I was just remembering many years
ago the first Christmas time that we spent in Yucatan. I had been preaching the gospel
in a pueblo by the name of Sacaba, S-A-C-A-B-A, and accents on the
last syllable, Sacaba. Those are Mayan names. They didn't have electricity
in this pueblo. And we had a Christmas play,
if you can believe it. Pitch black night. Had this little
generator that I used back in those days. I think it would
create about 5,000 watts. And it was really good because
At each scene, we'd turn the lights on. Every place else would
be dark. I never will forget that night. That's been almost 50 years ago,
a long time. Some things never change, though.
Of course, that Pueblo now, they have electricity, which is a
real blessing to them. If you will turn with me again
to Matthew chapter 2, In this chapter, there are several
details about things recorded which God did not choose to reveal. I said details. For instance,
how many wise men was there? And exactly where did they come
from? How old would the Lord Jesus
have been when the wise men arrived? These details not being revealed
and thus not necessary for us to know, but it has opened the
door for men to conjecture and speculate to no end. Men speculate,
conjecture that the number of the wise men was three, but some
have believed that there was actually 13. and others have
taken the number three because of the three gifts which were
presented there to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there have been
those and still those who claim they know the names of these
wise men. And at one time they were teaching
that they actually had the sepulchres of the three wise men that people
could visit. And it was like a shrine or shrines,
I should say. Men conjecture on the age. How
old would the Lord Jesus Christ have been at this time? Some
say, well, he was only a few months of age and others, of
course, because of what Herod did. believe he was probably
two years of age. And there are other details that
the Lord has not chosen to reveal. And I think, when I see things
like this, I think of that verse in the latter part of the Gospel
of John, when John said, but these are written. He said many
other miracles our Lord did. They're not all recorded. and
not all the details about the Savior and His birth and His
life in this world. They're not all recorded, but
these are written. And they are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing You might have life through his name or through him.
These things are written that we might believe and believing
in him, we might have life, might have eternal life through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Tonight, I have two lessons that
I want to bring out to us from these verses. First, I want to
impress upon us again the faithfulness and the accuracy of God's Word. To this point, when this chapter
begins, to this point in the record of our Lord's life in
this world, we have Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14 fulfilled, to
this point. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son and shall call his name Immanuel." If you look back to
chapter one, Matthew chapter one, verses 22 and 23, we read,
now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, God's word,
that God's word might be fulfilled, that the truth of God's word
might be manifested. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, now Isaiah lived some six to 700 years before
the birth of the Savior. But God's word is settled, the
scriptures tell us. In the book of Psalms, we read
God's word, this word, this written word of God is settled in the
heavens. And nothing shall shake God's
Word. God's Word is true, it's faithful,
it's accurate. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel. And you see how that is written
there. A virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son. And in the prophecy in Isaiah,
we are told A child is born, a son is given. He was a child
of Mary, that is the child in the lineage of David as his humanity,
but he is the son of God. A son was given for God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. A
virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and
they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God
with us. Now, when Herod asked the religious
leaders, here these wise men came to Jerusalem and they asked,
where is he? that is born King of the Jews. Notice in verses five and six,
Herod asked the high priest in verse four, when he had gathered
all the 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.
Now Micah, this is a prophet that he has referenced to here.
Micah also lived about 700 years before the birth of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he had prophesied saying,
but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah. And it was pointed out that it
was this Bethlehem because we are told in the Old Testament
of another Bethlehem. But it was this Bethlehem, this
Bethlehem that was in the tribe of Judah, in their parcel of
land that they inherited. Though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me. That is to be ruler in Israel,
ruler. ruler, king, whose goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting." Now that prophecy clearly foretold
that he would be a son given, whose goings forth have been
from of old, but at the same time, he would be a child born,
the incarnation, the miracle of miracles, we might say. The
miracle of miracles that God God, Almighty God, came into
this world, was born into this world as a man, Christ Jesus. In John chapter one, we are told
the Word, the Word that was in the beginning with God, the Word
that was God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the
apostle writes. The wise man asked this question,
where? Notice in verse two, where is
he that is born King of the Jews? But notice what Matthew writes
here, that when Herod inquired of the priest, he didn't say,
where is he that is born King of the Jews? Although he did,
but he said, where is he that is born Christ, them where Christ
should be born. Now the term, the title Christ,
what does that mean? It means anointed. It means anointed. And it is the Old Testament equivalent. It's a Greek Christos. It's a
New Testament word for that Old Testament word Messiah. But both mean the same thing.
And they both declare the anointed. where Herod asked, where he demanded
of them, where the anointed, the promised Messiah, where he
should be born. Now, in the Old Testament, we
read of kings who were anointed. They were anointed to be kings. We read of prophets that were
anointed to the office of prophecy. And we read of priests who were
anointed. They were all anointed with oil. We know that. But that oil was
symbolic. It was an emblem or a picture
of God the Holy Spirit. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
began His ministry, His public ministry, after His baptism,
after the temptation in the wilderness, and then returning to Nazareth,
he found that place in the book of Isaiah, which declared, Behold,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He was the one who was anointed
as prophet, priest, and king. In the Old Testament, those men
had only pictured our Savior. The prophet said, he's going
to be born in Bethlehem. And that's exactly where he was
born, in Bethlehem. And of course, in Luke chapter
two, we learn how it is that Joseph and his promised wife,
Mary, how they ended up in Bethlehem at the time that she was delivered
of her child. You say, well, that was convenient,
wasn't it? Yes, it was convenient. It was
prophesied. And it was purposed by God. And
God, as the scriptures tell us, the king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. And as the water brooks, he has
the power to turn the course of the rivers, so the course
of the king's heart. And it came into the king's heart
to tax all the world. all the known world that the
Caesar ruled over, Augustus Caesar ruled over at that time. And
he didn't just want the world to be taxed, but he wanted everyone
to be registered and taxed in the town of their family, their
heritage. And so Joseph being of the tribe
of Judah, and Mary also of the tribe of Judah, they had to go
back to their home place, that is, to Bethlehem. And isn't it
wonderful when you think, do you know what Bethlehem means?
You know, Bible words and Bible names, for the most part, they
all have meanings. And they have meanings for a
purpose. And do you know what Bethlehem means? It means the
house of bread. The house of bread. And isn't
it only fitting that he who is the true bread which came down
from heaven, that he be born in a city named the house of
bread. I always like to mention the
fact that Mephibosheth, remember Mephibosheth who was lame on
both of his legs and When David became king, it was customary
that the king would just slaughter, just kill all the descendants
of the previous king or house that might pose some kind of
a threat to his throne. And David sends and fetches Mephibosheth. You know where Mephibosheth was
living? He was living in a place called no bread, no pasture. That's where he was. And that's
where all of us are. That's where we are when we come
into this world. And the king, David, sent and
said, fetch him, fetch him. And there was no discussion. When the king, in the word of
a king, there's power, the scripture says. And when the king said,
fetch him, he came and fell down before David and confessed himself
to be a dead dog sinner. And yet, because of that covenant
that God had made with Mephibosheth's father, Jonathan, What happened? Mephibosheth was received and
ate at David's table as long as he was king in Jerusalem. But he had his birth, the Lord
Jesus did, in the house of bread, Bethlehem. Now, and what I'm pointing out
or what I want to point out to us here is the exactness, the
accuracy, the faithfulness of the word of God. God said 600
plus years before the birth of Christ that he would be born
of a virgin. He was born of a virgin. God
said through the prophet that he would be born in the city
of Bethlehem. and he was born in Bethlehem.
Now, if you notice in verse 11 here, when the wise men fell
down and worshiped him, I see that this too is a fulfillment
of prophecy. What prophecy? Now, listen, as
I've already said, we do not know how many wise men there
was, but we do know this, they were Gentiles. They were Gentiles. And I see this also as a fulfillment
of prophecy. They were the precursors of the
many Gentiles who have been grafted in since the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world. But in Isaiah it was said, I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness, speaking to his
servant. I have called thee in righteousness
and will hold thy hand and will keep thee and give thee for a
covenant of the people," listen, for a light of the Gentiles. Now here these Gentiles, these
wise men come, and it was a light which had directed their path
to where the Lord was at this time. And they saw the star when
they left Jerusalem. It seems like that they saw the
star, they left their country and came, and then the star evidently
was not there. And so they asked, where is he
that is born King of the Jews? And when told, immediately the
star appears and they follow that star and it leads them a
light. Now, The Lord Jesus Christ is
the light of the world, but it was a light which led these wise
men to the place where Christ was at that time. Also in Isaiah
49 in verse six, I will also give thee for a light to the
Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of
the earth. The Gentiles who came at his
birth, they came to worship him. And as I said, they were just
the beginning, the first fruits of all the Gentiles who have
come to Christ to worship him. In Acts chapter 13, remember
the apostle Paul told the Jews there that if they judge themselves
unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. And
from that day on, mainly Gentiles have made up the Save the Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I see this also as a fulfillment
of prophecy. And it is also believed that
these wise men, they were somehow familiar with the prophecy of
Balaam. Now remember, Balaam was a false
prophet. And Balak, the king of Moab,
hired him to come and curse Israel when they came out of Egypt.
And Balaam, he spoke what God the Holy Spirit put into his
mouth. I preached a message sometime
back from the words, part of the words of Balaam, a false
prophet. And yet the words which he spoke,
they were put into his mouth by God the Holy Spirit. And what
a testimony to the truthfulness about God. But he also said this,
there shall come a star out of Jacob. There shall come a star
out of Jacob and a scepter. Now, when he said, and a scepter
shall rise out of Israel, what is a scepter referred there?
refer to there. It refers to authority. A king
had a scepter with which he would reign and decree. And so when
Balaam testified, there shall come a star out of Jacob and
a scepter, a king shall rise out of Israel. No wonder they
came asking, where is he that is born king of the Jews? So again, we see the accuracy
and we see the faithfulness of the prophecies of the Word of
God. Now, here's another place when
the Lord commanded Joseph to take the young child into Egypt. This meant that another prophecy
would be fulfilled after Herod's death. That prophecy is found in verse
15, out of Egypt have I called my son. Now, the Old Testament
scripture there is Hosea chapter 11 and verse 1, when God said,
when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son
out of Egypt. But I believe this was a type,
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is Israel going into Egypt. Now they were in Egypt 430 years. They were not destroyed. They
were preserved. And yet God called them out of
Egypt. And they were a type, they served
as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. How he too was taken into Egypt
and preserved from the wrath of Herod and brought back out,
delivered out. Now, when Joseph brought Mary,
and notice how the angel speaks to Joseph in a dream, take the
young child and his mother. He never says take your wife
and child, does he? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
was not the son of Joseph. He was born of a virgin. No,
take the young child and his mother and go into Egypt. And
then, When Herod had died, the angel came again and told him,
now return into the land of Israel. Verse 23, it says, and he came
and dwelt in a city called Nazareth. This, as it goes on to say, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, he shall
be called a Nazarene. This prophecy, if you look back
to Isaiah chapter 11, in Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 1,
we read, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Now Jesse was
the father of David. And what we see here is, here's
this King David, his family, they've been reduced down to
where they're compared to a tree, a big tree at one time, a great
tree, but it's been cut down. And Joseph is a descendant in
the royal line, but he's a carpenter. But out of that root, out of
that root shall grow a branch. And that word branch there is
a Hebrew word spelled N-E-T-Z-E-R. There shall come a netzer. And what that refers to or shows
us here, how he was called a Nazarene. and the people called him Jesus
of Nazareth. But it's all in fulfillment of
the prophecy of the Word of God. What confidence you and I should
have in God's Word. God's Word is true and none of
it, no prophecy, none of it shall ever fall to the ground. It'll
never be overturned. No, what God has declared will
come to pass. It will come to pass because
this is God's Word and every prophecy and promise In God's
Word concerning our Lord's first coming, we see these prophecies
fulfilled one after the other after the other. And just as
those prophecies were all fulfilled, you and I, we have confidence
so the prophecies concerning His second coming will be fulfilled,
just as His birth Those prophecies were fulfilled at the time God
had appointed. So his second coming, the prophecies
that refer to his second coming, they too will be fulfilled exactly
at the time that God has determined. That scripture in Ecclesiastes
tells us there's a time for everything. There's a time for everything.
There was a time For Christ to be born, there was a time for
Him, there is a time, rather, for Him to return again. Therefore, therefore, He said,
be ye also ready. For in such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh. And every one of us, as we hear
those words of our Savior, we need to ask ourselves, am I ready? Am I ready? He came at the time
God had appointed, and he's coming again at the time God has appointed,
and it could be tonight. It could be tonight. Am I ready? Am I ready to meet him when he
comes again? And if I'm not, I should be. If I'm not, I must be. Now, the second thing, and I'll
be very brief here, but the first thing, we see how God's word
is faithful, it's accurate, trustworthy. But second, consider God's protecting
and providing power. God protected his son from King
Herod's sword. I thought about Brother Streeter's
lesson last Sunday. concerning the birth of John
the Baptist, when that angel told Zacharias that his son would
be great. You know, this Herod, he's Herod
the Great. And the only thing great about
this Herod was his wickedness. He was a wicked and an evil man. I don't remember how many of
his own family he had killed. But when he had one of his sons
killed, Caesar Augustus, it is reported, made this statement.
It'd be better to be Herod's hog than one of his sons. He was a ruthless, evil man. To send and command that all
of these children Two years and younger should be slaughtered.
You say, well, surely he didn't do that. Oh yes, he did. He was
capable of doing that. He had proved that before this.
He didn't live long after this. That's true. This may, have you
ever wondered why didn't the Jews, they told him where the
king was to be born, where Christ was to be born. Why didn't they
go? Well, I know the scripture says he came unto his own and
his own received him not. I understand that, but listen,
if any of those men had gone to Bethlehem, they would have
just been signing their death warrant because Herod would not
have allowed that. He was determined to remain king. He was one of the rulers, one
of the Herods that was allowed that title, king. I think he
was the only one who was allowed that title. And he was given
that title by the Roman emperor Caesar. But after his death,
his son became a ruler, but not a king. God delivered his son. Herod
had his plans, but God protected and preserved his son. Think
about this, he came into this world to die. He did. He came into this world to die,
to ransom his people. But he would not die in infancy. He would not die until he himself
would give his life, lay down his life. God protects. God protected his son and we
know that God protects and keeps his children just as he did his
son. We have that confidence ourselves. And number two, God provided
for his son. They're going to spend some time,
we don't know how long, it doesn't matter, but they're going to
spend some time in Egypt. How are they going to live? How
are they going to buy food? How are they going to pay rent?
How's that going to be taken? God took care of it. These wise
men, the gifts that they brought, the gold and the frankincense
and the myrrh, no doubt was used to provide for the son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as well as his mother Mary and Joseph. And so God provided for his son
as he does for all of his children. he provides for his sons and
daughters. Let's close with this scripture
over here in Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 in verse 28. Our Lord said, and fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing? And one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your father. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear you not, therefore. You
are of more value than many sparrows. Just as God provided for his
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, protected him, preserved him in Egypt,
so God preserves, protects, and provides for all of his children
in this world. I pray the Lord would bless his
word to us here this evening. We'll sing a hymn and we'll be
dismissed.