-
...to Matthew chapter 2
and Luke chapter 2.
-
And you can go to both those places.
-
You can stick your finger in Luke 2,
-
and open your Bibles to Matthew 2.
-
And we're going to go back and forth
-
between them.
-
Today, I do want to speak to you
-
about the birth of Christ
-
and the Magi
-
and the star that led the Magi
-
to Bethlehem.
-
So, this is our sixteenth Christmas
-
as a church
-
since our church was started.
-
I have never intentionally preached
-
a Christmas sermon.
-
If you're visiting our church today,
-
you may notice there's no lights.
-
There's no tree.
-
We don't even have a manger scene.
-
You probably noticed we didn't even
-
sing a Christmas song.
-
I purposely like to sing
them in the summer.
-
I was half-minded to sing
-
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
-
just because the words in it,
-
I think are glorious,
-
and they do have to do
with the message today.
-
I don't think it's necessarily wrong
-
for preachers that do preach
-
Christmas sermons.
-
I'm not knocking that.
-
I have just never personally
-
felt compelled to preach a sermon
-
based on a man-made holiday.
-
And I personally am not going to be
-
driven by those holidays,
-
whether they be Christmas,
-
Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day...
-
I smile because just thinking
-
about Mother's Day -
-
Mack Tomlinson - he told us
-
just a hilarious story
-
that when he was a young preacher,
-
he was preaching
-
and he was preaching on hell
-
and he was really giving it to the people.
-
And he said suddenly,
-
about five minutes left in his message,
-
he noticed that the women
-
were dressed really fancy.
-
And he said with five minutes left,
-
"Now, a word about mothers..."
-
Our smallest crowds are probably
-
at Christmas and especially Easter
-
because we do our Denton conference
-
at Easter.
-
The world's holidays haven't dictated
-
to me what I'm going to preach.
-
And brethren, we do have to be honest.
-
Christmas and Easter are
-
man-made holidays.
-
That doesn't mean that
-
biblical things might not be
-
spoken about.
-
But they're man-made.
-
God has never told us to observe these.
-
In fact, there's really
only one celebration
-
in Scripture that God
in an ongoing fashion
-
tells us to observe.
-
What might that be?
-
The Lord's Supper.
-
And not just once yearly.
-
As often as you do this,
-
do this in remembrance of Me.
-
So, that's what we're called to remember.
-
That's what we're called to celebrate.
-
Now look, I'm not here this morning
-
to bash Christmas.
-
From a pastoral perspective,
-
personally it's been a non-issue.
-
I think for our church largely
-
it's been a non-issue.
-
Some of you do things.
Some of you don't do things.
-
Some of you do more.
-
Some of you do less.
-
It's just been a non-issue.
-
I think it's something
-
between you and the Lord.
-
If you're going to make any sort
-
of observation you want it
-
in line with Romans 14.
-
You want to do it unto the Lord.
-
And if you don't do it,
-
you don't do it unto the Lord.
-
I think it's the same way with preaching.
-
If a man wants to preach a message
-
around Christmastime on things
-
that have to do with the Incarnation,
-
well, if he can do it unto the Lord,
-
let him do it unto the Lord.
-
If he wants to preach about the cross
-
around Easter time,
-
let him do it unto the Lord.
-
But I say all that to say this,
-
this year, I do feel compelled to preach
-
on the birth of Christ at this season.
-
Just recently, here's what happened:
-
Just recently, you know
that a group of us men
-
went to prison over in Huntsville.
-
We were in the chapel.
-
Let me describe the chapel to you.
-
It's probably somewhat
the size of this room.
-
Maybe not as long.
-
But it's fairly big.
-
Much higher ceilings.
-
It's a chapel that
sticks off of the prison.
-
It's like a church building.
-
Up front, they had a choir.
-
To the right, sitting in the seats
-
over here -
-
behind there was a choir,
-
over here there was a band.
-
We sat, all 8 of us that went,
-
we sat across the front row there.
-
And on either side,
-
they had t.v. monitors.
-
And I'm supposing those were wired
-
into a computer in the back.
-
And so what was happening is
-
not only do they have to count
-
the prisoners - this was
-
a maximum security prison;
-
and once in awhile cell block numbers
-
would come up on those screens,
-
and everybody would stand up
-
in that cell block and
just immediately exit
-
when their cell block came up.
-
But, when you didn't
have cell block numbers,
-
you actually had the words to the songs.
-
And because it was around Christmas time
-
and many of the songs they were singing
-
were Christmas-related,
-
they also, not only had words
-
to the songs,
-
they had pictures.
-
Christmas-esque pictures.
-
And one of them
-
was just a picture of the night sky
-
with a bright, shining star.
-
And you know how it
is in the Christian life?
-
You can take certain things for granted.
-
You know they're there.
-
You come across them
as you read Scripture.
-
You know it's truth.
-
You know it's fact.
-
But you know it is sometimes
-
when certain truths from the Bible,
-
they just lay hold on you?
-
They come to you with power.
-
I look at that star and I thought,
-
that's real.
-
Kevin Woodell was sitting next to me.
-
I said, "Kevin, there really was a star."
-
It's called "His star" in Scripture.
-
That's what the Magi called it:
-
His star.
-
"We have seen His star."
-
It's the Christ's star.
-
I was affected by that.
-
So, I decided maybe we'd look at that.
-
God put a star in the sky 2,000 years ago.
-
A star that had never been seen before.
-
And it wasn't seen after.
-
It was just there at that time
-
to guide certain men to Christ.
-
That's what I want to
bring a sermon on today.
-
There really was a star.
-
Let's look at that.
-
Matthew 2.
-
Notice verses 1-2.
-
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem
-
of Judea in the days of Herod the King,
-
behold, wise men..."
-
The word is magoi: Magi.
-
"...from the East came to Jerusalem,
-
saying, 'where is He Who has been born
-
King of the Jews?
-
For we saw (here it is) His star."
-
The Messiah has His own star.
-
That doesn't mean that He doesn't
-
own all of them and uphold all of them.
-
Here's a star that's His star
-
and it's uniquely there
-
for His coming into this world.
-
"For we saw His star when it rose
-
and have come to worship Him."
-
Now jump down to v. 7.
-
I'm just going to give you the verses here
-
that speak specifically of this star.
-
"Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly
-
and ascertained from them
-
what time the star had appeared."
-
You see, there was a
time that it appeared.
-
Before that, it hadn't appeared.
-
And you know, after these Magi
-
find the Christ,
-
there's no biblical evidence
-
that it ever appeared again.
-
V. 9, "After listening
to the king (Herod,)
-
they went on their way,
-
and behold, the star that they had seen
-
when it rose..."
-
That's how they talked about it.
-
They said, "we saw His star when it rose."
-
It rose.
-
Like the sun rises, the moon rises.
-
The stars also rise,
-
because we're spinning.
-
It rose.
-
And they saw it rise.
-
"The star that they
had seen when it rose..."
-
Now, here's the thing,
-
it rose like other stars
-
that come up over the horizon,
-
but now it went before them.
-
That's really an interesting statement.
-
"It went before them
-
until it came to rest."
-
Is that like the sun
stopping in its orbit?
-
Is that a linear thing
-
where it basically tracks straight
-
and then it stopped?
-
Or is this thing moving,
-
like it goes that way
-
and it goes this way?
-
It came to rest.
-
There was motion in this star.
-
And then it came to rest.
-
"...over the place where the child was.
-
When they saw the star,
-
they rejoiced exceedingly
-
with great joy."
-
Now, here's the first thing.
-
The first thing I want to emphasize:
-
The historicity of this thing.
-
It's historical.
-
We're talking about actual events
-
that actually happened in the course
-
of human history.
-
There was a star.
-
It's real.
-
It's not fictitious.
-
There were Magi.
-
They're not imaginary - they're real.
-
There was the birth of the child King.
-
We are talking about reality here.
-
We are talking about fact.
-
We are talking about history.
-
I stress this.
-
Brethren, I stress this.
-
Because we are in the midst of a world
-
that is controlled by the evil one.
-
There is satanic deception on every side.
-
And what did Paul fear?
-
What did Paul fear for the Corinthians?
-
That Satan would do what to them?
-
That he would deceive them
-
and move them away from this
-
simple devotion to Christ.
-
There is so much falsehood.
-
You know what?
-
We might say,
-
well, we have to remember
-
the reason for the season.
-
Look, I don't know who the author
-
of this season is,
-
but oftentimes I suspect it's not God.
-
Brethren, let me tell you something.
-
Yeah, it's true that during this time
-
of the year,
-
the world will tolerate
the mention of Jesus.
-
They will tolerate
-
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
-
But you know as well as I do
-
that right next to the manger scene
-
is Santa Claus.
-
And right next to "Hark! The Herald..."
-
is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town,"
-
and "Rudolph," and "Frosty," and all that.
-
And you see, we say,
-
the world basically has this mindset.
-
We're going to deceive our children
-
with these things;
-
tell them that Santa's real,
-
but then at some point we know
-
that they're going to be undeceived.
-
We try to push the lie as far as possible.
-
But you see, all the lies get mixed in
-
with anything that's true.
-
And even what's true is stretched
-
to where it's not true.
-
Since when did the wise men
-
come to a stable?
-
They didn't.
-
Since when was the star over the stable?
-
It wasn't.
-
Since when did the wise men
-
ride camels?
-
It never says so.
-
Since when were there three of them?
-
There wasn't.
-
I mean, what we have is all manner
-
of fictitious stuff
-
all thrown together
-
with a bunch of lies.
-
Brethren, this season men talk about
-
good will, but it's a lie.
-
Men don't have good will
-
towards one another.
-
And then, this idea that what?
-
We're going to worship Christ
-
one time out of the year?
-
As we remember, the Lord's Supper
-
is as often as you do this.
-
It's an ongoing thing.
-
It isn't once a year at Christmas
-
or twice a year at Christmas and Easter.
-
It's a deception.
-
What it wants to do is say
-
you know it's ok to mix all this
-
error with some things that might be true.
-
And as though we're just going to
-
be able to discern what's true,
-
what's not true.
-
Well, we better be able to discern that.
-
And we better be able to look
-
at everything through the Word of God
-
and sort through it.
-
We need to be discerning people.
-
And so much of what happens
-
this time of the year
-
is a mirage.
-
It sets out a hope.
-
Oh, the Christmas spirit...
-
It gives people this hope.
-
There is a sense of anticipation
-
and expectation this time of year.
-
And what happens?
-
It leaves men hollow and empty.
-
And what happens afterwards?
-
People have to be confronted
-
by the reality of life.
-
But I'll tell you this,
-
if you're a genuine Christian,
-
after the Christmas season
-
and New Year's is over,
-
you're not left empty and hollow.
-
Why?
-
You've got the Christ!
-
You've got salvation!
-
You've got the real deal!
-
It wasn't all hinged on Santa and presents
-
and materialism and family coming together
-
and songs and football games
-
and all the things that the world
-
looks forward to at this time;
-
drink and song and festivity.
-
If you've got the Christ,
you've got Him forever!
-
And look, I'm not knocking
-
if people get together as families.
-
There's certainly nothing wrong with that.
-
I'm not knocking
-
if people come together
at this time of the year
-
and they want to actually open up Luke 2.
-
I'm not knocking that.
-
But brethren, there is deception.
-
And this whole season is
just full of deception.
-
It's everywhere.
-
Everywhere.
-
We need to cut through the garbage.
-
We need to cut through all the lies.
-
I'll tell you this,
-
Scripture tells us,
-
there was a baby born 2,000 years ago.
-
This is history.
-
A workplace at the North Pole?
-
That's not history.
-
That's akin to Mormonism.
-
You want to make up fictitious lands,
-
fictitious places.
-
It's fiction.
-
But I'll tell you,
-
there really was a baby born
-
2,000 years ago.
-
And there really was a star
-
that wasn't there before.
-
And there really were Magi who came.
-
We're talking about a historical Christ.
-
We need to remember that.
-
This isn't myth.
-
This is history.
-
And if anybody was the historian,
-
it was Luke.
-
I mean Luke isn't messing around.
-
He doesn't just dream up something
-
about the North Pole.
-
He's talking about real people
-
in a real time in real places.
-
You notice how articulate he is?
-
I mean, he tells us,
-
in the days of Caesar Augustus.
-
In the days when Quirinius
-
was in a certain position of leadership.
-
In those days...
-
He's very exact.
-
Look.
-
Look there at chapter 2:1.
-
"He was born in Bethlehem."
-
It's a real place.
-
It's not like these places
-
that the Mormons dream up
-
that nobody can find.
-
These are real places.
-
Bethlehem of Judea.
-
And real days.
-
What days?
-
In the days of Herod the King,
-
behold, wise men from the East
-
came to Jerusalem.
-
Real days.
-
Real places.
-
I'm quoting Matthew here,
-
but we're going to look at Luke
-
in a second.
-
Anyway, he was the real historian.
-
He spells this out.
-
In fact, you've got
your finger there still.
-
Look over at Luke.
-
Luke 2.
-
I mean, he's all the more historian
-
than Matthew was.
-
Like I said,
-
he's very articulate here.
-
"In those days..."
-
You see that?
-
Those days.
-
There were really days.
-
This is a historical account.
-
"A decree went out from Caesar Augustus
-
that all the world should be registered."
-
There was a registration.
-
There were really register books.
-
There were places you went to register.
-
It was a taxation.
-
The people registered that
they might be taxed.
-
Let's keep going here.
-
"This was the first registration
-
when Quirinius was governer of Syria,
-
and all went to be registered,
-
each to his own town."
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Look, this is the Word of God.
-
This is true no matter what
the history books say.
-
In fact, you don't want to trust history.
-
There's always somebody with an agenda.
-
And it's always being rewritten.
-
And God has never promised to keep it
-
free of error.
-
But you can even look at secular history,
-
and you know,
-
Caesar Augustus was real.
-
Quirinius was real.
-
Look at your secular geography books.
-
You know Bethlehem is real.
-
Judah is real.
-
These are real places.
-
"In those days..."
-
What Scripture will never let us
-
get away from is
-
the fact that all of this is historical.
-
It's real.
-
It's there in Scripture.
-
And you know what it will never
-
let us get away from as well?
-
That the historical Christ
-
is the supernatural Christ.
-
You don't want to get away from that.
-
We've got a lot of people out here
-
in the world,
-
they're ready and willing to admit
-
that Jesus was historical,
-
but if there's anything supernatural
-
about Him, then they deny it.
-
They don't want to go there.
-
This is simply the pride
and arrogance of man.
-
Man says I cannot understand
-
how a star can simply appear
-
where there wasn't one before.
-
I cannot understand it,
-
therefore it must not be real.
-
This is constantly what happens
-
when little men face
-
the incomprehensible and supernatural
-
divine being of the living God.
-
Well, we cannot understand it,
-
therefore we cannot believe it.
-
But the historical Christ
is the supernatural Christ.
-
You look back then.
-
What did you see?
-
You see a virgin birth.
-
You see a star in the sky.
-
You see the supernatural.
-
You see angels appearing
-
and declaring to the shepherds
-
that the Christ has been born.
-
Christ - He is born.
-
And He lives His life
-
and it's full of the supernatural.
-
Water made into wine.
-
He walked on water.
-
Where He went,
-
the supernatural happened.
-
You see, God broke into history.
-
And what happens when God becomes man
-
is it just turns everything upside down.
-
You can say, "I don't understand it."
-
Well, there's a lot about it
I don't understand either.
-
But Scripture tells us it's so.
-
The historical Christ is
a supernatural Christ.
-
And I'll tell you what,
-
the Word tells us
-
there was a star -
-
a star created just for this occasion
-
to lead a group of (get this) Gentiles
-
from a far away place
-
to come and fall down and worship
-
before a baby.
-
And what a baby!
-
If you've got your
finger still in Matthew 1,
-
you can keep your fingers there.
-
It says in Matthew 1:21,
-
"She will bear a Son,
-
and you shall call His name Jesus,
-
for He will save His people
-
from their sins.
-
All this took place to
fulfill the prophet.
-
What the Lord had spoken by Isaiah,
-
'behold, the virgin shall conceive
-
and bear a Son,
-
and they shall call His name Immanuel.'"
-
We're not talking about the birth
-
of a great man.
-
God came among us.
-
Oh, He was a great man,
-
but more.
-
God came among us to be with us.
-
This is the Eternal One
-
coming into the world.
-
You know the verse.
-
"In the beginning was the Word."
-
In the beginning.
-
What beginning?
-
Go back to the beginning.
-
Well, wasn't there something
-
before that beginning?
-
Yeah, go back in the beginning
-
before that beginning.
-
Back, back, back, further back.
-
Before there was a beginning.
-
There's the Word.
-
And the Word was God.
-
And the Word was with God.
-
And the Word became flesh.
-
That's what we have going on here.
-
He didn't start to exist.
-
You have a star in the sky.
-
And it's a messenger.
-
It's a beacon
-
that God and humanity are coming together
-
in the womb of a virgin
-
to be born into the world.
-
That's what we have.
-
God coming into the world.
-
But you think about this,
-
God coming into the world -
-
think about what you have done.
-
You think about the things
-
you've done in your life.
-
God's coming into the world.
-
You hear that.
-
God's coming into the world.
-
You know what?
-
This is the God Who has a score to settle.
-
We've done things.
-
I mean just that by
itself is not good news.
-
That might actually be
reason for some alarm.
-
But think about those words.
-
I mean, those angels appeared out there
-
on those plains.
-
Quiet.
-
It's night.
-
It's peaceful.
-
The sheep.
-
The shepherds standing watch by night.
-
And I mean, what happened?
-
The sky split open.
-
They weren't expecting that.
-
You would be shocked,
-
as I'm sure they were.
-
But you've got to hear in those words,
-
those angels said that that very day
-
a Savior was born.
-
Just think about those words.
-
That baby that came forth
-
is a Savior.
-
Sometimes we have to stop.
-
It's kind of like the star hitting me
-
there in the prison.
-
Sometimes you just have to stop
-
and hear that word:
-
Savior.
-
Somebody came to save us.
-
Somebody came to free us.
-
Savior.
-
He came to save us.
-
He didn't come to destroy us.
-
He's come to take our sins upon Himself.
-
Not to deal with us according to our sins,
-
but that star that's shining
-
up there in the sky -
-
it's a beacon of hope,
-
not of destruction; not of doom.
-
That's the reality.
-
Listen to this.
-
Matthew 2.
-
Look at it there in v. 10.
-
"When they saw the star..."
-
Not the shepherds -
-
we're talking about the Magi here.
-
"When they saw the star,
-
they rejoiced exceedingly
-
with great joy."
-
This is a reflection of the
shepherd's joy as well.
-
We could look over there at Luke 2.
-
There was joy.
-
This One Who came into the world
-
came to produce joy.
-
Listen!
-
That's not what this world experiences
-
in this season of Christmas.
-
There's a hope.
-
There's an anticipation.
-
There may be some kind of cheer
-
and happiness.
-
But not the abiding joy.
-
Rejoice in the Lord always,
-
and again I say, rejoice.
-
The world doesn't rejoice come January.
-
Something was happening here.
-
Here's the thing,
-
even though it's misplaced -
-
the star was not over the stable.
-
The star didn't lead the Magi
-
to the stable.
-
The star led the Magi to the house
-
where Joseph and Mary and the baby were
-
after the Christ was born.
-
So when you see the manger scene,
-
you see a star there,
-
it's misplaced.
-
How it ever got on top of a Christmas tree
-
I don't know.
-
But I can tell you this,
-
you see that star on
top of a Christmas tree;
-
you see that star on the front of a stable
-
or the back wall of the stable,
-
you can think about what that means.
-
That thing shined in the sky
-
guiding men to a Savior.
-
A Savior has come.
-
Man need not be damned.
-
A Savior has come.
-
God has come!
-
Immanuel: God with us
-
to redeem us, to help us,
-
to save us, to take us to glory,
-
to give us life everlasting,
-
to give us pleasures forevermore
-
at His right hand,
-
to give us life,
-
life more abundantly,
-
to free us.
-
Brethren, to forgive us!
-
No lake of fire!
-
I deserve the lake of fire.
-
That's what that star says.
-
There's hope.
-
That's what it was saying.
-
Now listen,
-
I want you to think about this.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
I cannot help but see election
-
in that star.
-
You say, election?
-
What do you mean?
-
I mean this.
-
I mean that God chooses some people
-
and not other people.
-
You say, really?
-
Well, look, if you haven't been here
for our Ephesians series
-
and you're calling that into question,
-
I would encourage you to go study
-
the first 14 verses of Ephesians,
-
because you will not come away
-
convinced that election doesn't exist
-
if you have eyes to see
-
what those verses say.
-
But in that star,
-
I see election.
-
You say, what are you talking about?
-
What do you mean?
-
How do you see that?
-
Let me explain.
-
Just think with me.
-
David and I were talking about this
-
the other night.
-
A star appears.
-
A new star.
-
Something nobody's ever seen before.
-
A new star appears in the sky.
-
Here's the first question I would ask you.
-
Who would even notice?
-
I mean, the truth is,
-
if a new star appeared in the sky tonight,
-
would you notice?
-
I wouldn't.
-
I came to the prayer
meeting the other night,
-
and these are the
shortest days of the year,
-
and so it was already getting dark
-
when I showed up around 6:30.
-
The Montgomery's were out here.
-
And somebody made a comment
-
about a star in the sky.
-
We were surmising that it was
-
probably a planet.
-
It was bright.
-
But you know what,
-
if there had been two up there,
-
I'd have just said,
-
it's two planets.
-
I would not have gone home,
-
packed the car,
-
put the family in
-
and headed out in the direction
-
where the star was.
-
I would not have taken it as a sign
-
that I needed to go to Canada.
-
I wouldn't have even noticed
-
that it was even new.
-
A star appeared.
-
They said to Herod,
-
we saw it rise.
-
Huh. They saw it.
-
You know, who notices
a new star in the sky?
-
I'll tell you who notices,
-
somebody who's looking at the sky.
-
Somebody who looks at those things.
-
Somebody who pays
attention to those things.
-
These are people that paid attention.
-
And here's the thing
-
God put that star
-
where these people were looking.
-
You say, you see election in that?
-
Yeah, I do.
-
Because He put it where these folks
-
were looking.
-
Other people may be looking
-
in other places,
-
but He didn't put it in those places.
-
The sign.
-
He put it here.
-
Now there may be other signs.
-
But He put one right where these people
-
would look at it.
-
And like I say,
-
here's another thing.
-
Even if you discover a new star,
-
or even if you said, hey,
-
we watch the sky.
-
We're astronomers.
-
We track the stars.
-
There is a star that was
not there last year.
-
Like I say,
-
who packs the camels?
-
Or the mules?
-
Or the horses and heads off to Jerusalem?
-
Why would you do that?
-
It's like seeing a tree
you never saw before.
-
You don't just pack up and move
-
because something's
new in your environment.
-
But that's what they did.
-
And there's more.
-
You know that when these Magi
-
got to where they were going -
-
in fact, if you look here
-
in Matthew 2, you will see that
-
in v. 11, "...going into the house,
-
they saw the child."
-
They actually went in the house.
-
They weren't standing
out front of a stable.
-
They went in the house.
-
"They saw the child with Mary, His mother,
-
and they fell down and worshiped Him
-
then opening their treasures,
-
they offered Him gifts -
-
gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
-
You say, what about that?
-
Just this:
-
So God put a star where they could see it.
-
But when they saw it,
-
they packed up.
-
And as they're packing up,
-
they just didn't put food and water
-
in their bags,
-
they put treasures in their bags.
-
Why?
-
Because, listen, when
they got to Jerusalem,
-
they specifically said to Herod;
-
they specifically said to the Jews,
-
"We have seen His star -
-
the King of Israel."
-
Ok, now here's this.
-
Not only who packs up the camels
-
or the horses when they see a star,
-
but who sees a star and says
-
we've got to go to Jerusalem
-
because this means that
the King of the Jews
-
has been born?
-
I'll tell you this.
-
The Magi had revelation.
-
Something was going on with the Magi
-
that wasn't going on with other people.
-
God was dealing with these Magi
-
in a way that was very specific.
-
Do you see election here?
-
God deals with different people
-
in different ways.
-
These people had a blessing.
-
These people had their eyes opened
-
in a way that other people simply did not.
-
Here's another thing:
-
Even more telling is that
-
when they got to Jerusalem,
-
you notice there's no indication -
-
listen to this:
-
Here they come
-
to Jerusalem.
-
Matthew 2:1.
-
And what do they say?
-
"Where is He Who has been born
-
King of the Jews?"
-
Well, now, they would have known
-
those in Jerusalem
-
who he was speaking about.
-
He was speaking about the Messiah.
-
"For we saw His star when it rose
-
and have come forth to worship Him."
-
You see, they came with an agenda.
-
That star was all about
-
going to worship Jesus Christ.
-
"When Herod the king heard this,
-
he was troubled and all
Jerusalem with him.
-
They assembled the chief priests
-
and scribes and he inquired of them
-
where the Christ was to be born."
-
They knew exactly Who this was.
-
It was the Christ.
-
"And he said, 'Bethlehem.'"
-
V. 7 "Herod summoned the wise men
-
and secretly ascertained from them
-
the time the star had appeared.
-
He sent them to Bethlehem saying,
-
'Go and search diligently for the child,
-
and when you have found Him,
bring me word that I too may
-
come and worship Him.'
-
After listening to the king
-
they went on their way."
-
You know what I find extremely interesting
-
is this:
-
They not only knew
-
and recognized the
significance of that star,
-
they were the only ones who did.
-
You say, what do you mean?
-
I mean this:
-
You notice they went on the Bethlehem.
-
All the Jews that were gathered together -
-
none of them went.
-
None of the Jewish leaders went.
-
None of the political leaders went.
-
Herod didn't pack his horses
-
and his gold and frankincense and myrrh.
-
They went on by themselves.
-
I mean, you have the Magi come
-
and explain the significance of the star.
-
They still didn't go.
-
The presence of the coming Christ
-
is proclaimed by this star.
-
Who are the Magi?
-
They're not Jews.
-
They're just foreigners.
-
A band of foreigners.
-
We don't know how many.
-
It doesn't say three.
-
It doesn't call them kings.
-
Not "We Three Kings..."
-
It's the Magi.
-
Foreigners.
-
Isn't it interesting?
-
I mean, think with me here.
-
God gives us this picture
-
about the coming of His
Son into the world,
-
and who are the only people
-
who are on the same wavelength with God?
-
A band of foreigners.
-
God chooses people.
-
God puts His hand on people.
-
God opens certain people's eyes
-
and not others.
-
That's what you see going on here.
-
And then, I just draw your attention
-
back to v. 9-10 again.
-
"Listening to the king, they
went on their way.
-
And behold the star,
-
that they had seen when it rose
-
went before them until it came to rest
-
over the place where the child was.
-
When they saw the star,
-
they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy."
-
Brethren, I do see election in this star.
-
Why? The star went before them.
-
It went before them.
-
Listen, this star is leading them.
-
It's like the thing is alive.
-
There is a living God behind it.
-
And it directs them: foreigners.
-
Not the Jews. Not the Pharisees.
-
Not the scribes. Not the priests.
-
Not Herod. Not his entourage.
-
Not the Romans.
-
Some Magi from the East.
-
Isn't that amazing?
-
It's kind of like Jesus saying,
-
you know there are many lepers;
-
there are many widows.
-
Doesn't God have a way of
-
just choosing the insignificant.
-
He chooses those we
often would least expect.
-
Are you still floored by that?
-
God chose me.
-
There's election.
-
In the same way, brethren,
-
most are unaware.
-
Most are unaware of
the significance of things.
-
Do you recognize that that is true
-
on this morning that the world labels
-
as Christmas Day?
-
Everybody thinks what's significant?
-
The presents.
-
The family.
-
The tree.
-
The lights.
-
How many people are truly connected
-
with what's really
significant in this world?
-
Maybe a little band of foreigners
-
that meet in this place?
-
We're outsiders.
-
Gentiles.
-
Those who are far off.
-
Most are unaware.
-
Think about even the night
-
when Jesus was born.
-
By the way,
-
you recognize the time differential here.
-
Christ was born;
-
they laid Him in a manger.
-
It really doesn't even say
that there was a stable.
-
The manger may have been under the stars.
-
The shepherds came.
-
It was sometime later that the Magi
-
arrived at the house
-
where Joseph had taken his family.
-
His family was from there.
-
It may have very well been family.
-
But that night when Jesus was born,
-
do you notice how unaware the world was?
-
You just think about it.
-
People just go on with their lives.
-
What was happening?
-
There was a registration.
-
Oh, you think that stirred people up?
-
You think that was something
-
they were talking about?
-
You think if we got conquered
-
by a foreign power,
-
the Romans - Caesar comes in
-
and he sets up a registration
-
where we have to all go register
-
and pay our taxes.
-
If you're somebody like Joseph
-
and you actually have to pack up
-
in Nazareth and travel to Bethlehem
-
because that's where your family is from.
-
That's what was required.
-
You can look at the secular history books.
-
They had various
registrations in these days.
-
And they would make people go
-
to where their families were from.
-
And they would go there
-
and they would pay these taxes.
-
If an outsider like Caesar came in
-
and took over your country,
-
and then taxed you.
-
And now made you travel -
-
pack up your family and travel,
-
now it's affecting you monetarily,
-
not only in the tax you pay,
-
but in the fact you can't stay and work
-
the farm and work your home.
-
You've got to leave your business.
-
Joseph would leave
-
if he was a carpenter in those early days
-
he would have to leave that trade.
-
So now there's no income.
-
And he has to travel
-
and pay the traveling expenses.
-
You know what it was like in the inn?
-
Everybody was complaining.
-
Everybody was talking about
what this was doing to them financially.
-
You know how it is in our world?
-
Everybody's talking about
the new president.
-
They would have been talking
-
about Caesar, taxes, finances.
-
What it does to their whole
-
financial outlook.
-
That's what people talk about today.
-
That's what people are concerned about.
-
That's what they would have
been concerned about back then.
-
The inn was full.
-
Why was the inn full?
-
Because everybody was
traveling in those days.
-
They were trying to get home.
-
Trying to get home for the registration.
-
Caesar's taxing us.
-
It's all an inconvenience.
-
And yet, here's the thing.
-
You can imagine them packed in there -
-
tight quarters.
-
What are we going to do to eat?
-
Here we are. We're all packed in.
-
Everybody's traveling.
-
We've got to find food.
-
We've got to find our meals.
-
We've got to provide for the family.
-
Ah, this tax! How much is the tax?
-
It's too high! It's
always too high, right?
-
Everybody complains about taxes
-
being too high.
-
They would have complained.
-
Do you think they were somehow sanctified
-
back in those days?
-
And they were entirely different?
-
And they all were back there
-
in this imaginary manger scene
-
with a placarded on star
-
on the front of it?
-
And all had halos over their heads?
-
And everybody was out there saying
-
oh, this is the greatest
thing in the world?
-
No, that's not what happened.
-
What you had was some unobtrusive,
-
insignificant couple came in there.
-
This young girl's back there.
-
It doesn't even say in a stable.
-
Maybe she was.
-
I mean, if you're Joseph,
-
you would have tried
to find a protected area
-
since there was no room.
-
She's giving birth.
-
Just insignificant.
-
The crowds are in the inn.
-
Nobody's out there.
-
Nobody cares.
-
In fact, until the shepherds got there,
-
it doesn't even say
there were animals there.
-
A manger is what animals eat out of,
-
but we don't even know that.
-
But it's an inn,
-
people were traveling,
-
you can be sure there were...
-
The carts; it was probably relatively
-
packed back there.
-
And you may have had people back there.
-
If you're Joseph, you're going to try
-
to get her in as protected and quiet
-
a back corner.
-
Can you imagine, ladies?
-
You're required to travel
-
at nine months pregnancy?
-
And you're at an inn and there's no room?
-
Back on the straw with you,
-
one of the most amazing things
-
is happening in all of human history.
-
And the world is just disconnected.
-
The momentus thing imaginable
-
is happening back there.
-
Maybe it's a stable. Wherever.
-
So quiet.
-
So ordinary.
-
No fanfare.
-
Everyone caught up in
the events of the day.
-
No one took notice.
-
Nobody's giving any concern to this.
-
No account.
-
Some girl back there on the straw -
-
she's having a baby.
-
They lay it in probably some rough,
-
wooden animal trough.
-
When the shepherds came to town,
-
that's what they were looking for.
-
Find a baby in the trough.
-
Salvation.
-
Do you recognize?
-
Salvation has come.
-
The One Who has been long awaited.
-
All human history is
pointing to this child.
-
And He's come.
-
And nobody knows it!
-
The shepherds wouldn't have known it.
-
No fanfare.
-
Miracle of the greatest magnitude
-
is taking place.
-
God and man joined together in this child.
-
The most unique Person ever.
-
I wanted to sing that song:
-
"Hail! The Incarnate Deity!"
-
But who's there to hail Him?
-
It's just quiet.
-
Everybody in the inn -
-
taxes and everything filling their minds.
-
Who's there to hail Him?
-
I'll tell you who.
-
Some lowly shepherds.
-
And then days, may have even been weeks,
-
just some time before Joseph
-
fled to Egypt with his family;
-
it was before Herod sent
-
and had all those children killed
-
in Bethlehem.
-
Some foreigners.
-
You see how God works?
-
It wasn't the Jewish elite.
-
Brethren, think of all the people
-
of power and money
-
and high rank in this world
-
that God has passed over
-
that you might know
-
the significance of all these things.
-
He's given you eyes to see.
-
Why didn't everybody else follow the star?
-
Maybe they couldn't see it.
-
Maybe they did; they just didn't know
-
the significance of it.
-
But you know what?
-
That star guided the Magi.
-
It led them.
-
No indication it led anybody else.
-
God's electing love.
-
He just draws these people to His Son.
-
The world like some great, flowing river;
-
the course of this world.
-
That's what we were -
-
following the course of this world.
-
Following the prince of
the power of the air.
-
By and large, that's what this season is.
-
It's just a mass of humanity
-
in this river;
-
it's just being swept along.
-
Everybody's just flowing with it.
-
Unaware of what really is significant.
-
Just like they were 2,000 years ago.
-
Football games and Christmas trees
-
and lights and all of it.
-
I'll tell you this:
-
There really was a star shining
-
back in the sky in that day.
-
It was a guide at that time to Christ.
-
Today, we have the star.
-
We have the light.
-
It's the Gospel light.
-
It beckons men.
-
But isn't it interesting,
-
it's so much like it was then.
-
You get these people far off.
-
That's how they're described in Ephesians.
-
Those who are far off.
-
We come near.
-
We draw near.
-
Those who are far off
have been brought near
-
by the blood of Christ.
-
Same thing.
-
Isn't it amazing?
-
God gives some people eyes to see.
-
There's some in here.
-
You just go out the doors.
-
You'll just be swept away.
-
Just swept away with all of it.
-
You really don't have eyes to see.
-
But if you have eyes to see,
-
if you have ears to hear -
-
even if God is just
giving them to you
-
right now,
-
you need to recognize this:
-
These are all facts.
-
This is history.
-
God the Son broke into time
-
2,000 years ago,
-
and what He did was He came
-
and He did not stay a baby.
-
He grew up.
-
And when He grew up,
-
there was a day the Spirit of God
-
descended on Him.
-
He was baptized in those waters of Jordan.
-
That Spirit came, filled Him.
-
There was a voice from Heaven,
-
from the Majesty on High:
-
"This is My beloved Son."
-
And He went forth, and He faced the devil.
-
And He conquered.
-
And He went forth.
-
And He did miracles.
-
And He showed the people
-
He could raise the dead.
-
He showed the people
-
He could heal our diseases.
-
And He showed people
-
He was minded to do it.
-
"If You will, You can make me clean."
-
And He said, "I will."
-
And if you have eyes to see
-
and ears to hear,
-
we've been given a Messiah
-
Who is willing that we should be saved.
-
And reaches out His hand
-
and beckons sinners,
-
"Come unto Me, all you that labor
-
and are heavy laden."
-
This is historical fact.
-
This is not fiction.
-
And I'll guarantee, it lines up perfectly
-
with the historical fact of your sin
-
and your guilt
-
and the reality that you and I know
-
you must die.
-
And He came to suffer in our place.
-
And He came to taste death
-
on behalf of all men.
-
That's what Scripture says.
-
This is real.
-
This is not like the Grinch.
-
This is not like Santa Claus.
-
This is not all this garbage.
-
This isn't some stable
-
with a placarded star on the front of it.
-
We're talking about reality.
-
We're talking about a star in the sky
-
that actually led men to the Christ.
-
And they fell down
-
and they worshiped Him.
-
And that's what He calls us to do.
-
Come unto Me.
-
And bow down to Him.
-
That's what they did.
-
Oh, those Magi, in glory
-
when so many of the Jews -
-
and Jesus said it -
-
so many are going to come
-
from East - they came from the East;
-
and from the West.
-
And they're going to sit down
-
with Abraham and with Isaac
-
and with Jacob
-
in the Kingdom.
-
But so many,
-
so many that were privileged,
-
and so many that had rank,
-
and so many that had light,
-
and so many are not going to be there.
-
And they just assume.
-
They just assume.
-
But in faith, if we go to Christ,
-
and we fall down before Him
-
and we worship -
-
oh, those Magi, there was great joy.
-
If you're a sinner
-
and you come to recognize that a Savior
-
has been sent Who became sin for us
-
that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him;
-
He came and He conquered
-
and He faced death,
-
and He faced the consequences of sin
-
on that cross.
-
He faced the wrath of God.
-
He faced a broken law.
-
And He conquered that we might be set free
-
and that we might have life.
-
Oh, they jumped with exceeding joy.
-
I'll tell you this,
-
if you actually look at that star
-
on top of a Christmas tree,
-
or taped onto the manger scene,
-
and you really recognize
-
at least the significance of the reality
-
behind that,
-
you would jump out of your shoes.
-
When they saw that star
-
and it was leading them to Bethlehem -
-
see, they'd heard
-
the prophecies were being fulfilled.
-
A virgin (Isaiah 7) coming to pass.
-
Micah 5: One who is from old,
-
even from everlasting;
-
He is going to be born
-
in Bethlehem Ephrathah.
-
These things are coming to pass.
-
They're exceedingly joyful.
-
Can you imagine?
-
The Christ.
-
And though we cannot see Him
-
as they could see Him
with the physical eye,
-
yet we can hear His words.
-
And they beckon to us.
-
They call us like the star of old
-
called those men.
-
Come. Come.
-
That star just guided -
-
come, come.
-
And who had eyes to see?
-
None but the Magi.
-
But they came.
-
It didn't matter that
they were foreigners.
-
They came.
-
You say, weren't they magicians?
-
Isn't that a cult?
-
Whatever you want to make of it -
-
they came!
-
Come!
-
And you will find Him
-
the Savior to the uttermost.
-
A star.
-
If you really recognize,
-
it's just a star.
-
No, it's a star that just proclaims
-
thunderously: Man need not be damned
-
any longer for his sins.
-
That is good news.
-
You don't want to lose that truth
-
in this season or any other season.
-
So much deception,
-
but that is not deception.
-
That is the truth. That is the fact.
-
And it is a fact that this same baby,
-
when He grew up,
-
He went to the cross.
-
That's a fact.
-
He died on that cross.
-
It's a fact.
-
You may say it's incredible.
-
It's unbelievable.
-
How can it happen
-
that He'd die and three days later,
-
He'd raise from the dead?
-
I'll tell you this:
-
It is supernatural.
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It is amazing.
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It is miraculous.
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If He didn't come out of that grave,
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we are yet in our sins.
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He did come out of the grave.
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And you don't want to stick
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as Christmas perpetually brings us back
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to the manger;
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brings us back to the Incarnation;
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it brings us back to the baby.
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I'll tell you this:
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one of the deceptions in this world
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is Christ as an infant,
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and they love to perpetually keep Him
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as a harmless, little infant.
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But He is not that.
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You need to see the rest of the story.
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Because when He came out of that grave,
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He didn't linger around
here for too long.
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Forty days.
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Enough time to let it be known
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to His followers that He actually
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was risen from the dead.
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And they needed to know that
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because they were going
to be His mouthpieces.
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They were going to be His witnesses.
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They were going to go forth
and tell what happened.
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And after forty days,
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He went up and He sits crowned.
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And He is King.
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And He is going to judge all of mankind.
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We must all stand before
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the judgment seat of Christ.
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The day is at hand.
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Do not think of Him as
a little baby anymore.
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He is not.
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Little babies are harmless.
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This is not One Who is harmless.
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This is the God-man.
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He is crowned.
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He is enthroned.
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He is Lord of Lords.
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And you must answer to Him.
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Right now, He beckons you
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to come to Him
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and He'll save you if you do.
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And He is no lightweight Savior.
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He is powerful to the uttermost.
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He is strong to save.
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But I'll tell you this,
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if you ignore Him and will not
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fall down and worship Him like the Magi,
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He is strong to condemn.
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And He is strong to judge.
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And He will.
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He will.
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He is coming.
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He is coming.
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Father,
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even so,
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Lord Jesus, come.
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Amen.