Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I have a message for us today
that is a very important message. This is a very, very important
message for all of us to hear. This message may be shocking
to some who have never seen what we're gonna look at today. This
message, I pray, will be very eye-opening. And I pray this
message will be a great comfort to those who need it. There are some who will very
greatly need to hear what we're gonna look at today and what
we're going to consider today. And I pray this will be a great
comfort, a great comfort. Our message is going to come
from Matthew chapter one. If you would like to read along
in your Bible, Matthew chapter one is the announcement of our
Savior's birth. And it is a glorious chapter. I love this chapter. And I love
how this chapter begins. If you look at Matthew chapter
one, verse one says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Now, I love that announcement.
I love that beginning. That tells us what this is. This is the book, the Bible,
the scripture is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. This book is all about the life
and it's all about the will and it's all about the work. and
the purpose and the accomplishment of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
all about him. That's what the book is about.
It's all about him. This book tells us who he is, who he is. Verse one says, this
is Jesus Christ. That word Christ is an important
word to include with his name. Many only refer to him as Jesus,
and that's where their mind and heart stops concerning him. That's
his name of humanity. Lord is his name of deity, and
Christ is his name of both. That's the union of his deity
and his humanity. This is the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ. Christ. The Lord asked Peter
one time. He said, who do you say that
I am? First he asked Peter, who do
others, who do other men and women say that I am? And Peter
said, well, they say a lot of things. But the Lord said, Peter,
who do you say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the
Christ. Thou art the Christ. What does
that mean exactly to say that? What does that mean exactly?
Well, here in Matthew one, if you look at the last three words
of verse 23, they say, God with us. God with us. Think about that. That's what it means to say that
this particular Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. That's what Christ
means. God with us. And that's the amazing thing
about Matthew chapter one, as you look at all of these names,
if you have it open there with me, you see all these names,
so-and-so begets so-and-so and so-and-so begets so-and-so. And
when you see this, sometimes we naturally want to just skip
over it. But every word in the scripture is of God written on
purpose, for a purpose, and that purpose is to point us to Christ. And from this genealogy, there
is no doubt that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed a man. Here are all these names. This
is a man born in the line of men. but from the entire prophecy
of the Old Testament, everything that was written in the Old Testament,
describing exactly who Emmanuel would be, who would send him,
what he would accomplish. From every bit of that, there's
no doubt that this is God. This is God, born of God. If you look at the end of verse
20, it says, conceived OF THE HOLY GHOST. CONCEIVED OF THE
HOLY GHOST. THIS SON OF MAN IS THE SON OF
GOD. THIS SON OF MAN IS THE INCORRUPTABLE
HOLY SON OF GOD. THAT'S WHAT MATTHEW 1 IS TELLING
US. AND VERSE 21 IN THIS CHAPTER TELLS US NOT ONLY WHO HE IS,
But it tells us why he came and what he came to do, what he came
to accomplish. It says he came to save. Verse 21 says, she shall bring
forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Now, this is what I'd like for
us to focus on for a minute. In this message today, I would
like for us to see who it is that he came to save. That's
what I want us to look at and really ponder for just a minute.
I want us to see who the saved ones are. Call his name Jesus,
for he shall save. All right. Who did Christ come
to save? Who did he come to save? Who
are the saved ones? Who did he leave glory for and
come down to this earth to save? Well, if you look at verse 21,
it says, she shall bring forth the son and thou shalt call his
name, Jesus, for he shall save his people, his people. That's who he came to save. And
that's who the saved ones are, his people. All right, what does
that mean? To say his people, what does
that mean? Well, if you wanna follow with me, turn over to
John 17. This is a very important chapter
to read, John 17. This is our Lord praying to his
father. And in John 17, verse one, It
says, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy
son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life. That means save. that he should
save, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. He said, father, you sent me
to give eternal life to every soul that you gave to me. As many as thou hast given me,
he said, those are my people. the ones you gave to me. And
he said, I did the work that you sent me to do for them. Verse
four, he said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. Verse six, he said, I
have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me
out of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest
them me and they have kept thy word. He said, Father, the ones
you gave to me, the ones you gave to me, those particular
people, those are my people. Verse nine, he said, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine and all
mine are thine and thine are mine, and I'm glorified in them. So that's who his people are,
the ones his father gave to him. All right, now let's focus in
on that a little bit more specifically. Who are they? Who are they? Who did the father
give to him to say that the father gave to him a particular people
and that he specifically came to save his people? Who are they? Who exactly did Christ come to
save? Well, back in Matthew chapter
1, if you look with me at Matthew 1, this genealogy of names, they
were all recorded here on purpose, for a purpose. This genealogy
of names represents His people. All right, Christ came to save
his people. Who are his people? Well, it's
every soul that the father gave to him. Well, who did the father
give to him? All of these names right here
represent the people the father gave to him. Now, Christ had
a people who lived before this genealogy of names. And he has
a people right now who live after this genealogy of names. But
this list right here represents who Christ came to identify with. These are the people that he
said were his people. If you look at verse one, it
says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham. Our Lord said, Abraham is my
friend. That's what he said about Abraham.
He's my friend. He said, concerning David, he
said, David is a man after my own heart. He said, these are
my people. These are my people. So let's
look at some of these names. Obviously, we don't have time
to look at all of these names. And for many of them, there's
no history recorded other than to just say they existed. But
let's take a look at a few of the well-known ones. And as we
do this, let's remember, these are Christ's people, all right? This is who He identified with. These are the people that God
selected to represent His people. And I pray this is a comfort
to you. I believe this is gonna be eye-opening. I mentioned that
already. And I believe this may be shocking.
But I pray that in the end, you and I both find great comfort
in this. I pray you need this. I pray
the Lord will bless this to you. Verse one, the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. In this genealogy,
he goes all the way back to Abraham. That's where the genealogy begins,
with Abraham. All right, now, Abraham, If we
look at that man, Abraham was an idol worshiper for 75 years
of his life. That's how Abraham spent his
life. He did not worship the true and
living God. We look up to Abraham, the father
of the faithful, and we love Abraham. I love Abraham. I thank
God for that man. But he spent his life not worshiping
the true and living God. He worshiped the gods of his
imagination, whatever God came to his mind. But the true and
living God came to Abraham and he called Abraham and God saved
Abraham. And after God did that, and that's
what I want to emphasize, not before, but after God did that,
after God came to Abraham, called Abraham, saved Abraham, after
God did that, this is what Abraham did. On numerous occasions, he lied
about his wife actually being his wife. And he told strange men that
she was actually his sister. So they wouldn't kill Abraham
for her. Abraham thought that they wanted,
would want her and that they would kill him for her. So he
lied and said that she was his sister. And because he said that
she was his sister, Abraham watched many different men of power,
take his wife off on dates, watched him leave. Abraham, being a wicked coward,
he said, I don't want them to have their way with me. I don't
want them to kill me. So he let them have their way with her.
Now, God Almighty protected Sarah. Every time Abraham wickedly let
her go, God Almighty protected her from those men. She was never
disrespected. And that's a wonderful testimony
to our God in spite of Abraham's wickedness. But that's what Abraham
did on numerous occasions. That's not all that Abraham did.
This is after God saved him. All right, here's something else
Abraham is well known for. I'm sure you know this. Abraham
left the covenant of his marriage. He was married to Sarah. And
he left the covenant of his marriage and he had an illegitimate child
with an employee of the family. Her name was Hagar. The worst
part about that is he did it in the name of accomplishing
God's work, helping him. He did it saying God needs for
me to do this to help him accomplish his promise to me. That's false
religion. That's what false religion is
telling men and women. God needs you to help him fulfill
his promise to you. And God told Abraham and God
says to every other man and woman, no, I don't. I do not. I don't need you to help me fulfill
my work and I don't need you to help me accomplish my work. So on many accounts, Abraham
lived his life in error. The reality is Abraham's life
was tabloid material, something you'd see in the tabloids. It
was awful. Now, could Abraham really be
one of God's people after God came to him and saved him and
called him and revealed himself to Abraham and Abraham did all
that? Could Abraham really be one of
God's people? God said he was. God said he was. God made a covenant
concerning him. A covenant concerning Abraham,
a covenant of blood. A covenant of promise with Abraham
and his seed. All right. Now, if you look at
verse two, it says, Abraham begat Isaac. Do you know that Isaac
did the exact same thing that his father, Abraham, did the
exact same thing. He lied and said that his wife,
Rebecca was actually his sister because he thought he was going
to be killed over her. ISAAC, ALL OF THESE OLD TESTAMENT
STORIES, THEY'RE ALL PICTURES OF CHRIST. THEY'RE ALL PICTURES
OF SALVATION. ISAAC IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE
OF CHRIST. THE PROMISED SON, THE SACRIFICE THAT ABRAHAM TOOK
UP TO MOUNT MORIAH, HE'S A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF CHRIST. BUT IN HIS
FLESH, AS A FLESHLY MAN, HE WAS A SINNER JUST LIKE HIS FATHER.
A SINNER JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER MAN. Now, do you know anything about
Jacob's life? Every time you hear his name,
doesn't it come to your mind that his name means liar, cheat,
trickster, supplanter? Here's a man who went in and
deceived his own father. Lied, his father asked him, are
you Esau? And he said, I'm Esau. Lied to
his own father, stole from his own brother, Every time I think of those two
boys in my flesh, I think Esau was the better man, but Jacob
stole from him. He took what was rightfully not
belonging to him, the birthright. So he was a wicked center. All
right. In verse two goes on to say, Jacob begat Judas. And that word, another way of
saying that name is Judah and his brethren. Jacob's name was
changed to Israel and the children of Israel, Judah and his brethren. Judah and his brethren sold their
younger brother, Joseph. Think about that. Let that sink
in. Bring that into today's world. They sold their younger brother,
Joseph. They threw that boy in a pit,
treated him horribly, And then when a bunch of gypsies came
by, Judah was the one who said, let's sell him for 20 pieces
of silver. Judah, Judah's the one who said
that. Verse three says, and Judah begat
Phares and Zarah of Tamar. Now see if this sinks in. Tamar
was Judah's daughter-in-law. All right, Tamar was Judah's
daughter-in-law. Phares and Zarah are Judah's
illegitimate incestual children. Judah had a very wicked son and
God slew him. And Tamar was married to Judah's
son. And after God slew him, Tamar
wanted a child. So she disguised herself to be
a prostitute, a harlot. And she tricked Judah. And those
two boys are the result of that. And somebody could say, well,
she tricked him. He didn't know. She disguised herself and lied. And that's true, but he still
solicited a harlot. Look down to verse five. It says,
and Salmon begat Boaz. And that name is Boaz. You know
the story of Ruth and Boaz. Salmon begat Boaz of Rakeb. Another way of saying her name
is Rahab. Have you heard of Rahab? That
woman was actually by profession a harlot. A prostitute, that's
hard to say. I'll be honest with you, some
of this is difficult to say. Rahab the harlot, every time
the scripture mentions her name, that's what it says, Rahab the
harlot, Rahab the prostitute. Boaz, that wonderful man in the
story of Ruth, the kinsman redeemer, the one that had right to redeem
his mother was Rahab. Verse five says in Boaz beget
Obed of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess woman of
the land of Moab. Moab the man was Lot's. I know you know the story of
Abraham and Lot, his nephew. Well, Moab was Lot's incestual
son. And that's a story I don't even
want to go into. It's just awful. but the people who descended
from him were the Moabites. And they were the openly, openly
sworn enemies of God. And they were the openly sworn
enemies of the children of Israel. They hated the true and living
God and they hated everybody who worshiped the true and living
God. That's who Ruth was the product
of. Verse six says, and Jesse begat David the king. And if we stopped right there,
we could say, what a real honor. Jesse begat David the king. But it goes on to say, and David
the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah. Of all the things that could
have been said about David. All the glorious accomplishments
and triumphs that could have been recorded right here about
David. This is what God chose to say about David in the line
and the genealogy of Christ. It says he was an adulterer and
a murderer. That's what God recorded about
him. Even David, this wonderful man,
David had to hear thou art the man. David, you're a sinner. I have to hear that, you have
to hear that. Verse 11 says, and Josias begat
Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away
to Babylon. All of God's chosen people, Israel,
they were all carried away captive into Babylon for 70 years. And
it was all because of their sin against God. ALL OF IT. EVERY NAME WRITTEN WAS A SINNER
AGAINST GOD. EVERY NAME RECORDED HERE WAS
A SINNER AGAINST GOD. THAT'S WHO GOD'S PEOPLE ARE. THAT'S WHO GOD SAID I CAME TO
IDENTIFY WITH AND SAVE. Jacob begat Joseph, the husband
of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Thank God
the Lord Jesus Christ came. One man, one sinless man, one
perfect man, call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now over in Matthew chapter nine,
It says in Matthew 9, verse 10, it came to pass that Jesus sat
at meet in the house. Many publicans and sinners came
and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? What's he doing with sinners?
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye
and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous. but sinners to repentance,
sinners. That's who Christ came for, sinners,
and not just little sinners, great sinners. Over in Romans
5, it says in Romans 5, verse 6, WHEN WE WERE YET WITHOUT STRENGTH,
IN DUE TIME, CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY. SOME OF THE PEOPLE I JUST MENTIONED
TO YOU WERE UNGODLY. AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE STILL
LIVING TODAY ARE UNGODLY IN THEIR FLESH BEFORE HIM. but Christ
came to shed his blood for ungodly sinners. And I'm gonna tell you,
if that's who you are, and that's why I said some of these things
may be shocking if you've never heard this, but my prayer is
that I am speaking to some true sinners like myself, sinners
before God who need mercy. And if you are a true sinner,
who fits the mold of some of these people that our Lord named
in the genealogy of the birth of our Lord, then I pray this
will be a great comfort to your heart. I pray this will be a
great comfort to your heart. Many people say, I used to be
a sinner. But if you're a sinner right
now, Then may God comfort you with this thought, Christ Jesus
came into the world to shed his blood and to save sinners just
like me and you. May God apply that to your heart
and make it a blessing. Till next week. You have been
listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message, or to hear other messages of sovereign
grace, log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.