that here Matthew chapter 2 and I've titled the message Christ is born the perspective of the wise the foolish and indifferent now I have to put a asterisk here my wife has whispered to me more than once this morning and when your wife is whispering you need to listen right and so she said tell the people that in the bleak midwinter the choir perform is was written by our son who lives up in Pennsylvania. So it was written and arranged by him. We'll be glad to sell recordings of that to you for Matthew chapter two. Now that I have that business out of the way, I'm good. Okay. All right. Christ is born the perspective of the wise, the foolish and the indifferent. Let's pray and we'll give you a little bit of a history background before we dive into the scriptures. Father, thank you for the hour. know a lot of the morning service is already passed so we pray that we'll be able to be wise in our use of time and the use of the time of these dear ones that have come and are here today. We know many of our church family are traveling, they're away, they're with family. Others will be leaving this week or even this afternoon after church. And so Lord, give safety to our loved ones, we pray. But right now, we want to focus on you. I pray that we'll be able to do that. May we glean wisdom from the scriptures and realize that the wise still do seek you. Lord, thank you now for the time that we have in Christ's name. Amen. As you open your Bible to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, you understand that the announcement of the angel really broke the silence of about 400 years. between the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Now, though the prophets had come and gone and they had announced the judgment of God that would follow, should Israel as a people not turn to the Lord? And nevertheless, the people had hardened their hearts. And the history of Israel leading up through to this intertestament period was a history of sorrow and heartache. In fact, one of the first things that happened was the division of Israel as a nation. And so there were 10 tribes to the north named Israel and two tribes to the south that became named Judah. And then after that, the Assyrians came and they conquered the tribes in the north and they took the Jewish people captive, leaving only the two tribes in the south, which was Judah and Benjamin. Well, about 100 years later, The armies of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar the king also conquered and ultimately destroyed Jerusalem as a city and they burnt the temple of Solomon to the ground. And yet there was still following more and more wars that would follow. In 539 BC Cyrus the king of Persia conquered Chaldeans, Babylon. And he freed the Jews, and unlike any other nation in history, he allowed them to return to their homeland. And so they did. The first group that went back built the temple again. And yet the temple that was built was a shadow of the one that had gone before with all of its beauty and glory that Solomon had built. And it even says that the people weeped when they saw it, though they rejoiced at seeing the beauty of the temple, they sorrowed that the glory of Israel was forever gone. And yet there was hope. You see, in 331 BC, Greece arose, became the empire of the world, and they conquered Persia. But then again in 146 BC, Rome defeated Greece, the battle of Corinth, and Rome ruled the world. And still the Jews waited, waited for the Messiah, waited for the prophecies of Isaiah to come true. But the Savior that Israel was looking for was a political Savior, one that would be able to cast off the iron fist, the iron heel of Rome, and restore the nation to its glory during the years of David and Solomon. And so they waited. 400 years would pass. In that time were sorrows and heartaches and oppressions. Rome hated the Jews, and the Jews hated Rome. And occupying the throne in that time was a man named Herod. You know, the Bible says this in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4 and 5, When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. You said, when was Christ born? Well, there's a lot of debate about that and the date. I'm of the opinion around 4 BC, but that'll be another sermon at another time. But as we look at the scriptures today and we open it, Christ came at the time that God had appointed. In fact, many scholars have looked at history and looked at the rise of Rome and Rome building the roads of the empire, many of the roads of which not only exist but are often still used. And it was through those roads and through the travel in the first century that the gospel was taken to the world. from the Middle East all the way through to England in the West. As you have your notes there, I want to walk you through some things, and I'm going to stay with my notes because of the time this morning. But understand this, that as you open your Bible this morning, and we read Matthew 2, there was a man there named Herod. The Scriptures identify him, and history identifies him as Herod the Great. He had reigned in Judea about 34 years. He had come to rule Israel really as a puppet of Rome. In fact, it was the Roman Senate that gave Herod the title King of the Jews. He spent his life doing all that he could to be the ruler of the Jews throughout Israel. And yet he was hated by the Jews. You see, Herod was not a Jew. Herod was an Edomite. He was the son of the lineage of Esau. And so he had no love for the Jewish people, and certainly the Jewish people had no love for him. So somebody would ask, where did Herod get the title then, The Great? Well, he was great. I wrote down three things for which he was known. First of all, he was great in war. He was a proven soldier and a leader on the battlefield. He was also great in politics. He was a savvy politician. In fact, if he lived today, there's no doubt he would be sitting comfortably in Washington, D.C. He knew how to work the system so much that he became the dear of the Roman Senate as well as the Caesars of Rome. But he was also great in construction. It was during his reign that he built the temple and in many ways restored the glory of Solomon's temple once again. Well, for that, the Jewish leadership, the religious leaders, they loved him. He endeared himself to them. And then he also built, lastly, a beautiful city known as Caesarea by the Sea. Now, I've been there. Maybe some of you have been there. Absolutely beautiful area. In fact, Caesarea by the Sea was also where Paul the Apostle was imprisoned before he was sent to Rome. So it's got a lot of history in that area. But then another thing for your outline. Herod dealt with political insecurities. throughout his reign. And as a result of those political insecurities, the last years of his reign was known for its cruelty and its bloodshed. In fact, he ended up murdering three of his sons for fear that they would aspire to be the king of the Jews. Then he murdered his wife, and then to cap it off, he decided to murder his mother-in-law, I kind of thought about that a little bit. I thought, well, if you're going to murder the wife, you better murder the mother-in-law, because it's probably not going to go well for you. That's just a side note for mom as she's listening, all right? No murder intended. The most infamous act of Herod, though. took place in Matthew chapter 2 and verse 16. Here we read these words, Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and he sent forth, and watch what he did. He slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof from two years old and under. You see, he had received the news that Christ was born, that there was a child born in Bethlehem that was none other than the king of the Jews. When he was unable to identify who that child was, he determined that he would do somewhat like Hamas has done in our day. He would slay everyone that he could. And so he did. From two years old and younger, He plotted to kill every child that was born in the coast, the outline areas of Bethlehem. Now, as you have your notes and as we work through this this morning, we want to go back to Matthew chapter 2, and I want you to think about this. We know his political insecurities, enough so that he would kill his own family who he thought would be a threat to him on the throne. And so how might Herod have received the news when wise men, the Magi, came from the east, and they came into the city of Jerusalem where he is king, and they're asking the question, where is he that is born the king of the Jews? I want to walk you through a little bit of that. You have your Bible, Matthew chapter two. Look with me at verse two. And here we read, saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews. For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him." And so we have the question. Where is he that is born King of the Jews? And then we have a statement of the purpose. We've seen a star and we have come to worship him. And then you come to verse 3 and here we have Herod's response. In verse 3 we read, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Now we have a saying today, when mama ain't happy, what? Ain't nobody happy, right? And so it is with Herod. Herod is a bloodthirsty, vengeful, wicked ruler. And so when the king's not happy and the king is troubled, yes, all of Jerusalem was troubled with him. And so I wanted to ask questions this morning. In fact, I almost thought about giving you a quiz. And then I thought better of that. And so, and I'm glad I didn't. It's 1130, so we don't want to do that. So let me give you a question. Here's the first question. Why did the presence of wise men from the East trouble Herod and all Jerusalem? Well, the answer to that is, who were the wise men? They were the Magi, as you often hear said in this day. Now, the scriptures describe them in verse one as wise men from the East. their home was the ancient land of Persia. Now that's important, because the Jewish people, when they were taken captive after the fall of Jerusalem, were taken to where? To Babylon. Where is Babylon? In ancient Persia. And so there was a Jewish element that had stayed in Babylon. And so these Persians, these Magi, these wise men had come from a place where they had contact with Jewish prophets. For instance, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have been considered Magi in their day. We read a description of them in Daniel 1 at verse 17. And as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And so the Magi were known for gazing at the stars. They were known for projecting prophecies and being wise men. So much more I could tell you, like mathematics, as you and I know it today, was invented by the wise men of Persia. many of the medicines, the education system, there's so much that we are indebted to as a race of people that reaches all the way back to Persia. Now, continuing with that thought, as we look at this, here is my suggestion to you, that the Magi, the wise men, having knowledge of the Jewish people and the prophets of the Jews, particularly when Daniel dwelt among them, would have learned about some of the culture and the learning and the teaching of the Jewish people. Now, we need to ask another thought. By the time Christ was born, the Magi were so powerful that they were known to be the choosers and the anointers of kings of kingdoms. And so who are the Magi? They're not just wise men. Somebody has described them, they are king makers. So when the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, and Herod is in the palace with all of his insecurities, and he hears that these wise men have come, and they're asking the question, where is the king? Because their job often was to come find and anoint a man who would become the king. So you can understand the insecurity of Herod. And so we ask another question. How many wise men came to Jerusalem? Anybody have an idea? I see three over here. How many do you think? You know what the answer is? We don't know. We don't know. In fact, the thought of three wise men not only has become a tradition, but it's been based upon the fact that there were three gifts that were brought to Jesus. Frankincense, gold, and myrrh. But that doesn't mean that there were only three wise men. So let me give you a little bit of the history of why Herod was so concerned. First of all, because of the political power represented by the wise men, by the Magi. Understand this, these were powerful men. They would not have traveled on three camels with a donkey carrying old Frankincense and myrrh. These are powerful men that would have had a military escort. Add to that, they would not have traveled unless they had a large caravan. And probably, the group that came to Jerusalem looking for the child that was born king of the Jews was numbered probably in the thousands that made that journey. Now, Herod was a savvy military leader. He would have had at his outpost, around the borders of Israel, places that would have been looking for the incursion of any enemy. Can you imagine? They see this giant caravan of thousands crossing the desert, and they're coming to Jerusalem. Now, word would have already reached Jerusalem that the Magi are coming. Who are they? They are the ones that will anoint the king of kingdoms. And they have news that they believe that one great one has been born who will be the king of the Jews. And so Herod was troubled at the arrival of this child. And then as you have your Bible there, I want to invite you to look with me even further, Matthew chapter two again, and I'm gonna go back to verse two, it won't be on the PowerPoint this time, but we read this, where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. Now, the word there, the star, the announcement of a child that has been born, that is the legitimate heir to the throne of David. Think about that. Herod is an Edomite. He's not even a Jew. He is a pretender. He is a usurper. He has no right to the throne. He is sitting on the throne only because Rome has deemed him to be the choice. But now thousands have come towards Jerusalem. And among them are the wise men that are coming to not just anoint, but to worship the one that will be king. And so Matthew chapter 2 then and verse 4. And when he had gathered, this is Herod, all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. So they've come. Now here's the question. Why did they come to Jerusalem? And why did they come to Herod's palace? Well, let's go back. Why did they come to Jerusalem? You know the answer? They followed a... No, that's not the answer. In fact, the star is not seen or mentioned again from the moment that they see his star. The star is not mentioned again until they leave Herod's palace to go to Bethlehem. Only then does the star reappear. And so this idea of the camels crossing the desert, and they're looking, and there's this star, and they're following the star. Who ever heard of a star doing that anyway, right? Stars, I mean, we're on the earth, it's rotating, right? And the stars are stationary, right? Unless they are shooting stars, meteorites. Here's my thought for you, and I don't have time to preach it today. I don't think it was a star. I think it was a bright light that was the Shekinah glory of none other than God Himself. You say, but the Bible says star, but it could have been translated a bright or blazing light. So these stargazers, the wise men, who look up into the sky, and suddenly they see a light they've never seen before. In fact, they identify it uniquely as His star. Now, they would not have known, like you and I do, about the Shekinah glory of God. For instance, sometimes people will say, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and we go through that, but there's light, But then the sun's not created until what? Is it the third day the sun's created? And so people will say, well, where in the world did the light come from? Don't you know the answer to that? The Lord is light. It is His person, His power, His presence that pierces the darkness of this world. I wish I had time to preach that. Maybe next year, if God allows. Let's move on. Let me take you also to Matthew 2, verses 5-6. So, the priests and the scribes, it's very interesting, they knew exactly where the Messiah was to be born. Look at what the Bible says, Matthew chapter 2 and verse 5, And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, Micah chapter 5 verse 2, And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Now this morning we were singing, O little town of Bethlehem, But you realize in this day Bethlehem wasn't a town, it was a village. In fact, it was notoriously small, insignificant. The only significant thing about Bethlehem was that it had been the birthplace, the city, if you would, the town, the village of David. Well, I need to move on. I'm going to take you to the next thought on the outline here. And that is that Herod, after learning that the Messiah, the Christ child, would be born in Bethlehem, he comes back to the wise men. And you'll notice that in verse 7 that he asked for a private audience. So he sends away the priests and the scribes. He does not want them to know what he's up to. And so we come to Matthew chapter 2 and verse 2 and Matthew chapter 2 and verse 7. But in verse 7, you're going to see he asked this question. What time the star appeared? And why did he want to know that? Was it a month ago? Was it six months ago? Was it two weeks ago? Was it a year? When did the star appear? Now that, again, lets us understand it was not a star that was permanently in the sky and people could gaze and see it, but it was the appearance of that light, that blazing light, that had captured the attention of these wise men. And then I want to rush on to the next thought on your outline. I think it's Roman numeral number two. Now how did the Magi know to look for a star as a sign of the coming of a newborn king. Well, I've already kind of answered that. I'm going to fill in the blank and move on with this. But they had knowledge that the appearance of a light, a star, would mark the birth of the king of the Jews. Now, not a test. Where did the king of the Jews live? The answer is where? Jerusalem. It's the capital city, right? So somebody would say, well, how did the wise men get from Persia all the way to Jerusalem if there wasn't a star? And the answer is they knew if the king of the Jews had been born, he would be in Jerusalem. He would make his reign there. And so they took a presumption, let's go to the palace in Jerusalem. So that's how they arrived there. Just a little bit up here, Daniel the prophet, I've already told you, he was one of the wise men. And interesting, Balaam. Now, we don't have time to deal with Balaam, other than the fact you might remember from the Old Testament, he was the prophet that was a reluctant prophet. He did not want to prophesy against Israel. And that prophet, though, had made prophecy in Numbers chapter 24 verse 17 we read I shall see him but not now I shall behold him but not nigh there shall come a what is it star out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel again the word star can be a blazing light indeed in the sky it appeared to be a star and a scepter a scepter is what a king carries if you look at the coronation of King Charles in England you'll remember he was crowned remember that and then he was given the scepter I think the scepter may have a globe on top of, for Great Britain at one time ruled the world. Well, that's another thought. And then verse 19 of Numbers 24. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. And so there was this ancient prophecy of a king who was going to come. And now the star has been seen. Well, rushing on, on your outline quickly. Letter B there, I believe it is. The Magi saw a bright star in the east, and so they traveled west to Jerusalem to worship the king of the Jews. Now again, no mention of the star in that travel. They didn't have GPS. They knew where Jerusalem was, and they set their sights to arrive in Jerusalem. And so in verse 2, they ask, where is he? And then verses 4 through 6, and I think it might be up here on the outline, we read, when they came to worship. And when he had gathered all the chief priests, I've already read through all that. I'm going to move on to verse 8. Look at verse 8 on your outline. Now, after consulting with the chief priests and scribes, Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem. And so we read in verse 8, and he sent them to Bethlehem, and he said, Go and search diligently for the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. Now, here's a question. What did Herod really want to do? If they found him, he wanted to Kill him, right? That was his goal. In fact, his goal was so dominant that when the wise men didn't come back and tell him where the Christ child was, he determined from two years old and younger, he would slay all that might in any way aspire to be king. And then, as we draw to a close here, look at verses 9 through 11. and I'm going to destroy your Christmas story one more time. All right? Here we go. Notice in Matthew chapter 2 and verses 9 through 11 that the wise men came not to a manger, but to a house. To a house. They said, well, what about the manger and the shepherds and the cooing of the doves and the mooing of the cow and the baa of the sheep? What about all that? Well, if any of that happened, it happened well before the wise men arrived in Jerusalem. So let's see what the Bible says. Matthew chapter 2 and verse 9 through 11. And so the wise men, when they had heard the king, they departed. And now we read, lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. Now when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And so this is an unusual star, right? Instead of watching in the sky and the movement of the earth, the star is moving itself. That's why I believe it's the Shekinah glory of God, guiding the shepherds to where Christ was. And then we come to verse 11. In verse 11, we read, and when they, the wise men, were come into, say it with me, The house. Not the stable. Nope. The house. So at some point, enough time has passed, that the Lord, as a child, an infant, has been moved with Joseph and Mary from the manger into a house. Let's keep reading, verse 11. And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, Now these great men, mighty, powerful men, we read that they fell down. and they worshipped Him. And when they opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Let me close with these thoughts. The first thing with the wise men, I want you to notice, they opened their hearts, they fell down, and they worshipped Him. Now does it say they worshipped Mary? Huh? No. Does it say they worshipped Mary and Joseph? No. They worshipped Christ. You see, He was the one worthy of adoration. And so, we know that they worshipped Him. And who was this child? Well, according to the prophecies of Isaiah in chapter 9, at verse 6, He was the child that the government, the authority would rest on His shoulders. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What other child could bear that title? None other than the Child of Eternity, the very Son of God Himself. And so not only then did they open their hearts, but notice with me also that they opened their treasures. And they presented unto him gifts. And these gifts are the gifts worthy of a king. Some of you have gifts maybe under a tree or hid somewhere in your house. And you're going to present your gift at some point in the next two days. and then your wife's gonna take it back to the store and get her money back, okay? Now, I say that from experience, right? Been there, done that. Anyway, she laughs, I'm right, she laughs, all right? This matter of the gift, the gifts that they brought were the gifts for a king. We find here then gold, And I want to suggest to you that it speaks of the humanity of Christ. For this is the gift that you would give a king, to be gold. And then the frankincense. The frankincense was a fragrant perfume that was burned for those who worship. And so we have not only the preciousness of gold worthy of a king, but we have the fragrance of frankincense that is used in a matter of worship. Then lastly, myrrh. You might remember that myrrh was offered to the Lord as an anesthetic when He was on the cross. Myrrh was also used to perfume the rotting corpse of a dead one, a loved one. And so when the body of a loved one would be wrapped, it would be done so with myrrh added to it. Now some of you are oil of this or oil of that, and I look around, I know some of you know all these oils far better than I would. My point is, as I close, the significance of the gifts was that they were worthy of a king. And in all that we see in these gifts, the gold is humanity, is a king. The frankincense, the odor, the perfume that would fill a place of worship, for he is the divine one. And then thirdly, the myrrh, for he is the one who will die for our sins. The beauty then of this moment with the wise men, stripping away all the tales of tradition that have absolutely nothing to do with the Scriptures, and we come full circle to this, that it was in the fullness of time that God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Why did Christ come? to redeem them that were under the law. You see, the law says that I should die for the wages of sin is death. But God in His infinite love and wisdom provided a way of salvation. became your substitute. That was none other than this one who was adored as a king, as God divine, and as the one that would die. So today, as we prepare to leave and we go home, I hope that every gift that is exchanged today will be a reminder of the greatest gift that has ever been given, and that is God's giving His own Son. I wish I had time to give you more thoughts on it, but my time has gone. And so I ask you an important question. We've seen that wise men seek Jesus. We have seen indifferent men like the scribes and the Pharisees, or the scribes and the high priests. They knew where the Christ child should be born. And here are wise men that are saying, where is he that is born the King of the Jews? We've seen his star. But they were so indifferent that they did not seek him themselves. And then we look at Herod, that wicked, foolish man. He sent the wise men on a journey to do for him. What if he was a believer, he would have done himself. Go find him, seek for him diligently. And when you found him, come and tell me and I'll go and worship him also. But that was never to be. The truth of the story is as I close, Herod would die a miserable, old fool. He rejected Christ the King. In fact, five days before his death, he actually murdered another son. So intent at around 70 years of age, he was gonna hold on to everything he had until there was no breath left in his body. And you know, as I say that, I wonder, there may be people in this audience this morning, you're holding on to all that this world has to offer, But one day your stingy, covetous fingers will be pried open as death takes your soul. Won't you turn to Christ today? He doesn't ask you to bring gold, frankincense, or myrrh. He asks you to bring a heart that is open, tender, and repentant. It's about an eye's Father, as we close this morning, I thank you so much for an audience that has listened and patiently followed me through a long outline. Lord, right now, as I close, my heart's desire is that if anyone is here this morning and doesn't know you as Savior, that they would be a wise man or woman, boy or girl, and they would open their heart seeking you, not as a king, but as a savior. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. On this Christmas Eve, how many of you can rejoice with me and say, Christ is more than a babe to me, pastor? He is my Savior. If you could say that, would you raise your hand? Pastor, Christ is more than a babe to me. He is my Savior. Amen. Hands all across the auditorium. You and I should celebrate the birth of Christ like none of this world understands. Do you know there might be someone here this morning That you've realized you've been foolish. You've never opened your heart to Christ. And you've never received Him as your Savior. Can I invite you right now to understand that the Bible says that we have all sinned. That there's an unrighteous. And yet, the Bible also says that God commended His love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for you. And if you're wise today, you will accept Him as your Savior. Would you do that right now with a simple prayer? Oh God, I believe that You are not only a babe in Bethlehem, I believe You're the Savior who died for my sins. Today, I accept you as my Savior. If you made that decision, would you raise your hand right now and just say, Pastor, I, in this service of this morning, ask Christ to be my Savior. Is there anyone? Just raise your hand and say, Pastor, I made that decision this morning.