I titled this message, Born King. That statement just struck me
when I read that, Born King. I want us to look at this. You
know, I grew up in a, I've grown up in a country knowing presidents. That's all
I've known is presidents. kept in check by Congress and
Senate and people. We'd keep them in check. But
there was a time when most all the nations on this earth was
under a king, and they knew what that meant. If he was a good
king, my, how good it was. But if he was a bad king, how
bad it was. And I thank God, and I do, I
thank God that we are under a king. I'm not really under presidents.
We're under the king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules and reigns
right now. We are under a theocracy. That's
who we're under. We take our orders, our directions,
our leadership, our guidance from our king. Just like those
wise men, Harris said, now you come back to me. Tell me about
where this child is at so I can go worship him, so I can go kill
him." And God warned him in a dream, an angel warned him in a dream.
And what did they do? They obeyed God. They didn't
go back to Herod. They obeyed God who is the final
authority on everything. Now it says here in verse 1,
now when Jesus... I looked at that and I thought,
you know when the disciples spoke to Him directly. They called
Him Lord. They called Him Master. But here,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He is called Jesus.
This is that tender plant spoken of in Isaiah 53. This is that
tender plant. Now, when Jesus was born, here
we have the Scripture fulfilled that says in Isaiah 9, 6, unto
us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given." And
He's born where the Scripture said He'd be born. God's careful. He's careful to fulfill every
jot and tittle of His Word. He was born at the time He said
He'd be born, and He was born in the place that God said He
would be born. And it says here, "...there came
wise men from the east to Jerusalem." from that verse, wise men seek
the Lord. There came wise men from the
East. These Gentiles were told of Him,
and here they come to see Him. They came from a far country,
while His own right there didn't even recognize Him. God brought
these wise men from a far country. And they came to Jerusalem, the
city of the great King, to find Him. They came looking for Him.
Him. Evidently, they had heard of
Him. God sent someone to them to tell them about this King.
And they came, it says, to worship Him. That's why they came. They
came to worship, boy, that God has listened to a message on
the Internet this morning that Henry had preached on preparing
your heart to worship. That's what they came to do.
And I pray that's what we came to do, to worship Him. We truly
seek Him when we do it in a manner of worship, of worshiping the
King. And they said, where is He that
is born King of the Jews? And it doesn't say this, where
is He that's going to be the King of the Jews? Old Prince
Williams and him waiting for somebody to die so they can be
a king. This one's born king. Nobody else is in the way. He's
born king. He did not have to wait to become
a king. He was born king. The son was
king before the child was born. He was king before the child
was born. He's born, it says, king of the
Jews, king of God's people. God the Father chose him to be
the king before the world began. He said, I have chosen one out
of the people. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. Jesus Christ is King of kings
and Lord of lords. That's who He is. There's no
equal to Him. There's no one to measure up
to Him. He's the King of kings and Lord
of lords. He's heir of all things. All
things belong to this King. All things. Look over in Revelation
chapter 17. Revelation 17, God has put this
whole thing into the hands of His King. In Revelation 17, verse 14, it
says, These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they that are with Him are
called Chosen and Faithful. Now look in Revelation 19, just
over a few pages. Revelation 19, 16, and he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, and everybody can read it too.
It's out there. It's not a hidden thing. It's
not a hidden thing. It's not a hidden name. King
of kings and Lord of lords. That's who he is. And the government
of this world is upon his shoulders. I'm thankful that the government
of this world is not upon President Bush or these other rulers. The government of this world
is upon his shoulders. He raises up men and he brings
down men. This thing does. Now he doesn't. Look over at Psalm 47. This world's
not running itself. Our king is running it. Psalm
47. I'm going to have to read this whole psalm. It says, Oh,
clap your hands, all ye people. Shout unto God with a voice of
triumph, for the Lord Most High is terrible. He is a great king
over all the earth. He's over this earth. He shall
subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet. He
shall choose our inheritance for us. I'm sure glad of that.
The excellency of Jacob whom he loved. God is going up with
a shout. The Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises unto
our King. Sing praises. For God is the
King of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of
the people are gathered together. even the people of the God of
Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong unto God." He's
greatly exalted. What a word. What a word. The government is upon his shoulders,
and he's especially king over God's people, over God's children. He's especially our king. He's
our king. He's our king. Everything, everything
for their eternal good and His glory. I don't know about all
this, but I know this. I'm confident of this. This is
for our good. This is for our good. You wouldn't
think that Mary, pregnant, about to have a child, would have to
make that journey. And that was a hard journey for
her to make, but that was for good. all that they went through. I thought as I read this, you'll
notice when Chuck read this, they had to leave and flee to
Egypt. Their life was probably pretty
simple until he came along. I'm sure their life was pretty
quiet until Christ came along. And then it was up and running. Always trouble following after
Him. But He rules the trouble. He rules the trouble. He's over
it. It's for our good, His glory. Now, what kind of king is this
that they came to see? They came to see a king. What
did they see? I know you said they saw a babe
lying in a manger. And I'll tell you this, when
they looked at him, they weren't disappointed either. They were not disappointed. But I'll tell you what kind of
king they saw, and the kind of king that we see, and the kind
of king that we have. He's God. He's the God king. Our king is God. Our King is
not a mere man. Our King is God Almighty. Look
in Psalm 74. Look over here in Psalm 74. I
tell you, the Psalms are so rich. Psalm 74, verse 12. For God is what? My King. He's my King of old. He's always
been my King. God's always been my King. I
haven't always known it, but He's always been my King. I know
it now. Working, listen, God is my King
of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. That's
what's going on there in Psalm 74, 12. God is my King, and He's
working salvation in the midst of the earth. God is saving sinners. This King is saving sinners. He's the God-King. No other king
ever was God and man in the same person, but He is. He is the
child-born King, and He's the Son-given King. That's who He
is. Look over in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy. Use our Bibles a little bit this
morning. 1 Timothy, chapter 6. 1 Timothy, chapter 6. In verse
15. It says, which in his times he
shall show who is the blessed and only potentate, the King
of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality dwelling
in a light which no man can approach, whom no man has seen nor can
see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. He's the only
potentate. He's the blessed King of glory. Now, seeing that this king is
God, this tells me some things. This tells me some things right
off the bat. If you know God, this is what
it tells you. This king is holy. All this world has seen some
bad kings. I mean, some tyrants. Saul was
a tyrant. But this king is holy. This king
can do no wrong. This king is perfect in all his
judgments. He's perfect in His love. He's
perfect in His grace. He's perfect in all His ways.
He's holy. He knew no sin. And He's a present
King. He's a King now. He's not going
to be King. Our Lord reigns now. He reigns
now. His throne now is in the heavens
ruling over all things. And He's a just King. He rules
with equity, fairness. Right. Right. What He does is
right. His throne, it says, is established
with judgment. Look over in Zechariah chapter
9. Zechariah chapter 9. He says, verse 9, He says, Rejoice
greatly, not lightly, Greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee." He's just. He's a just King. He's just in
having salvation. Lowly, you can approach Him. Sinners are welcome. Sinners
like you and me are welcome in His presence. And riding upon
an ass and upon a coat the full of an ass, that's our King. That's our King. He's a just
King, just. And He's also an immutable King.
His purposes and decrees change not. He said, I'm the Lord. I change not. That's why you
sons of Jacob, you sons of election, are not consumed, because I don't
change. You know, if it's perfect, if
something is perfect, it doesn't need to change, does it? We have
to change things because we didn't do it right the first time. We
didn't make the right choice maybe the first time. But His
decrees, His purpose never change because they're right. They're
perfect. And then this King, who is our
King, has all power and all authority given to Him over all flesh. No one is out of His control.
No one. Look in Matthew 26. Here in Matthew
26. In Matthew 26, in verse 64, Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said, Nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall you see
the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming
in clouds. in the clouds of heaven. All
power and all authority is in his hands. And then he's a saving
king. He is a saving king. He shall
save his people from their sins. That's what it says. This king
shall save his subjects, his people, from their sins. The Scripture says he's able
to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seen
He ever live to make intercession for them. He saveth such as be
of a broken heart and contrite spirit." This King saves sinners. This King is a saving King. And
then He's a conquering King. We saw that last Wednesday. He's
never lost a battle. There's not a King that's lived
on this earth that can say that, that they've never lost a battle.
This King has never lost one battle, not one. It says, He led captivity captive. He has conquered death, hell,
and the grave. He's conquered all of them. Turn
over to Psalm 45. In Psalm 45, let me read in verse
3 through 7, "...Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty,
with thy glory and thy majesty." And in thy majesty ride prosperously,
because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And thy right
hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. The scepter of
thy kingdom is a right scepter." And listen to this. Here's what
this king loves. Here's what he loves. Thou lovest
righteousness and hatest iniquity. The greatest wickedness, therefore
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows." The conquering king, he's never lost a battle
and he never will. He never will. And he's a forgiving
king. It says, he set the captive free.
Whom the Son sets free, whom this king, you know if it's a
king, if a king sets you free, you're free. If the King declares
you to be free, if he sets you free, you're free. And if the
King of glory, if the King of kings and the Lord of lords sets
you free, you're free indeed. No one can bring you back under
bondage. He said in the gospel so often,
he said this, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. He's the only king that could
say that. He said, thy sins, all of them, all of them be forgiven
thee. He'd say to a demon, come out
of him. Did you ever read in the Gospels where a demon said
no? Did you ever read where one of them said, no, no, I'm going
to stay right here? I don't read where any of them
ever even refused. They said, well, you let us go
over to those pigs, those swine, let us go over there, because
they was coming out. And they knew they was coming
out. They said, well, let us go over there to those swine.
And he said, go ahead. If he hadn't said go ahead, they
couldn't have even done that. Oh, he's a forgiving king. He's
a loving king. Having loved his own, which were
in the world, he loved them to the end. It is written in the
Scriptures, he loved us with an everlasting love. The very
nature of this king is love. That's the very nature of this
king, our king, our king. And then he's ever-present. He
said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. When you go through
the fire. Now, you tell me what earthly king has ever gone through
the fire with his people? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
cast into that oven. That king put them in that oven.
They heated it up seven times hotter than normal. And they
put them in there. And that king walks over and
he says, I thought we put three in there. He said, but there's
four. I see one likened to the Son
of God. There's four in this furnace. When you go through
the fire, I won't watch you. I'll be with you. No other king
ever walked through the fire with his people like this king.
He's done it. And then he's the king priest.
He's the king priest who offered up himself for our sins. What
king ever offered up himself for his people? Our king did. Our king did. Oh, it's a royal
offering. And he's a purging king. Purging
king. He shall cleanse us from all
unrighteousness and drive out all our enemies. So I says over
in Hebrews 1, let me look over here in Hebrews 1, he's a purging
king. He'll purge our enemies away,
take them away, and our sins also. In verse 3, Hebrews 1,
"...who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself, our king, by himself purged our
sins." He didn't ask us to help him. He did it by himself. He purged our sins by himself. And he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. That's where he's at. And then
he's a wise king. He said, a greater than Solomon
is here. A greater than Solomon. Pay attention. Listen to me. You think Solomon was wise? This
is the wisdom of God speaking. Solomon was given wisdom. He
is wisdom, greater than Solomon's here. We have a king, a wise
king. He's called the wisdom of God.
In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Go to
him for it. And he's the king of all grace.
He said, come unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and
I'll give you rest. He's the only one that can. This
king is the only one that can give you real heart rest and
eternal rest. He's the only one that can do
it. This king, it says, receives sinners and he eats with them.
This king doesn't call the rich who can try to recompense him
again. This king calls sinners who are bankrupt. You know, the
kings of this earth, they don't call the vagrants. You don't
invite vagrants to dinner, and you don't sit with them. He did,
and he does. He does. If he sits with me,
he does. He receives sinners, and he eats
with them. And this king also is a king
of righteousness. This king brought in an everlasting
righteousness. No other king was able to do
that, but this king did. And all his people, are dressed
in His righteousness. As over in Revelation, it says
they all had robes of white. They all had the same robe on.
He is righteousness. He is. Then He's the King of peace.
This King that they are looking at, this King they came to see,
this King who is our King, He's all these things and much more. He's the King of peace. This
king made peace with God on our behalf, and this king is our
peace with God. This king is our peace. He not
only made peace, he is my peace. He's everything. He's my righteousness. He's my justification. He's my
sanctification, my wisdom. He's everything. This king is
everything to me that I need. And then He's a King of knowledge.
This King, our King, is a King of knowledge. It says, He knoweth
them that trust in Him. He knoweth them that trust in
Him. Known unto Him are all His works from the beginning. And then He's a beautiful King.
Look in Isaiah 33. Isaiah 33. I tell you, I wish
I could preach this like it ought to be. Like it ought to be preached. What a king we have. Isaiah 33,
verse 17. In verse 17, Isaiah 33, 17. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. In his beauty. Oh, we've had some ugly kings
over the years. He said, Thine eyes, our eyes. One day we're
going to look into the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, our King. We're going to look and see.
And they're going to behold the land that's very far off. He's beautiful. Fairest, it says,
among ten thousand. fairest among ten thousand. It
says he's altogether lovely in Psalms of Solomon. This king is altogether lovely
from head to toe. He's altogether lovely. You couldn't
say that about me. We're not altogether. We've got
sins. A sin nature still remains in
us. But this king, not a blemish in him. There is
not a blemish in this king. He's altogether lovely. And then
he's a revealing king. Other kings called for interpreters. They'd have a dream and they'd
call and say, tell me what this dream means. They'd call in what
they called the magicians and they'd call them in. But this
king calls no one in to help him interpret a dream. Listen, this king reveals the
secrets of the heart, the things that I keep from everybody else.
and you keep from everybody else. He reveals the secrets of the
heart. And I'm glad he does. Peter said,
Lord, I know I'm a sinful man. I know this, but I know this
too. You know I love you. You know my heart. You know the
secrets of my heart. You know I love you. He's a revealing
king. And then he's a revenging king.
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And he's a good
king. Oh, he's a good king. The Scripture
says the Lord is good. My circumstances does not change
his nature. It does not change the nature
of God. God is good. He's good. And then, he is a
king of salvation. This king is our king. This is
our king. Our king. King of the Jews. And as king, he's to be worshipped.
He's to be worshipped as a king. That's how we worship him. They did not worship a child. When they looked into that manger,
they did not worship a baby. They worshipped a king. Oh, my
soul. At Christmas time, they're trying
to worship a little baby. We worship a king. At all times,
they came to worship Him. They came to worship Him. Now Herod the king, and I'll
hurry through this, Herod the king heard these things and he
was troubled. He was troubled. He ought to
be troubled. I tell you what, if you hate this king, you better
be troubled. You better be troubled. But I'll
tell you why he was troubled. He was afraid of losing his crown
rights that he thought he had. He was afraid of losing his position.
He was afraid of being brought down and this one being brought
up. He was troubled. He had to give
up. I may have to give up my ambitions. If I bow to this king,
I'm going to have to give up my ambitions. I'm going to have
to give up everything I'm after. and bow to him. And if he says
go, then I have to go. If he says come, then I come.
But I submit to him. And old Herod, he plotted against
our king. But the tender plant is going to grow up before the
Lord. God providentially is going to keep him and direct him. And
those wise men, it says, departed out of Herod's presence. And
the star appears again unto them. God gave them this special star
to guide them to where the King is. Let me show you something
in Revelations, chapter 1. Revelations, chapter 1. I tell you, Revelations, chapter
1. The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand." They're in his hand. And the seven golden candlesticks,
the seven stars are the angels, or pastors, pastors of the seven
churches. And the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches, or their seven churches. I'll tell you this. has given his church pastors. Here they're called stars. And
the duty of the pastor is to always point them to Christ,
is to always rest over Christ. That star didn't stop until it
rested right over him. That's our duty. And when they
saw the star, they rejoiced, it says, with exceeding, exceeding
great joy because God was still with them. You know, when they
were in there talking to Herod and that group, they couldn't
see that star. They were inside there in a council
of the wicked. That's what it was. It was a
council of the wicked. And boy, when they got out there and they
saw that star, they were so glad that God's still with us. God's
still with us. I'll tell you this. We rejoice
when God gives us someone to continually, continually preach
the gospel. It's evident, it's evident that
God's still with us. The greatest evidence you have
that God's with you is the gospel. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And note where the star led them. It went before them
till it stood over where the young child was. If we do not
rest over Christ, if we do not point men to Christ, we've missed
our calling. You've missed the whole purpose
of it. But I tell you this, God's pastors, the ones whom God sends
and calls, they point to Christ. They point to Him. The purpose
of the star was to point them to Christ. And when they came,
when they were coming to the house, they saw the... And I
like the way this is written, because it's under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. They saw the young child with his mother.
They didn't see the mother with his child. They saw Him first. They looked at Him first. They
weren't looking for Mary. They were looking for Him. And
notice here, they fell down and they worshipped Him. Wise men
worshipped Christ the King. They bowed to the ground in His
presence, a position of submission to this baby. This is a baby
laying in this manger, and they fell down before this baby. But
I tell you what, they didn't see a baby. They saw the King. They saw the King of glory. And
they didn't bow before Mary. They bow before Mary's King and
our King. Mary's not worshipped here. Christ
is. He is. The first act of worship
is this, submission. You cannot say that you worship
God and not be submitted to Him. Submitted and committed to Him.
And they acknowledged their dependence on him, and they're loyal to
him. They acknowledged his position as a king. And here's what they
did. They added substance to their worship. They presented him with gifts
such as they had they gave to him. I'm going over this this
morning, and I thought this. If he has not our treasures,
he has not our worship, because where your treasure is, Your
heart is. That's where your heart is. And
they presented the gifts to him. They didn't present them to Mary. They didn't say, here, give this
to him when he grows up. They presented them to him, the
king. Their attention was riveted on
him and no one else. No one else. I'm going to stop
here. I'm going to just stop here. That's where they came.
They came to worship the King. Born King. Where is He that is
born King of the Jews? And that's us. We are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit and have no confidence in the
flesh. That's us. Amen.