1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,560 Good to see everybody who has made it here this morning to 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:06,680 worship, thankful for your presence and your visitor here. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,040 We're so thankful that you're here and we welcome you back 4 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,920 each and every time that we assemble and you're able to 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:18,120 moving forward this morning, I wanted to continue kind of the 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:22,960 study we've had going on in Second Samuel with David and 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,640 Absalom, but I just ran out of time to put something together. 8 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,680 And so I'm going to give a lesson. 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,800 I gave, it's been maybe been five or six years or so already 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,800 since I've given it. But this lesson really kind of 11 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,280 ties into what we've been studying about how the Old 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,480 Testament points to Jesus, how the whole book of the Bible is 13 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:47,000 about Jesus and, and coming into the New Testament, how this is 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,480 the announcement of Jesus and what he is going to be doing. 15 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:53,240 And, and so I think it, it kind of hopefully flows into what 16 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,200 we've been kind of learning about in second Samuel. 17 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,280 We're going to be studying in Matthew chapter 1 and 2. 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:03,680 We're not going to be going through verse by verse. 19 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,960 We're just going to be kind of taking this of overall what it's 20 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,920 telling us moving forward. And I hope and my, my, I want us 21 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,320 to see that our, that the focus in our lives in this text is 22 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,480 solely on Jesus and what he has done and is doing. 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,600 I want us to see Jesus in this text this morning. 24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,800 And it's a very simple aim for the next few minutes that I 25 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,560 have. And my aim is to show that Jesus 26 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:34,040 that in God's word we see him in a way by the time that maybe 27 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:39,360 we're finished, that we'll have a a more grasp of who he is and 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,600 what he does and have a greater love for who Jesus is by the 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,440 time we're done. And if we've been Christians for 30 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,840 most of our lives for 5670 years, whatever it may be, maybe 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,440 in a few minutes, we have a fresh way of understanding who 32 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,840 Jesus is. So that's my point. 33 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,520 That's what we're hopefully going to be studying this 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,960 morning. And I want to show you in eight 35 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,080 ways, Jesus changes everything. We're going to go through eight 36 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:12,320 points here, starting in Matthew chapter 1, verse one. 37 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,040 And this is how the New Testament opens up in the Bible. 38 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,360 It says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the 39 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,840 son of David, the son of Abraham. 40 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,160 We're going to stop there and we're going to dissect that a 41 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,440 little bit. First of all, Jesus redefines 42 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,040 history. That's the number one way Jesus 43 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,160 changes everything is he redefines history. 44 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,720 The first book of the New Testament starts with Jesus's 45 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,960 genealogy, a list of names. And honestly, I've always kind 46 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,840 of just skipped these first few verses when I read, you know, 47 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:49,400 who wants to read a list of names? 48 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,920 You know, if we, if you know, if we're being honest with 49 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,480 ourselves, we kind of skip over, right. 50 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,720 But you know, we want to get to the good stuff, to the meat and 51 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,200 the potatoes. If you want to say we don't want 52 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,040 to read a bunch of list of names, but it Matthew calls this 53 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,480 it's really an important list of names when we slow down and look 54 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,040 at it. Matthew calls us the book of the 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,840 genealogy of Jesus Christ and if there's any confusion. 56 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,080 Christ is not Jesus's last name. It is a title that is the 57 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,160 anointed 1 the Messiah, the prime promised one ever since 58 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,240 the interests of sin into the world in the beginning of the 59 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,840 Bible, God promised the coming of the anointed one of the 60 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:34,280 Messiah who would defeat sin and deliver people from sin. 61 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,160 And if we remember it back in early Genesis in chapter 3 of 62 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,560 Genesis, right after sin into the world, God said to the 63 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,280 serpent the to the tempter in in verse 15 of Genesis 3 says I 64 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,720 will put enmity between you and the woman and between your 65 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,760 offspring and her offspring. And then it talks about the 66 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,560 offspring from woman. He says he shall bruise your 67 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,040 head and you shall bruise his heel. 68 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,360 That so the tempter, the serpent would bruise the heel of the one 69 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,000 who would come, but this one who would come from the offspring of 70 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,880 woman would bruise the tempters head. 71 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,920 Some translations actually say that he will crush your head. 72 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,279 So what Matthew out of the gate Matthew was shouting here like 73 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:22,360 Jesus the snake crusher is here. He is going to take care of what 74 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,800 the problem has been for many, many years. 75 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,920 Jesus is the offspring from the woman and he has come to conquer 76 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,840 sin and Satan. And the rest of the chapter will 77 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,960 tell us a really a miraculous story of how Jesus will be born 78 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:41,920 uniquely from the offspring of a woman and not from man, not from 79 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,240 Adam, not from the first man who sinned. 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,080 This man, Jesus would not be like us. 81 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,960 He would not succumb to sin in any way. 82 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:51,160 He would actually save us from sin. 83 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,000 And if we go back to the book of Matthew here in verse one, like 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,560 it says before the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and 85 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:05,840 then it says the son of David. So Jesus is the offspring from 86 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:08,760 David who has come to reign as king forever. 87 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,040 And back in Samuel, second Samuel 7, we read that David 88 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,800 wanted to build the temple of God, but God told him, no, 89 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,440 you're not going to be building the temple of God. 90 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,560 My, your son Sam Solomon's going to be building that temple. 91 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,400 And in that passage God promised David that his offspring would 92 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,640 continue and then the one from his line would reign his king 93 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,600 forever. In second Samuel 2 verses 94 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,160 Chapter 7, verses 12 and 13, where God said to David, when 95 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,480 your days are fulfilled and and you rest with your father's, I 96 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,080 will set up your seat after you, who will come from your body, 97 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,600 and I will establish his Kingdom. 98 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,880 He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the 99 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:53,640 throne of his Kingdom forever. And it's obvious that that 100 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,920 promise was initially just a reference to Solomon, but we 101 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,000 notice it's it's more about more than just Solomon because the 102 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,840 throne of his Kingdom, it says will be established forever. 103 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,320 We read the same thing in second Samuels Chapter 7, verse 16, 104 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,720 where God said to David, your house and your Kingdom shall be 105 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,400 made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established 106 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,120 forever. And when we read the rest of the 107 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,640 Old Testament, it's really that that promise is repeated over 108 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,080 and over and over again in the Old Testament. 109 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,960 In Isaiah Chapter 9, it talks about the Prince of Peace who 110 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:32,560 would come and sit on the throne of David. 111 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,560 Jeremiah 23 verses 5 and 6 tells about a king from the line of 112 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,800 David who would bring perfect justice and righteousness onto 113 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:46,760 the earth. Ezekiel chapter 3724 and 25 114 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,480 tells about a Davidic king who would reign over a new covenant 115 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,280 for all nations. We can go on and on and on and 116 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,520 on. This is all in the Old Testament 117 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,000 repeating this promise. And the point here is that 118 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,320 throughout the Old Testament, God's people were continually 119 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:07,440 looking for an earthly king, for somebody that they could put 120 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,280 their eyes on and grasp a hold of, have a physical king to 121 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:18,160 reign over Israel. But what Matthew was saying here 122 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,480 that that king has come. Jesus is here. 123 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:29,360 And I want to show you here in Matthew one, verse 17, as we 124 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,600 read the list of these names, you know, it's not really a 125 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,040 comprehensive genealogy. If you want to say Matthew 126 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,720 leaves out a couple of generations for whatever reason, 127 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,280 you know, maybe we wish we could leave you out a few people in 128 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,880 our family members in our line of genealogy. 129 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:49,520 But but we, you know, we, we understand that not all of the 130 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,600 line or the, the, the family tree of Jesus is listed here in 131 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:59,680 this list here in Matthew in verse 17 says all the 132 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,200 generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations and 133 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,360 from David to the deportation to Babylon, Babylon 14 generations. 134 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,280 And from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ 14 135 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,120 generations. Matthew was putting a stamp 136 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,320 saying that Jesus is from the lion of King David. 137 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,800 And if we go back to verse one, Jesus is the son of David. 138 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:22,040 That's why that reference is there. 139 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:23,560 And he's also the son of Abraham. 140 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,960 We see there in verse one, so one more. 141 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,360 If we go back to the Old Testament again, we remember 142 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,000 what's said in Genesis 12 verses one through 13 when God said 143 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,120 said to Abraham. Now the Lord has said to 144 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,159 Abraham, go out of your country from your family and from your 145 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:43,360 father's house to a land that I will show you, and I will make 146 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,480 you a great nation. I will bless you and make your 147 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,440 name great, and you shall be a blessing. 148 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,440 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who 149 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,800 curses you, and in all the time and in you all the families of 150 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,520 the earth shall be blessed. If you keep reading in Genesis 151 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,480 17 verses 1516 where God tells Abraham that he would bring a 152 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,840 blessing to all the nations and kings would come from his line. 153 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:12,920 It says in in chapter 49, verse 10 that from the line of Judah 154 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,520 will come a king whom shall be the obedience of the peoples. 155 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,040 And then when we get back here to Matthew verses one and two, 156 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,480 it says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the 157 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,080 son of David, the son of Abraham. 158 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,280 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was the father of 159 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,080 Jacob and Jacob the father of Judah. 160 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,200 So we see Jesus as the offspring of Abraham through that line, 161 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,720 through Judah, who will bless all nations. 162 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,000 And so sometimes, you know, I used to think, what isn't the 163 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,120 whole, the Old Testament about David? 164 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:48,480 You know, what about all that history? 165 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,400 What about David? What about the kingdoms that 166 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,640 were set up? And we don't want to miss this. 167 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,480 And we've said this multiple times here. 168 00:09:54,880 --> 00:10:00,040 The Bible is making it clear in this passage that nothing in 169 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,480 history is accidental. Nothing throughout its history, 170 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,560 from the very beginning, everything in the Old Testament 171 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:11,240 has been pointing to the king who would come. 172 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,280 And then the first verse in the New Testament, the Bible is 173 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,240 announcing the king has come. Jesus Christ, the son of David, 174 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:23,160 the son of Abraham is here. Here is when he is entering into 175 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,680 our physical history. And this is really important for 176 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:31,280 us to hear because you and I are not the center of history. 177 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,760 Our generation is not the center of history. 178 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,080 The United States is not the center of history. 179 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,760 Kingdoms have come, leaders have come, billions and billions of 180 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,800 people have come and gone. Rulers, empires, countries, 181 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:55,120 nations, presidents, dictators have come and gone. 182 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:00,120 But at the center of it all is still Jesus ruling as king. 183 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,520 And praise God for that. That's the only the first point 184 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,760 I'm going to make here. So we got 7 more. 185 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,760 Secondly, Jesus reunites humanity. 186 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,120 Jesus redefines history and Jesus reunites humanity. 187 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,720 Here we have in this list of people different generations, 188 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,440 different backgrounds. We've seen there are men and 189 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:29,360 women, Jews and Gentiles, from upper class and also from kings 190 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,800 all the way down to lower class prostitute. 191 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,080 But they all have one thing in common and that is they all 192 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,680 point to Jesus. So if you hold your place there 193 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:41,920 in Matthew chapter 1, we're going to move over to Matthew 194 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:43,760 chapter 2. If you want to follow along, 195 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:46,840 we're going to read the first few verses of Matthew chapter 196 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:55,200 2-3, verses one through 12. It says there Now after Jesus 197 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,520 was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, 198 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,960 behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where 199 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,000 is he who has been born king of the Jews? 200 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,240 For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship 201 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,560 him. When Herod the King heard this, 202 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,240 he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 203 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,640 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of 204 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,080 the people together, he inquired of them where Jesus was to be 205 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,080 born. So they said to him in Bethlehem 206 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,000 of Judea. For thus it is written by the 207 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,840 prophet. But you, Bethlehem, in the land 208 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,640 of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah, where 209 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,920 out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people 210 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,360 Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly 211 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,600 called the wise men, determined from them what time the star 212 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,840 appeared, and when he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and 213 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:48,360 search carefully for the young child. 214 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,320 And when you have found him, bring him back, Bring back word 215 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,520 to me, that I may come and worship him. 216 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,360 When they heard the king, they departed, and behold, the star 217 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,560 which they had seen in the East went before them till it came 218 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,440 and stood over where the child was. 219 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,560 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great 220 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:09,760 joy. And when they had come into the 221 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,200 house, they saw a young child with marry his mother, and fell 222 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,680 down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their 223 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:21,240 treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense and 224 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,200 myrrh. Then being divinely warned in a 225 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,440 dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed 226 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,640 for their own country another way. 227 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,480 It's really a fascinating story when we understand what's really 228 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,600 going on here. You know, there's a, there's a 229 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,400 mystery around who these guys from the East were. 230 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,160 These three men from the East, it says. 231 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,080 And by the way, it never says there was 3. 232 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,360 OK, so we when we see those pictures of the nativity that 233 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,520 people put up winter time around December, they say 3 wise men. 234 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,160 Well, it never says 3 by the way, doesn't mean that there 235 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,840 wasn't 3, but it never says 3. They weren't also just some 236 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,600 stargazers. These were well respected men, 237 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,480 if you want to say with prominent religious and 238 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:14,440 political influence. Their name literally means great 239 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,520 or powerful ones. Their high position was also 240 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:23,120 evident in the wealth that they brought to give the gifts that 241 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,240 they likely have alongside them. And we learned of men like this 242 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,320 in the book of Daniel. It's likely that they had been 243 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,000 influenced by Jewish teachings from the Old Testament, where 244 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,840 people of Israel had been scattered across the East during 245 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,920 the exile and now through their study of the stars, if you want 246 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:44,600 to say they were drawn from the East to worship the king of the 247 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,400 Jews. So there's Old Testament 248 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,760 background here. And you know, we don't have the 249 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,520 time to dive into all those stories, but there's there's 250 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,600 nothing accidental that happened in the Old Testament to lead up 251 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:01,440 to this point. We see back in the Book of 252 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,400 Numbers, Balak, the king of Moab, had called for Balaam, 253 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,000 which was a magician or seer from the East to come and curse 254 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,480 Israel for him. And in that story, Balaam 255 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,480 refused to do that. Instead, he actually blessed 256 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,720 Israel in his last words. This is what Balaam said in 257 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,160 Numbers 24 verses 15 and 17. It says so he took up his 258 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,680 article Oracle and said the utterance of Balaam, the son of 259 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,880 Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eyes were opened. 260 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:36,480 The utterance of him who hears the word of God has been the 261 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,960 utterance of him who hears the word of God and has the 262 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,240 knowledge of the Most High who sees the vision of the Almighty, 263 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,640 who falls down with the with eyes wide open. 264 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,400 I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. 265 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,520 A star shall come out of Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of 266 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,200 Israel. You see Balaam said, from the 267 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,080 people of Israel a star would come with a scepter, a king 268 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,200 would rise, a star would announce a king. 269 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,200 Then we continue. If you read on in Numbers 24, 270 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,800 you see that this king would save the people of God. 271 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:16,320 And if we think about it, numbers in numbers, that well 272 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:21,120 respected magician, a seer from the East, told about a star and 273 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:22,880 a king would rise among the Jews. 274 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,320 And then we see now here in Matthew, powerful and 275 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,920 influential musicians, magi from the East, follow a star to see 276 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,880 the one who was born king of the Jews. 277 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,640 Everything here is purposeful, everything that all the 278 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,440 prophecies in the Old Testament are now coming to fruition. 279 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,800 It's just these first few chapters of Matthew. 280 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,280 It's just prophecy fulfilled after prophecy fulfilled after 281 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,880 prophecy fulfilled. It's almost like we can't keep 282 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,320 up and notice everything that's being fulfilled at one time. 283 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,920 But it's really amazing when we do that study. 284 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,000 See, God is orchestrating history. 285 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,440 He's even if you want to say orchestrating the planets and 286 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,720 the stars to announce the coming of Jesus. 287 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:17,240 It's a breathtaking scene. Jesus has come as king for 288 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:24,280 everyone and for all nations. You see, we see that all through 289 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:29,200 the Bible. We see all of all of all of the 290 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,440 prophecies. Like we mentioned before, Jesus 291 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,760 is going to be king of all nations and all peoples. 292 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,640 You see, the Lord's church is made-up of people from countless 293 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,040 nations. And we've gathered here in 294 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:47,360 Bakersfield, there's gatherings all across California and our 295 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,760 country and around the entire world. 296 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:55,280 Not because of we're the same social economic people, not 297 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,320 because of the same race, not because of the same anything. 298 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:04,160 We're here for one reason. That's because we worship our 299 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,400 God in heaven, and Jesus is king, reigning over all. 300 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,240 That's why we're gathered here and his name is Jesus. 301 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,840 And Jesus reunites humanity. But we're human race that's 302 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,120 marked by sin. So what does all this history 303 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:23,120 mean in our lives? That brings us back to Matthew 304 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:24,520 1. And the third way that Jesus 305 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,080 changes is everything. Because all who are caught in 306 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:31,480 sin, which is all of us, Jesus gives us a fresh start. 307 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,760 In these first, first, first 17 verses. 308 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,600 We have those lists of names, Sinner after Sinner after 309 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,400 Sinner, story after story. Judah and Tamar in verse three 310 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,920 who had twins by incest. Verse 6 is the story of David's 311 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,280 adultery with the wife of Uriah and then whom David had then had 312 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,000 murdered. Then we have the evil king after 313 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,400 evil king who led people into idolatry and immorality, even 314 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,360 resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and deportation into 315 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,440 Babylon. We're actually reading some of 316 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,720 this early on in Second Kings. Right now in our readings, we 317 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,840 see all this kind of playing out story after story of people who 318 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,040 rebelled against God. It's pretty, pretty startling to 319 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,280 think that the great, great, great, great grandparents of 320 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,000 Jesus hated God and they were leading others to hate God. 321 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:28,760 But then we see in verse 18 right after this whole list, 322 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:34,040 Matthew writes now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. 323 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,440 And if you take notes in your Bible or anything like that, if 324 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,320 you want to circle that word birth, it's really a pretty 325 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,440 awesome word. That word in the Greek, that 326 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,520 word in the Greek is translated Genesis. 327 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:00,400 Sorry for my handwriting. If you think about that, if you 328 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,960 ponder on it for just a couple minutes, it's really, really 329 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,360 pretty amazing. It's pretty awesome. 330 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,560 Think when you think about the whole very choice of language 331 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:09,960 here. God has taken us back to the 332 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:14,200 very beginning when sinful humanity started, and he's 333 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:15,960 saying, I'm bringing you a new start. 334 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,320 Jesus is a new Genesis. He's a new beginning. 335 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,360 So to all you know, if we're caught in in iniquity, Jesus 336 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:25,200 comes to give us a new identity when we choose to follow him and 337 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,280 become Christians and then live our life for him. 338 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,360 We have a new identity in Christ. 339 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,400 This is why we when we read Matthew the chapter 1 verses 18 340 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,440 and 21 where it says if you're looking at your Bible in 18 341 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,280 verse 21, it says now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows 342 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,640 after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they 343 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:47,800 came together. She was found with child of holy 344 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,320 of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband being a 345 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:55,720 just man and not wanting to make her a public example was minded 346 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,760 to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these 347 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,720 things, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, 348 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,480 saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take your to 349 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,640 take to your merry. Do not be afraid to take to you 350 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,360 Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the 351 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,160 Holy Spirit, and she will bring forth a son. 352 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,280 And you should call his name Jesus, for he will save people 353 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:26,520 from their sins. This is where we are told why 354 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,920 Jesus came. Jesus came to save us from our 355 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,320 sins. That is why he came. 356 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,560 You know, people think that he came to, to to do all these 357 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,120 miracles or to heal people or to get a following. 358 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:43,800 And Jesus, if we if you read some of the miracles he's done, 359 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:45,560 he tells people once he healed them. 360 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,280 Don't tell anybody about what we just happened here because they 361 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,800 don't want Jesus didn't want people believing that Jesus was 362 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:56,520 there to heal people physically or to do miracles. 363 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,720 The miracles were done so they could. 364 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,680 It could establish who Jesus was. 365 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,920 But Jesus main point was here to save us from our sins. 366 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,760 A lot of people hope that when they stand before God that day, 367 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,320 they'll have to go, that they'll get to go to heaven because of 368 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,320 their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. 369 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,320 It's not taught in the Bible. They hope that they will have 370 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,360 done enough good to overcome their back. 371 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:27,040 But the problem with that whole way of thinking is that one sin 372 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:33,080 against an infinitely holy God is worthy of infinite separation 373 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,080 from God. One sin, no matter how good 374 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,360 we've been, no matter how hard we've tried, we cannot erase 375 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,600 that one sin. We've committed so many more 376 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,520 sins than that just in this building here. 377 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,880 Every one of us has. We've turned away from God's 378 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,040 ways and turned to our own ways. That's really the essence of 379 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,240 sin. But the beauty here is that we 380 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,040 don't have to try to overcome our bad with good. 381 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,600 We're not saved because we're not saved of our sins because 382 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,800 we're good enough. We're saved from our sins 383 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:15,800 because Jesus is gracious is not because Jesus has come to pay 384 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,400 the price, and he did pay the price for all of our sins. 385 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,440 It's not based on anything you and I could ever do to earn. 386 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:29,400 Jesus has died on a cross to cover over all sins and it's the 387 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:35,680 greatest news in the world. We can be forgiven of all of our 388 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,720 sins before a holy God, not because we do enough good 389 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,760 things, but because we become Christians and we're baptized 390 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:47,240 and we follow Jesus and we turn from our old way of life and all 391 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,000 of our old bad habits and sinful ways. 392 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:54,240 And now we are choosing to follow Christ in that manner. 393 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,440 So if we're guilty of sin, which is all of us, he will give us a 394 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,040 new identity and not just that. And we think about all the shame 395 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,480 associated with some of these stories in this of sin here just 396 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,200 listed in the the names here in the 1st part of Matthew chapter 397 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:13,960 one. We think about all we have 398 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,280 incest, we have adultery, we have Rahab the prostitute, even 399 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,680 Ruth, she was a Moabite from the people known for their sexual 400 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,240 immorality. But Jesus gives a fresh start to 401 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,040 all who are stained by the shame of sin. 402 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,160 He gives us new dignity and new identity. 403 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,600 And if we really look at Jesus's family tree, it's one pretty 404 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,440 crooked family tree. There's a lot of sin going on 405 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,080 through the line of Jesus up to that point. 406 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,680 And we ever, you know, we've, I've wondered, you know, why are 407 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,800 the names of such shameful sinners included in this line 408 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,440 that leads to Jesus? And I think the answer is for 409 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,080 the same reason why our name is included after the line of 410 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,120 Jesus, because we're all sinners. 411 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,160 We're all guilty of sin. You see, God sent his Son to 412 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,320 save the undeserving, the unlikely. 413 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,080 And we just think about who was writing this Matthew, the tax 414 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,920 collector. No, he wasn't the most 415 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,720 upstanding guy when before he started decided to follow Jesus, 416 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,240 he was he was ripping off the Jewish people in Matthew 9. 417 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,480 All the people that Matthew had gathered to his house are really 418 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,640 moral reprobates. If you want to say he knows that 419 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,800 he's least the least likely person to be writing the Gospel. 420 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,840 And that's what makes the Gospel so such good news to us is that 421 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:41,480 God saves us not based on our vain efforts or, or all the 422 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:46,520 mistakes that we've made, but it's based upon his supernatural 423 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,320 gift of grace that we receive and his mercy. 424 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,880 And we need to hear that good news today, every single one of 425 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,240 us. We can have a totally new start 426 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,120 with our sins totally wiped away. 427 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,760 We can have that new identity and that new dignity in Christ. 428 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,480 Some of these stories are disheartening. 429 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,960 What if these, you know, if these stories of sin that we can 430 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:15,360 read about these characters and is all that there really is? 431 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,600 You know, we just read these sad stories and that's it. 432 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:18,760 You know, it'd be kind of depressing. 433 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,760 You really wouldn't give validity to the Bible and what 434 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,480 it is. But there's always hope given 435 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,640 for those who have made those mistakes. 436 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,880 Jesus gives us fresh hope. Sometimes we look at the 437 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,960 circumstances around us, whether we've created them or people 438 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,040 have created the circumstances around us. 439 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,200 We just don't see any hope maybe in some of the circumstances 440 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:48,400 that we're facing and that we're dealing with, you know, I just 441 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,320 don't see me coming back from this or such and such may not 442 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,120 come back from what they're dealing with in their life at 443 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,360 this time. Maybe we've seen in a way that 444 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,160 we wish we could just take it back, but we can't. 445 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,320 It's out there. We think you know that well, 446 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,840 I've seen that way. That's going to redefine my life 447 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,840 from here on out. We we, we categorize that and we 448 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,720 hold on to things that we think is going to define who we are 449 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,360 for the rest of our lives. And that's not the case when 450 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:25,280 we're Christians, because Jesus defines who we are in every 451 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,920 manner. Jesus defines our life, our 452 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,560 sins, our previous life. Our previous sins do not define 453 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,320 who we are. No sin will define who we are if 454 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,800 we're in Jesus. And if you read the stories of 455 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,600 the Gospels, we see the story after story after story of 456 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,840 people who sin really, really, like really bad sins. 457 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,440 We see that. But when they encounter Jesus, 458 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,080 everything changes in their life. 459 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:58,400 You think about the Apostle Paul, his previous life before 460 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,800 he converted, you know, he, Saul of Tarsus, he was murdering 461 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:04,480 Christians. He was seeking them out. 462 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,520 He was asking for permission from those above him to go and 463 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,880 kill Christians. He was doing it. 464 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,400 He was at authorizing the death in the stoning of Stephen. 465 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,960 But when he encountered Jesus, his entire life changed from 466 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:27,360 there on out all the way to the cross where we see a thief dying 467 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:29,920 next to Jesus asking him for for forgiveness. 468 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,840 Jesus says today you will be with me in paradise. 469 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:37,120 You see Jesus ensures that sin will not define our life and 470 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:41,200 that's good news. Then there are those who suffer 471 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,840 because of result of sin. Sin has consequences that we 472 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,840 have to deal with. Sin causes consequences not only 473 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,720 to ourselves but also to those that may be around us, impacting 474 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,400 others that may be around us. It could do some serious 475 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,360 destruction. We have some of us here who have 476 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,520 family members that are no longer part of the church 477 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,000 because of sin, and Satan has drawn them away. 478 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,680 The world is taking hold of them because the devil works so hard, 479 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,880 I believe harder than anything else to divide a family. 480 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,680 I believe that's where State and Satan really, really starts his 481 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,400 division. And if we're here, we have 482 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,000 family members that are not here because of the choices that 483 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,920 they've made. Has it not had an effect on you? 484 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,240 Don't other family members decisions have an effect on you, 485 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:39,240 whether good or bad? It hurts sometimes we suffer 486 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,040 because of other people's choices. 487 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,600 We suffer because of someone else's poor choices and pad 488 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:49,080 decisions, not just worship attendance, but but choices that 489 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,160 are made all throughout the world all the time. 490 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,760 And it really suffering And that that that that heavyweight we 491 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,040 feel sometimes is a reality. You know, we raise our children 492 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,480 raise in a way that God would have us to raise them. 493 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,680 We pray that we would have the wisdom to raise them in a way, 494 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,920 and we do everything that we think is doing right and 495 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,040 everything goes smooth, and then they decide to one day not 496 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,520 follow Jesus. That's hard for us to 497 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,320 understand. It's hard for us to wrap our 498 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,960 minds around, blindsided by a decision. 499 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,560 Or maybe it's the sudden death of a loved one that's not with 500 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,080 us anymore, or someone who's close to you actually hurt you 501 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,880 the most. We lose heart, we lose, we lose, 502 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,400 I don't know another word for it, but we lose our heart, of 503 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:42,400 course. But if we lost of heart, if we 504 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:47,520 have lost heart, Jesus gives us fresh hope because he ensures 505 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,680 that suffering will not be the end of our story. 506 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,240 We want to make sure we understand it and mark it down. 507 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,560 Suffering is not the end of anybody's story because we 508 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,720 believe in Jesus and Jesus always gives us hope in 509 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,160 everything. The one who had saved us from 510 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,600 our sins and came to conquer death itself. 511 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,680 With Jesus, all suffering will never be the end of our story. 512 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,200 He turns tragedy into triumph. Jesus changes everything. 513 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,000 Jesus's presence will never leave us alone. 514 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,840 In Matthew one verse 22, it says all this took place to fulfill 515 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:28,680 what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 516 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,960 Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and 517 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,680 they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God be 518 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:40,280 with us. That prophecy was given 700 519 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:47,600 years before Matthew chapter 1. And it's astounding that truth 520 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:51,600 of Christianity to it seems so incomprehensible to so many 521 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,400 people. But to those who us who believe, 522 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,280 it's irresistible. We understand it, we we grasp 523 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,480 it, we can hold on to it. We we know it. 524 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,520 There's a story of a group of men in the Middle East that I 525 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:09,200 heard about who say, you know, God is too great, God is too 526 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:15,600 great of an entity too glorious to debase himself and become a 527 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,720 physical man, a human. That's what they believe. 528 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,600 And then a Christian man replied to them and said, let me ask you 529 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,480 a question. In my life, I met, I once met a 530 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,800 woman and my heart fell in love with her. 531 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,000 And when it came time for me to tell her that I loved her, do 532 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,400 you think I sent somebody else to go and tell her to do that, 533 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,600 that I loved her for me? Or do you think I went and told 534 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,360 her myself? And they laughed and said, of 535 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,640 course you went and told her yourself that you loved her. 536 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,240 And that Christian man said, in matters of love one must go 537 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:57,600 himself, not send somebody else. And that's the point. 538 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:02,040 Our God is so great and so glorious that he is not just 539 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:06,160 sent this prophet or that person a messenger, whatever he came 540 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,920 himself, Jesus, Emmanuel, God in the flesh with us. 541 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:16,200 And if we think of it, the God who spoke the world into the big 542 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,440 to being, who rules and reigns over all creation, who knows 543 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:24,080 every star in the sky, knows everything about everybody more 544 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:28,600 than we know about ourselves. Who tells the ocean waves where 545 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:31,680 to stop. The God who has multitudes of 546 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,360 angels worshipping him and singing praise continually day 547 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,800 and night. The God whose glory is beyond 548 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:41,360 our imagination that we can't even fathom how glorious he is. 549 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,040 This is the God that is with us. Jesus is the constant companion 550 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:50,800 our soul craves, no matter what happens to us, no matter what 551 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,200 happens around us, no matter what we go through, no matter 552 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,080 what we're dealing with. But all of us who are 553 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,840 Christians, all who follow Jesus, will never be alone in 554 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:06,800 this world. And I think it's also reality 555 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,000 too. Some, you know, do we ever feel 556 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,080 alone? I think loneliness is a reality. 557 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,880 Maybe you feel like people don't understand what we're going 558 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,440 through, what we're experiencing. 559 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,880 You know, you could be in a crowd, in a place with a crowd 560 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,360 of people all all around you, but you feel alone. 561 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:32,159 And we need to know this, that Jesus has come so that we mean 562 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:35,800 never be alone. He will never ever leave us 563 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,120 alone. Jesus will never lead us astray. 564 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,360 Number six, in the middle of Matthew chapter 2, we read a 565 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:48,760 quote from Micah 5 verse 2 about a promise of a coming Messiah. 566 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,480 And if we had time, we'd do some comparisons between the two. 567 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,600 But at the end of Matthew chapter or Matthew verse 6 or 568 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,920 chapter 2 verse 6, it says from you shall come a ruler who will 569 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:06,440 shepherd my people, Israel. And that picture of a shepherd 570 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,680 is actually not in Micah 2, but it goes all the way back to 571 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:13,560 second Samuel 5 verse 2 where God anointed David as king over 572 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:16,000 Israel. God said to him, You shall not 573 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,520 just lead my people, but you are to shepherd my people. 574 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,600 You don't just rule over them, but like a shepherd with his 575 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,640 sheep, you tend to them, you care for them, you protect and 576 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,320 provide to them. And that's really a picture of 577 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,240 Jesus. Jesus has come not to reign over 578 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:33,080 us, not to demand of us, not to rule with an iron fist if you 579 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:35,400 want to say, but he's a shepherd us to lead us. 580 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,000 So we desire to do what Jesus wants us to do. 581 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,440 Jesus doesn't make any choices for us. 582 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:47,160 We make our own choices. Jesus hasn't said something in 583 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,280 written in stone that we have to follow. 584 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,280 Now we do follow the scriptures. That's not what I'm saying. 585 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:58,520 My point is, is that we're not forced, but as robots to follow 586 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,120 what Jesus has directed us to do. 587 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,640 Do we ever wonder which direction to take in life? 588 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:07,840 Do we ever wonder which direction to make in life? 589 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,440 Jesus is our shepherd. He's the one who shows us which 590 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:15,240 way to go and teaches us which way, which way to go, the one 591 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:18,040 who rules over you. He. 592 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:23,320 We will never be guided in the wrong direction if we always do 593 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:28,320 what Jesus has shown us to do. How to treat people, how to make 594 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:33,040 decisions, how to follow through with things, how to pray, how on 595 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,320 and on and on and on everything He has shown us. 596 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:40,680 And we will never be out without guidance with Him. 597 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:47,120 Jesus's word will never let us down #7 The Old Testament 598 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,760 quotations keep coming as we see here in verse 15 of Matthew 599 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,400 chapter 2, after Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt and then return, 600 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,360 Matthew says that that was not by accident. 601 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,720 He says this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the 602 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:05,280 prophet out of Egypt. I called my son and just like 603 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:09,120 God had brought deliverance from Egypt in the Old Testament, 604 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,120 Jesus is coming out of Egypt to bring deliverance in the New 605 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,720 Testament. And then we get down to chapter 606 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,400 verses 17 and 18 in Matthew chapter 2, where he quotes from 607 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:23,320 Jeremiah 31 verses 15 and 17 as families are weeping because 608 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,640 babies were dying in Bethlehem during this time, because Herod 609 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:30,400 had decreed to have all the male babies killed in order to kill 610 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:35,240 the line of Jesus Christ. Matthew takes us back to 611 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,040 Jeremiah 31, who's where families were weeping and they 612 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:42,240 were being ripped apart in the deportation to Babylon. 613 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:45,360 And in Jeremiah 31, God promises, it says, just as I 614 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:49,200 brought hope in Jeremiah 31 when I said you have a you'll have a 615 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,320 future. This was not be the end of your 616 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,760 story. So I'm promising you now that 617 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,200 this weeping you are experiencing will not be the end 618 00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:01,480 of the story. And the whole point here is that 619 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:03,800 God is always faithful to His Word. 620 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,360 God always is faithful to His Word. 621 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,640 He'll deliver our soul in every way. 622 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:17,080 God's Word will prove true every single time. 623 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:22,080 We do not have to doubt that. And Jesus is a picture of that. 624 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:27,240 All the promises that God made hundreds and hundreds of years 625 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,560 before His coming are fulfilled in the New Testament and the 626 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,400 Bible tells about. All God's promises are in are, 627 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,280 are yes in Jesus in 2nd Corinthians 1 and 20. 628 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,120 He is the picture of God's faithfulness. 629 00:38:52,020 --> 00:38:54,100 Jesus's love is worthy of our life. 630 00:38:56,140 --> 00:38:58,460 Jesus's love is worthy of our life. 631 00:38:58,980 --> 00:39:01,500 This is really where everything kind of comes to a head. 632 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,520 Jesus is all these things we've just talked about in which we 633 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,760 could summarize as Jesus is the one whose love is worthy of our 634 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:11,520 life. And the rest of the book of 635 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:16,440 Matthew. We see this is the question over 636 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,600 and over and over again in the book of Matthew. 637 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:22,240 Who is going to believe that Jesus is worthy of their life? 638 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:28,120 And what we see is that the religious leaders reject him and 639 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,640 the Roman rulers reject him. But then you have a small band 640 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:39,160 of guys who love him and follow him and quite frankly, change 641 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,680 the entire world just because of their belief in Jesus. 642 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,000 And that leads to one question I want to ask each and every one 643 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:52,160 of us today. Do you believe that Jesus is the 644 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,080 one whose love is worthy of our entire life? 645 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,080 We need to realize that he is the one that we need. 646 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,800 The followers are Christians of Jesus are not are are not 647 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,000 people. You know, we just don't have 648 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,480 Jesus as part of our lives. He's not just a small part, 649 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,520 maybe on Sunday mornings or Sunday afternoons. 650 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:21,200 No, Jesus is our life entirely our life. 651 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:26,360 We look to him for everything in every situation, in every facet 652 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:27,480 of our lives. We. 653 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,480 Need him and we want to understand what he needs from 654 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:32,720 us. So he doesn't need anything from 655 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:37,400 us, but we want to follow him because of what he has done for 656 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,360 us. We don't just tack them on a 657 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,880 little bit here and there. That's not following Jesus. 658 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:47,720 That's actually patronizing Jesus, if you ask me, the curse 659 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:50,880 of nominal Christianity. Whereas people who claim to be 660 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,920 Jesus but have real no real love for him to or desire to follow 661 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,880 him. Jesus is not just a part of our 662 00:40:57,880 --> 00:40:59,760 life. Jesus is our life. 663 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,320 And when we put our trust in Jesus, when we believe who he 664 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,800 is, when we confess his name, when we change of our old ways, 665 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,240 we're baptized into believing Christians. 666 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:16,160 That's just the beginning. Our life is fresh, Our life is 667 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:18,200 new. We have a fresh start because 668 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:24,600 Jesus changed it at that point. No matter what is unexpected 669 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,880 before us this week or throughout the future, we can 670 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:33,480 have security and knowing that Jesus is going to fulfill the 671 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:39,640 promises that he made us. All the Old Testament, all these 672 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:45,200 prophecies, all the stories that we read about in all the Old 673 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:51,120 Testament writings point to one man, 1 Savior, our Redeemer, 674 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:56,240 Jesus the Christ. So what has Jesus changed in 675 00:41:56,240 --> 00:42:00,200 your life? Or better question, does Jesus 676 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:03,160 change your life? Has He changed your life? 677 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:09,000 Have we surrendered to him? Is Jesus Lord of our lives? 678 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:15,520 Have we submitted to him? And if we haven't, we're going 679 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,280 to provide an opportunity, an invitation that we do here to 680 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:22,280 follow Jesus, to be baptized, to have remission of our sins. 681 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:27,360 Hear the Word, believe Jesus is who he is, change the way our 682 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:30,680 lives have been going, confess the name of Jesus before others. 683 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:34,360 Then we're baptized in contact, the blood of Jesus Christ at 684 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:36,480 that moment, and we are forgiven of our sins. 685 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,160 If we are here and we've done that, but we have committed a 686 00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:43,720 sin in a public manner that needs a public confession, or if 687 00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:46,240 we just need the prayers of the congregation, we ask you to 688 00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:48,880 please come while we stand and while we see.