Good evening, let's take our Bibles this morning. Let's go to the Gospel of Matthew, please. Matthew chapter number one. Matthew chapter number one. Matthew chapter number one. First book of the New Testament, Gospel of Matthew. Be glad you saved, say amen. Amen, praise the Lord. Good to be saved today, amen. The very first verse, the Bible says the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And beginning of verse number two, what we read all the way down to verse number 17 is what is known as the lineage of Jesus Christ. There are two lineages given in the Bible concerning Jesus here in Matthew chapter one, also Luke chapter number three. Most believe that Luke chapter number three is more of Mary's lineage, his mother, and here in Matthew is Joseph's lineage, his earthly father, adoptive father. But it's interesting that in this lineage of Jesus, as it starts with Abraham in verse number two and continues down all the way to Joseph in verse number 16, and he also talks about Mary in verse 16, as you go down through this lineage, It's interesting that every now and then, there'll be a name of a woman in the lineage of Jesus. If you read your Bible, in most lineages, there's a number of places, the book of Genesis, first and second Chronicles, they have the lineages of the Jewish people, but it's very rare that the name of a woman is mentioned. It's usually just the father begat a son, the father begat that father, begat a son, and so on and so forth. But here in the lineage of Jesus Christ, there are five women that are named in his lineage. An interesting dynamic that we see here in Matthew 1. But then we find the names of those women and we look at their names, we consider their history in the Old Testament, their story in the Old Testament. They all had a dramatic story. There was something major that took place, that was at play in their life. Mary is the only one that is not in the Old Testament. All these other women are Old Testament women, and they all have stories. And their lives and their stories, we find in this passage, has a common denominator. They came from different backgrounds. Different things were taking place in their lives. They all didn't face the exact same struggles. However, we find in the lineage of Jesus Christ, they all have one thing in common. Their lives and their stories are connected to Jesus Christ. They're connected to Jesus. Now, out of all of the reasons why the Lord had these five women named in the lineage, we obviously know the reason of one is Mary. the mother of Jesus. We know why she's in the lineage. But the other four is somewhat strange, even somewhat obscure. There could have been other women that were named, but God chose to name these women. Matthew, as he's penning these words under the inspiration of the spirit of God, as he's writing this portion of scripture, the Lord is leading him to make sure you write these names in the lineage. So I'm going to preach this morning on this thought, the ladies in the Lord's lineage, the ladies in the Lord's lineage. Verse number two says Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren and Judas. And that's the Greek form of Judah. He's known as Judah in the old Testament. And Judas begat Phares and Zerah of, and here's the first name, Tamar. It's spelled Thamar in your Bible. That's the Greek form of the Old Testament word Tamar. This is the first woman mentioned in the lineage of Jesus here in Matthew chapter number one. And I think one of the things that stands out with Tamar, considering her life, her story, what she faced, what she dealt with, I'm gonna say this morning that Tamar was a woman who lived in frustration. She was a woman who lived in frustration. Think about this. She was married to Judah's firstborn son, Ur. Ur was a wicked man and God slew him. Then after Ur's death, she marries Onan, Ur's younger brother. But Onan didn't want to have any children by Tamar. God was angry at Onan, so now God takes him out. That's two husbands that God has removed from this earth because of their wickedness, because of their rebellion. And her response, you could imagine living in that culture in that time, dealing with what she was having to deal with, two husbands, they're both gone, no children, the level of frustration, the level of disappointment that Tamar had to deal with, and she makes a bad decision. She takes her life in her own hands, and she begins to scheme and maneuver, and she pretends to be a harlot. And she tricks Judah, her father-in-law. And in her trickery, in her manipulation, in her lying, pretending to be a harlot, she's impregnated by Judah. Now she's expecting twins. They're mentioned in verse number two, Phares and Zerah. Now she's gonna have twins by Judah, her father-in-law. What a horrible situation. What a frustrating situation. So frustrating that she ends up making a horrible decision in response to the condition, the situation that she's dealing with. And for whatever reason, God wanted to put her among the names in the lineage of Jesus Christ. You know why? Because when your life and your story and your frustration and your disappointment is connected to Jesus Christ, it fixes the disappointment. It fixes the frustration. It removes all of the things, all the baggage that comes with a past like Tamar. If you'll notice in the passage, there's nothing negative said about Tamar. He doesn't say a blessed word about her failure. He doesn't say anything about her manipulation, how she responded. It doesn't even mention the frustration because when you're alive, as difficult as it may be, whatever your life consists of, when it gets connected to Jesus Christ and the blood of Jesus Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, when you place your faith in Jesus Christ, it takes all of that away. As far as the East is from the West, those frustrations will be gone. So today, you're here this morning, and life is frustrating. People have disappointed you. People have let you down. They've turned their back on you. They've hurt you. You walked into this place with pain and disappointment in the past, but my friend, if you'll get connected to Jesus Christ today, if you'll touch him today, if you'll get a hold of Jesus today, he'll take care of that pain, he'll take care of that burden, he'll take care of that frustration, he'll help you deal with what you don't think you can deal with today. who lived in frustration, but here she's connected to Christ. And then we see the next woman mentioned, verse number five. And Salmon beget Boaz. That's the Boaz of the Old Testament. Boaz is just the Greek form of that Old Testament name, Boaz. And Salmon beget Boaz of Rachab. We know her as Rahab. Rahab. Rahab. is an interesting woman, has an interesting story, very, very dramatic. And I'm gonna say that Rahab was a woman who lived in fear. She was a woman who lived in fear. You see, what was she fearful of? She was fearful of the news that she had received about the Israelites. Rahab was a harlot. Rahab was a harlot. Tamar pretended to be one, Rahab was one. And here comes the people of God, the Israelites being led by Joshua, being led by Moses and now Joshua. And the very first place that the Israelites are gonna stop by and they're gonna conquer is Jericho. And that's where Rahab the harlot lives. She's heard about God defeating the Egyptian army with the parting of the Red Sea. She's heard about the plagues that hit in Egypt. She's heard about the miracles that God performed for the Israelites in the wilderness. She's heard about the conflicts in the wars that the Israelites had been in, in the wilderness and how God brought them through every single time. And now she knows they're crossing the Jordan River. They're coming straight for her city. They're coming straight for where she lives. And here she is just a dirty old harlot. She has no hope. She has no chance in this. Here you have the pure people of God who have the law of God. They've got the Ten Commandments. They have the rules of heaven. They have the purity of God. And here they're coming in to conquer this city. And she's afraid. The Bible says she was fearful. Joshua sent the spies into Jericho. And somehow the spies and Rahab crossed paths. And she told those spies, she said, I'm gonna hide you. I'm gonna hide you from the men of Jericho, the military of Jericho. I'm gonna hide you. She said, I'm gonna do this. She said, I need something. And it's not what she's asked from men before. No, what she's asking now is completely different from what she was requesting before. Now, she's not saying, I want you to do something to me. No, she says, I want you to do something for me. And I want you to do something for me and my whole family. She said, I know you're of God. I know you're on your way. You're gonna conquer this city. And I'm asking you to spare me and spare my family. You let that scarlet rope hang out of that window. And I'll let the men know when it's time to take this city, when you see that scarlet thread, everybody in that apartment, everybody in that room, you spare their life. She was in great fear. She's pleading for mercy. She just wants her family and herself to be saved. By the way, she doesn't deserve to be saved. She's a harlot. She's a very, very wicked woman. She doesn't deserve grace. She doesn't deserve mercy. She doesn't deserve salvation, but lo and behold. Matthew chapter number one, Rahab's name shows up. Not only when they invaded Jericho and the walls came tumbling down, did they not kill anybody in her family in that room, in that apartment, that they all got to live because of the mercy of the people of God, of God himself. Not only that, but the Bible here teaches us that she married a Jewish man. She married into the people of God. She came in to enjoy the family. of the people of God. If you'll notice, it says nothing in verse five about her being in a harlot. Other places in the Bible, maybe even most places in the Bible, when you see her name, you see the harlot. Rahab, the harlot. But not connected to Jesus. Not connected to Jesus. Today, you may be in fear. You may have realized, I'm lost. I'm without God. I'm on my way to devil's hell. I'm in trouble. I'm a rebel against God. I've sinned against God. There's nothing pure about me. There's nothing right about me. And by the way, let me say, if that's your feelings, welcome to the club, friend, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You're looking at a room of Rahab's today. We're all unclean left to ourselves. We're all dirty left to ourselves. But we came in contact with Jesus Christ and he took all of our sins away. You don't have to live in fear today. You don't have to live in dread of tomorrow. Jesus did die for your sins. He rose again the third day, and if you'll come to Him, He'll save you. You don't have to live in the fear of hell or torment or lake of fire ever again. Ruth was a, excuse me, Rahab was a woman who lived in fear. I mention Ruth because she's the next one. Same verse. of Ruth. That means Ruth was Boaz's wife. Rahab was Boaz's mother. Boaz marries Ruth. Now Tamar was a woman who lived in frustration. Rahab was a woman who lived in fear. Ruth was a woman who lived in forbiddance. See, Ruth was a Moabite. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23, 3, an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord. Even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever. If you are a Moabite, you are disqualified from being a part of the congregation of the Lord. He said, a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. That's not bad enough. Two times in the book of Psalms, you know what God says about Moab? Ruth's a Moabite. You know what God said twice in the book of Psalms about Moab? He said, Moab is my washpot. That's the place where you wash the filth off your hands. That's how God viewed Moab. It's so filthy, it's so wicked, it's so vile. God said, if I ever had dirty hands, I'd wash my hands in Moab. And toss it out. Forbidden. Ruth is not allowed to be a part of the people of God, because she's a Moabite. Then lo and behold, Matthew chapter one, her name pops up in the lineage, not just of a congregation, but of Christ himself. Her name pops up. You say, you say, what, what, how did she make it in? If she's disqualified, if she, if she kept, and it's not allowed to be a part of the people of God, how in the world did she make it in? I'm not gonna make it turn there, but in Ruth chapter number one, Ruth tells Naomi, Naomi, her mother-in-law is about to go back to Israel. And Ruth says to her mother-in-law, where thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, more also of all, but death part thee and me. She said, your God is gonna be my God. He said, wait a minute. How does that work? She's a Moabite. She's disqualified. She is. God said she can't enter in. So what made the difference? She asked God to let her in. It's that simple. You can't come in. But can I come in? Yes, you can. Yes, you can. She was a woman who lived in forbiddance. She was not allowed to be a part of the people of God unless she asked God to let her. You know who that's a beautiful picture of today? Every one of us. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've all been forbidden to be in the company of God. You and I are disqualified from heaven. We're disqualified from the presence of God. We're not allowed to be around him. We're not allowed to come to Christ. We're not allowed to come to God. We're not allowed to go to heaven. We all been disqualified. Until you ask him. Lord, can I, will you save my soul from hell? Will you save my soul from sin? Will you let me be a part of your family? Yes, I will. Whosoever will may come. If you want to be saved, you can be saved. You say, but I feel like I've been rejected. You have been, but if you'll come to him by faith, you'll trust Jesus Christ. He'll bring you into his family forevermore. Forevermore. And here's this woman who's not allowed to be there. She is there. because she asked the Lord to let her. She asked the Lord. Isn't that amazing? A little side note. You ever thought about Boaz? What made him so attracted to Ruth? I mean, he knows she's a Moabite woman. What pulled his heart? What caused Boaz to have such mercy and grace toward this Moabite woman? because his mom was a redhead. He grew up in a blended home. His daddy was a Jew. His mama was a Canaanite. His daddy was a godly man. His mama was a harlot, but she got saved and married daddy, and he saw what God did with his mama, and he sees rooms. That reminds me of mama. I think I'll marry her. There she is, a part of the family of God. So we got Tamar, she lived in frustration. Got Rahab, she lived in fear. Ruth lived in forbiddance. Now we have another woman, but her name isn't there, but who she is, is named. Verse six, and Jesse begat David the king. And David the king begat Solomon of her. that had been the wife of Uriah. Now, God did not have to say that, but he did. He mentions the wife of Uriah, the one had been the wife of Uriah, that's Bathsheba. Even in the secular world, if you talk about David and Bathsheba, many of them know what you're talking about. Most people, when they think of Bathsheba, they don't think of a good woman. They don't think of a woman that's made good decisions. That's not how most people think of Bathsheba. Now, her name is not mentioned there. Her husband, first husband's name was Uriah. You know the story. David doesn't go to war with the military as he should have. He stays behind. He's walking on his rooftop, he looks over and evidently Uriah and Bathsheba live near him. And he saw Bathsheba bathing, he lusted, brought her in. Now she's expecting a child. And so David begins to manipulate things and has Uriah killed on the front line of battle. I think one of the reasons why you see Uriah's name here is God was, God's gonna make sure we remembered Uriah. That was a great man. That was a great man. But he mentions the wife of Uriah. He mentions Bathsheba. And I believe Bathsheba is a woman who lived in failure. Who's to blame here? David or Bathsheba? Who's to blame? I think ultimately and primarily it's going to be David because Nathan went to David and said, thou art the man. That was the man David controlled most of the scenario, and he he did what he should not have done. However. We don't know the level of guilt that she had, we we can only speculate. Was she bathing as she was because she thought David wasn't there? Because he should have been at battle. Or did she know? He was there, and she did it anyway. Did she know what she was doing? We don't know. The Bible doesn't say. But every one of us, we have human experience. Maybe not to this degree of sinfulness and wickedness, but we all have a life experience. What we do know is if she's anything like us, she carried personal guilt. She was involved. There's no indication of any fighting against this. Her husband, her first husband, Uriah, was a really good man, and he's dead. She has a son by David. Before Solomon, he's dead. And now she walks around thinking, if I hadn't have gotten on the roof, if I'd chosen another time. If she didn't know David was there, if I would just made a different decision, this wouldn't have happened. If she didn't know David was there, if I hadn't been so careless and stupid, this wouldn't have happened. If she's anything like us, she's probably walking around. Blaming herself. That happens a lot in family tragedies. Something terrible happens in the family, maybe there's a suicide. People start blaming themselves. What could I have done to prevent it? If I'd have been a better mom and dad, if I'd been a better husband or wife, if I'd been a better grandpa, whatever it may be. If I'd done better, this difficulty, this tragedy wouldn't have happened. It may or may not be anybody's fault. But we tend to walk around with that personal guilt nonetheless. There probably was not a day that went by in Bathsheba's life she didn't think about that son that died. Solomon was not her firstborn. And to think about the boy that died, she thinks about the sin that caused him to exist in the first place. Now she's thinking about her husband, her first husband, Uriah, who was a great man. She's probably even thinking in her mind, Uriah was a better man than David because Uriah would not have done what David did. She walks around with this, this mindset, this heart of failure every single day. But here in Matthew chapter number one, God puts her He wants you to know that she is in the lineage of Jesus Christ. You say, why is that? Because when you get connected to Jesus Christ, he can fix the failures. All of the guilt, all the shame that you may carry because of your past, what you've done in the past, what you blame yourself for, all of the shame, all the embarrassment, all the humiliation, All the self-disappointment. Boy, do we not disappoint ourselves? The only people I've ever known that they never disappointed themselves were narcissists. If you never disappoint yourself, if you're always okay with you and it's always somebody else's fault, you are a narcissist. Because if you're not a narcissist, you're normal. If you're normal, you're going to blame yourself a lot. I wish I'd made a different decision. Wish I could go back in the past and change that. I wish I could. You actually can. Believe it or not, you can. You say, how? A little less than 2,000 years ago, Jesus climbed on an old rugged cross and he died for your sins. and my sins, and three days later, he rose from the dead, victorious of all of our failures, over all of our disappointments, all of our guilt, all of our shame, and what you do is, by faith, go back a little less than 2,000 years ago, and say, Lord, I trust you, and I trust what you did for me on the cross, and I believe you as my savior, and I'm asking you to come into my life, and he will erase all of those failures, he'll erase your past, in fact, he'll give you a brand new past. The Bible calls it, it's a big word now, imputation. Not amputation, you don't want that. Imputation. Imputation. You say, what's that mean? It means to put to one's account. The Bible says that you and I have imputed righteousness. What that means is you and I, we have no righteousness of our own. We're like Bathsheba. We're a bunch of failures. But Jesus Christ came to this earth, born of a virgin, lived a perfect and holy and sinless life. He never did anything wrong. He never had a wrong thought. He never took a wrong step. He never said a wrong word. Everything he ever did was right. He always pleased God the Father. He never sinned one time. but he died for us. He was the just dying for the unjust. He was the right one dying for the wrong ones. He took upon himself our sin and our shame. We should have died on that cross, but he took our place. He took all your sin upon himself. And when you place your faith in Jesus Christ, here's how God sees it. and gives it to Jesus. And he takes the righteousness and the life of Jesus Christ and gives it to you. If you trust Jesus as your Savior today, you know how God's gonna see you? As if you live the life of Jesus Christ. He treated Jesus on the cross as if Jesus lived like you and I do. But now that you're saved, he'll treat you As if you live the life Jesus did That's why Bathsheba can make it in the lineage God's not worried about her failures His failures do not outweigh His grace. Is that not what Paul said? Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. For 21 years of my life, all I did was sin and sin and sin and sin some more. There's no telling how high the stack of my sin was. But where my sin about it when I was 21 years old I placed my faith in Jesus Christ and I found out his grace is greater than my sin His grace is greater than my failure. His grace is greater than my guilt in my shame His grace is greater today. And now I'm in the family of God not because I did something good because Jesus did it all He took care of it and that's how Bathsheba made it into the family of God by God's amazing grace. One more name, and we're done. Verse number 16, we're skipping many generations. Verse 16, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. There's Mary in the lineage. Now, her story's different. Tamar was a woman who lived in frustration. Rahab was a woman who lived in fear. Ruth was a woman who lived in forbiddance. Bathsheba was a woman who lived in failure. Mary, on the other hand, was a woman who lived in favor. But the Bible says that. Take your Bible and go to Luke. Go to Luke 1. Why don't you see what the Bible says about Mary? Luke 1, verse 28, this is when the angel comes to tell Mary that she is going to give birth to the Son of God. Luke 1, 28, and the angel came in unto her and said, I'm going to call a time out here and say this, this does not mean in any way, shape or form, that you and I are to pray to her. This past week, the Roman Catholic Church selected a new Pope. I'm not here to fuss or fight with anyone, but the new Pope in his initial prayer mentioned Mary over and over again, even referred to her as his God. However, the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter number two, there's one mediator between God and man, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. According to the Bible, you don't get to God through Mary, and you don't get to God through a simple man. There is one man, but you've never seen him. That man is Jesus Christ. He's the only way to God. There's the reason why I don't have a pope today. I don't need a pope today. I've got a high priest. His name is Jesus Christ. And what he did on the cross and what he did by rising again took care of everything I'll ever need. And I'll need not go to anybody else according to the scriptures. But Mary was, no doubt, highly favored. She was a woman who lived in favor. But do you know that favor doesn't mean perfect or sinless? It's not what it means. She was a woman who lived in favor. She still had a great need. In fact, you're in Luke chapter one. Just a few verses later, Mary has gone to see her cousin Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother. and they're conversing, they're talking, they're rejoicing, and all of a sudden, Mary just breaks out in a camp meeting shouting spell. Verse 46, look at Luke 1, verse 46. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my, what? Savior. Mary's not a savior, Mary needs a savior. She said, my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Even if you come from a favored life, a favored background, it looks like God has given you every advantage in this world to be who you are and where you're at. There's nothing that you don't have into your fingertips. You got that modest touch. Everything you touch turns to gold. You've been given gifts. You've been given beauty. You've been given strength. You've been given wealth and riches. You've got it all. Your favorite. That may be how you see your life. But the reality is, no one was more favored than Mary and she still needed a savior. The Lord said, Jesus said, it's easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. He says it's impossible. He says it's easier. Because what happens with a favored life, when you got it all, you've just been handed everything. Some people, they have a lot, but they work to the bone to try to get there and to make it. Others, somebody else did the work and just handed it to you. And there you live in your beauty and your strength and your wealth and your honor. But the reality is, no matter the level of favor, you still need to be saved. Mary's not going to heaven because of the favor. She's going to heaven because of her Savior. She was saved and God chose her. God probably did some sovereign and providential protecting of her throughout her young life because He had a purpose and a plan for her to be the earthly mother of Jesus Christ. but she's not going to heaven because of the favor placed upon her. She's going to heaven because one day in her past, her heart turned to the Lord and she trusted God as her savior. The Bible says, if you do not, Jesus said, if you do not humble yourself as a child, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Oftentimes favored people have so much placed upon them. They've been given so much. It's hard for them to see their need We've been so blessed I believe that's one of the reasons why there's fewer Americans getting saved today than ever I Mean, I can't prove it. I know I can't prove it, but I'd almost guarantee you there's more Chinese Christians than our American Christians I almost guarantee there's more Russian Christians. I'd almost guarantee there's more South American Christians than North American Christians and Now, I can't prove it, but it wouldn't shock me if we found out that is the case. Because we here in America, we have so much. We have so much. We've been given so much. We complain about the silliest things. I mean, your refrigerator goes out. Your refrigerator. Oh, just a handful of years ago, they brought ice to your house. The vast majority of people on this planet don't have a refrigerator. And we're laying on the floor squalling, my refrigerator went out. We've been given so much. And it's hard when you've been given so much to see your need. My friend, no matter what life you come from, no matter who you are, whatever your status is, we all have one need. We need to be safe from our sins. We need to be safe from hell, and only Jesus Christ can do that. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you may feel like you're just as favored as Mary. You're not, but you may feel like it. But she needed a Savior, and so do you, and so do I. So on this Mother's Day, We celebrate the one who gave us birth. What our great need is, is a second birth. If you're born once, and only once, you'll die on your sins and go to hell forever. But if you're born twice, once from your mother's womb, and number two, when Jesus Christ saves your soul from sin and hell, He births you into the family of God. That second birth makes your relationship right with God, and now you're in the family of God, and you'll spend eternity with God and his family. But if you say no, it doesn't matter how favored you are. Who's the richest man in the world? Is it Elon Musk? Is he still up there? If he doesn't know Jesus Christ as his Savior, and by all appearances, he doesn't. He doesn't know Jesus Christ as his savior and God forbid, but if today was his last day on this earth, he's a gazillionaire. This is his last day in this world. He doesn't have enough money to make things right with God. And he's taken none of it with him. Somebody else is going to spend all Elon's money. It'll never be him again. Today's his last day on earth. All of his wealth and all of his riches, all of his knowledge and ability will not make him right with God. He'll still die in his sins and go to hell. You know what Elon Musk needs to do? What Mary did, what we have done. You come to Jesus Christ and say, Lord, I'm lost and I'm on my way to hell. But I believe you died for my sins and you rose again the third day. I believe you're alive and I'm trusting you. Would you please save me from my sin? Save me from hell, be my savior today. And you'll get something that Elon Musk can't afford. And that's salvation through the blood and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you'll come to him by faith. On this Mother's Day, you've at least been born once, we can tell. But you need to be born twice.