Now I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. I want to
start going through the book of Matthew. I titled this message, Christ's
relationship to sinners. His relationship to us sinners. We have before us the genealogy
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I know that genealogy, for
the most part, you can just toss them out. Our genealogies. Our
family trees. My family tree doesn't mean anything.
A bunch of rascals in it. All the way through it. All the
way. And you'll see that through his
genealogy it's the same way. This is what I Instead of skipping
over this, you know, I was reading this first chapter, and I began
to do some other reading, and I thought, my, what a blessing
is here. What a spiritual food we have
here in this genealogy. You know, Paul told Timothy,
he said, don't give in to fables and endless genealogies. But
this one, this is one of great significance.
This one is. It is the fulfilling of the promise
that God made to Abraham concerning his seed. It says over in Galatians 3,
chapter 3, verse 16, For to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not to seeds as of many,
but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is that promised seed
of Abraham. And the Jews who kept meticulous
records, I mean, they kept meticulous records on genealogies, couldn't
deny his ancestry. They could not deny his ancestry,
that he was the son of David. You know, if you read through
the Gospels, oftentimes those who needed him, who looked to
him for healing, for being saved. They called him the son of David.
And that meant just this, Messiah. That was another name for Messiah.
The son of David was known to be the Messiah. And that's why
he starts out here with the son of David and the son of Abraham. So they could not deny his ancestor. They denied everything else about
him. But you won't find one place where they denied his ancestry,
his connection to David and Abraham. God left them without an excuse.
Now, the theme of Matthew's gospel is the kingship of Jesus Christ. He is king. We are under a theocracy. The whole world, not just us,
not just the church, the whole world, is under his theocracy. He rules and reigns right now
at God's right hand over everything that moves, over everything that
exists or has an existence or shall have an existence. He reigns
over it. He's the King of Kings. And he
especially reigns over the true seed of Abraham. Not one of them
will be lost. Not one of them will perish.
Every one of them will come home. Every one of them. I know that the verses that we
have before us look like a lot of hard names. I've tried reading
them several times over the last few days. They're not easy names
to pronounce. Not at all. But there is not
one line here that we would take out. Every line in the Word of
God is important. It's there for a reason. It's
not to fill up space. It has spiritual food in it.
It has real value in it for us. All these names, you know what
all these names do? They connect Him to us. They
connect Him to our humanity. His union to us and His humanity
is as important as our union to Him by faith and regeneration. It's just as important. And this
connects him to us. Think how marvelous it is for
the Son of God, all that God is, God, to become a man and identify
with us. Born of our bone and flesh of
our flesh. And he's the only man, he's the
only man, only person who ever picked his ancestry. If you and
I were able to pick our ancestry, we wouldn't pick a bunch of scoundrels
that we see here. There are people who committed
incest here. There's adulterers in here. There's murder in here. I mean, there's some rogues in
here. And he didn't hide any of them, did he? I'll tell you
why. He's a friend of sinners. He came to save sinners. That's
what he came to save. He who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God became one with us in our nature. Now says Abraham in verse 2,
Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat
Judas and his brethren. God made the covenant with Abraham
that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed.
And through God's divine purpose, He made that lineage go through
Isaac and Jacob. There was Ishmael. What about
Ishmael? What about Esau? God demonstrates His divine sovereignty
here all the way through this. He demonstrates it. The firstborn
was supposed to have the blessing, but God gave it to God gave it
to Isaac, and He gave it to Jacob, and right on down through there.
He gave it to Jacob, whom He loved, and kept it from Esau,
whom He said He hated. God saves whom He will. It's
evident throughout the Scriptures. From Genesis to Revelations,
it is evident. God saves whom He will. God has
mercy on whom He'll have mercy. And He'll be gracious to whom
He'll be gracious. Salvation doesn't come by seniority.
You see, Esau's first. That's not the way salvation
comes. You might inherit the land, but you're not going to
inherit grace. You don't inherit grace and you do not inherit
righteousness. Those are the gift of God. You inherit sin. We did. But not grace and righteousness. They are the gift of God. And
it says here that Jacob begat Judas. Our Lord sprang out of
Judah, which is the kingly tribe. But Christ being a high priest,
he is a high priest and nothing was said of the priesthood coming
out of Judah. Well, it's clear that his priesthood
is not after a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life. He's not made a priest after
some carnal commandment. He comes out of Judah. He comes
out of Judah. And he comes out of Judah because
of this. He's the king-priest. He's king and priest. And God
said he's going to come out of Judah. And Judas begat Pharis
and Zarah of Tamar. And Pharis begat Eshram And Asherim
begat Aram, and Aram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Naaman, and
Naaman begat Salmon. But one thing I noticed here
as I was looking at this, if you'll notice the unclean blood that enters
the stream now, through Judah's incest relationship with Tamar. God didn't hide that. He didn't
hide. You'd leave that out. I'd leave
that out. If I was going to write the genealogy, my genealogy,
I'd leave that out. But God didn't leave it out.
He didn't leave it out. As I said before, the reason
He didn't leave it out is because Christ is a friend of sinners. He saves sinners. I mean the
worst of sinners. Sinners like you and me. We do not have a list of perfect
people here, not at all. We have a list of some rogues
and some chosen sinners saved by the grace of God. I'm not
saying everyone in this list, because there are some here,
some kings who were some bad kings and were under the divine
displeasure of God, but there were some here who were some
rogues that God saved. God have mercy on them. And Salmon
begat Boaz of Rachab, and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed
begat Jesse. Two women are mentioned in this
verse, a Canaanite woman and a Moabite woman. You know that
Moabite tribe You know how they came about? They came about through
the incest relationship between Lot and his oldest daughter. But also what we see here is
this. Gentile blood. Here's two Gentile women. Gentile
blood enters into the bloodstream. The lineage of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is saying something to us
here. He's going to break down this middle wall of partition
that stood between the Jew and the Gentile. He's going to make
them one. He's going to make them one. He allows this Gentile
blood to flow in his pedigree. And this is why he's not ashamed
to call us brethren. He's not ashamed to call us brethren.
He's kin to a harlot like Rahab and a Moabite like Ruth. And he's not ashamed. He's not
ashamed of one of his kinfolk in this land. Do you have any
kinfolk you're ashamed of? You shouldn't have. Not if you
knew your heart. If God has made you to know who
you are, you're not. You're ashamed of yourself. Really,
you're ashamed of yourself. He's not ashamed to call them
his brethren. And this happens so that sinners may have a part
in him. All sinners have a part in Christ. So that sinners could
take hope in Him who is the Savior of sinners. I'm so glad his genealogy
reads like this. Then it says here in verses 6-9, And Jesse begat David the king. And David the king begat Solomon
of her that had been the wife of Uriah. And Solomon begat Rehoboam,
that is Rehoboam. And Rehoboam begat Abiah. And Abiah begat Asa. And Asa
begat Josephat or Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat begat Joram.
And Joram begat Osias. And Osias begat Jotham. And Jotham begat Ahaz. And Ahaz begat Hezekiah. That's who that is. Hezekiah.
You notice here how that the adulterous affair between Bathsheba
and Solomon was not left out. He says, David the king, and
David the king begets Solomon. He didn't say of Bathsheba, of
her that had been the wife of Uriah. He didn't leave that out. And
we know that God took that child that came out of that relationship.
But later, after God brought them to repentance, Solomon was
born. And the lineage was carried right
on through Solomon. Oh, I tell you. Oh, how merciful God is
to sinners like you and me. How merciful God is to sinners. I want you to turn over to Micah.
Over to Micah. Over to Micah chapter 7. I want you to look at verse 18. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity? Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity and passes by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities.
And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Who is a God like that? There is not any. There is none
to be compared to Him. Thou art God and beside Thee
there is none else. Merciful. Merciful God. I thank God for the One who has
come to put away sin. I thank God for him. Oh, for
Christ. And I thank God for this. He
was already standing as a Savior before I ever came into this
world as a sinner. I thank God for that. He stood
as a mediator before I ever came into this world, before any of
his children came into this world. He stood as a mediator. He was
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. None of these names
could be mentioned. None of them could be mentioned.
If it were not for the eternal, justifying grace of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ, no names would be mentioned. If there's anything
to wonder at here, if there's anything to stand amazed
at here, it's the grace of God to sinners. That He would allow
Himself to come through such a line. And then it says, in Hezekiah,
it is Ezekias, Hezekiah, beget Manassas. And Manassas beget
Ammon. And Ammon beget Josias. Now here
we have a lot of kings. I think three of them are left
out, but here we have a lot of kings. Some of which were very
bad. Very bad kings. Especially Manassas. You know, he was Judas's most
wicked king. He was probably one of their
most wicked kings. This man was totally committed to idolatry.
Just totally committed to it. He restored everything that his
father, Hezekiah, who was a good king, had abolished. He restored
it. How many times were you reading
the Scriptures, they walked not in the steps of their father?
He erected altars to Baal, He did this. He erected an image
of Asherah in the temple. He worshipped the sun. This is
the king of Judah. He worshipped the moon. He worshipped
stars. He recognized the Ammonite god
Molech. And he even sacrificed one of
his sons to this god. He is said to have given the
command to have Isaiah sawed asunder. And this king was taken to Babylon
and he repented and he came back and he tried to reverse everything
he did. Now why would God allow such a wicked person as this
to be a king? Why would God allow such a person
like this to even be in his genealogy? Listen to this. He hath made
us kings and priests unto God. Why do you laugh? Why do you
do that? You know, by nature, we're just as wicked. And He
has made us kings and priests unto God. I'm glad for this ancestry we're
reading here. I was joyful when I got to reading
it and seeing some things here. I rejoiced in it. It gives a
sinner like me hope that I can be joined to Him spiritually. Spiritually joined to Him. A sinner like me. If He'll save
a Manassas, maybe He'll save someone like me. Maybe He'll
save someone like you. And Josiah, beget Jeconias and
his brethren by the time they were carried away to Babylon.
There in verse 11. Christ was born of a race that
was carried away into captivity. He joined himself to a people
that was in captivity. Boy, can you see this? Can you
see the spiritual side of this? He's identified with prisoners
He is identified with a suffering people. Identified with them. But oh, what prisoners. What
prisoners they were. Oh, what prisoners. Prisoners
of hope. That's what it calls them over in Zechariah 9. Prisoners
of hope. The incarnate God. The incarnate God. God Almighty
was in their lineage. No other people on earth could
say that. He was in their lineage. And we too are among this spiritual
Israel. We're in His lineage. He can
identify with us. And He will set the captive free.
He will set the captive free. Now look in verse 12. I'll read
verse 12 through 16. And after they were brought to
Babylon, Jerchonias begat Selathiel, and Selathiel begat Zerubbabel,
and Zerubbabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim
begat Azor, and Azor begat Sadok, and Sadok begat Achim, and Achim
begat Iliad, And Iliad begat Eleazar, and Eleazar begat Mathan,
and Mathan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of
Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." With the exception of maybe a
couple names there, the rest of them have no worth or identity.
You don't even know them, do you? You don't even know them. By the time it reached this point, it was nothing more than what
Isaiah said in Isaiah 53, a root out of dry ground. The house
of David was just about all but gone. It was nothing more than
a root out of dry ground by the time it got to this point. He
became poor. When I read this, I thought of
this scripture. He became poor. that we through His poverty might
be made rich. Would you become poor so that
someone that's actually an enemy could be made rich? He was born to a family of low
estate. The Son of God. This is who we
are talking about. This is the Son of God. But He
was born to a family of the lowest estate. They had nothing. He
was called the carpenter's son. This is the carpenter's son. He truly, Spurgeon said this,
he is truly the poor man's king. He welcomes poor sinners into
his presence. I don't know any other king that
would do that. But this king welcomes sinners into his presence. No one is too lowly for him to
suck with. No one is too low for him to
sit down and suck with. It offended the Pharisees. They
said this man receives the sinners and he eats with them. I'm so glad he did, and I'm so
glad he does. He still does. He still receives
sinners and eats with them, fellowships with them, talks with them. Oh, the wonder of wonders. He
who is God became incarnate and was born of a poor virgin. He
lived with, he ate with, he talked with the lowly. That's who he spent his time
with, the lowly. He didn't call the chief of men,
he called publicans and sinners. They were his companions. Sinners were welcomed in his
presence. This is God. This is God we are
talking about here. And the worst of men, the worst
of women, welcomed in his presence. Not one time, you think about
this, because this is so contrary to us, so different from us.
Not one time did he ever feel himself to be above the company
of sinners. Not one time. He didn't try to
hide his genealogy here, any of it. Not one time did he feel
himself to be above them. He came to save sinners. I would
to God I could find a sinner. I have good news. This man receives
sinners and he eats with them. He goes home with them. He fellowships
with them. He'll sit down and talk to you. And you won't feel out of place. You won't fall at his feet, but
you'll feel comfortable in his presence. I believe sinners feel
comfortable in the presence of Christ. They don't feel comfortable
in the presence of self-righteousness. He's not ashamed to enter your
humble abode and fellowship with you. He's not ashamed to be seen
with sinners. Not ashamed. He's not ashamed
to let you use his name in public. Go ahead. When you call on the
Father, use my name. You wretch, use my name. Use
my name. He's not ashamed to have sinners
in his genealogy. Tamar was guilty of incest. Rahab was a harlot. Ruth was
a Moabitess. Bathsheba was an adulteress.
Now what are you guilty of? And every one of them were welcome
in his presence. Every one of them. Our Lord did not try to hide
his family tree. Though it was shot full of sinful,
wicked people." Because that's who he came to save. He came to save sinners. From the top, the king, to the
bottom, the harlot, he came to save. He came to save sinners. Christ died, it says in the Scriptures,
for the ungodly. It does not say he died for the
godly. He makes us godly. He makes us
godly. But when he died for us, he died
for the ungodly. We need to go home today and
admire the grace, the mercy, the compassion, and the condescension
of the Lord Jesus Christ that we could be in that number of
the Savior's family. Spiritually, we can be in his
genealogy. We belong to him.