Sermon Tone Analysis

Isaiah

Getting to Messiah

This morning, we finish the series that we started the beginning of this month, Getting to Messiah.

A series preached from one of the less enthralling and invigorating passages of the Bible, Matthew chapter 1 verses 1 through 17.

It is within these verses that we find Matthew listing the lineage of from Abraham to Jesus…From the promise spoken to the promise revealed.

As we have canvased the names listed within these 42 generations we have discovered this portion of scripture to be anything but boring.

Captured within the names and the begats are truths revealing the very Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The first week we identified four names listed in the lineage of Jesus that culture and common sense tell us should have been withheld.

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bethsheba.

Culture tells us their names should have been withheld because in that time, the names of women would have never been listed in the ancestry of a king.

Common sense questions their inclusion due to their broken past and sordid reputation.

If your purpose is to prove the nobility of the child being born, you would leave the family secrets out of the lineage.

Yet, God calls for the inclusion of these 4 women…each of them with shameful stories, yet also stories of redemption as well.

You don’t have to be perfect to get to Messiah…just ready for redemption!

the second week we looked at the names of three kings with royal blood and noble names who would have added to the credibility of the Christ child as a worthy king…yet their names omitted.

In Matthew Chapter 1 vs. 8 when the scripture records Joram begat Uzziah, there is a glaring omission.

3 Kings Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah were generations between Joram and Uzziah, yet their names are stricken from the record of ancestry.

While there are multiple explanations for their exclusion for the family tree, the most glaring would be their relationship to the wicked Ahab and Jezebel whom the bible says did more to anger God than any other king before him.

These three kings walked in the influence of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord.

If you are going to make it to Messiah, you must renounce your relationship with the wickedness of this world.

Last week, we looked at the final group of names listed in the lineage as recorded by Matthew.

Between verses 11 and verse 16, Matthew shares the names of nine men that are to be found no other place in the scripture.

There is no record of them before this ancestry account and they are listed nowhere after this account.

In contrast to the great heroes of faith like Abraham, Isssaa and Jacob, they are unimportant.

In comparison to the great kings like David, Solomon and Uzziah, their names are unfamiliar and obscure.

Yet, it was through the lineage of these 9 no-name men that the Kingship of the Messiah would be established.

Don’t let the enemy lock you in a prison of obscurity and unimportance.

Don’t allow the adversary to diminish the power of your contribution to the kingdom of God!

And I know I’ve already preached ____ minutes just re preaching the last 3 weeks…and I promise that I wont preach long, but I want to conclude this series on Getting to Messiah this morning by preaching for just a few minutes today,

“The Beginning of Jesus”

On May the 3rd, 2014....20 of the most powerful and fastest horses in the world crowded into the starting gates waiting for the signal to run the race that has been dubbed “the most exciting two minutes in sports”…the Kentucky Derby.

As the 20 thoroughbreds were led into their stalls, gamblers and odds makers alike cast their bets as to who the winning horse would be.

While the exact name and identity of the winner was unknown…there was one quality of the winning horse that was already certain.

The horse that would win the race would be from the bloodline and the lineage of the winner of this same race in 1964, by the name of Northern Dancer.

In fact this had already been established as a fact before the race ever began…not a matter of opinion or even a statement of high probability....but an absolute, immutable fact....the winning horse would come from the bloodline of Northern Dancer.

how could one be so sure of such a bold claim.

The fact was that all 20 of horses ready to run the race were descendants of Northern Dancer.

Born in 1961 in the racing stables of winfield farms in Canada, Northern Dancer was a horse of great pedigree.

He was in the lineage of several prestigious and famed racing horse.

Yet, Northern Dancer was small and lacked the powerful frame of a potential champion race-horse.

When it came time for the farm to hold their annual auction of the yearlings, owners, breeders and trainers were unimpressed with the horses stature and build.

When the bidding started at $25,000 not one person was willing to spend the $25,000.

and so, he would remain in the stables of Winfield farms.

not one person was willing to spend the $25,000 and so, he would remain in the stables of Winfield farms.

He was entered into races, though his owners and trainer alike had little expectation at all of him winning.

However, Northern Dancer would go on to win 7 of his first 9 races, earning him a chance to run in the Kentucky Derby which he won, setting a new record time.

Over his career as a race horse, he would win 14 of the 18 races her started and would earn just under $600,000.

would earn just under $600,000.

However, it wasn’t his career as a race horse that sets this thoroughbred apart from the other horses.

After retiring from racing,

Northern Dancer was brought back to his home in Canada where he would begin his career as a breeding horse.

Immediately, trainers and owners began to notice that everything that he produced, won.

One of the first horses that he produced went undefeated and won horse of the year.

It became apparent that any horse that carried the blood of Northern Dancer was going to win! …it is the bloodline that came from the horse that makes Northern Dancer one of the greatest names in horse racing of all time.

His bloodline has produced over 600 winning horses.

However, it wasn’t his career as a race horse that sets this thoroughbred apart from the other horses.

After retiring from racing,

Northern Dancer was brought back to his home in Canada where he would begin his career as a breeding horse.

Immediately, trainers and owners began to notice that everything that he produced, won.

One of the first horses that he produced went undefeated and won horse of the year another won Englands triple crown.

It became apparent that any horse that carried the blood of Northern Dancer was going to win! …it is the bloodline that came from the horse that makes Northern Dancer one of the greatest names in horse racing of all time.

His bloodline has produced over 600 winning horses.

A horse that could prove it was in the bloodline of Northern Dancer had incredible value.

Over 22 years his offspring would be sold for over 160 million dollars.

As of 2014, the top ten horses on the list of auction prices, were all descendants of Northern Dancer.

At one point Horse owners were willing to pay as much as $1 million dollars to breed their horse with Northern Dancer.

A horse that at birth was believed to be too small and lacking in genetic quality…A horse that couldn’t even attract a minimum bid of $25,000…but now because of his bloodline…producing winner after winner…He is known as the Sire of Sire’s.

I probably don’t have to tell you where I’m going with this…some of you have possibly already figured out…but the prophet Isaiah foretold of a child that would also come from a stable “He hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”

(He doesn’t look like much).

And while Matthew recorded verses 1-17 to establish the pedigree of Jesus Christ as the son of Abraham and the Son of David in order to establish that Jesus indeed fulfilled the prophecy of the coming king.

But I like the terminology that Matthew uses in verse number 1.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

The word Generation is from the same word that the word Genesis is from.

In other words Matthew is saying…all of these names listed from verse 1 through verse 17…I listed all of these names just to get to the beginning of Jesus.

I know that the audience is going to be impressed by the ancestry of Jesus…Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon…I know those are the names that are going to catch your attention…But thats just the beginning of the bloodline of Jesus!

Wait until you see what he produces!

if you were impressed with Abrahams covenant, wait until you see the new covenant!

If you were impressed with the throne of David, wait until you see all overcomers that worship the lamb that sits on the throne!

This is just the beginning!!!

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know him,

Kings and majesties didn’t gather at the birth of this child laid in a manger.

He wasn’t heralded as an heir to the throne or the offspring of Abraham.

There was no paparazzi crowded around to document his first moments…simply the occupants of a stable and a group of nearby shepherds…It is likely that the wisemen didn’t show up until as much as 2 years later.

His life was impacting…with a 3 1/2 year ministry that would shake the world.

He would heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, open blind eyes and preach powerful words of life…But even in his lifetime His value and his worth wasn’t really understood.

But it was after he had been crucified and laid in a tomb and then three days later he arose…it was then that people began to notice, everything that has blood was applied to…it won!

The debt of my sin is paid off - I win!

Redemption -

Justified - Just as if I’d never done it - I win!

I am healed - I win!!

This is the power of a bloodline.

It is no different in the bloodline of a family of royalty and nobility.

In the royal family of Great Britain, each member of the ruling family can trace their lineage back to its origin of King Alfred the Great who began his reign in 871.

Each of them can trace that bloodline through King Henry the 8th, the founder of the church of the England…and the loser of the heads of 8 of his wives.

The ability to prove that you’re bloodlines follows this path would result in likely a substantial upgrade over your current lifestyle.

I am brought near to God - I win!!

I overcome - I win!!!

You’re value increases when you can show that you are in the bloodline of Jesus!!

How do I do that?