WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:08.779 Father, we confess before you that sometimes we find your word pretty boring and completely and utterly incomprehensible. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:18.160 But Father, we stand before you confessing at this time that we are not the center of the universe 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:27.519 and your word doesn't have to just speak in a way which is easily digestible immediately for us at whatever stage of life we're in. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:35.519 But that it is your word not only to us but to every people group on the planet and every people group that has ever existed 00:00:35.519 --> 00:00:38.899 and every people group that will exist until your son returns. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:43.840 That Father, it is always a contemporary and direct word to us. 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:49.739 And so Father, we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:54.280 Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us that we might listen and learn from your word. 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:57.460 And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.060 Please be seated. 00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:06.719 Most of you probably know I'm a child of immigrants. 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:11.180 My parents immigrated from Belfast, Northern Ireland. 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:15.300 And I was born about a year after they came to Canada. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:19.600 Back in the day when you had to save up money or go into debt to have babies. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:22.119 That used to happen in Canada. 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:28.760 And so my parents immigrated from Belfast and they moved to Montreal. 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:35.140 And after a little while, when I was a teenager, my family moved from Ottawa to Montreal. 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.400 So I'm really a city guy. 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:39.099 From Montreal to Ottawa, sorry. 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:40.280 So I'm really a city guy. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:46.340 I have no real particular roots other than the roots which are very shallow, which, you know, I've planted since I've been here. 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:56.520 After I had been a pastor for about just three years, I got moved way up the Ottawa Valley to a place called Eganville. 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:03.619 And in small town, rural Ontario, it's really a different world than the cities. 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:06.140 Like it's just different in so many ways. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:13.219 Some of you can remember the story I told about a woman that one day she told me, because she was a bit anxious, she said, 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:20.099 You know, George, I was reading the telephone book the other day and I didn't recognize some of the names. 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:24.379 And it's made me realize how much Eganville has changed. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:26.360 I mean, who reads a phone book? 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:31.419 Who reads a phone book to think about all the different people that you're coming across? 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.939 But that's what real life was like. 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:39.539 And this isn't like, I know I look like I could be talking about the 18th century because I'm getting old. 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:42.319 But this is not that long ago that this was happening. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:55.479 And in that community, it made a big difference for those whose last name was Lett, L-E-T-T, whether you were a black Lett or a red Lett. 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:59.919 And it didn't describe, oh my, look at that, all of a sudden there's light. 00:03:00.519 --> 00:03:11.919 It doesn't describe the hair color or anything, but it goes back to this, the distinction goes back well over 100 years earlier when two brothers came and one had red hair and one had black hair. 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:18.560 And over 100 years later, it still made a difference in that community whether you were a black Lett or a red Lett. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:22.139 I remember asking one person once, how can I tell if you're a black Lett or a red Lett? 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:25.239 And they said, well, you would never be able to tell, but we all know. 00:03:26.019 --> 00:03:27.180 And it made a difference. 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:38.420 And I can remember speaking to one fellow, and he was about 70, and he and his wife, they'd been married many, many years, but God had just never given them children. 00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:39.960 They were childless. 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:54.100 And one of the great things which was weighing on his heart as a sorrow is that he was the fifth generation on the family farm and that that would die with him because he was childless. 00:03:54.099 --> 00:04:00.460 There would not be a sixth generation of them with their last name living on that farm. 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:16.980 So when we read something, when we hear something like a genealogy, which was just read by Daniel a few minutes ago, that just seems for many of us living in a city like Ottawa, and many of us are immigrants as well, and we don't have particular roots. 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:21.819 It's really sort of an incomprehensible thing to us. 00:04:22.780 --> 00:04:24.920 And frankly, we often find it a little bit boring. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:32.800 But the Bible is not just written for us, and it's not just written for what we like to read, the type of genre we like to read right now. 00:04:33.140 --> 00:04:44.120 I can remember when I was six years old, I remember going up to my dad and telling my dad that he should start reading Hardy Boy novels because Hardy Boy novels were so fantastic. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:53.280 And I can remember as a six-year-old and seven-year-old, I couldn't understand why more people didn't read Hardy Boy novels because they were so good. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:05:00.740 Well, that was my, you know, so if God had written the Bible so I could read it at that age like a Hardy Boy novel, like now I would not like it, right? 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:09.980 And so God has caused the Bible to be written in such a way that it does speak to every people group on the planet. 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:14.759 And that will mean some people groups will go, oh, wow, a genealogy. 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:20.740 And other people groups will go, oh, gosh, this is so boring. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:28.579 How on earth does God want to have any friends or followers if he writes stuff which is so boring? 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:31.740 Well, we're not the center of the universe. 00:05:32.460 --> 00:05:37.980 And I don't know if my friend who is the fifth generation on the farm, I don't know if he's alive or dead now. 00:05:38.460 --> 00:05:41.280 I don't know if he found the genealogies like this boring. 00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:47.579 But I know that for many people in the world, things like genealogies are actually really, really important. 00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:52.139 So we're going to look at this really apparently boring story. 00:05:52.300 --> 00:06:01.000 And believe it or not, God actually tells us very powerful things about the gospel through this apparently boring genealogy. 00:06:01.579 --> 00:06:11.279 Believe it or not, he says shocking and very powerful things through this literary form that we don't find very appealing or many of us don't find very appealing. 00:06:11.479 --> 00:06:13.740 So it would be very helpful if you get your Bibles out. 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:15.399 And we're going to go through the genealogy. 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:27.319 Not every single word am I going to comment on, but enough for you to understand God actually is doing something really surprising and really shocking and really powerful through this genealogy. 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:31.060 So if you can find it in your Bibles, it's Matthew chapter 1, verse 1. 00:06:31.159 --> 00:06:32.599 And we'll just read the first verse. 00:06:32.979 --> 00:06:33.919 And it goes like this. 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:36.699 We'll read more, but I'll read the first verse right now. 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:41.719 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:06:41.919 --> 00:06:44.659 And in the original language, there's no verbs in that sentence. 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:52.100 It's just the genesis or the genealogy of Jesus, Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:53.939 And here's the first point. 00:06:54.020 --> 00:06:55.800 If you could put that up, that would be really great. 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:02.840 What Matthew tells us right off the bat is that Matthew is not telling a once upon a time story. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:06.460 He is telling a true story about what really happened. 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:11.939 He does this in a very, very powerful way with his opening words. 00:07:12.719 --> 00:07:16.120 Matthew is not telling a once upon a time story. 00:07:16.539 --> 00:07:19.519 He is telling a true story about what really happened. 00:07:21.299 --> 00:07:29.120 You know, for Matthew's readers, they were used to the stories, the myths about Hercules. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.040 They knew all these stories. 00:07:31.379 --> 00:07:35.139 You know, even his Jewish audience would have known many of the pagan stories. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:43.879 And so at the very, very beginning, Matthew's trying to tell, I am not telling you a story like a myth about Hercules or any other type of myth. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.100 It's not a once upon a time story. 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:50.240 I'm telling you a true story about what really, really happened. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:56.980 And this word that's translated as Genesis or Genealogy, it can be translated either way. 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.160 I'm going to tell you the origin, the genealogy. 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:04.939 But in the ancient world, it was a signal that this is now, the genre is history. 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:10.259 Not fantasy, not myth, not moral illumination, but history. 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:11.639 That's what he's going to be doing. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:19.500 And so what Matthew is telling us right off the bat is that the gospel is good news about Jesus. 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:24.139 And he's going to be telling you the true story about Jesus. 00:08:24.259 --> 00:08:31.719 So he's really making a very, very clear distinction between spirituality and most religion and what he's about to do. 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:39.080 Because most religion and spirituality, the stories, it doesn't really matter whether or not they actually happened. 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:52.879 The purpose of the stories is either to give you some type of spiritual illumination or moral illumination or specific advice in terms of the type of life you need to live. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.320 But it's really all about advice in terms of other processes. 00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:01.020 And Matthew's saying, no, no, no, this isn't like religion. 00:09:01.020 --> 00:09:02.280 It's not like spirituality. 00:09:02.280 --> 00:09:03.980 I'm going to tell you some history. 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:09.000 I'm going to tell you the history, the origin stories of the person of Jesus. 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:18.680 And this is really important for us because he's going to make a claim that the good news is something that is actually true and is actually real. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:27.980 That the story that I'm going to tell you is actually more like listening, well, reading about your financial statement. 00:09:27.980 --> 00:09:34.960 Or it's more like reading a newspaper account of what happened in a hockey game. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:45.639 Or it's more like reading how the inauguration when Trump becomes president or when Trudeau became prime minister and he read newspaper accounts of what happened in that event. 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:56.740 What Matthew is saying is that what I'm about to read and tell you about is more like that than the religious and spiritual and irreligious stories that you hear. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:04.340 That's, by the way, one of the reasons why as the gospel grabs us, Christians end up being concerned about the true and the real. 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:07.399 That's why science developed in a Christian context. 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:15.040 Because it's right in the very, very beginning origin stories of Jesus that the true and the real matters. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:23.579 And so things like science start to make sense to human beings because they want to try to figure out what's true and what's real. 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:29.419 Now, some of you might say, George, if that's the case, I've read some, you know, I've heard some blogs. 00:10:29.539 --> 00:10:30.480 I've read some talks. 00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:32.939 My friends have read people like Hitchens and Dawkins. 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:39.100 And they talk about how these genealogy and these types of stories that they're actually very, very inaccurate and untrue. 00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:52.780 So, George, if you're actually saying that Matthew is claiming that this is true, then how is it that so many people say that the story, the very genealogy that he uses, that that's inaccurate? 00:10:54.040 --> 00:10:59.720 Well, what Matthew would say if he was here was, look at how I began. 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:05.740 Look again, it says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:11.460 And Matthew would say, I know that Abraham wasn't David's daddy. 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:16.360 And I know that David wasn't Jesus's daddy. 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:23.660 I know that there's 600 to 1,000 year gap between Abraham and David. 00:11:23.800 --> 00:11:27.180 And I know there's 1,000 year gap between David and Jesus. 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:33.399 I'm not claiming that I'm writing an exhaustive genealogy. 00:11:34.239 --> 00:11:36.379 So don't get mad at me. 00:11:37.339 --> 00:11:44.859 I'm claiming that I'm giving you these significant but accurate stepping stones that lead to Jesus. 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:48.179 And that's what Matthew does. 00:11:48.599 --> 00:11:55.559 It's not exhaustive, but you can't fault him for being exhaustive when in his very opening sentence he tells you he's not being exhaustive. 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:57.639 He's talking about significance. 00:11:59.579 --> 00:12:02.879 So he's talking about significance. 00:12:03.459 --> 00:12:08.659 And that made me think of a funeral that I went to quite a few years ago when I was still part of the Anglican Church of Canada. 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:13.359 And it was a funeral of a priest. 00:12:13.439 --> 00:12:15.099 I think he was just in his late 60s. 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:16.619 He died suddenly of a heart attack. 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:20.519 And he'd been retired for a couple of years. 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:24.840 So the funeral service was packed, really packed. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:26.759 I came in just at the start of it. 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:27.980 I didn't want a robe. 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:28.899 I didn't know the man. 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:33.700 And I was just a real young whippersnipper pastor. 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:38.379 But I slipped in at the back where there was a bit of a standing-only crowd at the back of the church. 00:12:38.379 --> 00:12:48.720 And when it came time for the eulogy, the fellow who was up at the front giving the eulogy about the fellow, he was going on and on and on about how great a man he was. 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:52.600 And then he said something about he was a very, very sober thinker. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:59.439 And at this point in time, standing two away from me was a minister who'd been removed from the ministry. 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:00.519 He was no longer a minister. 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:09.340 And in a voice that wasn't loud enough that everybody in the church would hear, but people within about four or five of him could hear. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:19.960 As soon as the guy had said how sober this priest was, the guy said, except for those times when he'd make hash brownies and give them out to all of us. 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:21.259 Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:23.699 And except for those times he smoked up. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:24.939 Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. 00:13:25.079 --> 00:13:27.000 And except for those times he'd get drunk. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:31.299 And then the guy would go on up at the front, eulogy about how much he loved his family. 00:13:31.419 --> 00:13:35.019 And this guy beside us would say, except for the times he went to the strip club. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:36.220 Ha, ha, ha, ha. 00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:43.200 And all the way through the eulogy, this guy gave a rude commentary on the deceased's life. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:45.100 It was one of those things. 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:46.720 On one hand, it was very, very funny. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.039 On the other hand, it was very, very shocking and inappropriate. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:55.820 And you didn't know whether you should be asking God to forgive you for laughing or if you should just laugh. 00:13:55.820 --> 00:14:06.180 And actually, in this apparently boring genealogy, Matthew does something like the fellow at the side did while the eulogy was going on at the front. 00:14:07.540 --> 00:14:11.020 Because, you know, in eulogies, you don't tell about all the bad things that go on. 00:14:11.140 --> 00:14:15.000 Usually, you try to put the best face on the person who's died. 00:14:15.760 --> 00:14:23.980 But Matthew actually fills this genealogy with really naughty, shocking things about Jesus' ancestors. 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:26.860 Maybe some of you noticed it, maybe you didn't. 00:14:26.940 --> 00:14:28.139 Look again at verse 2. 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:35.680 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:36.460 Now, just pause. 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:37.279 Who is Jacob? 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.539 We know why Jacob's on this list and not Esau? 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:52.240 Jacob is on the list rather than Esau because Jacob conspired with his mother to steal the birthright from Esau. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.620 That's why he's there. 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:07.340 His mom overheard the dad saying, I'm going to give you the sort of the blessing that sort of gives you sort of control of the, like, basically like an inheritance speech. 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:08.799 I'm about to do that. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.600 Could you go get something for me to eat? 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:14.580 And the mom said, listen, Esau is going to go off and get this. 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:17.259 I want you to get the inheritance, Jacob. 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:29.980 So the mom went and made some food and dressed Jacob up as if he was Esau, having him wear his clothes and all sorts of other things because the dad was blind. 00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:34.800 And so Jacob goes in and steals the inheritance from his brother. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:35.940 That's the guy on the list. 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:38.540 This is one of Jesus' forebears. 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:49.659 And afterwards, Esau was so mad that the mom said to Jacob, you better get out of the country or otherwise Esau is going to kill you. 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:52.019 And this is the same guy. 00:15:52.219 --> 00:15:58.039 Jacob is the same guy when 20, 25 years later, he feels he has to come back to the family home. 00:15:58.279 --> 00:15:59.919 His blind dad's still alive. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:01.199 And this is the same guy. 00:16:01.259 --> 00:16:05.139 By this point in time, Jacob now has a whole pile of kids. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:06.899 And what does he do? 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.419 This is in the Bible. 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:20.179 He sends, as he's coming close to where Esau is, he's so worried that Esau still has a murderous rage and that Esau is going to murder him, 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:25.059 that what he does is he divides his family and his belongings up into groups. 00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:25.579 Why? 00:16:26.079 --> 00:16:32.739 His hope is that when the first group of children and the first wife comes to Esau and he kills all of them, 00:16:33.579 --> 00:16:38.500 and then the concubine with some kids comes up and Esau kills all of them, 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:43.319 and then the next concubine comes up with some kids and Esau kills all of them, 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:49.419 Jacob's hoping that by the time Esau has killed all those people, he's tired of killing and he'll let Jacob live. 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:52.120 This is Jesus' ancestor. 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:57.459 And look what else, the very next verse, verse 3, 00:16:57.719 --> 00:17:00.360 And Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:01.919 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:17:02.219 --> 00:17:03.459 Why does he put that in? 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:12.259 Well, first of all, like to a lot of Jewish people, he's gone ahead and he's broken protocol by putting a woman in, period. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:14.819 But who is this Judah and Tamar? 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:15.960 Well, I'll tell you how it is. 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:21.819 In the ancient world, to guarantee inheritance, and the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament talks about this, 00:17:22.120 --> 00:17:25.819 to guarantee inheritance, we'll use my family as an example. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.140 Let's say my oldest son, Tosh, he marries somebody. 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:33.100 He's not able to produce a child, an heir, and then he dies. 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:38.880 And so in the ancient world, my second son, Jesse, would have been required to marry Tosh's wife 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.420 so that he could produce a child that would guarantee Tosh's inheritance. 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:49.259 And if Jesse died, then the next son would have to marry Tosh's wife. 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:51.240 And so that's what happened here to Judah. 00:17:51.320 --> 00:17:57.100 His first son is married to Tamar, and he dies with no heir. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.000 So Judah gives the second son, and the second son dies, leaving no heir. 00:18:01.320 --> 00:18:03.880 And the third son is too young to be married. 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.960 And so Judah says to Tamar, I can pronounce your name differently, 00:18:08.340 --> 00:18:13.340 just wait a few years, and when this lad's old enough, he'll marry you to produce an heir. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:19.120 And Tamar later on realizes that Judah's, the third son's old enough, and he hasn't been given. 00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:21.300 So what does she do? 00:18:21.760 --> 00:18:26.680 She dresses up like a prostitute, and acts like a prostitute, 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.240 and Judah sleeps with her. 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:31.960 And he doesn't have the money to pay. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.480 He's the John who doesn't have the money to pay. 00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:41.680 And so he leaves a pledge, and then she disappears. 00:18:42.100 --> 00:18:44.580 And then, this is Jesus' ancestor. 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:48.980 Judah hears that Tamar is pregnant, and he says, 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:50.360 you've got to kill her for adultery. 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:57.539 And before she gets killed, she says, here's the tokens of the father. 00:19:00.979 --> 00:19:03.279 And Judah realizes it's his tokens. 00:19:03.919 --> 00:19:05.099 So he spares her. 00:19:05.439 --> 00:19:06.879 That's Jesus' ancestor. 00:19:09.619 --> 00:19:11.339 Let's go down a little bit farther. 00:19:12.659 --> 00:19:15.359 You didn't realize this genealogy was so racy, did you? 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:15.439 Yeah. 00:19:17.379 --> 00:19:21.479 You're probably saying, good grief, they do all these types of things. 00:19:22.139 --> 00:19:23.199 Okay, well, you just go down. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:26.759 And Ram was the father, verse 4, was Aminadab. 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:28.459 And Aminadab, the father of Nashon. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:29.859 And Nashon, the father of Salmon. 00:19:29.919 --> 00:19:31.759 And Salmon, the father of Boaz by Rahab. 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:32.439 Who's Rahab? 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:34.519 A prostitute from Jericho. 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:35.659 It's in the Bible. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:36.619 I'm not making that up. 00:19:36.879 --> 00:19:37.740 That's who she is. 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:40.859 And Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth. 00:19:40.939 --> 00:19:42.199 And Obed, the father of Jesse. 00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:43.859 And Jesse, the father of David, the king. 00:19:43.859 --> 00:19:46.959 And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 00:19:47.139 --> 00:19:48.859 Whoa, my gosh. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:51.459 They put that in the genealogy. 00:19:52.719 --> 00:20:03.119 Because as you all know, Uriah was one of David's trusted friends who'd risked his life many times to save David's life. 00:20:04.139 --> 00:20:05.319 That's who Uriah was. 00:20:05.419 --> 00:20:07.519 He was listed as one of David's mighty men. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:15.420 And when Uriah was off protecting the king, David had eyes for Bathsheba. 00:20:15.579 --> 00:20:17.539 He slept with her and made her pregnant. 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.299 His friend's wife, he made her pregnant. 00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:30.259 And when she lets David know that he's made her pregnant, he brings Uriah back to try to get Uriah to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba, 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:33.319 so that he would mistakenly think the baby was his. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:43.720 But Uriah is too honorable to do that because he doesn't want to take a privilege that his fighting brothers doesn't have. 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:48.279 And so he never sleeps with his wife, so David has him murdered. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.299 And they put that in the genealogy. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.259 I'll just give you one more thing. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.220 Go down a little bit to verse 10. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:05.680 And Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh, the father of Amos or Amon. 00:21:06.059 --> 00:21:06.900 Who's Manasseh? 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:17.200 Manasseh was a king who reinduced fertility worship into Israel in a particular way, which meant, and this is how he worshipped, 00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:22.120 is that I'd say, you know, now I say to Louise, I'm off to a prayer meeting and she doesn't worry. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.040 But Manasseh would have said to his wife, I'm off to worship the gods, which would mean he'd go to sleep with the temple prostitutes. 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:30.880 But that's not bad enough. 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:34.820 This king practiced human sacrifice. 00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:37.899 In fact, he practiced child sacrifice. 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:47.379 And he not only brought this into Israel and encouraged it, he himself sacrificed his own children to the gods. 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:54.259 He murdered his own children as an act of homage to a bloody deity. 00:21:54.259 --> 00:22:05.000 And he's famous in the book of Kings for having been responsible for the deaths of thousands and thousands and thousands of people. 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:09.859 This is Jesus' genealogy. 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:14.539 So here's the point, if you could put it up. 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:19.379 This lot could not produce a Messiah. 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:23.920 This lot could not produce a Messiah. 00:22:24.639 --> 00:22:25.819 Only God could. 00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:28.059 This isn't evolution. 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:29.839 This isn't breeding. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:35.959 This isn't like when you watch the crown and you maybe think about how great a queen, Queen Elizabeth II is. 00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:38.199 And then you think about how great her father was. 00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:47.439 And maybe you go back for several generations and maybe see how this, you know, there's all this wonderful culture and biology, you know, culminating. 00:22:47.679 --> 00:22:49.019 No, no, no, no, no, no. 00:22:49.019 --> 00:22:54.099 Matthew's saying this lot could not produce a Messiah savior. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.659 Only God could. 00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:58.820 Only God could. 00:23:00.620 --> 00:23:09.140 And, in fact, rather than thinking of this as being some spectacular example of breeding and ascending to something, 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:14.100 you need to understand that it's more like God invading and doing what only God could do. 00:23:14.560 --> 00:23:19.080 That God, in a sense, almost saying, enough, we know this lot is never going to produce a Messiah. 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:20.420 I'm going to have to do it. 00:23:21.840 --> 00:23:23.220 And it's, you know, it's so wonderful. 00:23:23.300 --> 00:23:24.840 It tells you something about the gospel. 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:26.839 It tells you about the gospel. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:38.139 It's that this frank confession of the history of sin shows you that it's not as if human beings had reached some pinnacle of holiness, 00:23:38.139 --> 00:23:41.399 and then God decides to send a savior. 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:54.180 But in the face of moral, I mean, there's some heroes in this list and absolute evil people and moral ambiguity. 00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:58.360 In the midst of all of this, God sends a savior even though it's not what's wanted. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:01.740 And it means that God is familiar with the history of sin. 00:24:01.740 --> 00:24:11.099 So that when I respond to the gospel by giving my life to Jesus, God is familiar with my history of sin and still he sends a savior. 00:24:12.620 --> 00:24:18.099 It's a profound comfort that God knows the history of sin. 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:22.859 And it's because he knows the history of sin that he sends a savior. 00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:32.619 And the other thing about it, which is just so, you know, I said how the gospel leads you in the earlier thing about being concerned for the real and the true, 00:24:32.699 --> 00:24:35.039 because God is doing something in the real and the true. 00:24:35.459 --> 00:24:41.019 And it also helps us to understand that part of our concern for the real and true is always to take God into account. 00:24:41.019 --> 00:24:54.579 That in fact, if there really is a God who really does exist, the ones who are most dealing with reality are not atheists, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:02.039 but the ones who realize there is a God that you always need to take account of when you're talking about anything. 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:06.700 Whether it's economics, whether it's physics, whether it's biology, whether it's the newspaper, 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:13.400 whether it's politics, whether it's ideology, you can't think and live and move as if God does not exist 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:17.120 and you do not have to take him into account in your theories. 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:26.340 It's as the story takes root in us that we realize that this is so powerful. 00:25:27.340 --> 00:25:31.980 But some of you might say, George, okay, well, that genealogy was very revelatory. 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:35.860 I didn't realize, and I'm guessing, George, you didn't tell all of the naughty parts, 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:38.119 and I didn't tell you all the naughty parts. 00:25:39.399 --> 00:25:42.059 There's lots of naughty parts in that genealogy. 00:25:43.879 --> 00:25:45.939 But, George, doesn't it prove too much? 00:25:46.899 --> 00:25:50.339 Like, George, that spectacularly proves that Jesus is human. 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:52.740 But you believe he's God. 00:25:53.219 --> 00:25:57.039 This genealogy proves that Jesus is human, George. 00:25:57.119 --> 00:25:58.500 It proves too much. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:02.699 And that's a really good comment. 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:07.600 Look at verse 16 at the end of it. 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:09.880 We're not going to read all of the begats or the fathers. 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:12.759 And here's how the list works. 00:26:12.840 --> 00:26:16.980 If you have an old King James version of the Bible, it uses the word, I think it goes, 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:24.700 and David begat Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon begat Rehobam, and Rehobam begat. 00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:27.779 And that's actually more literal. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:32.200 And it would be more literal to either use the word begat, which nobody would know what that is anymore. 00:26:32.299 --> 00:26:33.740 They might, I don't know what they think it is. 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:34.860 It would be a cat? 00:26:34.980 --> 00:26:35.380 Like, I don't know. 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:36.000 That doesn't make anything. 00:26:36.840 --> 00:26:38.259 Or fathered. 00:26:38.539 --> 00:26:38.680 Okay? 00:26:38.840 --> 00:26:44.380 And the way the genealogy works is you have over 30 consecutive fathered. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:46.080 Abraham fathered. 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:47.120 This fathered. 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:47.840 This fathered. 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:48.500 This fathered. 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:48.980 This fathered. 00:26:48.980 --> 00:26:54.740 And then you come to verse 16, you've had like, I think, 31 consecutive fathereds that 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:55.900 you've come up with. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:56.720 There's more than that. 00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:57.240 It's over 40. 00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:00.019 All these fathered, fathered, fathered, fathered. 00:27:00.019 --> 00:27:06.019 You come to verse 16, and Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:06.900 who's called Christ. 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:08.400 The rhythm's broken. 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:12.079 Jesus isn't fathered. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.200 He's not begat. 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:22.420 In fact, it uses the, it implies that Mary begat him. 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:26.620 Here's the, if you could put it up, the next point. 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:33.440 In a world where every baby is fathered, Jesus was born of Mary. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:41.660 In a world where every baby is fathered, Jesus was born of Mary. 00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:48.779 You see, that's also part of the significance of how the whole genealogy looked. 00:27:48.860 --> 00:27:50.220 Look up at verse one again. 00:27:51.100 --> 00:27:55.340 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:57.220 Here's what's so shocking about that. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:01.779 If you go back and read the Old Testament from cover to cover, and every time they tell you 00:28:01.779 --> 00:28:05.519 a genealogy, what matters is the person who's first. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:09.639 So it'll tell you David and all those who flow from David. 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:11.599 It'll tell you Abraham and those who flow from Abraham. 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:13.819 It'll tell you Aaron who flows from Aaron. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.799 But here, the last person on the line is the one who matters. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:22.859 The whole genealogy is upside down and inverted. 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:30.240 Because there's something about the last one which overwhelms the entire list. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:35.559 which puts all of the entire list and makes them virtually unimportant. 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:43.839 And it's because, and in the very next story, Matthew's going to talk a little bit more about it. 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:49.019 Jesus, in a sense, in this human sense, isn't fathered. 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:51.359 So yes, the text does tell us that Jesus is human. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.299 But it tells us that this is an invasion by God. 00:28:54.299 --> 00:28:59.799 That there's a miracle by God that takes place in the womb of Mary. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:01.720 And that's really important. 00:29:01.819 --> 00:29:05.599 It tells us something really important, two really important things about the gospel. 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:10.460 And another thing about how once the gospel comes to us, it changes how we live. 00:29:11.059 --> 00:29:18.599 You see, it tells us that the gospel, the good news, is all about God's power doing something. 00:29:19.579 --> 00:29:20.319 Not ours. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:25.039 That every time we receive the gospel, we're receiving power from God. 00:29:25.299 --> 00:29:27.839 And it's a miracle that makes us a Christian. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:30.639 I am a Christian because of a miracle. 00:29:31.059 --> 00:29:37.459 If you were here and you were a follower of Jesus, you are, God worked a miracle in your life. 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:41.500 The Christian faith is not like becoming an expert in meditation. 00:29:41.699 --> 00:29:46.599 And after decades and decades of meditation, you're able to meditate in a really perfect way. 00:29:46.699 --> 00:29:48.559 And you might be able to be proud about that. 00:29:48.919 --> 00:29:52.139 And it's not like learning how to be a master of yoga. 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:56.380 And after years and years of practice, you can do all of these yoga things. 00:29:56.420 --> 00:29:57.680 Or you can master your breathing. 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:02.400 Or you're able to do, or you could be a gazillionaire if you have a secular saint. 00:30:02.520 --> 00:30:05.920 Or that you're some type of unbelievable scholar with three PhDs. 00:30:06.120 --> 00:30:09.259 And after years and years of studying, there's a reason to be proud about that. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.320 But there's never anything to be proud about about being a Christian. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:16.339 Because it's about receiving something that only God can do. 00:30:16.399 --> 00:30:18.079 And when God does it, it's a miracle. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:25.179 And that's why the worst person in the world can become a follower of Jesus. 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:26.799 The weakest person. 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:28.879 The most messed up person. 00:30:29.179 --> 00:30:34.059 And it's also why the most powerful person, the best meditator, the best poet, the best scholar. 00:30:34.059 --> 00:30:38.000 For only God can do it. 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:40.980 And every conversion is a miracle. 00:30:42.859 --> 00:30:52.159 When Jesus comes in, the Holy Spirit comes in, and we are reborn and made Christ's own forever. 00:30:52.619 --> 00:30:53.599 It's a miracle. 00:30:55.659 --> 00:30:57.440 That's what the gospel is. 00:30:58.919 --> 00:31:03.279 And it also tells us something really, really important about how it is that we are to live. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:07.240 It's that, remember I said the gospel tells us to be concerned about the real and the true. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.259 And it does tell us to be concerned about the real and the true. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:14.720 But it also constantly reminds us that God does miracles and that prayer works. 00:31:17.160 --> 00:31:19.359 The gospel keeps reminding us of that. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:21.359 It's as it forms us. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.960 It isn't that the most realistic person in the world never prays. 00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:25.720 No. 00:31:26.619 --> 00:31:31.420 The way the universe really exists is the most realistic people get on their knees and pray. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:36.700 We get on our knees and pray. 00:31:36.700 --> 00:31:44.500 Just to sort of start to wrap it up, I wish I could tell you that this story had a happy ending. 00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:48.080 And to my, it didn't have a happy ending when I had a conversation with this person. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.059 But a couple of years ago, I was in a Starbucks. 00:31:51.380 --> 00:31:52.240 And I'm there working. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:53.240 I have my Bible open. 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:54.740 And a guy is beside me. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:57.000 And he sees me keeping going back. 00:31:57.080 --> 00:31:59.420 I was working on my sermon or a talk or something. 00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:00.980 And he keeps seeing me read the Bible. 00:32:01.060 --> 00:32:03.019 And he finally says to me, you're reading the Bible, right? 00:32:03.060 --> 00:32:03.560 And I said, yes. 00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:06.100 He said, we have a bit of a conversation. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:10.880 And he says, you know, several years ago, I was having a really, really, really, really, really bad time in my life. 00:32:11.700 --> 00:32:13.220 And I came across a Bible. 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.560 And I thought, you know, I've heard people say that this is God's word. 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:19.080 And I started to read the Bible. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:22.539 And as I read the Bible, I was saying, God, I'm really in a really hard space. 00:32:23.180 --> 00:32:25.799 I really need to know whether you might exist. 00:32:25.940 --> 00:32:27.119 I really need your help. 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:29.859 And so I'm reading this Bible. 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:31.259 I'd like to understand it. 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:32.399 I'd like to understand you. 00:32:32.399 --> 00:32:38.240 And I spent several months reading the Bible and calling out to God. 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:40.379 And he never answered my prayer. 00:32:42.399 --> 00:32:43.399 So I gave up. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:50.759 And I looked at him and said, you know, this is why you need to pray for me, folks. 00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:53.720 Because I'm not smart enough to start to think these things myself. 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:56.019 I said to him, well, I think God did answer your prayer. 00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:59.619 And he said, no, I can guarantee you he did not answer my prayer. 00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:01.539 And I can tell you, I guarantee you he did. 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:03.019 I'm here right now to speak to you. 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:07.019 I can help you to understand the Bible. 00:33:07.099 --> 00:33:08.779 And I can tell you about who Jesus is. 00:33:11.619 --> 00:33:15.640 And he looked at me and said, yeah, but that's not how I wanted God to answer my prayer. 00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:25.620 And then the conversation ended up, rather than, I did it, I just popped into my head that that's what I should tell him. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:32.960 And all I said was, you know, when you call out to God in prayer, it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to answer on your timetable. 00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:34.860 But he'll answer. 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:37.680 And it ended up being a conversation stopper. 00:33:37.700 --> 00:33:37.960 I don't know. 00:33:38.020 --> 00:33:39.920 Maybe later on he talked to somebody and he's a Christian. 00:33:40.020 --> 00:33:40.620 I have no idea. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:42.580 But it didn't lead any farther than that. 00:33:42.579 --> 00:33:50.419 But here's the thing, that insight that I had to tell him that particular thing, that's what's going on here in this text as well. 00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:52.139 Did you notice it? 00:33:52.679 --> 00:33:55.500 Look at verse 17 or verse 16 again. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:00.179 And Jacob, the father of Joseph and the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:06.319 And if you go back up to verse 1, it says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:13.420 And what's Matthew signaling right off at the beginning that Jesus is the Messiah, the Messiah deliverer, the Messiah savior. 00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:16.139 And it's saying that he's the son of David. 00:34:16.199 --> 00:34:22.480 And if you go back and you read 2 Samuel, you will see that God makes a promise to Israel and he makes a promise to David. 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:29.239 He makes a promise to David that he will send a Messiah deliverer who will deliver the people who will be king forever. 00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:31.739 And he makes a promise to Israel at the same time. 00:34:32.099 --> 00:34:38.799 And Matthew is saying God has kept his word to you, Israel, and he has kept his word to David. 00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:44.479 And when he says son of Abraham, you go back and you read Genesis chapter 12 and you read the story at the end of Abraham's life. 00:34:44.539 --> 00:34:47.219 I think it's Genesis 29, but Genesis 12, 1 to 3. 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:52.599 And God makes a promise not only to Abraham, but to every single people group on the planet. 00:34:52.599 --> 00:34:59.239 The transgendered people group, the gay people group, the people group of the most remote tribe in the Amazon. 00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:09.039 And God makes a promise to every people group in Amazon that I will send one through Abraham's seed who will be a blessing to every single people group on the planet. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:13.599 Who will be the one who is the Messiah, the anointed one, the savior, the mighty deliverer. 00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:19.799 And Matthew is saying God kept his word to every people group and to Abraham. 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.660 Abraham, could you put up the final point? 00:35:25.160 --> 00:35:29.380 Despite the changes and chances of this world, God is keeping his word. 00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:37.860 Despite the changes and chances of this world, God is keeping his word. 00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:45.519 You see, Matthew is communicating to us that only the Christian faith, Christian faith is different than religion. 00:35:45.740 --> 00:35:46.780 It's different than spirituality. 00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:50.220 It's not what people who reject religion and spirituality think. 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:53.840 That Christianity is not centered around advice. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:06.880 It is not centered around techniques or rituals that you need to follow to be right with God, to earn God's attention, to have an end to your sin or your suffering and to be united to God. 00:36:07.220 --> 00:36:09.840 That Christianity is centered around news. 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:14.840 It's news of God acting in a powerful way in the real world. 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:18.660 And it's not just God acting in a powerful way in the real world. 00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:30.059 It's also God himself being responsible to explain what he just did and to invite ordinary people like you and me into what he just did. 00:36:30.059 --> 00:36:33.639 That's what Matthew is telling us. 00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:34.539 That's what the gospel is. 00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:41.759 That's the story that he's going to tell us about a powerful act of God. 00:36:42.820 --> 00:36:49.500 That God is the one behind what Jesus will accomplish on the cross and that there's a word of invitation there. 00:36:50.739 --> 00:36:52.360 And sort of two things come from it. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:57.340 Folks, when we read the Bible, we can trust that God is keeping his word. 00:36:57.340 --> 00:36:59.760 He's going to keep his word in surprising ways. 00:37:01.059 --> 00:37:05.240 I really believe that when we go to heaven, there might be a time when God takes us aside and says, 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:11.600 you probably have a whole pile of disappointments with me when you called out to me in prayer and you think I didn't answer them. 00:37:12.180 --> 00:37:13.260 So let's just go through it. 00:37:13.800 --> 00:37:14.800 We'll do a debrief. 00:37:16.039 --> 00:37:17.500 I really think this will happen. 00:37:17.720 --> 00:37:19.880 I think we'll say, well, you know, there's this time. 00:37:20.019 --> 00:37:24.579 Maybe he'll even play back times in our life while we were kids or teenagers and we called out to God in prayer. 00:37:24.579 --> 00:37:27.599 And then, you know, we might say to God, yeah, I know he didn't answer. 00:37:27.699 --> 00:37:32.079 And then God just fast forwards maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a decade, maybe two decades. 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:35.179 And we'll see that God answered that prayer in a really surprising way. 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:40.299 I mean, sometimes God answers prayers by saying no. 00:37:41.719 --> 00:37:47.779 I am so glad that all my prayers that the girlfriend I had in grade 12 who broke up with me, 00:37:47.819 --> 00:37:49.960 that she would come back to me, that we could be together forever. 00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:55.260 I am so glad God said no to that because I got to marry Louise instead. 00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:59.800 And that's so much better. 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:03.099 I am so glad. 00:38:03.420 --> 00:38:05.480 Okay, George, yeah, that prayer again. 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:07.099 Yeah, 23 times today. 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:11.880 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:38:11.980 --> 00:38:13.699 Just, you know, probably up there snoozing. 00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:16.559 No, no, no. 00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:23.119 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:38:23.539 --> 00:38:27.039 But God keeps his word in surprising way. 00:38:27.759 --> 00:38:33.059 And it also then means for those of us, the gospel leads us to deal with the real world in a true way, 00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:38.539 taking God into account, taking prayer into account, miracle into account, 00:38:38.619 --> 00:38:41.079 the Holy Spirit into account, and his word into account. 00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:44.259 Because God keeps his word. 00:38:45.460 --> 00:38:47.659 And if you're here today and you haven't given your life to Jesus, 00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:50.199 you know, God's done something. 00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:54.500 He will do a miracle in your life if you call out to Jesus 00:38:54.500 --> 00:38:57.079 and ask him to be your savior and your Lord. 00:38:57.199 --> 00:38:59.539 It's not about your ability to accomplish. 00:39:00.299 --> 00:39:05.980 It's about you receiving and then the gospel working at slow but steady and sure work in you 00:39:05.980 --> 00:39:07.519 that will lead you to glory. 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:09.159 Please stand. 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:14.699 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:39:18.839 --> 00:39:23.279 Father, we ask that you give us a passion to read your word. 00:39:24.739 --> 00:39:30.099 And Father, give us a passion that even if it doesn't seem at first that there's much going on in your word, 00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:33.859 for us a confidence that there really is something, Father, in your word. 00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:41.599 We thank you, Father, that you might nourish us for a season in Philippians or for a season in Ephesians or in John 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:47.480 until you fed us enough from that part of your word that we can be fed by other parts of your word. 00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:50.480 But Father, we thank you so much that you caused your word to be written. 00:39:50.599 --> 00:39:52.079 We thank you that you keep your word. 00:39:52.200 --> 00:39:53.400 We thank you that you're real. 00:39:54.059 --> 00:39:56.220 We thank you, Father, that you hear our prayers. 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:59.340 We thank you, Father, even though sometimes we don't know why you've said no. 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:03.860 Father, we thank you that when we get to heaven, we'll be so glad of those times you said no. 00:40:04.180 --> 00:40:10.600 And we thank you of all of those times, Father, that you have waited maybe days, weeks, maybe decades before you've answered the prayer. 00:40:11.140 --> 00:40:16.500 And we don't even realize it, Father, but you have answered our prayers in surprising ways. 00:40:17.300 --> 00:40:19.840 Father, help us to be people of prayer. 00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:25.100 People, make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory. 00:40:25.099 --> 00:40:27.500 This we ask in Jesus' name. 00:40:27.980 --> 00:40:28.319 Amen.