Don't Miss Christmas
Notes
Transcript
Don’t Miss Christmas
Matt 2:1-12
Intro
A. All Are Familiar with the Wise Men from the East
1. Following the star
2. Bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh
3. Going first to Jerusalem and called before King Herod
B. But There Is a Group of Wise Men Who Did Not Go to Bethlehem
1. Herod called these to advise him about the birth of the King
2. Chief priests and scribes appointed as temporary wise men (v. 4)
I. They missed coming to Jesus (6)
A. It seems the magi were familiar with scripture
- Studied under direction of Daniel and following
- But we do know scripture lead them to Jesus
- The Priest and scribe’s red them concerning Messiah and sent them on their way (Micah 5:2)
- So we see the scriptures lead them to Jesus
- But what about the priests and scribe’s
- They knew the OT prophecies
- They knew the location but missed the incarnation
- They doubted Christ’s deity all their lives
- They found the biblical answer but did not apply it
B. The scriptures guide our coming to Jesus
- Scripture guides us on our path to Jesus
- John 14:6
- John 6:37
- Acts 4:12
- The bible is the witness of God
- The Bible is God sharing His story with us
- His story directs us how to come to Him
- The Bible points us to Jesus in whom we find our way to God
- The Bible points us to the one who can save us, Jesus Christ
- But we have to apply it to our lives unlike these in v5-6
- People today
o Give Jesus credit for being a good mand
o They proclaim he was a good teacher
o He had a great philosophy of life
o He was a prophet
o But these all stop short of coming to Jesus
- We can know a great deal about the Bible and still be lost
- The Christmas story can’t save us alone it also takes the Easter story
- They missed Christmas, will you?
II. They missed the reason for rejoicing (10)
A. The star led the wise men to the one they traveled a great distance to meet, Jesus
- When they got close, they were overcome with great joy
- They were overjoyed at the prospect of meeting Jesus
- This great king had them rejoicing
- The scribes and priests missed the chance to rejoice because messiah was here
- They had long awaited his coming but they still missed it
- He wasn’t the messiah or king they were looking for he wasn’t going to fit their mold so why go rejoice or perhaps they were too busy as we often get this time of year
- Talk about all the time in ministry Christmas takes
B. Meeting Jesus is still our reason to rejoice
- But now I like you, especially the kids, I enjoy the Christmas season
- I get excited about Christmas and the gifts and presents
- I enjoy the time I get to spend with family and friends
- But we must remember why we even have Christmas—Jesus
- It should be a time of rejoicing over Him not Santa
- We rejoice because…
o He came to live a sinless life
o He came to die on a cross for our sins
o He came to show us the way to forgiveness and eternal life
o He did it all for me. If there wasn’t anybody else but me He would have done it all
o He did it all for you as well
- That should give us reason for rejoicing
- The birth of Jesus means I have a way out from under my sins and into the arms of God
- The birth of Jesus is a reason for rejoicing
- How busy are you this season?
- Have you stopped to rejoice Christ came?
- Herschel Hobbs tells this story about rejoicing, Dr. R. G. Lee preached for us in a revival meeting. Crowds attended and the visible results were many. We closed the meeting on Monday night when Dr. Lee preached “Pay Day Some Day.” The large auditorium was packed, and several hundred people were forced to remain outside. We gave him what he said was the largest honorarium he had ever received in a revival. Returning to his room that night, Dr. Lee sat in the dark looking out the window. Across the street he saw the steep steps leading into a large house where as a college student he had boarded one summer. He had spent that summer unloading banana boats to earn enough money to continue his college course. The next morning, he described his feelings to me in words similar to these. “I looked at that old boarding house. I remembered each night I was so tired from unloading bananas I could hardly pull myself up those steps. Then I remembered how God had blessed me in letting me serve Him through the years. As I held that large check in my hands, I recalled the revival, the crowds, and the results. My heart was so full. As tears flowed down my face, I fell on my knees and thanked God for his goodness to me.” From an unpromising beginning God had used Dr. Lee and made him one of the world’s greatest preachers of the gospel.
III. They missed worshiping Jesus (11)
A. The wise men finally saw Jesus with their own eyes
- They walked into the room and there was the baby they had come all that way to see
- Before them was the King of kings
- How do the respond? What was their first reaction?
- Look back at verse 11 I want you to see this
- They fell down and worshiped Him
- They assumed the posture of a subject to their King
- They lifted Him over themselves
- But again, the priest’s and scribes missed it
- They knew the messiah would rule but they would not bow and worship Him
- Look back at verse 6 ruler but they won’t let Him rule them
o God’s plan was unfolding swiftly before them
o It was a time of prophetic fulfillment
o The angels—Bethlehem place where the temple lambs kept, the taxing, the birth
o Even the arrival of the wise men
- But they missed the chance to worship Him
B. Jesus is still to be worshiped today
- He is still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
- He is worthy of our worship.
- We should fall down at His feet.
- We should assume the posture of subjects to our King.
- He is the Great Lord God Almighty.
- We should lilt Him up and worship and praise Him.
- Jesus is still to be worshiped.
- But how often do we miss it this time of year?
- How often do we stop and really think about why he came and worship Him?
- Worship Him for who he is and what he has done
- We will sit in lines to take the kids to Santa, to look at Christmas light displays
- But how much time do we really focus on Jesus and worship Him
- I’m not talking about here on a Sunday
IV. They missed giving to Jesus (11)
A. The wise men brought their treasures to Jesus
- Jesus deserved all the wise men had
- They brought their treasures, their possessions of great worth, and laid them at His feet
- Nothing was too much for the King
- They gave Him their best
- The priest group brought nothing at that time
- They would be a thorn in His side for all His ministry
- They would be responsible for bringing Him a crown but it was a crown of thorns
B. Jesus is still worthy of our treasures
- He is still worthy to receive all we have
- All that we have is His blessing to us
- Nothing should be so valuable in our lives that we are not willing to lay it down for Jesus
- Nothing should stand between us and the Lord
- Oklahoma City made startling and shocking news Sunday morning, December 6, 1964. A thirty-one-year-old mother gave birth to a child on the sidewalk at the corner of Sheridan and Broadway. A curious crowd “watched without helping.” The woman and her baby lay on the pavement for about forty-five minutes in a temperature of about thirty-four degrees. A visitor from Tulsa summoned a taxi. When the cab arrived, however, the driver refused to take the mother to the hospital. Then the helpful stranger called the police, to no avail. During the time the woman lay on the sidewalk, two patrol cars passed the scene and neither stopped. A former state representative chanced that way, stopped and called the fire department for an ambulance. He also sent a man across the street to a hotel to borrow a blanket, but a porter refused him. Meanwhile, the rescue squad arrived. While waiting for an ambulance, Captain Bill Latham of the fire department and the former representative, Bob Cunningham, decided to take the mother and her child to the hospital in the latter’s car. And they did. This unbelievable story, heralded across America Monday, December 7, and doubtless around the world, is reminiscent of what happened in ancient Bethlehem, when another woman was heavy with child. “And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7)
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