Sister Carol Figeroa Saturday Morning 7/18/15

Sister Carol Figeroa Saturday Morning 7/18/15

Mat 1:1  The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Mat 1:2  Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

Mat 1:3  And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

Mat 1:4  And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

Mat 1:5  And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

Mat 1:6  And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

Mat 1:7  And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

Mat 1:8  And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

Mat 1:9  And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

Mat 1:10  And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

Mat 1:11  And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

Mat 1:12  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

Mat 1:13  And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

Mat 1:14  And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

Mat 1:15  And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

Mat 1:16  And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Mat 1:17  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

There are jewels to be found in this reading. We have to dig but there are jewels.  The thought this morning are the five buds that became flowers in the lineage of Christ.  There are unsearchable riches in the Word of God but many of us don’t take the time to dig them out. 

God has a plan.  He has had a plan from before you or I were born.  Before man was created God had a plan.  These names are here for our understanding.  The jewels we find can be food or information for us. 

We find in the lineage of Christ five women.  It was not normal for the Jewish women or any woman to be named in a genealogy.  We find here five women.  They are not all mentioned by name but some as, “the wife of.” 

God has given the opportunity to all mankind to be in the lineage of Christ.  He didn’t take exception to women.  These women are the buds on the tree of Jesus Christ.

Three of them were openly sinful.  Four of them were of different nationalities, one was a Jew.  They had the lineage of David in common.  They were all sinners and all needed a savior.  They are there to serve a purpose that serves us.

In Genesis 38:1-30 you can read of Tamar.  She was the daughter-in-law to Judah, one of the sons of Jacob.  Her first husband died struck down by God because his deeds were evil.  There was no child born.  Her second husband did not want to have a child by her that would rule the family.  Jacob said, “I will give you my baby boy when he grows up to be your husband.”

Time passed and the boy grew and she came to realize that she was not given to him.  She did something that we would have thought unthinkable.  She played the harlot and Judah went in to her and gave her his signet, his bracelets, and his staff as a pledge.  From this she got pregnant.

Judah found out that she had played the harlot and then when she showed him the tokens.  He realized that she had been more just than him. 

God tells us many times to wait.  Tamar was waiting.  She knew what she had to do.  She is in the lineage of Christ.

Rehab was in a city that was to be completely destroyed.  Because of the acts that she had done God saved her and her family.

Ruth was faithful and had a kind spirit.  She became a believer.  She followed her mother in law back to Israel and married Boaz.

Bathsheba was an adulterous woman.  I am sure that Bathsheba was aware of the plot that her lover was making to have her husband killed. 

God is a God of mercy.  He will give us hope, mercy and grace if we will humble ourselves.

Mary was pure, an Israelite, she was a good little girl.  Why Mary?  She was very religious.  No matter how religious you are God can touch the very fiber of your being and make you God’s child.  Mary was a religious young lady that followed the rituals of religion religiously. 

Do we deserve to be in the lineage of Christ?  None of us do.  If God had mercy on these women, no matter who we are and what we came from, God has mercy and He will give forgiveness.  The power of Christ’s forgiveness is wonderful. 

God, who knows all about us and what is in our heart, forgives us.  That goes to show us that there is hope, help, and mercy no matter where we came from.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Who are you and I to judge other people?  Your sins may not have been as great as mine but one sin will keep you out of heaven.  Who are you to say that I am not saved?  All have sinned. 

Once there is conviction then that means God has talked and there is hope for you if God talks.

Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The names of the women:  in the olden days a name meant something.  Today it is a challenge for a parent to look for a name of a child that no one has used.  Some of the children in the Old Testament were cursed by their name, Ichabod meant, “God has departed from us.”

Tamar means palm trees.  It refers to stability of life.  We don’t look graciously on Tamar’s actions.  Yet her name means stability.  Many times God chooses people because of who they are and not what they have done. 

The palm is a very important tree.  It gave food, dates.  It gave some shelter with the foliage.  The palm has a sap that they would make a drink or a wine from.  Leaves were used to weave for mats, shelter, hats, and other things.

The most important is the roots.  In our yard we have coral under about 18 inches topsoil.  The palm stays straight no matter how strong the wind blows.  The hurricane comes, they wave around, and yet they remain upright.  The roots go down and hold them in place.  This is what Tamar meant.

Christ comes to our lives to give us stability.  God does a work in our salvation.  It brings joy.  I love my salvation and I rejoice in it.  You want to hear about my life?  I will tell you. I don’t care about my problems, what I care about is that I am enjoying Christ. 

We need to realize the precious thing we possess.  The world doesn’t need to know about our problems.  Everyone has problems.  When they see the joy in your face that will draw them. 

We don’t want to talk about our childhood, it is terrible, yet God gives us something that makes us strong for the gospel and for helping others.  This is what Jesus does. 

This is in the lineage of Christ.  This is what Christ does for us.

The palm was life to those that would go to the oasis.  It was life because of the food that came from them.  Because of the mats that they slept on. 

Have you tasted of Jesus?  It is exciting to live for Him.  He blesses us and we say, “Where did this come from.”  He helps us through things that we say, “How did I get through that?” 

He gives us victory and leads us to victory.

Rahab means wide and broad.  The love of God is so wide, so deep, and so great.  I see salvation here.  If it had not been for the wide love that encompassed the Gentiles then where would we be?  It extended to all man.

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

This is a love that will not fail us or die.  We lose loved ones that we care about.  Young people have relationships that they lose because someone changes their mind.  People’s marriages fail.  Yet you can trust God’s love.  It is so unfathomable that we cannot even comprehend or taste His love.  We just have a little taste of His love.  When we think of Calvary then we get a taste of it.

Rahab helped the spies because she believed what they said.  We can accept that wide and broad love of God.

Ruth means a friend and a companion.  If there has ever been a friend and a companion to people it is Jesus. When no one is there, there is Jesus.  Sinners say, “Tell the church to pray for this and this…”  They know where the friend is even though they don’t know Him personally.

Many times when you are left alone and rejected by other men, there is Jesus.  He stands beside us.  When there is one that will not be our friend because of who we are and what we stand for, He is there.

I was 19 when we went into the ministry and Brother Alex was 21.  We were in a town where they spoke mostly Spanish therefore I was mute.  I couldn’t understand or talk.  There are times when even if we are not alone in a strange place that we feel alone.  He can stand there right beside us.

He was a friend to publicans and sinners.  Aren’t you glad?  He even stood against those of his flesh and blood to be a friend to us.  This is why I am in love with Jesus.  We can go through anything in life and He is there.

Life will bring all kinds of things to everyone.  There is not one that life will not bring sickness, economic troubles, and other issues.  The difference is, “I have Jesus.”  Why would I not be happy?  We need to be a happy and rejoicing people because of what He has done to us.

Bathsheba means the daughter of oath.  It also means the daughter of seven. 

God has promised somethings.  In the seventh dispensation of the gospel God has fulfilled all of His promises.  He made a promise and a pact with man, all the seven ages God has been there with His people. 

It makes me happy that He was with others.  No matter what He is going to carry us through. Wouldn’t you like to have Jesus like this in your life?  Quit looking at those that say they have religion, look at Jesus.  He can give you all these benefits.

Jesus was prophesied of over 300 times.  They are all to lead us to the blessing that we have in Jesus today.  You don’t take sips when you are thirsty, you guzzle it down.  I don’t want sips, I want more and more.  His riches are unsearchable, they are so deep that I will never get it all. 

I want to share with others.  Every jewel I want others to experience.  From before the creation of man God made a promise.  Every promise He has fulfilled.  We are partakers, we can be if we want it.

If you don’t have what you see in others, check yourself out.  There has to be a reason.  Christ will satisfy your soul.

Mary means rebellion.  Her name and her actions show two different things.  Her attitude meant submission.  She represented the last leg of Judaism.  It was mankind’s rebellion that made Christ’s death and resurrection so important.  It was your and my rebellion that took Christ to the cross.  It is His sacrifice that made it so that we could be partakers.

All of us were rebellious.  I was one rebellious person but no one knew it.  My mother is German, she was the general and I was the sergeant.  My mother broke something in me that if it had not broken then I would never have served God. 

I never rebelled openly against my mother.  I may have behind her back but not to her face, I respected her.  When I was young I heard the scripture that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  I thought, “I don’t want to be a witch.”  That is what God used to talk to my heart about rebellion. 

I was rebellious against authority.  This was the way the people that were to be chosen by God were.  They were a rebellious nation.  They turned against God, blasphemed him, and did many things against God.  Yet He had made a covenant.  He kept that covenant.

When the buds come on the trees you are expecting something next.  God took these women that had been frowned on and took them in and made them a part of the lineage of Christ.  God can take lives and change them. 

God can take those that grew up in the Church of God and change them.  He can take that one from sin and change them.  He takes them and changes them into a picture of love and devotion.  This is what He did for these five women.

Tamar wanted to see justice done even when her life was one of sin.

Rahab was from low in society yet she entered in and became a part of the kingdom of God.

Ruth was brought from another country and became the grandmother of King David.  (Grandma’s salvation can help a child.)

Bathsheba became pregnant under unusual circumstances, God looked upon her and she became a blessing.  Her son became the king among all of David’s children.

Mary was obedient.  Her obedience led her to sacrifice. 

Have you ever thought if you had given birth to the son of God how it would be to see your son suffering on the cross?  How would you feel if your son was healing others?  The human got in I am sure.  She was human.  She kept these things in her heart. 

Things will come into our lives but we can overcome.  Many times we make a mountain out of a molehill.  We think that these problems are so bad.  Get a grip and face life like a man or woman of God.  Quilt complaining and talking of your problems.  How big is your God?

When you really have a burden for souls then there are some things in your own life that you will not even pray about.  I know that God will take care of it.  Our mission is to go out and preach the gospel. 

We want to get this plan that He shows us through these five names and that He will take care of us.  Doesn’t He take care of the sparrows?  Put your problems on the altar and leave it there. 

When you are hit with something huge then you don’t know what to think.  When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I thought, “This is impossible.”  Then God brings scriptures to your mind.  You say, “I am in your hands.  Even if I am never healed, I will go to heaven.” 

The body resists suffering.  If God still wants us here, you put it on the altar, whatever He wants, that is what we want.  We have to accept the plan that God has for us.  We must have an experience with God. 

For those that are not saved, don’t you want for God to forget where you came from?  He will forget about your ancestry and all the sins that you’ve done.  Don’t you want that?

We rest.  “I am in your hand.  I am not here to build a house or raise children.  You will take care of all that.”  If you have this attitude then God can use you.  You can never be used of God if you are dragging them.

I had to forgive my step-father.  He was a horrible person.  It is between him and God, not me.  The one that did the wrong will have to give an account, not me.  But if I don’t forgive, then I have a problem that will keep me out of heaven. 

What people do or say I can’t care less.  I want my testimony to be good and yes, I want people to talk good about me that is human, but if they talk bad, that is between them and God.  If I stick my nose in it or get an attitude then I will have to give an account. 

He is willing to give what He has to give.  We have not tasted yet even a small portion of the goodness, the riches, and the flavor of God.  When was the last time that you were in prayer and you felt God? 

Some have never prayed like that.  You felt the sweet spirit of God.  If you haven’t felt it in a while then you have too many things there.  These women had to leave their homes, their families, and they committed horrible sins to get justice. 

We have to let go.  I love my husband.  I love my children and grandchildren.  I love it when I feel His arms holding me.  I love it when I feel the sweet presence of God. 

How long has it been since you felt that?  Are you the one that is holding back, hindering God’s Spirit from coming in and holding you?  We get satisfied in life with the house, the new car, the grandbabies…

The scripture says, “Go ye into the all the world and preach the gospel.”  There is a world out there that is dying, going to hell.  Part of that is your world and your family.  Until you get into a position where this great salvation can work in you, then God cannot use you.

God had a plan at the beginning for you no matter who you are.  It is in your hand.