1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,480 In your Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 1. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:09,560 Matthew chapter 1. I love Christmas and I love 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,680 everything about it. And I grew up in Indiana and it 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,800 was almost a guarantee that you were going to get snow on 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:17,840 Christmas. Not always. 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,320 We didn't have snow every year, but almost every year you were 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,600 going to have some snow. And it changed that. 8 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,720 You know, when I left Indiana, I don't, I don't miss the cold. 9 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:28,320 I'll be honest with you. I don't miss it at all. 10 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,520 And I, you know, the last year that I was up there, I, I, I 11 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,560 graduated college and then I worked on staff there for, for 12 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,160 about a year at the college and the church and in the school. 13 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:41,720 And one of the jobs that I had, I was single. 14 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:43,440 I was not married. And they were like perfect job 15 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,960 for him. I had to wake up at 4:00 in the 16 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,720 morning and if it had snowed even a half an inch, I had to go 17 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:50,240 out and shovel all the sidewalks. 18 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,640 And so I got to the point where I absolutely hated snow. 19 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,600 I didn't want to one snowflake. And so when I left, I said I 20 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,440 don't care if I never see snow again. 21 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,519 And I came down here in Virginia 2006 and we did not get one snow 22 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:05,519 that year. Nothing. 23 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,720 And I said, well, maybe, maybe a little bit of snow is all right, 24 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,760 but just one or two a year is fine. 25 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,960 I'm, I've already had my fill. I don't know about you, but we 26 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,280 can go. We can go back to 75° and sunny 27 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,040 and I'm good. But anyway, I heard a story 28 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,960 about a little boy who had grown up in church, obviously realized 29 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,120 that Santa was not the one that could bring him the gifts. 30 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:24,760 He knew that God was the one that gave it to him. 31 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,040 And so he started writing a letter. 32 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:30,280 He sat down and he said, God, I've been a pretty good boy for 33 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,360 the last six months. He thought about it for a 34 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:34,360 second. He crossed it off. 35 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,600 I've been a pretty good boy for the last three months. 36 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,400 They said, well, God knows everything crossed it off. 37 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,320 I've been a pretty good boy for the last two weeks. 38 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:47,000 And he started thinking about it again. 39 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,760 He said, man, that's, that's not going to work either. 40 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,080 And so he walked over to the little, little nativity scene 41 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,360 that they had set up in their in their house on the Mantel. 42 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,400 And he climbed up there on the chair and he grabbed the little 43 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,920 figure of Mary out of the nativity scene. 44 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:04,240 And he walked over to the kitchen. 45 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,720 He grabbed the kitchen towel and he wrapped Mary up in the towel. 46 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,560 And he walked over and put that whole thing in the top drawer of 47 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,200 his dresser. And he went back to his pen and 48 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,120 paper, and he wrote, Dear God, if you ever want to see your 49 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:24,520 mother again, obviously not what Christmas is about, but Matthew 50 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,680 chapter 1, Matthew chapter 1, and verse #1 The Bible says 51 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,880 this, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of 52 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,880 David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac 53 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,840 begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. 54 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,640 And Judas begat Pheres And Zara of Tamar. 55 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,960 And Pheres begat Ezram. And Ezram begat Aram. 56 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,040 And Aram begat Aminadab, And Aminadab begat NASAN, and NASAN 57 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,480 begat Salman. And Salman begat Boaz of Rahab 58 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,720 or Rahab, as is pronounced here. And Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and 59 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,280 Obed begat Jesse. And Jesse begat David the king. 60 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,120 And David the king begat begat Solomon of her that had been the 61 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,080 wife of Urias. And we've read all that we need 62 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,960 to read this morning for me to get to my point. 63 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,000 You might be wondering what in the world? 64 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,400 And that's fair because you know, most Christians don't get 65 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,520 excited about the genealogies, right? 66 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,200 Let's be honest, the story that we're looking for for Christmas 67 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,640 is in the rest of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 and maybe even Luke 68 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:32,880 chapter 2. Why aren't we looking at those 69 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,440 stories? But there are four names in this 70 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,720 list that really stick out for out to me. 71 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,040 You know, we we know all about Joseph and Mary. 72 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:42,920 We know about the inn at Bethlehem. 73 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,320 We know about the shepherds that were feeding their flocks and 74 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,160 the angels that came to them. And, and of course, we know 75 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:50,680 about the wise men following the star. 76 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,200 We know all of those things about the story of Christmas. 77 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,640 They're all part of that wonderful story that we remember 78 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,120 every year, that we love to tell every year. 79 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,760 But there's more to the story. And I think here in this 80 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,480 passage, it's, it's very obscure, it's overlooked. 81 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,440 But Matthew gives his genealogies that are leading up 82 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,800 to the birth of Jesus Christ. And in that genealogy, we 83 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,480 actually find 4 women, which is very, very rare. 84 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,320 You, you start, you go back through the, the genealogies in 85 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,200 the Old Testament and you read through all those. 86 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:29,680 It is rare to find a woman in a genealogy, but we have four of 87 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,040 them here. Verse #3 tells us, and Judas 88 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:39,880 begat Pharahs and Zara of Tamar. Verse #5 and Salman begat Boaz 89 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,880 of Rakab, just a different same person. 90 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,640 Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse. 91 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,520 And then in verse number six, and we see Jesse begat David the 92 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,040 king and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the 93 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,920 wife of Urias. Now she's not mentioned, but we 94 00:04:57,920 --> 00:04:59,840 know who that is. If you go back and look in the 95 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:04,520 Old Testament, that is Bathsheba, the one that David 96 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:06,400 sinned with. Now there's something very 97 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,840 unique about the inclusion of these four women in this 98 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:11,600 genealogy. It was not customary in those 99 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,280 days for women to be part of the genealogies at all, especially 100 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,880 when it comes to listing these who are in the line of Jesus 101 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,240 Christ. As a matter of fact, women had 102 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,000 very little rights back in, in those days. 103 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,840 They were, they were basically possessions of their fathers 104 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:27,000 until they became possessions of their husbands. 105 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,280 And that's kind of how they were treated in a lot of cases. 106 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,480 And so you may recognize some of those names. 107 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,480 You may recognize Tamar, you may recognize Rahab, you may 108 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,400 recognize Ruth, you may recognize Bathsheba, or you may 109 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,640 not recognize them at all. But let me give you a little 110 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,200 background to each of these four women. 111 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,040 And, and, and I think it might be a little bit uncomfortable 112 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,200 this morning, but, but I think it's important for us to 113 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,400 understand where these women came from and who they were in 114 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,600 Genesis chapter 38. And you don't have to turn 115 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,160 there. I'll kind of give you the the 116 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,040 rundown here. This is the story of Tamar. 117 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,040 Now, David had a daughter named Tamar. 118 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,240 This is not the same Tamar. This is a different Tamar. 119 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,800 This is one who was most likely a Canaanite woman, which 120 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,360 obviously the Bible had told them many times in the Old 121 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,760 Testament as they were coming into the land of Canaan. 122 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,920 Don't marry the Canaanites. Don't give your daughters to 123 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,880 marry Canaanite men. Don't let your men marry 124 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,760 Canaanite women. Don't do that. 125 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,960 You are to stay separate. You are to be Israel. 126 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,280 You're to keep your line pure. Do not marry with the 127 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,640 Canaanites. This is a land that I'm 128 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,560 promising you, but I'm promising you this land so you can go in 129 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,400 and have it for yourself, not so you can mix and share it with 130 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,640 everybody else. But this woman was married to 131 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:45,160 one of the sons of Judah. Judah was one of the twelve sons 132 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,920 of Jacob, who is also a brother to Joseph. 133 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,000 That's the Tamar that we're talking about here. 134 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,920 But Tamar's husband, Judah's son died. 135 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,200 And the way that things would go back then, which very different 136 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,720 from what we do today. But if, if a brother's wife 137 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,360 died, then the brother who was living had the responsibility to 138 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,240 bring her in as his wife, to carry on the name of that 139 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,320 family. And so that's exactly what 140 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,760 happened. Tamar's husband died. 141 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,840 Her, his brother was then given Tamar to be his wife. 142 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,920 That brother died and now here's Tamar. 143 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,680 The only one that was left was a little boy not old enough to be 144 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,960 married. And so Judah told her to wait 145 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,520 for his youngest son. But he really had no intention 146 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,560 of allowing them to marry. He probably thought she was very 147 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,200 bad luck for this family lion. And what is she doing? 148 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,880 And why are all my sons dying every time they married Tamar? 149 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,920 But Tamar then posed as a prostitute, had a sexual 150 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,760 encounter with Judah who was her father-in-law, and found out 151 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,600 then that she was with child. And that's the child that's 152 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:00,880 mentioned there in verse #3 Judas or Judah begat fairest and 153 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:07,240 Zara of Tamar. Now we find the next lady 154 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,280 mentioned in Joshua chapter 2, that is Rahab. 155 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,760 Rahab was from Jericho. If you know anything about 156 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,240 Jericho, it's the first place that they came to when they 157 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,160 crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. 158 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,120 They marched around the city. Jericho is famous because the 159 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,760 walls fell down and they went in there and they took the city and 160 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,480 many things happen from there. But this is a very interesting 161 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,240 story as well because not only was Rahab A Canaanite woman, but 162 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:40,120 Rahab was also a prostitute. And she allowed the two spies to 163 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,640 come in and stay in her house and the others that that were 164 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,640 there coming to see if they could take the land. 165 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,320 But she came to recognize Jehovah as the one true God. 166 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,600 She saved those Hebrew spies and and through faith, as we're told 167 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,560 in Hebrews Chapter 11, she found favor in in God's eyes and 168 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,240 became a part of God's covenant people. 169 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:02,360 Now Joshua chapter 2 and verse 11, she said this, the Lord your 170 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,280 God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. 171 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,000 And she asked them, when you come in here to destroy this 172 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,280 city, because I know that's exactly what you're going to do 173 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,080 when you come in here to destroy the city, would you please save 174 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,120 me and my family? Because we saved you. 175 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,440 And they said, all right, we'll make a deal with you. 176 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:25,640 A scarlet cord needs to be hung out your window when we come 177 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,080 into the city. And if that scarlet cord is hung 178 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,560 in your window, then whoever is in your house will be saved when 179 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,280 we come in to take that city. And by the way, I've been to 180 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,000 Israel, I've been to Jericho. And do you know that there's 181 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,560 evidence that there was one part of that wall that did not fall 182 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:42,480 down? Rahab's house was the one that 183 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:44,120 did not fall. But the Bible says this in 184 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,800 Hebrews Chapter 11 and verse 31. She's listed. 185 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,880 Rahab is listed in the great, what we call the Hall of Faith, 186 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,080 but it says this by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with 187 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,960 them that believe not. James mentioned her in James 188 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,880 chapter 2 as somebody who was an example of faith. 189 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,600 But she tied that scarlet coat, that scarlet cord out her 190 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,600 window, and she was delivered safely. 191 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,240 Her family was delivered safely. And we find her in verse #5 192 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:14,040 Salman begat Boaz of Rahab. Now, Boaz is a man that we know 193 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,280 because we read through the entire book of Ruth. 194 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,600 And Boaz is kind of the hero of the story of the book of Ruth. 195 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,200 He he redeems Ruth back to himself when she really had 196 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,520 nothing. But most of us don't remember or 197 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:32,600 don't realize that Rahab actually was the mother of Boaz, 198 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:39,360 our third one, Ruth. The Moabitus people of Moab were 199 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,960 despised. They were outcast people. 200 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,040 The Moabites and the Ammonites had their origin in a very, a 201 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,680 very disturbing way as well. Do you remember the story of Lot 202 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,680 and his wife? They lived in Sodom and 203 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,640 Gomorrah. And God came and he said, I'm 204 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:58,200 going to destroy the entire city. 205 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:00,600 And Abraham begged him, God, if you can, just if we can just 206 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,640 find 50 righteous 4030 twenty, if I can just find 10 righteous, 207 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:07,760 can you save the city? And they couldn't find even that 208 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,080 many. And so that God came to Lot and 209 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:12,920 he said, you better get out of the city and you better take 210 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:14,800 your family with you, and you better not look back. 211 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,120 They started getting out of the city. 212 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,960 Lot's wife turned around and looked behind her, and she 213 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,920 turned into a pillar of salt. But Lot made it up into the 214 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,920 mountains with a couple of his daughters and in a moment where 215 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,160 he was not thinking clearly, obviously in the moment of of 216 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,560 horrible decision, his daughters lie with him and both of them 217 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,600 became with child by their father. 218 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,920 That is who we're talking about in this passage. 219 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,000 That's that is Ruth. She was a Moabitess of the lion 220 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,240 of the Moabites in the Ammonites. 221 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,840 In fact, Deuteronomy chapter 23 and verse #3 says an Ammonite or 222 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,360 Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. 223 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:01,120 Even to their 10th generation. Shall they not enter into the 224 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,640 congregation of the Lord forever? 225 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,680 The sons that were born of Lot's two daughters were Ammon and 226 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:12,400 Moab. What a horrible situation. 227 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,560 And yet from the Moabites along comes Ruth. 228 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,600 She was not part of the nation of Israel, but Ruth displayed 229 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,480 courageous love and an unshakable loyalty. 230 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:28,800 Ruth chapter 1 and verse 16 and 17 tells us where I where you 231 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,800 lodge, I will lodge. Where you go I will go. 232 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,560 Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. 233 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:35,880 And she accepted the God of Israel. 234 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:42,040 And she is mentioned in verse #5 Boaz begat Obed of Ruth. 235 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,040 She became the great grandmother of King David, and obviously 236 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,600 then her place took her place in the lineage of Christ. 237 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,000 And now the scripture does not give us the nationality of 238 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,760 Bathsheba. But Bathsheba was married to a 239 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:02,080 Hittite, also not a Jew, so it's also quite possible that she was 240 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,920 not Jewish either. The woman that David had an 241 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,800 adulterous affair with before he put her husband Uriah to death. 242 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,040 After marrying David, she became the mother of Solomon and like 243 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,960 the other women that were mentioned in this passage, she 244 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,880 became in the ancestral lion of Jesus Christ. 245 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,280 What's amazing to me is that Matthew does not make any 246 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,080 attempt to hide this. All Matthew had to do to keep 247 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,320 their names out of the story and to keep from highlighting these 248 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,840 facts about these women is to just not put their names in 249 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,560 there. Nobody would ever think twice 250 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,440 about the fact that that that that Tamar was in the line of 251 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:44,120 Christ and that this was her heritage or that that Ruth and 252 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,560 Rahab and Bathsheba, these women who really don't have a good 253 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:50,440 past. Nobody would think twice about 254 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,160 them being in the line of Christ if Matthew hadn't put their 255 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,840 names in there. But Matthew did for some reason. 256 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,080 Bible doesn't candy coat the facts. 257 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,520 He highlighted these four women in an age when women were 258 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,520 typically ignored. And I, and I think even beyond 259 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,520 that, he, he neglected to mention any of the other women 260 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,880 in the lineage of Jesus, which would be Sarah, Abraham's wife, 261 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:18,760 which would be Mary, the mother of Jesus. 262 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,160 Many other women that that could have been put in there, Rebecca, 263 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,720 Leah, all of them could have been put in this lineage of 264 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:29,240 Jesus Christ. And yet as they're leading up to 265 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,960 that, he doesn't put them in there. 266 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,440 Four women, as far as we can tell, none of them were Jewish. 267 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,920 All of them outcast for very different reasons, each of their 268 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,600 stories a tragedy. That is, until God changed their 269 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,560 lives. When we read the stories in the 270 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,640 Old Testament, their lives were were characterized by 271 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,560 misfortune, by desperation, by loss, by mistreatment, by shame. 272 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,440 And every one of their marriages was unusual in some way. 273 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,920 Matthew uses that list to present the identity of Jesus 274 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,200 and his right to the throne of David as he prophesied the 275 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,160 Messiah. How interesting. 276 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,920 Why would that be the case? He begins his genealogy as you 277 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,320 read in verse #1 by talking about Abraham and and King 278 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:22,160 David, Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham. 279 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,040 Matthew chapter one, verse one says he chose four women whose 280 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,400 stories began with tragedy. 4 women whose stories identified 281 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,280 the type of people that Christ was sent to seek and to save. 282 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,120 Four women whose stories were changed by this Christmas story. 283 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,280 And in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 1, the Bible says, and 284 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:44,240 she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, 285 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:48,600 for he shall save his people from their sins. 286 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,120 The moment Jesus Christ was born in that little town of 287 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,400 Bethlehem, their story changed. They were no longer named in a 288 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,360 long list of genealogies. They were now in the line of 289 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,240 Jesus Christ. And at that point, it didn't 290 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,000 matter what was in their past. It didn't matter who they were 291 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,600 before. The only thing that mattered was 292 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,840 who they became because of Jesus Christ. 293 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,360 William Barkley, a commentator, said this of these four women. 294 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,600 If Matthew had ransacked the pages of the Old Testament for 295 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,680 improbable candidates, he could not have discovered four more 296 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:20,800 incredible ancestors for Jesus Christ. 297 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,800 But surely there is something very lovely in this. 298 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,600 Here at the very beginning of the Gospel, we are given a hint 299 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:29,440 of the all embracing width of the love of God. 300 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,920 God can find his servants amongst those from whom the 301 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,120 respectable orthodox would shudder away in horror. 302 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:38,960 What is what a what a what a great reminder. 303 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,680 What, what, What you need to know this morning is that Jesus 304 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,680 Christ can change your story as well. 305 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,200 That was a long introduction, but I want to give you 3 quick 306 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,800 points this morning and talk about how Christmas changed 307 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,440 their story. Christmas changed their story. 308 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,480 Let's have a word of prayer and I'll give you 3 short points 309 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,360 this morning. Father, again, we thank you so 310 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,480 much for your goodness to us. Thank you for an opportunity we 311 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,839 have to be here today. Thank you for the fact that we 312 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:07,240 have stories like this in Your word that can help us to 313 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,599 understand that it doesn't matter who we are, doesn't 314 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,040 matter where we came from, it doesn't matter what our past is. 315 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,359 You can change it because Jesus Christ came. 316 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,000 Thank you again for all you do for us in Jesus name, Amen. 317 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,480 First thing I want you to see is this, and I don't have a fancy 318 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:21,960 alliterated outline this morning. 319 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:23,440 I've just got three simple points. 320 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:26,839 The first one is this, because our Lord included them. 321 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:33,040 He can include you 4 people, 44 ladies who if you as, as William 322 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,680 Barclay said, were to, were to go through the Old Testament and 323 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,480 try to find the least likely candidates to be in the line of 324 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,520 Christ, it would be those 4. I don't I don't know if you can 325 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,040 find anybody else that would be less likely to be in there. 326 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,520 I mean, maybe you do have some, some people who who had some 327 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,680 checkered past, but I don't know how you can find checkered past 328 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,440 any worse than what these these ladies had. 329 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,080 And I know we only brushed the surface of each of their 330 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,440 stories, but Jesus loved them very much. 331 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,320 And Jesus loves you very much. In fact, the Bible says this in 332 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,760 John chapter 3 and verse #16 probably one of the most 333 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:12,320 recognized verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that 334 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,600 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 335 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,920 should not perish, but have everlasting life. 336 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,600 That whosoever encompasses a lot of people. 337 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,600 It encompasses the entire world. It's not just Jesus Christ 338 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,520 didn't just come to be born as a baby and die on the cross and 339 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,000 raise again from the dead for a certain number of people, for a 340 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,680 certain elect people. He died for everybody. 341 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,960 And that's why the Bible says whosoever that means, anybody, 342 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,920 whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have 343 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,960 everlasting life. And I'll tell you this, many 344 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,280 people feel as if they're too unworthy for God to save them. 345 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:47,840 But what they didn't realize is that that puts them in the 346 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,000 perfect position to be able to accept Jesus Christ as your 347 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,040 Savior. If you come to Christ with all 348 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,000 of your good things and all of your good deeds and all of the 349 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,640 things that you've accomplished for him and everything that 350 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,440 you've tried to do in his name, and you come to him and you say, 351 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,360 I'm accepting you because look what I've done for you. 352 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,560 That's not salvation. You have to come to Christ in 353 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,920 faith plus nothing. It's, it's, it's all him or it's 354 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,520 not salvation. And so many people will come and 355 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:17,080 say, well, I've done all of these things. 356 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,200 Certainly God will allow me into heaven someday. 357 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,120 No, it's the ones who come and say, God, I'm a worthless 358 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,720 Sinner. I don't deserve heaven. 359 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,760 I don't deserve your love. I don't deserve your mercy. 360 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:29,640 I don't deserve your forgiveness. 361 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,400 But I know you want to give it to me and I'm willing to accept 362 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,400 it. Those are the people that can 363 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,800 come and, and get salvation. And so when you have somebody 364 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,400 who says, Oh, I'm so unworthy, if if anybody doesn't deserve 365 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,200 Christ, it's me, you're in the perfect position to receive 366 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,120 Christ for yourself. The first step in coming to 367 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,720 Christ is to realize that we are all sinners. 368 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,360 Romans chapter 3 and verse #23 says, for all have sinned and 369 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:03,720 come short of the glory of God. I don't think, and I'm not going 370 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,640 to ask you to do this because I don't want to embarrass you if 371 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,800 you feel like it, but I don't think anybody would raise their 372 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,040 hand and say, I've never sinned. I've never done anything wrong 373 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,240 in my life. Like everybody realizes that 374 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,920 they have, right? It doesn't say for all have 375 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,880 sinned except your name and come short of the glory of God, 376 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:21,440 right? All means all. 377 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:22,920 That's everybody, that's all of us. 378 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,520 We all are sinners. We all, we all have done things 379 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:28,880 that have gone against the law of God. 380 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,200 We've all done things to break the commandments of God. 381 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,160 Boy, you just start with the 10 commandments. 382 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,560 There's a lot of commandments in the Bible, but there's 10. 383 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,280 Thou shalt not bear false witness. 384 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,600 You know what that is? That's a lie, right? 385 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:43,480 That broke it for most of us right there. 386 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,360 In fact, probably all of us right there. 387 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:47,760 I don't know if there's anybody in the world that's never told a 388 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:49,920 lie. Thou shalt not steal. 389 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:54,200 Well, there's, there's, there's so many things that we have done 390 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,200 that break God's law. And just to break God's law one 391 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,520 time makes us a criminal in his eyes, right? 392 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,880 The same way that somebody who goes out and murders somebody 393 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,920 else and stands before a judge and, and you say, well, why are 394 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,040 you putting me in jail? I've only done it once. 395 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,560 I've only murdered one person, right? 396 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,160 You think that's ridiculous? Yeah. 397 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,080 You murdered somebody. You go to jail for that, right? 398 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,680 And the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the 399 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,160 glory of God, and we stand before him. 400 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,720 And we say, well, what are you condemning me for? 401 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,880 I only sinned once. For all have sinned and come 402 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,280 short of the glory of God. That's all it takes is 1 sin. 403 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:33,800 One sin is enough to keep us out of heaven. 404 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,960 And you might be a good person. You might have done a lot of 405 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:41,840 good things in your life, but God is absolutely holy. 406 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,480 And because he is absolutely holy, he can't even look upon 407 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,880 sin. So it doesn't matter if you have 408 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:52,080 10,000 sins or one sin, it's enough to keep us out of heaven, 409 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,120 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 410 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,440 It's almost like you, you picture sin as a bomb, right? 411 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,920 And you put a bomb in the middle of a bridge that's leading to 412 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:06,000 heaven, and all it takes is 1 and you blow that bridge up and 413 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,760 now you can't get across. It doesn't matter if there's 414 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,240 tons of the rest of the bridge left, right? 415 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,200 I mean, you got 10,000 sins. You blew the entire bridge up. 416 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,920 There's no chance for you to get into heaven, right? 417 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,320 But you had one, and you blew that bridge up. 418 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,160 And a giant section is missing and you can't get across. 419 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,520 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 420 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,120 When we're too proud to realize our need for a Savior, we cannot 421 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,160 be saved. When we look at ourselves as too 422 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:38,120 good as to need saving, then that can never lead to 423 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,040 salvation. The Bible says this in Titus 424 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:44,240 chapter 3 and verse #5 not by works of righteousness, which we 425 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,320 have done, but according to His mercy. 426 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,400 He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of 427 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,360 the Holy Ghost, not by works of righteousness. 428 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,040 It doesn't have anything to do with me, has everything to do 429 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,960 with what Christ did for me. When we are when we see 430 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,160 ourselves as sinners having no hope. 431 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,480 When you get to that spot in the bridge that you blew up because 432 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,960 of your sin and you can see the other side, but there's no way 433 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,960 that you can get there, then you're in the perfect spot when 434 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,320 you say God, I can't make that junk myself. 435 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,800 I can't I can't go from here to heaven myself. 436 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,440 I need a savior. That's when you're in the 437 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,200 perfect position to accept Christ. 438 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,440 See, when we see ourselves as a Sinner with no hope, that's when 439 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,120 Christ steps in and says, let me be your Savior. 440 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,600 Let me take the blame that was meant for you. 441 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,000 Let me take the sins that you've committed in your life and I'll 442 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,400 take those on myself. And so when you stand before 443 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,800 God, he's not going to see you and all the ugliness of your 444 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,040 sin. He's not going to see all of 445 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,000 those things because I took those for you. 446 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,480 Those are all on me. Only thing that God sees when he 447 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,280 looks at you will be the righteousness of Jesus Christ 448 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,280 here. You, you give me your sins and 449 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:05,040 I'll give you my righteousness. Boy, what an exchange doesn't 450 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,680 make sense to anybody in a, in a, in their right mind. 451 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,960 Why would you do that? I'm, I'm, I've never committed a 452 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:16,000 crime. Nobody's ever arrested me and, 453 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,960 and, and put me on trial to put me in jail for something that 454 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,040 I've done. I'm I'm clean as the law goes. 455 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,280 And now here's somebody else on the other side who, who is 456 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,880 standing before a judge for murder. 457 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,560 And I walk over there and I say, hey, let me, let me stand in 458 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,800 your place. You can go stand over there as 459 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,440 somebody who's never committed a crime. 460 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,040 I'll stand in your spot as somebody who is guilty of 461 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,880 murder. Doesn't make sense. 462 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,640 Why would you do that? You're you're, you're throwing 463 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,040 away your entire life and you're giving a murderer a free pass to 464 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,280 go out and live his. Why would you do that? 465 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,960 Doesn't make sense in our minds, but that's exactly what Jesus 466 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:52,880 Christ did for us. He's standing. 467 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,400 We're standing here as guilty sinners. 468 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,920 We have no standing before God. We have no hope of ever escaping 469 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,480 that punishment that's going to come because of our sins. 470 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,400 And yet here's Jesus Christ on the other side, Not only not not 471 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:10,520 guilty before the law, but never done one thing wrong, never sin. 472 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,760 He was the Son of God and the Son of man at the same time. 473 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,160 He was perfect. And he looks over at us and he 474 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,320 says, I love him so much. I love her so much. 475 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,320 I can't watch them. I can't bear to stand them. 476 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,760 Pay the penalty for their sin. Here. 477 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,080 You come over and you take my place and I'll come over and 478 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,520 I'll take yours. I'll stand here before God as 479 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,960 the condemn you. Stand before God as somebody who 480 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:36,520 is clean and righteous before him. 481 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,120 And how foolish to stand here as somebody who's condemned before 482 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,200 God and say appreciate it, thank you. 483 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,320 I'm good enough. Certainly God's going to see me 484 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,360 and say, well, come on into heaven. 485 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:50,920 Look at all the good things he's done. 486 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,600 Yeah, I know he's got a lot of bad, but look at all the good 487 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,680 he's done. No, that's not how the law sees 488 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,920 it. If you murder somebody, doesn't 489 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:04,240 matter if you taught in school for 50 years and we're involved 490 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,480 in all in every charitable outreach there was possibly 491 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,520 available to be involved. It doesn't matter what you've 492 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,560 done in your life. If you've murdered somebody and 493 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,680 you're guilty, you're going to go to prison. 494 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:18,040 And the same is true with us. We're sinners. 495 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:21,160 There is a penalty for that sin. And that penalty the Bible says 496 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,680 is death for the wages of sin is death. 497 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,520 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our 498 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,680 Lord. Wouldn't it, wouldn't it be 499 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:41,360 really interesting if the judge and the one who is innocent, 500 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,560 we're all in on it together, right? 501 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,040 If the judge was secretly working behind the scenes to get 502 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,800 the criminal off and put somebody in who was innocent, 503 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:53,960 right? That's exactly what happened 504 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,400 with Jesus Christ. God, the righteous judge is 505 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,800 standing there. Jesus is on one side. 506 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,360 We're on the other side. God is the judge and he's 507 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:07,760 telling Jesus, hey, go take their place. 508 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,080 He's going to be guilty. If if you don't take his place, 509 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,480 he's going to be guilty. He's going to have to. 510 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:14,520 I'm going to have to condemn him to hell forever. 511 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,360 Go, go take his place. Jesus. 512 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,880 I can do that. Yeah, you can do that. 513 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:25,080 In fact, that's the whole reason why we've why, why I created the 514 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:26,120 earth. Well, the whole, it's the whole 515 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,480 reason why I've done everything. It's a, it's a, it's a plan that 516 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,480 I've had from before I even created anything. 517 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,480 You were going to go and you're, you're going to, you're going to 518 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,040 die in their place. And how crazy that Jesus says, 519 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,840 OK, I'll go die in their place. But he did it for you and he did 520 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,800 it for me. We don't deserve it. 521 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,560 There's nothing that there's nothing in a, in a criminal that 522 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,160 deserves for somebody who was innocent to stand in their 523 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,160 place. But that's what God did for us. 524 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,880 That's what Jesus Christ did for us. 525 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,840 John chapter 1 and verse #12 says, But as many as received 526 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:04,280 him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to 527 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,560 them that believe on his name. What an amazing thing. 528 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:15,920 Not only did I stand here as a condemned Sinner waiting to get 529 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,440 my punishment, waiting to be condemned to hell forever, but 530 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:24,160 Jesus says, hang on, let me take his place. 531 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,640 I'll come over here. I'll stand as the one condemned. 532 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,040 Let him go over here and stand in this box as somebody who's 533 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,320 never done anything wrong. And we make that exchange. 534 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,920 And then the judge says, and you know what? 535 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,880 Now only are you not condemned? You're going to be my son. 536 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:52,600 You're going to be my daughter. You're coming home with me boy. 537 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,880 Talk about I don't deserve that. Talk about something that is is 538 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,120 just not fair. I hear people say that all the 539 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,280 time. Oh, life's not fair. 540 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,480 No, it's not. If we got what we really 541 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:07,040 deserved, it would be a whole lot worse. 542 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:14,560 But because our Lord included those 4 ladies, He can include 543 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,040 you. I want to tell you this number 2 544 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,440 because He changed their story. He can also take your life and 545 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,120 change your story. If you want to turn to these 546 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,600 passages, you're welcome to. I have put some of them up on 547 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,320 the screen to make it a little bit easier for you. 548 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,040 But the Bible says in first John chapter 5 and verse #13 these 549 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,640 things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the 550 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:40,960 Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life and 551 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,920 that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. 552 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:45,480 It's not by the good things that we do. 553 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,200 In fact, Ephesians chapter 2 makes that very plain. 554 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,760 For by grace are you safe through faith, and then not of 555 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,000 yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of 556 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,600 works, lest any man should boast. 557 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,480 If it was about how much good I can do #1 how would I ever know 558 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:06,280 that I've done enough good? I would never, as the Bible says 559 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,400 in first John chapter 5, know that I have eternal life. 560 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:11,760 Because I would never know when I've done enough. 561 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,040 I would never know when I've reached that tipping point where 562 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,080 here's all my bad works, here's my good works, and finally my 563 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,520 good works are starting to outweigh my bad works and 564 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,360 finally God's going to have to let me in. 565 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,360 But I don't know. It's, it's such a fine balance. 566 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:27,680 I don't know if I'm ever going to. 567 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,280 That's not knowing that you have eternal life. 568 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,000 But he says that you may know that you have eternal life, 569 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:35,680 right? How do you know? 570 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,680 Well, because it doesn't have anything to do with the works, 571 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,560 doesn't have anything to do with how good I am or how bad I am. 572 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,400 If it had anything to do with how good I am, then it's all on 573 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,480 me. It's it's about what I've done. 574 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,600 And then it doesn't even matter what Jesus Christ did. 575 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,560 Why does it matter if Jesus Christ came and was born as a 576 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,160 baby? Why does it matter if he died on 577 00:30:58,160 --> 00:30:59,800 a cross? Why does it matter if he rose 578 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,840 again from the dead if that was only part of the story? 579 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,400 If that was only part of it, He's either got the power to 580 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:11,440 save us by his death burial in resurrection, or he doesn't. 581 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,080 He doesn't have half power and we got to do the rest. 582 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,680 That's why he says not of works, lest any man should boast. 583 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,800 If I'm in heaven telling everybody that I'm there because 584 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,720 of how good I am, then it's all about me and my works. 585 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,360 But if I'm in heaven saying I don't deserve to be here, but 586 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,080 Jesus Christ paid the penalty for me and I'm here because of 587 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:37,880 him, then it's not of works lest any man should boast. 588 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,880 It's not by baptism, it's not by communion, it's not by church 589 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,640 attendance, it's not by giving money to the poor, it's not by 590 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,680 giving money to church. It's not by any of those things. 591 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,120 None of those things can buy you a spot in heaven, and the Bible 592 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,160 is very clear about that. It's not just my opinion. 593 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,680 We could look at a lot of verses, in fact, that this verse 594 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,000 right here, Ephesians 28 and 9, makes that very clear. 595 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,800 It's not by anything that we can do, not because we deserve it. 596 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,040 It's because He loves us and because He desires for each one 597 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,080 of us to come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior. 598 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,680 Romans chapter 6 and verse 23 I quoted already For the wages of 599 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,560 sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through 600 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,640 Jesus Christ our Lord. There comes a point in every 601 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,200 single person's life where they have to make a choice to either 602 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:31,320 accept or reject Jesus Christ. You cannot remain neutral. 603 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,720 There's no neutral ground. You have two choices. 604 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,920 You're either going to accept Him or you're going to reject 605 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,040 Him. There's no way around that 606 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,000 decision, and to do nothing is to choose not to. 607 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,360 We all face the consequences of our decisions, and I want you to 608 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,840 understand this. Lastly #3 if you accept Jesus 609 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,760 Christ as your Savior, he can write a new story. 610 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,400 He can write a story of restoration, a story of grace, a 611 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,920 story of hope. I will ask you to turn over to 612 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:05,920 Ephesians chapter 2. Christmas story is more than 613 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:11,760 just a baby born in a Manger. It's a story of a life capital L 614 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,520 that was given to mankind to change our eternal destiny and 615 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,920 to write a new chapter to our story. 616 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,280 We were once outcast and you still might be. 617 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,200 We were once on our way to hell and you still might be. 618 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,680 But there is hope, because Jesus Christ can and will change that 619 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,640 story, if you'll open up your heart and allow Him to come in 620 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,640 and write your story instead of trying to do it for yourself. 621 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,960 Of course, if we write our story and he died and he went to 622 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:41,840 heaven, that's how we'd all write our story. 623 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,000 But we don't get to be the ones that write it. 624 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,560 In fact, the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 625 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:52,760 #12 that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens 626 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,360 from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants 627 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,480 of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. 628 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:04,440 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made 629 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,679 nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath 630 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:12,120 made both, 1 and hath broken down the middle wall of 631 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:16,920 partition between us, verse #17 and came and preached peace to 632 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,679 you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 633 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,760 For through Him we both have access by 1 Spirit unto the 634 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:25,880 Father. Now therefore, you are no more 635 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,360 strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints 636 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,600 and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of 637 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,400 the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief 638 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,560 cornerstone. Boy, what a wonderful passage, 639 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,199 Tamar. When nobody else cares for you, 640 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,920 Christ does. Are you tired of being 641 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:46,239 overlooked? Are you tired of being 642 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:48,080 forgotten? Are you tired of being rejected? 643 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,639 Are you tired of being underappreciated when no one 644 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:56,199 believes you, no one chooses you, no one accepts you. 645 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,360 Jesus Christ does. He chose you to be included in 646 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,880 his lineage. Rahab. 647 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,160 You no longer have to remember you for what you used to be. 648 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,600 We can remember you. Forget what God changed you to 649 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,640 become, Ruth. We don't think of you as a 650 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,560 stranger anymore. You're one of the mothers in the 651 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:24,520 lineage of Jesus Christ. Bathsheba, your story has 652 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,360 changed from one that began with loss and shame to one that's a 653 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:32,720 story of hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. 654 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,520 Every one of those women had something in their past that was 655 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,680 looked on with shame. And I told you it was going to 656 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,800 be a little bit uncomfortable as we talked about their stories. 657 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:47,680 But it's necessary for you to understand that their past were 658 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,960 full of shame, that their past were full of things that they 659 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,720 were not proud of. So their pasts were full of 660 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:56,840 things that most of the world looks down upon. 661 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,960 They were at times despised, Some of them were victims, but 662 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,760 they were abused and abhorred and mistreated and despised and 663 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,960 rejected and even condemned until the Lord changed their 664 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:12,080 story, they accepted him, they changed their minds, they 665 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,120 changed their hearts, they changed their direction and God 666 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,960 changed their lives. So the question for you this 667 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,720 morning is will you accept the gift that God is offering you 668 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,520 today? Doesn't matter how bad you think 669 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,600 you are, doesn't matter how good you think you are. 670 00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:31,600 The story of Christmas changed their story and it can change 671 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:35,640 yours as well. Turn, if you will, to one last 672 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:42,120 passage in Romans chapter 5. AJ Gordon was a Baptist preacher 673 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:46,240 many years ago of the Clarendon Church in Boston, MA. 674 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:49,120 And one day he met a young boy that was, that had come into 675 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,840 the, to the auditorium there. And it was carrying a rusty cage 676 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,400 with several birds that were flooding around in the inside of 677 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,240 the cage. And the pastor walked out of his 678 00:36:58,240 --> 00:36:59,960 office when he heard somebody open the door. 679 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:01,840 And he walked in there and he saw that boy standing there with 680 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,160 that cage and those birds in there. 681 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:04,800 And he said, what are you, what are you doing, young man? 682 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,640 What are, what are, what are those birds? 683 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,760 They said, well, I, I just captured them out in the field 684 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:13,480 and I put them in this, in this cage because I wanted to watch 685 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:14,880 him for a little while. And he said, well, what are you 686 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:16,240 going to do with them after you're done with them? 687 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:18,280 And he said, well, I suppose I'll just take them home and 688 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,880 feed him to the cat. And the pastor said, I'll tell 689 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,920 you what, I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds. 690 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,040 And that boy said, oh, it's not they're just wild. 691 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,160 They're just wild birds. And they don't even have a nice 692 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:33,760 song. They don't even really sing at 693 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:34,840 all. It's not they're not worth 694 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,440 $2.00. And he said, but I'll give you 695 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,240 $2 for them. The boy said, all right, but 696 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,520 you're making a bad deal. And he walked out Jingle in 697 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,120 those couple coins in his pocket. 698 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,960 And that pastor, AJ Gordon, walked out the back of the 699 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,320 sanctuary there, and he opened that cage and he let those birds 700 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:56,480 fly away. And that Sunday morning he came 701 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:01,440 back into the pulpit and he brought that cage with him, just 702 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,000 a little wire cage. It wasn't much to it didn't even 703 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,800 hardly look like a bird cage. But he took that empty cage in 704 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,960 the pulpit to illustrate the, the, the, the, the coming of 705 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,680 Christ to seek and to save the lost. 706 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:17,920 He paid for them with his own precious blood. 707 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:19,880 And this is what he said. He said that boy told me the 708 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,040 birds were not songsters. But when I released them and 709 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,440 they winged their way heaven what it seemed to me they were 710 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:29,840 singing redeemed, redeemed, redeemed. 711 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,160 That's Christmas. That's the message of Christmas. 712 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:37,320 And the message of these times is the is the song of those wild 713 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,080 birds in the in the in the song of every song that's sung in 714 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,160 this season is all about redeemed. 715 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,440 Every gift that we give under the tree is a, is a, is a 716 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,480 reminder that we have been redeemed back to Jesus Christ. 717 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,520 The word of the shepherds redeemed, the word of Mary, the 718 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,040 assurance that Mary received redeemed. 719 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,960 The star that the the wise men followed redeemed and reminds us 720 00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:02,960 the whole story of Christmas reminds us of the fact that we 721 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,240 can be redeemed back to God because of what he did for us. 722 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:10,400 You and I have been trapped by sin, but Christ has purchased 723 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,840 our redemption. We have been redeemed. 724 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,880 Every one of us has been redeemed back to God. 725 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,680 And yet there's still people who turn around and they say, I 726 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:22,680 don't want it. You can keep your redemption. 727 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,400 You can. I'll take the punishment that's 728 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,000 coming to me because of my sin. I'll have this. 729 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:30,600 I'll enjoy my life. I'll, I'll live in the sin as 730 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,840 long as I want to. You can keep it. 731 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:38,680 How foolish. How foolish for somebody who has 732 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,600 been given a pardon. How foolish for somebody who can 733 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,640 get away from the punishment that comes from their sin. 734 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:49,800 How foolish for somebody who doesn't have to spend an 735 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:53,520 eternity in hell and not only doesn't have to spend an 736 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,320 eternity in hell, but has been promised an eternity in heaven 737 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:02,240 with Jesus, with the mansions and the streets of gold and all 738 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:04,440 the other promises that we have of heaven. 739 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,680 And to say, Nah, I'd rather enjoy it in this life. 740 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,520 I'd rather live my life the way that I want to live it. 741 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:16,480 I'll take the punishment that's coming at the end when you've 742 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:20,200 already been redeemed. The payment has already been 743 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:24,240 made. The sacrifice has already been 744 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:27,600 made. Everything has already been done 745 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:31,280 for you. You don't have to spend a minute 746 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,760 in hell. You don't have to spend a minute 747 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:45,360 paying for your sins. Jesus Christ, the righteous, the 748 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,080 one who never did anything wrong, the one who doesn't 749 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:59,120 deserve any punishment, walked over to our side and tells us, 750 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:02,560 you, you go stand over there in my place, I'll take yours. 751 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:07,640 That's why I came. That's why I was born in that 752 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:10,680 Manger. That's, that's, that's why I 753 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:15,920 lived my life on earth with humans. 754 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:19,800 That's why I put up with all the things that I put up with. 755 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,600 That's why I did everything that I did. 756 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:25,080 And that's why I, I, I agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane 757 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:27,720 because I knew how difficult that would be. 758 00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:30,160 And I knew that God was going to turn his back on me because I'm 759 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,840 taking this sin on myself. I knew that's what was going to 760 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,480 happen. But I love you so much. 761 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:43,600 I don't want to see you have to take that punishment. 762 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:47,520 Please. Here's the gift. 763 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,520 The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 764 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,680 Please, it's here. It's yours. 765 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:56,360 I've already done everything that you need to do. 766 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:00,120 Won't you just accept it? You don't have to stand 767 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,560 condemned before God. You don't have to be the one who 768 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:05,920 pays for your sins. I'll take the payment for you. 769 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:08,200 I've already taken the payment for you. 770 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,960 Just let me have it. Just let me have it. 771 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:16,320 Just accept my gift. Somebody said this. 772 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,280 If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent 773 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,720 us an educator. If our greatest need had been 774 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:25,040 technology, God would have sent us a scientist. 775 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,760 If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an 776 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:29,720 economist. If our greatest need had been 777 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:31,880 pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. 778 00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,400 But our greatest need was forgiveness. 779 00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:40,600 So God sent us a Savior. I enjoy the trees and the lights 780 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:44,360 and the festivities and all the things that that are are part of 781 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:47,440 the season of Christmas. But the true beauty of Christmas 782 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:49,240 is not found in any of those things. 783 00:42:49,240 --> 00:42:53,040 It's found in the eternal fact that we read in Romans chapter 5 784 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,960 and verse #8. But God commendeth his love 785 00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:01,640 toward us. God gave His love to us in that 786 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:06,960 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 787 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:09,800 All through history God sought us. 788 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:13,360 Even when our attitudes and our actions were against Him. 789 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,880 He was for us. When we were at our very worst. 790 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,840 God gave us His very best. Will you accept the gift of His 791 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,240 Son? To reject it is to continue 792 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:29,600 living life in misery, in defeat, in discouragement, in 793 00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:36,520 despair and shame, in emptiness. Every one of those women whose 794 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:40,880 lives were changed by the Christmas story came to the 795 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:46,560 realization that their past was nothing to be proud of, but 796 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:52,120 their future in Christ was something that would hide their 797 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:53,960 past under the blood of Jesus Christ. 798 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:59,440 God can change your life. He can rewrite your story 799 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,600 through the Savior that was born as a baby all those years ago. 800 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:10,520 Christmas changed their story. Christmas can change yours too. 801 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:14,680 Won't you let him? Won't you let him? 802 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:17,800 Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so 803 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:22,200 much for your goodness to us. We thank you for the fact that 804 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:24,640 we can have eternal life. We thank you for the fact that 805 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:29,760 we can accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and God. 806 00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:32,520 I do pray that if there is even one person in here this morning 807 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:37,280 that does not know for sure that Jesus Christ as their Savior, 808 00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:40,680 does not know that their sins are covered under the blood of 809 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:42,840 Jesus Christ, does not know that they're on their way to heaven. 810 00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:46,480 God, I pray that you'd help them to make that decision for you 811 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:52,520 today. Thank you so much for loving me 812 00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:57,560 enough that I was allowed to hear the message of the gospel 813 00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:01,240 and accept it for myself. Pray the same for everybody else 814 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:05,160 in here this morning again for all you do for us in Jesus name, 815 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:06,000 Amen, if you.