Well, Matthew chapter one, verse one, 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. Matthew twenty four, verse four. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed, that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let us pray together. Our Father, again we call upon thee, and we recognize that of ourselves we are weak as water spilled upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But thou art mighty. Thou art the mighty God, the everlasting Father. the Lord of glory. Reveal yourself to us. Use your word to speak to each of our hearts that we might indeed adorn the doctrine of thy grace. For it's in the name and for the purpose of glorifying thee that we ask for thy special help in Jesus' name. Amen. Tonight we continue our studies in the theology of fulfillment. We saw in the past weeks how that our Lord Jesus is a focal point of the purpose of God. And that purpose of God was announced in particular when man sinned in the Garden of Eden. And the seed part of the Bible is Genesis chapter three, verse fifteen, where the Lord said to the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall crush your head, bruise your head, but thou shalt bruise his heel. And in the succeeding prophecies and great purposes of God revealed in the book of Genesis, we saw how they all relate and focus upon the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Genesis three-thirteen, it is the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head. Then in chapter nine, verses twenty-six and twenty-seven, God specifically states after Noah and his sons came forth from the ark that he is the God of Shem, and that the descendants of Shem, therefore, would have a unique relationship to him. When we got to Genesis chapter twelve, verses one through three, God calls a man by the name of Abram, and he makes promises to Abram. And to Abram, then he changes his name to Abraham, making a covenant with him. And that Abrahamic covenant, in that covenant, he promises that through the seed of Abraham, blessing would come to the whole world. Now that seed of Abraham is none other than the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think the crucial verse on that In Galatians chapter three and verse sixteen. I want you to turn to that. We want to say a word or two about it. For we made the blanket statement that our Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point of the purposes of God. In Galatians chapter three, and it's easy to remember, it's a sixteen. And the three sixteenths of the Bible. It is amazing. How many of the great verses of the Bible come under the numbers, . Now, the divisions of the books of the Bible into chapters and verses is not in the original. It was added by man. But it's amazing how that even through the additions of man to make our Bible reading more simple, we see the overruling providence of God. Therefore, in Galatians chapter three and verse sixteen and showing the overall precedence of the covenant given to Abraham to that given to Israel at Mount Sinai, the law covenant, he says in verse sixteen, Now to Abraham and his seed where the promise is made. He saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one. and to thy seed which is Christ. And then he goes on to show that we Gentiles fulfill in a most unique way that promise that the seed of Abraham would be the blessing of the world. And when you get to the last verse of the chapter, verse twenty-nine of Galatians three, we read, And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. That great promise of redemption that God made to Abraham is fulfilled in its rich blessing to the Gentile nations, not only to Israel, and we can say with the Apostle John, he is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only. This is not only for the nation of Israel, but also for the whole world. For God is taking a people out of every tongue, every language, every tribe, and every nation, as we read in Revelation chapter five and again in Revelation chapter seven. So in particular, we see how the blessing that God promised to Abraham is related to Christ, and it's in the fulfillment of that original Purpose of God as announced to the serpent in Genesis three, fifteen. But tonight we want to begin at second Samuel chapter seven. For in second Samuel chapter seven, along with the line of the descendants of Abraham, God is pleased to come in in a most unique way and make a special promise to a man by the name of David. Second Samuel chapter seven is a most unique chapter. Every Christian should be acquainted with Second Samuel seven. It's amazing what God does in Second Samuel seven. And I just want to make a quick statement about it before we get down to the meat of what we're after. In Second Samuel seven, David expresses to Nathan the prophet, his desire to build a house for God, a permanent structure. He said, the ark of God dwells in a tent, but I dwell in a house of Cedar. And he wanted God to have a better house than his. And he saw the need for the temple. And Nathan says, you do what is ever in your heart. But before Nathan was out the door right, God said to him, you go back to David, he's not going to build me a house. And then, you see, that's a denial. That's a denial. And that's enough to turn anybody upside down when you want to do something big for God, and God says no. And he said, and God tells why. He was a man of war, but he said his son will build the temple. And David got the materials together for his son, and his son Solomon built the temple. But when God said that, he said something else. and he may told David something that should have blessed David thoroughly. For when you get down to verse eleven, we read God saying to David, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people, Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. In other words, God here promises to David. And this is reiterated over and over again in the Psalms. And I'm thinking particularly of Psalm sixty-eight and Psalm eighty-nine and Psalm seventy-two and some of the other great Psalms. The house of David, the promise of a son who will sit upon the throne. when you get to verse thirteen he speaks of Solomon in the short run or in the short view but in the long view he's looking forward to our Lord Jesus Christ he shall build in house my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever here we have the covenant that God made with David Here the promise and the purpose of God is again reiterated in the promises that God gave David concerning his house and concerning his seed. Growing out of that promise in Second Samuel seven is the anticipation of a Davidic king who will rule over Israel. The hope that was presented by Israel's prophets anticipate righteousness, judgment, and peace to the whole world. That's what we say when we use those verses at Christmas time in Isaiah nine. Let me again quote them. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end for the mark of the Lord has spoken it. Now we use those verses at Christmas time. And it's a simple declaration by the prophet Isaiah concerning the promise that God made to David in Second Samuel chapter seven. And then, of course, when you get over to Isaiah chapter eleven, and this verse is not as familiar as those others, it should be, but it isn't. And in Isaiah chapter eleven, we want to read beginning at verse one, a verse or two, that shows the prophetic anticipation concerning the fulfillment of God's promise that he made to David. Verse one, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Now we're going to come back to that verse in a little while. When we get to expound the text, that we read tonight in Matthew chapter one. I want you to notice especially from where the branch sprouts. It doesn't sprout out of the top of the tree. It sprouts out of the root. And when you get to the last chapter in the Bible, Revelation twenty-two, God says, The Lord Jesus is the speaker. He said, I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. Now what about this king? This branch that's going to grow out of the stem of Jesse and out of the root of Jesse. It says about him in verse two, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might. the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes. In other words, he's going to be omniscient. He shall not reprove after the hearing of the ear. In other words, he doesn't need all that help being the omniscient son of God, the omniscient root of David's But verse four, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with a rod of his mouth, and with a breadth of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And we read next those glorious verses. The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with a kid." And I don't believe that verse intends that the kid is in the stomach of the leper when the leper lies down. But that it's going to be genuine righteousness, genuine peace, as we read over in the book of Habakkuk that the glory of the Lord is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. This hope that God gave in the Greek covenant and expressed by the prophets not only Isaiah, but by Micah, by Joel, by Malachi, and others. This hope is fulfilled in Christ, who ushered in the new covenant wherein he abides with his people, and wherein their sins and iniquities are remembered no more forever. And Christ is and has become the very righteousness of his people. Hebrews eight and ten. Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse twenty-one, and First Corinthians, chapter one, and verse thirty. Now these blessed prophetic statements of the prophets are treated by Christ and the other writers in the New Testament as being related to the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God announced to the serpent in the garden, His purpose. He was focusing upon that event when the Son of God would come and His righteous person would accomplish the redemption and fulfill all the promises that God made to Noah as a God of Shem, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Israel, to David. And all the others, they are all fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you come to the New Testament, as we read tonight, we see the pattern of the Old Testament continuing. It is not only in the New Testament that Christ came and He's present, but also we have that glorious hope. He is coming again. The very fact that He came the first time. is the hope that he will bring to fulfillment all of his promise when he came. I want you to turn to the Gospel by Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. and we begin our reading at verse thirty. Here's a glorious statement by the angel who appeared to marry the mother of the Lord Jesus. And the angel said unto her, Fear not Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the highest And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom. There shall be no end. So we see that part of these shalls that were spoken by the angel were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection and ascension of our blessed Lord. Well, what about the other shouts? So the New Testament not only announces that the Son of David and the Son of Abraham is here, but that he's coming again. He's coming again in the fulfillment of every Old Testament scripture that remains to be fulfilled. Now Matthew's Gospel account is unique in the way it begins. the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He is both the son of David that linked him with a covenant of kingship. And he is the son of Abraham and that links him with a covenant of redemption. Now, when you come and you read through Matthew chapter one, and I spared you that problem tonight, in that list of genealogical names, you'll find that there's a long list of seventeen verses of Begatz. Now this is important because the tree of David was hacked down to a stump. For when Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was carried away in the captivity to Babylon, there never was another king. who sat upon the throne of David. And what had God promised? God had promised that David shall never want for a man to sit upon his throne. It's going to be one. But because of Israel's sin and their degenerative action toward God and their insistence on idolatry, God hacked the tree of David down to a stump. But what did we read in Isaiah chapter eleven? Out of the roots of that stump, there's going to come a branch. And that branch is going to live in righteousness, and the Spirit of the Lord is going to be with him in a most unique way. And everything he does is going to be done in righteousness. This branch is none other than our Lord Jesus. He is the son of David par excellence. but he's also the son of Abraham according to Matthew chapter one in verse one. Therefore he brings to all the nations the blessing promised to Abraham's seed. And we looked at that in Galatians chapter three and verse sixteen and in verse twenty nine. That here we have the redemption of Gentiles. We who one time were far out as we read in Ephesians chapter two are made near by the blood of Christ. Now the family tree of Matthew chapter one is most interesting. The Hebrews were not given to listing women. And yet in Matthew chapter one there are five of them. There are five women listed. And that is most unique. Now those of you who have attended here and for a few years you'll know that I always mention these five women and for they illustrate in a most unique way the doctrines of salvation but I want to say something different tonight now we can expect Mary to be listed you'd expect the mother of Jesus to be listed and of course she's one of the five but the other four Tamar Rehab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. What do we know about them? Well, there were all Gentiles except one, Bathsheba, and she was married to a Hittite. She was married to Uriah the Hittite. Not only were the all Gentiles, they were all associated with sexual sin. Tamar, Rahab the harvest, and Bathsheba. But what about Ruth? She's presented as being pure. Ruth is a Moabite. And the whole nation of Moab came into existence through sexual sins. And she's under the curse for a Moabite who is not allowed to enter into the congregation of the Lord under the test generation, yet even forever, according to the book of Deuteronomy. But here they are, they're in. What does that teach us? These women serve as an illustration of what our Lord Jesus came to do. What did He come to do? This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Stan Ford, whom many of us remember. Stan had been a wicked man in his early days before his conversion, and he had to have surgery in the hospital. And he knew that when you take, and you're under anesthetic, a lot of times you say things you wish you didn't. And he was so afraid that some of his past life would crop up during surgery, and he'd say things that would dishonor the Lord. And when he came out of the anesthetic, the nurse that was attending him, she said, he said the first thing he said when he was rational, he said to her, did I talk while I was under? Oh, she said, you sure did. Oh, he said, tell me, what did I say? You said, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Oh, friends. You see, that new nature was predominant in his life. And these women illustrate the work that our Lord came to do. In other words, Matthew is emphasizing that the birth of Jesus marks the beginning of a new epoch in salvation history. He is Jesus who has come to save. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save these people from their sins. And then Matthew, in this genealogy, he emphasizes something else. He emphasizes the fact that our word Jesus was born of the virgin of a virgin. And we say, why does he emphasize that? Oh, he wants to show that Jesus' qualifications as Israel's Davidic king. You see, there came a time when God pronounced the curse upon the seed of David, upon the lion of David. There's a curse resting upon them. And God made some strong statements. And Christ had to be the virgin-born son of God, or else he couldn't be on the throne of David. He'd be under the curse. So I invite you to turn to Jeremiah chapter twenty-two. Jeremiah chapter twenty-two and verse twenty-four. Jeremiah twenty-two and verse twenty-four, where we read God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, as I live saith the Lord, Volcanaya, that could be translated Jeconaya, as it is in other places. Volcanaya, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand. Yet would I pluck thee hence, and I will give thee unto the hand of them that seek thy life. and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest. Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and unto the hand of the Chaldeans. Look at verse twenty-eight. Is this man Canaia a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out? He and his seed and are cast into the land which they know not. Notice the last verse. 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 upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah. Not only had the tree of David been ground down to a stump, it was also under the curse. What a branch is going to come for. Out of that, out of the roots of David. Isaiah eleven, verse one. So what happened? Matthew confirms, you see, that one of the physical descendants of David could not sit upon his throne, but Jesus is not affected by the curse pronounced upon that line. For Mary was not in that line Joseph was. Mary was in the line of David's son Nathan. And by being virgin born, he escaped the curse. And he fulfills the title, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Now Matthew continues in chapter one and verse twenty one. And he confirms that Jesus' very name reveals his work. He is the new Joshua. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he is God who saves. And if he's he who will lead his people into rest. And if he's he who was able to say, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So like the former Joshua, as you read about in the Old Testament, he leads his people into rest. But more than that, he is Emmanuel. And Emmanuel means God with us. And more than that, he was born in Bethlehem, as prophesied he would be in Micah, chapter five, verse two, and accompanying his birth is a star, which is reminiscent. of the prophecy that Balaam made in Numbers chapter twenty four and verse seventeen. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the focal point of the fulfillment of the promise of God. How do we apply that to us? How do we apply that in our everyday life and in our relationship to one another and to our Lord Jesus Christ? First of all, We don't need to follow any false teaching, nor do we need to follow any false teachers as to the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you say, well, why don't we? Because he follows the pattern that is expressed in the Old Testament. The Old Testament scriptures are fulfilled in the person of Christ. And the gospel is how the Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Under trial, John the Baptist in Matthew chapter eleven, when John who announced that Jesus is the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, the time came that John the Baptist told the king that it was wrong for him to have his brother's wife. and John lost his head. He was beheaded. But before he was beheaded, he languished in prison. And here's our Lord that he proclaimed to be the Messiah, the deliverer. And here's his best friend, his own cousin. For John the Baptist was related to the Lord Jesus naturally. and he seemingly does nothing about it. And John sent two of his disciples to the Lord Jesus, and he asked the question, are thou he that should come, or should we look for another? Are you really the Messiah? And I'm quoting from Matthew chapter eleven, and our Lord said, you go tell John the block. He didn't say, yes, I'm the Messiah. He didn't say that. He turned them to the Scriptures. That's the thing that we need to turn to. Our Lord Jesus fulfilled what was written of him in Isaiah thirty-five, Isaiah eleven, Isaiah nine, and the other great prophecies of the Old Testament. You'll go tell John the blind seed, the lame walk, the deaf ear, the dumb speak. and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. The very thing the word of God said in the Old Testament he would do. We don't need to make a mistake like John the Baptist did when things go wrong. And they're not going seemingly the way we think they ought to. God is not running on Philip's schedule and he isn't running on yours either. That's what Isaac Watts wrote. God moves in a mysterious way. his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage, take those clouds you so much dread are filled with blessings and will break, are filled with mercy and will break in blessing on your head. So you see, there's a second application that we have here. And that's why we read from Matthew chapter twenty-four. In Matthew chapter twenty-four, Jesus predicted that there would be many who would seek to deceive by saying they are the Messiah. And we have those today who make predictions. And I have definite reference tonight to a movement called the Vineyard Movement or the Signs and Wonders Movement that is so prevalent today, John Wittenberg and others. And their view of prophecy in the New Testament view of prophecy does not coincide. with a biblical view of prophecy that is presented in the Old Testament. And the predictions, many of the predictions they make are weird. I say that kindly and I say it because I believe that many are being deceived. Our Lord said, be not deceived. for many shall come and shall deceive many. And the best thing you could do in the day in which you live, when you hear strange things related to the Bible, take it to the scripture, does it fit the pattern of fulfillment that is found in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's a third application for us. And the third application is this. Here we have assurance that enables us to joyfully express the truths of the Word of God in simple explanation according to prophecy. The purpose of God and the fulfillment of that prophecy in the redemptive program of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that God has predicted has to do with the redemptive program of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has come and he is coming again. He is the seed of Abraham. He is the seed of David. He is the fulfillment of the covenant to Abraham, and he is the fulfillment of the covenant to David. Let's pray. O God our Father, when we see these precious truths in your word, we stand in awe of thy wisdom. We see from Revelation chapter twelve, how that Satan and his program is going to be thwarted, even though Calvary looked like defeat. But you brought our blessed Lord from the dead, and we can say to one another, not a God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. And we thank you for the blood of the everlasting covenant. For the new covenant is the everlasting covenant, and in it it was inaugurated and sealed with the blood of thy dear Son, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.