Are You A Wise Man (2)
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Church! It is good to be in the house of God today, Amen?
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scriptural Reference: Matthew 2:1-12
We are continuing our journey through the Gospels today, and we have made it to Matthew 2:1. Today, we are going to be looking at some wise men, but more importantly, I want us to consider what made them wise men.
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.
Context
Context
In this text, we see a group a men who are called “wise men”.
The Greek word “magoi” is the origin of the English word “magic”, but the magi should be considered magicians in the modern sense.
Magi was a term used then to describe a group of people who studied the ancient and sacred texts, as well as watching for movement among the planets and stars that could be interpreted as divine messages from God.
They were studied stargazers.
That might seem like a silly way to waist time to us, but thankfully for them, it led them straight to Jesus.
I want us to consider what exactly made them wise men. Though they were very studied individuals, this is not what made them wise. Though they could interpret the skies, this is not what made them wise.
I fear there will be lots of very intelligent people who can do lots of very intelligent things who will get the concept of God all wrong. In other words, hell will be full of people who were very intelligent in a fleshly perspective, but failed to see the basic spiritual truths of God.
Let’s take a moment and see exactly what made these men so wise.
Content
Content
Wise Men Will Seek God
Wise Men Will Seek God
How were they able to seek God?
There was the ministry of the Spirit. Well, you say, "Pastor, I don't read anything there about the Holy Spirit." It's there. Now, true, the Bible doesn't say anything about the Holy Spirit, in this verse, unless you look carefully beneath the surface. But what it does say is this: "there came wise men from the east... saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we... are come to worship him."
Now listen—the Bible says: "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Who put that desire to worship Jesus in their hearts? The Holy Spirit. Do you know why we seek Him? Because He first sought us, isn't that true? We love Him because He first loved us. Do you know why I love the Lord Jesus? Because God in grace, and God in mercy, put a desire in my heart to seek after Him. By nature, in our flesh, the Bible says: "There is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11). "No, not one" (Romans 3:10), and that would have included these wise men.
They didn't come to Him because they were so intellectual—don't get the idea that, because they were smarter than other men, they came. Oh, no! It was not because of their intellectual minds, but rather because of their inspired spirits, that God the Holy Spirit could work in their hearts and draw them to Jesus. Do you have a desire to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him? Do you find something drawing you to God? That, my friend, is Someone—He's the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the ministry of the Spirit. Hallelujah!
What do you seek in life?
Paul wrote in Phil. 1:21:
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The Troubles They Faced
Distance
It says that they came from the east. This, I believe, is speaking of Babylon. If that is true, it means that they traveled for 300 miles across the Syrian Desert. That is not a short journey. How far are you willing to go to find Jesus? Will you cross the desert? Will you inconvenience yourself and travel a great way in order to find Jesus? Wise men are willing to go whatever distance necessary for sake of finding Jesus.
Difficulty
Now when we look at the Christmas cards, they show the wise men traveling on camels. I don’t know for sure how they came to Christ, but I do know how they didn’t come. There were no super highways at the time. They did not travel air conditioned automobiles. They did not fly over on a leer jet. They had a long difficult journey that they traveled and they gladly did it because they were seeking Jesus. How much difficulty are you willing to endure for the sake of finding Christ? Are you willing to go through the fire and the flood? Are you willing to give up some of the sinful pleasures of your life? Are you willing to let some family members go for the sake of finding Jesus? Wise men seek after Jesus, even through much difficulty.
Danger
Notice that this is the time of King Herod, who was a king that was insane with jealousy and rage. Herod had murdered his mother. Herod had murdered his wife, Mariamme. Herod had murdered his three sons. Augustus Caesar said that it was safer to be Herod's pig than to be Herod's son. In the Greek language, the word pig and the word son sound almost alike, and he's making a play on words. "Safer to be his pig than it was to be his son." When Herod was sick and about to die, he had a number of the most prominent citizens arrested and gave orders that, when he died, they also would be killed. Do you know why he did that? He said that he wanted some tears shed when he died. That's the kind of man that Herod was. Are you willing to face a tremendous amount of danger in order to find Jesus? Are you willing to put your life at risk? Why do the wise men go through the danger? To a wise man, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Wise Men Will See God
Wise Men Will See God
Message of the Scriptures
How did the wise men know that baby Jesus had been born? How did they know where to travel? They knew because they had read it in God’s Holy Word.
The Timeline
24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
The magi would have read these words from Daniel and known that the Messiah was coming soon. Unless they had missed a key Scripture somewhere, He should be here. But where is he? How do we find Him?
Where
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
Not only did they know that it was time for the Messiah to come, they knew where He was coming to. He was going to be born in Bethlehem. The Scriptures had given them a when and a where. But how would they find Him? How would they know where to go in Bethlehem, or what if He had been moved from Bethlehem by the time they arrived?
How
17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.
Wait a minute.....There will be a sign. The sign will be a star. All we have to do is wait for the star of the Lord to appear, and then we will know that He has arrived.
So they waited for the star, and when it appeared they headed west to find the Messiah.
The Scriptures gave them everything they needed in order to see Jesus. I want you to understand that the Scriptures give us everything we need to see Jesus still today. If you want to see Him, you can, when you get into His Word.
Wise men will see Him!!!
The Miracle of the Stars
You know, the stars have to obey our Lord. Over there, in the Old Testament, in the book of Judges—Judges 5:20—the Bible says: "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." (Judges 5:20) Sisera was a general. He had an army, and in that army he had nine hundred chariots. You can't even imagine nine hundred chariots. But he was going into war against God's people, and God sent such a tremendous rainstorm that his chariots were bogged down, and he was defeated. Now later, when they wrote a song to celebrate the victory, one of the stanzas in that song says: "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." You see, Star Wars are not new. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." And his kingdom came tumbling down—Herod's kingdom came tumbling down; for Herod stumbled over the stars.
Listen to me—listen—the whole universe is against the man who's against God, and the whole universe lines up behind the man who seeks after God.
God will do whatever is necessary, to get that hungry heart, which seeks after Him, to Jesus. If you want Him, God is a God of might, and God is a God of miracle. I believe that some of you are here this morning by divine appointment, because you've been seeking the Lord. Thank God for the miracle of the stars. The star was there to guide the wise men, and what it tells me is that, whatever is necessary, God will guide that hungry heart that wants to know the Lord Jesus Christ. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
Wise Men Will Serve God
Wise Men Will Serve God
Gold Speaks of His Sovereign Dominion
Now, gold was a gift that was fit for a king. Gold speaks of His sovereign dominion. You see, verse 2—they said: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" He was a king, and the Bible speaks of kings wearing crowns, and they were crowns of gold. Psalm 21:3: "Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head." (Psalm 21:3) Now, when they brought gold, they were saying, "We recognize that this little baby is the King of the Jews. He's destined to reign. He has sovereign dominion."
Have you recognized His dominion? You're not wise if you haven't. Have you bowed to Him and said, "Lord, I crown You"? "Well," you say, "how are you going to crown Him?" You might crown Him the way they did—which was with gold. If all of your wealth is not under His control, then you've not recognized Him as King—as your sovereign King. He has a right to all that you own. You say, "It's mine." Well then, keep it, and die, and go to Hell. If He's not Lord of everything you have, then He's not your Savior. His throne is not a duplex—He requires your absolute surrender to His lordship. He's the King. He's the King. It is His sovereign dominion. How am I going to serve Him? I'll serve him with my wealth.
Frankincense Speaks of His Sinless Deity
Secondly, not only did they bring gold, but they also brought frankincense. And, as the gold speaks of his sovereign dominion, the frankincense speaks of His sinless deity. Of His sinless deity—because, not only is He King, He is also God. "Well," you say, "how does frankincense speak of his deity?" Well, in this time, and in the Old Testament, they worshiped the Lord by burning incense—frankincense. Now, incense was sweet perfume, so that, when it was burned, it would go up in smoke, and it pictured a sweet perfume rising up into the nostrils of God. It was an emblem—a symbol of worship—and the Bible tells us that frankincense was to be used in the worship of God alone.
37 But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the Lord.
Now, Exodus 30:37 reads: "And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord." (Exodus 30:37) That type of frankincense was only for God. These wise men were wise, because—do you know what they said? "Not only does our wealth belong to Him, as He's the King; but our worship also belongs to Him—He's God. He's God."
Is He your God, or do you have an idol? Do you have an idol? You say, "No, I don't believe in idols." Anything that you love more than God is an idol. Anything that you fear more than God is an idol. Anything that you serve more than God is an idol. How are you going to serve Him? Serve Him with all that you have—your wealth belongs to Him. How are you going to serve Him? Serve Him with all that you are—your worship belongs to Him.
Myrrh Speaks of His Sacrificial Death
But, not only did they bring Him gold, and not only did they bring Him frankincense, but they also brought Him myrrh, and that myrrh speaks of His sacrificial death and indicates that He was going to die, because myrrh was used to embalm the dead. Do you remember that Jesus was crucified, and that the Bible speaks of how they went about embalming Him in John 19:39? "And there came also Nicodemus, who at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred-pound weight" (John 19:39)—myrrh, to embalm the body of Jesus.
Commitment
Commitment
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Conclusion
Here was a baby that was born to die. Are you listening? He is a king, and they brought Him gold. He’s God, and they brought Him frankincense. He’s a Savior, and they brought Him myrrh. Sovereign dominion, sinless deity, and sacrificial death. And because He is a king, He has my wealth. Because He’s God, He has my worship. And because He died, He has my witness. All that I am, all that I have, and all that I do, belongs to this One: that’s wisdom. That’s what a wise man will do, and I wonder, are you really wise? Do you understand that this baby was born to die?
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Conclusion
Let’s go back to our sentence, “For to me to live is …” Are you willing to say, “My wealth, my worship, and my witness will come to Him; I see Him as the sovereign dominion, as the sacred, sinless deity, and as the suffering Savior; I see Him, and I give all to Him?” Wise men will seek Him; wise men that seek Him will see Him; and, wise men that seek Him, and see Him, will serve Him with all that they have. Are you wise? I say, are you wise?