The Genealogy of Jesus

[0:00] Well, if we could, this evening, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the Gospel according to Matthew and chapter 1.

[0:18] Matthew chapter 1, and if we just read again at the beginning, where Matthew tells us that this is the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

[0:35] The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. As you know, it's often said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, because, you know, we can learn a lot from history, but we can also learn a lot about ourselves from history.

[1:00] And for when we look back and consider the generations who went before us, we can learn about who they were and what they were like and even what they faced. And that's why genealogies and family trees are important, and for many people they're very interesting.

[1:14] Because when they study them, they find out who their ancestors were and who their relations and their connections are and even what they endured in the past and what they went through.

[1:27] In fact, I don't know if you saw, there was this TV series that was on not so long ago, it was called Who Do You Think You Are? And maybe you watched it as it followed the lives of celebrities and it looked back into their genealogy and into their family tree and it discovered who their ancestors were and where they originated from and who they were related to.

[1:48] And some of them, they made shocking discoveries that some of their family members, they ended up in jail because of things they did. They made shocking discoveries about their family history. And, you know, in a similar way, Jewish culture is very interested in genealogy and ancestry and family history.

[2:06] They love looking back to where they came from. Because in Jewish culture, your family is important. Your relations are important. And your history is important.

[2:19] For a Jew, their lineage and their genealogy is something that they would investigate. They'd make a point of investigating it and learning about it and even cherishing it.

[2:29] Especially because they would want to know who their descendants were and even what tribe of Israel they were from. Genealogy is something that was part of the Jewish culture.

[2:42] And, you know, that's why Matthew begins his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Of course, when we come to a section like this with all these names, this list of names and, you know, well, trying to read some of them and pronounce them, it's very difficult.

[2:58] But most of us, we would just want to skip over this. I'll just jump to the interesting parts. But this is an important part of the gospel. What Matthew is doing here with this genealogy of Jesus is reminding us who Jesus is.

[3:15] And Matthew tells us from the outset, as he says in verse 1, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Matthew tells us from the outset that Jesus is the Christ.

[3:28] And as you know, Christ was not his surname. It's his title. He's Jesus, the Messiah. He's the Anointed One. He's God's King in God's world. And Matthew uses this genealogy in order to prove to us that Jesus is the Christ.

[3:45] And he does that by stating, as he does in verse 1, he says that Jesus is, first of all, the son of David. He's of royal descent. He's from the seed and lineage of King David.

[3:58] But more than that, Matthew then says that Jesus is a Jew. He affirms that he's a son of Abraham. He's a descendant of faithful Abraham who lived long ago.

[4:09] And it also means that Jesus was part of the covenant of grace. And so as Matthew introduces us to Jesus the Christ, and he introduces us to Jesus using this genealogy, he draws our attention to three things about Jesus.

[4:24] And they're the three things I'd like us to look at this evening. Three things about Jesus. Matthew draws our attention to his family, his function, and his focus. His family, his function, and his focus.

[4:37] Three things about Jesus. So first of all, his family. His family. Matthew tells us, he says, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

[4:52] Abraham was the father of Isaac. And Isaac, the father of Jacob. And Jacob, the father of Judah. And his brother. Now, prior to his conversion, when Jesus called him to be a disciple, Matthew, as you know, he was a tax collector.

[5:10] And as you might expect, a tax collector was one of the most despised vocations in Israel. Because tax collectors, they were Jews. They were Jews who worked for the oppressive Roman government in Israel.

[5:25] And like Zacchaeus, the little man who went up the tree, Matthew would have been a man just like Zacchaeus, renowned for his greed and his corruption, and for exploiting people by their taxes.

[5:37] But one of the roles of a tax collector, other than collecting tax for the Roman government, and making a profit from it, one of the other roles of a tax collector, was to be acquainted with all the public registers.

[5:50] Which were lists of genealogies. They were lists of family names and family connections. And so as a tax collector, Matthew would have been very familiar with the family history of almost every household that was being taxed in Galilee.

[6:06] And because Jesus was a Galilean, Matthew would have probably been familiar with Jesus' history and his family history. Matthew would have probably known that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, and that he was from the tribe of Judah, and that he was from the lineage of King David.

[6:26] But you know, what's remarkable is that in the providence of God, Matthew's experience as a tax collector was used for the glory of God. Because before Matthew was ever called from his tax booth by Jesus, before Matthew was a Christian, even then, when Matthew was exploiting people, the Lord was preparing him for works of service.

[6:49] Because the Lord always knew that Matthew's experience with family names, and family connections, and family trees, and genealogy, he knew that, the Lord knew that Matthew's experience would be used here in order to explain who Jesus Christ really is.

[7:06] And you know, my friend, it ought to make us realize that with the Lord, nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted with the Lord. You look at your own life, and maybe what you went through in the past, whether your past experiences have been dark, or they were difficult, maybe your past experiences were full of sickness and sorrow, maybe your past experiences were full of rebellion, but none of these things were wasted.

[7:35] Because none of it is wasted with the Lord. The Lord uses all our providences. That's the wonderful thing. The Lord uses all that we go through in our lives, in order to shape us, and prepare us, for our works of service.

[7:50] You know, I look at some of the things I went through, before I was converted. And you know, they have helped me so much as a minister, in different ways.

[8:01] And I'm sure you can say the same about yourself. Things that you've experienced, things that you've faced, you were able to use these experiences, maybe to help others, or help you get through something else.

[8:12] And you know, that was certainly the case with Matthew. Matthew was called from his tax booth to be a disciple. And when he was called by the Lord, the Lord was going to use him to write his most important work, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[8:30] And you know, the Lord used him because Matthew, he clearly explains to us who Jesus is, and why Jesus came. But as Matthew begins his Gospel, he introduces us to Jesus, by telling us who his family are.

[8:47] And that's something we're very familiar with, aren't we? Because when you're trying to explain to someone, who they are, well, we talk about their family name, their nickname, whether it's Taudy, or Warrior, or Meek, and all these names that I hear, floating around Barmas.

[9:04] We talk about their family name, or we talk about who their parents were, or their grandparents, and the nickname that is associated with that family. And that's what Matthew does. He says that Jesus was a son of Abraham.

[9:17] He's a descendant of faithful Abraham. The one whom the Lord promised would have a big family. You remember back in Genesis 12, the Lord promised Abraham that he would be a father.

[9:29] And that was a shock to Abraham. But the Lord also said, you're going to be a father of many nations. The Lord said to Abraham, go from your country, and your kindred, and your father's house, to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation.

[9:45] I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

[10:00] My friend, when the Lord entered into that covenant with Abraham, the Lord graciously promised Abraham, who wasn't a father at the time, he said to Abraham that from his seed, there will come a great nation.

[10:14] And through him, all the families of the earth are going to experience blessing. But as we know, when Abraham was given that promise of blessing, he was an old man.

[10:28] He had never been a father before. And his wife Sarah, she was also old too. And when he was given the promise, it wouldn't be for another 25 years, until Abraham was 100, and his wife Sarah was 90, that they would have their first son called Isaac.

[10:45] And yet the Lord was faithful to his covenant promise. And the Lord remained faithful throughout every succeeding generation. And you know, when you consider the family tree of Jesus, just reading through all these names, and all these people, and when you look them up in the Bible, you see that there were so many obstacles to overcome, in order to ensure that the Messiah would be born.

[11:11] There were so many obstacles put in the way. Well, there was Isaac right at the beginning. His mother Sarah barren most of her life, but gives birth to her first son at the age of 90.

[11:25] Then Isaac's father, Abraham, he had to be obedient to the Lord by offering up his son, attempting to offer up his son as a burnt offering. And you would think then and there, well, it's game over.

[11:38] If Isaac dies, then the promise is finished. But as we know, he survived. Abraham was obedient. Then when Isaac married Rebekah, she was also barren.

[11:49] And she was barren until the Lord provided her two twins, or twins. First Esau, and then Jacob. But the Lord said, the older Esau shall serve the younger Jacob.

[12:02] And that wasn't without its family disputes and difficulties. And then you have Jacob. He was the deceiver. But he fathered 12 sons who would become the 12 tribes of Israel. One of whom was Judah, as who's mentioned here.

[12:16] And it was on Jacob's deathbed that Judah was promised that he would be of royal descent. Because the scepter, we're told, shall not depart from Judah. But that also wasn't without its problems and obstacles and difficulties.

[12:30] Because we're told in verse 3, Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah, by Tamar. Tamar, as you know, was Judah's daughter-in-law.

[12:43] And that was a very messy situation. And when you read about it in the Bible, it's a very difficult situation to read. But you know, what becomes glaringly obvious is that sin and moral failure makes this family tree more and more complex as the generations go on.

[13:02] And it's just like many families today. Getting more and more complex. Nothing's new under the sun. But what's interesting is that Tamar wasn't the only woman mentioned in Jesus' family tree.

[13:16] We're told in verse 5 that Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. Rahab, as you know, was the prostitute from Jericho whom the Lord spared because she hid the spies by faith.

[13:29] But more than that, we're told that Boaz married Ruth, the Moabitess. And we know all about that love story from the book of Ruth. Because when Ruth and Boaz finally got together, they had Obed.

[13:41] And Obed was, as we read, the father of Jesse. And Jesse was the father of King David. And if you put it all together, you could say that Ruth was David's great grandmother.

[13:54] But there were even more obstacles. More obstacles in this family tree to overcome because we're told that David was the father of Solomon. And as we know, Solomon was born as a result of David's lust, his lies, and his adultery.

[14:08] His adultery with Bathsheba. And then his murder of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. And you know, you look at the family tree of Jesus, and I say this with all reverence, but you know, it's like something out of EastEnders.

[14:22] It honestly is. It's so complex. It becomes so difficult when you look at it. There's so much opposition to the covenant promise. And there's so much moral failure on the part of the covenant people.

[14:36] And yet, who's shining out of it all is the Lord. And what's been told to us again and again is that the Lord is faithful. Despite the unfaithfulness of mankind, the Lord is faithful to his covenant promise.

[14:51] The Lord is faithful to his promise that he made with Abraham. And he remained faithful throughout every single generation. Every single one of them. The Lord was there being faithful to his people all the way through.

[15:06] And the thing is, he's still faithful. We must never forget that the Lord's covenant promise still stands. As we were singing in Psalm 105, to a thousand generations.

[15:20] His promises are faithful and true because he's faithful to his covenant. But you know, these women who are mentioned, I find them fascinating.

[15:31] They're mentioned in this genealogy of Jesus. These women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. They're not only women of disrepute and moral failure.

[15:43] They're also Gentiles. They weren't Jews. They weren't descendants of Abraham. They were outsiders. They were all outsiders.

[15:56] And yet in the Lord's wonderful providence and grace, they were brought in. They were brought in to experience the blessings of the covenant. And you know what, Matthew is reminding us right from the outset of his gospel is that this gospel about Jesus Christ, it's for all people.

[16:17] It's for everyone. It's not just for the Jews. Yes, it's to the Jew first, but it's also for the Gentile. It's for those who are outside the covenant of grace.

[16:28] It's those who are strangers to grace and to God. The offer and the opportunity of the gospel Matthew is telling us right at the outset is that it's, as we were saying to the children this morning, it's for whosoever.

[16:43] The gift of eternal life is for whosoever. Because whosoever, whether you're a Tamar, a Ruth, a Rahab, or even a Bathsheba, whatever your background, whatever you've gone through in your life, whatever sin you've come across or gone through, the gospel is for whosoever.

[17:05] Whosoever can be brought into God's covenant family by faith. And you know, my friend, even though Jesus' family, his family tree was full of division and difficulty and people of disrepute.

[17:19] It was a family full of sinners. But what Matthew reminds us is that the gospel is for sinners. The gospel is for sinners.

[17:33] It's not for good people. Because good people will never come to the gospel. Good people don't see the need of good news. The gospel is for bad people who see their sin and their need of salvation.

[17:51] My friend, the gospel is for sinners. And you know, my friend, the gospel, as Matthew reminds us, even with the family of Jesus, the gospel is for families.

[18:04] The gospel is for your family. It's for my family. It's for the families of this community. Because the covenant promise given to Abraham was a promise of blessing, of salvation, to be upon our homes and upon our families.

[18:19] And the Bible reminds us in Acts chapter 2 that we're to plead the covenant promises of God because his faithful promises are to us and to our children.

[18:33] The gospel is for families. And so when we consider who Jesus is, we see that his descendants, they may have been sinful, but from them came the Savior.

[18:49] So secondly, we see his function. We see his family, but then secondly, we see Jesus' function. His function, Matthew tells us, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

[19:08] As Matthew explains Jesus' genealogy and family tree, he not only emphasizes that Jesus is a Jew who's from the covenant promise of Abraham. Matthew also explains that Jesus is a king and he's from the royal lineage of King David.

[19:25] In fact, the emphasis of Matthew's gospel is that Jesus is a king. When you consider Mark's gospel, Mark tells us that Jesus is the suffering servant.

[19:39] When you read through John's gospel, John has this emphasis that Jesus is the eternal son of God. When you read Luke's gospel, Luke portrays Jesus as the perfect son of man.

[19:53] And that's why Luke gives a genealogy. He gives a genealogy of Jesus in Luke chapter 3. And he traces Jesus not back to Abraham but even further back to Adam. Because Luke, he was not only stressing the humanity of Jesus, he was also highlighting that Jesus is the second Adam.

[20:13] For Luke, Jesus is the son of man. He's the second Adam. He's the last Adam. He's the new Adam. And he's the son of Adam who was promised in the garden of Eden who would be born into this world to crush the head of the serpent.

[20:29] And as Luke reminds us again and again in this gospel, the son of man, the son of Adam came to seek and to save that which was lost. But for Matthew, Matthew's genealogy is all about presenting to us the fact that Jesus is king.

[20:46] He's the son of David. He's the royal descendant of King David. And because he's the royal descendant of King David, he's the Messiah. He's God's king in God's world.

[20:59] He's the anointed one. He's the Christ. And that's what was promised. The Lord made a promise to David a thousand years, about a thousand years before Jesus was born.

[21:12] The Lord promised it. You can read about it in 2 Samuel chapter 7. The Lord said to David, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom.

[21:26] He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father. He shall be to me a son.

[21:38] You know, that's why Matthew follows this royal lineage. Because the promise was that one of David's descendants would sit upon the throne in Israel and establish his kingdom forever.

[21:51] forever. But what the people didn't understand was that it would be an eternal kingdom. A kingdom of heaven. And the Lord will say about his Messiah, I will be to him a father.

[22:03] He shall be to me a son. And you know what Matthew does? He brings us through all the generations of this royal lineage. All these different kings that he speaks about.

[22:13] Rehoboam and Abijah and Jehoshaphat and Joram and Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah and Manasseh and Amos. He brings us through all this royal lineage and then he comes all the way through all these generations and he reaches Jesus and he points at him and he says this is him.

[22:33] This is the one you've been waiting for. This is the son of David. This is the royal descendant. This is the Messiah. This is God's king in God's world. My friend, Matthew is saying to us tonight, Jesus Christ is king in the kingdom of heaven.

[22:52] That's what his gospel is all about. Jesus Christ is king in the kingdom of heaven. But you know the reason Matthew wrote his gospel about King Jesus is because for the Jews he wasn't the king they wanted.

[23:12] The Jews wanted their Messiah to be this conquering king. The Jews expected their Messiah to be this warrior king who would be like King David and defeat all the armies that surround the nation.

[23:25] The Jews thought that the saviour of the world would overthrow the oppression of the Romans and restore the nation of Israel again. The Jews assumed that Jesus was going to be this earthly king with an earthly kingdom and have political powers.

[23:41] And instead Jesus, he came to establish an eternal kingdom in the kingdom of heaven. But for the Jews, Jesus wasn't the king they wanted.

[23:53] Jesus wasn't the king they wanted. They would not have this man rule over them. Just like many people today will not have this man to rule over them.

[24:06] But you know that rejection from the Jews, he came to his own people, his own people did not receive him. That rejection, that was part of Jesus' humiliation. In fact, that's how Matthew presents Jesus to us in his gospel.

[24:21] He doesn't present Jesus, this royal king, he doesn't present to him as one who is exalted and reigning. No, he presents Jesus to us as a king who was humiliated.

[24:35] And Matthew explains to us that Jesus' first act of humiliation was when he humbled himself by taking to himself our nature.

[24:46] As soon as this genealogy is complete, Matthew gives to us what? The birth narrative of King Jesus. And what we know about the birth narrative of Jesus is that it wasn't a royal coronation.

[24:59] It was an act of humiliation where King Jesus, he's born in this lowly stable in Bethlehem. And as the narrative of Matthew, as it progresses through the chapters, it's not a progression upwards of exaltation, no, it's more humiliation.

[25:16] It's all down, down, down, where the entire life of King Jesus becomes this act of humiliation. Where you come through the chapters and we see that Jesus, he's tempted by the devil, more humiliation, he's rejected by his people, more humiliation, he's chased out of cities and synagogues, more humiliation, he's opposed by the religious elite who should have recognised who he was, more humiliation.

[25:45] And even his own family disown him, more humiliation. King Jesus is humiliated all the way down, down, down, down. And yet Matthew, all the way through his gospel, he keeps reminding us that this humiliated king is still king.

[26:03] Because for Matthew, everything is about Jesus functioning as king. You read through his sermon on the mount, Jesus' first sermon, the first thing Jesus says, he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[26:21] The sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches what it means to live in the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus tells his parables, he reveals what the kingdom of heaven is like. But as you know, the humiliation of king Jesus, it goes down, down, down, all the way to the cross.

[26:38] You read the gospel, there's a plot to kill king Jesus. Judas is the villain, the chief priests are the instigators, the Romans are the executioners. And Matthew is describing the humiliation all the way down.

[26:53] And it's from the crown of glory to the cradle in Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary. It's from the crown to the cradle to the cross. King Jesus is humiliated all the way to death.

[27:07] But as you know, that's not the end of the story. Matthew doesn't finish at Jesus' lowest point. No, no, no. Because he says God the Father has highly exalted him.

[27:19] He raises him from the dead. On the third day the tomb is opened. Jesus is gloriously ascended up on high in order to lead the captives free. And as the risen and exalted king, he has given what?

[27:34] A name that is above every name so that it will be at the name of King Jesus that every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and in hell and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[27:50] And you know, my friend, what Matthew is actually reminding us about King Jesus right from the outset of his gospel is that Jesus entered into this world as king and he entered in by humiliation but he left in exaltation.

[28:06] He ascended up on high leading the captives free and tonight he is enthroned at the Father's right hand and he has put all his enemies under his feet.

[28:17] And as Jesus said to the disciples before he ascended to heaven, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And you know, my friend, it's because of that, it's because Jesus was humiliated and exalted that King Jesus commands everyone, everywhere to repent.

[28:42] That's what it's all about. That's what the gospel is all about. This humiliated and exalted king who's now with the Father's right hand is commanding everyone on earth to repent.

[28:56] To repent and believe in the gospel. My friend, his function as king, Jesus' function as king was to defeat sin, to conquer the grave and call sinners like you and me to repent and believe that he is king.

[29:15] Jesus is king. But you know, maybe for you, my unconverted friend, you still want to be king or queen over your own life.

[29:30] You want to be in control. You don't like anybody else sticking their nose in. But the thing is, there isn't enough room for two monarchs on the throne of your heart.

[29:43] And if Jesus is to be king over your life, then you must dethrone yourself. You have to abdicate the throne of your heart.

[29:54] You have to surrender your life and your will and bow your knee before king Jesus. King Jesus must sit upon the throne of your heart and you must confess that he alone is Lord.

[30:11] We must all come on mended knee before king Jesus. us. And as Paul reminds us, we have to come on bended knee in this life.

[30:22] Because if we don't come in this life, we will certainly come in the next. Because at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

[30:37] And we will bow and confess whether we are in heaven or on earth when he comes again or in hell. we will all bow. But where we bow is most important.

[30:52] We must bow before king Jesus in this life, before we do it in the next. That's his function. Jesus is king. But you know his focus, my friend, his focus is you.

[31:07] That's why he came. His focus is you. And that's what I want us to see lastly and very briefly. Matthew introduces us to Jesus using this genealogy and he draws our attention to his family.

[31:18] He's from the family of Abraham. His function, he's a king, but his focus, his focus is sinner. Look at verse 17. We're told, so all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations and from David to the deportation to Babylon 14 generations and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ 14 generations.

[31:43] Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

[31:54] And her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

[32:14] She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. Now what we read there in verse 17 that following the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Matthew he concludes by explaining that there were 14 generations, 14 generations from Abraham to David, from David to the exile into Babylon and then Babylon to the birth of Jesus.

[32:40] And to be honest, just to explain this, no one knows the significance of this. No one knows why Matthew mentions this. There have been, there's a lot of speculation, there have been many assumptions made over the years, but the truth is no one really knows.

[32:56] One commentator, Leon Morris, a great New Testament theologian, he says the number 14 must have been significant to Matthew, but he forgot to share it with us.

[33:08] And so nobody really knows. The number 14 wasn't, was important to Matthew, but we need to move on from that. That wasn't his focus. And it certainly wasn't the focus of Jesus.

[33:19] Because as we read and as the Apostles Creed puts it, Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. And as we were looking on Wednesday evening, the incarnation or the enfleshment of God, God manifest in the flesh, it's the greatest mystery.

[33:39] And yet at the same time it's the most wonderful provision for sinners. Because his focus, Jesus' focus, at coming into the world, is you and me.

[33:52] This is what's amazing. And that's what Matthew affirms to us, what the angel said, call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

[34:04] Call his name Savior, call his name Salvation. And that's what the name Jesus means, Salvation. Call his name Jesus because his focus is to save people from their sin.

[34:18] And you know, for Jesus, his focus was to go to Calvary in order to save you from your sins. His focus was to be humiliated, to be despised and rejected by men, to be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

[34:38] His focus was to be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace laid upon him, with his stripes we are healed. That's his focus.

[34:49] His focus was to go to Calvary in order to save you from your sins. But you know my unconverted friend, although you know all this, you've heard it all before, you must come to Jesus by faith.

[35:06] And you must seek his forgiveness and you must commit your life to him. You don't need to focus on anyone else, nobody else.

[35:18] You just focus on Jesus, because his focus is you. You don't look to any other Christian, any other unconverted person, anyone else in your home and in your family, you focus on Jesus, because his focus is you.

[35:36] His focus is you. Call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Do you know my friend, even that verse, call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

[35:57] Your responsibility, call on the name of Jesus, for he will save you from your sin. And so from this interesting and important genealogy, Matthew has reminded us who Jesus is.

[36:13] We've learned from his family that he's a son of Abraham. He's an heir of the covenant promise, through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. We've learned about his function, that Jesus is a son of David.

[36:25] He's of royal descent, he's the promised Messiah, he's God's king in God's world, who was humiliated and exalted on our behalf. But we've also learned about his focus.

[36:39] His focus is you and me. You don't need to focus on anyone else. His focus is you and me. And you're his focus, you're his desire, you're his passion, because it was out of love that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

[36:59] You're his focus. You know the wonderful thing about Jesus having you as his focus is that he never takes his eye off you.

[37:11] You might slumber and sleep, but he doesn't slumber, he doesn't sleep. You are his focus all throughout your life. That's the promise when you trust the good shepherd.

[37:24] Lord, you are his focus. And tonight, our responsibility, as those who now know who Jesus is, we have to call upon his name, because he promises that when we call upon his name, he will save us from our sin.

[37:41] Call his name, Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O heavenly father, we give thanks to thee that we're able to address thee as our heavenly father, that we have been brought into the family of God through that wonderful covenant of grace.

[38:07] And Lord, we thank thee that that covenant was made known to faithful Abraham, and that it continued throughout a thousand generations, and that it was revealed in the person of Jesus.

[38:18] We thank thee, Lord, that Jesus is king, he is the humiliated and exalted king, who now sits at the right hand of the father. And we thank thee, Lord, that even tonight, that we are his focus, that he has a care and a compassion and a concern for us as sinful human beings, that he was so willing to die in our place, that we might experience life, and that abundantly.

[38:45] Lord, bless thy truth to us, we pray. We thank thee, Lord, for it, that every word has been inspired by the Holy Spirit. Every word has been written down by the hand of men, and Lord, help us, we pray, to glean from it, to learn the beauty of the gospel, and that we might be willing to tell it to the generation following, that this God is our God, and that he will be our guide, even unto death.

[39:11] Lord, do us good, then we pray. Bless us, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name, and for his sake. Amen. Amen. We're going to bring our service to our conclusion by singing the words of Psalm 132.

[39:28] Psalm 132. Psalm 132. Psalm 132 in the Scottish Psalter, page 423.

[39:42] We sang earlier from Psalm 105, which emphasizes the promise through Abraham, that Jesus was a son of Abraham.

[39:54] Psalm 132 emphasizes to us that Jesus was a son of David. It speaks here in verses 10 to 14, what we're singing about the promise that the Lord made with David, and that through his, the lineage, that there would be a royal son.

[40:12] That's what we say, we read in verse 10. Psalm 132 in verse 10. For thine own servant David's sake, do not deny thy grace, nor of thine own anointed one turn thou away the face.

[40:24] The Lord in truth to David swear, he will not turn from it. I of thy body's fruit will make upon thy throne to sit. My covenant if thy sons will keep, and laws to them made known, their children then shall also sit forever on thy throne.

[40:40] For God of Zion hath made choice, there he desires to dwell. This is my rest, here still I'll stay, for I do like it well. These verses of Psalm 132 in conclusion, to God's praise.

[40:54] O God's praise. For thine own servant of David's sake, do not deny thy grace.

[41:15] Lord, me so often, the Lord shall keep my heart free from shall give life on民ent Su Dop from the tram pouco Gave to heaven worlds, let not know Swear He will Not turn From it I hope Thy God His fruit Will Be Upon Thy throne To Set My God

[42:16] Until Thy Sons Will Keep And Lost To Them May Know Their Children Then Shall Also Sit Forever On Thy Throne For God Of Zion Have Made Choice Than He Desire To Dwell This Is My Rest

[43:17] Here Still I'll Stay For I Do Like It Well The Grace Of The Lord Jesus Christ The Love Of God The Father The Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit Be With You All Now And Forever More Amen Unt The Holiday Soon