Okay, the title of our sermon is Gifts for the Savior or Scripture, Matthew 2, 1 through 11. And this is a topical sermon, topical exposition, all right? This is the very Word of God. May God give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say. 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 arose, 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 the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they told him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, 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 they came to rest over the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother. They fell down and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Praise God. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for what we just read and we pray, oh Lord, that you would speak to us in a powerful way about what you were doing that very night with these wise men who come from the East. These unexpected actors, oh Father God, in this great play and what their coming means to us even today and what the gifts represent to us as we walk with God. We pray these things, Lord, be with us. Give us understanding. Convert the unconverted and save by your grace. Give much grace to the people of God through this preaching, we pray. In Christ's name and for his sake, amen and amen. You may take your seat, beloved. I want to say that I read you 1 through 11, but really we're only going to be speaking about verse 11. That's the extent of all that we could do today. And I hope that that will be a great blessing. But I wanted you to have the context in which verse 11 is found. And so we read the whole story there. Today, then, by the grace of God, we will study the arrival of the three men known as the wise men in the Christmas narrative. And we will aim to understand the importance of both their actions and the gifts that they bring. The wise men really are mysterious characters, are they not, who enter the scene rather abruptly and then quickly exit out, never to be heard from again. Little is really known about them. However, the testimony that these men left behind cannot be undervalued. Theirs is a story that points all of humanity to the importance of the Savior. I want to say something that I think is important. I think that much tradition has surrounded this story throughout the ages. And that very tradition has had a tendency to obscure the true meaning of our passage. And so before we get to our passage, I think it's important that we discuss these traditions and clarify what really happened so that we can get to the meaning of it in our lives. So let us talk about three traditions that have obscured the passage. Number one, this tradition states that there were three wise men, sometimes called Belshazzar, Melchior and Gaspar. I don't know where anybody got the names, but maybe you've heard of these names before, who came to see Jesus Christ. Now, the reason we believe that there were three or this tradition says that there were three is because of the number of gifts that were brought. There were three gifts, so there must have been three wise men. Does that make sense? Because how dare us show up to see Jesus without a gift in our hand. So the thought is if there were three gifts, there were three wise men. In actuality though, the three gifts were not something that they picked up at the local store to gift because of the holiday season. The three gifts were prophetic, essentially. And they did something. They pointed to Jesus Christ. It did not speak about the number of men. It was important that they bring this three specific gifts. And I hope that you see that. These three specific gifts have been inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. And so the three gifts that are brought were not brought one per individual. They are literally pointing, teaching us something. So all we know is that there were more than two men for the plurals used. It could have been two, three, it could have been five, ten, fifty, we have no idea. We have no idea. But the gifts are essential because God the Holy Spirit has determined them. So I want you to understand this. The importance of the passage is not how many wise men came or that each brought a gift. And this is why we give gifts at Christmas. But the importance of the passage is the reason why these men came, and what those presents point us to, what those presents teach us about He who received them, God's greatest gift, Jesus Christ. So the gifts are important in the fact that they point, and He teaches about God's greatest gift. The gift that we should be focusing on is not the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But the gift is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And I hope that you see how that tradition has obscured that meaning. Tradition number two. This tradition states that the wise men found the baby in the manger. And many of us have nativity sets in our homes displaying this very tradition. The fact of the matter though is that Jesus could have been as up to two years old when these men arrived. if the star appeared when Christ was born, which seems to be the case, and they immediately left their homes and traveled over a thousand miles, the journey would have taken substantial time. And to prove this point is the fact that Herod inquired of them, when did you see the star? And he did the math of how long they had been traveling. And when he wanted to kill the Christ, he started killing all the children two years old and under. Because that's how long it took them to travel to where Christ was. Scripture tells us that the wise men found Jesus in the home and not in the manger. Why is this important? Well, if this is the case, the scripture is making something abundantly clear to us. Again, that the focus of the narrative is Jesus Christ. Right? And not just the babe Jesus, but his whole life. When he was born, the Jews come and worship him. The shepherds, they were Jewish. Then about two years old, the Gentiles come and worship him. And between that, Anna and Simeon worship him, also Jews. And then at 12 years old, he's at the temple and men are astounded by the grace given to him by God. And then through his adult life, we see him showing himself worthy of worship, being worshiped. And so what the Bible is telling us that from birth all the way to the death of Christ Jesus is the object of the saints worship, including both Jew and Gentile. We'll be speaking more about that in a bit. Tradition number three. This tradition states that the men who visited Jesus were magicians. In Spanish they're even called the three magical kings or the three magic kings if you want to consider them that way. However, it's most probable that the word that's being used here for wise men in a court, and they were most probably not someone given over to dark magical arts, But astronomers, people who studied the stars, whom God spoke to them through their limited understanding, whatever the case might be, they understood that God had done something significant and that the child born would be the Savior both of the Jews and the Gentiles. If you remember when they come to Herod, they ask where is he born, the King of the Jews. How did they ascertain that he was the King of the Jews? We have no clue, except that God the Holy Spirit, in those two years that they were following the star, God the Holy Spirit who moved them from home, who moved them away from everything, brought them, and during those two years must have been ministering to them, that perseverance for them to continue on their journey. And so they persevered and they came. And by the time they left, from the time they left to the time they arrived two years later, they know some things about Jesus, don't they? They know that He is the King of the Jews. They know that He is the one sent to save the Jews. But in Jesus, they see hope for themselves. So these men were not given over the dark arts. If they had been, then they would never have come to Christ. But they were Gentiles who were lost who were looking and hoping for the salvation of God by God the Holy Spirit's prompting. That's super important for us. We see the Jewish authorities of that day rejecting Christ. They want to kill the Messiah. Yet the Gentile dignitaries, we see them bowing before Christ. The Gentiles are doing what the Jewish authorities are not. The dignitaries of the Gentiles are doing what the dignitaries in the Jewish, the leadership of the Jewish community would not do. They are bowing, they're worshiping. We see peasants, Jews worshiping the shepherds. We see Simeon and we see Anna worshiping, but the leadership of Israel was not worshiping. And because the leadership of Israel was not worshiping, we see two years later the Gentiles come to worship. Why is that important to you? Well here we see the beginning of the Gospel. to the world and not just to a specific ethnic group. And your heart should delight. The Old Testament pointed to this. The Old Testament kept promising that the Gentiles would be included. That one day God would reach out to the Gentiles. The Jews didn't understand it or refuse to see it. But God was pointing all throughout the Old Testament, the Gentiles will be included. Here's the beginning of that. Christ is born two years later. Gentiles come and they worship Him. Praise God for that. And after those Gentiles worship Him, we see then Christ ministering to Gentiles throughout His ministry. The Seraphim woman, for example. Christ ministered to the Gentiles as well. And after the death of Christ, we see in the book of Acts, God's command, go forth into all the world and preach the gospel. The command to bring the Gentiles in, which the Jewish leaders at the time of the church did not understand. And then through the book of Acts we see the doors being opened and the Gentiles start flooding in and outnumbering the Jewish believers. And the church is made of Jews and Gentiles. And then we come to the epistles and the epistles speak about the Gentiles were called, uncircumcised and not being Jews. They don't have to be converted to Judaism so they could be converted to God. They have to be converted to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the object. And we have the promises to the Gentile church. to the Gentiles within the church, excuse me, that they are equally children of God. Praise God. And then the whole thing ends in the book of Revelation, where we all gathered in every nation, tongue, tribe, right? And ethnicity sits before God and worships God as one people. And this should make your heart sing before God. And it all started with these Gentiles. What starts with the Old Testament pointing to that day. But the actuality of Gentiles coming and worshiping Christ, here they are. Here are the first ones. They're your forefathers, if you want to think about them that way. They're the first ones that came and opened the door for you to come to Jesus Christ. We thank God for these men. So we see the beginning of the Gospel. The Gospel which says in Colossians 3.11, Here there is not Greek, nor Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave, free. There's none of that. But in Christ, it says, but Christ is all and in all. We praise God for verses like that. Amen. That there is not a lower part of heaven for the Gentile and a lower part of heaven. There's not. God doesn't do that. These are my children, whom my Son has bought with His blood. they're equally all valuable to me and I love them all the same. Praise God for His mercy. Well having discussed those traditions and getting them out of the way so we can see what's really happening, I pray that God the Holy Spirit would illuminate our hearts. So like I said our focus will be verse 11. And after traveling great distances over a long period, these mysterious men finally arrive at their destination. That's what verse 11 teaches us. With great joy they enter the home that the star has illuminated. And we have then what happens, an unbelievable scene of humble worship and divine revelation before God. And I pray that may God the Holy Spirit then use this verse to draw our attention to the true meaning of Christmas. May hearts be in awe of God's greatest gift, Jesus Christ the Savior, as we consider verse 11. Let's just look at the first part of verse 11, which I entitled, Worship the Son of God. Worship the Son of God. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Upon entering the home of Joseph and Mary, the wise men immediately encounter the object of their long, arduous journey. For two years, they have been moving in this direction. And I want you to consider what God the Holy Spirit has done. God the Holy Spirit has illuminated them. And through the star, God the Holy Spirit has told them that the King of the Jews was being born. These men have left homes. Amen? They have left family. They have left culture. And they have traveled through hills, mountains, valleys. A long, arduous trip. Two years of their life, all in search of getting to the place. where this child is, because they long for salvation. Here we see the Gentiles longing for God's salvation. And they finally get there, and having been illuminated, they finally see the wise men are overcome then by the importance of this moment, the importance of the toddler that stands before them. Can you imagine Jesus at two years old? And the Bible tells us, behold they think in their own hearts, here is the King of the Jews, here is God's promised Savior. And when they see the child and understand who He is, they're not fooled by the outward appearance, a two-year-old child, but they know this is God incarnate, this is God's promise. The Bible tells us that they fall down and they worship. Well, as mentioned earlier, most of us have a nativity set. And in our nativity set, these men are kneeling before a cradle. But what really happened that night was that these Gentile dignitaries didn't fall on their knees. No, they fell on their faces. They prostrated themselves on the floor. They took the most humblest position. You can't get any lower than having your whole body into the dirt, face first, right to worship. That's as low as you can possibly go. They make themselves as small as possible in order to elevate the child to the highest position available. Now, to the casual observer, if you had been there that night and you had seen this played out, to the casual observer, this scene would have seemed absurd. You would ask yourself, why would such influential men of great means and great wealth bow before a poor Jewish child? You see, that doesn't make sense. However, this act is entirely appropriate for those who know who the child is and they knew something about the child by God the Holy. They knew he wasn't just a poor Jewish child. They knew him to be something and we're going to see that because of the gifts that they bring and what they represent. And so for those of us who have been illuminated by God, we don't see just a child, we see God, the Son. We realize that God has entered into human history and become one of us. So with their faces in the dirt, they begin then to worship the Son of God. I want you to see how this scene is heightened by the fact that they have spent a better part of two years, day and night, traveling to get to this place. This has been their single mission for the last two years of their lives. Their only company is whoever came with them. And all they're doing is traveling day after day. Faith has to take part every single day in their mission. Every day they have to get up and by faith continue a little further to get to this child. And every night they have to say, this is worth it, go to sleep so they can do it again the next day. That's pretty amazing, isn't it? No wonder when they see Him, they're overcome. Before them stands God's provision, God's greatest gift to humanity. Before them stands the Savior who would bring peace to the world. Before them stands the hope of the Jews and Gentiles alike. So we can see why overcome by faith and emotion, they begin to weep in grateful adoration as they worship. Beloved, Jesus is the gift of Christmas and the gift that we need to understand. The importance of Christ cannot be underscored here. Everything that these men did, everything that they brought with them, all that they suffered for as long as they traveled, for as difficult as the journey, it was leading to one moment. to come and worship the king, to come and worship God's provision, to thank God for the gift that he had given. Do you see that beloved? You see how important that is? Because that act of faithfulness by them teaches us the importance of the one that they have come to worship. They come and they worship Christ. They see in Christ God's gift. And they understand the magnitude of that gift. So they give up everything to get there, to get to that one moment in time so that they can be there and they can worship and they can thank God for what God has done. What an incredible thought this is for you and I. So they are overcome by faith. They realize that the greatest gift that is Jesus Christ and the gifting of Jesus to humanity, we're going to get the fullest expression of God's love. And such realization is enough for all of us really to fall prostate before God and worship Him for the most precious gift, His gracious gift of His Son. We too should be in awe of what God has done. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this verse as a Christmas verse, but John the Revelator speaks about the gift of Christmas in John 3.16. Did you see how that is? It's speaking about the birth of Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son, meaning His Son came for that very reason, to save us. And so really John 3,16 could be a Christmas verse for you and I to consider. Here's the gift of God. Here's really the gift that really matters. Everything else does not matter. Everything else is unimportant. The gift that really matters is the Son, Jesus Christ, who brings eternal life to those who believe. So in this child, by God's Holy Spirit, the wife's somehow see God and they worship Him. The scene before us also serves to illustrate God's propensity for role reversal. We've talked about this before. In God's economy, things are different from the world's values. In God's economy, the most significant person in the room are not the wise men who bring the gifts, who are dignitaries, who are well off, who are important men, who are received by Herod and allowed to continue on their journey. The most important person in the room are not the wise men. And they will say amen to the very fact because of their own bowing, prostrating. They're saying we're not the most important. Surely the lesser important bows to the most important. Surely the lesser importance pays homage to whom he is greater. And so this is God's role reversal. We see it clearly here. The most significant person in the room are not the wise men, but the poor child. The poor child is God made flesh. The world might not see it, nor understand the value of Jesus, but that child is the incarnate God. God has become flesh and is pleased to live among us and share our human experience. And for those who understand that, then they're overcome. The Bible declares the great mystery of the Incarnation in John 1 14. And the word became flesh and he dwelt among us. And that word dwelt can be translated tabernacled. And we have seen His glory, the glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The last part of that verse is incredible. It says, God became flesh and He lives among us and we've been privileged by God the Holy Spirit to see the glory of God and understand who He is. If God has opened your eyes, you should be overcome with great gratitude. This is why the wise men worshiped. They were privileged to behold the glory of the only Son of God, who is full of grace and truth. Such a privilege should draw us to worship in the same manner. God has a propensity for role reversal, and it is best demonstrated in the act of our salvation. We who were dead in trespasses and sins, because of what Christ has done, are now alive in Him. Isn't that role reversal to the maximum? Right, that we who should be going to hell are now children of God, children of the light. God has reversed our fortunes and He's the one who's done it. And we praise God for Him. The first part teaches us to worship the Son of God, but the second part of that verse Teach us to honor the Son of God. Listen to what the Bible continues and says about verse 11. The scene now changes a bit. After having fallen prostrate before Christ and worshiping Him, the wise men now offer gifts befitting the true nature of the Son of God. The purpose of the gift is to honor the Child and place Him high above all other men, including themselves. They bring three gifts. The first gift, as you know, is gold. which talks about Jesus being a king, or the king. The second gift is frankincense, and it speaks of Jesus being God, as an offering to God. And the third gift is myrrh, which speaks about the mortality of Jesus. Jesus will die. He will suffer. Now, I want to take a step back and tell you this. I want to be very honest with you. A lot of Bible theologians, men whom I even greatly respect, do not agree with this interpretation. They say that the gifts were brought to honor Christ but had no more profound significance beyond that point. However, I have to disagree with them. And I think a closer look at the Scriptures proves that there is a crucial element of prophetic utterance that's meant in the gifts. God was doing something. So let us look at that first gift, the gift of gold. It is incredible how often in scripture this precious metal is associated with royalty. Whether it be a king or a queen, like the Queen of Sheba who brought much gold, or a vice-regent or a prince, it seems to always be associated with royalty. If you remember Solomon, his plates and his forks and his knives, they were all made out of gold because silver in his kingdom was like nothing. Right? That's how well off he was. Gold is used to describe also the divine rule of God. So let us consider some of these passages that point to God. Psalm 21 verses 1-3, David the king speaks, O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exalts. You have given him his heart's desire, and have withheld the request of his lips, Selah. For you meet the king with rich blessings, you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. Again, gold being associated with being a king, a crown. Speaking of David again, we read in Psalm 72, 15, Long may the king live, may gold of Sheba be given to him, may prayer be made for him continuously, and blessings invoked for him all the day. Gold of Sheba is an interesting thought here. If you know your Old Testament, you have some allusions. But let us then look at the heavenly king. Revelations 14 14. Then I look and behold a white cloud and seated on the cloud one like the Son of Man Jesus Christ with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Praise God for that imagery. Do you see it? Can you see it in your head? Jesus crowned with gold speaks about ultimate rule. The gift of gold was meant to prophesy that not just a king had been born But this king had been born, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Although at Christ's first advent, his first coming, he came lowly and as a servant, this did not negate the fact that he is God's chosen king, promised to David. He is the one that will one day at his second coming, at his second advent, subdue all nations and bring all powers and authorities under himself. We praise God for that truth. As we read in Revelation 17, 14, They will make war on the land, and the land will conquer them, for He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful. Praise God for King Jesus. Amen? The second advent in which He does come, not as a lowly servant anymore, but He comes as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And the Bible says they will fight against Him. They will make war, they will try, really is the thought here. But the Bible says, but the Lamb will conquer them. And that means utterly bring them under His power. Why? Why it is the reason, why will He win? Because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Amen? And we praise God. So when they brought gold to him, they were saying not that he was a king, don't get that thought in your head, but that he was the what? King of kings. Not yet crowned. He's the lowly servant. He's going to die. We're going to see in the gifts that they're going to say, but one day he will fulfill that role. We're longing for that day. And then Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father. Well God makes everything under His footstool, right? Everything in the world under His foot, His enemies be His footstool. But one day the Bible promises Jesus Christ will come again. And He will come as a conquering King. And the nations will try to war against Him. And if you want to further thought about that, read Psalms. When Psalms says that, why do the nations rage? Why do the people plot vain things? They will try to fight against God and His anointed, and He will laugh at them, and He will hold them in derision. In other words, there's no threat to the kingliness of Jesus. Praise God for that truth. The wise men then point to us, point you and I. They proclaim Him, they point to Him, and they say, look at Him. Don't look at the gold, but look at what the gold says about him. He is what? The king of kings. The one we bow and prostrate ourselves before. The one we say is over us and who rules over us in all things. This is what the wise men are saying. Praise God for that gift of gold. Then they bring out the gift of frankincense. In most of the cases in which frankincense is mentioned in the Old Testament, it is mentioned, listen, as a key ingredient in connection with the making of the holy incense for the service of God. Exodus 30, 34, you can read that later. It is mentioned as one of the ingredients or one of the key ingredients that they were supposed to bring and mix together in order to have this beautiful incense for God. Once it's mixed, this incense was to belong solely to God. And we read about that in Exodus 30, 37. So the thought is that once you mixed it and you made this with the key ingredient of frankincense, now it belonged to whom? To God. And it was meant to God. Not for man. but for God. That's important. Let me say that again. Not for what? Man, but for God. I hope that you see why that's important now. In the offering of this incense, burning coals were taken from the altar of burnt offering and placed on the altar of incense. And on these coals, the incense was then sprinkled. Then fragrant smoke would begin to rise up to heaven. And it was symbolic of the prayers and the thanksgiving of the people of God and of the priest. The incense was an offering made then to God and God alone. And if you want to read more about that, look at the book of Revelation, where the Bible says that before God there's a sweet smell of incense and it's the prayer of the saints. Frankincense mixed in with other ingredients, right? The prayer of the saints to God. So the gift of frankincense then, prophetically points to Jesus as God the Son. If Exodus chapter 30 prohibited the use of the holy incense by men, and yet here it is appropriately offered to Christ, then they are saying something by giving this gift, aren't they? They are saying, behold, God in the flesh. What a thought that is, amen? Because they had just overwhelmed us with the thought that He is the King of kings, that will conquer all nations, everything under His power, His authority. He is the Messiah in the line of David. He is the one whom all must worship as the King. But now they take a step back and say, but He's also God. This frankincense cannot and should not be given to man, but we give it to Him because He's not just a man. Do you see what they're saying? He is God the man. The biblical narrative bears this out. Speaking of Jesus as being God, we read in Colossians 1,16-19, Let me start that again. Let me change the hymn to Jesus, because that's what it means, so that you get the full picture. Right? For by Jesus all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. You see why He's the King of kings? Every authority was created through Him. All things were created through Jesus and for Jesus. And Jesus is before all things. And in Jesus all things hold together. Consider the magnitude of that verse. The whole universe is glued together by the hand of Christ. If Christ were to open His hand, the universe would dissolve into nothingness. What an incredible thought. All things consist because of Him. And Jesus is the head of the body, the church. Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. And in everything, Jesus might be preeminent. For in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Let me read that again. Because in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. We cannot take that verse very lightly, can we? It is saying, in Jesus you see God. What an incredible thought. And that's Gentiles who did not know all the Old Testament, and didn't know what God was all doing there, had enough illumination by the Holy Spirit to bring frankincense, and to say this is not a gift worthy of man, but we're giving it to Him, because He is God in the flesh. What an incredible thought that is. Do you see how God had illuminated their hearts? Two years of God the Holy Spirit leading them brought them to this conclusion. You see, again, don't look at frankincense and don't be overcome by it. Oh, it only belongs to... Look at the fact that Jesus received the frankincense. And say, that's amazing. Because God's gift, Jesus Christ, is God in the flesh. Notice that nobody rebuked them. Nobody said, you can't give that to him. It's just a kid. You know, that belongs to God and God's atmosphere, God's fear, excuse me. This doesn't belong, nobody rebukes these men. When they worship, nobody rebukes these men. What are you doing? You can't worship a child. You worship God and God alone. Every Jew knew that, right? But Mary allows the men to worship the Son because she knows. Whoever is in the house allows them to bring frankincense because they know. God has revealed and they overcome. The wise men then point to Jesus and they proclaim Him before you and I in our very eyes and say, there is God, the King of kings and God made in the flesh. That's an incredible thought to you and I. And then they bring out the third gift, the gift of Myrrh. In the scriptures myrrh was generally a perfume used by men but mostly in burial situations to make the smell less offensive. Myrrh was an embalming fluid. This gift then prophetically points to the suffering of Christ for the redemption of God's elect. The gift of myrrh prophetically tells Mary and those in the room that Jesus was destined for suffering and death. They're proclaiming that Christ would die in order to bring salvation to the Jew and the Gentile alike. What a gift, embalming fluid. You ever thought about that? Can you imagine giving that at Christmas to somebody? They would be like, what is this? What are you doing? I think we would accept the gold and a beautiful frankincense, even though we're not supposed to, right? But myrrh. It was a perfume, and it could be used by men, but usually was used on this embalming fluid. But they're saying something about Christ, aren't they? They're pointing to something. They're looking ahead 30 plus years, and they're looking at a cross. They don't know all the details of the cross. They don't know all this, but they're saying something about the child. Here's the king of kings. God the man is going to die for you and I. The last gift kind of punches us, doesn't it? How can the king of kings, how can the child who can accept frankincense for he is God, suffer and die for unworthy people like you and I? It is overwhelming. It is absolutely overwhelming. The death of Christ on the cross was not then accidental, as you can see by this gift, but predetermined. The mission of Jesus was to fulfill the law, that we could not and die the death for sins that really belong to us. He is the Lamb. He is the substitute. By His righteousness sinners are forgiven and made righteous with a righteousness that's not their own, but a righteousness that belongs to God Himself. In essence, the gift of mercy spoke about the divine humanity of Jesus Christ. How can God die? Have you ever thought about that thought? How can God die? If Jesus is fully God, how can he die? This speaks about, it says, but in Jesus, the man, God-man will die. It speaks of the way and the cost of salvation. Do you want to know what it cost to save you? Look at the gift of Myrrh. The gift of Myrrh points to you to the awful, terrible, horrific price for your salvation. The King of Kings, God the man, dying for you and I. The wise men pointed to Christ, and through this gift they proclaimed Him to be the sacrifice for our sins, the holy offering to God Himself. You get the picture of the priest bringing the frankincense and then bringing the offering and killing an offering before God. Jesus being that high priest walking in and offering himself. This is all spoken about mercy. So these were the three gifts that the ricemen brought. And again, The gifts point to someone. They point to Christ. The object of the whole narrative is not the wise men, how many of them came, how many gifts they brought, what their names were, whether he was in the manger or not. None of that matters. All that matters is they came and they worshiped. They submitted to him. And they gave him gifts so that they can prophetically by the Holy Spirit point to him and say, he is king, he is God, he is sacrifice. Look at the gift. What is the gift? Not those three gifts. It is Jesus Christ the righteous. Before we close then, I want to say that the bringing of the gifts by the Gentile remind us of the messianic passage recorded in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 60 verse 6 reads very similar to our passage right here, verse 11. A multitude of camels shall come, shall cover you. You get the idea that the wise men came with, I'm assuming, with some sort of traveling group and animals. The young camels of Midan and Ephah, all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold, Isaiah speaking, and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. Did you hear it? That's a messianic, that's speaking about the King Jesus. And He says, and when they come to you, they shall be engulfed in frankincense. What was missing? Have you ever read that portion? Wait a minute, something's missing there. Isaiah predicted that Gentiles will one day come to the Messiah with gifts of gold and frankincense, but he fails to mention myrrh. And we ask ourselves, why is this? Well, because in Matthew the myrrh is included because Christ's first coming is in view. In Matthew we have the suffering of Christ. We have the first advent. Jesus came. He came to die. He came to suffer. I came to lay down my life for my sheep. He says it himself. I came to ransom many. Right? My sheep hear my voice. I came for them. We're going to go to Jerusalem. There I will be arrested. There I will be crucified. I'm going to die. He's very open about it. That he came to die. So that first advent includes what? Myrrh. But Isaiah is not talking about the first advent. Isaiah is talking about the second advent. coming of Jesus Christ in power and great glory. There will be no more at a second coming, because Jesus will never suffer again. Praise God. Amen. Christ suffered, the Bible says, once and for all. There is no crucifying Christ twice. The next time He comes, it's a whole different kind of coming. I heard A man once say, why would Jesus come again? Doesn't he remember what we did to him the first time? You see the ignorant thinking there? Oh, as if what they did, they did by their own power, not by God's predetermined will. My beloved Jesus Christ is not coming as a lowly servant the second time. There will be no more. Jesus will not suffer again. He comes to establish his kingdom. And as we read in Revelation, no power on earth can forbid it. The second coming of the Lord ushers in the glories of the kingdom of God. And in that kingdom, neither Christ nor his people will suffer. Hence, gold will be brought to him for he is king of kings, frankincense for he is God, but no more. Romans 14, 17 tells us, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. There will be no more suffering. Or as you've read in Revelation, every tear will be wiped away, right? Every sorrow will be taken away. There is no more suffering. That was once. That was the first time. We're in that first time. We follow after Him and we suffer. And you might be suffering now. We suffer. But the time is coming when only gold and frankincense will be left. There will be no myrrh for him or for us because of what he has done. Beloved, what a wonderful thought that is for you. I wanted you to see that. So if you're suffering, I understand. But better yet, God understands. It's a time of myrrh for all of us. If He who is our Master and Lord suffered, then we must suffer. A servant is not greater than his Master. Amen? But just like there will be no suffering for Christ in that second Advent, there will be no suffering for you and I either. A final note, and then I will close. Matthew, this whole Gospel is written so that the Jews could see that Jesus Christ is the Lord. John writes more for the Gentiles, so the Gentiles can see. But when Matthew wrote, that's why Matthew says, so that he might fulfill what was written. Have you ever read through Matthew and see that a bunch of times? Because he's reminding the Jews. He is the fulfillment of your Old Testament. His whole concept is to speak to the Jews. Why am I saying this? Matthew's main lesson for the Jews, who were the first to read the Gospel, must have been to remind them of the fact that salvation, though beginning with the Jews, does not end there. Praise God for that. The Gentiles too must be one for Christ. At the birth of Christ, Jewish shepherd came first. A Jewish Anna and a Jewish Simeon came. But then Gentile wise men worshiped. Both Jew and Gentile worshiped at the feet of the same King, the King of Kings, God the Son, God incarnate. You know, this is the Christmas story. In Jesus, we can all be saved. So let us remember the words of Simeon when he held the baby in Luke 2.29-32, Lord, Now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to the word. For my eyes have seen your salvation. Amen church? God's gift is that we can see his salvation. We can see who? Jesus Christ. That you have prepared in the presence of, read with me, all people. Praise God for that word, right? Those two words, all peoples. Not just a people, all peoples. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Even then, before the wise men show up, Simeon would say, the Gentiles will come one day. A light of revelation has been given to the Gentiles. A light of revelation. What did the wise men follow? The light of the star. God illuminated them and brought them to the king. Well, beloved, we praise God that Jesus is the salvation that's been prepared in the presence of all people, that he has allied to the Gentiles and for the glory of Israel. God has done this great work. The Gentiles that we speak here, the first fulfillment of that are these three wise men. I just did it. The wise men. Forgive the word three. We got to get that out of our vocabulary. The wise men who came. They're the first, but thank God there have been millions of others. And here you stand. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. I pray a word that is a blessing and one that has drawn us closer to God. One that makes us see who Jesus Christ is. The importance is not the men or how many. The importance is not the gifts, but what the gifts speak. So the man coming to worship Him, that's the important Him. And the gifts pointing to Him, that's the importance Him. That God has given us the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. We are a grateful people, Lord, and forever a worshipful people. In Christ's name.