So you can once again, with the
help of God, like us to turn together to the Gospel according
to Matthew chapter 2 and the text you'll find in verse 2. Where is he that is born King
of the Jews? For we have seen his star in
the east and are come to worship him. Verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came
wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born
king of the Jews? For we have seen his start in
the east and are come to worship him. I'm sure we are all very well
aware of the the account of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of us have had many Christmases. Some of us, like Daniel, this
is his first Christmas. It is always a time in which
the mind is brought back to the birth of the Lord Jesus as we
come to remember this time of year, that time when God manifests
in the flesh, when God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son. And we remember that perfect
gift, that most precious gift, that most valuable gift that
was given by God himself through the Virgin Mary, the Lord Jesus
Christ who came into this world to die for sinners. And we've
seen over the last few Lord's Days as the children recited
from Luke that account and we see that different people experienced
different things at the coming of the Lord Jesus. but all of
it seemed to be associated with light and revelation and we looked
at Jesus being the light of the world and as Christ was born
that the angels came and they were surrounded by that great
light and the shepherds were filled with fear And there was
the singing of the multitude of the angels as the shepherds
went to, as they listened to the announcement of the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they said, let us now go
even to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us. And so the light that
had been promised was given. It's the light that was given
into the darkness. The people that sat in darkness
saw a great light and the announcement of his birth came with great
grandeur, great pomp. great celebration as the angels
who were normally invisible ministering beings of God exposed this message
and revealed themselves to these Jewish shepherds and as they
receive this message they go and search for the Lord Jesus
Christ. How many times have we come to
this time of year and that message has been proclaimed. Let us now
go even to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to
pass. Great grandeur, great celebration
we have at this time of year. And yet how many it is that it
just passes by. Like water off a duck's back,
the message is proclaimed. We speak of Christ, we speak
of the angels, we speak of the wise men. But do we really come
and search diligently for the child? Do we really come and
respond to that message? Does it have any effect upon
our soul, upon our mind? Like the shepherds, let us now
go. even to Bethlehem and see this
thing which has come to pass which the Lord has made known
to us and the Lord makes known to us every single year as we
come or every time we read the scriptures really. of this great
gift, this great Christ, this great King, this great light
that was given to the world. His name shall be called Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. Every time we
hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we should be reminded
His name shall be called Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sins. And so as the shepherds received
this message of Christ, they went and they searched. But as
the child grew, maybe as Herod slew all those under two years
old, some time later it was revealed to these wise men that a king
had been born. They were from the east, they
had seen his star, they'd seen a light, a star and they began
to search for what it meant. They understood that it was something
significant, it meant something, it meant that a king had been
born. And so they followed this style
and it brought them to Jerusalem. And so they went to the king
because they thought, well, that's where the king would be, in the
palace. And as they spoke to Herod, they
asked him a question. Where is he that is born king
of the Jews? That was their question. Where
is he? They went to the king. And they
asked, where's the king of the Jews? Herod, verse three tells
us, was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And so he called the
scribes and the Pharisees, those who understood the law and the
prophecies concerning Christ. And they asked them the question,
where is this king going to be born? And they said, Bethlehem of Judea for thus it
is written by the prophet and thou Bethlehem in the land of
Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah for out
of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. And so they went to Bethlehem
And they are told, go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him,
bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. They
found the young child. They fell down and they worshipped
him. and they opened up their treasures
and they gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh and then being warned
of God they returned to their country another way so that they
would not have to go back to Herod and Herod then in a rage
goes and kills all of the children under two years of age because he's under threat. He
feels threatened that another king has been born, a king that
would be more powerful than him, a king that would knock him off
his earthly throne. Yet little did he understand
that this king was already king of kings. This king's kingdom
was already far superior than Herod's earthly kingdom. This
kingdom that this baby came to establish was an eternal kingdom.
He came to rule on the throne of David an eternal kingdom that
would not pass away. And so the wise men came seeking
for Jesus. First, the message came to the
Jews. You know, the Jews came unto
his own, John tells us, and his own received him not. But this
Christ was given for the world, that whosoever believes upon
him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so both
Jew and Gentile come seeking the Lord Jesus Christ, the King
of kings. They followed the light. We have
seen his star in the east and we are come to worship them. God gave them light. We know
as we saw in Psalm 119, thy word is a lamp unto our feet and a
light unto our pathway. And so God gave them light, not
as much light as the shepherds had. The shepherds had a host
of angels singing the praises of God but he gave them enough
light to direct them to the right place. enough light to bring
them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you see sometimes as you
go to New Haven or Dover and you see there there are lights
out in the sea. Just little lights but those
lights they're enough to guide those great big ships into the
harbour where they can find safety. And although we may not have
the great revelation that the shepherds had, great angels singing
the praises of God, yet there is enough light in the word of
God. There is enough light that shines
day by day to give us an understanding that there is a true living God. and there is his beloved son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's fully revealed to us in
the scripture. There's enough light to guide
those great big ships into the harbour and there's enough light
to guide a repenting sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ and to
find safety in his arms and to find safety in the harbour of
heaven itself. As I was looking up this, I came
across a story of what used to take place in the olden days.
They used to be the lighthouses. And those lighthouses were designed,
obviously, to keep the ships away from the rocks. But there were these people called
wreckers. Now wreckers wanted to lure the
ships onto the rocks and so they would set up a fake lighthouse. They would tie some lights around
a donkey and allow the donkey to walk so it would confuse the
ships and the ships would then crash upon the rocks and these
wreckers would then go and spoil all the goods, would go and steal
everything from the ship. And there are many lights, false
lights like that, that try and lure us astray. They don't lead
us to Christ and the true and living God. They are false lights.
They are things that are set up by Satan to attract us and
instead of drawing us to the true and living God, they take
us away to shipwreck us. upon a reef, upon the reef of
unbelief or the reef of worldliness or the rocks of rebellion against
our parents and our upbringing. And so there are these false
lights that we think they are the right way, that everyone
else may be going that way, but it's not. It's this little star
that they saw in the east and they followed it and it brought
them to the Lord Jesus Christ and they found safety in him. Whether these kings truly knew
that this was the Christ the Messiah, whether they worshipped
him as a king, whether they truly believed in him as a saviour,
we're not sure. You would think they travelled
from afar and they were told in verse 4 that they would have
been there and asked where Christ should be born, the Messiah should
be born. And so Jew and Gentile come to
focus and to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as King
and as messiah or anointed one. So they asked the question, where
is he? Do we ask that question Even
today, where is he? Where can I find him? Go and
search diligently for the child. Go and search diligently the
scriptures. Go and search diligently upon
your knees seeking to know this king, this king of kings and
saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Where is he that
is born king of the Jews? He was a king and he is a king. His lineage is traced back all
the way to David. David was promised by God that
his kingdom would not have an end in 2 Samuel chapter 7. It's in verse 16. And thine house and thy kingdom
shall be established forever and ever and thy throne shall
be established forever. And that was the promise that
was given to King David. In verse 25, And now, O Lord
God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant,
and concerning this house, establish it forever, and do as thou hast
said. And let thy name be magnified
forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel. And let the house of thy servant
David be established before thee. And David received the word of
God as truth and he praised God. He elevated the name of God and
said, let it be or amen. Let the house of David be established
forever. And obviously, David as a mere
man, his kingdom could not be established forever. Yet in Christ, it can be established
forever. No beginning and no end. And so he is born the king of
the Jews and even though the Jews rejected him and crucified
him yet he remained the king of the Jews. This is the king
of Jews and he is the son of God. If you remember, Blime Bartimaeus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And so although the wise
men came to the palace to find him, he wasn't there. But he
was in Bethlehem, born in a stable because there was no room for
them in the inn. So born into hardship, born into
a low place. Yet that does not make him not
a king. He is still a king. King by birth. King by right. He is King Jesus. And even today he is King Jesus. King of the whole world. And
let us worship him. We have seen his star in the
east and are come to worship him. Verse 8, when you have found him bring
me word again that I may come and worship him. And verse 11,
and when they were coming to the house they saw the young
child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him
and they opened their treasures and they presented unto him gifts
of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They worshipped him as king even
though he was just a little baby. Had not done any great victories
as yet. He hadn't lived a life of winning battles. He hadn't achieved
any great things yet they worshipped him as king. They fell down before
him. These great wise men who had
travelled from afar to visit the king, they fell down in humility
before a baby. Worship is not about us. If you remember
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they're told to bow down
before the great idol that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They refused. to do so and were thrown into
the great fiery furnace and there the Lord met them and delivered
them from that great trial. But they were told when they
hear the sound of the music they were to bow down and humiliate
themselves or present themselves prostrate before this idol. And obviously they would not
because there too the scripture tells us that we're to have no
other God before the Lord. No other idol. And so as they
come to worship Christ they prostrate themselves before him, they bow
down before him in submission. We live in a day of what people
call, they want to be empowered. People want to feel good about
themselves. and they do many things to make themselves feel
empowered, strengthened and self-motivated, self-confident, self-able. And there is that hatred of submission
and acknowledgement of God. But true worship The true worship
of God is not about empowering ourselves or feeling good about
ourselves or seeking some emotional response to what we are doing. God has called us to worship
him, to worship his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has
given us freedom in the way in which we worship him, but True worship is not about how
we feel. It is about the one we are worshipping. It is laying ourselves down in
order to elevate the other. It is honouring and adoring the
God who is worthy of our worship. not because he has just given
us a good job or not because he has just helped us through
some specific trial that he is worthy of our worship. He is
worthy of our worship whether we are in the lowest position
or in the greatest position. He is worthy of worship because
of who he is. and we're to come and worship
him with reverence and godly fear. These wise men, extreme
intellectuals, studiers, astrologers fell down before the Lord Jesus
Christ and they presented to him gifts of gold, of frankincense
and myrrh. So we worship God for who he
is. the self-existent creator, the
everlasting father, holy, holy, holy God, and we worship him
with reverence and godly fear. And the scripture says that he
is seeking such to worship him. Jesus says, these people, they
draw near to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
You see God looks upon our hearts and we come and we present ourselves
before him on the Lord's day or when we do private devotions
and he sees our hearts, our motives. Are we truly prostrate before
him? When Jesus came to the woman
at the well and speaking about the Sumerians and the Jews Jesus
says to her in John 4 verse 23 The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth
for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is spirit and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. not just in body, not just in
ceremony, not just in coming to chapel. We were in London
on Monday, went into a big Catholic church and there is all the ornaments
and the saints and all the things that they do, the candles. And
these are the way in which they worship God. But it is in simplicity. in the spirit on the Lord's day.
In spirit and in truth not just the outward evidences of humility
but it is the humble and a broken and a contrite heart the Lord
will not despise and God seeks such to worship him. The shepherds sought out Christ. The wise men travelled from afar
to Christ and they presented themselves before him. They bowed
down before him, prostrate before him, not worrying about themselves
but having Christ as the object of their worship. A lot of worship
today is about self, about feelings and about emotion. and stimulations
and there's so much brought into the church to make feel good
about themselves and to make people believe that they are
entering into the presence of God when it's just artificial external influences that make
people feel good. But true worship is a broken
and a contrite heart in spirit that manifests itself through
the body. It's not about me. It's not about
you and how you feel. It is about God. Our object of
our worship is Christ. We elevate the Lord Jesus Christ. by prostrating ourself, humiliate,
humbling ourself before Him as our King. To where do we come today? At
which point are we at? Herod felt threatened by the
Lord Jesus. He thought, this child is going
to knock me off my throne. I need to destroy him. And some
people today feel threatened by the Lord Jesus Christ. They
don't want him. He will interfere too much with
their life and so they reject him. Or are we seeking the Lord
Jesus Christ? Aren't these wise men? We've
come from afar. There's a little light shed upon the page and
we're seeking after. this Lord Jesus. We know that
we've sinned against God, we know that we need a saviour and
we're seeking him. We want to find him, we want
to lay hold of him, we want to present ourselves prostrate before
him and ask him if he would forgive us of all
of our sins. Or are we amongst those who have
found him? We have been to Bethlehem. We have been to the cross. And we've found this King Jesus. And today we have come to worship
him. Like these wise men. The wise
men sought Jesus 2,000 years ago. And wise men and wise
women and wise boys and wise girls still seek Jesus today. And the scripture says, those
who seek me, they will find me if you search for me. with all
of your heart. Well may we today as we unwrap
our presents be reminded of this great gift the Lord Jesus Christ
and let us not be too distracted with the things that we see and
let us remember to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, to fall down
before him, to forget how we feel and to look to him as the
object of our worship and to worship him today in spirit and
in truth. May the Lord break our hearts
that we may truly worship him, that we may be found amongst
those who he is seeking, that he may seek those to worship
him in spirit and in truth. Where is he? that is born King
of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East, and we
are come to worship him. Amen. We're seeing in conclusion number
61. Away in a manger, no crib for
a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The
stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, the little
Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. Number 61. The little Lord Jesus lay down
His sweet head. The little old Jesus would sleep
on the hay. The cattle are lowing, the baby
awakes. I love Thee, O Jesus, look down
from the sky, and stay by my side until morning is nigh. Be near me, O Jesus, I ask Thee
to stay Close by me forever And of me I pray Bless all the dear
children In Thy tender care And fit us for ever Dear Lord and Almighty God, we
thank Thee for that gift of Thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we pray that we may receive Him into our hearts. We ask that
Thou be with us now and dismiss us with Thy blessing. And now,
may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the
Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.