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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
As we head into Christmas we are starting a new series titled, Come let us adore Him.
Today we are talking about Light and Wisdom from the Wise Men.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we are often blind to Your leadership and deaf to our responsibilities as Your children.
Help us to follow the light of Your leadership, and give us wisdom to use that revelation in our lives.
May we apply in our daily lives the wisdom that comes from Your word and from the Holy Spirit.
The glory is all Yours.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Matthew 2:10 NKJV
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 2:1-10 NKJV
Wise Men from the East
2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
Introduction
There was a commotion caused in heaven.
The commotion was caused by the fact that the Christ was leaving heaven for His humiliation.
Peter said in his first epistle that the time of the coming of Christ was a time unknown to any of the angels in heaven.
Only God knew the appointed time.
When the time came, even the angels of heaven participated in the things that God was now doing.
God sent an angel to speak to Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph, and also to announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.
He even sent an angelic choir to the shepherds.
During the great commotion in heaven, God decided to speak to some Gentile men.
We do not know much about these men, but many stories and myths have arisen about them.
The eastern church in the fourth century gave names to them and declared that there were three of them.
The Bible does not tell us who they were.
It is doubtless they were students of the stars and probably some of the wisest men of their time.
The Bible says they saw a star in the east, which they knew to be the star of Christ.
Upon seeing that star, they became excited and made the journey to Jerusalem so they could inquire about the birth of the Messiah.
If we don’t get lost in the stories and the myths, and we stay with God’s truth, we have an awesome revelation.
Some theologians tell us that when Paul went on his first missionary journey, or when Peter went to share the gospel with Cornelius, the first Gentiles were converted to Christianity.
Actually this is untrue.
The first Gentiles to be converted were these wise men who came when Christ was born.
They fell down before Him and worshipped Him.
There are two lessons I would like for us to learn this morning.
I would like for us to gather light from the star and wisdom from the wise men.
- The light of the star.
The star was an unusual creation.
It may have been a comet, as many have claimed.
It may have been a special creation.
Whatever it was, it revealed to the magi that the Jewish Messiah was born.
God had told Israel to be ready for the coming of the Messiah.
They were ready neither to receive Him nor to share His message, so God revealed the coming of the Messiah through creation.
God never fails.
If people do not know His will, He uses others.
The star is a leading light.
This star led to Christ.
It told the wise men that the Christ had been born.
Then they went to Jerusalem.
They travelled through arid desert country.
It would have been a difficult trip, they would not be stopped.
They inquired as to the place of the Messiah’s birth.
Ultimately they were taken to the scribes and told that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem.
As they proceeded toward Bethlehem, the star appeared, leading the way to Christ.
We ought to be like that star, leading people to Christ, always showing the way to Him.
The star attracted their attention.
The Word of God taught them the exact details.
The light led them to the Christ and stopped there.
The light of every Christian needs to lead others to Christ.
Do not lead people to church buildings, or programs and leave them there, lead them to Christ.
The star became a witness.
It told the wise men that the Messiah was born.
Then it led them to Him.
That is the kind of light the church must have in the world today.
2. The wisdom of the wise men.
Perhaps these men were science teachers in Persia.
They were not called kings, they were called magi, which means wise ones.
God has a message in nature.
Many scientists conclude the may not be true because we have made so many myths about God instead of listening to God as He has spoken.
God spoke loudly through nature to those ancient scientists.
People may see God’s handiwork in a tree or in the human body.
Who could study either without recognising that a divine Designer made them?
God’s message is in His Word.
Paul said that God reveals Himself in nature.
He reveals Himself in a general way in nature, but for details we must turn to God’s Word.
That is exactly what these wise men did.
We should be just as wise.
When we look at the the beauty of the sky, the ocean, or of human life, let us recognise His handiwork.
Then let us turn to His Word and believe the exact details that God reveals to us about Himself.
The wise men persisted and we should too.
When the wise men saw the Messiah’s star, they wanted to know Him, so they travelled across the desert.
They went through wild, rugged country filled not only with physical hardship but also thrives and thugs.
They didn’t have planes, they had to walk or ride camels.
They persisted in their search.
They were not discouraged when they arrived at Jerusalem and found uninterested people.
So many today are discouraged by lesser things in their search for Christ.
The wise men did not become discouraged.
In trying to learn about the Messiah, they could have said, “We will see if we like the scribes. Where did the scribes go to school? Are they friendly scribes? Are they good at mixing with people? Do they stand at the door and shake hands when you arrive, or do they not? What Bible translation do they use? Is the coffee the brand I like? What is the worship team like?”
They didn’t say any of those things.
They went eagerly to hear the message of God.
They were tenacious in their search.
The wise men rejoiced.
They knew that God was leading, and they rejoiced.
Imagine if we could return to a rejoicing search for God!
Some people go to church like zombies.
We come here to the house of God acting as if we don’t want to hear God talk.
Is God speaking to us out of His Word through His Prophet?
If He is, then we ought to rejoice as we come into the presence of God.
That is what the wise men did.
They rejoiced when they saw the star!
The wise men worshipped.
They finally arrived at the house where Jesus was.
Now with all their persistence, with al the revelation they had, they could have blown it right there.
They came to the house where the young child was, and what did they do?
They did not call a committee meeting.
They did not send a text or email to their denominational leaders to get permission.
They entered the house.
They came to Jesus.
They did not hesitate, they immediately came to Him and fell down before Him and worshipped Him.
They had found the revelation of God.
Conclusion.
The wise men worshipped the baby Jesus.
Theirs was not curiosity gratified but devotion exercised.
We also must worship the Saviour, or we will never be saved by Him.
He has not come to put away our sins and then to leave us ungodly and self willed.
For those of you who have never truly worshipped Christ before, I pray that you will be led to do so now.
He is God over everything, blessed forever.
Adore Him.
He puts rainbows in the heavens, He rides upon the wings of the wind.
He scatters flames of fire.
He speaks, and the hills shake.
We must worship with a reverent fear of the Lord.
Will you not worship God when He has come down to you and become your Lord born for your salvation.
Let us all start worshipping like the shepherds and wise men and angels who led the way did!
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
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