3:15, 49:10 - in this day of anarchy you may wonder

Haggai 2:7 “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of

all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with

glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Heb. 9:28 - “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of

many; and unto them that look for Him shall He

appear the second time without sin unto salvation”

The origin of the Messiah - not of man but of God -

“she was found” - a surprise - “with child of the Holy Ghost”

Luke 1:26-35 esp. v. 35 - “And the angel answered and said

unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and

the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: also

that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be

called the Son of God”

Mary was the chosen woman of the chosen people.

v. 19 - Joseph was a just man - he strove to conform to the

Divine precepts - he loved Mary enough not to

make a spectacle of her - “minded to put her

away privily”

v. 25 - “knew her not not until she had brought forth

her firstborn son” - did not cohabitate

v. 21 - “For He shall save” - He and no other - “I am God

and there is no other”

“His people from their sins” - when once sin is cast out,

it will be easy work to deal with secondary problems

of life. - the SIN PROBLEM IS THE BIGGIE!

The last thing that many people want from Christ is to be

saved from their sin. They would be glad to be delivered

from its pains and penalties, but the sin itself, they love

and have no wish to abandon.

We as people of God are not perfect; daily we commit new

sins and Christ is our DAILY SAVIOR!

Not only at the moment of regeneration, but through the

long and often sadly stained Christian life, we need Christ

to save us from sins that still beset us!

Full salvation from sin will be the final issue!

v. 22 - “now all this was done” - prophetic perfect - something

presented as in the future as if it was already past.

Whether the past, the present or the future - “Know unto

God are all His works from the beginning of the

world.” - Acts 15:18

v. 24 - Joseph “did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him”

Three examples of Joseph’s obedience

a. taking Mary to wife

b. not divorcing her

c. naming the child in faith

Do you think that the scripture says in vain -

“This same Jesus....shall so come” - Acts 1:11

Need to study Matt. 24, the second coming of our Lord

in this light.

My praise is “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable

Gift”

My Prayer is: “Even so, Come Lord Jesus!”