R519 Royal Credentials

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on royal credentials.

Credentials, those things that get us in those places we want to go. Royal credentials is what the message is about today with Dr. Don Wilton. We'll be headed to Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 in just a moment, but Dr. Don wants you to know we're here for you. The phone lines are open not just now during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you, connect with great resources.

We can do that online as well at www.tewonline.org. And now let's head to Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 with this message called Royal Credentials from Dr. Don Wilton. I want you to take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Matthew chapter 1. And while you're turning there with me to Matthew chapter 1, I want to say to you that Christmas time is a wonderful, wonderful, special occasion, and we all know that. For those of us who are pastors and preachers of the Word of God, it's always a very interesting time because Christmas comes around once a year like clockwork. And I will tell you that most of us pastors and preachers, we keep asking ourselves the same question, Lord, what can we say about Christmas that is brand new?

Surely there must be something else. And God keeps reminding us that nothing has changed. That the same Jesus born in Bethlehem's manger, he hasn't changed his mind, he hasn't changed his plan, he hasn't changed his methods. He's just the same, the same Lord Jesus yesterday and today and forever. But I will tell you that I absolutely just cannot wait to preach this morning because God has spoken to my heart again. And I really believe the Lord has given me a special word and an insight from God's word that I can't wait to share with you today.

And I hope that you have your Bibles opened. You see friends, I'm asking a question today and my question is simply this, why Jesus? And if we know why Jesus was born in the manger and why he came to this earth, and we certainly do because the Bible tells us why, what was so special about him? What right did Jesus have to call himself a king?

Now just think about this for a moment. You know you will read in Scripture as I will that there were three wise men and the three wise men were given a special word and these were outstanding gentlemen. They went all the way across the desert and finally they came to a little inn that certainly didn't match probably the palaces in which they lived. And they walked in there and they bowed themselves down at a manger in an inn amongst animals and they paid homage to a king. And they gave him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. And then later on in the life of the Lord Jesus frequently the disciples talked to him about his messiahship and the fact that he was king. And you will remember even when Jesus went to the cross they put up a big sign over the cross that said this is Jesus the King of the Jews. What is it that's so special about this? Why is there so much made of the fact that Jesus was royalty? What's important?

What's significant about that? I want to speak to you this morning about royal credentials. And so we're going to read together here in Matthew chapter one. And I trust that you'll beg my pardon if I don't pronounce certain things the same way as you're accustomed to pronouncing them.

But then I should imagine you're used to that by now. Matthew chapter one. Just listen to this. A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. That means the credentials of the king.

Royal credentials. A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham. Now why would God give us this list?

Here at the beginning of the New Testament the new dispensation the New Testament Jesus Christ and we begin by reading this unbelievable list. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac the father of Jacob. Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah the father of Perez and Zerah whose mother was Tamar.

Perez the father of Hezron. Hezron the father of Ram. Ram the father of Abinadab. Abinadab the father of Nahshon.

Nahshon the father of Selmon. Selmon the father of Boaz whose mother was Rahab. Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth. Ruth Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon whose mother had been Uriah's wife Bathsheba. Solomon the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam the father of Abijah. Abijah the father of Asa. Asa the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram. Jehoram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah the father of Jotham. Jotham the father of Ahaz. Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah the father of Manasseh. Manasseh the father of Amon. Amon the father of Josiah. And Josiah the father of Jeconiah.

Uh-oh. Jeconiah, God put a curse on him. Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

After the exile to Babylon Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel the father of Abued.

Abued the father of Eliakim. Eliakim the father of Azor. Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok the father of Achim. Achim the father of Eliud. Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar the father of Mathen. Mathen the father of Jacob. And Jacob the father of Joseph.

The husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David. Fourteen generations from David to the exile to Babylon.

And fourteen from the exile to the Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ by his spirit write his royal credentials upon our hearts this morning. Why in the world would Jesus the Son of God need royal credentials? After all he is the Son of God.

I've struggled with that. Why would this baby born in the manger need to have a resume? Mr. Grady Stewart if you were going to go out and you were going to hire Jesus and you knew that it was Jesus surely sir you wouldn't require a resume because you know who he is. Why does a person need credentials?

Have you ever thought about that to present one's credentials or a resume? Why would Jesus Christ need royal credentials? Well it's kind of I think like the Lamb's Book of Life. Do you know that the Bible says in Revelation that every time we give our lives to Jesus our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and one of the questions that I have asked most frequently is Lord why do you need a book to put my name in? You know me from before the foundation of the world. You are sovereign and I believe the answer to that lies in the fact that it's not God who needs a book.

I need a book. Matthew chapter 7 the Bible says many on that day are going to say Lord, Lord I did this in your name. I did that in your name. And God says that he's going to open his book at the great white throne judgment as a public demonstration of our refusal to have given our hearts to Jesus Christ. And at that point God is going to prove to us in writing what we refuse to do if that was the case indeed.

And I'm so grateful that my name as yours is is written in God's book in heaven. I don't believe for one minute that Jesus Christ needed royal credentials for the sake of Almighty God. I believe that his royal credentials are established in Scripture when Jesus was born in a manger not in order to persuade God our Father who sent him but rather to convince those to whom the Son has been sent. It's for the benefit of mankind not for the benefit of God. In fact Paul puts it like this. He said you need to prove God, test God, put him to the test, prove him, prove that he is the Son of God. You go ahead, go on, put your fleece out and let God demonstrate himself to you. God doesn't need to demonstrate himself to himself. He knows who he is.

And so it is that we come down to these credentials. I want to remind you my friends and this is very important that the time was going to come that Pilate, Pontius Pilate, would very sarcastically say in John chapter 18 and verse 36 he would say, You are a king then? Remember they took the Son of God and they beat him to a pulp. They put a royal robe on him and a scepter in his hand. They put a crown of thorns and they mocked him and they bowed down and Pontius Pilate about to wash his hands looked at this one, the spotless Son of God and he said, You are a king then? What did Jesus say in verse 37 of John chapter 18? He said, You correctly say that I am a king and it is for this reason that I have been born.

It is for this reason that you celebrate the Christ of Christmas and it is for this reason that I have come into this world. So why would he need royal credentials? Let me give you three reasons. Number one, locality. Locality. I want to remind you, beloved friends and you may not know this but it's very, very important to our Christian faith and especially at Christmas time that the Jews credentials always determined where they lived. In fact, just after they entered the Promised Land in Numbers chapter 26 and verse 34 through 35, Numbers 26, 34 through 35, you read there that the land in the Promised Land was carefully divided amongst the Jews how? According to their credentials. According to their credentials, it was divided up for them.

Each family had to be able to account for their own personal resume. Now, after the exile, if you go back to this passage that we've just read in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 12, you see it says there, after the exile to Babylon. After the exile, and you can read about that in the Old Testament book, Ezra. In Ezra chapter 2 and particularly verses 61 and 62, you're going to discover that after the exile that certain Jews were not allowed to serve as the Levite or the priestly class.

Why? Because, and I quote, their ancestral registration could not be located. Now, that's very interesting. Not only before the exile, but after the exile, there were Jews that went up and said, hey, excuse me, leaders. They went up to Joshua and all these people and said, hey, I'm one of the Levites. I'm one of the ruling class here. I want you to know that that property over there should come to me because that's reserved for the priestly class. And they said, all right, if you want to own that property, you know that locality is tied into your credentials.

Prove to us who you are. And they said, come on now. You remember the big old battle they took back there? Our passports got burned in our homes.

Oh, come on now. You remember when we were crossing that big old river the other day and the flood came because of the rains up in Galilee and it swept all our credentials. We've got nothing left. Don't ask the chairman of the finance division. We don't have any credentials. We can no longer prove who we are, but these Jews couldn't find any trace and so they were not allowed to own land and serve as Levites. Locality is very important. A second reason why credentials were important in Jesus' day and age was ownership. Ownership. Now folks, we all like to own things. We like to purchase homes and property and farms and motor cars. Listen to me. Do you know among the Jews of Jesus' age, you were not allowed to own anything outside of the parameters established for your credentials.

You can go back to Ruth chapter 3 and chapter 4 and read that marvelous love story there. You're going to discover that the transfer of property required the accurate knowledge and proof of a family tree. There you have it. Royal credentials. Why would Jesus need to establish his royal credentials?

Not for himself, but for the Jews. It was important. Locality, ownership.

There was a third reason. Membership. A sense of belonging and acceptance. Josephus, by the way, one of the greatest historians tells us that Jewish families kept arduous, detailed, meticulous records of their credentials for one reason and that was their sense of belonging. They needed to prove that they were a part of this group of people if you please. Look at Joseph.

We're going to read about it I'm sure a hundred times this Christmas. Joseph had to go to Bethlehem. Why? Because Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed. Why did Joseph go there according to Luke's gospel chapter 2 and verse 4? Because he was of the house and the lineage of David. Now there was a downside to establishing your credentials in those days and I'm sure Joseph would have said there's one of the downsides.

I have to go and be taxed. But he went because of his membership. His membership dues were important and they made him a part of. The apostle Paul in the New Testament. Time without number. You can read about in Romans chapter 11 and verse 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 22.

Time without number. Paul was greatly concerned about his lineage, about his heritage, about his credentials, about the fact that you could trace him back to the tribe of Benjamin. These things were important. He said, I am a Jew of all Jews.

He established his credentials. Very important. I want you to note something. One of the commentators that I was reading in my private study, he noted that since the destruction of the temple in AD 70, listen to this folks, since the destruction of the temple in AD 70, no genealogies exist that can trace the ancestry of any Jewish person living today.

Since AD 70, there are no genealogies that can connect them directly back to those roots in the early days. Listen, therefore, anyone, the Jews and others, who still believe the Messiah has yet to come, those who deny his royal credentials, if and when somebody else were to come that were to masquerade as the baby born in Bethlehem's manger, you and I will never be able to trace his lineage back to King David, and therefore, there will be an absolute denial of his royal credentials. Are you listening?

Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment for more of this great message on royal credentials, and I pray that in this holiday season, you're understanding how God wants us to make these holy days. There are wonderful resources on our website. If you haven't been lately, stop by.

It's in a metamorphosis. We're kind of changing almost every day at TEWonline.org. I hope you'll drop by and visit us. I pray that you'll see that we have resources that can help make these holidays more holy days.

That's online at TEWonline.org. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don. Now, friends, these things are very important when we come to studying Christmas and what Christmas means. So what is Matthew trying to do? In Matthew's gospel through the Spirit of God, Matthew is saying to us that Jesus Christ is the last verifiable claimant to the throne of David, and thus, he is the Messiah. That's what Jesus said. Therefore, Matthew was endeavoring to establish and to validate Jesus' royal claim.

Do I hear an amen here? Who is this baby? Who is Jesus?

What are we celebrating at Christmas time? Jesus was the blood descendant of David through Mary. He was the legal descendant of David through Joseph. Therefore, Jesus Christ would be perfectly qualified to be both king and Messiah.

And of course, we come up with problems. For example, in his line is Jeconiah that we read about in verse 11 and 12, and we know the Scripture says that because of his disobedience, God put a curse on him and said there will be no royal lineage coming out of him, and so in order to answer that question, we go back to the virgin birth. Why was Jesus born of a virgin?

For two reasons. Number one, so that he established the absoluteness of his divine conception of God. Number two, the fact that he was born of a virgin means that legally he was able to bypass the obstruction that God had put in place concerning Jeconiah in the line and lineage of David. So divinely and legally, Jesus Christ has a right to claim the throne of Almighty God and nobody can argue about it. What an incredible thought. What an unbelievable thing.

Well, my final question to you today is this. Why then, based upon the royal credentials, did the Jews reject Jesus Christ? Why? Bible says in John's Gospel that he came to his own, but his own received him not. Why? Let me give you three reasons perhaps and I know that there are many others. Number one, they rejected this baby Jesus because of his parents.

Can you believe that? Turn with me very quickly. Turn over the page to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Turn, come on, everybody turn there, folks. This is very important. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 54.

Actually, I'll probably go back to verse 53. Why did the Jews reject him? He had his royal credentials established. What was the problem? I'm going to submit to you, number one, they rejected him because of his parents. Isn't that the most horrible thing to say? Can you imagine someone coming to you and applying for a job or making a claim? And you say to them, listen, I think that you're okay, but I know your parents, so you're not going to get the job.

Isn't that a tough one? Listen to what happens here. Verse 53. When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, here it is, you see, coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue and they were amazed. They said, this is some of the most wonderful teaching we've ever heard. They were amazed and listen to what they say. But where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? They asked.

Now listen to the sarcasm. Isn't his daddy that carpenter? Old Joseph?

Excuse me? Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, the one who embarrassed us all and got pregnant out of wedlock? Aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

Aren't all his sisters with us? And when they did this, when did this man get all these things? Folks, what a put down. They said, oh listen, it's jolly fine that this man can jolly well preach like this and speak like that, but we're jolly well not interested because look at his mom and dad. His mother embarrassed the whole community and I mean his brothers are ever-rousers and I mean look at his family. Where did he get all these things?

And look at verse 57. And they took offense at him. Why did they reject him? Because of his parents. Shame, shame, shame.

Number two, they rejected him perhaps because of his birthplace. Turn with me quickly to John's Gospel chapter 7. You've got to see this. John's Gospel chapter 7.

This is what I love about going to Israel. You see these things for yourself. John's Gospel chapter 7 and verse 26. The Bible says, listen, very carefully, let me just jump over to verse 27. But we know where this man is from.

When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from. Now go over to verse 40. Go over to verse 40 and you're going to see something remarkable here. Verses 40 and 41 of John chapter 7.

I want you to see this for yourself. On hearing his words, some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet. Others said, he is the Christ.

Others asked, listen to the sarcasm. How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the scripture say that Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem? They looked around and they said, listen, surely Jesus Christ is not going to come from the Galilee? Why did the Jews reject him? They rejected him because of his parents perhaps. They rejected him because of his birthplace. But note in the third place, they rejected him, some of them did, just because of their ignorance.

I mean good old fashioned brute force and ignorance. Look there with me, John chapter 7 and verse 42. Does not the scripture say that Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? Excuse me? Well where did he come from? Folks have you ever gone up to somebody and you've spoken to them and you've given them the facts and you've shared the whole circumstances with them and they look at you and they say, well I know that those are the facts but I'm not going to believe it anyway.

You ever had that happen to you? Because Jesus establishing for all the world to see his royal credentials. That was our royal credentials and the remarkable thing is you and I can be a part of that royalty as well. There is an open door, an opportunity to join the family of God. I pray that you'd open your heart to what Dr. Don's going to share next from his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news.

Thank you so much for spending these moments together with us. If you just prayed along with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life, I pray that you would know we are ready to stand with you and encourage you in the next steps. As a matter of fact, we have some resources Dr. Don wants you to have. Just call us at 866-899-WORD and we'll put them in the mail right away.

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When things around you seem out of control, you can make a difference. Call today, 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Again, we'd love for you to be a part of our encourager team, but know this, we are here first and foremost to encourage you. We have great resources online at TEWOnline.org. Or don't forget, we'd be happy to pray with you anytime at 866-899-9673.