Okay, go back with me to Matthew
2. Matthew 2. The story of the birth of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The greatest man born on earth,
but more than a man. the Son of the Highest, the Son
of God, Immanuel, sent by God to save His people from their
sins, given a kingdom to establish, a righteousness to establish,
a never-ending kingdom, an eternal kingdom. He was given all power
and all authority and all rule over all flesh. And He came and
He was born. over 2,000 years ago. It was
somewhere about then. Where were the parades and the
processionals and the masses of people to bring in His birth? His birth was prophesied long,
long before He came. clearly told where he would be
born. And when some men, these wise
men, came through and told everyone around Jerusalem that he was
here, why didn't the crowds go out to greet him? Why didn't
all Jerusalem gather together and all go in a big processional
to Bethlehem to bring in the birth of the Son of God. Have you ever thought of that? But only a few shepherds, a few
lowly, the lowest of occupations, and a few wise men. Yes, wise
men. Not many wise men. Mighty or
noble are called, and there you have the answer. They were called. They were called. Heaven came
to announce His birth. The angels came to herald. Hark, the herald angels sing. We're going to sing that, Lord
willing, after this is over, unless hopefully He comes before. The herald angels sing, Glory
to the newborn King, Glory to God in the highest,
in excelsis Deo, God Emmanuel with us. Where were the people? Where were the people? Well,
because Scripture said, He came to His own, His own received
Him not. Because Scripture said He was
in the world, The world was made by Him, but the world knew Him
not. None paid much heed except these
three wise men. Now, we think they're three because
of Psalm 72, and if you want to turn to these scriptures that
I announce, You would do well, you would be blessed by it, but
I have several, but I'll read them to you if you don't. But
in Psalm 72, and this is why we believe there were three kings.
We sing that old song, We Three Kings of Orient Are. Perhaps
they got it from David's psalm in verse 10 of Psalm 72. And he said, now, speaking of
the king, this whole psalm is about the king. Not Solomon,
but Christ. He said, the kings of Tarshish
and of the Isles shall bring presents. Kings of Sheba and
Seba, that's three kings, shall offer gifts, yea, all kings shall
fall down before Him. All nations shall serve Him.
He shall deliver the needy when He crieth, the poor also, him
that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and the
needy, shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their
soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood
be in His sight. And He shall live, and to Him
shall be given the gold of Sheba, and prayer and praise. but a
handful of corn. Just a handful here and there.
These wise men came. There were some shepherds before
that. They were the first. The shepherds were the first
the angels came to. And they came, and I think they
were there already beholding Him. And these wise men saw His
star. So shepherds, and then some wise
men, and then a few days later Simeon, one old man, One old
man waiting in the temple. The Lord said, you will not die
until you have seen my salvation. One old man and an old woman,
an old widow. And boy, if this isn't a picture.
If this isn't who God reveals His Son to. You see your calling brethren.
Not many wives. Old men, old women. A few nobodies,
an old widow, Anna, the prophetess, and they spake of Him to all
that looked for redemption. That's what it says of Anna.
I said I wasn't going to deal with that melody, but here I
am. But they spake of Him to all
that looked for Him. Who did? Not many. The shepherds spake of Him. The wise men went door to door. All over Jerusalem, we're looking
for the King. Christ is born. This happened.
Son of God. The one we've been looking for. The Christ is here. They went
everywhere. Amy, where were they? Where was the crowd? They didn't come. They didn't
pay much heed. King didn't. Herod didn't. He
feigned worship. The Pharisees didn't. Pharisees
didn't come. They said they were looking for
him. Scribes didn't come. They read
the scriptures. They knew where he was going
to be born. Somebody said he's here. They didn't come. People
didn't come. But I'll tell you what, and this
is what the Scripture says, folks, and we're not being exclusive
here, we're not being Calvinistic here, we're being Scripture.
When God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand, and any that did seek God. He
said, they're all gone aside. Why did they come to worship
the King, Christ the King? Not interested. Don't need Him. Don't need a King. Don't need
a son. Don't need the Lord over us. They rejected him as king. He was born as a king. And the
way he was born, they didn't believe. That's not the Christ
we were looking for, the way he was born in a manger. Scripture
said so. Everything about him was prophesied. He didn't look like a king when
he grew up. He just looked like an ordinary man. They said, that's
not our king. Our king's going to be head and shoulders in physical
beauty above all, like Saul. Remember Saul? That's not our king. He doesn't
look like a king. He looks just like a common man. Common people
receive him gladly. He didn't act like a king while
he ate and drank Republicans and sinners. That's not our king.
He's going to be unapproachable. He's going to be sitting on the
throne. No, no, that's not why he came. He wasn't attended by kings.
The Pharisees said, are you His disciples? Look, can you see
if any of us are following Him? None of us are following Him.
Look at His followers, the publicans and harlots. He can't be the
King of Israel. Just low, like poor, meek and
lowly and poor sinners, that's all that follow Him. That can't
be the King of Israel. That proves He is. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right and
the power to become the sons of God, which were born, not
of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man, but born of God." Three wise men. I'm going to show you
why they're wise. And our text says here in chapter
2, verse 1 says, And when he was born in Bethlehem of Judea
in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from
the east to Jerusalem. Now people, there's no wise men
in the east. There are no wise men in the
west. There are no wise men in the north. There are no wise
men in the south. Wisdom doesn't come from the
east. Wisdom doesn't come because you were born in India and stare
at your navel. That's foolishness in it. You
prove your utter foolishness. I studied that stuff and it's
utter foolishness. Wisdom doesn't come because you
climbed the highest mountain of the Himalayas and sat at the
feet of some guru and he's imparted wisdom to you. You're just a
fool. You should have stayed at home. You should have gone
higher than that. Wisdom comes from above. Paul said in I Corinthians 1,
where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? In the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom knew not God. You cannot find out God by searching.
He's got to reveal Himself to you. There is no wisdom. The natural man is not wise.
He has no wisdom. Now, he may know how to do this
or how to do that. He may be given some knowledge
in his field to know how to do this and do that. But God said
in Psalm 14, the fool hath said, no God. God said no matter who
it is, doctors, lawyers, scientists, scientists especially, falsely
so-called, that say there is no God, no Creator, no Sovereign,
no Ruler, person reigning and ruling that that man named Jesus
is not God, he's just a man, they're a fool. They're not wise. Oh, but he's made unto us wisdom.
All who are truly wise, our scriptures, our children are wiser than the
supposed wise men in this world. Yes, they are. Why is that? They know the Scriptures from
a child that are able to make them wise unto salvation. If you ask any of our little
children who Jesus Christ is, they'll tell you every one of
them, He's God. Won't they? They don't understand
it, but I've got news for you. I don't either, but I believe
it. Why? Because flesh and blood
doesn't reveal unto you. But the Father which is in heaven,
there is no wisdom from below. It all comes from above. I used
to think this. I used to think this, that there's
wisdom in this and there's wisdom in that. But God says differently.
These men were wise. You know why they were wise?
Because God taught them. They shall all be taught of God.
And every man that hath heard and learned of the Father does
what? comes to me, Christ said. How do you know they're wise?
They're wise because they sought Jesus Christ. They sought the
wisdom that's only found in Christ. They sought the redemption that's
only found in Christ. They sought the excellency of
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they came to worship
Him. Not man. That's a fool. Came from the East. taught of
God, drawn of God, made wise by God. Our Lord said this. He
stood and looked, stood toe-to-toe with, looking in the eyes and
the face of all these so-called wise men of His day, the Pharisees,
the lawyers, the scribes, and He said, you will not come unto
Me that you might have life. You will not come. And then He
went on to say, no man can come unto Me except the Father which has sent
Me, And they're all drawn the same
way, just like these wise men. They're all wise because they
seek Him. And they're drawn and they're
made wise the same way. Look at, in verse, it says they
came from the east. They came from afar. Some estimate
that they walked as far as 1,000 or 2,000 miles. To see this child born? Yeah. They dropped everything and everyone.
That's a wise man. They said, it doesn't matter
how far it is. We need to sell out. It doesn't matter how costly
this journey will be. We need to sell out. It doesn't
matter what it costs us. They counted the cost and they
thought, nothing is of any value whatsoever. Now, we've got to
go there. The treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Jesus Christ. Now that's wisdom. And they came from afar, like
Sheba. Remember the Queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom
of Solomon? Very costly journey, a very long
journey. I'm sure people scoffed at her
and said, where are you going? And these wise men, where are
you going? We're going to see Him. And they called them fools. Called
them fools for Christ's sake. Where are you going? Going to
see Him. They came from afar. Our Lord
said of Sheba, she'll rise up into judgment against this generation.
She came a long way to see Christ. Bethlehem was only seven miles
from Jerusalem. Seven miles. I can run that far.
Well, it used to be. I can't now. It's dwindling.
But seven miles, mind you, they could have easily walked that
in a few hours. Anybody. Get there any way they want.
They didn't show up. They didn't show up. Many lived
nearby. Many passed by. They heard this
story. Christ is there. Folks, this is not just a tale,
a cunningly devised fable. This is true. And it's still
going on today. Because those that have been
made wise unto salvation by God, those that have been chosen by
God, those that have been led by the Spirit of God like that
star, those who have been taught of God, that come to Christ,
they come to a little old town like Bethlehem. in a little two-bit
building while the whole world passes by, and they say, what's
in there? The glory of God's there, that's what. And do you
realize, I mean, do you really realize what
you have here? Do I? I've seen His star. Have you seen His star? Peter
said, you do well to take heed to this word. This is not any
private interpretation. It's not just some kind of devised
fable. He said, we've seen His glory.
He said, you do well to take heed to this word as a light
that shines in a dark place until the day star arises in your hearts. You sit and you listen like a
little child, and maybe, just maybe, God will show you and
it will dawn on you. It did, didn't it, Elizabeth,
one day? Bless God, one day. He is God,
isn't He? And I'm a nothing and a nobody,
a sinner, and He came for me. and put me in this little barn
with a bunch of other sheep to see His glory. Glory to God in
the highest. Huh? I was praying to God that He'd
show us something more than an interesting story of some wise
man, that He'd make us wise unto salvation, and our children,
and cause us to come and see Him and bow before Him. Some
in here have bowed and seen His glory. Some, like the people
in the world, don't see any need to come because it's for this
reason or that reason, but they haven't come to Christ. To Christ! And it's going to take the day
star dawning, arising in our hearts. Listen to this. You know,
how many people do you reckon saw that star in the sky that
night? Huh? Maybe millions. Maybe millions. They felt it
was so bright. The other night I was out looking
at the stars and a couple of planets were lined up. I think
I'm going to reveal my ignorance. You don't need to know the name
of the planets. You need to know Him. But a couple of planets
were bright and shining. And I looked them up, Venus or
something, but anyway, this star that shone was so bright that
these men that were all the way as far as India, perhaps, from
the east, saw this star from there, from that great distance. It was so bright. And they knew
where it was, and they kept following the star from afar, for thousands
of miles, perhaps, all the way. It was that bright. Now, you
know that millions of people, if not everybody on the earth,
saw that. Why weren't they there? They all saw that phenomena,
that miracle, because Scripture said, the heavens declare His
glory. The firmament showeth his handiwork,
day unto day others' speech, night unto night showeth knowledge."
What knowledge? What speech? What's it saying?
When the sun shines, what's it saying? When the sun shineth,
what's he saying? This is what Scripture says.
It's gone throughout all the earth, the world, to the ends
of the world. In the firmament, he said, a tabernacle for the
sun, which is? like a bridegroom coming out
of his chamber, a strong man rejoicing for the joy set before
him to run a race. He's come forth from the end
of heaven, his circuit, his reign, his rule, his dominion, and to
the ends of it, nothing's hid from it. Who? The Son. Every day, everybody on planet
Earth sees the Son. They said, the wise men, we've
come to see His star. It's named after Him. His star, mind you, it bears
His name. What? The Son. The Son of righteousness
with healing in His wing. They saw His star. And bless
God, I see it too. Romans 1, I was going to have
you turn there, but don't. You know the verses well, but
oh, that the world would see that, how the things that are
made clearly see His eternal power and Godhead. They're without
excuse. The sun, the stars, the moon,
everything says Christ is. God is. Christ is. Having eyes
to see, they see not. Yet the Lord, the Spirit of God,
like this star, gave these men eyes to see. The Spirit of God
gave them a heart to believe. The Spirit of God, like that
star, guided them. Out of darkness of Far East religion,
thousands of miles brought them who were afar off, nigh unto
Him. Like our Lord said in John 16,
when He has come, the Spirit of God, He'll guide you. into
all truth. What's that? Christ. They found all truth in a person. He'll guide you into all truth.
He'll glorify me. He'll receive of mine and show
it unto you. They said, where is He? We've
come a long way. The star has shone. And it's
shone in my heart as it has in yours. I believe it has for many
of you. Bless God for that. We've come
to worship Him, says in our text. Look at it, verse 2. Where is
He that is born King of the Jews? We've seen His star in the east,
and we've come to worship Him. We've come to worship Him. Now, people,
the first thing they saw was what? The first thing they asked
is what? Where is He that is born King? You know, there never has been
a man ever on earth born a king. You know that, don't you? No man has ever been born a king.
They're born princes. They're the son of a king. And
if the king dies, they become king. Right? Or in the case of
Saul, they voted him in. King. Made King later. Okay. But this one was born King. He was King when he got here.
Why is that? Because he was King before he
came here. Because Psalm 2 says, I have set my King on my holy
hill of Zion. That was a thousand years before
he came. David. That's just David's son. Oh no,
no. David said, the Lord said unto
my Lord, that God said, of my King, King of kings and Lord
of lords, the Christ who is to come. He is King, always has
been King. Long before Adam had rule over
everything on earth, Christ reigned and ruled. He's the King. The
point I'm trying to make is that before we see Him as a Savior,
you see Him as a King. Before we see Him as a Savior,
we see Him as a Sovereign. I'm not splitting hairs here.
Well, you know, I thought about that saying the other day. People
think things are just a matter of semantics and splitting hairs
and being too particular. Well, God said, not one jot or
tittle of the law will pass until it's fulfilled. That is, the
dotting of an I is important, and the crossing of a T. If you
don't cross it, it might look like an L. You need to know what
it says. We're not splitting hairs here.
Not at all. But before you know Him as a
Savior, you will know Him as a Sovereign. You will bow to
Him as a Sovereign. Before you know anything about
mercy, you'll bow to Him in His majesty. Barnard used to say,
you can't have Jesus as Savior until you've bowed to Him as
a Lord. And I've got news for this pagan world. You don't make Him Lord. The people tried to, didn't they,
Dan? Later on, they said, oh, well, we'll let him be king.
They finally said, we'll let him be king, didn't they? And
they all got together, a crowd. Finally, the crowd gathered to
make him king. Remember that? Remember that?
What happened? Our Lord hid himself. He departed.
He said he knew what was in man. And he said he didn't need for
man to bear witness. He didn't need that. Why? He
already was king. And this is salvation. This is
when salvation comes. This is when you become wise
unto salvation. This is when the Holy Spirit
comes. The first thing He'll show you, He'll convince you
of sin, righteousness, and judgment, that Christ, the King of righteousness,
the King of righteousness, that's right, the Son of righteousness,
the King of peace. It's all in His hands. The King's
of hell and death at His side. He's reigning and ruling, and
He might save you. Kings do what they will. But
I've got good news for you. All that come and bow, all that
come and ask, and all that plead for mercy, if you're poor and
needy, He'll save you. Because He's a good King. But He's King. And you fear Him
first. Well, they said, we've come to
worship Him. We've come to worship Him, and
no telling what they worshipped before. Right? Just like many of you worshipped
gods of your imagination. Gods who are not gods, had no
eyes, a preacher told you, has no hands but your hands, or feet
but your feet, like Psalm 115. That was the God you were, a
Jesus who stood outside your heart's door and couldn't get
in. That's who you believed in. But God, rich in mercy, through
His Holy Spirit, preaching the gospel, showed you the King. And you came and you said, I've
got to worship Him. Verse 3 says, they were all troubled.
The King was troubled. All Jerusalem was troubled. Turn
with me to Isaiah 8. We looked at that before. Some
of you weren't in here. Isaiah 8. Turn over there with
me. It says, everyone was troubled by this. And folks, 2,000 years
after Christ came, the whole world is still troubled and in
anguish, still in darkness, though there's some light here and there,
isn't it? Understanding darken and many
concepts of God Many things they say of Jesus, who He is, why
He came, what He did. And the world is full of trouble. The King of Jerusalem, Herod
at the time, and all the people were troubled. You know, Scripture says the
King's heart is in the hands of the Lord. I love that story
of when Herod's wife came to him when
Christ was standing trial, and she said, I couldn't sleep all
night because of this man. God, hearts in his hands. Hearts, mind you. And they were
troubled. You know what? A man who fancies
himself to be a king, a man who fancies himself to have a free
will, Whoever thinks they have a free will, whoever thinks that
their life is in their hands, their salvation is in their hands
or in the hands of another man, they're in trouble. And there's no peace. No peace. They may say it, but they don't
have it. They don't have it. And that's what this says here
in Isaiah 8 and verse 22. They'll look to the earth. That's
where they're looking for answers. People of the earth. Kings of
the earth. Rulers of the earth. Governments of the earth. Dimness. Darkness. Trouble. Trouble. Darkness. Dimness. Anguish. Driven
to darkness, doesn't it? Well, you're not in darkness,
even as others are you? No? So they were troubled. Go back to our text. They were
troubled. And you know what they said when
he became a man? They said, we will not have this
man reign over us. We will not have this man reign
over us. Stay with me, okay? Please. They will have this man feed
us, will have him serve us, but reign over us, no. And like Herod,
try as they may, they can't dethrone him. Herod had a little counsel. Look at it. Herod got the chief
priests and scribes together, verse 4, and they only consulted
to do what? What does the psalmist say? To cast him down from his excellence.
And he that sits in the heavens laughs. They came together in
the name of God and Christ, but their hearts were far from it,
weren't they? Does that sound familiar? Much tradition and superstition
and sentimentality going on today. Much sentimentality and so-called
worship about a baby named Jesus. They even talk of making Him
Lord. God's people know. They know. In verse 6, we read this, and
we saw this in Micah. It says, Thou Bethlehem. He asked
where Christ's child would be born, and they knew. They read
it in the Scriptures. They said, Bethlehem, land of
Judah. Judea. No least, but not the least.
Small, but exalted. Princes of Judah. A little tribe
of Judah. Said, out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule
my people. In the midst of Judah was this
little town called Bethlehem. Oh, little town of Bethlehem. You know what Bethlehem means? Beth always means house. Bethlehem
means house of bread. And isn't that fitting that he
must be born there? The house of bread, Ephratath.
Bethlehem, Ephratath. Ephratath means fruitfulness.
Here it is, the Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. But
we've come far short of His glory. Not Christ. He bore fruit. This is the fruit. The second
Adam ate fruit and plunged us into misery and a curse. I mean
the first Adam. The second Adam came and was
fruit of whom we eat and have holiness. Some of you are listening. Bless God. He didn't come to
Jerusalem. He didn't come to Rome. He didn't
come to Rameses in Egypt. It came to a little town called
Bethlehem, and it was a house of bread. David wrote in a psalm,
Psalm 87, it will be said, this man was born there and that man
was born there. Let me tell you who was born
there. Rachel died there giving birth
to Benjamin. You remember? The king on the
throne said, I'll not hear you or see you or see your face until
you bring that son with you. He's born there. A little while
later, a harlot gave birth in a town called Bethlehem. A harlot named Rahab gave birth
to a man called Boaz. It'll be said this man was born
there, that man was born there. A couple of generations later,
a young shepherd boy came walking in from the field, ruddy, been
keeping the sheep, and they all stood. Then God said, anoint
him, that's him. Who? King! My king! That man was born there. And
bless God, a thousand years later, he's here. The King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. Oh, little town of Bethlehem.
Oh, my people. And to fulfill the Scripture,
He was born there. In the likeness of sinful flesh
made, for the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He took part
in the same. Meek and lowly, of no reputation,
rich for our sakes, became poor that we through His poverty might
be made rich. The King of Kings became a pauper. giving us His riches and taking
unto Him our poverty. If you're wise, you know you're
poor and needy. You come to Him, and that's where
He'll be found among the poor and needy, among the nobodies,
not in the high and so-called holy places. No, He'll be found
in a little place surrounded by a bunch of sheep. Herod's plot, verse 7 and 8.
Stay with me, this is wonderful. That's his name, isn't it? It's
all about him. Herod called these wise men,
asked when the star appeared. And he said, go search diligently
for the child. He was under pretense, going
to go and worship him. And oh my, God looks on the heart,
people. God looks on the heart. And it
was for evil purposes that he said this. Now listen to this. I've just
already told you that Bethlehem is just seven miles away. Why
didn't He get up off of His throne and go there Himself? He says
He's going to worship Him. Why didn't He get up and go and
worship? Because He didn't intend to worship.
He doesn't worship Him. He doesn't believe He's the King.
Why didn't the people, why didn't the Pharisees, why didn't the
scribes get up and go seven miles, mind you, and worship Him? They
said they were looking for Him. They said they were seeking Him.
They said they believed on Him, didn't they? Why didn't they
go? They didn't believe on Him. Why don't people... People, all
we do here... I'm telling you the truth here. All we do here, you know it's
so. Some of you have been here a long time, haven't you? What
do we do here? Worship Christ. Lift up Christ. That's it. Every time. Every
place. Christ said, if I be lifted up,
I'll draw all men. All men? All His men? Wise men? To Him? That's what we do here,
isn't it? Tell me. Nod your head. That's
what we do, isn't it? Huh? Why don't they come? It's worshiping Mary. Right down
the road, we pass by the parking lots full of people worshiping
Mary. Why are you here? Huh? If you've said like the wise
men, if He's made you wise unto salvation, then you say from
the heart, God looks on the heart. And you don't draw near with
your lips and say, I'm going to go worship Him, and don't
even hear a thing He said. But if you from the heart can
say, I've come to see Him, I've come to see His glory, I've come
to see His beauty, I've heard about Him with stars shown, I
want to see Him, I want to worship Him. Bless God in the high heavens. He's chosen you and put you in
a little place that the world says, there ain't nothing to
that. There ain't nothing down there. What's in a barn? What's in a stable? Christ is! There ain't nothing but sheep
down there. Right! They're a bunch of nobodies.
Yes! That's who He came for! The meek
and the lowly. We be not sinners. And you don't
need this. If you be a sinner, He's going
to put you in a place where a man's going to stand up They're going
to preach Christ, and you're going to behold His glory, and
you're going to bow, and you're going to worship Him, and you're
going to go away rejoicing. And though all hell, the gates
of hell, won't prevail against this. They say, we'll cast their
bands asunder. We'll get rid of this little
bunch. No, you won't. Herod said, we're going to get
this Christ child. You ever think about this? Seven
miles away. Why didn't he send a legion of
soldiers down there? Huh? Why didn't he send spies
to find out where he was and then send soldiers down there
to round them all up and kill them? He did later, but not right
now. Why? Because he can't. He can't. He can't touch him. Touch not mine anointed, God
said. And people, as He is, so are we in this world. Go get them. Wipe them out. Can't.
Been trying to for years. God protects His Son, and God
protects those in His Son, and though the most powerful He protects
the helpless from the most powerful, He protects the weakest from
the strongest. Satan hath desired you to sift
you like wheat. But Christ said, I pray for you. So they came. These kings came. If they were kings, Stan, I bet
they took those crowns off. I bet they took those royal robes
off before they got here. You know they did. If they were
kings, you couldn't tell them apart from the shepherds. Because
when they saw Him, we'd be no kings. And they came and they
said, look at verse 9, I like this, I've got to hurry. Verse
9, they heard the king and they departed. And they saw the star
again. They lost sight of it, you see.
They lost sight of it for a brief time. They went looking in the
daytime and went to Jerusalem. They lost sight of it, these
wise men. Matthew Henry said, the shepherds
never did lose their way. And if a true shepherd is that,
he won't either. He'll get straight to Christ.
But these wise men, they found it again. The star found them. And sometimes we get in darkness,
don't we? And people, if that star, if the Holy Spirit of God,
if the day star rises again in our dark hearts, if we lose sight
of Him because of our sinfulness, because we go to wherever we
go and get in a mess, it says, verse 10, they rejoiced
with exceeding great joy. They saw the star again. I don't know why I'm losing so
many people, but I am. I don't know why. But in 1 Peter
1, he says unto you, he says, elect according to foreknowledge
of God. You're blessed and begotten again. He said, whom have you not seen,
you love, and whom though now you see him not, yet believe
him, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Now, I hope
we don't ever lose that rejoicing and wonder and amazement that
Christ brought us into this little place to hear His glory, love
Him, and see His. And if so, we're going to take
it out of Him. They came into the house, in our text, verse
11, they came into the house. It's not much of a house, is
it? A stable. But I tell you what, it's God's
house. It's the king's house. It wasn't
a mansion, it was a manger. Were they disappointed? Were
these kings disappointed? Were these wise men disappointed
because they came to this little stable? They weren't looking
at the stable. They didn't come to see that
stable. They came to see Him. And they came in and they saw
Him. Verse 11, they came into the house and they saw the young
child with Mary. And did it run through their
minds? Is this the King of the Jews? Is this the Lord of Heaven? Is
this He who is attended by so few, just surrounded by a few
sheep, and the whole world rejects Him and just a few come to see
Him? Is this He? And they took Him away and said,
yes it is, by faith. They saw what others did not. And still today, where just two
or three are gathered in His name, beholding His glory. In verse 11, it says, they saw
the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped
who? Him. Not her. Not Bethlehem. Not the manger. Him. And he beheld His glory, John
said, full of grace and truth. Not Mary, not full of grace and
truth. She got grace from Him. And they opened their treasures.
Look at this. Deborah, you'll love this. They presented unto
Him gifts. Gold and frankincense and myrrh. They came and fell
down and worshipped Him. They hadn't fallen before Herod.
They didn't fall before Herod. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
We're not going to do that. They fell before Him. Because
there's none other name given under heaven among men whereby
we must be saved. And they brought out their treasures.
They presented themselves first, and then they brought out their
treasures, proving the sincerity of their love to Him, and they
brought out gold. They brought gold. Now what does this baby need
with gold? Huh? He doesn't need this gold,
does he? Didn't God say, if I were hungry,
I wouldn't ask you? Isn't it? He said, the gold and
the silver is mine. What do I need with gold? He
didn't need gold. And I'll tell you who did. Joseph
and Mary needed gold. Listen to me now. Augustus Caesar
said, everybody's going to go to their hometown, pick up everything,
no matter what it costs, and go all the way to your hometown.
I'm going to tax you. Unfair! Unfair taxes. This is not right. This corrupt
government. Let's all get up in arms against
this corrupt government. Taxing us unfairly. No. It has to be. Or it wouldn't
be. And they came. Maybe murmuring
and complaining. And Christ was born in Bethlehem,
exactly where He's supposed to be. Now they're plumbed out of
cash. And they leave this place with
pockets full of gold. Did you hear me? Don't complain about anything.
Don't complain about it. Don't be disappointed at God's
appointments. After this is all over, Herod sent his army and killed
every child in Bethlehem. That's the greatest sorrow that
land had ever known, didn't it? Roma, weeping for her children. Every mother. How old is John
Thomas? They'd come for him. Who did that? Who did that? And God in great love, for His
great love, wherewith He loved about 4,000 young Jewish children. For His great mercy and great
grace, though great grief to the parents, a little time, it
just lasts a little while. in great love and mercy and grace
and great wisdom, sparing them from the wrath to come, from
the evil days to come, said, bring them all home to me. Can you believe that? If you don't,
you won't be established. God has taken some of our children.
God has. And they bought gold. Because
a young couple needed it. How many angels have bought you
gold? Frankincense. You know, that's incense that
was on the altar in the tabernacle. Incense. Frankincense. Myrrh.
Listen to this in a clove. They brought myrrh to anoint
that child. He didn't need it. His cheeks
smelled like it already. That's what Solomon said, his
cheeks are as bad as spices, as a bundle of myrrh, is my beloved. You know what myrrh is? It's
the balm of Gilead. That's exactly what the balm
of Gilead was, myrrh. Myrrh is an evergreen tree that
grows over in the east. Camp or something, I forget the
genius name of it, don't need to know. But it grows over there,
it's an evergreen tree, it's got thorns all over it. They've
got thorns all over them. A thorny, evergreen tree. And
in order to harvest this fragrant substance from it, they've got
to wound it. They don't cut it down. They
don't completely kill it. They wound it. This is what they
say. They wound it. They make many slices. And by
those wounds, those wounds they make, it bleeds. Sap. Myrrh. And they say it's the most fragrant,
savory-smelling thing on earth. And not only that, you put it
on a wound, buy that wound, you're healed. What are we going to bring Him?
Gold. Let's gather up all the gold
we can. It's just gold. Look what He's done for us. Rich,
it became poor. What do we do with this gold?
They bought frankincense and myrrh. Where is he? He was born a king. Well, he's not in that stable
now. He's not on a cross. He's on
a throne. And that's where we're headed.
That's where we're at. Okay. Alright, in closing, Hark
the Herald Angels Sing, number 93. Come, John. Let's sing in
closing number 93.