The Gifts Are His | Matthew 2:1-12

• Sermon Transcript

  Good to see you again. If somebody could grab those doors in the hallway, that'd be awesome. Thank you very much. And I get so distracted. Anyway, I appreciate that. We are also in this Christmas and January, sermon series, so to speak, as we continue to go through the life of Jesus. And so there's some, thank you very much guys, as we go through some sermons on in Matthew and around the time where Jesus is being born, to go do trace his life. And so this is a Christmas message, so to speak. But, you know, we're doing it in January, which is kind of good because you kind of see it with different eyes sometimes when you do this. So we talk about the gifts that God gives us through the Magi giving God gifts. And so that's what we're dealing with today. Matthew chapter two, and I stand up here proudly, with my pink shirt on reading this. John David this morning, my five year old now he was watching me getting dressed and, and I was putting my shirt on and he just started laughing cackling and he said, You're gonna wear that pink shirt. Everyone's gonna laugh at you. So don't say anything to him about that. But I thought that was funny. I said, Well, I don't know. I think I like it anyhow. But anyway, Matthew chapter two. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Matthew chapter two. 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's 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 assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people. He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, and Bethlehem of Judea, for it is written by the prophet, and you have 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 he 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 marry his mother, and they fell down and worshipped 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. Heavenly Father, we thank you for being able to worship in here today. But I pray that as we look at this passage, you will let it speak to us. That we will hear from you today, Father, that You would fill me with your words to be spoken through Lord, you'll give me the words to say that you'll fill me with your Spirit. And that those in here today will receive what you have to say to them about the gifts that we see that you give us through the story of people giving you gifts. When we love you, we ask these things in Jesus name, Amen. So we look at this story about the gifts given to Jesus, the three wise men. We we see some gifts that Jesus gives us. Three gifts that that Jesus gives us first, we see that he gives us the gift of truth, the gift of truth. First one says that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the day and days of Herod the king, some wise men from the East came and they said, where is he he has been born, the King of the Jews, we have come to worship him. So sometime after Jesus was born, perhaps a year or so, the Bible says is at these wise men, also known as Magi came looking for a king. Now in the Middle Ages, a store developed that these men were kings of foreign lands. So we have songs that are titled, like We Three Kings and things like this. But the biblical accounts ever call them kings, they refer to them as Magi, or Wiseman. And so what were these Magi? Well, simply put, they were astronomers, they were astrologers. So not only were they studying the sky like astronomy, they were studying the sky and looking for signs and meanings for their life so that they were astrologers as well. They were trying to interpret the stars in the heavens to give them life direction. So they're constantly looking into the sky for learning indirection. They also dabbled in sorcery and magic, they would interpret dreams, things like this. And they were knowledgeable in about every area of life. So they were given the name Wiseman. So they looked into the stars, and they saw something new. They took notice. And that begs the question, how do they know this, this rare celestial occurrence equaled the King of the Jews being born. Since they came from 800 to 900 miles away what was called Persia, they, they likely knew of the writings of the prophet Daniel, who along with other Jews were living in exile under the Persian Empire. So many years ago, Daniel had been a high ranking official in the court. So it makes sense that his writings have been preserved and the libraries and things like this. And so maybe they'd read they're familiar with Daniel chapter 925, was says this. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore, and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince there will be seven weeks, then, for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. So this whole section gives us timeline of sorts of when a prince was coming to build a roof. Additionally, being educated men learned men, it would not be out of the realm of the possibility that they knew other sacred writings, and they would perhaps know the prophecy from Numbers, chapter 24, that says this, I see him but not now. I behold him but not near a star, she'll come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Chef. Remember, these men were looking for truth. They were searching for meaning. And they found it. They were looking for a God, a king that they could worship that deserved it that could they could put their faith in. And God revealed that to them. And one of the gifts that Jesus gives us, is the gift of truth. Jesus himself said in John 14, he said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. This is a statement of truth. Jesus says that the only way to be made right with God is through me. The only way to be good with God is through me. The only way to to be had your sins atone for to, quote, earn salvation to be given salvation, the only way to be reconciled with God is through me. The only way this is a gift of truth that Jesus tells us. The nature of my calling puts me in situations where I constantly have opportunities to speak truth. If people ask me enough questions about what I do, and things like that. Sometimes if I'm talking to someone and they asked me what I do, and I sell them a pastor, sometimes their personality changes immediately. They all sudden apologize for maybe saying something that they thought was offensive or whatever. And then every now and then somebody asks questions to me, and sometimes it might be in weird situations. Last year, I went to a family wedding, where another pastor had performed the wedding. I was just there to attend. And he said some interesting things turned his sermon. So some of my family members asked me my thoughts on it. And you know, I'm not Trying to be critical, but I told them my thoughts. I told them what I thought about. But about 20 years ago, a funny story happened when Emily and I were were on our honeymoon, she had scheduled a couple's massage. You can see me doing one of those things, right? And I was a little uncomfortable about it. I said, All right. Now explain to me, what's going to happen here like me, and you are going to be in the room. And there's going to be people in there wouldn't be there together, right? Oh, yes. Together. And they'll be giving us massage together. And she's like, yes, you can be right next to me. Am I okay, that sounds good. Yeah. Never had one of those before. Nor did I want one. But she wanted to do it. So we was in our hotel. So we go down to our appointment, and we go to the door, and this older lady answers the door. And in the little spot areas, she goes, I'm so sorry, there's been a mistake. We can't do a couples massage. And we'll just have to do your one at a time. I said what? And it was, that's fine. You go ahead, and I'll do you do yours? And I'll do my so I'm gonna be alone. Just go Yeah, you'll be fine. I'm like, Okay, so I'm in my 20s. And this lady is probably 50 or 60. So I'm a lay down on this, you know, Matt thing and Lady and you put your head that a little, you know, what do you call that? That little, like little pillow thing, you know, and I'm laying there. And she's getting massage, and I'm trying to relax and enjoy my honeymoon. And she says, So what do you do? And I said, What's the massage? I'm getting interviewed now? And I said, Well, you know, the student? What are you studying for? Well, I'm a seminary student. Well, what is that? Well, I'm training to be a pastor. Oh, yeah. For what? What kind of church? I told her the church and just more questions got into more questions about, you know, what do you believe about God? Well, what about Jesus? I paying for a massage, right? That I didn't really want to pay for even receive. And every time I would give her a kind of, I guess, controversy to answer her, she would quit. She would stop for a second. And think about it. I'm like, this is way awkward, right? And then I've talked about Jesus and how do you get to heaven and all these questions? Finally, she said, what happens to people who die? Who don't believe in Jesus, and I'm sitting there with my head and that little pillar? And I just thought about when they go to hell this point, I'm relaxed. I'm gonna, obviously, I'm not gonna say anything, right? I go to hell. She stopped for a second. Oh, thank you. You know, you can't not speak the truth. You got to speak the truth. You know what the kids call that nowadays? When people speak their truth and do their thing if you wanted to kind of freak out your your teenage grandkids or, or, or kids go tell them that you're standing on business today? Right? They'll be like, Oh, don't say that. So horrible, right? But that's what you're doing. But you're not staying on business. When you tell the truth or stand on Jesus. Jesus is the foundation. That's what you're standing on. As a Christian, you have to stand on Jesus. And when you find yourself in those situations, you got to do it. It's a gift. It would be an unloving thing for me to tell that woman maybe what I thought she wanted to hear. I don't matter what you believe in just you just, you do fine, you'll be fine. You'll get there. I'm sure God will work it all out. No. People want Jesus go to hell. That's the truth. When it comes to how to know God, God does not beat around the bush. He doesn't say hey, it's up to you. I mean, you know, there's only one way but I'm not going to tell you, I don't want to offend you. I don't want to upset you. You just do you. You just live your life. If God did that, it would be one of the most unloving, hateful and despicable things he could do. It would not be a gift. Listen, if God is truth himself, he's not going to lie to us. Hebrews six says it's impossible for God to lie. The one of the great gifts God gives us is the gift of truth. Now what we do with that truth is up to us. We can receive it, we can reject it act like it's not true doesn't exist, but it doesn't change the fact of what is true. Two plus two equals four, no matter how bad you want it to be five. That is a gift of truth. And we get that through Jesus. Secondly, Jesus gives us the gift of Scripture. Scripture verse three. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him and his sibling, all the chief priests and scribes of the people. He inquired of them were the Christ was to be born. So Julius Caesar appointed Herod's father to be governor of Judea. Herod's father then appointed him to be over the region of Galilee. And so years later, the Roman Senate declared that Herod was the quote unquote, King of the Jews, even though he wasn't Jewish. They were trying to pass off that this is the political thing to do. He tried to become Jewish, he married a Jewish woman, he built all sorts of buildings, he developed all sorts of commerce in the region, but he wanted to be worshipped. And he was paranoid, of losing his power. In fact, he drowned his brother in law, because he thought he was a threat. And then at his funeral, he pretended to cry, and mourn. He later murdered his own wife, and eventually three of his sons, because he perceived them to be threats to his power and leader who has power, who wants more power and is paranoid that people will try to take it from them as a dangerous person. And this was Herod. So when when intellectuals, powerful people from another country come into his region, and start asking questions about, Hey, where's the new King? Imagine what this paranoid evil leader would think. Now, the Magi were powerful as well. They probably brought with them an entire entourage of people. And so this powerful group of people just just coming to see Herod was a threat in and of itself. Like, why are they here? And now they're looking for a King when he supposedly is the king. So Herod heard this, he gathered all the top political legal counsels together and says, Tell me, what about this Messiah? What are they talking about? He didn't know their scriptures, but they did. And they told him in verse five, Bethlehem of Judea for soldiers written by the prophet, you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for firm from you shall come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel. Now, unlike Herod, Jesus would be a king, who shepherded his people, not terrorize them, or buy them or give them a false security of his love for them. He would shepherd them. It's a picture of a good leader, a good man, a good king, in good men, are threats to bad men. When we see Jesus being a threat to him, God's word is more powerful than any power hungry leader. One of the the great gifts God gives us is His Word, His Holy Scripture, just this one passage and Micah threatened Herod, God's Word itself threatened, who he was and what he wanted to do. It is more powerful than he is. His word is how we know certain truths. Now some truths are self evident. The Bible tells us this, we call this general revelation. Look at Romans chapter one. Paul says, For what can be known about God is playing to them being people, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world and things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Every person inherently intuitively knows there is a God. They feel it, they can see it in creation. God has put it out there. We know that. But some truths only come from God's Word. We call this special revelation of God. We have to hear this from his work in Romans chapter 10. Later in the letter, Paul says this. How then, will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him? Of whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? People have to hear the word? It does you no good and me no good for me to stand up here and give you my thoughts. My ideas, I will eventually run out of thoughts and ideas as my family. There's times right, nothing to say. And that's not going to change your life doesn't matter what I think about anything. It only matters what God's Word says. People have to hear it. And what they do with God's word and how they react is up to them. Like Herod, they can double down on their sin and harden their heart or like Paul, they can have an experience where they do a complete 180 and turn to Jesus. The God's word is more powerful than any person. And this is a great gift that God has given us. It it made Herod completely paranoid, because he did not want to face it. And number three, Jesus gives us the gift of discernment. Discernment verse seven. What did Herod do? He summoned the wise man secretly and ascertained from them, I mean, found out what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Hey, listen, go and find this child, I can just imagine this whole conversation right now. Right? Just just a smile on his face. He's not gonna say, I want you to go take care of it, but he's not gonna be, you know, like, scared acting, he's a politician. He's gonna be like, I want you to go and, and go find this child. And he just says this was kind of a gleam on his face, and a twinkling and a smile, you know, what you'd go in and see what it's like and come back and tell me all about it. I'd love to hear about just just this fake kind of salesman type of smile, I can just see it right now. Just go in, let me know so so I can worship them too. I imagined the educated Magi saw through this on some level, because they didn't say a word to him that we know. It says in verse nine, they went on their way after listening to him. In Behold, the star they had seen when it rose, it then went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. So the star got him there. And then when they leave here, and the star is there again to show them where to go, first him. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And it's written this way in the Greek because they didn't have a talents, and they didn't have bold and underline and things like this. So it's written, Matthew ran out of words, his vocabulary, ran out of words to describe how joyous The Weizmann were to see this star rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. It would be like underline ITALIC and BOLD, you know, at font They were so excited. They rejoiced for Sullivan. Going into the house, they saw the child with marry his mother. And they fell down in Washington. Now, there's some debate as to how old Jesus was at this point. Some say maybe a year, he's a little bit older, maybe he was crawling, maybe he was a toddler to three, we're not Well, sure. But he wasn't a newborn baby. He was the older time had passed. On my Timehop app. The other day, I saw a picture of John David as a baby laying on the floor. And here I am playing with them on the floor, you know, and, you know, getting behind me and I got down on the floor to play with that little baby, didn't I? Right, you know, because you'll do that for babies. So I don't know if he was crawling or taller and around. But these wise men didn't get on the floor to play with the baby. They lay down facedown on the floor with him to worship him. Even though he wasn't bowing as low as they can get to worship Him, they fell down and worshipped. They had discernment as to what they were looking for. They had found it and they gave the proper reaction that Jesus should give people and then they says that they started giving him gifts and they opened their treasures they gave him gold and, and frankincense and myrrh and there's a lot to be said about these gifts that we can get. We're not going to get into today. But the all symbolizes the kind of life that Jesus would have. It'd be king that he would suffer, that he would die. And they give him this these these gifts. Not that Jesus needed it. But because it gave him joy Give it to him. You know, every Christmas, we give our children gifts, there's always there's always a gift or two. And they're just so excited and it gives us joy. Right? To see their face that way. And we don't know what Jesus this reaction was. But they loved and enjoyed giving him the gifts that they wanted to give. And they gave us God led them to give. Their giving was a sign of respect. But it was a sign of worshiped in these learned, educated, smart, powerful men knew when they saw the truth of God, unlike Herod, these men had to serve it. They were searching for if you search for truth, you'll find it. God gives us discernment. And then they showed even more discernment, verse 12. They warned in a dream, not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another few times to Scripture, God gives people dreams. And I think what he does people know it's from God. Yeah, I've had a dream before, right? Where you have a dream, and you wake up and you think, praise the Lord, that was a dream was a bad dream. Or you wake up, I've had several times where I wake up. And it was a good dream. I'm like, Oh, that was a dream. I'm disappointed. But a dream like this. They knew what it was. They all had it. And they knew it was from God. When God gives us that kind of dream, he gives us the discernment for us to know that it was from him. And they left, and they went a different way. Because that's a gift that God gives us. We have the Holy Spirit in us. As believers, we should all have a discerning Spirit in us we should know truth when we're here. We should no false when we hear it. And the more we know our Bibles, the better we get at it. The more we follow Jesus, the better we get at it. The more we hear about it, the better we get at and these men who were believers in Jesus now knew the truth. And God was still leading them where they needed to go. And he will lead us in our lives, metaphorically and literally, wherever we need to go. If we look to Him, and ask him, and let him show us where to go, maybe today. You have seen the truth of Jesus, that God sent him to this earth as a baby, he grew up to be a man. He lived a sinless life. He did mighty works. But he died a sinners death on the cross. He took God's punishment for you and for me on the cross. He died three days later, he rose from the grave he defeated death, he defeated sin so that whoever places their faith in Him will have eternal life. That's the gospel. Maybe today is the day that you believe in that truth and receive it. Maybe you are a believer already. Sometimes when you're trying to follow the Lord, the sky just seems foggy. It seems cloudy. Are you in your word? Are you in His Word? Or are you in your prayers? Ask the Lord to give you the gift of truth. He gives you the gift of Scripture give you the gift of discernment. So you know where he's trying to lead you today. And he will give it to you. God gives true to those who search and we see it in his word. He will give us the truth. When we need it. We're going to have an invitation today. The band will come on stage and in maybe you just need to take some time down here at the steps with the Lord and say, Lord, this is going on in my life. I'm giving this to you. Or Lord, I need you to help me change in this certain area. Maybe you just a prayer, maybe need me to pray for it. I'd be glad to do that. Whatever God's calling you to do today, they're an invitation time. Take this time to ask Him to reveal Himself to you through His truth in his word, and through his discernment. Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for what you've given us. As we close our time together today. I pray that we turn back these praises to you as we sung this morning. And they use bless this this response time today. Whatever we're going through in our lives today and we know we can count on you to lead us Just as the Magi had faith that you would show them where to go, you did. We believe, Lord, you will constantly show us through Your Word through your spirit. How Our lives should be. What are things that we need to cut out from our lives? What are things that we need to replace? What are actions and behaviors and lifestyles that we need to line up so that we can be a fully devoted and mature disciple of yours? Who are people that that we need to talk to? And we need to stand on Jesus to that you put in our lives that we can speak and loving word of truth to we know that we'll always get it right. And we'll, we'll make it messy sometimes, but we know Lord, that you're with us. And we thank you for that, father. Well, we we give this time to you. We pray that you'll bless we ask these things in Jesus. Amen.