Perry, Frank: 1995-12-12-Bahamas Ministry-Matthew 1

I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter one. as announced Sunday evening. We'd like to start some of our Christmas messages. In Matthew chapter one. I'm going to read from verse one. These are the, the parts of the, uh, book that we say we just skim over, you know, the begets and the begets and the begets, and we leave them out. And, uh, but I believe if God, if they weren't important, God would have left them out too, but he didn't. He put them in for a specific reason, and, uh, there are a lot of things that we can really enjoy in them. In the book of the Chronicles, you've got there with so and so begets so and so. Then you come across one men- man who prayed. He said, oh God, enlarge my coast. And you know that man has has been preached on by so many preachers down through the years, and yet he's in the center of all the so-called begets, begets, begets. Well, all right, look at verse one. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad it said that? It didn't say the generation of Joseph, neither did it say the generation of Mary. It the, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, and Judas begat Pharas and Zarah of Tamar, and Pharas begat Esrom, and Esrom begat Aram, and Aram begat Amenadab, and Amenadab begat Nahashon, and Nahashon beget Salmon, and Salmon beget Boaz and of Rahab, and Boaz beget Obed of Ruth, and Obed beget Jesse. Jesse beget David the king, and David the king beget Solomon. Listen to this, of her that had been the wife of Uriah. It didn't mention Bathsheba by name, but she is there in, uh, the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. And Solomon begat Rehoboam. Rehoboam is called here. Rehoboam begat Abia, and Abia begat Asa. And, um, verse eleven: and Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. Verse sixteen. and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David, David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph before they came together, she was found the child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, God with us. And I believe that that is one of the most important verses that you can read in the entire Bible. It is so important that we, we take it for granted many, many times, but it's a wonderful truth. We wouldn't be here tonight had it not been for the truth of verse twenty three. Now, in the day the Lord Jesus were born, were groups of men. There were sects, cults, and, uh, we certainly don't have time to go into them, but there were men like the Pharisees that were living at that particular time, and these people were strictly, uh, the ones who believed, of course, in the Old Testament. That's all they had, and they were adherent, uh, to the Old Testament. These- these men, uh, wanted to see the kingdom of David restored. They knew their Bibles well. The Pharisees were also a very clean living people, so clean that eventually it led to, to, uh, pride. That's why we get the term Phariseeism, because, uh, of their pride. They looked down their noses on everybody else, you know. They just got the, uh, had the attitude that they were better than everybody else, and there was a time that they perhaps they were. They lived exceedingly righteous, except for that thing that God hates, and that's pride. Uh, so much for the Pharisees, but the Sadducees were a little different. Uh, they were the wealthy, socially minded people of the community. They wanted to get rid of, uh, the tradition of the Pharisees, and, um, even a lot of the truths that were taught in the Bible. They were, they were opposite. Many times they were an opposite simply because the Pharisees taught one thing, the Sadducees would teach something else, just to be opposite, you know? Whether they had any proof of it or not, it didn't really matter. And they were the philosophers of the day, eat, drink, and be merry. I think we got a lot of Sadducees living today in our society, all right? Now, you got the scribes. The scribes came along during the time of Ezra. That was the, the more or less the beginning, and they were the professional expounders of the law. That, and mind you, all of the Bible was important to them, but especially the law. They studied the law night and day, every aspect of the law. And, um, they were, they they they knew it so well that they had to even make a few laws, uh, to really support the laws that they, uh, were reading about. And, um, they were what we call the hair-splitting, uh, men of the day. They, they just went through with a fine comb, and, um, actually, they were more concerned about the letter of the law than the spirit of the law. Mind you, it's still dangerous today to be justice, uh, or guilty of that. We need to be very careful. I can be so op- occupied with truth until it becomes the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law. You know, the word of God is never to be served on an icy platter, a legal icy platter. You know, Brother Lambert taught me something years ago. You don't take the Bible and you throw it at, at people. Um, when you preach the word, you preach it, and he used an illustration I've never forgotten. You're feeding chicken, you got a handful of corn. You don't throw the corn at them and say, this is it, take it or leave it. No. Come on, chick chick, and they come, and you throw a little on the ground, and it isn't long until they come and they almost feed right out of your hand. Isn't that true? Well, th- th- this was, these were the scribes. This is the law. Bang! Final. Take it or leave it. You deviate, you're not even a Christian if they were living today. You know what I mean? If you disagreed with them. Hard. They became tough people of the day, very hardened. That's why it always frightens me to death sometimes, the more I learn about the Bible, the more responsible I am. And we should have a, a knowledge of the word. We should learn more of the Bible, but it's an awesome responsibility. But God deliver us from ever serving truth on an icy platter. It must be served in a spirit of love, in a spirit of grace, in a spirit of warmth. And, um, that, that was the scribes, okay? Now, Herod, the Herodians were just strong supporters of Herod. That's where they got the name from, Herodians. And what were they like? Well, these were the people that, um, uh, supported him, and it was a political faction of the day. Uh, they wanted their party in, if I may use the term, okay? They were strong and politically minded people. We're Herodians. And her Herod, uh, the Herods of the, of the Bible are wicked men, I mean, extremely wicked. The Herod even that comes on the scene during the birth of Jesus was a, a wicked man, perhaps one of the worst of all the Herods. And every one of them were wicked, but that, that one was extremely wicked. And so that's the Herodian, uh, group. Now, in this so-and-so begets so-and-so, there's a beautiful, beautiful picture of God's grace, and it's not new to you. You've heard it many times, I'm sure. But isn't it significant that five women that were chosen to be in the lineage of Christ, four of them were not even Jewish girls. It's really amazing. When I think of that, it staggers my imagination. It staggers my imagination. Way back in Genesis thirty eight, it's, it's one of the ugliest chapters you, you want to read. It's, it's a, it's an awful chapter. And Tamar, how she deceived, um, uh, that man, you remember, and um, and gave birth to a child, and yet here we have Tamar, who played the prostitute, is in the genealogy of Christ. And it's really, it's, it's really something that, uh, you have to, uh, really, um, admire the Lord and appreciate the Lord for. And, um... You got her here in the Bible, and she was a sinner. And look who, who else is, is chosen to pick. Rahab. And every time we read about Rahab, she's called Rahab the harlot. And, um, just in case you may think that Rahab was saved because she put the ribbon outside of that wall, that red rope, um, I want to clear this up. While it is true that she put the rope out and she hid the spies, she did a wonderful thing, but that's not what Hebrews says that saved us. Rahab was saved by faith, not by her work. She did wonderful works, mind you, by hiding the s- the the the Jewish spies and by putting that, uh, red rope out, that cord out. It's wonderful, but she believed that the men said that if if she did what they said, she believed that she would be spared and all of her household. And Hebrews said, puts her in that book, the book of Hebrews, and it's really wonderful. You do not find Lot in the book of Hebrews, but you find Rahab, and it says by faith, Rahab, by faith, Rahab. And I appreciated that thought again and again as I read it over and over. Then Ruth, here is a dear Moabitus woman. What can you find wrong with Ruth? I can't find anything wrong with Ruth, Ruth's life. She was a commendable woman, a faithful wife. She was devoted to Naomi. She went back to the land, and she loved her mother-in-law, claved to her mother-in-law, and said, said some wonderful things. Where you go, I will go. And in the end, she said, your God will be my God. What, what can you find wrong with Moab, with Ruth rather, only that she was a Moabite, and God says no Moabite would ever come in for the blessing. But he made exception. He made exception for the Moabite woman because here was a man that God raised up, Boaz, a kinsman to the very woman, or man rather, that, that Ruth had married. And so by the marital line, uh, God used it and took her in. A absolute picture of grace. And, and in fact, and what did Ruth say, uh, herself in, in chapter two verse ten? Why, listen, why have I found grace in thy sight? You know, beloved, I could ask the same thing tonight. Why, in all of the earth, of all the peoples of the earth, why should I find grace in the sight of the Lord? We could ask that question, could we not? Why should God turn to the Gentiles and turn to the people of the Western Hemisphere? Why should he have missionaries come to the Bahamas, preach the gospel years ago, and establish, uh, the, the faith of the gospel, the truth of the gospel, and you and I hear it in our language, the English language, and be gloriously saved. And we too could ask tonight, why have I found grace, or we have found grace in his sight? It's a miracle of grace. You can't understand it. You tried to explain it. Give me one good reason why God should pick you up or me up and save me, except for love. The depth of his love and his kindness and goodness, it just, it staggers our imagination, but we thank God for it. Then we have, of course, Bathsheba. What another picture of God's grace. It wasn't Bathsheba's fault altogether, it was David's fault. You know the story well. Yet it says, call the wife of Uriah. I'm glad that they put Uriah's name in the genealogy of Jesus. Didn't mention her by name, but he mentioned Uriah. Uriah was a faithful man, and here is a woman who is a Hittite. And, and we, the first two were Canaanites, then you had a Moabite, now you have a Hittite. Oh, the goodness of God. And we find her in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, or at least recorded here. And then the fifth woman was Mary. That vessel was a chosen vessel, now altogether different. She had to be a clean vessel. She had to be God's select. And Mary was ready. Not too much is given of Mary's life as a young girl, but that was the one that God chose to be the vehicle through whom Jesus would come. And we, I know Mary thought of that many, many times. Her song of praise is something really to really revel in. Now we, we won't touch that tonight. But now comes the other, uh, question. How come that we have these genealogies where Jesus came from, and yet God specifically said, and I want you to turn to this, this is important because the liberals are going to throw this in your face, face, you see, unless you know your Bible. Uh, Jeremiah chapter 22. I want you to turn to it. Jeremiah chapter twenty two, because Jeconiah is in verse eleven of Matthew one, and Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brethren about the time that they were carried to Babylon. Why should Jeconiah be mentioned there? After what God said in verse twenty four of chapter twenty two of Jeremiah, as I live, says the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, wears a signet upon the right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence. Verse thirty. Thus saith the Lord, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days, for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting where? Upon the throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah. Now, listen, children came, but God says your seed will never be counted. My son, he didn't tell him this, but my son will never be born through your seed. Now, you might say, well, Brother Frank, that sounds like a contradiction. Well, it's an easy explanation. This was a generation leading up to Joseph, Mary's husband. Joseph was not the husband or the father of the Lord Jesus. Now, if you read the genealogy of Mary, which takes you from the other son of David, this Nathan, and you find that Mary was born of David's seed, and thank God that the scripture was not wrong. Christ was not born through Jack and I. In fact, God struck off GJE because JE means Jehovah, you see? And God took even his name, cut his name, and called him Keniah. And so keep in mind that the two lines that we have in a genealogy of Jesus, one traceable to Mary and the other traceable to Joseph. But Joseph being the man passed on that to Christ, but not through the bloodline. Are you clear in that? Joseph was not the father of Jesus. There's no doubt in your mind about that, right? But the liberals try to pick that to pieces, you see. It's just that he passed on, um, be- by through marriage, that to the Lord Jesus. But the real line, Mary was from the same, uh, family, uh, of David, and that is the reason why both of them had to go down into Bethlehem to be taxed for a census, or or or I should say take a census for taxation. Both of them went back to Bethlehem. If Mary was not of the seed of David, she didn't have to go. But she had to go too, because we know that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem. And so the Spirit of God, uh, guards the Word of God accurately. And the liberals come along, and, um, they, they tried to pick that to pieces, but we needn't be worried about it. There's nothing, nothing wrong, and there's nothing strange about it. It's clearly marked in Luke, in Luke one and Matthew one, the genealogies of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, um, I, I like the opening ver- uh, statement in Matthew one, the generation of Jesus Christ, and the only time you ever read that again is in Genesis chapter 5. It says, where it says, these are the generations of Adam. It is the only time you ever read that statement again. It's in Genesis chapter five verse one. These are the generations of Adam. This is the generation of Jesus Christ. Oh, I thank God. What a difference. We look at the generations of Adam. What do we have? Sin, sorrow, separation from God, walk in the cool of the garden, and you know what sin did. The generations of Adam was a sorry set of affairs, but the generation of Jesus Christ and the Lord J- it stopped there, beloved, with Christ, because Christ was going to have his seed. He was going to have his children, but they would be spiritually born. And the, the record we now have is somewhat different. God keeps books. And so the, the Word of God kept the generations of Adam, kept the generations of Jesus, but hallelujah, the, uh, members of the family of Christ are also written in his book, and oh, what a, what a line. And those names that were not found written in the Lamb's book of life were cast into destruction, into hell. Aren't you glad that God has his book and all the descendants or the seed of Christ since he died on Calvary, and those who were born again down through the centuries are in that lineage? I'm glad he picked up this Gentile. I'm glad he picked up this wretch who deserved hell and all of its misery. Oh, I'm so proud that God turned to the Gentiles and delivered us. You know, we take it for granted sometimes. Remember, he called Israel. He said, I have lo- I've called you not because you were great in number. I've called you because I love you. And Israel were a real, uh, sore and a real pain and a, a real, uh, disgrace to God as a nation. They grumbled even after they came out of Egypt, and they were com- completely, uh, uh, tantalizing to God and provoked the God of heaven, turned to idolatry, and yet God had so much patience with Israel. I'm, I'm, I'm thankful for Israel, mind you. I'm thankful for the Jew, because it was stills for the Jew that we have the Bible brought to us. It's stills for the Jew that we have the oracles of God, the word of God brought to us. You know, we got a lot to be thankful for, for the Jewish folk of, of, of the Old Testament and even of the New Testament. Thank God, uh, for this nation, but I'm so glad he turned to us, turned to the Gentiles, and saved us by his grace. And so as Joseph then passed on his right onto Christ, then they both, uh, went to Bethlehem for that purpose, and you understand that because both of them were of the line of David. Now... now and then you'll read a Bible, you'll have a Bible, and you need to be very careful here. They re- they will quote Isaiah seven fourteen like this. Behold a young woman. That's what the liberals say. That's the way they quote it. The Lord will give you a sign. Listen to this. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son. You know, I'm s- it saddens my heart that they will not, uh, accept just what the scripture said. The word there for virgin is Alma. And every time you read the word Alma, ALMAH, the Hebrew word, it means a virgin. But the liberals come along and they give us these translations of different Bibles, and they, they will not use that term virgin. Now, let me ask you a question. It says, and this shall be a what? A sign. What, what kind of a sign is it? Is it just an or- an ordinary woman give birth to a child? Where, where's the great deal? Where's the big deal? Where's the big sign? The sign was a spectacular event. It was a miracle. With signs and what? Wonders. So why do they want to, to try to knock this? It's because they want to destroy not only the veracity of the Word of God, but they want to even destroy the absolute Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they want to destroy the truth of the Word of God. He shall be born of a virgin. Of this shall be the sign, and it was a s- and the prophet told the king that because he was steeped in his idolatry and i- and his wickedness, and that's why he was told what he was told by Isaiah. And this shall be a sign. Thank God for that sign. And in the New Testament, whenever, when you read the, the word virgin, it's pasenos, and it never changes. It never changes. And only man who, who is so smart, you see, and he feels that he could inject that into the word of God in that translation or those translations of theirs, and they would, this is the way they put it. They, there's, you check it out. He said, the Lord will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son. That's a slur on the word of God. And if she was not a virgin, it could easily indicate then that she had children, or this was a, a, a, a case of a girl that had committed fornication. You see the slur? It is absolutely important, it's imperative that we always hold to the truth that she was a virgin. Exactly what the Bible predicted, and that would break the Old Testament prophecy, wouldn't it? You wouldn't be able to trust your Bible anymore. There were hundred prophecies regarding his coming into the world, by the way, in the Old Testament, and they were so beautifully fulfilled, and we thank God for that, for that. And in fact, Matthew quotes more from the Old Testament regarding his coming than the three gospels put together. Amazing. The royal line, the king, as Matthew presents him here, so beautiful. And then, of course, we come to this last verse that I read in your hearing, uh, tonight in Matthew chapter one. and I said it's a beautiful verse because we hinge our faith on this. It says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, God is our. Oh, thank God. Thank God. Uh, we can't argue against the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And John, uh, gives us such a beautiful picture in chapter one, and I'll read it for you because, Kate, you want to get the connecting, uh, verse. It's just so beautifully portrayed here. You've read it many times, you've heard it quoted many times. And the Word was made what? Flesh. When? He was born, you see, when he was born, and dwelt among us. That's Emmanuel. That's what his name means. That's what E- Emmanuel means, God with us, or God among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Thank God for his coming. If he's not Emmanuel, he could never be the Savior. He would be an imposter. If he was not Emmanuel, he could never deliver us from sin. If he was never Emmanuel, he could never die in our place. And if he was never Emmanuel, he would never been resurrected from the grave. But hallelujah, because he was God manifest in the flesh, we can rest our faith on that an unchangeable truth, and we never need be shaken. God with us. Beautiful, beautiful statement in the Word of God. Way back in Genesis, God enjoyed the fellowship of man, but because of Adam's sin and that fellowship was broken, remember? And he cried, Adam, where art thou? He knew where he was, and he says, I w- I heard your voice, Lord, and I was afraid, and I hid myself. He never was afraid before. Sin produced fear, and this, this fellowship was broken, and he couldn't talk to God, he couldn't face God because of his sin. And yet God still searched him out, mind you, and God still clothed his nakedness. He was ashamed, and God clothed him with the skins of an animal, shed blood right at the beginning, and um, and and yet he had to kick him out of the garden. He was expelled out of the garden, and he put cherubims there with flaming swords to protect the garden, and no one was to come back into that garden of paradise, or they would have been killed. And the only one who dared to go back and claim paradise was the Lord Jesus Christ. But he had to face the flaming sword. He had to fla- face that sword at Calvary, and he faced it for you, and he faced it for me. And thank God, he, by dying there, he reclaimed paradise. He bought it back, got it back, and paid with it, with his blood. And now he puts us back into paradise, you see, because the curse has been removed as far as the child of God is concerned. And the Romans chapter eight says, them whom he called, he justified, them in whom he has justified, he sanctified, or sanctified could be first, and then it says, and them whom he has glorified. Man, wait a minute. You look at Frank Perry tonight, he's what he- his glasses getting kind of weak, he needs another pair, and it was only two years ago I got these. They tell me you're supposed to get them every year, but I can hardly see the words in my Bible now. I have all kinds of problems. His body glorified. I'm glorified. You see, as far as God is concerned, every child of God in this meeting tonight and in the world, in this meeting tonight, because you're listening to my voice, beloved, listen. God looks at you as a glorified, perfect child of his, as if it already happened. Isn't it amazing? It's, it's marvelous. Why? Because of Emmanuel, because of the work that he accomplished, and because he has established us forever as his children. If you read Hebrews chapter nine, the last part of that chapter, from verse nine down, and you see the b- beautiful truth there as well. Remember Moses commanded to build it, was commanded to build a tabernacle. Why? So that God would dwell in the midst. Solomon built a beautiful, uh, tremendous edifice. Why? Lord, it's a shame for you to dwell in a tent. I'm going to build you the big edifice. Da- David was burdened about it, of course. He got all the stones cut. David was burdened about a house for the Lord, but because he was a man of war, God says you can build it, but he got all the materials ready, and Solomon built it. What an edifice! No building has ever been built since that time to match it. I think it cost something in the neighborhood of way over eighty seven billion dollars if you had to build it today. That's a lot of, that's a lot of gold, brother. That's a lot of money. Eighty seven billion dollars, not million. And why? So God could dwell there. But I know a building now costs more than that. It costs the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the shedding of his blood. He died on Calvary, beloved, but oh, what a cost. And he has erected the greatest building that man has ever known, and she's called the Church of Jesus Christ. What an edifice, what a building. And who is foundation, who is the foundation? Is Jesus Christ. He says, upon this rock I will what? Build my church. And he says, I will never, never, never leave you nor forsake you. You know what that term is? Emmanuel. God with us. Oh, beloved, let's be encouraged. There's never been a moment that God has been removed from you, no matter how you felt in your body and your mind, and you felt cold and hot and sort of away from the, uh, out of touch with God, and you know God has never moved away. He's always been there. Christ has always been there, Emmanuel, true to his name, true to his name. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you for your precious word. We thank you for preserving the word of God and, and giving it to us so accurately. And all the beautiful touches of grace that we've seen in a sacred page, leading to the day when we would bow the knee to Christ and be saved, be gloriously saved. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of putting us as members into the body of Christ. Sometimes we feel so weak and so discouraged, but Lord, we thank you that you're always there. You're always there to encourage your people and, and to lift them up. And so we pray for the household of faith tonight. We pray for every member of the body that's here in this chapel this evening. May their hearts be encouraged. Just lift them, Lord, during those moments of discouragement or probably physical weakness or pain, whatever it is. Lord, just remember your word, that you're always with us. Thank you for being so kind, so considerate, so gracious, in our Savior's precious name. Amen. I wonder if we could sing a couple of verses of, I think, number thirty.