We'll turn now in the Word of God to the book of Matthew, chapter 1, that passage that already we have read from. We will be having our carol service tonight here at seven o'clock. We have the little order of services printed already, ready for action tonight, so come along and be with us for that meeting. I will be assisted in various parts of the meeting by some of our young people and, well, some of the older ones too. maybe around my age, a lot more close to my age than some of the young people will be. But there is a little group of instrumentalists coming along, and we will have Jim and his guitar again with a few gospel, well, Christmas carol pieces, I think, and various other items. And the program is pretty full. Come along tonight and join with us for that carol service. Returning now to Matthew 1, We're reading verse 1 and also verse 17. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, verse 17. So all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon on to Christ. are 14 generations. And we're looking today at the subject, Gems from the Genealogy. And hopefully we will find some as we sift through the list of names that we have here in Matthew chapter 1. With God's Word open before us, we'll bow together in a further word of prayer. Heavenly Father, again we look to Thee, we pray for Thy blessing. It is only Thee that can stir our hearts, satisfy our souls, open our eyes and minds unto Christ and lead us more closely than we are to Him at present. Lord, we do pray that Thy Word will grip our hearts and that it will lead us forward according to Thy good pleasure and to the advancement of Thy great kingdom. We pray in our Savior's name and for Jesus' glory alone. Amen. When we open the New Testament, we're immediately introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 1 and the verse 1, what does it say? The book of the generation. Or in other words, literally, the book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Old Robert Hawker said, there is something very striking and particular in this opening of the Gospel. The Old Testament begins with the account of the creation. The New Testament begins with the account of Him by whom all things were created. Well, so far so good. Opening note, we come to Jesus right away. But the next section, when we come to verse 2, work our way down through verse 17 of Matthew chapter 1, it doesn't really seem to command the attention of everybody who reads the book. Some people appear to regret that our New Testament begins with a list of names. know as a general feeling, a rerun of 1 Chronicles 1 through to chapter 9. Names, names, more names, nothing but names. And they rarely read, far less studying this section of the Scriptures. But then the question begs to be asked, Is this list of names that we have here, Matthew 1, 2 to 17, merely incidental to the whole tenor and contents of the Bible, or is it indispensable, a vital, integral part of what we have here, important and instructive as well? I insist that Matthew 1, verse 1 right through to 17 falls into the latter category. It is indispensable to, it is an integral part of, and it is illustrative of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now having said that, I need to prove that. And that's what we plan to do in our meeting here this morning, God helping us. So, we're looking at gospel gems in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. It may help, as at all times, that you have a pen, as well as your mind operating here, and not only listen, but maybe make a few notes that will keep you on track later. But in this genealogy of Jesus Christ, Matthew 1, verse 2, right through to the verse 17, we are introduced to the subject of the gospel. That's the first thing, the subject of the gospel. We'll read verse 1 again. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Consider this verse very carefully. What is the subject in view? Very obviously, we are treated here to a view of Christ's covenant. Christ's covenant. It is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Here our Lord Jesus is revealed and presented as the long-awaited promised Son of David and Son of Abraham, the anointed Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the sum and substance of the covenant of grace. Christ's covenant is staring at us here. Also, we see Christ's crown. He is the Son of David. And moving down to verse 6, we have David the king. Christ's crown. He's in the kingly, regal line. So His covenant is here, His crown is here, and you will also have an allusion in verse 1 to Christ's cross. You can't consider Christ as being the son of Abraham, as he's described here, without going back in your mind to the life of Abraham, back into Genesis chapter 22, where you have the literal son of Abraham, who was Isaac, and he set forward as a wonderful picture and type of our Lord Jesus Christ going up the mountain, Mount Moriah, going to be sacrificed upon an altar there. The tremendous idea in Genesis 22 is that of a father willing to give up his son, and that is a sure snapshot of the cross of Jesus Christ. And of course, back there in Genesis, we have a twin picture of Christ in that one chapter. Isaac is a picture of him, the son of the father, and also the ram caught in the thicket, stepping in to be the substitute, dying in the place of Isaac that day. So by that intervention of the substitute appointed by God, Abraham, was able to go on with the sacrifice that God had demanded. Now, when we bring these things together, Christ's covenant, Christ's crown, Christ's cross, roll them all into the one bundle, what have you, you have the whole subject of New Testament revelation. So here, in the opening verse of Matthew, Matthew 1 verse 1, you have an amazing summary of all of the contents from Matthew right through to the book of the Revelation. In fact, in many ways, it is the substance of the whole of the Scripture, Old and New Testament included. Christ's covenant, Christ's cross, Christ's crown. Quite simply, If in reading our Bible, we are not reading more and more about the covenanted Savior, the cross of Christ, and the crown of Christ, then we are missing the basic message of this book, for this is the whole subject matter of that saving religion that God the Most High has revealed to our hearts and minds. His covenant, His crown, His cross, Christ in the center. Spurgeon's first words in his new building, the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington in London, are very famous. He declared on that day when the building was opened, I would propose that the subject of the ministry in this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. who is the sum and the substance of the gospel, who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life. This church, or wider denomination, must never get away from this. I'm delighted when I see the words of 1 Corinthians 1 and 23, we preach Christ crucified, embossed on our literature, carried behind our pulpits, proclaimed in our messages, and may it always remain so. As John Newton put it, what think ye of Christ? is the test. To try both your state and your scheme, you cannot be right in the rest, unless you think rightly of Him. As Jesus appears in your view, as He is beloved or not, so God is disposed to you and mercy or wrath is your lot. God, in this Word, has only one promise of salvation, and that promise of salvation is in the Covenanted Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. God, in this Book, has only one ransom price for salvation, and that ransom price is found in the death of Christ upon the cross. God has only one glory that he offers to men and offers to women, and it's always and ever in association with the crown of Jesus Christ. Men come to Christ's cross, are washed in His blood, swear allegiance to His scepter as the King, and it is only when they pass from death unto life, from the power of Satan unto the power of God, that they can properly say, I am now a subject for heaven and for glory, I too with Christ, will wear a crown." So here at the beginning, in the very first verse of Matthew, you have the key and it's handed to you that opens up the whole subject of the gospel and of the Word, a comprehensive summary as to what the gospel is all about. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, the son of Abraham, the subject of the gospel. Then secondly, consider with me the substance of the gospel, the substance of the gospel. You'll find if you compare the genealogy we have here, Matthew 1 with that which we have in Luke chapter 3, you've got in this chapter the genealogy, the family line, the family tree of Joseph. The other in Luke is of Mary. But let's remember something. Joseph was not the father of Jesus. So in the strictest sense, according to the natural order of things, these people in this family tree are not the progenitors of Jesus Christ, not his ancestors. Why then is Joseph's genealogy given? Why the interest in his family tree? It's a very far-reaching question, and I'm convinced it opens the door to the substance of the gospel. Remember this, although Jesus Christ was not naturally the son of Joseph, yet legally he was. He was the son of Mary, naturally. born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Ghost, not naturally of Joseph, but legally he was of Joseph. And it's this legal title to David's throne that is established and protected in giving here in Matthew 1 the genealogy of Joseph. Now, keep this legal aspect in mind. And I think one of the reasons behind the Holy Ghost giving this list, with the mention here of persons such as Ruth, she was a stranger, a Moabiteess, a foreign nation, and others who were great sinners. We have Tamar, and we have Rahab, and we have the wife of Uriah, and we have Manasseh, and we have Ammon, and we have other sinners. The reason why these people are included will become clear when we keep the legal aspect in mind. So why were these sinners mentioned? By birth, Jesus Christ did not become a sinner, but He entered into a bond of legal identification with sinners. He was numbered with the transgressors in His death, as Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53, and in His life in terms of this family tree. This takes us to the center of the mind of the Holy Ghost. Christ enters into a bond of legal identification with the greatest of sinners. And surely that's the hub or the substance of the gospel. We have proof of that over in Romans 8 verse 2 and 3. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." What is Paul saying here? He's building a very careful argument, and it's all about a legal identification of the sinless Son of God with sinful men and women. Christ didn't come in sinful flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. He took a body upon Himself for the work of Calvary. That's why He came that way. He came with the purpose of dealing with sin, for sin, Paul says, and he was legally made the representative and the substitute for all of his people. Therefore, on Calvary, he's able to bring himself and stand under the fury and the wrath of God and bear the full penalty that was legally due to his people for all of their sins. That's why the hymn writer says, the wrath of God that was our due, upon the Lamb was led, and by the shedding of His blood for us the debt was paid. Doesn't Paul, again, in Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, say the same thing, essentially? He says, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, mere of a woman. That's in the likeness of sinful flesh, but sinless. Mere of a woman, mere under the law, to redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Again, in 1 Corinthians 5 and 21, He that is God the Father hath made Him, Jesus the Son, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I think the best way that I've come across the explanation of this is from the words of Hugh Martin, an old Scottish preacher. He said, God made him. no sin, to be sin for us who knew no righteousness, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And that is the very heart and substance of the gospel. It's what it's all about. There's a transfer of my guilt to Christ and of Christ's righteousness and His merit to me. Why is that? Because Jesus Christ legally identified himself through this family tree with his believing people. Mine is the sin, but Thine the righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but Thine the cleansing blood. Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace, Thy blood, Thy righteousness, O Lord my God." So our Lord Jesus Christ made the object of God's wrath, that we might become the object of His favor. The subject of the gospel, the substance of the gospel, then thirdly today, the specifics of the gospel. specifics of the gospel. Working our way down, and we're going to do that, working our way down through this genealogical table or this family tree, it highlights certain aspects about the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, you have highlighted here the fidelity of God's promises. The early Jewish believers would have started reading at Matthew 1 and 1, and to their ears this would have sounded like the sweetest of sweet music. They would have been opening the Bible here and saying, what's God telling us? The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David? The Son of Abraham? It was telling them, in this first verse alone and then in verse 2 to 17 as well, nothing less than that the promise that God had made to Abraham many, many centuries before him had now been fulfilled. The promises that he had made to David had now come into fruition. And in spite of all of the commotions through the generations and all the changes and all of the corruptions, God's promise held true. So Matthew 1, 1 to 17 wonderfully emphasizes the fact that God's promise always holds good. That's wonderful. refreshing for us to know, because we have to, in our spiritual lives, step out upon God's promise, and we need to know it's got a good foundation. It's not going to cave in under our feet. And so when we read, for example, in John 6, 37, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. As a sinner, I need that to be true and I need to know God holds true to His promise. And Matthew 1, verse 1, right down to 17, shows right at the beginning God's promise holds good to the saint. We have a promise that we are a born-again, blood-washed believer. We've been given a place in the ranks of the covenant people of God. We will never be separated from Him. We find it in John 10, 28, and Romans 8, 32 to 39. We read it again in Philippians 1 and the verse 6. Those texts gel together like atoms in an immovable rock. They are tremendous, and we can say, yes, it's all true. because God's promises are true to the one who was sent out to serve the Lord. and encounters difficulty and hardship, God has given them His promise. It's good for them to know, essential for them to know, His promise is true. God will, in all circumstances, keep His word, fulfill it to the very letter, to all eternity, and we can come back here and say, well, didn't He do exactly that? In Matthew 1, 1 to 17, all that was prophesied in the Old Testament is here seen to be fulfilled. God keeps His word to the soul-seeking revival. The really encouraging thing is that even when we are weak in faith, the promise of God does not shrink. It's still stable, still strong, still sure. And so, in Isaiah 41, 17, I read of the poor and the needy seeking water. their tongue feeling them for thirst, they're desiring it, but they're weak and they're weary and they're waiting, but when the reduced night are crawling around in the dust, God promises, I'll still hear you and I'll still answer you. So we have as a gospel sidelight here in Matthew 1, 1 to 17, the fidelity of the promise of God. We also have the unchangeableness or the immutability of the purpose of God. As I work my way down through this list and read these names and get the connections, find out who the people are, et cetera, I realize something. Time doesn't dim God's purpose. God has a plan, and through the tumult of generations, the changes of history, plan just rides the wheels and will be fulfilled. Abraham lived about 2,000 BC, 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was a long time before the promise actually came to pass, but time didn't deflect God from His purpose or dim that plan at all. In our lives, God has a plan. He has a purpose. And sometimes when trials come mounting up and mountains begin to crumble and rocks are falling all around us in avalanches and blocking our paths and threatening to take us out and crush us, let's rely again on this purpose of God that will not be deflected by anything. Time doesn't dim it. catastrophe does not derail it. You'll read there in verse 11 about the people of God being carried away into captivity, and Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. That was disastrous. That captivity, taken out of their own land in Judah, moved up into the enemy territory, captured, taken there to Babylon, staying there for 70 years. That captivity seemed to be the opposite of all that God had been promising. didn't seem to be God's plan at all. They were meant to be in their own land. They were meant to prosper in their own land, within the boundaries of their own territory. But even this catastrophe did not derail the purpose of God. The Jews in time, they were not eliminated, and Jesus came forth. Another feature of the purpose of God that's apparent to you is The actions of men, individual men, collective men, both good and evil, are made to serve God's purpose. There are good men in this list. God used them. in the onward march of the purpose of grace that He had for His people. There are also evil men and evil women on the list, men who rebelled against God, men who hated God, men who rose up against His will, men who tried their utmost to thwart His purpose, but God used them. Quite incredibly, He used them and their evil actions for which they bore sole responsibility, but He used them to carry on the great stream of His purpose. Acts 2, 23, Acts 4, 27, 28, when you have time, could be cross-references here, the sovereignty of God. You see, that's the truth that's in splendid clarity here. This doctrine of the sovereignty of God, God has a plan, man can't derail it, is hated by all of the enemies of this book. Martin Luther's enemies exploded in rage when this German reformer stood up and made mention of the sovereignty of God. Even though wicked actions of evil men fall within the domain of the decree of God, and God will make them all, every last one of them, serve His purpose in the world. Let men do what they will. Let them plan what they will. There is a God in heaven. His purpose is fixed and will never be derailed. The fidelity of God's promises the immutability of God's purpose. You'll see as well here the depravity of human nature. That's another gospel sidelight. The depravity of human nature. Sin keeps poking its way into the list here, right down the genealogy. Keeps on surfacing. Verse 3, incest of Judah and Tamar. Verse 5, harlotry, prostitution of Rahab. Verse 6, look how it's spelled out here too, adultery of Bathsheba and David. Look at the reference, of her that had been the wife of Uriah. Verse 7, the folly of Rehoboam. We read about it in the Old Testament, 1 Kings 12 and verse 15, that fool who sold his kingdom for a moment's pleasure in the service of the devil. We have Ahaz in verse 9, we have Manasseh in verse 10, what a wicked king he was before conversion. We have Amnon in verse 10, we have Jeconiah in verse 11, all illustrations of the depravity of man, and they're in the family tree. Do you know why? The gospel cannot be preached. Jesus cannot be exalted where there is not an honest, biblical treatment of what sin is and what sin does. We live in an age when the gospel has been relegated to the level of a sticking plaster applied to conceal a sore. or a set of principles to make you more productive in life and make you feel better, or just an alternative lifestyle that runs in tandem with the lifestyle that you want to live. We need to get down to the subject of sin, which is an offense to God, that would reach up and pull down God from His throne if it could. Sin that is an affront and an abomination to God. And if we don't get down to what the Bible says about sin, we will never get up to what the Bible says about salvation. If you don't see sin as sin is, you'll never see Jesus as He is. You'll never appreciate His salvation as doing anything for you. unless you feed the way of sin. And so dotted through the genealogy, this group of sinners in every generation, emphasis here, Jesus alone can treat this sin. So we have the fidelity of the promises of God, the immutability of the purpose of God, the depravity of human nature. Do you know what also you've got a reference to here? The brevity, the brevity of human life. We sing life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf, the binding of a sheaf. Be in time. And as you read through this list, Matthew 1, 1 to 17, you'll see leaf after leaf after leaf, like autumn time, and then the winter wind comes in and the leaves are falling down to the ground in every single verse until you have worked your way through 42 generations of people who have died. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas, and his brethren and Judas begat Phares, and Zarah, and they all died here today, gone tomorrow." That truth comes to the fore here and is closely allied with the tragedy of lost souls. There are three groups of fourteen persons in the list, but let me emphasize it's not a complete genealogy. You compare what's written in Luke 3, you compare the Old Testament historical records, that'll prove it's not a total list. Some people are left out. I can't produce precise reasons why they are omitted, though I can give some. But with Ahaziah, he's left out. Jehosh, that young king that began well, then declined, he's left out. Amaziah, Jehoiachin, all of those and more are missing from the list. I can't say exactly why the names are left out, but it does make me think. Here is a list of names in the book of God. there are those who were not found there. John Wesley said, happy are we if while we are forgotten by men we are remembered by God, if our names lost on earth are at length found written in the book of life. I wonder when the books are open and the list is finally made known. many of you will have your names left out. What does all of this say to us? Simply this, faith in God is a personal thing. You can't rely on your parents' faith, you can't blame your upbringing for not being saved, because some of those who were left out were good men, Although born in cases of wicked parents, children of godly parents can perish in hell if they reject Jesus Christ and will. Then finally, you see here not only the fidelity of the promise of God, the immutability of the purpose of God, the depravity of human nature, the brevity of human life, but the sovereignty God's grace. There are quite a number of unlikely candidates in this list. From verse 2 down to 17, people whose names you're wondering, why are they there? They had a black record. They were sinners, terrible sinners at that. You know what? There's no attempt here to whitewash the dark spots in the pedigree. Ruth is here. She's the stranger, very moral, very upright, I assume, but still a stranger, the product of a heathen nation. We have Tamar, who we have referenced as being guilty of incest. Genesis 38, the verse 13, yet grace reached her and included her. We have Rahab, Joshua 2 and 1, Hebrews 11, 31, James 2, 25. God not only saved her, from perishing in the overthrown of Jericho, but brought her into the company of Israel and gives her a mention here. We have Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11 and 3 in the verse 4, an adulteress mentioned here, put in the list. These sinners are specifically named. Why? Old Puritan John Trapp said, our Savior took flesh of these greatest sinners to show that we cannot commit more than He can remit. To show that we cannot commit more than He can remit, and that by His purity washes off all our spots, like the sun wasteth and wipeth away all the ill vapors of the earth and air. These sinners are mentioned to show there is salvation for a Ruth who at one time was alienated and cut off from God, that there is salvation for a Tamar, or a Rahab, or a Bathsheba, some scarlet sinners who have slumped down, or a David, a Mergerim, in that case of Uriah, we cannot Again, using the words of Trapp, comit more than Christ can remit. There is power in the blood of the Lamb. These are some of the gospel gems in Jesus' genealogy, reasons why this list was outlined and given and put in. And sometimes we'll come and we'll just begin to jar our way right down through 2 to 17. But God is speaking here, as He is right through the Word, in the plainer portions. He's speaking here in the more difficult parts, and He's saying it is no secret what God can do, what He's done for others, He'll do for you with arms wide open. He'll pardon you. It is no secret. what God can do. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before Thee, and we thank Thee that even in the middle of a whole list of names, we're wondering, why is this family tree given? Why Joseph's family tree? But we thank Thee for that legal identification with Christ that not only Joseph had, but we have. Christ bore on the tree the sentence for me. And now both the sinner and the surety are free. We thank Thee for salvation. We thank Thee for the gospel. We thank Thee for God's plan. that has steamed on down through the ages, and no matter what roadblocks and obstacles man has tried to shunt into the way, the plan of God still steams on. Lord, see of many, see of many in this city, bring them to Christ. That's why Jesus came, to seek and to see of that which is lost. And we thank Thee that even in His birth He identified with them, was not ashamed to call them His brethren. And Thou wert not any more ashamed to call us Thy brethren today. We praise Thee for it in Jesus' name. Amen.