A Thrill of Hope: Exceedingly Great Joy

INTRO:

Matthew 2:1–12 (ESV)

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, 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.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“ ‘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.’ ”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 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.” 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. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

EXCEEDINGLY GREAT JOY

JULIA ROBERTS FUNNY

Like Julia Roberts said, this year has been tough on us all…

*insert picture*

GATEWAY MESSAGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHcJAglXDHo

HEROD

What fights against the Spirit of Joy? Self-Centeredness. When it’s all about you, you’ll lose joy. Look at Herod:

Matthew 2:16 (ESV)

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

Herod was a self-centered, narcisistic ruler. Life was all about him.

When life is all about you, you’ll do things that could kill the promises of God.

KING HEROD FACTS:

+ This was a horrible autrocity.

+ Herod in his jealously commits this horrific act.

+ That same day, he got a disease and died 5 days later

+ Herod is not fictitious. He’s not the scrooge or some character in a book.

There were 6 Herod’s in the Bible:

1. Herod the Great (ruled 37-4 B.C.) He’s the guy in the Christmas story. Super powerful client king answerable to Rome. Tried to trick the wise men. Killed the babies in Bethlehem (not to mention some of his own sons and wives). He named himself “Herod the Great”

2. Herod Archelaus (ruled 4 B.C.-A.D. 6) He was one of Herod the Great’s three sons mentioned in the Bible. He received one-half of his father’s territory, the area surrounding and near Jerusalem (Judea and Samaria). Joseph was unwilling to move Mary and toddler Jesus to Bethlehem after fleeing to Egypt because Bethlehem was in this Herod’s territory and, like his father “the Great,” Herod Archelaus wasn’t known to be very good either. He got replaced by a Roman procurator less than ten years into his reign; that’s why Pontius Pilate is the man in charge at Jesus’ crucifixion rather than one of the “Herods.”

3. Herod Antipas (ruled 4 B.C.-A.D. 39) Jesus called him “the Fox” (Luke 13:32). Received a quarter of his father’s territory (Galilee and Perea). Divorced his first wife and married Herodias, the wife of his brother (who was yet a different “Herod”). Killed John the Baptist. Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to see this Herod as part of Jesus’ trial since this Herod was visiting Jerusalem at the time Jesus was sentenced to death. Did you know that Pilate and Herod Antipas became friends that day (Luke 23:12)?

4.     Herod Philip the Tetrarch (ruled 4 B.C.-A.D. 34) “Tetra = 4) Got the remaining quarter of his father’s territory (north and east of Galilee—mostly ruled over Syrians and Greeks). Married his niece, Salome, the daughter of Herodias (Herod Antipas’s wife-of-sin).

5.     Herod Agrippa I (ruled A.D. 37-44 [41-44 in Judea]) Grandson of Herod the Great and nephew of Herodias, Herod Antipas’s wife. E

In the book of Acts he is known as the one who put Peter in prison (Acts 12:1-5)…although he couldn’t keep him there (12:6-19)!  Also…“He did not give God the glory” when referred to as a god by the people of Tyre and Sidon and was thus struck by an angel and “eaten by worms” (Acts 12:20-23). Yes…I know…TMI…but it’s an easy way to remember which “Herod” he is.

6.     Herod Agrippa II (ruled A.D. 50s until long after the end of the Jewish war; died around A.D. 93) Like his father Herod Agrippa I and great-grandfather Herod the Great he ruled over a large territory. He’s the one who interviewed Paul along with the Roman procurator Porcius Festus when Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea (in Palestine) after Paul’s third missionary journey (Acts 25-26). Agrippa exclaimed to Paul (literal translation): “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Or was his statement ironic? Either way, Paul ended up appealing directly to Caesar and so had no more contact after this with the final powerful “Herod.”

Archelaus got 1/2, Anitpas got 1/4 and Philip got 1/4.

Herod the Great is a Ruthless Selfish Man.

Built 3 things that still stand to this day:

+ Built Caesarea - Port City 80 miles north of Tel Aviv (named after Caesar because he was trying to gain favor)

+ Masada - Desert Spa up in the mountains overlooking the Dead Sea (his 2nd home)

+ The Western Wall - the Wailing Wall where the Jews Pray (was actually built as a retraining wall, he was expanding the Temple Mount). The Jew’s aren’t allowed on the Temple Mount so that’s why they go and prayer there now.. it’s the closest they can get to the Temple because the Temple in Jerusalem is owned and operated by the Muslims.

He married a woman named Miriam (same name as Jesus mother… we call her Mary but her real name was Miriam).

Herod Exiled or Killed all his wives. He exiled them when he was younger, killed them when he was older.

It says he killed his favorite wife, Miriam and regretted it later…

HEROD IS CRAZY.

Why is He crazy?

Because he won’t give up power.

He won’t give up control.

He has control everyone around him.

This will drive you crazy.

He killed all his servants one time, they were whispering at dinner becuase they didn’t want to disturb him, but he thought they were talking about him.

Herod was on a Search & Destroy Mission becuase he wanted to kill the King of the Jews.

Petitioned the Roman Senate in 40 BC and got the title, officially “King of the Jews”. He was in charge of them.

He build the wall to expand the Temple Mount just to gain favor with them.

Everything He did was based on self-fullfiment, control and manipulation.

Trying to get favor with those under him, and then built Caesara to get favor with those over him.

WHAT WILL ATTACK JOY MORE THAN ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE IS YOU STAYING IN CONTROL.

It’s a Herodian Spirit.

You’ll never have joy, until you give up control.

If you want JOY. If you want PEACE. You’re going to have to give up control.

You’ll have to stop fighting God.

A great word that describes isn’t just laying down your weapons. That’s a good start. But it’s surrendering.

It’s not saying, “okay… we’re good… I won’t fight anymore.”

NO. It’s actually saying, I’m not just gonna stop fighting you… I’m gonna surrender.

The universal sign of Surrender is lifting our hands.

Jesus said, if you try and save your life, you’ll lose it… but if you lose it for my sake, you’ll find it.

Jesus comes in direct contrast to the Herodian Spirit.

Matthew 16:25 ESV

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

WISEMEN FACTS:

Nativity Scene

+ Love our Nativity Scene

+ My personal opinion is we should put them on all government property in Orange County and the great State of California.

+ The Wise Men were not at the Birth.

+ They weren’t at the manager.

+ From Persia

+ Traveled about 1,000

+ 6-9 month journey

+ When they came into THE HOUSE, they Saw the YOUNG CHILD

+“YOUNG CHILD” 9x in 7 verses.

When they visit:

+ Jesus is under 2yrs old

+ We know that because of what Herod did

They came in to WORSHIP JESUS.

They were MAGI

MAGOS in the Greek refers to one, but multiple were called MAGI

How did they know about Jesus?

They didn’t have Jewish Scriptures,

But what they had were teachings passed down from Daniel.

BALAAM

(Numbers 22) Balaam is a diviner, a non-israelite who was hired to curse the children of Israel.

King Balak of Moab offered him money to curse Israel, but when Balaam opened up his mouth to curse them, the Lord moved upon him and instead, Balaam pronounces 4 Prophecies of Blessings.

4 Times - King Balak thinks there’s gonna be a curse and 4x Balaam ends up blessing the children of Israel.

+ No matter what payrol someone might be on, if you’re doing GOD’s work, they will only be fighting against God. And good news, God always wins.

4th Time Balaam get’s up to speak he pronounces a blessing and prophesies that the Messiah would come out of JUDAH with a Star… a Star will Herald his birth.

If you remember Daniel is in Persia, in Persia comes Balaam and history records that Balaam is linked to being the father of the Magi.

The Father of the Magi is Balaam. “Magi” is where we get the word “Magician”.

So the reason the Wisemen, the MAGI, knew where to go was from Balaam’s prophecy.

Balaam was talking about these people, who’s God was the TRUE GOD, and from them the MESSIAH WOULD COME WHO WOULD RULE THE WHOLE WORLD, and His Birth would be signified in the Night Sky from a Star.

MICAH 5:2

They go to Jerusalem, the capital city. And the Jewish scholars tell the Wisemen, no He’s not here.

And they get out Micah 5:2

Micah 5:2 ESV

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Ahh… So the Wisemen, follow the Prophesy of Balaam to get to the region, then when they have the Word of God, the word gives them insight and leads them to Bethlehem.

THE STAR

Some astronomers attest to an event where the stars aligned and made the appearance of a GREAT STAR around the time of Jesus Birth.

ANGELS

We also know there were Heavenly Hosts - Angles lighting up the night sky singing and worshipping, announcing the SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN.

Angels are referred to as stars in the book of Revelation

Jesus is called the “Bright Morning Star”

So we really don’t know for sure, but there’s creedence to the fact that the “Star” they saw could have actually been Angels.

After the Magi visit Herod, they come out and see the Star and the Star WENT before them. And then the Star stood above the house where the YOUNG CHILD WAS.

Stars don’t move and stop in a certain spot like a Satelite does… so it could have been an angel at that point.

Matthew 2:1–2(ESV)

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, 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.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;

Matthew 2:9–10 (ESV)

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. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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.

EXCEEDINGLY GREAT JOY

The Wisemen Rejoiced with Exceedingly Great Joy!

+Some rejoice with exceeding great joy when their team scores a touchdown

+ Some rejoice with exceedingly great joy when there’s a sale at their favorite store and they get a good deal

+ Fawn - Honey, it was on sale. I know it was on sale. The fact that you walked in the door with something tells me you got it on sale. It still costs MONEY.

These were wealthy, highly educated, intellecutal men of their day.

When these men encountered Jesus… they fell down and worshipped him.

“FELL DOWN” - two words in the English and it’s one word in the Greek.

It means to “throw down villantly; to shatter”

+ Like taking a valuable ornate vase and throwing it on the ground

+ They FELL DOWN.

In other words, they weren’t ashamed to worship a toddler.

They WORSHIPPED Exuberantly

Then, they GAVE Extravagantly.

The Two Keys to Joy: Worship Exuberantly & Give Extravagently

Worship Exuberantly

Give Extravagantly

+ They gave more than you think

+ They gave more than they planned to give.

+ They had travel expenses for probably 18-24 months (it was a 6-9 month journey there and back, and if you traveled all that way, you usually only did so if you were going to stay a few seasons so that the conditions for your return travel were optimal).

+ Money for their caravan for the 6-9 month journey there… 2-3 months stay, plus another 6-9 months home (MINIMUM).

+ When you traveled, you had a Treasury, tracked by a Treasurer, and watched by arm guards 24/7.

GOLD - His Royalty

FRANKENSENSE - His Divinity

MYRRH - His Humanity

Gold - He was the King of Kings

Frankense - Prayers of the saints go up like Incense - Jesus Divinity - when we pray we pray to GOD.

Myrrh - used in burial process would represent his humanity that he would lay down his life for you. They used Myrrh to anoint Jesus body after he died in John 19… that represented his Humanity.

ROYALTY - DIVINITY - HUMANITY

Before they WORSHIPPED & GAVE EXTRAVAGENTLY, they had to go to other people to find out what the Bible said. But after they Worshipped & gave Extravagantly, God spoke, directly to them.

“Then being divinely warned in a dream, they departed went a different way.”

Want God to speak to you?

Be an Extravagent Worshipper and Extravagent Giver.

You want JOY?

Be an Extravagent Worshipper and Extravagent Giver.

Sometimes we can be so sophisticated… sometimes you just need to let yourself GO. GIVE more to GOD in praise than you do any other person or situation!

LEGACY OFFERING: $20,787.40

WISEMEN STILL SEEK HIM

2 Keys to Joy: Worship Exuberantly & Give Extravagently

You want to hear God’s voice?

You want to have JOY?

You want to experience Peace this Christmas? You want to Experience Joy? Defeat that Herodian Spirit and Worship Exhuberatnly & Give Extravagently.

The Herodian Spirit is all about control. My way or the highway. Manipulation. LET IT GO…

Jesus said…

Matthew 16:25 ESV

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

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CHRISTMAS STORY:

1906 History Records a marvel in the world of communication.

RADIO was invited - it was just morse code.

All you could transmit was the beeps, then they had the ability to transmit VOICE.

The first words ever spoken publicly over the airwaves was on Christmas Eve of 1906, and it was the Christmas Story out of Luke 2.