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The Marvelous Birth of the King (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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  Speaker 1: As we look to the Word of God this morning,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to open your Bible to the first
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  Speaker 1: two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, the first two
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  Speaker 1: chapters in the New Testament.
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  Speaker 2: They introduce us to the birth of the King.
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  Speaker 1: It never ceases to be a story of wonder, a
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  Speaker 1: story of blessedness, a story of supernatural intervention. No matter
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  Speaker 1: how many times we go over the birth of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: it still captures our fascination, fills our hearts with joy.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like us to focus this morning, along with Matthew,
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  Speaker 1: on the birth of the king, emphasizing the kingliness, the
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  Speaker 1: royalty of Jesus Christ. That is Matthew's great intent. And
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  Speaker 1: certainly the carols that we sing at this time of
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  Speaker 1: year are reminders of the fact that Jesus Christ was
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  Speaker 1: born a king. We sing joy to the world, and
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  Speaker 1: that carol says,' The Lord is come, let earth receive
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  Speaker 1: her king.' And then there is, it came upon a
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  Speaker 1: midnight clear in which we sing heaven's all gracious king.
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  Speaker 1: Angels we have heard on high says, Christ the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: the newborn king. And my favorite carol, Hark the Herald
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  Speaker 1: Angels Sing, says glory to the newborn king. We three
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  Speaker 1: kings of Orient are, we're familiar with that carol. There's
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  Speaker 1: a line in there that says, born a king in
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  Speaker 1: Bethlehem's plain. Another one says, king forever, ceasing never, over
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  Speaker 1: us all to reign. Another one says, king and God
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  Speaker 1: and sacrifice. The carol, what child is this, says this
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  Speaker 1: is Christ the king. Come thou long expected, Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: born a child and yet a king. And angels from
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  Speaker 1: the realms of glory expresses worship Christ, the newborn king.
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  Speaker 1: All of these emphasize a great reality about the birth
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, that.
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  Speaker 2: He is in fact born a king.
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  Speaker 1: The wise men who came seeking for him stopped in
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and asked, where is he who is born king?
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  Speaker 1: The Christ child was born to be supreme ruler, supreme monarch.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, the writer of Revelation, John, says he is
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  Speaker 1: king over all kings and lord over all lords. He
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  Speaker 1: is the greatest, the most supreme of all monarchs. A king,
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  Speaker 1: as you know, has a sovereign right to rule. A
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  Speaker 1: king is the final court of appeal. He holds in
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  Speaker 1: his hand the power of life, the power of death,
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  Speaker 1: the right to make every decision and all decisions. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ was born a king. He is different than any
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  Speaker 1: other king, but nonetheless a king. The difference is in
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  Speaker 1: his surpassing royalty, his surpassing regal character, his surpassing kingdom
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  Speaker 1: and dominion and authority and power. But Matthew wants us
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  Speaker 1: particularly to understand that Jesus is king and that his
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  Speaker 1: birth is the birth of a king. So in the
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  Speaker 1: first two chapters, he focuses on the royal aspects of
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  Speaker 1: the birth of Christ. And that's what I'd like you
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  Speaker 1: to look at with me this morning. First of all,
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 1, verses 1 through 17, we have the
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  Speaker 1: genealogy of Jesus. That is, we have the line of
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  Speaker 1: descendants from Abraham down to the birth of Christ. This,
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  Speaker 1: Matthew wants us to understand, is his royal heritage. Anyone
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  Speaker 1: who is a king must have a royal heritage. A
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  Speaker 1: king has to have an authentic lineage. He must possess
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  Speaker 1: royal blood. In order to be fit to take the throne,
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  Speaker 1: he has to have been descendant from a long line
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  Speaker 1: of royalty. And in fact, that is precisely true of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: In Israel, the racial line of Jews came from Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. So racially,
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  Speaker 1: he would need to be a descendant of Abraham. Within
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  Speaker 1: the descendants of Abraham, the royal line began with David.
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  Speaker 1: And so in order to have the pedigree of a king,
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  Speaker 1: in order to possess royal lineage, one would need to
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  Speaker 1: be a son of Abraham and a son of David.
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  Speaker 1: The racial line was promised through Abraham in Genesis 12.
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  Speaker 1: The royal line was promised through David in 2 Samuel
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  Speaker 1: chapter 7. And so to qualify, Jesus needs to be
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  Speaker 1: son of Abraham, son of David.
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  Speaker 2: And the genealogy begins with these words.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 1, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: the son of David, the son of Abraham. The most
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  Speaker 1: important two names in the genealogy are given first. Abraham
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  Speaker 1: for racial lineage.
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  Speaker 2: And David for royal lineage.
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  Speaker 1: And then from verse 2, we have a more detailed
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  Speaker 1: presentation of that genealogy, starting with Abraham and moving right
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  Speaker 1: on down through David in verse 6, ultimately to Christ
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  Speaker 1: in verse 16. And so the Lord Jesus is son
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  Speaker 1: of Abraham, son of David. He fits the royal requirement.
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  Speaker 1: And in order to ascend to the throne, he needed
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  Speaker 1: to have that royal lineage. Now I want to suggest
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  Speaker 1: to you that the detail of this genealogy is very important.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience primarily who are
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  Speaker 1: tenacious about the matter of pedigrees. Certification is essential to them.
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  Speaker 1: Their whole culture is built around that. For example, When
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  Speaker 1: the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan
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  Speaker 1: and God gave them that land in which to dwell,
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  Speaker 1: He apportioned the land, giving specific territory to every given tribe.
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  Speaker 1: So the tribe to which you belong dictated where you
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  Speaker 1: lived and what land you possessed. Within the tribal territory,
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  Speaker 1: families assumed certain portions of land and your link to
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  Speaker 1: your family said where your home was, where your land was.
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  Speaker 2: And so your lineage.
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  Speaker 1: Was very, very important to establish the place of your residence. Tribes, families,
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  Speaker 1: and ancestors' houses were utterly essential in understanding your relationship
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  Speaker 1: and rights and privileges in the land of Palestine. Whenever
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  Speaker 1: there was the need to sell or transfer or exchange property,
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  Speaker 1: it required a knowledge of family trees in order to
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  Speaker 1: ascertain to whom the property really belonged. And in the
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  Speaker 1: Jubilee year, the 50th year, when land all went back
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  Speaker 1: to its original family again, it was necessity for one
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  Speaker 1: who would claim a land portion because he was descendant
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  Speaker 1: to be able to prove that he was descendant of
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  Speaker 1: those to whom that land originally was given. When the
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  Speaker 1: children of Israel were taken into captivity into Babylon from
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  Speaker 1: around the year 600 down to 586 B.C., they were
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  Speaker 1: taken into captivity. Their land was desolated. They were dispossessed.
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  Speaker 1: At the end of the 70 years when they went
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  Speaker 1: back into the land, Ezra tells us that when they
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  Speaker 1: set about to reestablish themselves in the land after a
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  Speaker 1: whole generation or two of absence, It was necessary for
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  Speaker 1: people to prove their descent in order to lay claim
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  Speaker 1: to the land which was rightfully theirs. When you come
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  Speaker 1: to the second chapter of Luke, which I read a
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  Speaker 1: little earlier for you, even then all of the Jews
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  Speaker 1: in Palestine went to the place of their ancestry to
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  Speaker 1: register for a taxation being imposed upon them by the Romans.
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  Speaker 1: So they were very much into your tribe and your
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  Speaker 1: family and your ancestors. That was just a part of life,
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  Speaker 1: very necessary and very essential. We should note, however, that
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  Speaker 1: today all of that has changed, and there is no
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  Speaker 1: Jew alive on the earth today who has any idea
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  Speaker 1: of his lineage.
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  Speaker 2: There is no Jew today who knows.
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  Speaker 1: What tribe he came from, what family he came from,
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  Speaker 1: what land he possesses, because all of the records were
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  Speaker 1: destroyed in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was sacked. by Titus Vespasian.
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  Speaker 1: The interesting thing about that is that anyone who showed
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  Speaker 1: up today and claimed to be Messiah, son of Abraham,
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  Speaker 1: son of David, and have justifiable lineage could never under
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  Speaker 1: any circumstances prove that to be true. Therefore, the last
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  Speaker 1: verifiable claimant to the Messiahship of Israel, to the kingship
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  Speaker 1: promised through David, is Jesus Christ. No other would-be Messiah
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  Speaker 1: could ever verify a right to the throne.
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  Speaker 2: Christ is the last claimant.
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  Speaker 1: And it was only a few years after His death
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  Speaker 1: that all the records were destroyed. Now the royal line
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  Speaker 1: here is the royal line that comes through to Christ.
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  Speaker 2: It is interesting that.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew gives us his lineage through his father, Joseph. Luke
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  Speaker 1: gives us his lineage through his mother, Mary. You'll be
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  Speaker 1: interested to know that Mary also was descendant from David.
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  Speaker 1: She came through David's son, Nathan. who never reigned, but
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  Speaker 1: nonetheless was royal blood. So from David through Nathan, all
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  Speaker 1: the way down to Mary, there is royal blood. Mary
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  Speaker 1: is a descendant of David through his son Nathan, not
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  Speaker 1: to be confused with the prophet Nathan. It is then
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  Speaker 1: through Mary, mark this, that Jesus is the real son
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  Speaker 1: of David. For Mary was his mother. In fact, as
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  Speaker 1: we know from our last study, he was born of
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  Speaker 1: a virgin. Joseph had no part in his birth. Joseph
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  Speaker 1: planted no seed in Mary's body. It was planted by
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit of God. Mary alone was the source of
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  Speaker 1: his human birth. Therefore, it was essential that she also
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  Speaker 1: be out of the line of David or he would
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  Speaker 1: have borne no royal blood. On the other hand, Joseph's
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  Speaker 1: line is the line of the legal right to the throne.
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  Speaker 2: It always comes through the father.
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  Speaker 1: So he had to have a father who also was
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  Speaker 1: a son of David, and not only a son of David,
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  Speaker 1: but a son of David through David's son Solomon, for
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  Speaker 1: it was through Solomon that the reigning line came.
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  Speaker 2: And so Jesus received his.
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  Speaker 1: Royal blood from Mary and the legal right to the
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  Speaker 1: throne from Joseph. Even though Joseph had no part in
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  Speaker 1: his birth, because he was born to Joseph's wife, Mary,
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  Speaker 1: he then was the son of Joseph legally and therefore
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  Speaker 1: bore the right to reign as king. It has been
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  Speaker 1: said that had there been a king, a rightful king
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  Speaker 1: in Israel, in Palestine at the time of Joseph, it
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  Speaker 1: would have been Joseph's.
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  Speaker 2: Joseph was the legal heir.
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  Speaker 1: So that the Matthew genealogy comes down through Joseph because
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  Speaker 1: there is the legal right to the throne.
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  Speaker 2: It comes from the Father.
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  Speaker 1: Luke brings it through Mary so that we know he
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  Speaker 1: has not only a legal right, but a real right
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  Speaker 1: because he bears the blood of David. Notice in verse
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  Speaker 1: 16 the emphasis. To Jacob was born Joseph. This being
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  Speaker 1: a Jacob, other than the familiar patriarch in the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: it's a common Jewish name.
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  Speaker 2: We don't know anything about this man.
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  Speaker 1: But to Jacob was born Joseph, the husband of Mary,
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  Speaker 1: by whom, that's in the feminine form in the Greek,
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  Speaker 1: referring only to Mary, by whom was born Jesus who
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  Speaker 1: is called Christ. Joseph is never in the Scripture called
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  Speaker 1: anything other than the husband of Mary.
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  Speaker 2: Never is Joseph called the father of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Of whom is feminine, it refers only to Mary and
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  Speaker 1: emphasizes the virgin birth. Now, I want you to see
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  Speaker 1: something that's absolutely essential to understand. You will notice in
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  Speaker 1: verse 10 and 11, we have the flow of names.
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  Speaker 1: As you come to verse 11, it says, were born
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  Speaker 1: Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation
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  Speaker 1: to Babylon, and it goes on from there. Now here
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of this lineage, this kingly line, this
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  Speaker 1: royal right to the throne, is a king born by
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  Speaker 1: the name of Jeconiah. Jeconiah was an evil man, also
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  Speaker 1: called Coniah. He was an evil man. And in Jeremiah's prophecy,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 22 and verse 30, the word of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: says this about Jeconiah, write this man childless.
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  Speaker 2: In what sense?
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  Speaker 1: A man who will not prosper in his days, for
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  Speaker 1: no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the
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  Speaker 1: throne of.
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  Speaker 2: David or ruling again in Judah.
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  Speaker 1: Now, God said no son of Jeconiah will ever reign
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  Speaker 1: in Palestine, in Israel. No son will ever bear the
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  Speaker 1: throne of David. And yet, Jeconiah is in the Messianic line.
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  Speaker 1: How then can Jesus be the king? if he does
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  Speaker 1: not come through the royal line of Jeconiah? And how
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  Speaker 1: can he be the king if the line of Jeconiah
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  Speaker 1: is cursed? That seemingly hopeless dilemma is resolved in the
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  Speaker 1: virgin birth. Through that line, Jesus received the legal right
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  Speaker 1: to the throne, but he was no blood child of Jeconiah,
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  Speaker 1: for that line was cursed and there could never be
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  Speaker 1: a child of Jeconiah on the throne of David. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: Christ was born of a virgin. There was no taint
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  Speaker 1: of the blood of Jeconiah in him because he had
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  Speaker 1: no blood from Joseph in him either. So in a
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  Speaker 1: marvelous working of God, the curse of Jeconiah is bypassed
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  Speaker 1: by bypassing Joseph and having Jesus born of a virgin.
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  Speaker 2: And yet it was essential.
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  Speaker 1: That he be in the legal line of Jeconiah, for
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  Speaker 1: that was the line of David that had the right
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  Speaker 1: to the throne. Every detail carried out with precision. So
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  Speaker 1: Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus has a genealogy
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  Speaker 1: that brings out the reality of His royalty. He is
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  Speaker 1: the authentic King, born to the kingly line, bypassing the
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  Speaker 1: curse of Jeconiah through the virgin birth. So He has
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  Speaker 1: impeccable credentials. Now that is His royal heritage. Secondly, I
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  Speaker 1: want to talk about His royal nature. His royal character.
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  Speaker 1: A king is a king not only because of his
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  Speaker 1: royal lineage, but because of his nature, his character. If
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  Speaker 1: you think back about your experiences in reading and perhaps
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  Speaker 1: thinking seeing a film or a story about a king,
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  Speaker 1: you will recall that frequently kings are referred to as
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  Speaker 1: your grace. Have you heard that?
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  Speaker 2: Your grace.
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  Speaker 1: We don't know a lot about kings in our society.
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  Speaker 1: We're a whole nation that revolted against the king, and
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  Speaker 1: kings aren't a part of our understanding. But the one
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  Speaker 1: thing you have to keep in mind about a king
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  Speaker 1: is that a king was a supreme ruler. Forget the
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  Speaker 1: Supreme Court, forget Congress, forget legislatures on a state level,
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  Speaker 1: and put yourself in a situation where one man rules
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  Speaker 1: absolutely unilaterally, and you have an understanding of what it
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  Speaker 1: is to be under a king. A king is the
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  Speaker 1: single sole authority and power over a people. And by
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  Speaker 1: the way, that's the best form of government if you
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  Speaker 1: have the right king. It is the worst if you
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  Speaker 1: have the wrong one. It is the form of government
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  Speaker 1: in which we will live in the millennial kingdom and
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  Speaker 1: throughout all eternity where there is only one King, God
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  Speaker 1: Himself revealed in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. But
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  Speaker 1: the King was a supreme ruler. He had the right
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  Speaker 1: of life and death. And by His wisdom or His whim,
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  Speaker 1: by His justice or by His bias, He could say
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  Speaker 1: living and dying to any person under any circumstances. Kings
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  Speaker 1: were then the source of grace. If you wanted mercy,
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  Speaker 1: you bowed before the king and pleaded for mercy. If
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  Speaker 1: you wanted grace, you bowed before the king and pleaded
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  Speaker 1: for grace. And so the king who was a good king,
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  Speaker 1: a noble king, a just king, a righteous king, would
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  Speaker 1: be a king known for his mercy, his kindness, his love,
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  Speaker 1: his grace. Because the king is the court of appeal
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  Speaker 1: to which all who seek mercy must go.
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  Speaker 2: For he holds the power of life and death.
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  Speaker 1: And you see, as you look even at the genealogy,
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus will be a king of grace.
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  Speaker 2: There's no question about it.
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  Speaker 1: He will be a king to whom sinners can go
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  Speaker 1: for pardon, forgiveness, and favor. He will be a king
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  Speaker 1: to whom those who have violated his very law and
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  Speaker 1: despised his very name can go to seek forgiveness.
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  Speaker 2: How do we know that?
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  Speaker 1: It's bound up even in the genealogy. May I show
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  Speaker 1: you why? Look at verse 16. It says that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was born of Mary, of Mary. And here you have
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  Speaker 1: the choice of one woman out of the whole world
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  Speaker 1: in the line of David to be the mother of
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  Speaker 1: the King of kings and Lord of lords. And what
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  Speaker 1: is remarkable about this is that Mary was not without sin.
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  Speaker 1: Mary was not a perfect woman. She was not a
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  Speaker 1: sinless person. She was a sinner like all other men
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  Speaker 1: and women. She needed salvation from death and hell like
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  Speaker 1: all other men and women. She was on her way
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  Speaker 1: to an eternity without God if she did not trust God,
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  Speaker 1: believe God, and embrace her own Son, the Savior, the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. It is evident from the New Testament
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  Speaker 1: record that Mary knew no special holiness, that she possessed
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  Speaker 1: no unique sanctification. For example, in Mark chapter 3 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 31, Jesus was teaching in a house and His
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  Speaker 1: mother and His brothers arrived and standing outside, they sent
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  Speaker 1: word to Him and called Him.
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  Speaker 2: They wanted Him.
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  Speaker 1: And a multitude was sitting around Him, And they said
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  Speaker 1: to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are outside
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  Speaker 1: looking for you. And answering them, he said, this is amazing,
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  Speaker 1: who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about
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  Speaker 1: on those who were sitting around him, he said, behold,
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  Speaker 1: my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will
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  Speaker 1: of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if Mary was some kind of sinless person, he never
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  Speaker 1: would have said, who is my mother or my brothers?
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  Speaker 1: He would never have said, well, anybody who does my
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  Speaker 1: will is my mother and sister and brother. If his
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  Speaker 1: mother was something special, unique, something holy, something sinless.
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  Speaker 2: He would have set her apart.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, had she called him, he would have gone
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  Speaker 1: immediately at her bidding to what it was that she desired.
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  Speaker 1: because she would have known that any expression out of
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  Speaker 1: the lips of a perfect person would be the perfect
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  Speaker 1: will of God. He ignores his mother, which means to
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  Speaker 1: say that what his mother says cannot overrule what he says,
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  Speaker 1: which means his mother is less than he, and he
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  Speaker 1: being perfect, she then must be imperfect. And the fact
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  Speaker 1: that he said anybody and everybody who does the will
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  Speaker 1: of God is equal to my mother and sister and
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  Speaker 1: brother puts Mary down at the level that all people are,
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  Speaker 1: and that is by faith in Christ and obedience to
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  Speaker 1: God's Word, we rightly relate ourselves to Him. He is saying,
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  Speaker 1: in effect, it is of no special benefit to her
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  Speaker 1: that she is my earthly mother when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: spiritual matters.
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  Speaker 2: She too is required to do the will of God.
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  Speaker 1: From Mary's own lips in Luke 1 46, from her
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  Speaker 1: own lips in what is commonly known as her Magnificat,
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  Speaker 1: her song of praise, she speaks to God and this
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  Speaker 1: is what she says, my soul.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Exalts the Lord.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Then verse 47, and my spirit has rejoiced in God
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: my Savior. Mary is the Savior of nobody. Mary needs
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: a Savior, and she says, God is my Savior. He
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: is the one who delivers me from sin. Mary, while
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: being the best of sinners, if there is such a thing,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the noblest of young maidens, the most beautiful of virgins,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Mary must have been the finest of young girls in
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: every way, but Mary needed a Savior. And Mary, by
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: virtue of being the physical earthly mother of Jesus, could
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: claim no spiritual privilege and make no claim on the time, attention,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: and life of Christ.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: She was a sinner in need of a Savior.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: And isn't it something that the King of kings and
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Lord of lords allowed a sinner to be His own
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: earthly mother?
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, He is a King of grace.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: And even before He's born, you see His grace as
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: He arranges for His mother and chooses a sinner.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: The second aspect of.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: His royalty that we see related to His graciousness, His character,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: His nature, comes not from one woman but the choice
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: of two men.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: Back to verse 1. son of David, son of Abraham.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Now, if you know anything about Abraham, you know that
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Abraham was a sinful man. He was called the friend
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: of God, and there were some marvelous things about Abraham.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: He was a man of great faith, eventually believing God.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: But Abraham also was a man who was known by
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: his sin. He lied blatantly and flagrantly about his own
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: wife to try to protect her when he was in Egypt.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: He doubted the power of God.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: He committed adultery because he didn't believe God could really
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: give him a child, so he went in and had
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: a relationship with his own handmaid out of wedlock and
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: produced Ishmael, a cursed child in many ways.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Abraham was a sinful man, liar, doubter. and adulterer.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: His son Isaac who came also in the Messianic succession
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: was a great disappointment. The story of Isaac is a
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: story of weakness. It's a story of disappointment. It's a
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: story of a man who basically failed to do the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: work of God. Abraham yet was the source humanly of
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the Messiah. And God's grace is seen again in the
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: choice of Abraham.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: How about David?
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: David, though he was a man after God's own heart,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: was also a man who was well known for his sin.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: He lived a life of appalling sin. He was a
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: bloody man, many battles, many massacres, many deaths. He sowed
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: seeds of dissipation by marrying many women. He was a
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: horrendous excuse for a father losing his children and allowing
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: them to fall into dissipation, evil, and even rebellion. He
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: was exceedingly sinful in his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the murder of her husband. He played the fool one
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: time because he doubted God and acted as if he
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: was insane to try to escape from a circumstance he
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: thought God was unable to deliver him out of. His
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: son Solomon was worse than he was, exceeding his folly
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: in massive proportions, marrying women and having concubines to an
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: almost innumerable counting. And because of the many foreign women
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: who occupied his attention and his tremendous preoccupation with riches
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: and wealth, he plunged the whole kingdom headlong into evil
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: and eventually split.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: It into two parts.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: And yet both Abraham and Isaac and David and Solomon
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: are in the royal line. They're in the line of
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: the Messiah. That speaks of the grace of the king.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: The character of the king is a character of grace.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: And then not only is there one woman and two men,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: but there are three eras given here. This genealogy has
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: three sections of 14 names. The first 14 names, and
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: then the second 14, and then the third 14. The
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: third 14 end with the name of Christ. Each of
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: those 14 names, and we don't know why the Holy
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Spirit picked 14. We don't know what the strategy there was.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: But each of those three sets out a different period.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: The first 14 names include the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: and so forth, and the judges, familiar judges in that
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: first group. The second 14 names are the kings, the monarchy.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: David and Solomon and Rehoboam and Abijah and Asa and
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat and Joram and Uzziah. Those are all kings. The
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: third 14... deal with the captivity period. Period number one,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: patriarchs and judges. Period number two, the monarchy. Period number three,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: from the captivity in Babylon to.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: The coming of Christ.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: That's a 600-year period we know very little about. The
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: names in that group are dark to us. We don't
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: know really much about them at all. Names like Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: and down those lists We don't know who they are.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: They're shrouded in darkness. Very little, if anything, is known
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: about them at all.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: They are obscure people.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: The age of the patriarchs and judges was an age
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: of sinfulness.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: They were all sinners.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: The age of the monarchy was an age of decline, degeneracy, apostasy, captivity,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: and destruction. And from the captivity to the coming of
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Christ was a time of evil, a time of deceit,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: a time of hostilities, a time of war in the
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: land of Palestine. All of these times, times of mixed
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: pathos and glory, times of heroism and disgrace, times of
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: men of renown and men of obscurity. But one thing
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: we see in all these lists is these were all
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: sinful men who lived in sinful times And yet they
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: were chosen to be a part of the Messiah's line.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: So whether you're talking about the one woman who was
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: his mother, the two men who stand out in the genealogy,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: or the three eras of history, all of them point
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: to the grace of the king, who even though he's
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: not born yet, shows his grace in the choice of
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: those who are his ancestors. But it comes through even
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: more clearly in one final look. at four outcasts, four outcasts,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: four sinful women for whom God provided grace. There are
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: four women in the genealogy that are just remarkable by
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: their inclusion. The first one is in verse 3. Back
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: into that patriarchal period, a woman by the name of Tamar.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: It says in verse 3, to Judah were born Perez
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and Zerah by Tamar. You have to understand from Genesis 38,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: if you get a chance to read that, read it carefully.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Tamar committed incest and Perez and Zerah, born to Tamar,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: were born out of incest. The ugly, gross, vile evil
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: of incest. She was guilty of harlotry, guilty of incest,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: gave birth to two sons, born out of incest. Not
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: only is she in the line, but so are her
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: two sons. Now that'll tell you something about the grace
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: of God. Then you will notice in verse 5, to
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab. A man named Salmon
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: married a Canaanite woman, really. A pagan woman by the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: name of Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute who ran a
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: brothel in Jericho. If you read carefully the account of
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Joshua chapter 2, you will read about Rahab who came
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: to believe in the true God and hid the spies
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: who were spying out Jericho. But she was a prostitute
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: by profession, and yet she is included in the Messianic line.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: She is given the privilege of giving birth to Boaz
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: who is really a pattern of the Redeemer Himself. Then
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: there is a third woman in the genealogy, verse 5 again, Ruth.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Ruth again was a Moabitess. The Moabite people had come
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: out of incest as a people.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: The whole people were cursed.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: And here this woman out of a cursed people, this
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: pagan woman, this idolatrous woman, comes into the line, marries
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: the kinsman redeemer Boaz, and becomes the great-grandmother of David.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: So God takes two prostitutes and a pagan idolatrous cursed Moabite.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: And puts them in the Messianic line.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: And then amazingly in verse 6, And to Jesse was
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: born David the king, and to David was born Solomon,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Who
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: is that? Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 11, the adulteress. Two prostitutes,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: a cursed Moabite, and an adulteress. Yet she's the mother
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: of Solomon, wife of David.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: Incredible.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: The grace of God in choosing one woman, in choosing
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: those two most significant men, in choosing the people in
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: those three eras, and in choosing the four outcasts.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Indeed a king of grace. Royal lineage, royal nature.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Thirdly, and just briefly on this one, verse 18 and
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: following instructs us regarding His royal birth.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: He had a right to be king by lineage. He
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: had the character to be king. He was gracious.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: And now we see He has the power to be
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: king because of the unique birth.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Now the birth of.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, verse 18 says, was as follows. When his
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, that means to
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: be engaged. And by the way, that was a binding
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: engagement by legal contract, not like engagements today. People get
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: engaged today and they give their rings back without a
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: lot of fault at all. A lot of emotion in it,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: but not a lot of legality. In fact, none. Engagements
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: are not legal today at all. But in that day
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: they were. There was a legally binding promise made, according
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: to Deuteronomy 20, verse 7. This period of betrothal was
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: nine months to 18 months at the most, and the
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: purpose of the period of betrothal was so that the
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: bride-to-be could demonstrate her virginity. In other words, the fear
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: of a young man would be that he would enter
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: into a relationship with a young woman, he would marry her,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: and then discover her to be pregnant, and realize that
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: he himself was not the father, but now he is
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: in a binding marriage relationship. And so in order for
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: her to verify her virginity so that he would enter
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: that relationship knowing her purity as well as the whole
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: community knowing it, there was a period of nine to
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: 18 months for her to demonstrate her purity to show
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: that she was not pregnant. And then would come the chuppah,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: which was the ceremony itself that consummated the marriage. But
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: in the case of Joseph, He was betrothed to Mary,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: but before they came together, that is before the chuppah,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: the ceremony, the consummation physically of their union, she was
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: found to.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: Be with child.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: He had his worst fears realized, the shock of all shocks.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: This young girl, Mary, must have been the most beautiful
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: of young women in terms of character. This would have
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: been something Joseph never in a million years would have
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: imagined could be true. But in his betrothal period before
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: they have come together, he discovers that she in fact
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: is going to have a child. The child is placed
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: in her womb by the Holy Spirit, but initially Joseph
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: does not know that.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: And so it says in verse.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: 19, Joseph, her husband, being a just or righteous man,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: a man of integrity, and not wanting to disgrace her,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: desired to divorce her secretly. The law of God provided
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: that in a case like this, divorce could take place.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: The legally binding betrothal period could be broken. And he
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: was a just and righteous man, and a just and
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: righteous man had the right to do that when he
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: had been violated by the one in whom he had
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: put his trust and to whom he had given his
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: promise of life and purity. but he loved her also.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: And in the confusion of his love and disbelief that
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: a woman like Mary would ever become pregnant by another man,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: he decides to opt out for a lesser option in
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: terms of public disgrace and to divorce her secretly. The law,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: which was perhaps the law of that time, which was
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: perhaps a lax interpretation of Deuteronomy 24, permitted that he
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: could put her away in a private ceremony rather than
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: in a public one. He had every right to publicly
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: disgrace her, to publicly charge her with adultery, to sue
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: her outright for divorce in an act of public dishonor
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: that would label her the rest of her life. But
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: he couldn't bring himself to do that. And so they
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: allowed a private divorce secretly between two parties with just
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: two witnesses. And that would break it up and it
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: would just never be said any further as to why.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: And he decided to do that.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: But before he could go about doing it, verse 20 says,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: When he had considered this, behold, an angel of the
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: of David, there's the emphasis of Matthew again, to show
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: you that if there had been a king in Palestine
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: at that time, it would have been Joseph, son of David,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: for that which has been conceived in her is of
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. and she will bear a son, and
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: who will save His people.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: From their sins.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Here you're going to be given some information that is
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: absolutely so far beyond your imagination that you cannot conceive
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: of it. Your betrothed and beloved is pregnant. You are
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: told by an angel in the midst of a supernatural
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: dream that this Pregnancy is a direct result of the
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: implanting work of the Holy Spirit to produce in her
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: a son whose name will be Jesus, which means to save,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: and he will save his people from their sins. That
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: your betrothed beloved carries in her womb the Savior of
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the world, conceived by God. And so the word comes
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: to him that she will give birth to a Savior.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: And just to give it a context, Matthew says, all
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: this took place that what was spoken by the Lord
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: through the prophet might be fulfilled.
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: This should be understood because.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: This is what the Old Testament said. Behold, the virgin
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: shall be with child. That's a physiological impossibility. But the
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: virgin shall be with child miraculously, shall bear a son.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: They shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: with us. So this should not have been something that
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: shocked anybody because the Old Testament made it clear. Joseph
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: arose from his sleep, did as the angel of the
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Lord commanded him, took her as his wife, note this,
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: a son, and he called his name Jesus. He had
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: no relationship to her at all until that child was born,
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: so that that child was never thought or assumed to
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: be the child of Joseph.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: She was a.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Virgin until the child was born. By the way, that
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: also says after the child was born, she was no
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: longer a virgin.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: That's the intent of the original language.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: And for people to advocate the perpetual, permanent virginity of
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Mary is to deny what that text very clearly says. Furthermore,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: the New Testament is clear that Mary had many other
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: children by Joseph, the brothers and sisters of Jesus who
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: were named in the passage I read you from Mark
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: chapter 3 being an illustration. So Mary entered upon a
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: normal conjugal relationship with Joseph, and they produced other children,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: but not until the birth of the Son of God.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: That's a royal birth, folks. You say, in order to
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: be a king, you have to have royal blood. How
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: about the blood of God, as it were? How about
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: being born of God? God actually has no blood, but
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: in the spiritual sense. Being the offspring of God who
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: is King of all kings, King of the universe. So
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: Christ has not only a royal lineage, not only royal character,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: but definitely royal birth. Born of God. And it says
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: in Isaiah 7, 14, his name shall be called Immanuel,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: which being interpreted as God with us. God in human flesh.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: He was born royally. The manger wasn't royal, and the
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: stable wasn't royal, and the animals weren't royal, and the
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: shepherds weren't royal, and there wasn't a whole lot of
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: regality about any of the events around the birth of Christ,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: but it was a royal birth for God, infinitely rich,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: had become utterly poor. God in divine glory assumed human nature.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: God in absolute eternal holiness entered into the polluted stream
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: of man's existence. He, however, was untouched by sin like
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: a sunbeam shining on a dump.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: It's there, but it is untouched.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: God in perfect holiness took on man's guilt, bore the
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: sinner's griefs, and on the cross paid the price for
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: all his sin. What a truth. A royal birth, a
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: regal birth, a majestic birth, no other birth in the
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: history of the universe like it. So Matthew says he
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: is a king by royal heritage, he is a king
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: by royal nature, he is a king by royal birth. Fourthly,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: he is a king by royal worship. And Matthew goes
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: into that in chapter 2. We don't have time to
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: fully develop this, but I'd like to give you a
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: little bit of background briefly.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: Verse 1.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the days of Herod the king, and by the way,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: we don't know how long after, some time after though,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: perhaps by this time the young couple and the child
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: were living in a house rather than in the stable.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: They had found a place to accommodate them. Some time
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: has passed. And behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: Now, who are the Magi?
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Just exactly who are these kings that always show up
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: at the birth of Christ?
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Let me give you a little bit of background.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: They came from the Persian Parthian Empire east of Palestine,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: the great eastern area of The area once ruled by
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: the Babylonian Empire, followed up by the Medo-Persian Empire, and
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: they really were descendants of the Persians, the Medes and
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: the Persians. The Magi were a tribe of people from
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: that part of the world. I don't know whether it
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: was genetics or whether it was the plan of God
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: or whether it was environment or whether it was circumstances
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: or what it was, but they were unusually capable and
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: gifted people. and they had risen to great leadership in
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: the Middle East. At the time of the birth of Christ,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: they were the ruling body in that.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: Part of the world.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: They had ascended to the highest levels in terms of
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: political power. They had known that power ever since the
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Medo-Persian Empire.
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: The Magi had been around since Daniel.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: In fact, when the Jews were taken captive into Babylon
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and stayed for the time of the Babylonian Empire and
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: into the Medo-Persian Empire, these Magi were greatly influenced by
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: those Jews, many devout Jews, and no doubt Daniel himself,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: who in his own prophecy is said to be the
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: chief over the Magi, no doubt he influenced them greatly.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: So they had come to understand that there was coming
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: a great king to that part of the world. They
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: no doubt were familiar with Daniel's prophecy and with the
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: teaching of others of the people of Israel.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: They had risen to power in the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: In fact, Nagel Sharizer, who is chief of the Magi,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: is named in Jeremiah 39 in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: So they were very, very powerful, highly influential and elite men.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: When we read about the law of the Medes and
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: the Persians, that is really the teaching of the Magi.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: They had been, as I said, instructed further by Daniel.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: Their religion had meshed with Zoroastrianism and then had been
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: influenced by the teachings of the Jews. They were so
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: powerful by the time of Christ that nobody could ascend
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: to the throne in that part of the world unless
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: appointed by the Magi. They were the ruling people.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: They appointed the kings.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: In fact, they are called by historians the kingmakers of
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: the east. They controlled also the judicial office. We learned
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: from Esther that the royal judges in the court were
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: appointed by the Magi. They appointed the kings. They appointed
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: the judges. They dominated that culture in terms of authority.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: They had vast knowledge of astronomy, astrology, natural history, architecture,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: and agriculture.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: Their religion was monotheistic.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: They believed in the conflict of good and evil. They
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: believed in a hereditary priesthood, blood sacrifices, supernatural revelation, and
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: even believed in prophecies. So they had much in common
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: with the teaching of the Old Testament. And that perhaps
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: gave them an ear for what they heard from Daniel
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: and others. Now, at the time of Jesus' birth, they
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: really had wrapped up the control in that Middle Eastern empire.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: Their great enemy was Rome. They had fought against Rome
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: in 63 B.C., 55 B.C., and 40 B.C., and they
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: would like to have power over Rome. One of the
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: things they wanted back was the land of Palestine, which
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Rome now occupied. And so when the prospect of a
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: great king rising in the Middle East came about, they
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: were very anxious to come and see that king, and
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: if indeed that was a king, have that king rise
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: to authority and take back the land.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: Of Israel and defeat Rome.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: They had the absolute choice and selection of the next
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: king for that empire. By the way, there was trouble
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: in the empire at the time of Christ. The king,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: who was named Freytes IV, had been deposed. Nobody was
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: on the throne, and the Magi were seeking someone to
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: succeed that man. From Daniel's prophecy of the divine king,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: and from the star in the sky, to which the
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Lord Himself supernaturally must have drawn their attention, and they
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: must have received information about what that star meant, They
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: decided to follow that star, to find this one who
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: was to be the king, to crown him king, as
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: it were, and lend their support to his authority.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: And his rule.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: You can only imagine what it was like when they
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: rode into Jerusalem. They probably came in on fine Persian horses.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: There's no reason in the world to believe there were
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: only three of them. They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: but that doesn't have anything to do with how many
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: of them there were. Estimates go into the hundreds, and
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: some say they were probably accompanied by about a thousand
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: men on horseback. This is an army, folks, and it's
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: little wonder that Herod was a little nervous when they arrived.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: They were politically powerful, and they were also honorable, God-fearing
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: believers in Old Testament prophecy.
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: They arrived. They come to Jerusalem. Notice verse 2,'.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?'
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: It's as if they're saying, we're on a search for
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: a king and we want to check this one out.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: We believe this to be the king we're looking for.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: We saw his star in the east and have come
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: to worship him. No king they ever saw in the
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: past had his own star.
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: This was some king.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: When Herod the king heard it, he was troubled and
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: all Jerusalem with him. He was so threatened and so intimidated,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: frightened that another king would come along. When he heard it,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: he was troubled. And it says all Jerusalem was troubled
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: with him.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: You know why?
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: If Herod was troubled, so was everybody else, because when
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Herod got troubled, he started killing people.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: And everybody else got troubled in fear that it might
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: be them.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: he began to inquire of them where the Christ was
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: to be born. And they said to him, quoting out
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: of Micah, In Bethlehem of Judea, it's been written by
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: the prophet Micah, And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: out of you shall come forth a ruler who will
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: shepherd my people Israel. So Herod secretly called the Magi,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: ascertained from them the time the star appeared, and he
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go, make careful search
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: for the child, and when you have found him, report
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: to me that I may come and worship him. And
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: you know the rest of the story. He didn't want
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: to worship him. He wanted to kill him. And when
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: they found the child, the Magi were warned by God
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: in a dream to go back to the Persian Parthian
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: kingdom another way.
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: They never went back to tell Herod where he was.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: Herod was so furious, he massacred every male child under
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: two years of age, thinking he'd catch the king in
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: the killing of all of the children. What I want
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: you to notice particularly is that when the Magi arrived...
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: Verse 11, they came into the house. Again, we remind
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: ourselves the time has elapsed and they're now in a house,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: not a stable. Saw the child with Mary his mother.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: They fell down and worshipped him. Now there is the
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: indication that these non-Jewish Kingmakers from the east acknowledge that
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: this is the promised Messiah. They are non-Jewish. They are Gentile.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: And they understand the words of Daniel and the others,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: and they realize that this indeed is the king. And
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel missed what these Gentiles saw. They
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: worshiped him. He is king by royal worship. He was
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: worshipped by the established kingmakers of the world. And opening
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: their treasures, they presented him gifts of gold and frankincense
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: and myrrh. Gold for a king, frankincense, which is a
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: pure incense, rising, speaks of deity. It was offered to
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: God as a sweet fragrance. Myrrh speaks of his humanity.
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: It's a perfume to make life more bearable and life
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: more pleasant, to push away some of the odors of life.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: He is a king, the gold. He is God, the frankincense.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: He is God-man, the myrrh. The God-man who is king
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: They worshiped him. Royal worship.
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: Matthew says he is king because the kingmakers of the
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: world bowed to him.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: In a sort of a backhanded way, even Herod confesses
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: him as king by his desire to murder him. And
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: so the royalty of Christ is established, not only by
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: his lineage, not only by the fact of his incredible
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: grace seen even in his genealogy, not only by His
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: royal birth, but by His royal worship. And lastly, Matthew
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: wants us to know that He is king by royal decree.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Not just these things, but He was decreed to be
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: the king by God Himself. God, who is His royal Father,
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: has so decreed.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: How so?
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Back to chapter 1, verse 23. God said, back in
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament, behold, a virgin shall be with child,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: which translated means God with us. God said the king
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: would come, born of a virgin. It happened, the divine decree.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: Chapter 2, verse 6, the prophet said, speaking for God,
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: he would be born in Bethlehem. That's exactly where he
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: was born. Chapter 2, verse 15, out of Egypt did
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: I call my son, said Hosea in chapter 11, verse 1.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: You remember that in order to escape the wrath of Herod,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: they were told to go to Egypt where they stayed.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: And then out of Egypt they came on their way
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: to Nazareth. That was prophesied in Hosea 11.1. So God
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: by decree said a virgin will bear a child. God
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: by decree said that child will be born in Bethlehem.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: God by decree said that child will come out of Egypt.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: And then on verse 18, Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled. A
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: voice was heard in Ramah weeping in great mourning, Rachel
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: weeping for her children, and she refused to be.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: Comforted because they were no more.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: Rachel is sort of the mother of all Jewish mothers,
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: and they're weeping and crying at the massacre of all
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: their little babies. And so, the decree of God was
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: given in that passage in Jeremiah 31, 15, that when
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: the Messiah came, there would be a weeping of Jewish
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: mothers over the loss of their children at the time
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: of His birth. And finally, in verse 23, He resided
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: the prophets might be fulfilled. He shall be called a Nazarene.
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: The prophets is plural there. We don't know the specific prophecy.
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: In fact, it may not even be recorded. But the
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: prophet said he would be a Nazarene, and that's exactly
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: where he went to live. God said, when the king comes,
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: he will be born of a virgin. When he comes,
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: he will be born in Bethlehem. When he comes, he
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: will come out of Egypt. When he comes, there will
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: be a massacre that causes weeping of women for their
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: killed children. And when he comes, he will take up
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: his residence in a place called Nazareth in order to
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: be called a Nazarene. Jesus fulfilled every element of the
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: royal decree of God.
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: He is king and.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: In every sense. He is king by birth. He is
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: king by decree. He is king by lineage. He is
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: king by character. He is king by homage and worship.
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: And the carols say it, don't they? Born a king.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Born a king over and over again. Christ, the newborn king.
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: But what kind of king in closing? Is he a
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: king over an earthly nation? Is he a king over
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: many nations of the earth? The Bible tells us that
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: he is a divine king. The Bible tells us that
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: he himself said, my kingdom is.
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: Not of this world.
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: He said the kingdom is within you or among you
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: or in your midst. And we learn it is a
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: spiritual kingdom. He rules the hearts of those who believe
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: in him. He is sovereign over those who love him.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: He is sovereign over those who bend their knee and
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: bow to him and seek his gracious forgiveness for their sins.
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: He is king over those who accept his death and
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: resurrection for their salvation. And someday he will be king
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: over the earth and the whole universe will submit to him.
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: He is king now in the spiritual sense. He is
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: to be king in the earthly sense. And he is
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: to be king in the eternal sense. He is not
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: a king like any other king. That's why Pilate couldn't
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: understand him. He couldn't understand what kind of king it
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: is who lets himself be killed. He couldn't understand what
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: kind of king it is whose subjects don't fight for him.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: He couldn't understand what kind of king it is who
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: possesses no earthly authority, no earthly power, no earthly sphere
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: of domination.
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: He couldn't understand that kind of king.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: He is a king. And He rules over the hearts
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: of all who love Him and serve Him and give
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: Him their lives.
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: And one day He will rule.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: Over this whole world when the kingdoms of this world,
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: says the Revelation, become the kingdoms of our Lord and
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: That spiritual kingdom will become an earthly kingdom and blossom
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: into an eternal kingdom where He will reign forever and
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: ever and ever.
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: And we with Him.
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: Jenny Hussey, many years ago, in the hymn so familiar
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: to us, wrote these words, which give us the proper response.
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: the glory be.
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: Let's pray together. It is not enough, Father, for us.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: That Christ came and It is not enough that He
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: was born a King if we do not bow the
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: knee to His sovereignty, if we do not enter His kingdom,
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: if we are not passed out of the kingdom of
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: darkness into the kingdom of Your dear Son. It means
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: nothing that Jesus came, God incarnate, lived, died, rose again,
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: ascended to heaven, lives forever, reigns forever. It is not enough.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: It has no.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: Meaning unless I personally open my heart to Christ, to
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: crown Him king of my life, to confess Him as
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: Lord and sovereign master and ruler of my heart. I pray,
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: O God, for every person here that Christ, born a king,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: might be king in their life. that all of us
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: might bow the knee and seek forgiveness and seek mercy
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: from the gracious King. Forgiveness for sin. And that we
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: might seek to be made subjects in His glorious kingdom,
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: to know the blessedness of all that He bestows upon
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: His subjects. We thank you, Father, for the clear presentation
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: in your word of the purpose of the coming of Christ.
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: The world didn't see him as a king, and everything
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: was so humble and so veiled and so hidden that
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: most people missed it. But those who looked closely saw
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: his majestic birth, his majestic character, his majestic words, his
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: royal power in the miracles he performed. And we would
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: put ourselves among those who crown him king. The world
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: crunched a crown of thorns onto his head and mocked
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: the idea that he was king.
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: But he is king.
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: King over all who love him. and soon to be
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: king over all the universe in His glorious second coming.
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: We pray that every heart would be open to the
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: royalty of the Son of God.
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: We pray in His name. Amen.
• 58:58
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