[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. What a wonderful truth, amen? What a wonderful God we serve.
[0:10] What a fantastically wonderful, awesome God. A God of grace and mercy. And it's a tremendous truth. Take your Bible, let's go to Matthew 1. You're probably wondering what in the world do you do with the genealogies.
[0:24] And I think what's good is you get to get Robert up here and to get him to try to pronounce all the words, amen? Because usually when I hit those guys, I just name them something else and move on.
[0:35] How many of you, when you read the Bible and you get to those genealogies, you're like me. It's like a real quick scan. Yep, that's him. It's like begat, begat, begat, begat, and you run all the way through them.
[0:46] But since I'm trying to preach through the Bible and get you all of it and try to show you something from each part of it and show you the value of it, Matthew 1 just jumped off the pages.
[0:57] As I went through and looked and searched every one of the names and thought through it, and I want to talk to you today about how good our God is and how our God takes all the mess we make and does something great with it, how our God works in such a wonderful manner of grace.
[1:16] Somewhere along the way, you and I got this idea that God is looking for all these good people. And God uses good people. And boy, he came out of a good home.
[1:27] And that is so true. And I'm so glad that God gives us that privilege. But for some of us, we look at it and say he came out of a good home and he had all this good upbringing and he's such a special person.
[1:41] He had a special mom and dad and a special grandparent. And you think, I didn't get all that and I'm kind of a mess-up person. Do I get to fit in? And so when you get this genealogy, here we are.
[1:52] We're going to give the genealogy of Jesus. This is how Jesus was born. And so you would expect saint number one begat saint number two, begat saint number three, and all these really good people and that's how Jesus got here.
[2:07] But when God decided to write the Bible and give us a story, he says, let me tell you I didn't have much to work with, but I'm a good God. And that's the great story.
[2:19] That gives me an opportunity to know his grace and his salvation. So let me just give you some things before you work your way through. God and the Bible and true Christianity add dignity to women.
[2:32] If you know anything about the Bible, if you know anything about history, women aren't exactly high on the totem pole. Women's names weren't normally included in a Jewish pedigree.
[2:43] Women actually had no legal rights and were regarded not as a person, but rather a thing until Christianity. She was owned by her dad and later she would be owned by her husband.
[2:57] In regular morning prayer, a Jewish man prayed something like this, God, I thank you that you did not make me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. That's a pretty wild prayer, isn't it?
[3:10] I want to talk to you about how he broke the glass ceiling. I want you to notice there are going to be some ladies' names in the story. In fact, if you have your Bible open and you read through, would you take and mark some things with me so you'll see them.
[3:24] Chapter 1, verse 2. Oh, Tamar gets her name in the Bible. Matthew 1, verse 3. We're talking about Jesus getting here to earth, and Tamar gets her name in the Bible.
[3:39] We'll find out a little bit about her. Go down, if you would, to verse 5 and mark Rahab. And it's R-A-C-H-A-B, Rahab. And then mark Ruth.
[3:50] And then in verse 6, mark of her. That of her is Bathsheba, of her that had been the wife of Uriah. And then when you get down to verse 16, Mary.
[4:04] Now, you've got to wonder, you've got to remember, when the story of Mary is told, it's like a crazy story. You've got to imagine that if you were alive during that day, and you were a prudish Jewish person, and you kept all these rules, and you were a really rules-bound person, kind of like us Baptists, and a girl shows up pregnant at church, and she says, look, I haven't been with any guys.
[4:29] I am pregnant of the Holy Ghost. You've got to admit that people would be like, sure, great, have a nice day. This is going to be a blemish on Jesus, if you might say that.
[4:44] Even in the book of John, later on when Jesus is teaching them, they look at him and say, hey, we ain't the one that was born of fornication. We're not the one that was born of fornication. But in this story, Jesus is going to show us, God is going to show us how great he is.
[5:01] What a wonderful, gracious God you serve. And so I want to have a word of prayer with you, and then I want you to be in awe today of your great God, and how he takes regular, ordinary, messed up people like us, and does great things.
[5:18] Father, I love you, and I praise you, and I pray that you might bless your people today. I pray they would go home today loving you more, admiring you more, worshiping you more, magnifying you more, thinking more highly of you, and realizing how great you are.
[5:34] God, that they would get their eyes off of people and get their eyes on a great God that you are. And I'll give you praise and honor and glory for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, if you take the little notes there with me, the first thing I want you to notice, I want you to write down somewhere, is that women would be saved through childbearing.
[5:51] That was a lesson way back in the book of Genesis. And all the Bible connects together. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, verse 15, Notwithstanding, she shall be saved, women, Eve, she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
[6:11] Now, nobody gets saved because they have a baby. But what's happening is Eve messed things up. We men love to remind ladies of that. You know, the reason we're not living in the Garden of Eden is Eve ate the fruit.
[6:25] She wasn't supposed to eat. Eve was deceived and not man. The fact is, when I was a kid, I can so often remember there was the song leader who led singing at the church I grew up in, had this humongous Adam's apple.
[6:37] I don't ever even hear that term used hardly anymore. But how many of you know what the Adam's apple is? Hold your hand up. You know that big old not some guy's got in her throat? And this guy was a skinny guy and he could sing really low bass. And when he sang, his Adam's apple jumped up and down.
[6:50] And I remember Daddy telling me that was an Adam's apple. And I was like, what's an Adam's apple? He said, well, you know, when Eve ate the fruit, she gave it to Adam. And Adam ate it and it got stuck in his throat. That's why we call it an Adam's apple.
[7:01] That's not true. But still, as a kid, I can remember sitting there thinking, man, he shouldn't have eaten that Adam's apple. Look at that big old thing he's got in his neck. Well, Eve messed up.
[7:12] Eve messed up. And, you know, the curse came on and they were kicked out of the garden and so on. Eve had messed up by allowing Satan to deceive her. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 14, And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in transgression.
[7:29] So here it is, beginning story. Watch this. Beginning story. If you could watch the story unfolding, Adam and Eve are there. And Eve is the one who gets tricked, deceived.
[7:41] She messes up. She then turns to her husband and says, hey, why don't you eat this fruit with me? And it was her that brought about the downfall. And God, in his grace and his mercy, wanted to show that she might have messed up, but he was going to do something to give her value and dignity back.
[8:00] And he would let her be a mother. And he would let her have babies. And he would let her bring children into the world. And he would give her her dignity back. And in Genesis 3.15, he gave that great promise of life to her from the very beginning.
[8:16] He looked at her and said, you really did mess up, woman. But by my grace and by my blood and by the death of the Lamb, you will not only be saved, but one day your seed, your child will stomp the head of Satan's seed.
[8:30] And lady, you're back. You messed up, but you're back. You know how long it took them to get back? Right there. Because that's how grace works. Amen. We mess up and God steps in. You ought to be able to say amen right there.
[8:42] What a wonderful thought. God gave her a promise that she'd have a child that would win back the victory. They'd be saved. Paul said she'd be saved by childbearing. That's exactly what the promise was in Genesis 3.20.
[8:54] In Genesis 3.20, Eve figured it out immediately. And every young Jewish girl from that time that studied the Bible, they knew, I'm waiting on the day when God lets one of us girls give birth to that very special child, that seed of God, that child of God who will be born and stomp the devil's head.
[9:14] And he said in Genesis 3.20, Adam turned to his wife who brought about all death. It was Eve who brought about all death. It was Eve who ate the fruit.
[9:25] It was Eve that caused the apple to get stuck in Adam's throat. Eve, you messed up. But when God told them the promise in Genesis 3.15, Adam turned around and he goes, Did you get that, baby?
[9:36] Did you hear? You messed up. But God said you get to be the mother of all living. Look at it. Genesis 3.20. And Adam called wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living.
[9:52] She would get her dignity back. She would be the mother that would be privileged to bring the Savior into the world. This genealogy shows the greatness of our God in saving sinners, breaking down barriers, and giving us Jesus.
[10:07] Now let me explain something to you. Every story in the Bible has one hero. It is Jesus. It is never a man. It is never a woman. It is always Jesus.
[10:19] So let me show you four famous women. Number two, four famous women found in the story. First, let us go to chapter 1 and verse 3. And we find Tamar. And Judas begat Pharaohs and Zerah of Tamar.
[10:33] And Pharaohs begat Ezra. And Ezra begat Aram. Her story was a story of sin and failure. Now, Tamar, you know, we've gone through the Bible, but you're going to get all these stories.
[10:48] And you're going to learn all these things. But Tamar is a story of a messed up family. How many of you come from a messed up family? Don't raise your hand. You come from a messed up family?
[11:00] The fact is, you realize. The fact is, you may be sitting in the room looking around going, they all got it together. I don't have it together. They're not all messed up. I'm all messed up. Tamar, whose name is in this list, comes out of one really messed up family.
[11:16] You might be saying, I'm divorced and remarried. I've got a blended family. I've got a parent that's like this. I've got an uncle that's like this. I've got a brother that's like this. And you're thinking, man, I'm the only God that's so messed up.
[11:29] You ain't never read Matthew chapter 1. He throws Tamar in there. Now, you wouldn't know this because you don't pay attention. But every Jewish guy was going, Tamar?
[11:39] In the line of Christ? Tamar? Here's Tamar's story real quickly. And you'll get to look it up and study it later. But in Genesis chapter 38 and verse 6, that's where you find her story.
[11:50] Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. Well, her husband didn't please God. And God killed him. He messed up.
[12:01] So here's Tamar. She gets married. And Ur, Judah's firstborn, he was wicked in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord slew him in Genesis 38, 7. So their custom was that her husband's brother would give her a child to keep Ur's family name alive.
[12:19] But he didn't want to. And so he didn't do it. And God killed him. Two. So now Tamar, I mean, this is Tamar. This is the girl's story.
[12:30] Married once, God killed her husband. Married the second time, God killed her husband. And then her father-in-law said, now you know I'm supposed to make sure you get to have a baby. And so I'll give you the little brother when he gets big enough and he can have a baby with you.
[12:44] It was a Jewish custom. Hang around to come on Sunday nights to learn all these stories. And so he said, I'll do that. So go back home and live with your parents and I'll call you when he's old enough.
[12:54] So she goes home. The boy gets old enough. And her father-in-law has lied to her. He's treating her like a piece of trash. Nobody in the family will do what they're supposed to do. And so one day she hears that her father-in-law is going to, he must have posted it on Twitter or Facebook or something.
[13:10] He was making this trip. And so she went and found this spot where he was on his way to. And she knew he'd go by there. And so she put a veil on and she sat on the side of the road dressed like a prostitute.
[13:20] And as he came by, this perverted father-in-law looks at her and says, you know, I'm on a trip. I need a girl. And you're a prostitute. How much will you charge me? And she said, I don't know.
[13:31] What would you give me? He said, I'll give you one of those sheep out of my foal. And he said, all right, that'll be okay. She said, that'll be all right. And he said, well, I'll have to send it to you later. She said, I don't trust you. And she had every right not to trust him.
[13:44] And don't forget, first husband, second husband, promise of the third. But you say, well, we're in the world. Why are you telling us this? Is this Christmas? This is Matthew chapter one. Everybody knows the story.
[13:55] If they studied the Bible, all these Jewish guys would have known the story. So she said, give me your signet ring and your staff. And let me keep them until you send me the kid.
[14:06] So he said, all right, I'll do that. And so he gets the ring. There he goes on home. Well, she goes back to her daddy's house. A few months later, somebody finds out she's pregnant.
[14:16] And they call the father-in-law. Say, Tamar is pregnant. And the father-in-law says, that's it. We'll kill her. She's dead. Because she was supposed to wait for my son.
[14:28] And so when they come to get her, she says, just so you all know, I'm pregnant by the guy that owns this staff. And he looks at her and says, that's mine.
[14:41] This woman, I mean, this don't sound like it makes it on the evening news. This doesn't sound like something you talk about.
[14:53] But she had that baby. From all this sin and failure and mess, God allowed her to be mentioned in the family line of Jesus. The Bible is a story of grace.
[15:06] God taking our messed up lives and fixing it. I could have told you with graphic detail that story. I left out the X-rated stuff. I just gave you the real sweet flyby picture of it.
[15:19] But I want you to look at that verse, and I want you to realize Tamar's name got in the list. Who in this room has come from such a messed up family? This is what they talk about on the tabloids.
[15:32] And Tamar is in the genealogy of Jesus. One of the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Next lady mentioned. Go with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 1 and verse 5.
[15:45] Next lady. Rahab. The Bible says in Matthew 1, 5. And Solomon begat Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse.
[15:57] Who's Rahab? You say, why are you telling us these stories? Now look just, wait just a second. Because you got this idea that these really good families, if you're born in this really good family, and all your family's good, and daddy doesn't do anything wrong, and mama doesn't do anything wrong, you probably got a good chance.
[16:17] But when Jesus was born, they went back and told the stories. And he told the real story. And he let us know that, no, you guys are all messed up.
[16:28] That's what grace is about. You wouldn't need grace if it wasn't for such a big mess. Can you say amen right there? So you got this idea of all these people in the Bible floating around, and everything about them is pretty and sweet and nice.
[16:42] Not Tamar. Well, how about Rahab? Rahab was a prostitute. She was a professional woman of the night. Her story, so you can check me out later, is found in Joshua chapter 2.
[16:57] And Joshua, the son of Nun, sent out a shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, even Jericho. And they went and they came to a harlot's house named Rahab, a prostitute's house named Rahab, and they stayed there.
[17:12] I'm going to tell you her story real quickly so you get it. It's a prostitute. Now, I wouldn't tell that part of my story.
[17:23] Have you ever heard it? Most families got some skeletons in the closet. We got a major skeleton. Tamar's story, shh, don't tell him by that.
[17:33] Jesus said, Put it in my story. Because the real hero of the story is not Tamar. It's a God who can take a Tamar and let something good happen. That's good stuff.
[17:44] Now, he said, Let me tell you another story. Here's another one. Another one of the people in his past, Rahab. Rahab's not even a Jewish lady. She's a prostitute. And the spies, you remember the spies, they go into Spithaland.
[17:57] And they stop at her place. And they come looking for them and they're going to kill the spies. And she hides the spies. And while she hides the spies, she hears all the stories.
[18:08] She tells them, We know the story of your God. He is a great God. He is the one and true God. And everybody in my town is scared to death. They're afraid of what's going to happen.
[18:21] And she said, But I believe. And so they said, Well, if you believe, tie this scarlet thread, this scarlet rope in your window. Let us down by the wall.
[18:33] And when the walls of Jericho come tumbling down, everybody's house will get killed and destroyed but yours. And anybody in your family that you invite to come inside the room with you, they won't die either.
[18:45] And so the prostitute got saved. She hid the spies. She put the scarlet thread in her window. She told her family. She was a Gentile prostitute.
[18:57] Yet God's grace was enough to save her and her family. God's grace extends to foreigners. And even allows them to be so in the family that she's part of the past of Jesus.
[19:10] I want you to get a hold of something. You've been thinking, My family's messed up. I'm not sure I can be a perfect parent. I'm not sure I'll do everything right. You've been thinking.
[19:22] Can I tell you that in the story of Jesus, there's a life of Tamar. There's a life of Rahab the prostitute. Well, that's not all. Take your Bible and go to verse 5 and notice the word Ruth.
[19:34] You should already have it circled. And Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab. And Boaz begat Obed of Ruth. And Obed begat Jesse. No woman's name should be in the list at all.
[19:45] Women don't count until Jesus comes along. It's Jesus who gives dignity. Islam doesn't give dignity to a woman. The world doesn't really give dignity to a woman.
[19:56] Jesus gives dignity to women. And he gives dignity to mothers. But Ruth was a Moabitess. Ruth chapter 1 and verse 4. And they took them wives of the women of Moab.
[20:07] And the name of the one was Oprah. And the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about 10 years. She came from a hated people. Ruth comes from a hated people. The fact is her generation, her people were excluded from the congregation of the Lord for 10 generations.
[20:23] In Deuteronomy chapter 23 and verse 3. An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. To the 10th generation they shall not enter. Yet God allows her to be included in the list.
[20:35] Ruth had decided to take Naomi's God to be her God. Here's the story. Naomi had gone down with her husband and her two sons. And they had gone down to the land of the Moabites.
[20:45] And while they're down to the land of the Moabites. While they're down there. The two sons get married to two Moabitess women. Which they shouldn't have done. Hated people. Not included people. And the three men die.
[20:55] The husband dies and the two sons die. And Naomi decides that she will head back home. Because she hears there's bread back home. And she's on her way back home. And she turns to her two daughters-in-law and says.
[21:06] Girls there's nothing I can do to get you another husband. To get you another child. Too old to have more children. You're stuck. You're women. And women don't have any position. You're just out here all by yourself.
[21:18] And I don't know what to tell you. You should just go on back home. And so the one girl looked at Naomi and said. I'm out of here. I'll go back and see if daddy will let me live with him. But Ruth looked at her and said.
[21:28] No. I found out about your God. And I like your God. I love your God. And I believe in your God. And I'll go with you. And where you go.
[21:38] I'll go. And where you die. I'll die. And where you're buried. I'll be buried. And your God shall be my God. And your family shall be my family. That was. I use that in weddings all the time. That was a fantastic promise.
[21:50] Old Ruth made. And Ruth gets included. She became a believer. She couldn't return to the old life. No matter what it might cost her. She was abandoned and excluded. But she found grace.
[22:00] Because we serve a God of grace. Wow. We're three people in. Three ladies get mentioned here. Five ladies actually get mentioned in the whole story. We got a prostitute.
[22:11] We got a prostitute. We got a woman who had to deceive her father-in-law. And then we got Ruth on Moabitess. And now we get down to Bathsheba.
[22:22] Look at Matthew 1.6. In Matthew 1.6 the Bible says. In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 6 the Bible says. The king. Jesse became David. Beget David the king.
[22:32] And David the king begat Solomon of her. That had been the wife of Uriah. Wow. We don't even get to name her name. Now who's this great guy in the Old Testament?
[22:44] David. Who writes 150 Psalms. Well not all of them. But the majority of them? David. Whose son's the wisest man? David's son. Who has it in his heart to build a temple?
[22:55] David. And somewhere along the way. You get in your mind. That it's these great families. And you want to take your eyes off this great God.
[23:07] And put it on this great man. But the story's never about the great man. It's always a story about the great God. You've been lifting up men way too long.
[23:17] Say amen. You've been saying my dad. You've been saying my granddad. You've been saying my uncle. You've been saying that great man of God. But no. It's the great God. That we all serve.
[23:27] Oh you got messed up family? So what? Jesus had a messed up family. He came out of a messed up family. But Bathsheba you know the story don't you?
[23:38] David. Brings up all his failures. He seduced another man's wife. It was one of his dearest friends. David had these like 30 or 33 men.
[23:50] That were his mighty men. I mean it was like David's special guys. It was his war council. One of those men was Uriah. One day Uriah is out in a battle fighting where David's supposed to be with him.
[24:02] And David's on the top of his house. He looks down and he sees Bathsheba taking a bath. And that's not uncommon. That's not uncommon. It wasn't a rude or lewd thing to do. They do that in South America all the time. They use the top of their house. If there are poorer people they go up top of their house.
[24:14] And you know usually Abba says house you can't see. But he's got the biggest house in town. He's the king. He can look down and see what's going on. And she's taking a bath. And he likes her. And he looks at her. And he says. Brings her over to his house.
[24:26] And while she's over there at his house. He starts flirting with her. And the next thing you know. Things have gone way too far. And so he's like. She gets pregnant. She gets pregnant. This is in the Bible story. She gets pregnant.
[24:36] And he sends for Uriah. And he says. Get Uriah to come home. So I can get Uriah to go to bed with his wife. Two months in. You know. I mean. It's taken him a while to figure out. She's pregnant. But he gets Uriah in. And Uriah comes home.
[24:47] He says. Uriah go sleep with your wife. And that way he can get it off his hands. And everything will be okay. But Uriah said. I'm not going to sleep with my wife. And all the men I lead in battle. Won't sleep with their wife. And David said.
[24:57] You know. You're one of my favorite people. You're my main friends. You're on my list of my 33 best guys. On the planet. I'm the king. You're a great guy. Go sleep with your wife. He said. I'm not going to do it. So he gets him drunk. David gets him drunk.
[25:10] David says. Here. Get drunk. And he gets him drunk. And when he's drunk. He still won't go home. So David said. Oh my goodness. I'm going to get in trouble. So he writes a letter.
[25:20] And gives it to Uriah. And in the letter. Uriah carries in his hand. It says. Have Uriah get in a battle. In a place where he'll die. And let him get killed.
[25:31] And send me word when it's done. That's the story. Yet God forgave. David. By his grace. And made his life worth something.
[25:42] And Bathsheba might still be known. As the wife of the man he killed. But she's included. In the story of Jesus. I want you to get the picture. You got to get the picture. You've been focusing on the wrong people.
[25:56] Jesus said. Let me tell you who my family was. We'll just start. We'll just start. All the way back there with Abraham. Tamar. Ruth. Rahab. Bathsheba. Not good people.
[26:14] I want you to get a hold of something. In your heart. It's not about how good you are. It's not about how good your parents are. It's about how good your God is. It's the grace.
[26:25] Of God. You look around the room and think. My family's just not really up to par. Okay. Welcome to the club. Glad you joined up.
[26:37] You look around the room and you think. Christians man. They just got it all together. I came in here and all these Christians. They got it all together. Really. Jesus' own life story.
[26:49] Now when you think about Mary. You see the blemish. And the birth of Christ. You consider what happened for years in the past. This isn't the story of great families. That God used to bring Jesus to us.
[27:00] This isn't the story of how Jesus was born into a holy. And a righteous family. This is the story of God's great grace. In spite of man's horrific failure. Listen to this.
[27:10] Almost all of you. It's like. Mary. The virgin. So pure. So fantastic. So immaculate.
[27:22] And God looks and says. You're crazy. Let me tell you the story. Mary comes from a long line of messed up women. And men. The hero of this story is not Mary.
[27:33] The hero of this story is Jesus. The hero of this story is God. I've got to keep my children pure. You can keep your children as pure as you want. But if God doesn't save them.
[27:44] It won't do anything. It's God's grace. That takes us to number three. Mary. Didn't y'all like my singing? If you like my singing. Say amen. I try to do it more often. Jonathan was laughing his head off over here.
[27:56] Jonathan. I will not sing for you again. By now you should see that. It's never about finding a person who's good. In and of themselves.
[28:07] It's more God showing his grace. His great grace and mercy. And Mary realized that. Listen to this. Mary never thought to herself.
[28:18] Well I am pure. I hate that. Every time I hear somebody preach about how pure Mary was. Mary was only pure because Jesus saved her. Nobody's ever pure except by Jesus saving them.
[28:30] Nobody can walk around saying. Well I have kept myself physically pure. I've never committed sex outside of marriage. Well have you looked at anything you ought not have looked at? Have you thought anything you ought not think? It's never about how good you are.
[28:41] It's always about how good he is. Changes the story. Say amen. It gives me a chance. Guess what Mary said in Luke 1.46. Mary said.
[28:52] My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the lowest state.
[29:04] How I'm a nobody. A handmaid and a servant girl. And from henceforth they will call me blessed. They won't call me pure. It wasn't like everybody looked at old Mary and said.
[29:18] You know. You got a halo already on your head. Mary was two years old. That's how y'all got the picture. You're just so wrong. Because you don't know who the hero is.
[29:30] The hero is your great God. Say amen. Mary wasn't walking around at two with a little halo. Oh. Mommy I never tell lies. And I never do anything wrong.
[29:40] And mommy I never mean to my friends. And I always share my toys. I'm Mary. No. Mary was a brat sinner. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[29:52] Including you. Mary has too often been lifted up above what the Bible says. So have many others in the Bible. There's only been one. That did not sin.
[30:03] There's only been one. Who was worthy of praise. His name is Jesus. Number four. Last thing. So what are the lessons from this genealogy?
[30:15] Number one. The barrier between the Jew and the Gentile is broken down. There are non-Jewish people listed in Jesus' heritage.
[30:26] Ruth the Moabitess. Rahab the harlot that came from Jericho. These people don't belong. These people don't belong. The Jews think they're the only people God loves.
[30:38] But God's saying no, no, no. Let me tell you the story. All the way from the Old Testament. I already love Gentiles. Amen. You already loved us. The Bible says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 39.
[30:49] Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes. Of the Gentiles also. Rahab was from Jericho. Ruth was the woman of Moab.
[31:00] These women find themselves in the pedigree of Jesus. As we begin the New Testament, we see the universality of the gospel. It's for everyone. Everywhere.
[31:11] The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9. I wish you'd mark this verse. We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
[31:21] The barriers between male and female are gone.
[31:34] No other genealogy would you have women in the genealogy. But Jesus said, when you write my genealogy, Holy Spirit, tell them what to put in there and make sure they put them girls in there.
[31:47] I know everybody else has treated girls like a piece of property. But girls are going in mine. But not girls that are so fantastically pure. Because the only way we get pure is by the grace of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Galatians 3.28.
[32:01] There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ. So Mormons, girls might have to marry Mormon men to get to heaven.
[32:14] But in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you come by grace through faith just like everybody else. We get saved. No ordinary pedigree would include a woman like the pedigree of Jesus.
[32:27] The old attitude and contempt are gone. Men and women stand equally dear in love before God. By the way, the barrier between saint and sinner is down. Can you read that story with me?
[32:39] Did you read Matthew chapter 1? Did you read the genealogy? You were expecting all those people with halos on their head, weren't you? Tell the truth. Mary had a halo when she was born because her mom and daddy both had halos.
[32:53] And they had halos because their grandparents had halos. Everybody had halos. Jesus said, no, no, no. Ain't nobody got halos. I wish I could tell.
[33:03] You know, sometimes I watch those television preachers and I just wish y'all treat me like one of them. I mean, I got the holiness all over me. It's just oozy-goozy all over me. I can float through the floor, float across the floor, float through the door.
[33:15] I'm just, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Here's what the Bible says. Nope. You all sinned. Romans 3.28 says, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
[33:30] Jesus didn't even come to call righteous people. When he came down here on earth, he said, I didn't come to find anybody that was already good. I didn't come to find anybody that was already good. He said in Matthew 9.13, Go, you and learn what that means.
[33:43] I will have mercy and not sacrifice. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Jesus came for sinners. I'm sure glad he did, aren't you? It's pretty easy for me to think, Oh, Ty Pepperdine's been a good guy all his life.
[33:57] That's pretty obvious. Look at him. Just a good guy. I know Austin. He hadn't been one. It's pretty easy for me to look around and think a bunch of good guys in this room. But I don't fit with you guys.
[34:08] I'm just a pretty wicked guy on my own. But Jesus came. Can you say amen? It's beautiful. Beautiful. The real lesson is that God is giving us good news.
[34:19] Salvation by grace through Jesus Christ has come. 1 John 2.2, the Bible says, And he is the propitiation, the sin payment, the payment for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
[34:35] He wants them all to be saved. 1 Timothy 2.13, the Bible says, This is good, good, and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior.
[34:48] God says, this is good, and I like it. What? Verse 4. Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
[35:00] God said, that's good, and that's acceptable. I want them all to come to the knowledge of the truth. Verse 5. For there is one God and one mediator, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.
[35:16] Look at Matthew 1 with me. It's over. Watch this. Jesus doesn't come from a long line of pure Jewish people. The Jews aren't pure.
[35:29] Then he throws in a bunch of women that aren't pure. And he gets down to the end of the story and he says, And Mary wasn't what's so famous. I'm famous. Because it was God come in human flesh.
[35:42] That's what it's all about. Now listen to me. You haven't really gotten involved in church. You haven't even been baptized. You haven't taken the right steps in following Jesus because you're thinking, I'm just not sure I'm good enough.
[35:55] Well, let me just go ahead and set your mind at ease. You're not. You're not. Fact is, you're not good enough and you're never going to be good enough. The only way you get it, we just get forgiven.
[36:09] Amen. He makes us good by his grace, but it's never about me being good. It's about how good he is. You come to the church and you look around and you say, All these other people got it together.
[36:19] No, they don't. Even Jesus' family didn't have it together. Mary didn't have it together. Joseph didn't have it together. And all the way back to Abraham, they didn't have it together.
[36:31] Here's who had it together. Jesus. And he puts it together for you too. So this morning, if you came and you're not born again, and you're not going to heaven, then you should honestly say, God, I want to put my faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for me.
[36:45] I realize I don't have it together. I'm not. I can't. I'm not. And in some of you in this room, you're really dealing with some issues. And the issues you're dealing with is that you're trying to look at people too much.
[36:58] When the story is told in Matthew 1, it's failure, failure, failure, failure. Jesus! And that's the story of the Bible. Failure. Failure.
[37:09] Failure. Failure. Jesus! That's the story of the Bible. If you see that, if you see that's the truth of this, say amen. And let's thank God. Let's go on today saying, wow, you are a great God.
[37:23] You're a wonderful God. Thank you. Jesus. Father in heaven, I love you. And I pray that your name would be honored and glorified. And I pray you draw men to you. I pray you make people hungry to serve you.
[37:35] And I'll give you praise and honor for what you do. Lord, I love you. God, there might be someone here that's not saved this morning. And I'm asking you to save them. There may be some here that are saved.
[37:47] But, Lord, they've got a warped view. They're looking too much at men and not enough at you. And I'd ask you to deal with their hearts and draw them close to you. And magnify yourself in their life.
[37:59] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.