Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Introduction

Good morning Church!

I just want to say I am so happy to be able to be back with you all today!

I hate that I had to miss our New Years last week service but apparently God had other plans!

I quite a few announcements to share with you this morning before we get in to the message.

OCC - (210 Coloring Books & Crayons), Stickers, Band-aids

Men’s Night - January 15 @ Bo’s House from 4-7

TBMB Evangelism Conference - January 30-31st

Men’s Conference - February 4-5th

Valentine’s Night - February 12th

Youth Winter Jam - February 19th

St. Jude Auction - March 26th

New D-Group Study starting tonight

Now for those in our Church App, I shared our theme for the year before we left to come home from Florida.

How many of you seen that?

Our theme here at New Home for this year is “Totally Renewed in 2022!”

God kind of laid that thought on my heart a few months ago and the thought behind it is this....

My goal for us corporately and individually as we move throughout this year is that each and every person sitting here’s relationship with God would be totally renewed in 2022.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your mind that needs to take place.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your relationship with God that needs to take place.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your commitment to God and the reading of His word that needs to take place.

Whatever that area of your life is that needs to be renewed in order that you might draw closer to Him, I pray that would take place in 2022!

I pray that this year would be a year of refreshing to you and your relationship with God.

I pray that this year would be a breakout year for you in your relationship with God.

And ultimately, I pray this year would be a breakout year for us corporately as a whole here at New Home Missionary Baptist Church!

Now, as I began to pray and seek God’s guidance on how this renewing is to take place and what our focus is to be on, I kept being drawn to the Book of Matthew and the thought that came to me was this...

What better way to be renewed, refreshed and restored than to focus our attention on the one who loved us and gave Himself for us, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul told young Timothy in..

2 Timothy 1:12 — For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

(Expound above scripture)

And as I began to seek God’s will on where He wanted me to go in Matthew, it was as if thought came to mind… “Verse 1 would be a good place to start!”

So, if you have your Bibles with you, and I pray you do, would you please turn with me to the Book of Matthew, the very first Book of the New Testament, and we are going to be looking at the very beginning of Matthew’s Book for our message today.

We will be looking at verses 1-17 at a message I’ve entitled “The Lineage of Our Lord.”

As we get ready to read “The Lineage of Our Lord” here, there is something I want you to think about…

We are going to read 47 names listed here in Matthew 1, many of which are very hard to pronounce.

Some are going to be great, some not so great.

From Paupers to Princes, shepherds to slaves, kings to harlots, spanning 21 centuries of human experience, this list ends in a stable on a starlit night with one name that is above every name: Jesus!

The Christmas Code – O.S. Hawkins

Read Matthew 1:1-17

Now, some may think this is where the family tree ends but what I want us to see this morning, is that if you and I have been born again, then we too, have become a part of this family tree and not just any family tree but, one that will continue on for eternity!

II.

The Circumstances behind Matthew’s Lineage

Now, if I had to guess, I would say the majority of you are probably thinking to yourselves right now, “why in the world did we just read that and what in the world is he going to preach about on these names for the next 30 minutes!” Sound about right?

The majority of people, and I’ve been guilty at times myself, when we get to these sections in the Bible, we just skip over them don’t we?

We say, “well I can’t pronounce half of these names and even if I could, half way through I would get so bored of reading them that I’d just check out, so I’m just going to skip this part and get on to the good stuff!”

But what I want us to learn this morning is that God put these genealogies here for a reason and when you really understand the meaning behind why they’re there, you will realize they are the good stuff and get a blessing out them!

With that being said, the first thing I want us to see is the Circumstances behind Matthew’s Lineage of Jesus here.

Why did he start out with this?

Well to understand that, you must understand who it is Matthew is writing to.

You see, each gospel is written with a different perspective in mind and to a different audience.

When you look at Marks gospel, he is writing to the gentiles who weren’t big on genealogy, and his main goal is to show Jesus as the Suffering Servant, so he leaves out the genealogy section.

When you look at Luke’s gospel, you’ll find his main goal is show that Jesus was the Son of Man and so his lineage actually goes all the way back to Adam to prove that not only was he fully God, but he was fully man wrapped in the same robes of flesh as Adam yet without sin!

Then when you look John’s gospel it’s all about proving Jesus is the Son of God, so his lineage actually predates any of the others by stating that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and this word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth!

Then we have Matthew’s gospel which we are looking at here today which was all about proving that Jesus was the Sovereign King!

Now, to understand why Matthew starts his gospel out this way, you must realize that Matthew was a Jew.

For over 400 years there had been no prophet in Israel and when looking at the throne of David, it looked as if hope were all but gone that the Messiah would come through the Davidic line of succession.

Matthew was a Jew writing to a Jewish audience about a Jewish Messiah and so the reason he starts his gospel out this way, with the lineage of our Lord, is to prove to the unbelieving Jews that Jesus was actually the Anointed One, the prophesied Messiah.

You see, genealogies were very important to the nation of Israel, and through them it could be established whether a person had a legitimate claim to a particular line or not.

For example, when Israel returned from captivity in Ezra 2:62, the Bible says, "These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood".

It was possible in Ezra's day to check the register of the tribe of Levi and remove those who made a false claim.

– J Vernon McGee

Also, these genealogies were important to keep up with so that people would know who was rightful heirs to the royal throne.

With such detailed genealogies, there is no doubt that these records were accessible to the public and also there is no doubt that the naysayers of Jesus checked them to see if the claims he made were true and here’s the interesting thing…they challenged every move the Lord Jesus made, even offering a substitute explanation for his Resurrection, but they never questioned His genealogy!

If you’ll remember, in John 10:1-2 Jesus said, “the Shepherd of the sheep enters in by the door but the thief and the robber climb up some other way to get into the sheepfold.”

The "sheepfold" he is speaking of is the nation Israel and listen church, He didn't climb into the sheepfold over a fence in the back, and He didn't come in through the alley way.

He came in through the gate.

He was born into the line of David and into the line of Abraham.

– J Vernon McGee

They had taunted Jesus and mocked him of his claim to be the Messiah, but Matthew says, “look here, the proof is in the pudding!

You say you know the scriptures but if you knew them, then you would understand that his lineage lines up with everything that had to come to pass!

Jesus truly was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the prophesied Messiah and you just crucified him!”

III.

The Characteristics of Matthew’s Lineage – (Verse 1)

Now that we understand the Circumstances behind Matthew’s lineage of Jesus, next let’s look at the Characteristics of Jesus Lineage.

Notice how verse 1 starts out here…it says, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ."

The phrase “the book of the generation” is a phrase which is peculiar to Matthew in the New Testament and if you start going back through the Old Testament, the only other place you will find it is in the fifth chapter of Genesis and it says "This is the book of the generations of Adam..." (Gen.

5:1).

You see Church, there are two books: the book of the generations of Adam and the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

Now every man, woman and child that has ever been born was born into the Book of the generations of Adam.

We had no control over it and had no say in it but we were all born into that book by a natural birth but the problem is that the Bible says in Adam all die (Rom.

5:12).

You see, Adam's book is a book of death.

Then there is the other book, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

Now the way to get into this book is also by birth but instead of a natural birth it must be by a Spiritual birth!

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that we must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God.

And when a man, woman or child is born again by trusting in Christ, that puts them in the Lamb's Book of Life.

The Bible says in:

1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Adam’s book is a book of death, Jesus’ book is a book of life!

You and I had no choice whether or not we would be born into the first book, Adam’s book, but we do have control over whether or not we will be born into the second book, Jesus book!

Romans 5:12,19 — By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned....

As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Everyone sitting here this morning is in the first book, the Book of Death but the question is this…have you chosen to have your name written in the second book, the Book of Life?

Next, we see here, Matthew says Jesus is "the son of David, the son of Abraham."

Now, we all know that Abraham came before David, right?

So, why did he put it this way?

Why did he list David first and not Abraham?

He is presenting the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the One who is the King, the One who is to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and that comes first.

He must be in the line of David in fulfillment of the prophecies that God made to David.

God told David in:

2 Samuel 7:12-13 – 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.