While Christmas songs are still socially acceptable, we should take advantage of these opportunities. When people hear these lyrics in public places, what opportunity we have to share the gospel. I was in IHOP, of all places, a couple of weeks ago with my grandmother, and over the radio, God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Jesus Christ, our Savior, was born on Christmas Day to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray. How often on the radio in IHOP are you going to hear somebody say that Christ came to save us from Satan's power when we had all gone astray? It's the only time of year you can hear something like that. And you know what, this week, if you're with somebody and you don't know if they know the Lord, and you hear a song like that, or like this last verse of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, I mean, just have a conversation. What do you think about that line? Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace. What do you think about that? That's a good way to have a gospel conversation. So preach the gospel this week, amen? Amen, you better say amen. Let's go to Matthew chapter two. And I have prepared to be brief this morning. Y'all won't complain for an early lunch, I'm sure. But let's turn to Matthew 2, and I just want to read this passage to you and make some application to ourselves today. Matthew 2, verse 1 says, 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 have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.' When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea, For thus it is written by the prophet, but you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.' Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young child, and when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also.' When they heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. When they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Would you pray with me? God, we thank you so much for the songs that we've heard and been able to sing together this morning. Thank you for the children, for their songs. Lord, now we thank you for your word. Though it is a narrative, a story that we've heard over and over again, Lord, may we hear it afresh. I pray that you would make your word live to us. Open our eyes that we may see. And I pray that your Holy Spirit would work in us the work of your word, the work that only you can do, the work that causes the spiritually dead to be made alive, and the work that causes those of us who know you to continue to walk with you and obey you. and proclaim your message to the ends of the earth. I pray that that spirit would work in us today. In Jesus' name, amen. We've considered over these last few Sundays what we call the Christmas story. but we've seen it over and over again through the biblical texts, and I hope that I've reminded you well that it is more than just a story, that you can hear, God rest you, merry gentlemen, in IHOP, and then the very next song can be Frosty the Snowman, and you can differentiate which story is just a story and which one has a significant impact in your life. We've looked at Mary and how the angel Gabriel came and announced to her the news that though she was a virgin, she would conceive. And she asked the reasonable question, how can this be? And he says, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And this child will be called the Son of the Most High, the very Son of God. We looked at Matthew's account and how that Mary told Joseph, and his reaction was to divorce her. She had been unfaithful. But an angel again came to him in a dream and revealed to him that this child was of the Holy Spirit, and not only would he be called the Son of God, but that his name would be called Jesus. because He would save His people from their sins, that He would be called Immanuel, literally, God with us. And then last week, as they came to Bethlehem, and the baby, the Son of God, was born, stepped into human history, The angels show up again and make the announcement one more time, not to kings or to the rich or to royalty, but to shepherds. And as the shepherds glorify God and praise God for this news that they have brought this good news of great joy for all people, the shepherds came and saw the Lord. And when they departed, they couldn't help but tell everyone what they had seen and heard. And so now as we look one more time at this story, we pick up in Matthew's gospel in chapter two about these wise men, or as some translations say, the magi. Now we make lots of assumptions about these men, and some are flat out wrong. We learn most of what we know about these men or think we know at least from the song, right? We three kings of Orient are. Well, we don't know that there were three. We assume there were three a lot of time because there were three gifts, but most likely there were more than three. They weren't kings. They were wise men, magi. From Orient R, we got that one right, they were from the east. So we got the direction at least. But then usually where do you see these wise men in the settings at Christmas time, right? We've all seen the nativity displays, you've got the little baby in the manger, you have Mary, you have Joseph, you have two or three or four shepherds, some sheep, some goats, some cows, and then who else do you see? you see three rich guys with fancy hats and boxes in their hands all gathered there in the stable around the baby Jesus. But they were not there when Jesus was born. Matthew's gospel says now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, later on in verse 11, he says that they had come into the house, Mary and Joseph and Jesus had settled into a house at this point when the wise men came to see them. We don't know exactly how much time had passed. It could have been as much as two years. Because when Herod had heard that there was a king that had been born, what did he command? That all the children be killed. Which children? All the baby boys, two years and under. So, from the timeline that Herod was familiar with, he couldn't have been more than two years old at that time. but it was after the birth of Christ that these men came. They came to Jerusalem, wise men from the east, saying..." Now, the word saying is what we call a present participle, and it has the idea of a continuous action. Now, he says that when they came and they said, where is he that has been born king of the Jews, that Herod was troubled. Now, we can understand why Herod would be troubled, because he's the king. He's the ruler. He's the one in charge. As far as he knows, he doesn't have any new kids. And here these men from the east show up out of nowhere, respectable men most likely, wealthy, and they ask, where is this new king? And he is troubled, but it doesn't just say that Herod was troubled. He says in verse 3 that all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Now why would Jerusalem be troubled? And this is why I, like many others, think there were more than three men. I think that this was more than likely a caravan of men, of wise men, with servants and workers and animals coming into town, making a huge scene. Because if you think, if two or three or four men come into town and they're asking around, where is he that's born King of the Jews? Some people might give some funny looks, but it's probably not gonna disturb the town. But you have this city of Jerusalem, a capital city where the king is, where Herod is, and you have these men, these wealthy men, coming into town, making a huge scene, asking everyone around, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? That's going to cause a stir. That's going to upset the norm. That's going to disturb the peace. Because the Jews, yes, awaited their Messiah, but you think of the oppression of Rome and Herod just being a pawn in the hands of Rome. What would happen if word starts being spread among the people that there's a new king? Riot control is going to come in. We saw it happen in Jesus' own day. That's why they were afraid of Jesus. They thought he would stir up the crowd. And so these magi, these wise men from the East come to Jerusalem and they come because they say, in verse two, we have seen his star in the East. Now, a lot of speculation has gone on about this star. Some of the modern theories is that it was a comet of sorts, or the planets aligned just right and gave the appearance of a star. A year or so ago, some people were looking for a repeat of that phenomenon, that there was gonna be some kind of light in the sky that we haven't seen since Bethlehem. Sure, you can have those theories, you can talk about those things if you like, but I prefer to go with the view that this was just a miraculous event that God created for this occasion. It'd be hard to follow a comet for any length of time, and the planets being aligned would have to stay that way for a while and move around just right, that they would know where to go. But remember, when Israel was in the wilderness, how were they led? During the day, God led them with a pillar of cloud, and at night, a pillar of fire. We've called it the Shekinah glory of God that dwelt with his people. And I believe that in this day, God made that glory known again and put his star in the sky just for such an occasion. But these men, knowing what little they knew, they were astrologers of sorts, They followed the star. They called him the king of the Jews. They had some understanding of the Old Testament scriptures. They come seeking this king and what does Herod do in verse 4, when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Now, why did he gather the chief priests and scribes? These were the experts in the law. If anyone would know anything about a prediction about a king for the Jews, It was to be these people. And sure enough, they went to the right place. They did have the right understanding. They said in verse 5, they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, You, Bethlehem, and the land of Judah are not least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler, and not just a ruler, he says, who will shepherd my people Israel. And we talked a little about a contrast of kings last week, looking at Augustus, the exalted one, who flaunts his power, and Christ, who was born humbly as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. And we see something of that again because you have Herod, who is a king who is jealous for his throne. He is jealous for his position. He's getting worried to the point that he's going to do the terrible deed of killing all the babies, two years and under. And you have the king who was born. Yes, he's called. He will be a ruler. He will be a strong leader. He will have the government upon his shoulders, as Isaiah says. But he's not just called a ruler, he's called a shepherd. He cares for his sheep. Jesus came and he said what? He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He doesn't take the lives of others because he feels threatened, but he gives his life to save even his enemies. Something of note here is that You have the wise men who all they have is a star and a little bit of information from the Old Testament. And then you have, on the other hand, these experts in the law, these scribes, these Pharisees, these chief priests who know the law, who went to the right place, who knew what they should be looking for and which of these parties actually acted on what they knew. the ones with little information were more faithful than those who had studied the scriptures their whole lives. You see, some people come to the Bible and they say, well, I just don't understand it all. The Bible's intimidating. I don't feel like I can really grasp all that's there, but let me just assure you that it is not so much about how much information you have. It's not all about what you know, but it's about what you do with what you do know. You don't have to understand everything in this book, but what you do have, what God has made clear to you, what are you doing with it? Because you have these scribes and chief priests who know the law, and they hear there's a king of the Jews, but they don't do anything but stand with this wicked king. Then you have the wise men from the East who have a little bit of knowledge of the Scriptures, who have a star in the sky. The star doesn't tell them anything. And they're the ones who have left their homes, brought their gifts, and have come, not just to honor a new king, not just to give gifts to a new king. That would have been a normal thing to do in that day. But they said, we have come to worship Him. They came to worship this king. Verse 7 says, Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, Determined from them what time the star appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem And said go and search carefully for the young child and when you have found him Bring word back to me That I may come and worship him also He said with a snicker a grin He gives this appearance as though He's interested in what he's heard, that he believes the Scriptures, that he would like also to come and worship this king, but we know that he has only evil in his heart, that he intends to kill him. And God, of course, knows the heart of men. He knows the hearts of kings. He knows what is in the heart of Herod. And verse 12, before the wise men returned, he said they were divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod. God knows our true intentions. God knows your true intentions. Whether you put on the front of worship, you came to church today. Yes, it's the Sunday before Christmas. It's expected that you come to church. But did you really come to worship this king? Christmas will come and go this week. Will you worship the king? It's a good question to ponder. Verse nine says, when they heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them. till it came and stood over where the young child was." Not over a stable. Verse 10, when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. That simply fulfills what the angels had said to the shepherds, right? They said, we bring to you good tidings. We preach to you a gospel, good news of what? Great joy. which shall be for all people. The wise men came, they saw the star, they realized that they had reached their destination. They had found the king and they were filled with great joy. They weren't Jews. They weren't the ones looking for the promised Messiah. They weren't the ones that people might have expected to come and worship the King. But these Gentiles from a far nation had been reached with good news, with a gospel of great joy. God is still at work today, taking good news of great joy, not just to people we think deserve it, not just to people who grew up hearing it from the Bible and hearing about the Lord, but the gospel of great joy is being taken to the whole world. We get to participate in that endeavor. They saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary's mother." It's interesting how that when Matthew refers to Jesus and Mary and Joseph, he always gives Jesus the prominent position. He gets mentioned first. It's not they found Mary and Joseph and, oh yeah, their baby. No, they came and they saw the child. Oh, and Mary and Joseph were there too. I kind of wonder how this was experienced. And you who have had children know how this is when you bring your child home from the hospital and people kind of trickle in and hopefully they trickle in. Sometimes they crowd in, but you hope they trickle in and visit and come to see the baby. You know, I don't know if this is one of those situations where, you know, the baby is still small and, you know, on the boppy pillow in the corner of the couch, you know, just laying there looking around or in the bouncy seat on the floor, or if they were far enough along that this was the stage where the baby is running through the kitchen, you know, with the diaper on the head, emptying drawers and cabinets. I don't know which, I don't know which stage this was, but whatever it was, the men knew who they had found. They knew that they had found the king because when they came in and they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they fell down, fell down. Men of wealth, men of notoriety fell down. And worshiped him. And what was their practical expression of worship? It's Christmas time, what do we do? They gave gifts. When they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, just what every 18-month-old wants. Now, scholars over the years have seen significance in these gifts. whether the wise men themselves recognized the significance of what they had given. Gold, everybody likes gold, but that's a gift that you give to a king. That's a gift that you give to royalty. One of the most valuable materials on planet Earth, they brought him gold, and Christ is our king. the ruler of heaven and earth came as a baby. They gave him frankincense. And that one's a little bit different because most people couldn't tell you what frankincense is. But we know that incense was used in worship in the temple. It always accompanied prayer. And I believe if we were to tie significance to this gift that we would say it points to Jesus, not just as our king, but as our priest, our great high priest, the one we go to in prayer, the one who stands between us and the father, the one who gives us right standing before God. Jesus is our priest. But wait, there's more. When you come to the end of Jesus's life, he's in the tomb after his death. The women came with aloes and spices. They came with myrrh. And the myrrh points to his death. Because he is our king, he reigns from his throne in heaven. He is the creator of heaven and earth. He formed you. He gives you every breath you take. Yes, he is our priest who stands between us and the father, but all of that is possible for us to have fellowship with him because of his death. You see, they came seeking the King of the Jews, and that name was assigned to Jesus again at the end of his life. As Pilate wrote the inscription on a sign and placed it above his head on the cross, the King of the Jews. And this baby, who was born so innocently in Bethlehem, so humbly, grew up and lived a sinless life. He never once violated the law of God as we have. He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, with all his strength. He loved his neighbor as himself. He obeyed the commandments. Everyone that you've ever broken, And the death that you deserve and the death that I deserve because of our sin, he took it. This baby is not just a baby, the baby came as a baby so that he could become a man so that he could die for you and me. Murr points to his death, he took our sin upon himself on the cross, he cried out, it is finished, our sin debt is paid, it's done, it's paid for, it's gone, if we repent and put our trust in this Jesus who came to save us. He died, he was buried, but then on the third day, he rose from the dead. That really is the whole of the Christmas story. We don't hear the whole thing when we just talk about the baby being born because he was born for a reason. And that was to save sinners. It was to save me. It was to save you. Because he loves you. What are you celebrating this week? Yes, we have our traditions. Yes, we have our decorations. Yes, we give our gifts. And I encourage you to do those things lavishly. Celebrate as loudly and in as big a way as you can, because Jesus deserves it. But what are you celebrating? Not merely the birth of a baby, though we do celebrate his birth, but that he came to save us all from Satan's power when we had gone astray. Old tidings of comfort and joy. That's joy. Give gifts because God gave you his greatest gift. Celebrate because you have reason to celebrate if you've been saved from your sins. If you haven't, The greatest gift you could ever receive is that gift you will receive when you repent and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone, because He will save you. Stand with me, please, and we'll pray. Father, we love you. We thank you for the gift of your Son. Not only for his birth, but for the perfect sinless life he lived in our behalf. The death he died as our substitute. And for his resurrection in which he defeated death for us. I pray that that is what we celebrate this week and for the rest of our lives. And may we use this opportunity to point others to you. in Jesus' name.