Three wonderful hymns beneath
the cross of the Lord Jesus. Go back to Matthew 1 now with
me. Verse 1 says the book, the word
book, in Greek is biblia. That's where we got the name,
the term Bible. The book of the generation we
saw in Genesis. That's the word Genesis. That
is the beginning of life. The book of life. That's in Jesus Christ. That's
what this whole book is all about, isn't it? And that's what it's all about. You
probably have a page separating your Old Testament and your New
one, don't you? I took it out. That was added by the translators. They added that there. There
is no separation. This whole book is. The end of
the last chapter says in Malachi, I send you Elijah the prophet
before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. The son of righteousness
shall arise with healing in his wings. And in the next verse,
chapter 1 of Matthew says, here he is. Here he is. This is one
book. God's Word. The Bible. the generation
of Jesus Christ. Now, this is much more than a
genealogy. You read it with me. Perhaps
somebody thought, what are we going to look at in that? Well,
our Lord said in the volume of the book it is written of me. It begins in verse 1 with Jesus
Christ, the generation of Jesus Christ. And verse 17, it says
it ends with Jesus Christ, doesn't it? fourteen generations, fourteen
generations, and fourteen generations unto Christ. Begins and ends
with Christ. First and last, the beginning
and the end. Like Genesis, in the beginning God. Matthew 1,
in the beginning Jesus Christ. Revelation 1, the revelation
of Jesus Christ. This book is all about Him. And all these people in this
chapter are people in the Lord's family tree. This is His genealogy. But there's much more than meets
the eye. Because spiritually speaking,
Christ is the tree of life. And if you're in Him, you have
life. Right? If you're in Him, you
have life. More than a genealogy. And hidden
between the lines is the gospel. Every person mentioned here in
this chapter has a story to tell, a story after story after story
that tells of God's sovereign purpose in all things in bringing
the Christ into the world. That's what every one of these
people are about. They all have a story to tell
of God's sovereign purpose, God's sovereign electing, mercy and
grace in bringing Christ into this world. Stay with me. There
are two verses that reveal what this is all about. Two verses. One of the old, one of the new.
In Isaiah 53, verse 12, it says, He was numbered with the transgressors. We're going to see, and we're
not going to look at each, don't worry, we're not going to look
at each person, although we would benefit from it. But every single
person mentioned here is just a sinner, just a son of Adam,
a sinner. And this is the Lord's family
tree. He was numbered with the transgressors. That's who his
people are, transgressors. And in Romans 1, well, look at
verse 1 of Matthew 1. It says it begins with David,
Jesus Christ, the son of David, although David comes from Abraham. But David is mentioned first. Why? Because in Romans 1, it
says that the gospel is God's gospel concerning his son who
is made of the seed of David. That's the Christ. The Christ
is known as the son of David. Why? Because David was the king
of Israel. David was God's king. David was
the first king, the true king of Israel. And all kings descended
from David. Well, Christ is the king of kings. The son of David. So those two
verses. He was numbered with the transgressors.
And he's made of the seed of David. They explain this genealogy. He was numbered with the transgressors.
Now, 1 Timothy 1.15, one of our favorite verses. This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. How do you know that? Because
right here He is. His family tree. He's numbered
with all of these centers. And I hope the blessing and the
lesson here, I hope we not only are taught something, but blessed
by this, is that every person in the Lord's family tree was
a sinner chosen by God to fulfill His purpose in Christ coming
into this world. And if you are in Christ, everything
about you, every single aspect of your life, from cradle to
the grave, has been purposed by God to bring you to Christ
and to form Christ in you. In Psalm 90, it says, We expend
our years as a tale that is told. Our lives are in the Lamb's Book
of Life. And Moses, who wrote that, he
said, the days of our year are threescore years and ten, and
by reason of strength, fourscore. Yet, strength, labor, sorrow
soon cut off and we fly away. But if we're in Christ, we're going to be with Him. We're
going to be with Him. And like I said, time won't allow
us to look at each one, but every story is a testimony of God's
sovereign mercy and grace and to show us that Christ indeed
came to save sinners. He was numbered with the transgressors.
Alright? Every single one of these stories
is full of, like Moses said, trouble, labor, sorrow, sin,
sadness mingled with joy and gladness. A little bit of that.
Troubles and grief, great troubles and grief, we're going to look
at some of them. Mingled with a little rest and a little relief
from those troubles. In every single life, there is
sorrow, sin, and great sadness. Why? A man that is born a woman
is a few days full of trouble, Job said. Why is that? Why? We have to ask, why, Lord? Why
are these troubles? Why do we go through what we
go through? Well, Psalm 27 says, just wait,
you'll see. You'll see. David was the one
that said that. He said, I would have fainted
had I not hoped to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living.
He said, wait a little, wait, you'll see. The first man mentioned
beside David is Abraham. The son of Abraham. Abraham is
the father of the faithful. Abraham is the father of the
Jews. That's why he's mentioned, because salvation is of the Jew.
God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jew. And Abraham
was the first Jew, although he wasn't a Jew. He was a Gentile,
but the Lord made him a Jew. And isn't that a good illustration?
He was first a 75-year-old idolater, a 75-year-old man worshiping
idols. Can you teach a 75-year-old man
anything? Can you change his heart? No,
you can't. But God can and does. And God
chose him, and God taught him, God called him, God led him,
God revealed himself to him, Abraham. And there have been
many like Abraham, even in our midst. a few older folks, that
the Lord in later years revealed Himself to them like Abraham.
Abraham begat Isaac. That wasn't his first child,
Isaac, was it? Who was his first child? Ishmael. Reckon he loved that boy? He
hadn't had a child for 90-some years. That was his firstborn
son. Turned out to be a bad boy. But
Abraham loved him anyway. And God said, kick him out. How do you reckon that he felt
about that? That's tough, wasn't it? He ever had to kick a son
out? All right, right off the bat,
it begins with nothing but trouble. Deep sorrow. Deep sorrow. All right, after that he has
another son named Isaac. apple of his eye, his only son
whom he loved, the Lord said. The Lord said, take your son,
your only son whom thou lovest, and go up, travel three days
and go to a mountain that I'll show you and offer him up as
a burnt offering to me. Take his body and slay it with
a knife and burn it on an altar to me. And God was silent for
three days. And that was, oh my. And Abraham did. He took him. He considered that son dead. Somehow or another, we're going
to have to think that way about our own children. Take great
grace with it. Great grace. Well, that wasn't
the end of that story, was it? Why was that story written? Why
did the Lord tell Abraham to do that? Put him through so much
grief and sorrow? To see Christ. Because coming
down from that mountain, he saw Christ's day like he'd never
seen it before. And he rejoiced. He and Isaac both. Well, Isaac,
it says, begat Jacob. Verse 2. Jacob wasn't his first. He saw. Reckon Isaac loved Esau? And his no-count brother named
Jacob swindled him out of the blessing, and Isaac loved Esau. Esau was a good boy, and he was
forced to bless Jacob. Isaac, or Esau, was greatly distressed,
and there was great trouble in the house. And Esau, from that
day forward, was nothing but a heartache to Isaac and Rebekah,
his father and mother. Oh, my. Anybody had problems
like that? Jacob. God loved Jacob, though,
didn't He? Why is Jacob's name mentioned?
He said, I'm the God of Jacob. The Lord said, I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, and who does he mention,
to show forth his loving kindness, to show forth his infinite mercy,
to show forth his infinite grace, to show forth his covenant, to
show forth his love that nothing anyone does can change it. Who
does he mention? Jacob. He said, therefore, you
sons of Jacob, those of you who are just like Jacob, you're not
consumed. I won't consume you. Jacob. Well, what about Jacob? What
about his life? Well, at the end of his life, about 130 years
old, he was standing before Pharaoh, and he said to Pharaoh,
he said, 130 years have been my days. And he said, they've
been few, few and evil. Just trouble after trouble. You
remember Jacob, don't you? He had two wives, Rachel and
Leah. Well, Jacob had, look at verse
3, verse 2, Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, the sons of
Jacob. Judah is mentioned. The rest
of them are not mentioned. Why is that? Why is that? Why Judah? Because
that's where Christ came from. He came from the tribe of Judah. He's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. The name Jew. The Jews come from
Judah. Judah. Those that dwell in Judea
are Jews. That's where that name comes
from. But Judah and his brethren. Jacob
had twelve sons. At least half of them were nothing
but a heretic to him. More than that. Eight out of
twelve of those sons. Actually, ten out of twelve gave
him trouble. Beginning with his first, on
down. Maybe not Reuben. Reuben was
pretty loyal. And that's why I said I've had
evil and trouble all my days. At least eight or nine or ten
of his sons gave him great grief. And the one that he loved the
most was who? Joseph. Joseph. One of the only sons that was
a model child and nothing but a joy from day one. And one day
he found out he's dead. He's dead. He's been eaten by
wild beasts. How do you reckon he felt about
that? Only those who have lost a child would know, wouldn't
they? How long did he go through that great grief and sorrow? Why did that happen? Is he going to be good? Jacob
has nothing but sorrow. And he's lost his favorite son. Why? Because it's the greatest type
of Christ in the Scripture, I believe. Joseph put on the throne, sold
by his brethren, thought to be dead, but he's alive. Oh, my. Joseph. Look on down. Judah. Judah, one of his sons,
begat Phares and Zare of Tamar. Judah. Judah had two sons. One named Air as his firstborn. Judah, a man just like us. Judah
had two sons, only two sons. Air, his firstborn, and Onan,
his second. Both of them were wicked, and
the Lord killed them both. Judah had two sons, and they
were both wicked, and God, it says, slew them both because
of their wickedness. Trouble. Nothing but trouble.
The cause of sin. Sorrow. Sadness. Air, the firstborn, married this
girl named Tamar. And Air died. Now, Tamar is a widow. Judah
has lost his son. That's sad. Well, Judah wanted
his other son to marry Tamar. So she could have children in
the family, sons of Jacob, you know? And so they did. They got married. Tamar married
Onan, and he died. And then Judah's wife died at
the same time. Tamar is getting older. And she
thinks she's going to die without children. And only someone who's
been through that can understand that, can't they? There's nothing
that we have been through that such is common to man. She thought
she was going to be childless all her days and was waiting
on the youngest son to grow up, another one, but she took matters into her own
hands. Do you know what she did? She dressed up one day like a
harlot to Judah's daughter-in-law. Played
a harlot. And went out, and Judah came
by. And went in there to his daughter-in-law. It's awful, isn't it? This is
the Lord's family tree. Did he come to save sinners or
what? That's his family tree. Anything that could happen. Anything
man is capable of, somebody in this... Well, twins were born,
named, verse 3, Phares and Zara. Wait a minute, I'm sorry. Phares
and Zara. Begat Estram, Estram Begat Aram,
Aram Begat, stay with me, Begat Amenadab, Amenadab Begat Naasan,
Naasan Begat Salma, okay? Salma, this fellow named Salma.
Now, before we look at him, let me ask you a question. How
can all this evil bring about God's purpose? How can man's
sin work God's glory and God's purpose? How? Well, Scripture
says the Lord hath created all things for himself, even the
wicked for the day of evil. Even the devil is a created being.
He couldn't do anything unless God allowed him to do it. The
devil. Not charging God with sin, mind you. No, no, no. Scripture
says the wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath,
he'll restrain it, won't he? Whatever he can't use. He'll
restrain it. The rest is working his purpose.
That's right. The lot is cast into the lap.
Men do what they want to do, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. I love, and I've quoted this
many times. Thomas Watson said this years ago, and I'll never
forget it. I read it as a young man. It
just really stuck with me. And in trying to figure out how
evil, how God can use evil and not be responsible for. God be sovereign, let man do
it as he will, and yet it working out God's will. So it's a mystery. But Watson said this, God hath
a hand in the action where the sin is. Whatever comes out of
whoever or whatever is going to fulfill God's purpose. God
hath a hand in the action where the sin is, but no hand in the
sin of the action. No hand in the sin of the act.
You can stop and think about that. That's a wise statement. Well, this Perez, Perez, he had
a great, great, great, great, great, I had to do some counting
here. Great, great, great grandson
named Salmon. This fella named Salmon was living
in Israel. I believe he was a godly man.
I believe he was a faithful man. I believe he was a fine man,
a merciful man. I'll show you why in a minute.
But Salmon was living in Israel at this time, and at the same
time, living in Jericho, was a forlorn woman, a common streetwalker named Rahab. At the exact same time, Salmon
was living in Israel with Joshua. A faithful follower, believer,
merciful, kind man. Over here in Jericho, the city
of destruction, is this woman named Rahab. How long was she
a harlot? You know, the Scripture speaks
so much of harlots, doesn't it? We almost pass over that like,
you know, our Lord said, harlots and the publicans. You stop and
think about that. What a harlot is, people. Can
you get any lower than that? Could a person get any lower
than a harlot? Huh? Do you know anybody that is one? Your mother? Your grandmother? Anybody been
one? You? Think about it. Stop and think
about it. Would that be... And that shocks us to think about
it. My mother? This was somebody's mother. Rahab
was somebody's mother. Harlot. How long did she live
in that sin? Shame. How long did she have
to cover her face and go out in public? How long was she the
butt of jokes and ridicule? How long did she live in sin
and shame and guilt and wretchedness? How long did she live in that?
Stop and think about it. And the Lord God, in his sovereign
mercy and amazing purpose, destroyed a city to bring out one harlot
to join her to one man to bring his king into this world. Salmon, as I said, must have
been a merciful man. Who would marry a harlot? Who would marry a harlot? Well,
I'll give you three. Salmon, Hosea, and Jesus Christ. Because every one of his wives
are harlots. Every one of them. Now, who's
been a harlot? Whose mother? A harlot is someone who sells
their body and their soul for money and pleasure. How long? How long? Every one
of them. Salmon must have been a merciful
man to marry this woman, didn't he? Just like his Lord. You know, in recording your family
tree, had there been a harlot in it, would you have mentioned
them? Would you have put them in it? That's my great-great-grandmother
Bessie. Bessie. What's Bessie like? She
was a harlot. That's what the Lord did, didn't
He? He's not ashamed. What does Hebrews say? He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Like old Hosea is not ashamed
to walk Gomer down that aisle. You going to marry her? Yeah.
To the praise of my glory. So Salmon and Rahab had a son.
This union had to take place. Salmon and Rahab had to. This was God's purpose. They
had a son named Boaz. You see the stories between the
lines, huh? Every one of these people are
like us. We may not know Ezekias, Manassas, Ammon, and Josias. Oh, what a man he was. Zerubbabel,
you know those names. Jeconias, Salathiel, those are
strange names, aren't they? If they read our story, they'd
have said, Stanley? What a strange name that is.
Gentile name. They wouldn't have known us,
would they? Well, we don't know them, but God does. And everything
about them was ordered by God. Every single aspect of their
life, every single facet, from cradle to the grave, was ordered
by God for His purpose. And so it is with that. So it
is with that. At any rate, Salmon and Rahab
had a son, their firstborn son, a fellow named Boaz. Well, Boaz
married a poor widow girl named what? Ruth. There in verse 5,
Boaz begot Obed of Ruth. Boaz married this girl named
Ruth. Well, oh my, can we ever look at that story enough? And
I'm certain Well, you know the troubles that Ruth had, don't
you? Ruth was in Moabite, living in
Moab, and this woman named Naomi came to where she lived. God
sent this woman named Naomi. And she had two sons, and Ruth
fell in love with one of her sons. And they got married and
lived happily ever after. No, no, no, no. Sadness. Her husband died. Ruth's husband
died. And then they lost everything
they had. Ruth lost all of her earthly goods along with her
husband. He'd have to be a widow, a poor
widow at that, to know what she's gone through. How long does she
live like that? Great trouble and sorrow. Well,
how does it turn out with Ruth? Well, she went back to Bethlehem
and there's a fellow living there named Boaz. He was her hat light
on his field. I've got to get through this
door. But Boaz and Ruth Got married and they had a son. I mean, they
had a son named Obed. Well, I love to think about Ruth
meeting Rahab. They had to have met. Rahab's son, she was so proud
of, Boaz, came in one day to introduce his fiancée, Ruth. And Ruth had heard about Boaz's
mother. All good. Boaz said nothing but
good, I'm sure, about his mother. He loved his mother. And Ruth,
I know this took place, and Ruth met Ms. Rahab and said, Ms. Rahab, it's such an honor to
meet you. And so on, and I've heard nothing but wonderful things
about you, about your faithfulness, your love, and your kindness.
Ms. Rahab, Ms. Rahab, I am not worthy to be
a part of your family. Ray had a thought. I'm not worthy. There's none
of us worthy. We're all a bunch of sinners. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. So are you. That's a fact. That's a fact.
Well, they had a son named Obed. Obed had a son named Jesse, verse
5. And Jesse begat David, great, great grandson of Boaz. David. See how it's all working
together? David. David the king, from whom
the king of kings will come. Stories go on. The sin goes on. The sadness goes on. The death,
the sorrow goes on. David is the king. David begat
a son. Who did he begat a son by? Look
at verse 6. David the king begat Solomon
of her that had been the wife of Euryce. Bathsheba. A son was born to David and Bathsheba
out of adultery and murder. You know, there are four women mentioned
in these verses. Five. Counting Mary at the end.
Four women mentioned, two of them are harlots, one of them
is an adulteress. Think about it. Why? Because that's us. That's the
Lamb's wife. Listen to him. Listen to him.
That's every one of us. This is who the Lord married.
He really did. He married a forlorn woman. Every one of us. Every
one of us. But do you know in the Revelation when he talks
about his wife? Adulterers and adulteresses and
harlots, though we have been, yet in the book of Revelation
he calls us virgins. He won't let anybody call us
that. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. Those
that are with him are virgins. That's what he said. Huh? Oh,
my. Is not our Lord merciful and
gracious? David had five or six wives at the time. David had children. Bathsheba
was married, had a fine husband, a good friend of David. They
had an affair. And Bathsheba became pregnant.
And Uriah, her husband, was killed at war, fighting a war that David
should have been in. Now, you think of the shame that
Bathsheba and David had. They at least went through 9,
10, 11 months of that. And they marry, and a baby is
born. And so, you know, at the end
of that great guilt and shame and sorrow, they have a brief
period of joy. A child is born. A boy. And that doesn't last long either,
does it? That baby gets sick. Deathly
ill. And only someone with a deathly
ill child will know what that's like. What they were going through.
And David, it says, lay all night long on the hearth praying that
the Lord would heal that child. Been there? Did the Lord? No. They took that child, didn't
they? Now, what do you think David and Bathsheba feel? It's
all in my thought. Both of them. Both of them. They
do. We blame ourselves for things
that happen to our children, don't we? Everyone does. Everyone
does. Was it? No. It was in God's purpose. That
child had to die. That was an illegitimate child
who would have been heir to the throne. An illegitimate son cannot
sit on the throne of David. There's got to be a legitimate
son born. Not out of wedlock, but out of
love. A child. Great grief and sorrow, sin,
shame, guilt, sorrow. And I know both of them thought,
we're never going to be happy again. You reckon? Been there? She's expecting again. That's
what she was expecting again. It's a boy. They didn't have
ultrasound when it was born. It was a boy. And they named
it Solomon. Solomon. Solomon had to be born. Solomon had to be born. David
had to marry Bathsheba. Uriah had to die. Child had to
die. All this had to take place. The
Lord knows what He's doing. We wouldn't have done it that
way, would we? Great grief. Sin. Sin. Guilt. Shame. Sorrow. Death. Huh? Is that the way it's going
to be? It's the way it is. The child is born. Soon he becomes
a king, Bathsheba, who thought she'd never be happy again. Later
on, Solomon's sitting on the throne, Tammy, and right beside
him is Bathsheba. He's on the throne. Who'd have
thought it? My little boy, Solomon. And she's seated with him. Now
do you get what this is all about? Well, Christ has got to come. And all His people that are in
Him have to come. They have to be born. They have
to live. They have to fulfill their purpose. For through the
praise of the glory of His grace, and when time is fulfilled, when
it's all over, when Christ comes and is seated on His throne,
you know what? Who will be seated with Him? On His right hand. All those
former forlorn women. All those sinners. Yes, this
is a faithful sin. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. He's numbered with the transgressors.
And the greatest picture or show of how sin can bring about the
ultimate good and fulfill God's purpose is Christ crucified. We, with wicked hands, took and
crucified the Lord of glory. We meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good, the ultimate good, the salvation of His people,
bringing in everlasting righteousness, made Him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made in the righteousness of
God. Praise be unto His holy name. Oh, the depth of the riches of the mystery of God's purpose
and grace and glory and His Word and all things. Your ways are
past finding out. And you do not give an account
of your matters to any man at the time. Someday we'll know,
Scripture says, as we've been known. But until then, Lord,
may we believe, may we trust, rest upon your sure promises,
the sure mercies of David, that covenant ordered in all things
sure concerning us in bringing him to Christ and his people
into his kingdom, that we might reign with him, kings and priests. Oh, Lord, this is far above our
understanding, but we rejoice in what we do know. Lord, open
our understanding that we might rejoice in that is so great a
salvation and that He has chosen us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you
for your sovereign mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Until the next time we meet, bring these words back to our
mind and may we look to Christ and to His words. In His name
we pray. Amen.