Would you turn back to Mark chapter
two? I've entitled this message, What
Wise Men Do. Do you know that I'm not exaggerating
or embellishing anything when I say there are two types of
people in this world? Those whom God calls wise. and those whom God calls foolish. Which one am I? I hope I'll know
that by the end of this message, but I think of the parable the
Lord gave of the wise virgins and the foolish virgins. I think it's interesting in the
scripture so many times men are always placed into one of two
different groups. And I've entitled this message,
What Wise Men Do. Now this is about the wise men
that came to Bethlehem from the east. I asked Lynn, I think today
or yesterday, how many wise men were there? She said three. Bible
never says that. It's in all the nativity scenes.
But there may have been a lot more than that. of these wise
men that came from the East. Now, the greatest event in the
history of the universe, from the creation of the universe
until that present time, had just taken place, the birth of
Jesus Christ. That is the greatest event that
had ever taken place up to that point. Now there are events of
equal importance every second of his life. Those 33 years he
walked upon this earth fulfilling all righteousness. His death,
that's so mysterious to me that Jesus Christ could die. He's
God. He's man, he's the God-man. How
can the God-man die? That's mysterious to me. But he did. And this is why he
came to this planet in the first place, to die. They spake of
the decease which he should accomplish. And then there's his resurrection. Don't you love to think of him
being in the tomb, dead, lifeless, not breathing, actually dead. And all of a sudden, his heart
began to beat. His lungs began to heave. He
opened his eyes in the darkness of that womb. And the only one
who witnessed this was his father. But when he was raised from the
dead, the scripture says he was raised for our justification.
God accepted everything he did. He was well pleased with it.
And then his ascension. when he ascended back into glory. I love to think, and I don't
understand this, but I thought heaven without him was without
him for 33 years. I don't understand that, and
I know that he even spake of himself as the son of man, speaking
from the earth, which is in heaven. Somehow, as God, he was always
there and never left, but he left for 33 years. The angels
watched him leave. How must have they felt when
he ascended back into glory? Now, there came some wise men
from the east. Verse one, now when Jesus was
born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Now, as I've
already said, we don't know how many there were. maybe 20 or
30, maybe just two, I don't know. The three comes from the nativity
scene, and these three kings of what that song we sing of
Orient, I can't even remember what the words are to it, but
I don't know how many there were, but they were from the east. East was Babylon, the place where
Israel had spent 70 years. Perhaps these were Men who had
never come back from Babylon, but they'd read the book of Daniel.
And in the book of Daniel and Daniel chapter nine, Daniel tells
exactly what year the Lord would be born in 490 years. And perhaps these men had studied
the book of Daniel and they thought it's time. This is when he said
the Messiah would come. Some have even, and these are
conjectures, some have thought they're Abraham's concubine's
son that he sent east and gave everything to Isaac. And maybe
they studied Daniel. I know it has something to do
with the book of Daniel. And they thought the time is here
and here we are. The time of his birth has come. Now these were Wise men, and
they did what wise men do. Verse two, here's what these
wise men did, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in
the East, in the land of Babylon, the land of Persia. We just read
about Esther. This took place there in Persia.
What a glorious book. What a glorious type of the gospel
in every chapter. This took place in Persia, this
land of the East. And these men from the East come
to seek Him who was born King of the Jews. And the first thing
that I would think about what wise men do, they seek the Lord.
To not seek the Lord is to be a fool. Wise men seek The Lord. Seek ye first, the Lord said,
the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness. And all these
other things will be added to you. Don't worry about the things
for tomorrow. You've got enough things to deal
with today. The things of tomorrow will take
care of themselves. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. Our Lord said, what would a prophet
of man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul. And what would a man give in
exchange for his soul? Now this is what wise men do.
They seek the Lord. If I do not seek the Lord, I
am a fool. And really the best advice I
could give to anybody other than believe on Christ is seek the
Lord. What should I do? Seek the Lord. And these men had some understanding
of who it was they were seeking. They were seeking him that was
born King of the Jews. Perhaps they'd read Isaiah chapter
nine. Let me read that to you in verse
six. It says, for unto us a child
is born and to us a son is given and the government shall be upon
his shoulder. And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. I've tried to read what men say
about that verse and try to explain why he's called the Mighty God
and the Everlasting Father. And well, I just like it. I love it. As a matter of fact,
I don't know what else to say about it. I don't know how to comment
on it, but the Lord did say he that see me, hath seen the Father."
Look in verse seven, of the increase of his government and peace,
there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his
kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment, with justice
from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Now, they knew who it was that
they were seeking. He that was born King of the
Jews. I'd like you to turn to Daniel
because I feel like these men came from Daniel's prophecy in
Daniel chapter nine, where he said, Messiah will come in 490
years, 70 times seven, that's 490 years. But look in Daniel
chapter four, verse three, this description, and they read these
descriptions of his kingdom. This is the one they were looking
for. Daniel chapter four, verse three, how great are his signs
and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom, this king, born
king of the Jews is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion, his
sovereignty, his rule from generation to generation. Look down in verse
34 of the same chapter. At the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding returned
unto me. He lost it, but the Lord gave
it back. I'm so thankful for that. My
understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or saying to him, what doest
thou? Look in chapter six of the same book. Verse 25. Then King Darius, wrote unto
all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth,
peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God and steadfast forever and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even
unto the end. Look in chapter seven. Verse 13, I saw in the night visions and
behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven
and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before
him. And when they were, and there was given him dominion
and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages
would serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom That which
shall not be destroyed. Now this is the King they were
looking for. They read of him, him that was
born King of the Jews. Now he's everybody's King. Unwillingly. He's everybody's King. He's not
my king. Yeah, he is. Yeah, he is. He's
your Lord. You're in his hands. He's gonna
do with you whatsoever he's pleased to do. He's everybody's king,
but he's most especially the king of the Jews. Those who love
his kingship. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence Now this is the king they were looking for, the
one described in Daniel. And if you would read Daniel
chapter nine, you would tell when he gives the time of his
coming. Now, what do these men say in
verse two of Matthew chapter 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."
Now, the east was Persia, the land of Babylon, and evidently
this star was in the atmosphere. It wasn't a star up in the universe.
It was a star in this atmosphere, kind of like the burning lamp
that Abraham saw. Maybe the exact same thing, but
this this star, they followed because this star was going to
tell them where the young child was and we're going to come back
to that in a few moments. But where is he that's born king
of the Jews for we've seen his star in the east and are come
to worship him. Here is what wise men do. worship. Now this issue of worship is
to be settled before anything else can be settled. The issue
of worship. Now true worship, and it bears
no resemblance to the worship of human religion, it's not worship,
but True worship. Behold, there came a leper and
worshipped him. Now we know this leper worshipped. Somebody said, we had a worship
service. Well, maybe you did, maybe you didn't. I know this
fellow worshipped because the Bible says he did. Behold, there
came a leper and worshipped him. And what I want us to notice
is he worshipped him, and this is what true worship has to do
with. He worshipped him before he knew whether the Lord would
do anything with him or not. This issue of worship is to be
settled. It doesn't have anything to do
with what the Lord does for me or what he doesn't do for me.
He's to be worshipped for who he is, without respect to what
he does for me or you. He's the Lord. and he is to be
worshiped. The leper came into his presence
and worshiped. He fell on his face and worshiped,
saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. That is worship. I think of the Syrophoenician
woman. She came to the Lord. Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. She had a great need and she
came the right way. She addressed him as the son
of David. She knew who he was. She was coming for the right
thing. Mercy. She wasn't coming in her own
name or in her own merit. She came for mercy. This woman
has a pretty impressive resume. And the scripture says he answered
her, not a word. He ignored her. He did not respond
to her. And she kept crying. She continued
to cry, and the disciples said, Lord, send her away. She's crying
after us. And the Lord said, I'm not sent. Now listen to what he says. I'm
not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now here's
exactly what that means. I've only come to save the elect.
That's exactly what that means. Doesn't mean anything different
from that. And he told this woman that. I've come to save the elect. The lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Now this was a Gentile woman. What did she do? Then came she
and worshiped him. That's worship. Saying, Lord,
help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. Lord, help me. And that's when he said, it's
not right to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. And rather than getting mad and
offended, she said, that's the truth, Lord. If I ever heard
the truth, that's it. But the dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from their master's table. Now that's worship. That's worship. These fellows came and worshiped
That's why they came, we are come to worship Him. Now verse
3, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled. And all of Jerusalem with him. Now when he heard of this one
who's born king of the Jews, the one who's the absolute sovereign
of the universe, Herod knew that if this one was king, that means
he wasn't. That's where his trouble came from. He was troubled by
this. This is costing me something. If he really is king of the Jews,
what's that make me? He was troubled by this and so
was the rest of the world and men are always troubled when
they hear of the sovereign kingship of Jesus Christ. That is when
men are troubled. Men are not troubled by the weak
Jesus who can't move unless they let him. Men aren't troubled
by Jesus, whose will can't be done unless I let him. I can
thwart his will, and I've got a free will that trumps his.
Men are not troubled by that Jesus. He's a non-existent Jesus. He's not real, he's a figment
of men's imaginations. But men are not troubled by the
Jesus they make up, but they're troubled by the sovereign Christ,
and here's why. That means we have no control
in salvation. It's not in our hands, it's his.
It's in his. That is why people are troubled
with this. Now, there are fools who hate
this, and there are wise men who love it. Now, let me tell
you why a fool hates this. Because they're hoping something
they do, and it's taken it all away. They resent this. They hate this. Wise men love this. Because they
understand the only way they can be saved is if He is who
He says He is and saves the way He saves. Now, the declaration, the Bible is
the Word of God. Human opinions and thoughts don't
count. Human objections don't have a
voice. I don't like that. I do. They're
two different responses. I love that. I love that there
is a divine authoritative word that we bow to. And this divine authoritative
word declares that God is God in absolute control of everyone
and everything, the absolute sovereign of the universe. Somebody
says, I don't like that. I do. I do. I love who he is. Now the scripture
tells us that this God who is in absolute control, salvation's
of Him in all three of His persons. God the Father elected a people
before time began. God the Son redeemed those people
successfully. God the Holy Spirit calls them
invincibly and they will, by the grace of God, persevere all
the way to the end. Now, the fool hates that because
he's hoping in his own works. The person who knows they can't
be saved by their works, they love it. They love it. I do. I do. Well, Herod didn't. When King Herod heard these things,
he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him. And when he gathered
all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded
of them where Christ should be born. He was troubled. I wanted to see if I can do something
about this. they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus
it's written by the prophet Micah chapter 5 to and now Bethlehem
in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of
Judah for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my
people Israel." Now Herod had a plan. We're gonna consider
that next week. He was going to kill every baby
two years old and under in that region. And as a matter of fact,
he did it. And Jeremiah chapter five said
that's what he would do. He was only doing that which
God had said he would do. He didn't know that. He didn't
read the book of Jeremiah. He was trying to save himself.
He was trying to save his own kingship, and he was doing whatever
he could to cover himself. And how many hundreds or even
thousands of children were killed at this time? We'll read about
that in the last part of the chapter. But he's got this covered
in this response. Look what he says. In Herod,
verse 7, when he had privily 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 found him, bring me word again that
I may come and worship him also. What a lie. His intentions were
to kill everybody that could be this child, to try to save
his own neck. He didn't realize that there's
nothing he could do. He didn't realize he was nothing more than
the Lord's puppet doing the Lord's will, but he thought he could
save himself. And he said, I wanna worship him too. So verse nine,
back to the star. When they'd 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 lay. Now, like I said, this star was
in the atmosphere. This was not some star up in
the heavens. It was in our atmosphere, I think. That's the only way it makes
sense to me. And they could follow it. But what was the purpose
of this star to bring them to where Christ was? That was the only purpose of
that star, to bring them to where Christ was. Now, if the light you have does
not bring you to Christ, it's not the light of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever light it is, it's not God's light. But if the light
you have brings you to Christ, It is the light of the Holy Spirit. Evidently, not everybody could
see this light, only these wise men. And the only ones who see
this light are the ones he gives eyes to see. Now where does this
light, this star, stop? It came and it stood. It quit moving. over him. Now, any light you have that
goes beyond Christ and doesn't stop there, leaving you looking
and resting in him alone is a false light, a wandering star. Do you and I know what it is? to look to Christ and find satisfaction
and rest because you know that everything God requires of you,
he looks to his son for and you stay right there. Satisfied. resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're satisfied that He is all. No, you're not satisfied with
yourself. I realize that. You're not satisfied with the
strength of your faith. You're not satisfied with the
power of your love, but you're satisfied with this. He's all.
He's all God requires. He's all I have. He's all I want. You stay. Once that star has reached its
destination, we hear no more of this star. Stood over where the young child
was when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great
joy. If I see who he is, That one
in swaddling clothes in the manger, that one who only eight days
later Simeon would take up into his hands and say, Lord, now
let us how thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. These fellows saw God's salvation. They understood that. They knew
He was born like no one else. He was born King of the Jews.
They knew He was God's Messiah. They knew He was God's Christ.
And they rejoiced. They rejoiced. And if I ever
see who He is, I'll rejoice. You see, if you and I see who
He is, we'll believe. When people do not believe, it's
because they've never really seen who He is. You see who He
is. will believe. I have no question about that.
Everybody who's ever seen who he is, they believe him. Now, we have the elements of
worship in verse 11. And when they were come into
the house, they saw the young child and
they weren't just seeing a baby. They were seeing he who was born
king of the Jews. They saw him whose dominion is
an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom ruleth over all. They weren't just seeing an infant. Oh, how cute, how pretty. And
don't we love babies? But this was no ordinary baby. This is the one who was born
of a virgin, the Lord Jesus Christ. When they were coming to the
house and they saw the young child with Mary, when they saw
him, it was a perception of who he was. This is salvation seeing
who he is. Now, what you think of Christ
is secondary. You understand that? Well, here's
what I think, and it's a very important issue. What think ye
of Christ? I wouldn't in any way dismiss or be dismissive
of the importance of that. That is so critical. What think
ye of Christ? What do you think of his person
and his office as prophet, priest, and king? I'll tell you something
that trumps that. Who is Jesus Christ? That is
the issue. Who is Jesus Christ? They believed who he is. And you know what proves that? They hit the dirt immediately. They fell down and worshiped. You see, they understood that
And I don't know how much of this they grasped. I tell you
what, if you read the book of Daniel, the whole gospel's in
the book of Daniel, who he really is. And God the Holy Spirit could
take that and reveal everything to them. They knew that this
one in this manger was nobody less than the one where all the
fullness of the Godhead dwelled in his body. They knew that. They knew who he was. That's
where faith comes from. It's knowing who he is. If you know
who he is, and I'm talking about a spiritual knowledge. I'm not
talking about just somebody teaching you something and you cognitively
saying, yes, I agree with that. I'm talking about a true knowledge
of who he is. He is God. When they saw that
baby in the manger, they knew this is God manifest in the flesh. When they saw who he is, look
in verse 11, what they do? They fell down and worshiped him. They hit the dirt, falling at
his feet. And when we see him, all of our
lofty, grandiose thoughts of self-confidence and self-sufficiency
and self-righteousness are slain in his presence. Pride, arrogancy, cockiness,
confidence, that all comes from not seeing Him. You see Him,
you'll fall at His feet. As a matter of fact, that's what
you're doing right now if you see Him. You fall at His feet
and worship. And when they were coming to
the house, they saw the young child with Mary. They perceived
who he was. That doesn't just simply mean
they physically beheld him. They had a perception, a discernment.
And they fell down and they worshiped him. Why? They believed who he
was. That's so simple. There's nothing
complicated about that. They saw who he was. They fell
down and they worshiped him. And when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense
and myrrh. Now there's myriad views of what gold and frankincense
and myrrh represents. I'm not all that sure. I've read
things and none of it really made sense to me. And so I'm
sure it means something, but I don't know what it means. But
I know this. When they saw him, they presented unto him gifts. Now what's that mean? They open their treasures. When
he reveals himself, we give. Every time. When he reveals himself,
we give. We give ourselves like the Macedonians. If God has opened my heart to
who he is, I give him my life. Like the Macedonians did, they
first gave their own selves to the Lord. A love so amazing,
so divine demands my soul, my life, my all. I give him myself. And it's willing. I want him
to take me. I give him my time. You know, a lot of what we think
about worship is seen in how we view our time. Well, it's
hard to find time to worship. Well, you see who he is, you
will. You give him your time, and you'll give him your money.
It's all his anyway, and you know that. You know, people talk
about, should we give a tithe? It's all His. It's all His. Whatever you give, it's all His
anyway. And you realize that. You really believe that everything
you have is His. And what did these fellas do? When they saw who He was, they
presented their gifts. That is part of worship. Wise men. Wise men still worship him. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would give
us the grace to be as these wise men, seeking him that's born King
of the Jews. We ask that you would give us
the grace to worship him. We ask that we might be like
them, stopped at him by the star. When the star stood over him,
there was nowhere else to go. It led them straight to him. And we ask that we would never,
give us grace to never try to go beyond him because we see
that he is all. And trying to go beyond him is
a subtraction from that. And Lord, give us the grace to
bow down at his feet, worship, and like these men, give of that
which you've so freely and graciously given us. Bless this message
for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray.