Let us turn in our Bibles now
to Matthew chapter 2. 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. 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. 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. 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 there until I bring thee 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 deported 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. The only thing constant in this
world is change. change. And one of the reasons
I mentioned that is because words change their meanings over time. And with use, words have different
meanings. And the word Christmas is one
of those words. We know what it meant in the
beginning, but now it has come to refer to the birth of Christ. This passage, which we've just
read here in Matthew, has also come to be part of the Christmas
story that is in the minds of many. Many think that these wise
men arrived the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. They think that the star was
over the stable where the babe was lying in a manger. And we
see that on many Christmas cards. And I know that those of us here
in this room today, we know that is not true. We know better.
But if you look in verse 11 that we read just a few minutes ago,
the wise men, we are told, saw the young child, the shepherds
who went to see him the night he was born. The scripture in
Luke 2.16 says, they saw the babe lying in a manger. Two different words altogether,
child and babe. Now I've said all that to say
this, this is my Christmas message. It does speak of the birth of
Christ, but not just the night that he was born. this passage
here in Matthew chapter 2. And I have three thoughts that
I want to focus on this morning. I pray that God the Holy Spirit
will bless each one of these subjects and use them for His
glory and for the good of God's people. There are around three
Old Testament prophecies. And all of these prophecies,
these three prophecies, come from the minor prophets. The first is, the desire of all
nations shall come. Now this prophecy, and we sang
about that just a few minutes ago, I don't know if you noticed
that. Seek ye the desire of all nations. That prophecy was given
in the book of Haggai, chapter two and verse seven. And I see
that here because these wise men were not of the nation of
Israel. These wise men who came, they
were not part of the nation of Israel. They were Gentiles. They
were not natural descendants of Abraham. When Christ was born,
when he came into this world, the religious leaders of Israel,
and for the most part, most of the people, they believed that
just to be born a Jew, just to be born a natural descendant
of Abraham, and to have the sign of circumcision, that meant that
a person was saved. That's just the way they were
taught. That's what they believed, that if you were born a Jew,
that automatically meant that you were what we would call today
a child of God. They had little use for the Gentiles,
the Jews did. They referred to the Gentiles
as dogs. The Lord met the woman of Samaria
at the well, and she was surprised. She was surprised that Jesus
would even speak to her. She asked, how is it that thou,
being a Jew, ask of me, a Samaritan, a drink of water? She was surprised
that Jesus would even speak to her. And John tells us there
that the reason is the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
They had to deal with Gentiles commercially, but if they had
had their rathers, they would have never talked or sat down
or spoken with a Gentile. They just would never have done
that because they had been taught. Not everyone. Not everyone because
we know from Luke chapter 2, that older man by the name of
Simeon, he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. That is,
he who would comfort the people of God, the consolation of Israel. And then that lady, Anna, was
in the temple there and she saw what took place with Simeon with
Christ when he took him up in his arms. He said, now mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. The Bible tells us that she began
to speak to everyone in Jerusalem who looked for redemption. In
other words, there were many, no doubt in the nation of Israel,
physical, natural descendants of Abraham who did know that
the Messiah, the Christ, would be one who would come to save
his people from their sins. But for the most part, in my
opinion, it's much like today. It's much like the society in
which we are living. If you're just a person, you're
just born, you're here on God's earth, most likely you're going
to go to heaven. When you die, you're going to
go to a better place. That's the general thinking of
most people today. This whole idea of sin and men
being born sinners and needing to be reconciled to God in order
to enjoy God's presence in eternity forever. That's pretty much a
thing of the past as far as the way people think in our country,
much like the Jews thought. Just to be born a Jew, that's
sufficient. But the Lord Jesus Christ we
know said that's not it. It's not that first birth that's
all important. Doesn't matter if you're born
a Jew or Gentile. That's not the first point that's
so important, that first birth. But it is rather that new birth
That birth which comes from above, a man must be born from above
by the Spirit of the living God if he is to see the kingdom of
God, if he is to understand the things of God. These men, these
men who came, and they came seeking Him who was born the king of
the Jews. Now they asked, they went to
Jerusalem. They saw the star and they went
to Jerusalem. They traveled to Jerusalem thinking
no doubt that was the capital of Israel, Judea. That's the place of the great
king. That's where David had reigned.
They were thinking maybe they'd find him there, but of course
he wasn't born in Jerusalem. Herod was the king, and Herod
was a wicked man. He was an evil man, a very wicked
man. And so they asked Herod, where
is he that is born king of the Jews? Now Herod, he knew that
the way to find out was to look into the scriptures. And so he
asked the scribes and the Pharisees, verse four. Verse four we read,
and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes
of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be
born. It's interesting that the wise
man asked, where is he that is born King of the Jews? But when Herod, went to the religious
leaders, he asked the question, where is he that is born Christ,
the Christ of God? These were Gentiles. I want you
to look back with me to Isaiah chapter 49, just a minute. What I see in these wise men
coming, seeking the King of the Jews, is the first fruits of
what had been promised in the Old Testament. And we see that
especially here in this passage in Isaiah 49. Listen, O Isles
unto me. Now the Jews This word, owls,
that was a term that they used for Gentiles because anything
that was over the sea, across the ocean, they looked upon as
owls. And so you Gentiles listen and
hearken you people from far. They were far from the tabernacle. They were far from the temple.
And they were like all men when we come into this world, far
from God. Far. The Lord hath called me
from the womb. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He hath called me from the womb. From the bowels of my mother
hath he made mention of my name. Remember the angel told Joseph,
you shall call his name Jesus, this one that Mary's going to
give birth to, he was named by God from the womb. This is what this verse is telling
us. He called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother
hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like
a sharp sword. That is the word of God, a sharper
than a two edged sword. In the shadow of his hand hath
he hid me, and made me a polished shaft in his quiver hath he hid
me. Like an arrow with its point,
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he speaks to his people,
when he comes in conviction, the word of God comes in power
and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. Men are pricked in their
hearts. That's what they said on the
day of Pentecost, wasn't it? They were pricked in their hearts
and they cried out, what must we do? What must we do? And said unto me, that is the
Lord God said unto Christ, thou art my servant, O Israel, in
whom I will be glorified. Christ is the one who glorified
his father. by finishing the work which he
gave him to do, by his perfect obedience all throughout his
life, by his death on the cross as a sacrifice for his people. Then I said, now this is Christ,
I have labored in vain. Now he's not saying that his
labor on the cross was in vain. We know the Bible tells us in
Isaiah chapter 53, he shall see of the travail of his soul and
be satisfied. But what this refers to is his
ministry among the Jews for the three, three and a half years
from his baptism until his crucifixion, his ministry among the Jews. And he was sent to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. That's what the Word of God tells
us. I have spent my strength for naught and in vain on the
day of Pentecost. How many people were gathered
in that upper room after three years of ministry? How many people
were gathered in that upper room? 120. I have spent my strength
for naught and in vain Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord,
and my work with my God. He had accomplished, he had done
what the Father had given him to do. And now, saith the Lord,
that form me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob
again to him, that is, the elect among the Israelites. Though
Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of
the Lord, and my God shall be. my strength. And he said, it
is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the
tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I noticed
this. I will give thee, I will give
thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation
unto the end of the earth. These wise men I see as the first
fruit of the accomplishment of the promise that God the Father
had given His Son, that He would be a light to the Gentiles, that
God's people would be called out of every nation, every tongue,
every people. Now if you look back to our text
here in Matthew, they said, we have seen his star. You see that? We have seen his star. Every
star they ever saw was his star. Right? Every star that you've
ever seen. The sun, the moon, the heavens,
the earth, they're all his. He created all things, and for
His glory all things are made. But no doubt this was a special
light. Maybe some suggest a comet or
a meteor. I'm not sure about that, but
it was something different. But it was a great light. One
time years ago in Yucatan, Mexico, I was coming back from a Service
where I preached and it was late at night and all of a sudden
I saw to my left. I was driving a light Well, I
was out in the boondocks. I mean in the country There was
no lights out there and I saw a light and it got brighter and
brighter and brighter and then It lit up the whole whole sky
And then it was gone The next day I read in the paper that
it had been part of a meteor that had fallen, and they gave
the location where it had come down. I'm not sure what this
star was that they saw, but it was a great light. And it was
enough for them to buy a ticket on Southwest Airlines and fly
to Jerusalem. No, no. It was enough for them. to get their camels, I assume,
and their gifts, and to start out on a hard, long journey. Now my second point in prophecy
is from this prophecy that's given here in our text from verse
six. 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. This
prophecy comes from Micah chapter five and verse two. When they asked, where is the
king born of the Jews? And Herod asked the priest where
Christ should be born. We know that Christ means anointed
Messiah, And he came into this world as a mediator between God
and men, and he is the anointed prophet of God, priest of God,
and yes, the king. As the anointed prophet of God,
you know a prophet, his work is to come from God to the people
with a message. In Hebrews chapter one, we are
told that God hath in these last days spoken unto us in his son. He is the prophet of God. And
then he is a priest. He was not born of the tribe
of Levi, so he could not have entered into the priesthood under
the law of Moses, the law that was given at Sinai. He's of the
tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. David is his father. How did
he become a priest? With an oath. God has sworn thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And he's
anointed the king, the king that God said in Psalm 2, I have set
my king upon my holy hill of Zion. He is that king of kings
and Lord of lords. Now I want to point this out
to us. It was a strange occurrence. Seeing this light, this star,
that was a phenomenon, a strange occurrence. that prompted them
to take their journey to seek him. But notice, they did not
find him apart from the word of God, apart from the written
word of God. When Herod asked the chief priest,
where did they go to find out where the Christ would be born?
They went to the written word of God. You know, things happen,
providences happen in our lives. And providences happen in the
lives of our friends. A sudden death, a sickness. And I always try to pray that
God would use that. I'm talking about in the life
of someone who's not saved. I ask the Lord to use that in
their life, that somehow cause them to seek the Lord. But I
know this, it's not some providence that will ever bring anyone to
Christ. It is the written word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. That's the reason we continue
to preach the word of God. Do you have a marginal reading
in your Bible? If you will, look there at verse
six. in the latter part of that verse, for out of these shall
come a governor that shall rule. If you have a marginal reading,
you realize the word is feed in the margin. That shall feed
my people. I think of that chapter in the
book of Ezekiel. where God speaks about the shepherds,
the kings, who had misused the flocks, had fleeced the flocks, but misused them altogether.
But God promises his shepherd who shall feed his flock. This is him, the good shepherd,
the great shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ who came
to feed his sheep and the food that he furnishes is his own
body. His flesh and his blood. He was born in Bethlehem and
isn't it interesting that the word Bethlehem means house of
bread. He who is the bread of life was
born in the house of bread. Now Bethlehem, from what I've
read, is seven miles from Jerusalem. Now for many of us, that might
be a long walk. But for the people of that day,
seven miles, walking seven miles wasn't all that great a journey. But you notice that none of the
priests, they told where the Messiah would be born, the Christ
would be born in Jerusalem, but they didn't go. They didn't go
to seek this out. Herod, as wicked and evil as
he was, and it was nothing for him, he killed even some of his
own household, his sons. He was a wicked man, and yet
he does not send his soldiers to follow these men and destroy
the babe. who he would see as a rival king. I see two truths in this. As to
Herod not sending his soldiers to kill the babe, doesn't this
illustrate the proverb, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord,
as the rivers of water, he turneth it wither, so ever he will. You
know, these men and women who are in places of authority put
over us in places of authority that we are to honor, that we
are to pray for. Let's never forget that their
heart is in the hand of the king and he turns it whithersoever
he will. Maybe that is an illustration
as to why Herod did not pursue this. And as far as the chief
priest not going to Bethlehem, the scripture in John 1 says
he came unto his own and his own received him not. The wise
men, the wise men here, they will rise up in judgment, no
doubt, and condemn that wicked and evil and unbelieving generation
who showed their complete lack of interest in the birth of the
Lord's Christ. Notice something else here in
this text. In verse 9, we read, the wise men departed. When they
had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star went before
them. Doesn't that show us their faith? They didn't wait for the star
to reappear before they departed. No, they departed And then the
star appeared. This reminds me of those lepers. I want you to look in Luke chapter
17. Reminded me of these lepers,
10 lepers. When our Lord came into this
city of Samaria, we read in Luke chapter 17 and verse 12, And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. That was the law commanded them
to stand afar off from someone who did not have leprosy. And
they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us. Do you ever seek mercy? Have
you ever sought mercy? He's plentiful in mercy. Mercy
is God not giving us what we deserve. Grace, of course, is
God giving us what we don't deserve. These men cried out for mercy.
They didn't deserve this healing, but they said, Master, and he
is the master, He's the master of all things. He's your master.
He's my master. You say, well, I don't acknowledge
him as my master. Makes no difference. He is your
master. He is a ruler, the king of kings
over all men and over all of his creation. Master, they cried
out, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said
unto them, go, show yourselves unto the priest. And it came
to pass, now notice that as they went, they were cleansed. They
were not cleansed and then they went to the priest to follow
the law. No, as they went, they were cleansed. And this is always God's way. Believe and live. Believe and be saved. Now men, lost men always get
this reversed somehow or other, and they complain, well, I asked
the Lord, but he didn't save me. No. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. These men, they departed and
then they saw the star. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and you have everlasting life. You say, well, I want to feel
something. I want to know that I have ever, no, believe, believe,
trust in him. These men went seeking the Lord,
seek the Lord. The scripture says, they that
seek shall find, they that knock, it shall be opened unto them.
They that ask, it will be given unto them. Believe, believe the word of
God. Notice something else here. When
the wise man saw the star, it reappeared. When they saw the
star, verse 10 says, when they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceeding joy. Great joy, just as soon as they
saw the star. But notice in the next verse,
when they saw the sun, When they saw the son, verse 11, and when
they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with
Mary, his mother, what was their reaction now? They fell down
and worshiped him. When men see the King, when men
see the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, that's always going to
happen. Men fall down, and Paul did,
Saul of Tarsus did. When he saw the Lord in glory,
he ended up in the dirt. He fell down, and he worshiped,
Lord, who art thou, Lord? They saw the sun, they saw the
star, they rejoiced, they saw the son of God, and they fell
down and worshiped. Have you seen him? Have you,
with the eye of faith? And I want you to notice something
else here before I move to that last point. They gave themselves
first, and then they gave their gifts. In other words, they worshiped
first, and then they gave their three gifts. Salvation is not bought. It's not earned. It's received. It's a gift of God. And it's
important that men see this. Like Paul commended the believers
in the church at Philippi, they first gave themselves unto the
Lord. or they first gave themselves
unto us, and then they gave their gift. These men, they first,
they worshiped the Lord. Now some people see some signification
in these three gifts, and there may be, I'm not sure. I know
the scriptures do not tell us that, but what I see is these
three gifts were sufficient to maintain Joseph and Mary and
the young child for the time they spent or their journey to
Egypt and the time they spent in Egypt. Because the text seems
to indicate that very night Joseph packed up and left. That very
night in which the angel in that dream told him to take the young
child and his mother and go to Egypt. Now the last point I want
to make, and very briefly, verse 15 tells us that this fulfilled
a prophecy, out of Egypt have I called my son. This prophecy
is found in the book of Hosea, Hosea chapter 11 and verse 1
that says, I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. The nation
of Israel was a type of spiritual Israel, and God called them out
of Egypt. And he called his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as we see here, out of Egypt. Matthew Henry made
this comment. He said, it is no new thing for
God's sons to be in Egypt, in a strange land. in a house of
bondage, but they all shall be fetched out. They may be hid
in Egypt, but they shall not be left there. All the elect
of God, being by nature the children of wrath, are born in spiritual
Egypt, and in conversion are effectually called out. Have you been called out? Have
you been called out effectually? I know you've been called through
the preaching of the gospel, but have you been called by the
spirit of God out of Egypt, out of the world to be a follower,
a believer in Christ? If you still have your Bible
open here to Matthew chapter two, I want you to look back
to one verse in chapter 21. And she, that is the angel speaking
to Joseph, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus. Now, do you notice that every
letter is capitalized? That is Jehovah Savior. Jehovah
Savior. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Here are two marks of those who've
been called out. Number one, his people have sin. He shall save his people from
their sins. Oh, I don't have any sins. Well,
his people do. His people do. And God the Holy
Spirit convicts his people of our sinful condition. And the
second thing, those that he calls out, they call him Lord Jesus. They don't refer to him like
the world uses that name Jesus. No, he is the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone
here this morning that God would call out would reveal Christ
to you and your need of him and then Christ as that Only Savior
who can help you, who can save you, and will save you. Not only
can, but will save you. I love that, don't you? He's
not only the able Savior, He's a willing Savior. He's willing. Are you? His people shall be
willing in the day of His power. We're going to sing another hymn
before we are dismissed.