Ancestry.com

If you have your Bibles, I want to ask you this morning to turn with me to Matthew's Gospel.

Matthew 1-17.

I know what some of you are thinking right now.

I know.

I called my mom this week and I told her what I was preaching on and she said, oh no.

This is the part of the passage or part of the Bible that we typically skip over when we are reading through, isn't it?

We are not interested in genealogy very much.

We don't understand it that much and we don't know the people that are in this genealogy.

So it is easier to just fly on by and get on to the good stuff and the meat.

Well, I want to tell you today, I want to rest, calm your nerves a little bit and tell you I am not going to read through the genealogy.

Now, in the first service I had a big amen from somebody when I said I wasn't going to be reading through the genealogy.

I am not going to stumble over these names and try to read through the genealogy knowing that you are probably not interested to begin with.

However, there is a purpose and a reason this is included in Scripture.

And I think it is important that we read all of the Scripture.

And I think that there are things in this genealogy that we can glean from, we can learn from, we can take it and apply it to our lives.

And I don't know who here today needs to hear this message, maybe all of us.

But there are some here today who need to really hear what I'm going to share.

Because I knew, even all night last night as I was trying to sleep, it kept getting in my mind going,

Is this really the right sermon?

Is genealogy really what I'm supposed to bring?

I get one shot a year sometimes.

Is this really, and God kept bringing me back to this was the message that he wanted me to speak.

So I know there are individuals here today, if not all of us, who need to hear this.

The other day I was watching Dateline.

This is mine and Michelle's regular routine.

It comes on on Friday nights.

And normally, many weeks, I'm online teaching pastors in Peru on Friday nights.

Most of you already know this.

But we teach Friday morning and Friday night, two hours at a time.

Same material but different groups.

And we have close to 100 that log on on Zoom and have been in our courses since the fall, or really August, of 2020.

We're seeing God do some really remarkable and wonderful things.

And we've invited you at any time.

Anytime you want to log on and just see it, let me know.

We'll give you the Zoom link and you can just get on and watch.

It is amazing.

We don't start on Friday nights until 9 o'clock at night because these pastors and church leaders have worked all day.

They're tired.

They're worn out.

But they're gaining so much.

And it's not me as a teacher.

It's the material that it's impacting their ministries and changing their churches.

But we record Dateline on Friday night.

Michelle and I have a regular routine.

We get up on Saturday mornings and we watch Dateline.

And a couple of weeks ago, we saw one that was extremely interesting.

There was a murder that had taken place, usually Dateline's based on that.

And they had DNA at the crime scene.

And so they put that in the FBI database, which is CODIS.

But there were no matches for that DNA.

Now, if there had been a match, it would have been solved and whammo, bammo.

It's history.

DNA is, I don't even know, one in a trillion, zillion people that it'll match.

So the detectives, they continued to try to solve this crime for years but never could get an exact match on the DNA.

They went around to all the family, all the friends, all the people in the circles of people that knew them, kept taking DNA tests and never could get a hit.

So years went by.

And finally, science changed and developed.

And get this.

If y'all watch Dateline, you know.

But if you don't, you may not know this.

They can take DNA and develop a picture of the individual that it belongs to today.

Now, even detectives thought, no, that's not going to work.

It's not going to help us.

But you know what?

They had no choice.

They were at their ropes in.

They had nowhere else to turn.

And years had gone by.

So they got approval to spend the money.

I think it was like $5,000 or something that their budget really didn't have to put into this.

But they wanted to solve this crime.

So they paid the money.

They sent the DNA off to the lab.

And a few weeks later, they get a picture of an individual that they believed that that DNA belonged to.

And at first, they went back to family.

And they were like, do you know this individual?

And they were like, we don't know that person.

And so they talked to more people and their circle of friends.

And everybody kept saying, we don't know that individual.

So, of course, the detectives were discouraged.

And they were thinking, well, that was a waste of time.

Until finally, a young man said, I know who that is.

I know.

And he gave the detectives the name of the individual.

And they began going to that individual and investigating him, even to the point where they got his DNA sample.

And guess what?

It was a perfect match.

And they took the DNA that was at the crime scene and his DNA match.

And you all know what that means.

It's a closed case.

And they solved that cold case murder from years ago.

Now, most Americans today, we're not very interested in genealogy, are we?

If we are, usually it's only out of curiosity.

We kind of want to know where we came from.

We want to know a little bit.

But we really aren't like, say, England that has royal bloodlines.

And they want to really trace their bloodline and prove who they are or where they came from.

That doesn't really interest us too much.

But we do so more out of curiosity.

In the late 90s, I had a 12-month time span where I had five family members to die on my father's side.

It was both of his parents, his brother, and an aunt and an uncle.

Well, that spiraled my dad into getting interested into genealogy.

And he traced the Rafferty family line on his side of the family all the way back into the 1700s when the first of the Rafferty's came from Ireland through Virginia to the United States.

But again, usually we're not very interested in genealogy.

We just, if we do so, we're doing it out of just curiosity.

However, today we're learning more and more about genealogy and the benefits of knowing our family line and how that affects our health.

If there's a trait of cancer that runs through our family line, we want to know that.

So that maybe we can do things that prevent it ahead of time.

Or, like I said just a minute ago, the DNA can help law enforcement solve a lot of crimes that would have been unsolvable years ago.

But again, usually we're more likely just curious.

When we see those Ancestry.com commercials on the television or other commercials for other organizations doing DNA tests, we've probably been tempted.

Yeah, I want to just see.

I've always been told I'm Scotch-Irish, but what else is mixed in there?

You know, where else do I come from?

And we just do so out of curiosity.

But for the Jews, it was different, wasn't it?

Why was it different?

Well, the Jews, they knew the prophecy in Isaiah that said the Messiah would come through the family line of David.

And so they knew very clearly that if someone showed up on the scene and said, I'm the Messiah,

if they could not trace that individual back through the family line of David,

then they dismissed that person's claim of being the Messiah.

Listen to Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 through 5.

Isaiah 11:1–5

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

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 the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear.

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Any respectable Jew knew that prophecy, and they knew that the Messiah, this was a reference to the Messiah,

and that he would come through the family line of David.

And therefore they kept meticulous records and focused on the genealogy,

so that they would be able to approve or dismiss people's claims of being the Messiah.

This is why in Matthew's gospel account he begins with the genealogy.

We skip over it and move on.

But he was writing to the Jews, first and foremost.

He wanted them to understand who Jesus Christ was and that he was the Messiah.

In order for the Jews to accept that though, you had to establish first and foremost that he was from the family line of David.

Now in addition to proving that Jesus did indeed come from the family line of David,

and therefore he was qualified to be the Messiah,

the list of genealogy also reveals some other extraordinary truths.

And so today my focus of this message is not to prove to you that Jesus was the Son of God

and came through the family line of David.

But I think we can take this genealogy that's in Matthew chapter 1,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

and we can pull out some very important truths that are found in these scriptures.

We can pull out some interesting facts about individuals' lives,

and how they lived,

and what God did through them.

And I think we can take that to uplift us,

encourage us, strengthen us,

and help us to apply those to our lives as we try to serve God

and walk with him closer each and every day.

When you look at this genealogy,

you see that there's 46 individuals in Matthew's account.

And it was a time span of 2,000 years.

Now think about that.

How old is the United States?

Roughly about 250 years.

Now we're talking 2,000 years of this genealogy.

And all these ancestors of Jesus,

they all lived very different lives

and very different lifestyles.

Some of them were heroes of the faith,

like Abraham, Isaac, and David,

some came from outside Israel

and had very questionable reputations,

like Rahab and Tamar.

Many were very ordinary,

and we know almost nothing about them,

or very little.

And a few of them, like Manasseh,

was actually a very wicked and very evil man.

And we wonder,

how could God include a man like Manasseh?

How could he include him in the genealogy of Jesus Christ?

Listen in 2 Kings 21, verses 1 through 3.

2 Kings 21:1–3

Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign.

And he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Hephzibah,

and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,

according to the despicable practices of the nations

whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah, his father,

had destroyed,

and he erected altars for Baal

and made an Asherah,

as Ahab, king of Israel, had done

and worshipped all the hosts of heaven

and served them.

If you really go back and begin

to explore the life of Manasseh,

which we get accounts here in 2 Kings,

but also 2 Chronicles,

you know, an outline of his life

and the sinfulness of this man would sicken you

because not only did he defile the temple of God,

Solomon's temple,

by bringing in altars

and making sacrifices to pagan gods,

he even sacrificed his own son

to these pagan gods.

And so when you look at the genealogy,

and there you see his name, Manasseh,

you wonder how could God put a man like that

in the family line of the coming Messiah,

Jesus Christ?

How could God forgive him of the things he's done?

But not only that,

how could he put him in that family line?

If you read in 2 Chronicles

and you see more about Manasseh,

you'll see that God brought justice to Manasseh.

He punished him and had him exiled to Babylon

because of his sinfulness

and because he led Israel to worship false gods

and to commit such sins.

But when Manasseh had heartfelt repentance,

he turned away from his sin

and asked God to forgive him.

God also forgave him,

brought him back from Babylon,

restored him in Judah

and restored him to his position as king

over the southern kingdom.

God is a remarkable and almighty God,

especially when we repent of our sin

and turn back to him

and ask forgiveness of that sin.

But we look at it as like,

why would God want a man like that?

Why would God want Manasseh

to be in the family line of the Messiah?

But what we learn from this list of people

who come from different walks of life

and who lived very different lives spiritually

is that we cannot limit or stop God's work

and his will from advancing and being accomplished.

We can't stop it.

God's will will be done.

God works through all types of people,

some extraordinary and some very common.

I learned that when I went to seminary.

I was in Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

The first year I was there was 1992

and it didn't take me long to realize

there's some really weird people here.

I was there when they were cleaning house

of the seminaries

and they were cleaning up Southern Seminary.

You had a social work program there

that attracted,

it was the only Southern Baptist seminary

that had a social work program

and it attracted a lot of,

did I say that out loud a minute ago?

It attracted a lot of different people.

But you know what God told me?

God told me,

I call all kinds of people,

you call strange,

indifferent.

He said,

but I call,

I call them to ministry

to reach all kinds of people.

Jeff's not going to reach all people.

Jeff's not going to connect

with all kinds of people.

But that guy over there might.

That guy over there,

that lady over there might.

You know,

so God calls all kinds of people

to reach all kinds of people.

And just as God chose all kinds of people

to be a part of Jesus' ancestral tree,

he uses all kinds of people today.

And he will continue to use

all types of people in the future

to accomplish his will.

And this is what I want you to hear.

If you don't hear anything else,

this is what I want you to hear

and what I want you to take away

from this message.

What I want you to take away

from the genealogy of Matthew.

God wants to use you.

God has a place for you,

not only in his family,

not only in his kingdom,

but God wants to use you

in the work that he is doing

upon this earth

until the day either we leave

or until he comes again.

God does not save us

for us to sit on the sidelines

and wait for him to return.

God calls us

to be a part of his family,

to receive the forgiveness of our sins,

but then to join him

in the work that he's doing.

God doesn't need us.

He can accomplish

anything he wants to accomplish

and never use a single person.

But he wants to include us.

He wants to allow us

to have the privilege

of offering him our lives

and him taking us

and using us

to do great and magnificent

and mighty things in us.

And you might be sitting here today

and thinking,

I don't have anything to offer.

I don't know what I would do.

I'm not good enough.

I'm not experienced enough.

I'm not trained enough.

I don't have anything.

Well, when I was 16 years of age,

I began feeling God

calling me into ministry.

Now in Kentucky,

where I grew up,

churches called their pastor

Brother So-and-So.

And I kept going,

God, Brother Rafferty

just doesn't sound right.

So I can't do it.

Sorry.

And it scared me to death.

People with my church

would walk up to me

out of the blue

and go,

you're going to be a preacher,

aren't you?

And I'd be like,

nope, not me.

Not going to do it.

You're wrong about that.

And you know,

I fought God

for probably two years.

I was a senior in high school,

18 years of age,

and I finally broke.

And I said,

God,

I don't know what you're doing.

I don't know why you want me.

I have nothing to offer you.

You know,

I'm not qualified.

I'm not capable.

I'm not sure I even want to do that.

But I tell you what,

I'll give you my life,

and you take me,

and you do with me

whatever you will.

And if it ends in failure,

it's your fault.

You know,

I still to this day

don't feel qualified.

I still don't feel capable.

I still wonder

why God chose me.

You know,

I look around,

I've got a brother,

I've got a sister,

I've got others

in my family,

and I wonder

why God chose me

out of them.

I'm the youngest,

you know,

and I just wonder,

but I said,

God,

you take me

and you do with me

whatever you will.

And that's the way

I've served

since that day

is that I gave God

my life

and said,

you take me.

Now,

you might be sitting here

today too,

and you might be thinking,

I don't have anything

to offer.

I'm too old.

I'm too young.

I'm not experienced enough.

I don't have anything

to offer God,

but I'll promise you

one thing.

If you'll come

to the altar,

to the feet of Jesus

and say,

God,

here I am.

I don't know

what you want.

I don't know

why you want me,

but I'll give you

my life,

and I'll serve you

faithfully

and obediently

through the best

of my ability,

through the power

of God's Holy Spirit

that works

in me.

God doesn't need us,

but he wants

to include us

and use us.

And you look around.

We don't have to even

go outside the walls

of this church

to look around

and see some mighty

and magnificent things

that God has been

doing here

in this church.

People's lives

have been changed.

We see more people

coming every week,

and we see God

doing some magnificent

things.

here I am a

country bumpkin boy

from Whitesville,

Kentucky,

and God's using me

to get on the internet

and train pastors

in Peru.

I never dreamed

that that would be

something God

would do in my life.

You may not be dreaming

about what God

could do with you.

Have you got natural

talents of singing?

Brian's got a few chairs

still up here.

He said most

of his choir members

have a natural talent

to sing.

He's got a few seats

that he's wanting to,

no, I'm just kidding.

Can you,

can you teach?

We got a lot of teachers

in this church.

Can you use that talent

with our preschool,

our children,

our youth,

even adults?

Can you smile

and shake hands?

You could serve

as greeter.

Can you take up

the offerings

and give me your money?

You know,

there's so many ways

to serve in this church.

We have people

that come and put

the flowers out

every week

and beautify our church.

We have people

that go out

on mission trips.

There's something

in between.

If God is laying it

on your heart,

don't let anything

hold you back

and say,

I can't do that.

I won't do that.

If God's been pestering

you about something,

He wants to include you

in His work

and His ministry

and what He's doing.

And you're robbing yourself

out of the joy

and the privilege

of joining God

and being a part

of what He's doing.

And so I would encourage you

not to hold back.

Don't hold back.

You know,

the main purpose

that Matthew wrote here

was to show us

how we could be a part

of His kingdom

and salvation.

But also,

we learned from the genealogy

that He used

all kinds of people.

Another interesting note

that I found

in my study Bible

pointed out

that there were

four women

listed in this genealogy.

Now that was shocking

and rare

that you would have

four women

in this genealogy.

And not only four women

but the women

that were included

in this genealogy

was shocking.

There would have been

very ethnic

and ethical questions

by the Jewish readers

as they read this passage.

All of them

were more than likely

not Israelites.

And up until that point

they felt God

had just come

for the Jews

and the Jews alone.

But now you've got

four women

who were not Israelites

by birth

and they seemed

to be very scandalous

to mention

in an ancestral tree

of the coming Messiah.

Tamar acted

like a prostitute

to scam

her father-in-law Judah.

Rahab was a prostitute

and a foreigner

but she helped

deliver the city

of Jericho

into the hands

of the Israelites

and she showed faith

in their God.

Ruth was from Moab

an enemy

of Israel

and yet she took care

of her mother-in-law

Naomi

and was praised

for being better

than seven sons.

And David

committed adultery

with Bathsheba

and yet Bathsheba

became

the mother

of Solomon

the wisest king

of Israel

in all times.

This is a very

interesting family line

that God chose

to bring his son

into the world

through.

Matthew's genealogy

is very interesting

because it shows us

the good

it shows us

the bad

and it shows us

the very ugly

and it doesn't leave

out anyone

who might have been

questionable

in that day and time

and the point

Matthew's trying to make

is that God

sent his son

into the world

to be the savior

for all people

Jews

Gentiles

men

and women

and no matter

who people are

or where

they come from

God's plan

of salvation

is offered

to all people

and if he includes us

in salvation

he wants us

to take the gifts

and the talents

and the experiences

of our lives

and get plugged in

to what he's doing

on this earth

as Henry Blackaby

who wrote the study

experiencing God

more than 30 years ago

he said

look to see

where God is working

and join him

where is God

working around

your life

you know

it might not be

getting plugged in

to something

here at church

it might be

your family

it might be

you need to

lead Bible studies

with your family

members

or your children

or your grandchildren

there may be

other things

you may be

need to be

a witness

to a neighbor

or a co-worker

or visit people

in a nursing home

and give them

hope and encouragement

there are so many ways

that God can use you

and he's laid

something on your heart

he doesn't call us

to serve out of drudgery

he doesn't want us

to have to dig

our heels in

and he'll pull us

he's laid something

on your heart

that you love to do

you love to do something

and God can probably

take that

and use that

to bring glory

and honor to him

so what is that

what is that

nagging thing

that God keeps

tapping on your

mind and your heart

that he wants you

to do

don't hold back

look at this

genealogy

and see that God

used all kinds

of people

and if he used

people like Manasseh

he can use you

so today I'm going

to close

with a couple

of questions

first of all

have you accepted

that free gift

from Jesus Christ

of forgiveness

of your sin

and to receive him

as your Lord

and Savior

we celebrated

that last week

with Easter

of celebrating

the resurrection

of Jesus

and through the

death burial

and resurrection

of Christ

we know that

we can come

to know Jesus

Christ as our

Lord and Savior

and that he'll

forgive us

of whatever your

past is

it doesn't matter

you look at

Manasseh

God forgave him

and restored him

God can forgive

you

God can cleanse

you

God can purify

you

and he can

bring you

into his

family

if you've not

received that

why not

what is holding

you back

the other

question I

want to ask

you today

for those

of you

who are

children of

God

who've already

received Jesus

as your Lord

and Savior

have you come

before God

and said

take me

and use me

and do with me

whatever you will

take me Lord

use me

to serve you

to be a witness

and to bring

glory and honor

to the name

of Jesus

Christ

if you've not

done that

what's holding

you back

what's keeping

you

from saying

God take me

and bring glory

to your name

I don't have

anything to offer

I'm not qualified

I'm not capable

but I give

you my

life

in just a moment

we'll have a

time of invitation

and if God's saying

anything to your heart

this morning

maybe you need to

receive him as your

Lord and Savior

or maybe you want

to say

God take me

use me

or maybe you need

to just pray

about something

I'll be at the front

for us to do that

let's go to the Lord

in prayer

Lord I thank you

for this day

what a wonderful day

to be here

in the house of God

to worship you

to praise you

to study your word

and see

how you're in the

life changing business

and you take

individuals like

Manasseh

you take

individuals

that we would

never think

could be used

but you use them

to bring glory

and honor to you

and so I pray

that you're working

in each of our hearts

and helping us

to see

how you want

to use us too

and we thank you

for that

we praise you

in Jesus name

Amen

Amen