if you were here last night, you know that, we briefly spoke
about The obvious theme of this weekend, the birth of Christ but
we looked at a certain vantage point about how the Holy Spirit
did not necessarily give us the precise date of the birth of the
Savior but he did in his wisdom provide us numerous detailed
accounts surrounding and leading up to that event and We examined
for just a few moments of one of those accounts, one of those
reports and it was the interruption.
If I can use that word of An angel and a Heavenly Host, who
appeared to a quiet group of men who are supervising their their
sheep. And they received an honor that
no caesar, no Pharisee, no priest would experience.
And that was the announcement of the, the Son of God, entering
into the world, and even the direction of how to witness it
with their own eyes. But this afternoon, I want us to
now look at a different angle from this.
I want us to look at a different group of men.
I want us to see what the The spirit has given us in terms of
instruction on a vast subject about what we can learn from
this event and it's not going to be on the specific night that
the Savior was born. We're going to, we're going to
fast forward a few months, we're going to fast-forward perhaps
even a couple of years when this baby was now an infant, and he's
no longer in a Manger. He is tucked safely in a home
with Earthly parents, who have been given the responsibility
to. Can you imagine it?
To raise up God himself. And so what I want to do now in
this in the segment is take you to the Book of Matthew and
chapter to read a few verses and then impact these verses for you
with the same intention that we had last night, that your heart
would come alive and that you would have fresh desired to
adore him. Love him, cherish him.
In light of the wisdom of his word.
Matthew chapter 2. beginning in verse 1, we read now, after
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, Behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying,
where is he who has been born King of the Jews for?
We saw his star when it Rose and have come to worship him?
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all
Jerusalem with him and assembling all the chief priests
and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born, they told them in Bethlehem of Judea for,
so it is written. By the prophet and you o
Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler.
Who will Shepherd My People Israel.
No date, no date of when the Savior was born, but plenty of
details to tell us of the period in which he was born.
And in the first couple of verses, we have an understanding
of how problematic it was for Jesus to be born in these days
and that is highlighted by Matthew inspired by the Holy
Spirit. When he underscores in verse 1
of Matthew to that, Jesus was born.
Yes. And Bethlehem of Judea, Also in
the days of Herod, the King Herod the king now that is
reduced to just the mere historical fact, unless you, and
I have some kind of understanding of who Herod was
Herod, was a politician. He was someone who was raised up
by Rome who is oppressing the nation of Israel at this time to
be some form of a king, who would bring order and peace to
the inhabitants in the citizens of Israel.
He was not independent from the Louis of Rome, Rome designed
this man to fulfill their wishes and so he followed their orders
and he implemented what they desired.
And the people were subdued to a certain extent and this Herod
who was one of many succeeding herod's is identified as Herod,
the Great Herod the Great perhaps because of his great
achievements as a politician And he was known for many things,
but this man was a master architect.
He was able to create and Implement and establish many
things that was part of the flourishing of the Society of
the time. And one of those things was a
revamping of the temple for the Jews.
It was a renovation project like they have never known and he was
responsible for it. And according to John 2:20, it
took more than 40 years to accomplish and it was glorious,
it had passerbys just absolutely stunned by the beauty that this
man was able to generate with his power and his creativity.
But Herod, although he was great in that sense what's important
for us to know in this context was that he was not great
morally. This man was like many of the
rulers of his day constantly suspicious paranoid fearful that
someone would usurp his authority.
And because of this, he was responsible for many deaths,
even the death of his own wife and some of his sons.
When he felt, as though, they might conspire against him, this
Herod was unpredictable, he was cruel, and by the snap of a
finger, he can cause atrocities, not just great architectural
projects, X. And we get a hint of this man's
dark side in the very same chapter that you and I are in
today because when he discovers that, the king of the Jews would
be born and did not have the ability to find him out of Rage.
He calls for a charge to slaughter the children, all the
male Hebrew boys who were under the age of two.
A massacre. A gross despicable thing.
This is the kind of Herod that we are speaking about, and it
seems like a silly thought but let me present to you a thing to
meditate on for a moment, perhaps.
You might look at that and realize that I think to
yourself, how can it be that God would actually allow Jesus to be
born at this time. And just imagine for a moment
that you would be in his Divine Council was speaking about God's
Divine, Council of pertaining to the birth of the long-awaited
Messiah. What would be your
recommendation for when the Savior should be born?
When would you decide would it be a time of peace?
What would you clean things up? First before you would usher in
the one that would save his people from their sins?
What does seem reasonable to you that God In His Infinite?
Wisdom would choose for the Savior to be born and to become
a helpless baby under the rule of this wicked man.
This man who had no hesitation to liquidate the innocent to in
a moment. Even remove these helpless
babies from their mother's lap and to slaughter them.
Do they propose no threat at least in the time?
Was it a slip through the cracks of the Messiah was born Here and
Now Let it be known today. Let it be known this afternoon
with great confidence that the birth and the timing of the
birth of the Christ was not accidental.
It was totally planned perfectly planned.
It was a procedure that even the timing would make a declaration
of the mightiness of God of the strength of God, of the Majesty
of God. And it is this that he has never
been nor will he ever be intimidated by the resistance of
this world? There is no earthly system.
There is no diabolical force that ever presents, even a inch
of an ounce. Threat to the purposes of God
and every age. When you look at this book from
cover to cover and you study who God is and you realize what he
has done, you will come to this conclusion that he'd the lights
to Showcase his sovereignty by strategizing his advancements
purposefully and doing what finding a way to do.
So in the most unfavorable and perilous of circumstances, God
loves to Showcase his sovereignty when the opposition
is the strongest under so many examples of this.
What came to mind? This morning was how Hebrews
tells us that Abraham when he was as good as dead.
What a description for a man, when he was as good as dead,
that is when God chose to give him a son.
I think about God's Exodus from Pharaoh when he pulled out his
people and he purposely leads him to a dead end while pharaoh
and his army are chasing. The people only for that water
to split open and to create a walkway for them.
I think about so many of the Miracles that we see where there
seems to be a delay in timing, even during the ministry of
Jesus. But in that delay, God wanted to
display greater power and greater glory unto himself.
And so we see in this book that through obvious examples and
even through subtle nudges that God loves to display his power.
And to show that there is no strength, there is no hand that
can stay him and say, what have you done or what do you think
you're doing? One of my favorite examples is
actually found in a book that perhaps would not be very
fitting for Christmas but it's okay in Revelation.
Chapter 2 can I show this to you?
Go to Revelation Chapter 2, aren't you glad you came to
church? You're going to hear from The
Book of Revelation on Christmas Sunday.
But it's for good reason. Revelation Chapter 2, I want you
to look here in verse 12 when Jesus writes a letter to a
church, And he writes to the church in pergamum.
And it says, here in Revelation 2:12.
And to the angel of the church, in pergamum, write the words of
him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
Imagine introducing yourself like that to the church.
Look at verse 13. I know where you dwell, where
Satan's Throne. Is you hold fast my name and you
did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas was my
faithful witness who was killed among you where Satan dwells.
You and I just heard how Jesus was born when Herod was on the
throne and that was a dangerous, a dangerous thing.
But now we come to the end of the book.
And you know what, we read we read that this Jesus is speaking
to a church, a local church that was planted where Satan's Throne
was. Satan's Throne, get the cartoon
idea of hell. Out of your mind, Satan's,
Throne is not in Hell. Satan's headquarters is not in
hell. Hell is Satan's punishment.
We're told here that at one time in history, Satan's Command
Center was in a place called pergamum.
I find that fascinating, I found that exhilarating for many
reasons and let me tell you one of them in a moment we're not
given any explanation to why Satan dwelt here.
Can I translate that? That's where home was.
That's where you sent mail to his address.
That's where he was And this is where a church was and we're not
told why Satan felt so comfortable to be in pergamum
but if you know enough of his vile character, that it makes
sense that there was something about that atmosphere that made
him comfortable. That made him comfortable to
park there at least for the time being and to have his main
operations come out of pergamum. And so I know one thing based on
this, that pergamum must have been a place of severe blasphemy
and gross immorality. It must have been scandalous.
It must have been a place of heightened, evil, and heightened
persecution. Even as read that there was a
Christian who was murdered in those streets, And this is where
Satan chose to be, and I believe it's because he had special
influence there, he was able to maneuver things, he was able to
bring this city into an unusual level of iniquity.
But that's not the point. The point is yes, his throne is
there. Yes, Satan dwells there.
It's a very dark description for a city but it holds glorious
Revelation. Here's the Glorious Revelation.
Jesus said to a church, I know where you dwell, I know where
you dwell, you dwell where Satan dwells.
Same brother. What are you trying to get at?
Here's what I'm trying to get at even in the boundaries of
Satan's headquarters, Souls were being saved.
The Bible was being preached disciples were being made
prayer, meetings were happening. And even martyrs.
Were being produced. That's a that's a statement of
the power of the gospel and I hold that truth.
Very dear to my heart because it shows me that God can raise up a
Remnant, even in the midst of the most hostile and vicious
grounds. You live in Chicago.
Don't you have you lost hope? Have you lost hope for the city?
Are you tempted to leave? Because of the evil?
That is bleeding into the safety of even the suburbs.
Take this truth and hold it dear to your bosom Christ can still
make a Mark here. Even with the reputation that it
has for its violence and forts unbelief and for its immorality,
and Corruption Christ can make a Mark here.
He can raise up a faithful church and not just local
churches. He can raise up, the quality of
Christians, like this man Antipas, who is willing to have
his blood shed, In a place where there was little to no
allegiance to Jesus Christ. And the birth of Christ is often
associated with humility and lowliness.
And that is right. That is not a wrong assessment,
but let us also Rejoice with it. The mightiness of God, he was
born in the days of Herod when there was so much danger looming
and threats Christ came in, in the most vulnerable condition,
you can be in this life and still triumphed, because God was
the one who orchestrated such a plan.
And I find it humorous beyond that listen to this.
So you Herod, who is willing to kill babies and God chooses to
usher in the Messiah at that time.
And more than that, when you have the wise men coming into
Jerusalem, God in his Providence allows heretic, give them the
directions to find them. You realize that?
So you go to Luke to or Matthew to rather verse 8, and we didn't
read that verse. But we read that Herod.
He finds out as you heard where the Messiah was to be born.
He brings in the Magi and it says, in Matthew 28, and he sent
them to Bethlehem. Why is that significant?
Because they made it to Jerusalem but they got lost his
so knocking on doors and asking around.
Hey where's the king of the Jews?
And what a, what a, what a sad spiritual commentary on the
condition of the Jews of that day?
They didn't even know about the king of the Jews here, you have
guys who are Gentiles that are not even in close proximity to
sufficient prophecy. And they come to this place.
Asking the people of God for directions to where the king of
the Jews was born and they didn't know.
And in God's Providence, you have Herod, who hears, the news
brings them in says, you guys want to know where yet he's in
Bethlehem and when you go there tell him and tell me about
rather so that I can come and worship him as well.
So he's not curious. He wants to assassinate the
child. And here's the thing with his
desire and thinking that these are the first steps to
accomplish that God actually through Herod.
James gives the Magi a map. I mean it just the sovereignty
of God is all over this and it reminds me of a Psalm in Psalm
7610. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise you. Have you ever wondered what that
meant? Here's a clear example.
Surely the wrath of man shall Praise You.
In other words, even those who want to fight against the will
of God to try to destroy the message of the Gospel.
In the end, it will come to the praise and glory of God and
that's why the second part of the same verse.
It says the remnant of Wrath you will put on like a belt.
In other words, I'm going to use your wrath against my purposes.
As a tool, you can never escape the sovereignty of God you are
in subject to it whether you want to be or not.
So here's, here's the Messiah now, and we're told that he is
born in the days of Herod. And now the Holy Spirit turns
our attention to this group of men, the Wiseman that you just
heard me referred to in Matthew 22.
They come to Jerusalem, eager hungry longing.
And it says, in verse 2 of Matthew to saying, where is he
who has been born King of the Jews for?
We saw his star when it Rose and have come to worship Him.
Who are these wise men in the Greek?
There known as the Magi. And like many things, the holy
spirit in his wisdom discloses details about them, but it is
believed that they have come from most likely Persia and the
Book of Daniel helps us to know about some of their activity in
their Origins, these Magi who came from the East served as an
Advisory Board to the reigning king of their land.
They were experts in science and math.
They were experts in things like history and even the occult and
they would be referred to from T to either interpret things such
as dreams. We see that and Daniel or even
to predict the future they were they were guides for the
monarchy of their time. Here's the question, why are
they in Jerusalem? Therefore, in their Gentiles,
they serve their own Gods. They have their own plans to
have their own ideas. They have their own things to
deal with. And again, when you go to the
Book of Daniel and makes all the sense, right?
Because for these men that we know come from the East, surely
must have been influenced by Daniel.
In other words, Daniel, who is a high chief official exiled into
Babylon and after different kingdoms came and ruled Daniel
was in position for so long. And it could be that through the
prophecies. He received the same prophecies
that you read in the Book of Daniel were disclosed to these
Magi. And these men who are eager to
learn sat at the feet of this prophet and he revealed to them
of a coming Messiah, a Jewish King, who would save, who would
redeem, who would restore, who would rule the world.
And it's very likely, it's very possible that generation after
generation these Magi, these learned men pass down these
teachings that came from Daniel and it came to a point where
there is this, this boiling anticipation for the Messiah
even among Gentiles. There was this hunger we want to
know this God we want to know this Messiah and the time has
come, the time has come when God Reveals His Supernatural sign to
indicate to this generation of Magi.
He's here. He's here make your way and they
do and these men are intriguing but we don't know much about
them. We don't know their names.
Contrary to the nativity scene that is popular.
There could have been more than three of them.
We don't know the exact origins of where they came from.
But here's what we do know, according to Matthew, if there
is anything that the Holy Spirit wants to highlight, you ready
for this, it's their diligence to worship.
Their diligence to worship. Have you considered it?
The distance that they traveled. If they did come from Persia
they did come from that Babylonian region, we're talking
about Modern Day, Iran, modern day, Iraq.
Hundreds of miles to get to Jerusalem and guess what?
They didn't get on a flight to get there.
You have to understand that this journey included, undeniably
extreme weather conditions. The patients to travel on and
with animals. The danger of Bandits and
robbers on the sides of the road, ready to ransack, and take
their own possessions and even their lives.
If they had to, this was a dangerous track.
This is not easy. This is not convenient.
And yet they come, they come and they make their way to find this
child and to worship Him and add to that the threat of the
destination itself. Because once they do behold this
Divine baby, they are told by God.
God in a dream not to go back to Herod.
So they find a different way to head back home.
Why all the effort? Why leave the comfort of your
home? Why put yourself in danger?
Why make your way to this point? The holy spirit, gives one
reason and one reason alone to worship to worship Him.
I said this last night and it's been in my heart all week, so
I'll say it again, I do not mind repeating myself true worship.
Cost something. True worship.
Includes sacrifice. And if there was anybody who had
an excuse not to make time to worship the living Christ, it
was these men with all their practical hurdles.
But they worshipped because that's where their heart was at.
And strangely if you take your eyes, Off of this verse and you
look out into Christendom today. It breaks my heart to say that
generally costly worship has been replaced with convenient
worship. Convenient worship.
So worship looks nice, like giving God what you are able to
give him as long as it doesn't affect your personal pampering
or your temporal distractions. That was, that was not the case
for these men. Worship was a priority and
everything followed that. and even in a world today, where we
have so much religious freedom, so much comfortable
Transportation so much of a sheltered building and The
warmth of people and the warmth of even a government that allows
us to do, what we want to do, the diligence of worship.
The living Christ has been challenged and is being
challenged more than ever More than ever not by Harrods, not by
Bandits, not by dangerous Journeys, to get to a place
where you can worship and hear the word of God.
No by convenience. By convenience.
I can say more, but I'll stop. These men with their diligence
had dedication. They had dedication and they had
an eagerness verse 2, says one word in the beginning saying
saying, you know what that implies they kept inquiring they
did not give up, they were on a quest to discover.
Where is this King? What a tragedy would have been
if after a few I don't know, is they packed their bags and went
home? But that was not the case with
them. Because their diligence, their
persistence was anchored in something you want to know why,
it was that they were able to stay and remain and fight until
they realize the spiritual treasure one.
Simple thing, it's not a mystery, they had absolute trust
in the revealed word of God to them, Did you notice the
question when they came and asked?
Where is he didn't say? Is it is it actually true that
the king of the Jews is born here?
Is it a thing as we don't know? We're just, we're just curious
nothing of the sort they asked. Where is he?
Who has been born? It was a done reality.
It was, it was a fact to them. They believe that they absorb
that, they heard it and they concrete trusted in it.
And so they said, where is he? We know is here.
And here's the thing, they didn't see.
It didn't realize it, but they believed it.
And if you want to know the fuel to diligence, if you want to
know something of great spiritual success, if you want
to know how to be steadfast in your walk with the cry, it with
the Christ, then you need a complete trust in this world.
That's all you need belief in this word and active, obedience
to this word because you look at these Magi and I see something
else. I see it, tenacious
determination, which is a reminder of how steadfastness is
necessary in order to know spiritual success.
They would have failed that they've given up.
They would have failed. They would have missed out.
There's only one way to know great things in God.
There's only one way to graduate in godliness.
There's only one way to know from testimony to testimony.
That is this, you can't give up. You can't give up whether or not
you see the results now or tomorrow, you cannot afford to
give up. And the thing that will keep you
going is seeing this word and believing the god behind this
word that he does not lie, and he is faithful, and he is true
and he can be counted on. My heart.
My heart, this afternoon bleeds a little bit.
It bleeds a little bit because I I look out and I see little
honor for Christ. Thank God in this church.
There's so much of it but I'm talking about honor, just
serving the lord because he is Lord worshiping him just because
he is worthy to be worshiped being a devoted follower of
Christ. No matter the cost and
prioritizing Your Existence around that truth.
Oh, I long to see greater honor for Jesus Christ.
Oh, that we would see it. Oh, that we would be like these
men who came for what purpose to just Our ship him just to love
him. Just to give him.
What is due unto him? No hidden motives.
No hidden. Agendas.
Not trying to impress anybody. Not trying to get brownie points
with god. Oh just to worship Him.
I pray, you young men. Who will be fathers, who will be
husband's that you would be leaders in this one Pursuit?
I will live to honor Christ and my family will follow my lead to
honor Christ and to honor Christ Alone.
These men convicted me. And the joy and excitement of
the Magi is not the only instructive illustration before
us today. Look at what is said of Herod in
verse 3 in contrast to their attitude and verse 3 of Matthew
2. We read when Herod the king
heard this, he was troubled. He was troubled and all
Jerusalem with him. What an odd reaction, we
celebrate this truth. And here's his men, who is
agitated by this truth, why was Herod so alarmed?
Why was he so Disturbed? What was that?
His intelligence agency revealed to him that caused him to be
this way is very simple. It's not a mystery.
It's not hard to understand. If it is true that there was a
king who has been born. Then there was also born a rival
to the throne. And this man does not like this
news. He was Disturbed not because
there is a group of people who had this simple belief and
prophecy. This man was disturbed because
of the implications of this news on his own life.
It's no different today. It's no different today that
when people hear about the biblical Jesus Christ that it
troubles, many of them. And the reason why I troubles
them is for the same reason that a troubled Herod.
You have many people who hide behind science, Who hide behind
pseudo, philosophy Who hide behind all these strange
arguments. For their spirituality without
lordship. Or even just this cancellation
of the existence of God all together and they're very
passionate about it, the very passion and even angry about
their stance. And it's not because their
worldview is based on evidence. Or because what they have to say
or believe can contribute to human flourishing, the reason
why you have so many who don't have Christ but have a different
God or this disbelief in God, all together is because they
want to remain on the throne of Their Own.
Own lives. And their worldview, protects
that. That's what it is.
It's a simple as that. Yes, you have some who might
struggle with doubt and I'm not talking about those people.
I'm talking about the majority whose know of the truth who have
been exposed to the Divine Design, all around them and yet,
suppress it, why do they suppress it?
Is it because of their smart. Is it because they're persuaded
by something that is more convincing.
For a majority of them it's because like Herod they know
that if this biblical Jesus comes in, they have to get off
the Throne of their will and surrender it to him.
Yes, to accept this more. Jesus is to is to accept the
surrender, a surrender to self-righteousness a surrender
to sin surrender to subjective reasoning and ultimately a
surrender of your soul and you lay it at his feet.
Listen, the entrance of Christ into this world.
Wasn't a meaningless, stunt in history.
The entrance of Christ into this world was in preparation to
enter into the hearts of men. The hearts of men who are
willing to open their hearts and say I have room unlike that in
that had no room, my heart has room.
In fact, here's the title deed of my heart, take all of it.
This is what Christ came to do. And when that gospel is preached
as it is being preached, this afternoon that will either
excite people like these Magi or able trouble Souls like Herod.
So what does Hera do? With this news, about a King 1
verse 4, he gathers the religious leaders, he gathers
the scribes and he gathers, the experts of the law.
And he inquires about the exact location of the birth of the
Messiah. Where is this King supposed to
be born? And it seems Noble but it's the
beginning of an assassination plot.
He wants to hunt down the promised one and to cancel the
promise. And again, I can't help.
I can't help but compare Herod and compare, the wise men, here
you have these men who are willing to go to, Great Lengths
to worship. And here you have this other men
who is doing so much to prepare to go to war with him.
It may sound extreme but it's biblical.
What you see with Herod and what you see with the Magi are really
the two only options that every person has when it comes to the
response to the reality of Christ, only those two.
I know, I know people try to convince themselves of a neutral
Place with Jesus, but that doesn't exist in the economy of
God. There is only two responses and
their Illustrated beautifully through the Magi and through
Herod, you will either live to worship him or you will live.
To resist them and in that declaring war.
Against God. I know you're a blue-collar guy.
I know you just, you just pay your bills and you have a nice
family and you just trying to get along in life, but I want
you to see life through God's lens.
And what God sees, when he looks down on Humanity.
He sees only two categories to class of people, those who are
with me and those who are against me now, surely, there's
something in between, I'm sorry to break it to you.
There is nothing in between that is the spectrum that is the only
options. And you're saying, can you prove
it to me? Yes, I can prove it to you when
this baby became a man. He said something in Matthew 12,
30, he said, whoever is not with me is against me, he said it, I
didn't say it. I'm just the Mailman.
Take take it. Whoever is not with me is
against me and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.
What does that mean? When he says, whoever does not
gather with me scatters it, it means if you don't work for him,
you're working against him. But I'm not it's just it just
nothing, you know my thinking it's not even in my mind,
religion is not my thing. Let people do what they want,
you are against him. Because he is The Sovereign
creator of all things and he has the right to demand from his
creatures. What he wills and what he wants
from you is you What do you want from you out of love brimming.
Love is for you to realize his love and to surrender your
affections to him. And if you don't do that, then
in God's mind your against him. And if you are in that category
of people, if you're not with him, if you're not gathering for
him, if you are in that category where you don't want him and you
are fighting against them, whether, you know, it or not,
whether it's intentional or not, whether it's aggressive or
passive. Regardless, if you are may, I
may I suggest to you on this opportunity that I really have
only one time out of the year. That people come into these kind
of doors just to satisfy the Christmas and Easter conditions
to the religiosity. Do you realize what you're
standing up against? I want you to at least see what
you're standing up against. And what I mean by that is this
is real. This is really real.
This is profoundly real. This this book that I am
declaring to you is Supernatural it.
Vibrates with life and it holds so much power.
Not just in subjective experience button, historical
evidence and even prophetic fulfillment that I want you to
reconsider. Being against him.
So when Herod inquires of where the Messiah is to be born, they
pull out the ancient Scrolls that are actually tucked in
these pages that have been preserved by God and he reads
from the prophet. Micah, that's a book in the
Bible because the Bible is not just one book, it's a library of
books. And one of those books is the
Book of Micah, and this is what they read to Herod.
To give him the exact location of where the Messiah was to be
born. Well, when was this rinse
several hundred years before it happened?
So in verse 5 and 6 of Matthew 2, we read so they told them in
Bethlehem of Judea for. So it is written by the prophet
and you o Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least
among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler.
Who will Shepherd My People Israel?
I want you to fathom. Yeah.
Somebody today today, predicting at some point that a ruler would
come into existence. Think about that, that a ruler
of a specific Nation would come and rule in a specific way.
That's audacious, that's that's crazy.
And yet, this is what this man does.
This is what Mike could does. She predicts with his veiled
understanding? It has been given a precise
amount of information of where it is.
Exactly this king is going to be born.
Now here's what's fascinating about that.
You have a lot of people today who claim to hear from God, and
I was just talking about within Christian talking about and all
different, spheres of life, you have people who pretend to to
tap into to this. Kind of spiritual Channel and to
predict the future and all these things.
Now, you have some crazy people who will set dates and times for
something to be, to be to be done.
And all you have to do is wait for it to come to pass and
realize that it's false, right? But you have other who are
smarter than that and here's what they do.
They make predictions. They'll read your hand or
they'll send you something that you send them some money about
your future, and they're very vague.
And they're very ambiguous and they're very general.
And that's strategic because what they want to do is in case
it doesn't come to pass, they have just a plenty of
explanations to give you of. That's not what they meant.
Or they miss, they misheard you. And so there's a lot of people
out there who are playing that kind of a game who just give you
enough to satisfy your curiosity or to impress you, but not
enough that it can be proven wrong.
The Bible doesn't play that game.
It doesn't. The Bible is bold, very bold.
So bold is the word of God that he will give you details.
Details about events to come and God in Isaiah.
Does that on purpose? So that for the generations that
will come to read this book. Will say there is no God like
this God you just got to take the time to study it.
So so don't go online and look for top-10 atheists.
Arguments against Christian. You're going to come up with
silliness when you with a heart of true desire want to discover
if this book is true Endeavor and set yourself in the place of
humility to understand what it is that this book has to say and
you will be blown away and I'll prove it to you.
Look how specific Micah is. This is just one example.
One of hundreds of prophecies that one man.
Fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we have to read slowly. 46 and you
o Bethlehem in the land of Judah.
Why did he say that? Why did Micah by the Holy
Spirit, say o Bethlehem in the land of Judah, can I tell you
why? Because in Joshua 1915 and a
list of names of cities. When the original group of
Israelites came into the promised land to have Conquest
over the land. And then there was a lot means,
given two different tribes, there is a Bethlehem not in
Judah. There's a Bethlehem in the
region of zebulun. So you have two different
bethlehem's. At least it's like the, the
named Springfield of different areas you have, you have two
different bethlehem's and yet when Micah is inspired by the
Holy Spirit, pending this Prophecy with laser Precision.
We are told Bethlehem, but not just Bethlehem Bethlehem in the
region of Judah. So the holy spirit makes an
effort to cancel any kind of contention or possible
argumentation against the how specific this is.
And this is just one of many, of the things that when you see all
the Prophecies of different men from different eras, different
times in history. All speaking about in concert
the same person. You cannot deny it.
You can't deny the supernatural source of these words.
You know, who couldn't deny it even a man who hated the idea of
a king of the Jews Herod. Harry, had this weird kind of
Faith. He believed in the Bible enough
to discover the whereabouts of the Messiah, but he did not love
the truth and that he submitted to it, he wanted to fight it
still Herod realized that there is a king of the Jew to come and
he wants to find where he is through prophecy.
And here's the sad state of even, even being confronted with
so much evidence like Herod, people will still not worship
Him. they still resistant, they still will take up arms and say
I will not I will not surrender my life to you.
I pray that would not be you this afternoon.
I pray that in this place today that through a weak attempt that
would be something of a softening of your heart to
realize. This is this is this is just
more than just history, this is more than just morals being
presented in a creative way. This is true.
I may not know the extent of it, I may not know all the details
about. I may not be familiar with every
Stitch of it. But something's happening to my
heart. And I'm not here trying to pull
on your emotions. I'm here trying to point you to
a book. A book that is accurate a book
that comes from God, a book that was authored by God.
And so today, my friends, as you prepare to go back home and
change into your pajamas and be with your loved ones.
Have you come to worship Him? Or are you a war with him?
with how this evidence has been provided to you and there's so
much more still Will it cause you to worship Him?
Or will you harden your heart and say I still won't give
myself? Damn, And here's the thing, I am
not convincing you of a tyrant. I am not convincing you to bend
the knee to a bully. This God loves.
And his love is so strong that he warns in his love.
And his love is so powerful that he has to get your attention and
many different ways and sometimes those ways are strong
and they cut but it's all from the place of love.
This Jesus came, not just to prove something of Prophecy
being fulfilled that God can predict the future.
It's more important than that. He came as you heard earlier to
save from sin so that he can save you for himself.
He wants you. Can you imagine that?
This future predicting. All powerful being who can stop
the plans of kings and armies. He wants you.
The only thing standing in the way is your sin, but he made a
way to get rid of that, too. He wants to wash you, cleanse,
you fill you with the Holy Spirit and guarantee and seal
you for eternal life. What must I do?
Then here's the gift of eternal life.
Repent, and believe turn from your sin.
What good is it anyway? It's only hurt you and harmed,
you. It's only kept you in bondage
and defeat. Get rid of it.
And come to the one who created you.
Come to the one who died for you.
Come to the one who will fill you and give you life.
Abundantly come to him. This is the Christmas message.
Christ has come not just into this world but he longs to come
into your life. As he knocks and perhaps he's
knocking. Now, don't ignore it.
Don't turn your back to it, open it swing wide those doors.
Fall on Your Knees and say yes to the lordship and the saving
work of Jesus. Let's pray.
Well, we ask that in this moment as we have been refreshed by the
word. We pray that.
Every soul in this house. Will be set on worshipping you.
Worshipping you. Not necessarily to get anything
from you just because you are worthy of worship, you have done
everything, you can in Jesus Christ and yet as a good father,
you still give good gifts. and so Lord, as we sit here, and as
we are ready to stand, we pray that we would not leave here.
With empty cups. That Lord your word in your
spirit would fill us. So that we would be those who
determined to honor you with our lives.
And Lord for the soul. That is troubled, troubled.
By the news. Of who Jesus is and what he
asked of us. Well, we just pray that you
would eliminate Every Lie from the evil one.
Every deception, every misjudgement misunderstanding of
what it means to follow Christ. And we pray that perhaps this
would be the beginning of a Pursuit Of Truth that will set
free. And so Lord.
Today. We thank you.
We thank you for the admonition. We thank you for the word.
We thank you for the power of the scriptures before us this
afternoon. May it really change Us by your
grace and we worship you now and Thanksgiving for it in Jesus
name. Amen.
Let's stand and Worship the Lord.