Matthew 2:1-12 The Cost of Worship

Matthew 2:1–12 (NKJV)

1 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.

11 And when they had come into 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 gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

“ The Cost of Worship “

Biblical worship when you look at it in the bible

Was always a lifestyle

But our culture have twisted true biblical worship

And have limited biblical worship to the church house

Or just your personal home

With the lifting up of HANDS and TEARS

But true biblical worship is the giving of ones self

These Magi or Wise Men said that

“ They came to worshipped Him “

And their worship was the giving of themselves, as the text will show us

Your worship will NEVER be AUTHENTIC

And will NEVER be ACCEPTED until you give up YOU

Give up Your WAYS

Give up Your WILL

Give up Your OPINION

Give up Your THOUGHTS

Give up How You SEE THINGS

Authentic

John 4:23–24 (NKJV)

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Accepted

Genesis 4:3–5 (NKJV)

3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,

5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Note: Real Worship Cost you something......

Note: We have allowed, some spiritual imitational phrases to motivate us, which sounds good but not biblical

The Bible has been known as “ Basic instructions before leaving earth “

But the bible is more than just that

The bible have many principles that we can Lean & Glean from

To be able to grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

These Wise men leave us some principles

Explain History

New Testament scholars concur that

for us to have a comprehensive view and study

Of the story of Jesus,

we may need to consider very convincingly

That there are not four gospels

But there is one gospel in four volumes

Matter fact, in the classrooms of seminary

This is what you call the“ euangelion “

“ The teaching of the Good News of Jesus Christ “

In which the four gospel quartets are not separate volumes

And singular stories

but they are a collection of four volumes

That tells one story

There is ONE Gospel told in four volumes

That the gospel quartets can be viewed as one singular book

And there is some theological validity to this

Because each writer stresses a aspect of Jesus

that is a contribution to the Larger picture of who Jesus was

Matthew – put stress on the teachings of Jesus

Mark – put stress on the person of Jesus.

Luke – put stress on the salvation of Jesus

John – put stress on the deity of Jesus

Matthew here in our text today

Stresses the worship that belongs to Jesus

Jesus Desire our Worship

‌Jesus Deserve our Worship

‌Jesus Demand our Worship

This is why Jesus Desire – Deserve – Demand to be WORSHIP

1. SUBSTITUTION: Jesus died in my place. 1 cor 5:15; 1 peter 3:18

2. JUSTIFICATION: Jesus made me right with God. Roman 5:1

3. RECONCILIATION: Jesus made peace with God possible. Romans 5:10; Ephesians 2:15-16

4. ADOPTION: Jesus made me a part of God’s family. Galatians 4:5-7

5. REDEMPTION: Jesus purchased my salvation with his blood. 1 peter 1:18-19

6. PROPITIATION:Jesus satisfied God’s justice. Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10

7. FORGIVENESS: Jesus sent my sins away from me.

What MOTIVED their Worship

First of all

I want you to see how these wise men sought the Lord Jesus Christ—

how they sought Him

In Verse 1 says, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men … to Jerusalem.” (Matthew 2:1)

What MOTIVED their Worship

1st The Ministry of the Spirit

What put in the hearts of these men to seek the Lord Jesus?

The Holy Spirit.

The Bible says of our human flesh,

“There is none that seeketh after God … no, not one.”(Romans 3:11–12)

The only reason you sought Him is because He first sought you.

when God got you, you were running from God.

“there is none that seeketh after God … no, not one.”(Romans 3:11–12) “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

It is God who put the desire in our heart to seek Him.

It was God who put the desire in the heart of these wise men

to seek the Lord God.

Worship is a desire planted in the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit.

Note: And if you’re not SEEKING the Lord Jesus Christ on today your Salvation becomes in question.

What MOTIVED their Worship

1st The Ministry of the Spirit

2nd The Message of the Scripture

The message of the Scripture

in verses 2 through 6 of this same chapter

the Bible says, “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 the scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born

“Where’s the Messiah going to be born?”

He brings the high important and arrogant in there,

the priests and the scribes.

“Tell me where He’s going to be born”—

“And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea”—

now, how did they know that?—

“for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”(Matthew 2:5–6)

It’s very plain.

The Bible prophesied in minute detail things

about the Lord Jesus Christ,

and one of these was His birthplace.

These men had the Word of God.

They had not only this prophecy from Micah chapter 5 and verse 2

that tells that Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2);

but if they came from Babylon,

they also had the prophecies from the prophet Daniel

who told in Daniel chapter 9,

in that prophecy, the time that Jesus would come as the Messiah (Daniel 9:24–27)—

In this Christmas season so many people are going to miss Jesus

Many of these people missed His first coming

because they simply did not read, believe, or obey the Scriptures.

We don’t have any record, for example,

that these scribes and these priests

went down there to worship Him.

That’s amazing.

They knew where He was; they knew about it,

but they still didn’t go.

We don’t have any record that Herod went.

That’s amazing.

There was the message, the plain message.

And because of a disinterest of the Word of God

So many people missed His first coming

And so many will miss His Second coming

The Word Of God / The Message

What MOTIVED their Worship

1st The Ministry of the Spirit

2nd The Message of the Scripture

3rd The Miracle of the Star

These men had the miracle of the star

The Shekinah glory of God was leading them step by step.

God knew what was necessary for those people

in that day at that time.

1st: They had the ability to Recognize God’s star (v. 1-2)

2nd They was willing to Reverence God’s Son

3rd They Receive God’s Signal (v.12)

Question : What’s your STAR ?

Quote: some people can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman: they don’t want to know. They don’t seek God. You get serious about seeking God, God will reveal Himself to you

The Cost of Worship

1st The Cost of their Worship was in their Distance

The came from the East

If Babylon

That’s a distance about three hundred miles.

There was the difficulty of distance.

A three-hundred-mile trip today, if you’re riding in a automobile,

May tire you out.

Can you imagine what a trip would have been like in that day

The difficulty of a trip like that?

Question: How far are you willing to go for Jesus ????

Note: Church folks say “for God I live and for God I die “– That’s a lie

“I’m SOLD OUT for God “ -- That’s another lie

Note: How far are you willing to go with your TIME – TALENT – TREASURE

Example: The distance people go for a football game and all what they have to spend

Note: It’s amazing how much people will pay to get INTO a game but want come to church EVERY Sunday and you can get in FREE

The Cost of Worship

1st The Cost of their Worship was in their Distance

2nd The Cost of their Worship was in their Discomfort

Look at the weather.

Their tired bodies

Traveling through unfamiliar areas

Note: Today we use any DISCOMFORT to miss church

The Cost of Worship

1st The Cost of their Worship was in their Distance

2nd The Cost of their Worship was in their Discomfort

3rd The Cost of their Worship was in spite of their Danger

They knew that every Herod in the bible

‌Had a history of handling his business

‌They knew whenever Herod said

‌He was going to GET YOU

‌You was as good as GOT

‌

Because Herod didn’t play

‌The Herod in Acts 12

‌Is the grandson

‌Of King Herod the great

‌In Matthew Chapter 2

‌

‌ Despite his brilliant and ambitious building projects,

Herod the Great had a dark side

that showed itself in the events of Matthew 2

and in other historical events.

He always feared potential rivals.

He had his wife’s brother Aristobulus,

the high priest

drowned in the swimming pool in his palace.

He put to death 46 members

of the Sanhedrin.

He killed his mother-in-law

He also had his wife Mariamne murdered

along with two of their sons

as he considered them potential rivals

with legitimate claim to the throne

because of their Hasmonean lineage

(Herod had ten wives in all

and many other children who did not have Hasmonean blood.)

Augustus Caesar is reported to have said,

“It is better to be Herod’s dog than one of his children.”

When placed in this context, the incident in Matthew 2 does not seem out of character.

Note: WHO or WHAT will stop you from Worshipping The Savior and Lord of our Lives

1st The Cost of their Worship was in their Distance

2nd The Cost of their Worship was in their Discomfort

3rd The Cost of their Worship was in spite of their Danger

I wonder, does worship mean that much to you? Or, do you have sort of a take-it-or-leave-it attitude? The Bible says, “[You] shall seek [for] me, and find me, when [you] search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) God have mercy upon our half-hearted worship! Say “amen.” I mean, if He’s worth anything, He’s worth everything. Worship means “worth ship.” That’s where we get the word worship: “worth ship.” What is Jesus worth to you? I believe the biggest cult in America is the cult of the comfortable: we just want to take it easy. Jeremiah 29, verse 13: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all of your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)