Verse 1, now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came
wise men from the east, magi from the east. A word taken from
the language of the Medes and the Persians 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. When Herod the king had heard
these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. I've entitled this message, the
issue of worship, the issue of worship. Now, as soon as Christ was born,
there was conflict. As a matter of fact, there was
a murder attempt as we go on reading in this passage of scripture.
And the conflict was over this thing of worship. These Magi from the East had
come to worship him. Now, who were these wise men?
Now I read that passage of scripture from Daniel chapter nine, because
the word is literally Magi. They were people from the Medes
and the Persians. Now that passage of scripture
in Daniel chapter nine spoke of the coming of the Messiah
from that time. He'll come 490 years later. And these people read this. These
wise men from the East, these Magi, and they came to worship
him who was born King of the Jews. Now, verse four, or verse three, when Herod the
King had heard these things from these wise men, he was troubled
and all of 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, this one whom they were
speaking of. And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, for
thus it's written by the prophet to thou Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, not the least among the princes of Judah, for out
of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Herod heard these things that
made him nervous. Then Herod, when he had privileged 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. Now, as
soon as true worship is established, counterfeit is brought into place,
isn't it? He said, I'm going to worship
too. And you know, he didn't mean this. When they had heard
the King, they departed and lo the star, which they saw on the
East went before them. till it came and stood over where
the young child was. Now this star was not like one
of the stars you see up in the sky. This was in the atmosphere
and it traveled. They watched this star. They
saw this star, some kind of supernatural thing. And I love the way it
says it stood over where the young child was. It stopped. Its mission was complete. Verse
nine or verse 10. And when they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. These wise men were excited. Remember in that prophecy, it
says he'll make an end of sin. He'll make reconciliation for
iniquity. He'll bring in everlasting righteousness. The Messiah will
do all these things. Of course, they're excited. Of
course, they're filled with joy at the thought of this one that
they came to worship. Verse 11. And when they were
coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary and
his mother and fell down and worshiped him. And when they'd
opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold
and frankincense and myrrh, gifts fit for a king and being warned
of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed
into their own country another way. And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream
saying, arise and take the young child and his mother and flee
into Egypt. And be thou there until I bring the word for Herod
will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he
took the young child and his mother by night and departed
into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod, that it might
be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying,
out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw
that he was mocked of the wise man, was exceeding wrath and
sent forth. And I, what could be more bloodthirsty
than this? He slew all the children that
were in Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof from two years
old and under, according to the time which he diligently inquired
of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying, and Rhema was their voice
heard lamentation and weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping
for her children who would not be comforted. because they were
not. What a horrid action that he
would kill these two-year-olds, but here's what the issue was. He wanted this one who was to
be worshiped, who was king, born king of the Jews, wiped out. Now what is worship? That's a good question. What
is worship? These wise men came to worship
Him. They fell down when they saw
this little baby in a manger. They fell down prostrate at His
feet and they worshipped Him. What is this thing of worship? Worship And the kingship of Christ
are inseparably connected. They worshiped him who was born
king of the Jews. Now here's what I believe is
a good definition of worship. If you could call something so
high and glorious, if you can define it, worship is a response
to the revelation of the living God. Worship, true worship is a response
to the revelation of the living God. He is the object of worship and
he is the object of worship to the exclusion of all other objects
of worship. whether men's ideas and idolatry
and false imaginations of how they think God is or creatures. He is the object of worship to
the exclusion of all other objects of worship. Would you turn with
me for a moment to John chapter four. This is a very important passage
of scripture regarding worship. John chapter four, beginning
in verse 16, it says the Lord talking to the woman of Samaria,
John chapter four, verse 16, Jesus sayeth unto her, go call
thy husband and come hither. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, thou hast well said,
I have no husband for thou has had five husbands. And he whom
thou now has is not thy husband in that sets out truly the woman. I guess feels exposed. So she
goes to religion. The woman sayeth unto him, sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. I mean, obviously you are, you
can see these things about my past. You must be a prophet.
Then she speaks of worship. Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Worship defined by a place to
be. Jesus sayeth unto her, woman,
Believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain
or yet at Jerusalem, worship the father, you worship, you
know, not what we know, what we worship for salvation is of
the Jews. True knowledge is necessary. Absolutely indispensable. in
worship. You can't worship an unknown
God, an unrevealed God. You can't worship without the
knowledge of the living God. Now let's go on reading. He says
in verse 23, but the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers,
I want to be one of those, don't you? I don't want to be like
Herod. He said, bring him me the information.
I worship him too. I don't want to be like here.
I want to be a true worshiper. He said the hour cometh and now
is when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit
and in truth for the father seeketh such to worship him. You know,
he's seeking such to worship him right now. He's seeking such
to worship him. in spirit and in truth. Verse
24, God is a spirit and they that worship him must, this is
absolutely necessary for worship. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. Now here's what's necessary for
worship. Spirit. the Holy Spirit. A natural man
cannot worship. It takes a spiritual man to worship. People say, well, I'm gonna look
at my spiritual side. If you're lost, you don't have a spiritual side.
You got soul, but you don't have a spiritual side. Only a new
man has been given a spiritual nature, born of the spirit of
God. That which is born of the spirit,
our Lord said, is spirit. For me to worship the living
God, I have to have a divine nature that is capable of worship,
that's capable of knowing the living God and of worshiping
the living God. Worship is impossible for a natural
man. I have to have the spirit of
God. Now listen to this scripture, Philippians chapter three, verse
three, we are the circumcision. which worship God in the spirit. Now, what does it mean to worship
God in the spirit? He tells us in the next two things,
he says, we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Here's spiritual worship. We
rejoice, we glory, we have confidence only in Christ Jesus. The only confidence that I have
is that all God requires of me, he looks to his son for. That's
the only confidence I have. And I don't have any confidence
in the flesh, not in my flesh, not in your flesh, not in anybody's
flesh. Flesh is sin. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Turn with me to first Corinthians
two for a moment. Verse nine, but as it's written, I have not
seen nor heard, neither at the entered into the heart of man,
the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed, remember worship is a response to the revelation
of God. You and I can't know God unless
he's pleased to reveal himself to us. Don't you know that so?
Don't you know you're totally and I'm totally dependent upon
him revealing himself to me. The only way you can know what's
going on in here is if I reveal it to you. And the only way we
can know the living God is if he reveals himself to us. Verse 10. But God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit, God the Holy
Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity, searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so, The things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. Now,
we've received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but what the Holy Ghost teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but the natural man.
That's the way we're born into this world. Receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. I have
to have God the Holy Spirit to understand the gospel. No natural
man can. But he that's spiritual judges
or discerns all things. Yet he himself is discerned of
no man or judged of no man. A natural man can't understand
a spiritual man. Can't possibly do it. Doesn't have anything
to work with. For who have known the mind of the Lord that we
may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ, this spiritual
man. Now, what does it take to worship
God? Really, who does it take? Takes
the Holy Spirit. And it takes the truth. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit. And in truth, there is no worship
of God apart from the truth. The truth of the gospel, the
truth of the word, the truth concerning the character of the
living God, who he really is as he reveals himself in his
word, the truth concerning man, the truth concerning salvation.
Now, the truth, listen to this statement. The truth is the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know the truth,
Look to that one nailed to a cross. And there you'll find the truth
about yourself. That's the only place you'll
really find the truth about yourself. Don't look within. Don't look
within. Look to the cross. Don't look at the things you've
done or refrained from doing. You look to the cross. The one
time men were left alone. All the restraints were taken
away. And they were allowed to do what they wanted to do. They
nailed the Son of God to a cross. And that is precisely what you
and I would do. That's the truth. You want to
know the truth concerning the true character of God, you look
at the cross. There he gives the full manifestation
of himself. He's holy. He won't let sin go
unpunished. He's just. But oh, He's gracious. He's merciful. He delights in
mercy. He delights to save sinners.
He gave His Son. And we find the truth regarding
salvation. Jesus Christ Himself is salvation. There's no worship of God apart
from God, the Holy Spirit, and apart from the truth. Worship
is a response to the revelation of God. And where there is worship,
there is fear. And there is reverence where
there is worship. There is love to God as he reveals
himself in his word. You love all of his attributes.
You love who he is. Where there's worship, there's hearing. Do
you know what we're doing right now is worship? We're hearing. We're hearing what God says.
We're not here to hear what a man's thoughts are. We're here to hear
what God says. There's nothing more passive
than hearing, is there? You just sit there and listen to what's
said. God's Word. Where there is worship, there
is prayer. You know, when we pray, we're
saying, I have no control and you have all control over everything. That's what we're saying when
we pray. I have no control over this. I can't do it. But the
King's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water,
he turneth it whithersoever he will. Where there's worship,
there is faith. We believe what God says, exactly
as he says it. Where there's worship, there's
obedience. By faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go into a place where he should afterwards receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. Obeyed. not knowing whether he
went. Where there is worship, there
is willing submission. We willingly submit. It's not
just an act of resignation because we don't have any choice. We
willingly submit to whatever God brings our way. Now, all
of this is involved in the worship of the living God, in the Trinity
of the sacred persons, He is thy Lord, worship thou him. Now let's go back to Matthew,
Matthew chapter two. I want to look at this passage
of scripture a little bit more closely. Matthew chapter two. Now verse one, 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, and Like I
said, the word wise man is a word that came out of the Medes and
the Persians. I don't have any doubt that these
were men who had studied the writings of Daniel. And they
knew that Daniel made this prophecy 490 years before, and now it's
time. They didn't know the exact day,
but they knew it was time for the Messiah to be here. The one
who'd make an end of sins, the one who'd make reconciliation
for iniquity, the one who would bring in everlasting righteousness. And they wanted to come that
they might worship him. 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 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. Christ was born king. You know, when they tried to
make him king in John chapter six, remember that when they
tried to make him king, he'd fed a bunch of them. They said,
let's make him king. And he refused then making him king. You know
why? Because he already was king and no man makes him king. You
know, when people say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your
life? I hate that. You don't make Jesus the Lord
of your life. He is the Lord of your life. He's your Lord.
Whether you know it or not, he's in control. He's the king. His kingship speaks of his sovereignty. He's the king over his kingdom.
The kingdom of God is the kingdom of Christ. It's the sphere of
his rule. You see, he's the king of kings
and he's the Lord of lords. He's born king of the Jews and
king, a king's king. Not just a paper king, not just
a king in title. I mean, he's truly king. You know what that
means? That means everybody is in his hands. Men, angels, devils,
even Satan himself is under the dominion of King Jesus and can't
make a move without him. Now, my dear friend, you and
I are in his hand and the issue is not what will you do with
him, but what will he do with you? That's the issue. And if you ever know who he is,
if I ever know who he is, we'll understand that he is the king. Now there was a star. He was
in the atmosphere. It was wholly supernatural. that
brought them to this place, we're come to worship him for who he
is, the one who's born King of the Jews. Verse three, when Herod
the King had heard these things, he was troubled, vexed, disturbed,
and all of Jerusalem with him. You know, men are not troubled
by Jesus they can control, are they? They can put Him in their
back pocket, bring Him out anytime they want. Pray to Him whenever
they want to get Him to do things for them and put them back undisturbed.
Nobody's afraid of that Jesus, but a Jesus that is King, that
is the absolute sovereign of the universe. When men hear of
Him, they become troubled. They do become troubled. If he's
king, where does that leave me? That means I'm in his hands.
Sure, he's troubled. People are always troubled when
they hear of the king of kings. Verse four, and we gathered all
the chief priests and scribes of the people together. He demanded
of them where Christ should be born. He was very concerned about
all this. And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, It
was foretold in the book of Micah chapter five, that this is where
the Messiah would be born as it's written in the prophet.
Now, Bethlehem in the land of Judea are not the least among
the princes of Judah for out of these shall come a governor
that shall rule my people Israel. Remember the scripture says the
government should be upon his shoulders and his name should
be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting
father, the prince of peace. Verse seven, then Herod, 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, come bring me word again that I may come and
worship him also. You know, he's called Herod the
great historically, but I think a pretty good name for him would
be Herod the hypocrite, don't you? Come bring him to me that
I may worship him. 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. And when they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. You see, they had some knowledge
of who he was and what he came to do and what he accomplished
in doing it. And they were rejoiced. They were happy. Does it make
you happy that he made an end of sins? Does it make you happy that he
actually made reconciliation for iniquity? I mean, already
reconciled. Does it make you happy that he
brought in everlasting righteousness? Oh, it does me. They rejoiced
with exceeding joy. And in verse 11, I think we find
out what true worship is. Verse 11. And when they were coming to
the house, They saw the young child with Mary, his mother. Now the word saw means more than
a physical sight. It means they perceived who he
was. It's not just the word that deals
with physical sight, like I'm looking at Delphus right now,
I see him physically. No, it means they perceived, they understood
who he was, the son of God. This was he whose goings forth
had been from old, even from everlasting. They didn't stumble
at the smell of the animals and the lowly surroundings. This
is the child born. This is the son 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, the ancient of days. And this
is where everything begins. You see who he is. Now, if you see who he is, I
don't have any doubt that you'll believe Sovereign Grace. No doubt
about it. You ever see who he is? You will
believe Sovereign Grace. You ever see who he is? You'll
believe that he must be successful in whatever he did. You ever
see who he is? You'll be just like that thief.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You know he's
the Lord. You know he's not going to stay dead. He's a mighty king
and a mighty conqueror. And oh, if he just remembers
me, everything will be all right. We know who he is. Now look what
it says next, verse 11. And when they were coming to
the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother,
and what they do, they fell down. They fell down, prostate at his
feet. Now this is what always happens
in worship. If you see him, If I see Him,
we will fall down. You can't see Him and stay up. It is absolutely impossible. You see Him, you'll hit the dirt. Gone are your high thoughts of
yourself. Gone is your self-sufficiency. You will fall if you see Him. Daniel said, when I saw him,
my comeliness turned to corruption. That's what happens when you
see him, you will fall before him. And it says next in verse 11,
they saw him, they perceived who he was. They fell down and
they worshiped him. What form of worship do you prefer? Traditional or contemporary?
You ever see him? That foolishness will cease. Mode of worship and style of
worship. You only have that when you don't
have a God that's worthy of worship. You have a God worthy of worship.
That foolishness will leave you. and you fall at His feet. There's
not forms and styles of worship. You worship Him. Worship's not
a cultural thing. It's a spiritual thing. You worship
Him. They worshipped Him. Now, they
worshipped Him. Now, I know this. They worshiped
him. Now what, what happens when somebody
worships? Well, let's see, let's see some
examples just in the book of Matthew of people who the Bible
says they worship. Somebody says we have a worship
service. Well, I don't know if you did, maybe you did, maybe you
didn't, but I know these people did. Here's some people who really
worshiped. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
eight. When he was come down from the
mountain after the sermon on the Mount, great multitudes followed
him, and behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me glad. Now this worship, This man was
a leper. Luke's account tells us he was
full of leprosy. And he came and he worshipped
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he worshipped the Lord Jesus
Christ before he was healed. What that lets me know is worship
is not for gain. You worship Jesus Christ for
who he is. Not because of what you think
he can do for you or because of what you can get out of him.
He's to be worshipped for who he is. And until that's settled,
nothing else will be settled. He is to be worshipped. And look
what he said. He came and worshipped him saying,
Lord, He knew he was the Lord. He said, Lord, if you will, he
knew salvation was totally up to Christ. It wasn't, this fellow
didn't believe in free will at all. You know, people talk about
my will, your will. God, if God ever reveals himself
to you, you know, whose will is going to be done. You know,
that Lord, if you will, You have the ability to make me clean. And that's what I need. I need
to be made clean. And the Lord said, I will. Be thou clean. And I love to
think of that fella, all of a sudden he had healthy flesh. You look
at him, all of a sudden he was by the will of Christ. Now look
in Matthew chapter nine. Verse 18, while he spake these things unto
them, behold, there came a certain ruler and worshiped him saying,
my daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon
her and she shall live. Now he came worshiping. And he
came believing that Jesus Christ could do what only God could
do. He believed in the ability of
Jesus Christ. Now that's worship. That's worship. Believing his... My daughter's
dead. No human hope. But you can give
her life. That's worship. Do you believe
that Jesus Christ has the ability to give you life from the dead. That is worship. Turn with me
to Matthew chapter 14, verse 32. And when they were coming to
the ship, The wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship
came and worshiped him." Remember, you only worship God, in true
worship. Saving. Of a truth. Thou art the Son of God. Worship is confessing who He
is. What hinders me from being baptized?
Well, if you believe with all your heart, you may. He said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Whom say men
that I am? Well, they say good things. Some
say you're Elias, Elijah, one of the prophets. Whom say ye
that I am? Thou art the Christ. The Son of the Living God. That's worship. Turn to Matthew
15. Verse 21. Then Jesus went thence
and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and behold,
A woman of Canaan, a Gentile, came out of the same coast and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son
of David! My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
He didn't respond to her. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. Evidently,
she kept crying the same thing. Do you know If you ever want
mercy, you cannot be shut up. You'll keep crying for mercy. You won't stop. You can't. You'll
continue. If you can stop, you never asked
for mercy in the first place. I don't know what it was you
were doing, but wasn't asking for mercy. Because if you ever ask
for mercy, that's what you must have. So she could not be quieted. Verse 24, but he answered and
said, I'm not sent, but into the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Now she's a Gentile. He says, I've only come for the
Jews. I didn't come to save everybody.
I came to save only the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And the Lord Jesus says, I came to save the elect. Now he didn't
come save everybody. He never intended to. If he intended
to save everybody, everybody'd be saved. And you know that because
of who he is. He only came to save the elect.
Now, will that ever keep a sinner from coming to him? No, no. Now, if you, if you get upset
with that and say, well, how's that fair? Remember what you're
saying. You're saying he owes that to me. That's what you're
saying. He owes that to me. And you're all of a sudden coming
to Christ as if he's your debtor and he owes you something. The
Lord ain't going to have anything to do with anybody like that. He's just
not going to do it. You come that way, you're going to come
the way this woman did. Now, after he said this, verse
25, then, then, then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, Help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. But she came and worshipped him. But he answered and said, it's
not me to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. And she said, truth. That's the
truth. I'm a dog. That's the truth.
You only give your bread, the gospel of your grace to your
children, that's the truth. And I'm a dog. Yet the dogs eat
of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. I may be
a dog, but I'm your dog. And all I'm asking is for the
crumbs of your mercy to come my way. Now, a lot of people
would have said about this woman, she needs some kind of, she needs
her self-esteem built up. She needs some kind of psychological
help or something. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, Great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even
as thou wilt. Now these people worship, didn't
they? The Bible says these people worship. Now go back to Matthew
2. Verse 11. And when they were
coming to the house, they saw the young child. They perceived
who he was with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and they worshiped
him. And when they'd opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense
and myrrh. They gave gifts appropriate for
a king. But here's the point. Where there's worship, there's
love. Where there's love, there's giving. That was a part of their worship.
They gave these gifts. What does love do? Love gives. That's about as good a definition
of love as you can find. Love gives. God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son. They presented to him their
gifts. And you know what is interesting
about our gifts? Our gifts are worthless in and
of themselves. What in the world do we have
that the King could even accept? But do you know the Lord Jesus
makes our gifts perfect and accepted in the sight of God. Worship gifts. Now, the issue of worship is
to be settled before anything else. Is Jesus Christ worthy
of your worship? I'm not asking you if you are
saved or anything that you do. Is Jesus Christ worthy of you
falling prostate at his feet and worshiping? Now until that
issue is settled, nothing else will be settled. He's the King. Listen to this scripture. So
shall the King greatly desire thy beauty. He is thy Lord. Worship thou.