Wise Men

Introduction

Continue in our series, today with the Wise Men.

One of the reason wise men are fascinating is because there’s so much we DON’T know.

Instead of focusing on WHO they were, want to focus on WHAT we can learn from their story.

They came from the east, following a star.

They found Jesus, worshiped him, and gave him generous gifts.

So much could be said about their journey; today, I want to talk about something that I think we will be able to relate to.

For them to accomplish this journey that God had called them to, there were multiple times they had to KNOW that God was directing them and speaking to them.

They had to be able to clearly identify the will of God, and respond in obedience.

Now, maybe God speaks to you through burning bushes and a booming voice in your bedroom; he doesn’t do that for me.

But we do believe that God speaks to us, that he leads us, directs us, guides us in our lives.

But there’s been times where I just wasn’t sure if God was actually speaking to me, actually leading me somewhere, or if it was coming from somewhere else.

But we do believe that God speaks to us, that he leads us, directs us, guides us in our lives.

So the question I want to answer today is this;

How can we discern the will of God?

How do I know that the choices I’m making are one’s that God would approve of?

How do we know when God is telling us something? How can we tell the difference between God speaking to us, and pursuing the desires of our heart, or following the advice of something that isn’t actually from God? How can we know what choices to make in all the circumstances we face in life?

This is so important;

We live in a world of “follow your heart.” Do what you want, if it makes you happy, that is all the justification for a decision that you need.

And as good as that sounds on the surface, I can promise you, that the words of Proverbs 14:12 are true

Proverbs 14:12 ESV

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

No matter how many times the world tries to tell you that you don’t need anyone else’s help, don’t need anyone else’s advice, what has been true from the beginning is that the designer of this world and the designer of you and me knows BEST how we can function; and we ignore his advice and his commands at our own peril;

Following God doesn’t just lead to salvation, it leads to abundant joy in this life that you cannot find anywhere else.

That’s why it’s so important that we follow the example of these wise men, and listen and follow the voice of God.

Going to read the story of the wise men, and from this story, I want to show you 3 questions you should ask yourself when you’re trying to discern the will of God for your life.

Matthew 2:1–12 ESV

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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And 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.” 9 After 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into 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 and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Matthew 2:1–6 ESV

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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

Wise men show up Jerusalem; why did they go there? They were looking for a King!

They were expecting a young child sitting in a palace, so they went to where royalty lived.

Instead, they meet Herod. Look what they tell him.

Matthew 2:2 ESV

2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:

There’s 2 things they already know;

They knew the star was marking the birth of the King of the Jews

They knew this King was unlike others; this King was worthy to be WORSHIPED!

How did they know this?

First, they were astrologists, and this new star would have been obvious to them that something was happening, and they likely would have attributed this new star to something divine.

Next, they had read, studied, and understood the word of God.

Most scholars think that they would have read prophesies like this one in Numbers:

Numbers 24:17 ESV

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

They would have known the passage that Herod has his scribes look up that said that the Christ was to come from Bethlehem.

They combined their knowledge of astrology and Old Testament Scripture, and this led them to make this extraordinary journey across the ancient world to see this new King.

I think if they just saw the star, and hadn’t known of any prophecies from the OT, they aren’t making this trip.

“Hey, check out that star, that’s new. Wanna go check it out?”

They were smart guys, they knew you couldn’t really catch a start by travelling on land.

But because of their knowledge of Scripture, they knew that this star was special.

This shows us the first question we should ask:

Does this decision line up with God’s Word?

First way to see if a choice you’re making is the will of God is to open up God’s Word and see what it says about it.

Some people have called the Bible a “road map.”

I’ve never been crazy about that phrase; if it’s a road map, it’s a terrible one.

There are some maps in here; don’t think they’re that helpful.

Like, if your actual road maps were like this we’d be lost all the time.

“When do I turn,”

GPS just says, “here’s a story of someone who made a turn once in Jerusalem 3 thousand years ago,” that wouldn’t help.

So no, I don’t think the Bible is a road map; but, I think it’s better than that.

The Bible doesn’t give us a specific answer to every question we are going to have, or a clear cut answer for every situation.

The Bible isn’t about us; it’s a story of God’s redemption of humanity, and it gives us the proper way to respond to this redemption.

So no, it doesn’t give us this long list of do’s and don’ts for every single situation.

What it DOES do is give us the principles we need in order to make a godly decision no matter what situation we are in.

So no matter what situation your facing, I believe the Bible has an answer for you.

Now, you might not always like the answer; but it’s there.

When it comes to discerning the will of God, it is so important that our first step is comparing what we are thinking to God’s Word.

This will be the only step you need for the vast majority of questions you have in your life.

Let me give you an example.

When I was first in ministry, worked in young married adult ministry; one part of that was BYSID; got to sit through it several times first year of marriage, that’s why we became pros so quickly.

We had a couple who came to us and told us that God had told them it was okay that they were living and sleeping together before they got married.

Can I tell you; that’s honestly just a super easy one. God’s Word makes it SO clear that that goes against his design for relationships and marriage.

We showed them this, and there response was essentially, “oh, I had never heard those verses before. Is that really what God wants?”

Here’s an example that we’ve probably all felt;

what do we do when our beliefs become more and more unpopular? When there are people out there telling us constantly that God doesn’t actually say that about homosexuality, and that abortion is just a women’s rights issue, and we need to relax.

How can we discern God’s will on these issues?

the temptation is to bow to culture, and turn to the world to answer these questions; what does God say about this? Well let me check twitter.

Unfortunately, there are many churches, pastors, and professing Christians who have done just that;

“Well, God is about love, and I really think that God wouldn’t say that.”

Can I tell you something; what you think really doesn’t matter.

What does the Bible say? What has God revealed to us?

There’s going to be so many things in your life that you have to decide on; Some are going to be easy, others are going to be a lot harder.

when you’re having a hard time discerning if God is leading you towards something, or you have a difficult decision in front of you, the first thing you must do is search Scripture for answers.

So if you think God is telling you something, the first thing you have do is look in his Word.

Again, the Bible is not a road map.

The Bible didn’t have a verse to look up when Emily and I were thinking about putting Haven in dance class.

It does talk about financial discipline, about the priority of family time, about the priority of church; ALL of these can help you make those types of decisions.

So when you’re trying to discern the will of God, start by looking in His Word.

These Magi had studied and un

Matthew 2:7–12 ESV

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And 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.” 9 After 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into 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 and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Matthew 2:6–12 ESV

6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And 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.” 9 After 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into 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 and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Herod is obviously not happy to hear about a new king of the Jews.

He was an illegitimate king; had no blood claim, was actually an Edomite, not an Israelite. He descended from Esau, not Jacob. Jews never really saw him as their real king. He came to power by basically being a puppet for Rome.

All this led him to be incredibly insecure and paranoid.

Had numerous wives, sons, and others close to him executed.

So, obvious to us, he wasn’t looking for Jesus to come and worship him. However, this would NOT have been as obvious to the wise men.

So they continue on their journey, until finally, they find Jesus.

and here we see the culmination of this amazing journey; these royal officials, men of prominence, wealth, importance... bowing before a child and giving him the very best gifts they had to offer.

The result of discerning and following the will of God is always the same; we get closer to Jesus.

We get to worship him more, get to understand him more, and just like it says the wise men, we are given an abundance of joy.

After their encounter with Jesus, they begin to head back. And we have every reason to believe that their plan was to go see Herod and tell him where they had found Jesus.

In fact, it seems their plan had been to go back to see Herod after finding Jesus.

After their encounter with Jesus, they begin to head back. And we have every reason to believe that their plan was to go see Herod and tell him where they had found Jesus.

If that wasn’t their plan, there would have been no reason for this dream we see in verse 12.

Before they can go back and see Herod, God sends them a dream, directing them to go elsewhere.

I wish I could tell you that that was my next step; “Have a dream from God about what to do.”

But I don’t think it’s very wise of us to expect that.

However, I do think this is a good reminder for us. Because when we are faced with difficult choices, we too can ask God to intervene and give us clarity.

This next question is one that actually applies to you, and didn’t to the wise men;

Next question is;

Have I asked the Holy Spirit for guidance?

After Jesus completed his work on earth, he came, lived the perfect life, and died on the cross for our sins, offering salvation and eternal life to all who would believe, he ascended back to heaven. After he did, he sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to indwell all those who belong to Him.

The Holy Spirit is just that; a helper. He helps us daily to discern truth, to convict sin, and to draw us closer to God.

And we desperately need this.

There are so many times that we would be lost without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Look at the wise men; they were just told something by a KING; he was wealthy, powerful, influential; they would have every reason to trust his words.

Instead, God steps in and shows them the truth, that the source of Herod’s word were not from him, but the enemy.

This is a good reminder to always be wary of the SOURCE of what we hear.

Sometimes it can be hard to tell if what someone is saying is actually true or not, if it’s actually from God or not.

That’s why step 1 will always be to open God’s Word.

When you hear that preacher on Facebook, or that celebrity, or that politician say something, we have to first and foremost compare it to what God has told us in his word.

The next thing we should do if we still don’t have clarity; because sometimes we will be faced with decisions, or faced with circumstances that God’s word doesn’t directly speak to; is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. I think some of us need a reminder about this;

This is what the Holy Spirit does; it’s who He is.

It’s the Holy Spirit that works in our hearts, drawing us to salvation in the first place. It’s he who does the work of illumination, allowing us to understand the truth revealed in God’s Word.

And it’s he who will give us discernment when we are faced with difficult choices and situations.

How often do you pray and ask God for help making decisions? Asking if it’s his will for your life? What stops you?

There’s no decision too small, nothing to unimportant to bring to God.

There’s also nothing too big for God to handle.

Now, it’s important again to note that the Holy Spirit will NEVER tell you something that contradicts the word of God.

Is it possible for you to really, really believe that the Spirit is telling you something, and it actually be false?

Not only is it possible, the Bible explicitly warns us about it.

1 John 4:1 ESV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:1

So once again, if you think that God is telling you something that contradicts scripture, I promise you, that isn’t from God.

But we know that the Holy Spirit works inside us, helping us discern the truth.

And when we are facing difficult decisions, we should ask the Holy Spirit to help us.

The last question I think we need to ask ourselves when we are unsure if something is the will of God is this;

Have I sought godly council from those around me?

We don’t know if there were actually 3 wise me, but we DO know there were more than one! They did not go alone.

In fact, it’s much more likely that there was a huge caravan that rolled into town looking for Jesus.

One early church father thought there could have been up to 14 wise men.

Glad we didn’t stick with that tradition, the nativity is pretty crowded as it is.

Either way, here’s what is important. They were not alone. They were able to compare scripture together, discuss the advice they were given from Herod together.

They could say, “um, hey…I had this dream last night.” to one another, and then be affirmed by one another that what they had heard was from God.

It is crucial for you as a believer to be surrounded by godly community.

the vehicle for community here at Fellowship West is our Bible Fellowship Groups.

We have groups on Sundays, Wednesday's, some weeknights, that we would love for you to plug in to.

THIS is great, and THIS is important; but THAT is where community happens.

That’s where the meal trains come from, the baby sitting, the hospital visits. So if you aren’t involved, I want to encourage you to reach out and we can help you get plugged in.

Because it’s not just where those things happen, it’s also where you can go to seek godly council.

That’s what our leaders in the church, and the pastors, are here for.

All through Scripture we see examples of God speaking to his people through others.

EXAMPLE: Before I graduated from Liberty, I was looking for what was next; seeking an internship.

rep from a large church came, told us about this high caliber internship at this really large church.

They were doing great things, their interns were going on to do great things; I was very interested in this program.

My wife and I drive down to Atlanta, spend the weekend at this church, and I’m sold. I want to go to this program.

Now, this church happened to be a different denomination. To participate in this program, I would either have to change or compromise some of the things that I really thought were true; but, I was pretty blind to that.

Emily, however, was not. And she was very uncomfortable about stepping into that role.

And I heard her, but to my discredit, was still a little hesitant to listen.

So I called my dad about it, hoping to get him to affirm my thinking. After hearing the details, he of course agreed with Emily, and didn’t think that it was something I should pursue.

And I remember telling him, “But Dad, I really feel like God is telling me to go there.”

And I’ll never forget what he said.

He said, “It’s really important for you to remember that you are not the only person that God can speak to. If God is telling all those around you something different, you need to be open to the idea that what you’re hearing isn’t from God.”

Gah...That settled it for me. I pretty quickly realized it was my own pride I was listening to, and NOT the voice of God.

This is what happens when you seek Godly council from other believers. They are able to reveal blind spots you might have, and help you discern the will of God for your life.

Sometimes it will be through affirmation; I’ve had the great pleasure of affirming some young guys that felt called to ministry, and being in full agreement with what they were hearing from God.

Other times, I’ve been in positions to gently rebuke people who were doing what I did, and pursuing their own desires over the will of God.

So once you’ve searched the word of God and prayed for the Holy Spirit’s assistance, seek Godly council to help you know the will of God in your life.

Conclusion

Once again, even the idea of CONSIDERING that what you’re feeling might be wrong is totally counter-cultural.

The world says, “if you feel it, it’s true.”

Our world says that whatever you feel is true, and whatever you desire should dictate your choices.

Our world says that whatever you feel is true, and whatever you desire should dictate your choices.

But I promise you, there is no joy to be found in pursuing your own desires to their end.

Instead, we are to listen to the voice of God, and base our decisions off of what he has revealed to us to be true.

In doing this, we allow God to both use us and bless us in some amazing ways.

One aspect of this story that so often goes overlooked is the IMPACT that the gifts made.

How do you think Joseph, who was by all accounts a lowly carpenter, could afford to move his entire family to Egypt on short notice and survive?

Because these men ensured they were living within the will of God, listened to his voice, and responded in obedience, they got to play a crucial part in God’s plan of salvation. They also got to experience the great joy of worshiping Jesus face to face.

The surest path to joy this Christmas is not through more gifts, more presents, more parties; it’s not through pursuing your own desires; it is through clearly hearing the voice of God, discerning his will, and responding in obedience.

Prayer