Matthew chapter 2. We'll just read verses 1 through 10. 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 star in
the east and are come to worship him. They said, where's the king
of the Jews? And you remember when he was
crucified, they put the sign over his head. This is Jesus,
king of the Jews. When Herod the king had heard
these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of
the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be
born. And they said unto him, In 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.
Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired
of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent
them to Bethlehem and said, 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. When they had heard the king,
they departed. And lo, the star which they saw in the east went
before them till it came and stood over where the young child
was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding
great joy. The title of this message this
morning is Seeking, Finding, and Rejoicing. To seek the Lord
now is different this morning than it was for these wise men,
and yet the same in so many ways. We don't seek so much his physical
location now on this earth, but you may have to go to a physical
location to find him on this earth. To seek him is to find out not
where he is on earth, though a place on earth is a consideration
in this. Where will I find Christ? Are you seeking the Lord Jesus
Christ this morning? Will I find him down at the Mega
McChurch in town there? These wise men in this text found
him in Bethlehem, but I'll tell you where we'll find him, wherever
that is. We'll find him this morning where
his elect people are gathered. In his name, he said, I'll be
there. And where his gospel is preached,
because you see, it's his voice that speaks in the gospel. He
said, my sheep hear my voice. But true seeking is an unquenchable
desire in a believing heart to discover who he is, not so much
where he is. And what he did, what did he,
he was born in Bethlehem, why? What did he come here to do? Why did he do it? For what reason
did he come? Did he accomplish the purpose
for which he came? And where is he right now? Not
so much on this earth, but where is he and what is he doing this
morning? And this is not just a history lesson, is it? Christ
is somewhere now. If he created this universe,
he's somewhere this morning, isn't he? If he's who he said
he was, then he's somewhere right now. Where is he now? This is not just a story that,
you know, we tell at Christmas time. We're talking about the
living Lord who sits on a throne and rules all things. He talked
about Him being the governor. The government shall be upon
His shoulders, Isaiah said in chapter 9. The government is
on His shoulders. What government? The government.
He governs all things. He said, all power, all authority
is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. That's who we're talking
about this morning. Not a baby in a manger. Thank
God he was a baby. We're not looking for him in
the manger this morning, are we? He's sitting on his throne
where he's been seen by some of his people high and lifted
up. Stephen saw him standing on the right hand of the throne
of God. Isaiah saw him high and lifted
up. The purpose of this study and all of our studies is to
seek Him and find Him. Isn't that what Matthew's talking
about here? That's what he's telling us here. Who is He, Matthew? Well, His birth was on this wise. That'll tell us something about
who He is. His birth happened in this manner. Who is He? Well, He was born, not of sinful
man, but of the Holy Ghost. So He's the Son of God. Who is he? Well, God sent an
angel to tell Joseph, call him Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. So who is he? He's the victorious
redeemer of the elect of God. He's the conquering savior of
his people. Who is he? Well, the prophet
said concerning him, his name shall be called Emmanuel. You
wanna know who he is? Here's his name, God with us. Who is he? Well, these wise men
sought him after he was born and God showed them where he
was by means of a bright star and they followed it and when
they found him, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. I started to say I can tell those
who found him. I can't tell that infallibly.
But it's a pretty good indication of somebody that's found him.
And when they hear about him, they rejoice with exceeding great
joy. You can kind of tell, can't you
sometimes? We must seek and find out who
he is. There's really not a whole lot
else that we must do. But we must find him. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me. Learn of me. Who is he? John said, in the
beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word
was God. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. I thought when I was looking
into Matthew, I thought, you know, this is so interesting,
this study. It's so different from John's
study. And I thought to myself, John didn't really say anything
about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in his account. But then I thought, no, yes,
he did, too. He said the Word was made flesh and dwelt down
here among us. Who is he? John the Baptist pointed
at him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world. Who is he? Philip said to him
one day, Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. We'll quit
asking you things. We'll quit bugging you if you
just show us the Father. And the Lord Jesus said unto
him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? You know, we tend to be just
like Philip. We're always wanting the Lord to show us something,
aren't we? Look at what he has shown us. He's revealed himself to us already. And don't we know him yet? Who is he? What did he do? Why was he born into this world? Well, he came
where we were. He was born into this world because
we were born into this world, because that's where we are. Galatians 4, 4 it says, but when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son made of
a woman made under the law. The one who gave the law was
made under the law. Who do you think that was that
met with Moses on Mount Sinai? That was the Lord Jesus Christ. The law giver was made under
the law. How come? to redeem them that
were under the law. That's us. Paul says, you that
are under the law, the law is given to them who are under it.
What the law saith, it saith to them that are subject to it,
that are under it, that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world become guilty before God. And we are, aren't we? The
law pronounces us guilty. But what the law couldn't do,
God sent his son to do. That's why he came. That's what
he did. He came where we were. What did he do? Listen to this
verse in John 17 four. The Lord Jesus made a declaration
in his prayer unto the father. This is exactly what we didn't
do. Never have done aren't doing
right now and never will do except in him. John 17 four. I have glorified you. on the
earth. That's what He did. In everything
that He did. From the first sound that came
out of His mouth as a baby until He cried from that cross. It's
finished. Everything that He said and did
and thought was glorifying to God the Father. He did exactly
what we did. God made man for His own glory
and we haven't glorified Him yet. There's one man that did
though. The God-man. I have glorified
you on the earth. That's what he did. I have finished
the work which you gave me to do. That's what he came down
here to do, the will of the father. And this is the will of him that
sent me. And of all those that he has given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. What did he
do? Paul said in the book of Hebrews,
he obtained eternal redemption for us. That's what he did. He
redeemed our souls with his precious blood. His soul was made an offering
unto God on behalf of his people. As our great high priest, Paul
said he had to have someone to offer, just like every high priest
did. But he didn't offer the blood
of bulls and goats, but his own precious blood he offered in
that holy place not made with hands. In glory, in heaven, in
the very presence of the Father, He offered His own precious blood
as our Great High Priest. What did He do? John said in
Revelation, He washed us from our sins. That's what He did
with that blood. That's what He did. That's what
He came to do. Why did He do that? Why? You know, that question's
been asked for a long time, hasn't it? Why? David said, Who in the
world am I that you're even mindful of me? Why would you even think upon
such a worm as I am? We know the answer, don't we?
Because He so loved. God loved us, and God commendeth
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. That's how much He loved us. He said, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, his love is active
in it. In religion, he just loves and
he loves from a distance, doesn't he? That's false, ungodly, man-centered,
free will religion. But in this book, his love, he
said, I've loved you, therefore, with that loving kindness, I
did something about it. I did something about your problem.
I drew you to myself. I loved you and I gave my son
for you. I loved you. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2 verse
10. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things. In bringing many sons
unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings, it became him. You know what that word means?
It's just like him to do that. This is what he's like. In bringing
many sons unto glory, he made the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings for both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. for which cause he's not
ashamed to call them brethren. Saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church, will I sing praise
unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me, for as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, you and I are flesh, He also Himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily He took not on Him
the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. The birth of Jesus Christ was
on this wise. He took upon Him..." Why does
it mention the angels there? He didn't take on Him the nature
of angel. He wasn't born as an angel. Why does it even mention
that? Because they sinned just like
we did. A third part of the angels of heaven defied God just like
we did in the garden and fell. But they have no Savior. They
have no Redeemer. How come? Because He didn't take
on Him their nature. But He did for me. He took on
Him my nature. And because He did, He's my Savior.
He's my representative. He's my substitute. Wherefore,
in all things, verse 17, it behooved Him. And I don't think I'm violating
the verse to say that it behooved us too. It behooved Him. What a marvel of His grace to
be made like unto His brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. You see why he came? Why he did
what he did? Well, where is he now? Where is he now? John said in
Revelation 4-2, immediately I was in the spirit and behold, the
throne was set in heaven. And one sat on the throne. And
he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round
about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. John said, I
saw him sitting on the throne. And there was a rainbow round
about it. You remember the significance of the rainbow? And when God
destroyed the earth with water, but he put those who had found
grace in his sight in an ark. And when the waters receded and
the ark was on dry ground, and they came out, God put a bow
in the sky and said, that's my promise. No judgment. No judgment,
there won't be any more judgment like that. And what a picture
that is. Grace, no judgment. For who? Those who found grace
in his sight, that's it. Those that are in the ark. Of course He's on the throne.
Look at verse 2 in our text again. Who did they come looking for?
They said, we're looking for the King. Where is the King going
to be? He's on His throne. Read Psalm
2 again when you have a moment. God said, I've set My King upon
My holy hill. In spite of all the reprobates
of this world rising up in opposition against Him, He said, I'll laugh
at them, I'll mock at them from My throne. I've set my King on
my holy hill, and that's where He is. That's where Isaiah saw
Him so long ago. I saw the Lord high and lifted
up, and His train filled the temple. And the angels flew about
Him, crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Paul wrote to the Philippians,
God hath also highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which
is above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow. How did these wise men find him?
That's so interesting in the text. How did they know where
he was? Well, God shone a light down
on him, a bright light. They followed the light, even
from far away. They were from another country,
but they saw his star. I could clearly see where he
was, even from a long way off. Let me ask you this, how far
away are you from the Lord Jesus Christ? He said of some while he was
on this earth, they draw nigh to me with their lips, but their
heart is far, far from me. God shone light upon him. In
Acts 2.39, this is the message that was preached there. The
promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are
far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Perhaps
you're far away this morning, Ephesians 2.13, but now in Christ
Jesus, you who were at one time far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. God made it clear to them where
to find His Son. Is it clear to you this morning?
God always makes it clear, doesn't He? This thing wasn't done in
a corner. He put a big star in the sky
and shone light down. Here's where He is, right here.
Right here. And the only ones, as far as
we know, that found Him were the wise ones. The wise men. There's not a star above all
of His true churches in this world, but they do have light
that nobody else has, don't they? Isaiah 8.20 said to the law and
to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, if
what I say to you this morning or ever is not according to this
book, it's because there's no light. That's what the prophet
said. No light. Is there light? That's where
He is. Did you know that God's preachers
in Revelation 120 are called the stars of the churches? He
said to all of his disciples, you're the light of the world.
You want to know where he is? It might be a good idea to ask
somebody that knows. You reckon? Or listen to somebody
that knows. That's not because there's anything to us. That's
not because we're important somehow. The star did one thing. That
star served one purpose, didn't it? It said that's where he is. This is where he is. That's all
the star does. And it's by his grace that we
do that. You don't need us to do that.
He just let us in on it by his grace. Do you seek him in his
word? Paul said to Timothy in second
Timothy 3 15 from a child. You've known the Holy Scriptures
that are able to make thee wise. You'd be a wise man if you know
this book. It's able to make you wise unto
salvation. That's true wisdom right there. Through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Do you seek Him where He promised
to be? Where two or three are gathered in my name? Do you seek
Him in the preaching of the Gospel? Second Thessalonians 2.13, we're
bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you interested in
obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ? These men were
All wise men and women are. It's by this gospel that God
brings that to pass. There's something else significant
in the text. And let me ask you this question
in relation to that. Why are you here this morning?
This morning, this morning, why are you here? Honestly, before
God. Look at verse two again, what
they said. They came for the right reason
looking for him, didn't they? They said, we've come to worship
him. We come from a faraway place. We come at great expense. To
the neglect of everything else, it's estimated that it took him
probably a year to get to where he was based on where it's believed
that they were from. They didn't jump on a plane,
I know that. Everything else had to be set aside. We got to
worship Him. You see what I'm saying? To the
neglect of everything else, if necessary, we've come to worship
Him. Have we or not? There's no doubt
in my mind that some have. And I rejoice in that. They didn't
come with an ulterior motive of any kind. They didn't come
to debate. They didn't come just to see
a spectacle like those that followed him because of the miracles.
They didn't come because they knew, you know, well, they knew
some some prophecy now and they knew he was going to be a big
shot and they wanted in on it, you know. They didn't come saying,
well, we're we're some of the only ones that knew where he
was going to be born. And so we're going to write a
book and start a ministry. You know, we'll let you know
what we know. They just came to worship. They weren't dishonest
about it, like Herod was, for example, who said, I want to
worship him. But in his heart, he hated him,
didn't he? I wonder if there's anybody like
that amongst us. The angel said to
the shepherds, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Good tiding, that's gospel, isn't
it? good news, good tidings, of great
joy that shall be to all people. But it wasn't all people without
exception, was it, that he was talking about. It's going to
be good news to all people without distinction, not just to the
Jew, out of people out of every kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue.
It'll be good news. It wasn't good news to Herod,
was it? It was bad news for him. He wasn't much pleased about
hearing about this. Savior that was being born into
the world. But what about you? Are you seeking the Lord this
morning? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself said in Luke 11, nine,
I say unto you, I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you.
Isn't that what James said? Ask. You don't have because you
didn't ask. If you're going to get anything
from God, you're going to come begging. Sooner or later, sooner
or later. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. He sought us out first, didn't
he? Saul of Tarsus wasn't seeking
him when the Lord found him. But from that day on he was seeking
him, I tell you that. From that day on. Do you remember
the parable of the importunate visitor that precedes this verse
in Luke 11, 19? It talks about a man that come
knocking on his friend's door, thought he was his friend anyway,
and said, I've got some visitors coming. I need something to feed
them. I don't have anything in my pantry. Thought maybe I could
borrow something from you and the man's in base, I'm in bed
with my children. Go away. You're waking us up,
go away. And the fellow just kept knocking.
He didn't have anywhere else to go. He just kept on knocking. And finally, the Lord said in
this parable, just because of the fact that he was importunate,
that he wouldn't go away, he wouldn't stop, that the man finally
got up and said, here, just take what you need and get out of
here. Now the message of that parable is not that if you bug
God enough he'll break down and do what he doesn't want to do
for you. The message of that parable is this, even someone
who doesn't want to do what you need them to do will reluctantly
do so if you ask. Sooner or later they will. God,
on the other hand, He's ready to give you what you want. You're
His children. He's ready to give you what's
good for you. He's ready to give you. He's quick to show mercy. He
delights to show mercy. You have not. Why? Because you're
bothering God and He don't much want to do it for you? No, because
you haven't asked Him. That's why. That's what the book
says. You haven't asked Him. You're not seeking, that's why. Jeremiah 29, 13, you shall seek
me and you shall find me when you search for me with all your
heart. How important is it to you to find Him? And why are
you trying to find Him? Isaiah 55, 6, seek you the Lord
while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he'll have mercy upon him.
That's what God does. He delights to show mercy. He'll
have mercy upon you. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him
while he is near. He will have mercy. He will abundantly
pardon. Verse 10 in our text, when they
saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when
they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with
Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they
had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts. gold
and frankincense and myrrh. When they found him, they rejoiced.
Those who find him rejoice with exceeding great
joy. The shepherds in Luke 2 15 saw
a little baby and it says they glorified and praised God for
all that they had seen and heard. They saw him as a little infant. The wise men, it says here, they
saw a young child. This was probably a year or a
little more than a year later. Not more than two years, because
it says Herod, when he realized that the wise men weren't coming
back to tell him where the child was, that he killed everybody
two years old and under. but he wasn't a babe anymore
like he was when the shepherds saw him but he was a young child
in a house and they worshipped him. Simeon saw him as a little
baby eight days old and worshipped him. Isaiah saw him as the exalted
king of glory and worshipped him. John saw him on Patmos and
said, when I turned and looked and saw him, I fell down at his
feet as a dead man. He worshipped. A leopard met
him coming down out of the mountain and fell down and worshipped
him and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. A thief
on a cross said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
As a baby, they said, we're looking for the king. As a young child,
they owned him as the king. They bowed down before him. And
he hung on the cross, paying for our sins. And there was a
superscription written above his head, this is Jesus the king.
And it says they opened their treasures, they presented unto
him gifts. Well, if he's the king, he doesn't
need their gifts. No, but his people did. Joseph
and Mary did. They're about to have to move
to Egypt. And they were poor. They didn't have anything. Any
way to get there. Joseph didn't have money to open
up a carpenter shop. I'm going to travel all that
way, move to a new place where he didn't know anybody, but the
Lord provided. How? With what these men worshiped
him with. He didn't need their gifts, no,
but they needed to give them. You remember in 2 Samuel 24,
when David, he needed a place and some animals
to offer unto God. And he came to a man named Arona,
who had a threshing floor. And he said, I want to buy this
threshing floor, I want to buy some oxen. so that I might offer
a burnt offering unto the Lord my God. And Aaron said, you don't
need any money. Whatever you need, take it. It's
yours. I give it all to you. And King David said this, no,
neither will I offer burnt offerings unto thee. I'll buy it of thee
at a price. Neither will I offer burnt offerings
unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So
David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of
silver. Do we understand what happened
here? This is not payment for sin. That's what the burnt offering
was. The 50 shekels is worship. That's worship. The gold and
the frankincense and myrrh. That's not something that they
did after they worshipped him. Did you notice the text? It says
they worshipped him and when they had opened their treasures,
They didn't worship him and then open their treasure. That's what
the worship was. That was part of the worship.
They opened their treasures. And that's still part of the
worship. Are you seeking the Lord this morning? Am I? Where
will we find him? Why are we seeking him? Who is he? Is he worth seeking? Is it necessary? I believe those
questions are answered in this text, don't you? Matthew in this
book is telling us who he is, what he did, why he did it, and
where he is now. And in the beginning, he said
his birth was like this. And when he was born, here's
what happened. And this is the way it happened. And as we read
it and study it, and God gives light, we're able like them to
come where He is if we're seeking Him in our hearts. We come where
He is. We know where He is because we
have light and we worship Him by His grace.