Sermon Tone Analysis

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

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.

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:

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:

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

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.