at the beginning of Matthew and
also at the beginning of Luke, as far as that goes, this one
who is the promised Messiah, the Christ of God, the Son of
the Highest, who is to be born into this world. His coming was
first announced to Mary, his mother. The Spirit of God speaking
to her through Gabriel, said that the Holy Ghost would overshadow
her. And to overshadow her meant that
a bright light would envelop her, much like in the Old Testament
we read about God being a light, the Shekinah glory of God. And that's what happened to Mary.
The glory of God encircled her. and entered into her womb. You
remember in the Old Testament, by the Shekinah, glory was intended
to be understood as the presence of God and the power of God.
And this is what happened to Mary. God made himself known
unto her by his own spirit. And she found that she was impregnated
by the power of the Holy Ghost. that bright light indicating
the presence and the power of God, it did symbolize God working
in her to will and to do of His own good pleasure. So she was
obviously the first one that the Son of God was revealed to
as far as His coming, and then Joseph In Matthew chapter 1 he
received a visit from the angel of the Lord because he was seeing
Mary pregnant. He's trying to decide what is
the best way to bring this engagement, and engagements were legal back
then. What's the best way to bring
this to an end? He's seeing that Mary was pregnant. He wants to put her away, but
he wants to do it in a private way so as not to embarrass her
or create undue attention that that be drawn
to her. And the angel of the Lord appeared
to him and said, don't put her away. This is of God. And he said, thou shalt call
the name of this baby that she'll give birth to, Jesus, for he
shall save his people from their sins. So there's first of all
Mary and then Joseph and then the Spirit of God tells us, In
Luke, the second chapter of the shepherds. The shepherds are
the next ones who find out about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were out watching their
flocks by night, and we've all read that passage of scripture
in Luke chapter 2. And an angel of the Lord appeared
to them, and then a host of angels. They were praising God. And the
angels then went to the manger scene, and they saw there was
Joseph, and there was Mary, and there were the animals, but mainly
their attention was fixed upon the babe in the manger, the Son
of God. And they rejoiced, and went their
way telling people of the wonders that they had seen. Then after
Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, then when Mary and Joseph take
the little infant to the temple, then Simeon saw him. And Simeon said, Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Now let us, thy servant, depart
in peace. Because the Lord had assured
him that he would not die. Apparently he was an elderly
man, perhaps feeble, perhaps in poor health. But the Lord
promised him, you're not going to die until you see the Lord's
Christ. And I would say to you, probably
what you've heard before, you're unprepared to die unless you
have by faith seen the Lord's Christ. Unless you have by faith
embraced Him as the Lord and Redeemer, the Savior of sinners,
who obtained our redemption by His substitutionary sacrifice
upon the cross of Calvary. Have you seen Him in His glory
by the revelation of the Holy Spirit? So there's Mary and Joseph
and the shepherds and Simeon and then Anna. Anna was at the
temple and at the same time, she having heard what Simeon
had to say, she rejoiced in her heart that the Savior had come
and she spoke to as many people as would listen to her of the
Redeemer who had entered into the world and then We have no other record
of anybody seeing him for almost two years. Now, I'm sure others
did see him because they're, as I read here in the second
chapter, they stayed in somebody's house. The manger scene that's
typically viewed by live nativity scenes, as they call them, they
had the wise men there, That is incorrect. They weren't there. And you'll notice that when the
wise men are spoken of, it's the young child, not a baby,
but a young child. But these men from the East,
they're the next ones to see it. Notice that no sooner had these
wise men No sooner had they arrived in Jerusalem that they began
to ask the question, where is He that is born the King of the
Jews? Where is He? Where is He? And apparently they asked many
people because so many people were asked that question that
word finally made its way to Herod. And Herod was troubled. Because these strangers from
the East were asking, where is he that is born King of the Jews? Where is it? We're looking for
him. We followed his star. And this troubled the King. I noticed this. Though these
are called wise men, and that has Many meanings. It can mean
philosophers, students of the heavens, or it can mean witchcraft. It has many, many meanings, but
here's what captures my attention. They didn't know where he was,
so they weren't afraid to ask. And they asked this question,
where is he? Where is he? Mr. Spurgeon said, I read a message
of his today. He said, the knowledge of our
ignorance, the acknowledgement of our ignorance, I should say,
is the doorstep of the temple of knowledge. These men didn't
know, they're apparently very educated compared to the education
back then. But they're asking for help.
They're asking for directions. Where is he? I pity the person
who never asks anybody a question because that person feels like
they know everything already. And I know some people like that.
They don't ever ask anything. I got news for you. Others have
knowledge that you don't have. And others have knowledge that
I don't have. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
These men asked this, verse two, 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. We have come to worship. We've come to honor him. Where
is he? Where is he? Perhaps as they
entered into the city of Jerusalem, perhaps there was a guard there,
and they said, where is he that's born the king of the Jews? And
I expect the soldier said something like this, we have no king but
Caesar. And then they went and maybe
saw a woman who was washing her clothes or something. Where is
he, that one born king of the Jews? I don't know. I've never
heard of that. I don't know of anybody who's
born King of the Jews. And one after another, they ask
people, and finally the question reaches to Herod's throne. They said, you know, there's
somebody out here, there are two or three men out here asking,
where is he that is born King of the Jews? And all of a sudden,
Herod is troubled. The word is agitated. And they
must have asked so many people that, you notice this in verse
three, he was troubled, the king was, and all Jerusalem with him. These men, these kings, they
were persistent. If you don't know, I'll ask somebody
else. If he doesn't know, I'll ask
this woman over here. If she doesn't know, I'll ask
somebody here. So they went around asking, where is he, this born
king of the Jews? I'm looking for him. We want
to worship him. Where is he? And I'll tell you this. If there's
anybody locally watching this service tonight and you want
to worship him, who's the king, You come right here and we'll
tell you about Him. He can be found right here because
every time we gather together, we're talking about the King
of kings and the Lord of lords. We're talking about Him who is
the ruler of all nations, the governor of the universe, having
arrived at that position by way of His bloody crucifixion upon
the cross of Calvary. So Herod reasonably calls for
the most religious people that he knows, the Sanhedrin. Well, now they'll know. So it
says in verse 4, when he had gathered all the chief priests
and the scribes of the people together, he demanded of them,
He demanded of them where Christ should be born. He called together
the Sanhedrin, the men who are the most religious, the most
austere, the most holiest men in all of Judea. Surely they'll
know. And they said to him, he'll be
born in Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written by the
prophet, in Micah chapter five in verse two. That's where he'll be born. And
so then we read in verse seven, then Herod, when he had privily
called the wise men, he didn't want the Sanhedrin there when
he talked to these kings face to face. So he said, I'm gonna
have a private meeting with you. It's just between us. And he told them, he said, go
to Bethlehem. That's where the prophet said
that he would be born. It's interesting that Herod,
he gathered together the chief priests. You know what their
job was? Offering sacrifices. That's their job. They offered
sacrifices to God. And every sacrifice they offered
portrayed or pictured or symbolized or pointed to the Lamb of God,
Christ the Savior, who had been born in Bethlehem's manger, who
is the true sacrifice of God appointed to put away the sins
of His people by substitutionary death. He asked the chief priests,
And you know what? They weren't interested. They
weren't interested. And then Herod called, he had
called in also the scribes, cause this is a Sanhedrin. The scribe,
they copied the scriptures. They not only copied the scriptures,
but they were teachers of the scripture. Surely these men know
These men whose lives are dedicated to reading and studying and teaching
and memorizing the Scriptures, surely they'll know who the King
of the Jews is. Surely they'll have an interest
in Him. They had no interest. Because when these kings from
the East, when they left Herod, Nobody went with them. And, you know, just thinking
reasonably, that's kind of amazing. The king's gonna be born in Bethlehem,
as the prophet said. And here's some fellows, maybe
three, I don't know. Here's some men who have followed
his star, his star. These are men who studied the
heavens and an unusual star, perhaps God created a star just
for them. And that star is directing them
to the Son of God, to the Son of Man. Remember in the scriptures,
stars are often used as symbols of preachers of the gospel. This
star was taking them to Christ the Savior. And they go out and
they see, there's that star again. Bless the name of God, there's
that star. And that star led them all the
way to Bethlehem and it just stopped over top of a house. Because you see, this is what
preachers do. We lead people as best we can
to Christ the Savior, and of his work of redemption, of his
precious Sanatoning blood, and of his imputed righteousness.
And like this star, we just camp right over Christ. Right over
Christ. But did any of the chief priests
say, I think we'll follow these kings. Maybe they're on to something.
No. Did any of the scribes whose
lives were dedicated to copying the word of God, studying the
word of God, teaching the word of God, did any of the scribes
follow along and say, I think we'll accompany these guys? No. No. And Herod did not even send
any soldiers with them. Now, at this point, these wise
men from the east have no reason to question the motivation of
Herod. But we know, because we've read
all the passage, he's up to no good. You see, our Lord Jesus, the
saints of God rejoice at his coming. But the enemies of the
gospel, the enemies of the Son of God, the enemies of salvation
by free and sovereign grace by means of God's chosen Savior,
the enemies don't like the message. They don't like the Savior. and they don't like his people. So, this is the setting. Learn this, let me just give
you a few things I jotted down today. Number one, learn this.
Many people have heads full of knowledge who are altogether
empty of the grace of God. They have heads full of knowledge,
Bible knowledge, but they're void, empty of the grace of God. When Herod asked the Sanhedrin,
where is he gonna be born? Bethlehem. They knew. They knew. They knew where Christ was to
be born, but they never went to see him, because they don't
have any interest in him. because they believed in salvation
by works, salvation by self-righteousness. They never went to Bethlehem
to seek Him because their heads are full, but their hearts are
empty. What a sad condition to have
a lot of knowledge in the mind, and yet to have a heart that's
hard toward God. You say, was that the case here?
Yeah. The Sanhedrin had knowledge,
but they didn't have any grace. The chief priests, they had knowledge,
but no grace. The scribes had knowledge, but
no grace. Judas had knowledge, but it didn't
have any grace. Satan has knowledge. You believe
there's one God, you do well. The devils believe in tremble.
The devil has knowledge but doesn't have any grace. Thank God for knowledge. I'm
not downplaying the necessity of knowledge. But knowledge, no matter how
accurate it is, that does not reach the heart, will turn out to be damning knowledge. These men knew Christ was to
be born at Bethlehem. And here's some men who traveled
a great distance to see this king. Hundreds of miles. Do you know how far Bethlehem
was from Jerusalem? Somewhere between six and eight
miles. Six to eight miles. Here's some guys, let's say they're
three kings, they travel hundreds of miles to get here. And here's
the Sanhedrin, the most religious people in Judea is what most
folks understood them to be. And they won't go six to eight
miles to find out if this is true, that he's born in Bethlehem. Any knowledge, no matter how
accurate that knowledge is, any knowledge that does not reach
the heart and doesn't lead a person to
worship and adore Christ. Any knowledge that doesn't humble
us and bring us to the feet of the sovereign King as the poor
beggars of mercy that we are is useless knowledge. Learn this, here's second thing.
Our Lord has many people who are his sheep that are scattered
throughout the world. Let me ask you a question that
you really can't answer and I can't authoritatively answer it. How
did these men from the East come to know about the promise of
a coming Savior? Well, I'll give you a couple
of things. Perhaps, perhaps, Go back to Numbers if you would,
the book of Numbers chapter 14. These men coming from the east
probably came from Chaldea or Mesopotamia where Abraham came
from. And where another man came from
whose name was Balaam. Look at Numbers chapter 24, sorry,
Numbers 24. Listen to what Balaam had to
say. Numbers 24, 17. Balaam, and he's from this general
area where these kings are from, though much earlier than when
they lived. Balaam speaking, well, go to
verse 16. 24, 16. He hath said, which heard the words of God,
and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision
of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes
open, I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but
not now. There shall come a star, there shall come a star out of
Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite
the corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth. Perhaps word has been passed
down through generations of a star, an unusual star in the sky. I
don't know. Just throwing that out. as a
possibility. I know this years before the
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, they were in Babylon
during the time of the captivity. And we know that all of the prophets
preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This was their message
of the coming king. And I have no doubt, but what
during the ministries of these prophets of God, several people
believe the gospel and that message kind of hung around for a few
hundred years. And maybe that's how the kings
heard of the coming Christ. I do not know. But the Spirit of God made sure
that these men heard enough of the truth that the Spirit of
God got their attention. And I'm going to tell you something.
If the Spirit of God truly gets your attention, He'll make sure
you get more knowledge of Christ Jesus. It's the amazing thing
about the Gospel. He'll kind of give you appetite. And then you'll be thirsty and
you'll be hungry. And to kind of put it in the
setting of this, you'll be looking for the star. Where is the star
that will direct me to the Son of God? Where is the star? Where
is the preacher? I don't need to know his name,
but where is the servant of the Lord who will point me to the
one who can meet my need as a saint, as a sinner? Where is he? Tell you what, God
has many sheep scattered throughout the world. Don't you worry about
this. If he has sheep somewhere, he'll
get the truth to them. It may be a man from Ethiopia
who's reading, reading Isaiah chapter 53. And he may have even visited
Jerusalem seeking more knowledge and finding none. And he may
be going home to Ethiopia, reading what bit of the Bible he had,
but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it. Hey, not to worry. There's a Philip out there that
God is blessing his ministry in Samaria. Lots of people converted. Spirit
of God says, I need you somewhere else. Philip said, OK. He goes out there on the road
where the Ethiopian eunuch is making his way back to his home. And the eunuch is reading. And
Philip says, hey, how you doing? What you reading there? Oh, he
said, I'm reading a prophet from the Old Testament. I don't know
who he is. Is he talking about himself or
some other man? And Philip began at the same
place and preached to him Jesus. I'll tell you this, wherever
there's one of God's elect, God will make sure he gets the message.
He'll get the message. Psalm 83 verse three says, the
Lord has his hidden wants. They're hidden out in the world. Where did Melchizedek learn the
truth? I don't know. Where did Job? Where did Job learn the truth?
Who told him? I don't know. You see, all times,
even in the Bible, God doesn't tell us how or what the means
was that a man heard the gospel. God only tells us the results because His words. is always
successful. Mr. Spurgeon told the story about
a young man who was wounded on the battlefield, and he kept
hitting his chest, and one of his buddies said, what is it?
He said, in my pocket. And in his pocket was a track
that Mr. Spurgeon had written about salvation
by grace in Christ. And he read it and was converted. The Lord would get his word to
his people. Oh, John Newton, a slave trader
by day and a drunkard by night. And God the Spirit reminded him
of what his dear mother had taught him when he was just a little
tyke. You see, seed, seed that is sown
right now, It might not be generated, might not bring forth life for
years to come. That's the power of the gospel.
And then, learn this. Those who seem the most likeliest
to be saved are not always the ones who are brought to Christ
the Savior. Well, you'd think if anybody
knew them, it'd be the members of the Sanhedrin, the experts
on religion. No. No, not at all. Like Paul said, not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God's chosen the foolish things
of the world, some kings from the east. He chose them. Well, how in the
world they ever gonna hear the gospel? Oh, he who spoke the
world into existence puts an unusual star up there. Look at
that, fellas, look at that. It's moving. Let's follow that
star. Let's follow that star. And these wise men, the word
literally is magi. short for magicians. True, they could have been philosophers,
wise men, but usually the word refers to soothsayers, sorcerers,
magicians, wizards, and fortune tellers. But that's who God chose to reveal
the truth to. You know who He saves? sinners. That's what he says. And learn this, and I'll quit. All things are of God. God ordained that these men would
see an unusual star. A lot of stars in the sky. A
lot of preachers out here. Man, they're everywhere. Around
this area, you can't hardly go around the corner and say, well,
there's another church. Hey, yeah, there's another one right
there. A lot of stars in the sky. But every once in a while,
you'll run across one that'll lead you to Christ. Not that
we can take you directly to Him. I can't save you. I can't reveal
Him to you. But I can tell you about Him.
And these men who speak in my absence, they'll tell you about
him, like Ron did last Wednesday night. The Sanhedrin, they never bothered
to investigate, but they gave some vital information
to some men who were seeking. I tell you, God can use anybody. chief priests and the scribes,
they couldn't preach the gospel to the wise men, but they can
give them directions, even though they themselves were dead in
trespasses and sins. I'll tell you where you might
find him, in Bethlehem. I bet you when they found the
Savior, I bet Joe's wise man said, I appreciate those directions
he gave us. I'll give you these few things. God
used to start to guide these men to Christ. That's what God's
preachers do. We lead you to the Son of God
who loved us and gave himself for us. fact that all things are of God.
God moved upon the heart of Caesar to order all Jews to go back
to their homeland, to be counted, to stroke his own arrogance.
Look how big my kingdom is. And Joseph and Mary wind up in
Bethlehem, just exactly where the Spirit of God told Micah
to write that they'd be. when the Son of God was born,
when the Son of Man was born. Tell you something else. God
prevented Herod from following these men to Bethlehem. Yeah, I only have a little bit
of common sense, but I would think if they're going to Bethlehem
and they've seen a star, we've seen his star. I believe I'll
tag along with you. No. Not Herod, none of his guards,
and none of the Sanhedrin had any interest in the Son of God.
I'm not following anybody. And then God warned these kings
not to return to Jerusalem. Herod's up to no good. He hadn't
been on the up and up with you. And then God warned Joseph of
Herod's evil design to kill babies two years old and younger. Kill infants two years old and
younger. I'd say it's been about two years
since our Lord Jesus was born in a manger when these Kings
came across the Son of God. Drawn by effectual grace, the Lord made them to be seekers. Oh, God, make me a seeker. Lord,
make you a seeker. Those of you who are watching,
oh, may He create in your heart a desire to follow the instructions
of a poor star. And may he reveal Christ the
Savior to you and to all of us for the glory of his grace. Tell you, the Lord leads his
people day by day, just like he led these men. He leads us, 299. Day by day,
he leads us and we rejoice that he does. Hymn number 299
is our final hymn. You may remain seated as we sing
day by day and with each passing moment. Day by day and with each passing
moment Strength I find to meet my trials here Trusting in my
Father's wise discipline I've no cause for worry or for fear
He who's heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day
what he deems best Lovingly, he's part of pain and pleasure
Mingling toward with peace and rest Every day the Lord Himself is
near me, With a special mercy for each hour. All my cares He
faintly bears in seerty, His name is Counselor and Power. The protection of His crown and
treasure Is the charge that on Himself He laid As I age, Thy
strength shall be in measure This the pledge to me He made Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord! That I'd lose all faith, sweet
consolation, Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord,
when toil and trouble be, Educate me, Good night. The Lord bless you. you Yeah.