1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,560 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:11,680 of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:16,200 Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born of the Jews? 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,280 For we saw his star when it rose, and have come to worship 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,680 him. When Herod the King heard this, 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:27,600 he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him, and assembling all the 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,720 chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,760 where the Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:37,840 Judea. For so it is written by the 10 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,440 prophet. And you, O Bethlehem in the land 11 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:46,080 of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,000 For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people. 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,760 Israel inherit summoned the wise men secretly, and ascertain from 14 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,680 them what time the star had appeared. 15 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,400 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently 16 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:10,480 for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word that I 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,280 too may come and worship him. After listening to the King, 18 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,360 they went on their way, and behold the star that they had 19 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,080 seen when it rose before them, until it came to rest over the 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,480 place where the child was. When they saw the star, they 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,760 rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, And going into the house 22 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,960 they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and 23 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:34,880 worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,880 they they offer him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,760 And being warned in a dream not to return to hear it, they 26 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,640 departed to their own country by another way. 27 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:55,840 This is the word of the Lord. What's going on Port City family 28 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,880 and friends how are we doing? Good, why and pumped to be with 29 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:01,640 you. My name is Tanner, I'm Lee 30 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,400 pastor here. It is a joy to be with you. 31 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,040 We are super excited about next weeks Port City Christmas 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,039 service going to be awesome. Invite a friend, invite a couple 33 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:12,120 friends. You know, people are hungry for 34 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,720 truth. They really are. 35 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,400 And I think some people are really tired of, of the answers 36 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,840 that secularism has to offer them a follow in their own 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,320 heart. And, and we have the answer. 38 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,640 You know, we, we have the answer in Jesus and the worst they 39 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:29,120 could do is say no Amen. So we're excited to celebrate 40 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,160 with you next week. I want to say a quick word of 41 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,960 prayer over this text and then we will dive in. 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,920 OK, let's pray. Our Father, we're so grateful 43 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:38,880 for this moment. We're so grateful for this true 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,000 story. God, that you sent your son, 45 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,280 born of the virgin in our midst, God, and you didn't come on an 46 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,080 extraction mission to get us out, but to bring yourself in to 47 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,880 the mess here with us. We praise you for that Lord, And 48 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,920 we pray over our friends, God, those who you are drawing to 49 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,680 yourself, God, that that we've been evangelizing and, and 50 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,520 sharing the gospel with and inviting to our homes and, and 51 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,480 our just our friends and family. God, we pray they would come and 52 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,120 hear the good news. So give us boldness, give us 53 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,880 confidence that that you are God and you are drawing people to 54 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,040 yourself. Lord, as we turn our attention 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,280 to this text, would you what we know not would you teach us what 56 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,160 we have not Would you give us and what we are not Father God, 57 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,360 please make us and everybody who agreed with that said, Amen. 58 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,400 Y'all being surprised is such a unique experience, isn't it? 59 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:27,800 There's there's a few different types of surprises. 60 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,280 I don't know if you've ever been surprise at like a birthday 61 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:32,760 party. You've been the recipient of 62 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:34,920 that kind of surprise. It's like a good surprise. 63 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,080 You realize what's going on and you're like, yes, OK, there's 64 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,880 another type of surprise where you find out there's a test in 65 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,560 10 minutes and you did not study. 66 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,760 Has that ever happened to you? That's the one where your your 67 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,240 throat gets that frog in it and you're just fearful of what's 68 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,960 about to happen. That's another way that 69 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,400 surprises can happen to you. And then there's the surprise at 70 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,000 like the end of a good movie where the twist comes and you're 71 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,880 like, what? That was this the whole time. 72 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,640 That was him. Y'all with me? 73 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,720 I love that feeling. And here's what's so unique 74 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,040 about Jesus's arrival a couple thousand years ago is it's all 75 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,280 of those at the same time. That makes sense. 76 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,480 Some people are feeling the frog in their throat because they're 77 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:22,360 threatened by his arrival. Some are excited and everybody 78 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,640 who's been paying attention to the story from beginning to end 79 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,400 is like, you mean to tell me that when you said in this, in 80 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,960 that So God is the great storyteller. 81 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,640 Some people are in trouble and some people are excited. 82 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:35,040 OK. And that's what we have in 83 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,480 today's text. And my hope for us is that we 84 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,640 would see Jesus's arrival here today as the greatest surprise 85 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,360 of all time. We would walk out submitted to 86 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,480 him, trusting him, worshipping him. 87 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,680 Amen. To get there we're going to take 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:50,640 a look at 3 surprises in the text. 89 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,000 We got the surprise in Jerusalem, the surprise from the 90 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,560 east and then the surprise in Bethlehem. 91 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,480 If you already let me hear you say I'm ready. 92 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:01,480 All right first surprise surprise number one is that 93 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,120 Herod in Jerusalem are the God squelchers. 94 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,520 And if you're like what is squelching? 95 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,520 Think like snuffing you, you, you squelch the candle. 96 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,000 I don't know if that's technical one of y'all English people can 97 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,240 let me know. But you snuff the candle, you 98 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,120 squelch it. OK, so that's that's what Herod 99 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,960 and Jerusalem try to do to Jesus. 100 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:20,560 Let's check it out. Look with me at verse one. 101 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:26,120 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days 102 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,520 of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to 103 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,080 Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the 104 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,760 Jews? For we saw his star when it rose 105 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,920 and have come to worship him. We'll talk more about the wise 106 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,080 men here in a moment, but for now, just think truth seekers 107 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,400 who stumbled upon a prophecy and saw a star and they came to the 108 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,400 place where that should be known about. 109 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,200 They came to the place, the hub of Jewish life. 110 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,080 And you don't need to think just a few guys rolling up. 111 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,040 They probably had a caravan like a bunch of people rolling up. 112 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,440 So it was enough people that the whole city was stirred up. 113 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,160 They all noticed their arrival. Think like the Aladdin kind of 114 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,280 arrival of Prince Ali. That's kind of the size of 115 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:11,840 caravan rolling up into Jerusalem here. 116 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:17,200 And what's so interesting is that, again, they wanted to come 117 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,760 to Jerusalem because what they knew of the the Jewish story was 118 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,000 like, if anybody knows about what we kind of know, they'll 119 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:25,880 know here. Does that make sense if 120 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,560 Jerusalem to the the Jewish way of life in terms of knowing the 121 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,800 scriptures and all that kind of stuff is kind of the hub of 122 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,000 their culture, the way like a New York City or a Washington DC 123 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,840 is to ours. So they show up there and they 124 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,800 don't find excitement. They don't find a bunch of 125 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,960 people running around talking about what they saw, which is a 126 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,560 little ironic. Look with me at verse 3. 127 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,840 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all 128 00:06:54,920 --> 00:07:00,760 Jerusalem with him. Herod is known for two things in 129 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:02,760 history. The first one is his buildings. 130 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,200 He built a lot of buildings, palaces. 131 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,200 Many of the people in the region were employed by him to build 132 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,120 his palaces. Of course, the biggest one being 133 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,400 his own house. OK, and it stands to this day to 134 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,560 some degree. The second thing he's known for 135 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,960 is his cruelty. He put members of his own family 136 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,680 to death. His his sons, his wife was the 137 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,080 victim of his own cruelty. When he felt threatened, he 138 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,440 flexed. You have this in common with 139 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:32,920 Herod. Maybe you ain't killed nobody. 140 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,840 But we all when we feel threatened, we we, we, we, we 141 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,960 protect, you know, we get we get territorial. 142 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,440 I remember shout out to my millennials and anybody remember 143 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,960 stoop kid from Hey Arnold? Anybody y'all are my people? 144 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,760 OK, Stoop kid never leaves a stoop. 145 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,320 If you got near stoop kid stoop, he would run you off screaming 146 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:53,480 at you. This is my stoop. 147 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,040 Get away from my stoop. But then they all stood up to 148 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,120 him and said stoop kid never leaves a stoop. 149 00:07:58,120 --> 00:07:59,520 And they stood up to him. OK. 150 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:01,600 But there's a little stoop kid in all of us. 151 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,120 If you get near that, which is precious to our identity and we 152 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,720 think it could be taken, we flex, OK. 153 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,920 And that's what Herod does here. But you all, there's no 154 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,640 indication in the text that anyone from Jerusalem is excited 155 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,760 the way the wise men are scholars like, well, maybe 156 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,560 Jerusalem was nervous because if Herod's in a bad mood, that's 157 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,880 bad for them. And I, and I understand that, 158 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,040 but there seems to be an indication there that they're 159 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:28,520 troubled as well. Are you with me? 160 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,000 All Jerusalem with him is troubled by this news. 161 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,360 Look at verse 7. So after finding out from the 162 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,000 the people, then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and 163 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,200 ascertained from them what time the star had appeared and he 164 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,600 sent them to Bethlehem saying, go and search diligently for the 165 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:48,960 child. And when you have found him, 166 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,040 bring me word that I too may come and worship him. 167 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,360 We'll see next week kind of what Herod chooses to do. 168 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,320 And many y'all know that he, he basically goes on a rage and 169 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:04,320 once he's tricked by the wise men later and but what we see is 170 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,200 him attempting to snuff, to squelch, right? 171 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,960 And we see that Jerusalem as well is not leaving to go find 172 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,120 this out. Herod seems to be trying to keep 173 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,400 it on the low a little bit. So maybe if they heard more, 174 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,600 they would. But again, we see that there was 175 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,360 enough evidence for the town to be stored stirred up and they 176 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,440 were not, which is our first Christmas surprise, y'all. 177 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,320 Jerusalem does not move a muscle for the Messiah. 178 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,440 That's just a a staggering sentence. 179 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:38,120 These are the people that have watched every Marvel movie and 180 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:40,800 can tell you every character and how it connects. 181 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,320 Amen to my kids and preteens. They're like, I know that I know 182 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:44,920 all that. I watch till the credits every 183 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,080 time. They know the scriptures. 184 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,280 The chief priests and scribes almost casually can come and 185 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,160 tell him what how this is supposed to go, but they 186 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,280 themselves don't move a muscle. Do you see that this is this is 187 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,400 finding out that a Marvel hero has come and you don't even go, 188 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,280 you stay through the credits. It's it's just not adding up. 189 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,400 We see that at worst, Jerusalem is threatened and at best 190 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:13,200 they're disinterested. They do not move a muscle upon 191 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,520 hearing about the Messiah. You know, this is kind of the 192 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,720 first just shocking thing about the first Christmas is those who 193 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,240 were supposed to be excited by his arrival yawned. 194 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,760 They wanted to keep the status quo. 195 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,320 His his arrival is a threat. If you're a king, another king 196 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,000 showing up as a threat to you, right? 197 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,160 And if you want things to stay the way they are, the 198 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,600 announcement that a Kingdom is being inaugurated threatens you. 199 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,600 It it makes you yawn. Potentially that's the first 200 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,040 surprise we see in Jerusalem. But there's another surprise in 201 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,680 the text, which is that the wise men from the east are the God 202 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:53,800 seekers. So if Jerusalem squelches this 203 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,320 news, the the men from the east are the ones stirring it up. 204 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,240 Look with me again at verses 1 and 2. 205 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,120 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days 206 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,160 of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to 207 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,640 Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the 208 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,240 Jews? For we saw his star when it 209 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,640 rose, and have come to worship him. 210 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:23,080 OK, somebody say wise men. OK, maybe culturally you've 211 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,040 heard the phrase 3 Kings. There's a there's an old song, 212 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,480 We 3 Kings, right? There's a cool Kirk Franklin 213 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,160 version of it that's got a little beat to it. 214 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,080 Just to put the facts straight. They are not kings and there's 215 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,760 not three of them that we know. OK, where that comes from is the 216 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,040 three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. 217 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,200 It just kind of became, well, maybe one of them, one gift, one 218 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:45,800 person. So that's where three got in the 219 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,160 imagination a little bit. The concept of king comes from 220 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,560 Psalm 72. There's this imagery of kings 221 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,960 coming from the nations and coming and falling down before a 222 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,440 kingly figure, this almost Messiah type figure, which fits 223 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,560 what's happening here. But that doesn't mean that 224 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,680 they're kings. And in First Kings 10, you might 225 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:08,680 remember the story of the Queen of Sheba hearing about Solomon's 226 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,480 wisdom. And she goes and gets a bunch of 227 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,880 gold and spices and shows up to hear about his wisdom and then 228 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,280 worships him for what she finds. So there's a lot of parallels in 229 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,520 the Old Testament imagination that fit kings coming and 230 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,360 worshiping, but that doesn't mean it was 3 and it doesn't 231 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:25,560 mean they were kings. Are you with me? 232 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:28,480 Even though I love the movies and that song is really good by 233 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:29,400 Kirk Franklin. OK. 234 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:36,880 But basically these wise men are astrologist priest type people. 235 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,240 They are truth seekers. They're they're priests. 236 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,400 They're, they're just kind of like astrology, like think Tara 237 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,840 cards like that sort of headspace is their headspace. 238 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,120 OK. And they hear some kind of way 239 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,720 through the Jewish story about Numbers 24 and a prophecy about 240 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,200 a star. You can go back and read the, 241 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:00,080 the, the Baylock Balaam stuff in numbers 24 is fascinating. 242 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,360 And that's where the prophecy of the star comes from. 243 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:06,120 And they somehow had heard something about that and saw the 244 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,560 star connected some dots show up in Jerusalem. 245 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,720 Are y'all with me? That's about what we can 246 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,640 actually know. All the other stuff is a little 247 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,440 bit conjecture, but it is a surprise that the people leading 248 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,960 the charge to go meet the arrival of Messiah are from the 249 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:26,320 East. Somebody say East, the East in 250 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,400 the Bible is a place that is distant from the Lord. 251 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,600 OK, When Adam and Eve fall and are kicked out of the garden, 252 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,520 they have two sons, Cain and Abel. 253 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:40,520 OK, And when Cain kills Abel, what the Bible says is that part 254 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,200 of Cain's curse, it says is he sent from the presence of the 255 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,320 Lord to the East, OK. And there's a famous book by a 256 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,720 dude named John Steinbeck in the 20th century called East of 257 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,400 Eden. OK, he's picking up on the 258 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:57,720 further E you go in the Bibles way of thinking you're going 259 00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,280 distance from the Lorde presence. 260 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,280 So it's a metaphor with literal implications. 261 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,760 Are you with me? So for people to be coming from 262 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,920 the East towards the Lord is sort of a big deal. 263 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,800 What it means is that those who were furthest from the Lord are 264 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,560 first in line to meet Messiah. Are y'all tracking with me? 265 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,320 What's happening in front of us is a reversal. 266 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,920 If the east was furthest, now look, E is first in line. 267 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:25,960 Are y'all seeing that they were last? 268 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,360 Now they're first, right? Are y'all tracking? 269 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,720 So what Matthew is giving us a picture of is the first people 270 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,040 ready to worship the newborn king are not Jews. 271 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,480 They are gentiles, they're not from Jerusalem, they're from the 272 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:42,360 east. Are y'all with me? 273 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:47,840 This is a surprise. The first one showing up aren't 274 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:52,080 the scripture memorizers, it's the stargazers, the weirdos, the 275 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,160 tarot card holders are in line to meet Jesus and the ones with 276 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,440 the scripture memorizer, like he over there I guess. 277 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,520 Let us know though. Sounds fun and don't move. 278 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,320 I mean, just think about that. It's so backwards of what you 279 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,360 would think, which leads me to ask the question to the port 280 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,800 city family here who might come to faith that you think is an 281 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,320 astrologist weirdo kind of end of the spectrum is out in the 282 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,600 East. I think we tend to think if 283 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,920 they're in Jerusalem, they're coming close to coming to the 284 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:24,720 Lord. Are you with me? 285 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,520 We think if they grew up in this, if they know this, we 286 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,400 think if there's some values there, if they like this, if 287 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,480 they like that, if they listen to this podcast, they're really 288 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,960 close. Y'all just I understand that and 289 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,040 my flesh does the same thing. But what we see in the 290 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,320 scriptures is the people who are on the bottom and have no 291 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,080 anchors of worldview are coming to faith like crazy, explosion 292 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,840 of grace. They hear the message, they hear 293 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,200 the story and they're like what? Let me get a piece of that. 294 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,320 And ironically, the people with the building blocks of values 295 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,760 and stuff are very protective over what they have and they 296 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,960 don't want to change it. They'll take the system and 297 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,120 leave the Savior. Does that make sense? 298 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,240 So let's just dream about who God might save and who that 299 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,280 might even impact you to invite this week or share the good news 300 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,480 of Christmas with even the people you think are too far 301 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:15,960 gone. Share the gospel with people. 302 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,320 God is drawing people like the wise men to himself. 303 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,720 And if you are here right now and you have sort of a tarot 304 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,840 card background, what I hope you feel encouraged about is those 305 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:31,280 who have no proximity of the Lord and their background are 306 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,680 not disqualified from access to the King. 307 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,560 There is no amount of Scripture memory you need to get before 308 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,400 you get in His presence. It's once you understand the 309 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,360 story, once you understand the things we're talking about in 310 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,280 the gospel and you agree with God, y'all, that's the path. 311 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,240 It's the poor in spirit the Lord is looking for, not just those 312 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,280 who have a lot of knowledge stored up. 313 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,920 Let's look at verse 10. Let's look at verse 10. 314 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,880 When they, the wise men, saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly 315 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,160 with great joy. And going into the house they 316 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:11,560 saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and 317 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,359 worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, 318 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,800 they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 319 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,560 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they 320 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,720 departed to their own country by another way. 321 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:29,040 We see here their response of joy and worship. 322 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,000 Some of the elements of this text. 323 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,640 We'll talk about more next week as we build on it with the end 324 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,120 of the chapter. But for now, we see that worship 325 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,440 is a response. You see that they already have 326 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,520 joy and they're worshipping Jesus for who he is. 327 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,400 So they know enough already to be worshipping Jesus. 328 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,480 So the question is, what did they know, right? 329 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,440 Some of the hint was the fact that they're from the East and 330 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,720 still feel qualified, feel worthy. 331 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,800 At some level they feel like this king would allow me in 332 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,520 their presence. That's because they understand 333 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,360 at some level the Old Testament story, you know, God's plan was 334 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,160 always to bless all the nations through the chosen people of 335 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,280 God. Through you, all nations on 336 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,000 earth will be blessed. He told Abraham the goal was 337 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,480 through the One to get to the many, and in this text we see 338 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,760 the many coming to the One. Do you see that? 339 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,840 What they knew about Yahweh, what they knew about the Old 340 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:27,040 Testament story, was that this God wants to be known. 341 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,880 And you don't have to be pure to know Him. 342 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,120 He purifies you so you can know Him. 343 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,800 They're showing up there Doesn't mean they have confidence in 344 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,960 their own morality. It means they're confident that 345 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,240 He is willing to have them in His presence. 346 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,920 Are you with me? They understood enough about 347 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,040 that, which leads us to an important thing we need to point 348 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,640 out in our in our cultural moment. 349 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,560 Y'all truth and sincerity matter. 350 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:59,400 Let let me explain the men, the wise men were still their 351 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,840 personality and all that stuff and probably sincerely believed 352 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:04,880 their astrology stuff that was wrong. 353 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,480 I think in our culture we worship and idolize sincerity. 354 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,720 As long as you're sincere about what you worship, it doesn't 355 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,440 matter what you worship. Just be sincere about it y'all. 356 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,560 The object of your worship matters. 357 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,440 You can be sincerely wrong. Are you with me? 358 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,720 So like, we can't worship sincerity of you, do you? 359 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,960 As long as you're authentically worshiping what you want to 360 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,200 worship, do you? That's not true, y'all. 361 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,120 They are to be emulated because the object of their faith is 362 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,760 correct, not just because they worship well. 363 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,520 Does that make sense? It don't matter if you bring 364 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,560 gold and frankincense and myrrh to a fake God that don't exist. 365 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,040 Are you with me? So they both matter. 366 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,480 And what they're pointing out through their worship is to be 367 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:55,320 contrasted with Herod. Herod was troubled by the news. 368 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,640 They were overjoyed. Herod did not move. 369 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,320 They moved hundreds of miles. They gave up their life. 370 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,760 Herod kept his y'all. Which again, just points out 371 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,120 something to us that we really need to wrap our minds around. 372 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,320 Y'all check this? Do we see that God's love is 373 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,840 free and cost you everything at the same time? 374 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,000 Let me explain this because we can get confused by what 375 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,280 unconditional love means. Y'all, the conditions of you to 376 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,040 be loved are met by God. That's what unconditional love 377 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:30,440 means. It means He meets the 378 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,240 conditions. Therefore you don't have to 379 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,040 bring any with me. That's what the cross is about. 380 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,280 That's what Him spilling His blood for you is about. 381 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,800 He is meeting the conditions for you to be in the presence of 382 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,160 God. The conditions for Jesus to be 383 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,360 worshipped for both parties was met Jerusalem and the East, but 384 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:51,000 only the East showed up. So unconditional doesn't mean 385 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,920 you get access to it even if you don't do anything. 386 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,120 Are you with me? The people from the East, the 387 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:00,360 wise men gave up everything to get that which was free. 388 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,000 But you don't get that which is free if you don't move in the 389 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:04,880 text. Are you with me? 390 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,360 Jerusalem had access and did not take advantage. 391 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,480 Are you with me? We can hear unconditional love 392 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,680 and think that means you don't got to do nothing. 393 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,360 That's not true. When is that ever true? 394 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,800 The way I would say it like this, you should give up 395 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,720 everything to get God's free gift. 396 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,960 The gift is free, but it costs you everything. 397 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,480 It's still unconditional. Are you with me? 398 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,640 We just confuse what that means. You have to go get it. 399 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,440 The wise men went to Jesus. Jerusalem did not move a muscle. 400 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,680 It was free to Jerusalem. They didn't want it. 401 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,560 Are you with me? So we must go to God this 402 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,120 Christmas. I just want to ask some of us, I 403 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:53,160 think what we want is a feeling, a disembodied, nostalgic, 404 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,760 unconditional love feeling. And y'all, when that's what you 405 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,800 want, and a lot of times the Christmas season, that's the 406 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,120 package, that somehow you just get it by eating a meal with 407 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,200 your family, that's that. Yeah, nostalgia is a great gift 408 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,560 that can point to some good things. 409 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:15,520 But yo, go get God. Don't settle for a feeling. 410 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:20,080 Go to the person, the Savior, Messiah, the chosen one. 411 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:26,280 Copy The wise men seek Jesus. Don't just chase a feeling. 412 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,200 There's an old little hemline that says nothing in my hands. 413 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,960 I bring simply to the cross. I cling. 414 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,200 The idea is God only fills empty hands. 415 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,280 If you want the Lord, you do have to empty that which you're 416 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,600 holding. The wise man gave up everything 417 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:47,400 and got Jesus. Jerusalem knew something, did 418 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,080 not want it, didn't change nothing. 419 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,040 The Bible teaches that if you want to gain your life, you got 420 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:54,760 to lose it. And if you try to keep your 421 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,120 life, you'll lose it. It's it's upside down and it's 422 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,920 backwards. That's the second Christmas. 423 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:07,400 Surprise, surprise #3 Jesus is the shepherd king. 424 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,400 Jesus is the shepherd king. Verse two said this. 425 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,880 Where is he who has been born? King of the Jews? 426 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,600 Somebody say born kiddos. I love y'all y'all, y'all with 427 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,480 me y'all. What's y'all's favorite 428 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,000 Christmas movie that's come out in the last few years that's 429 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:28,440 animated? Got a donkey in it. 430 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:31,200 Thank you. It's the star. 431 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,480 OK, Love that movie. But I do want to point something 432 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,600 out. This is hard, y'all. 433 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,000 Jesus was not an infant when the wise men showed up. 434 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:40,520 OK? So there's some good things that 435 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,120 movie do does. OK. 436 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,000 But when the wise men show up, Jesus is already a child. 437 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,360 You see the word child in there? He's not a baby. 438 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:49,480 OK, let me explain something to you. 439 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,400 They probably got there when Jesus was like, he's not infant, 440 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,000 he might be baby, he's pushing toddler. 441 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,320 Are you with me? It's like he was already born, 442 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,440 saw star and then it LED them there. 443 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,560 OK, but this is a months long journey. 444 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,720 They did not show up as Jesus is being born. 445 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,320 Are you with me? I love that movie by the way. 446 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,640 And the older you get kiddos, you'll notice more things like 447 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:15,080 oh, the sheep is Ruth and Bo is short for Boaz Ruth the boy. 448 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,960 You'll just start noticing the layers. 449 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,360 Somebody loved Jesus on that, on that crew. 450 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:21,400 We don't know if all of them did. 451 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:22,480 They're trying to make some money. 452 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:27,080 Amen, somebody. But yeah, they show up to a kid, 453 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,160 but the kid has been born king of the Jews. 454 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,960 OK, so that's a threat to Herod because Herod was made king of 455 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:35,680 the Jews. OK. 456 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:40,600 The Romans put him in place. He's their puppet to administer 457 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,480 what they want done. Jesus is born a king, y'all. 458 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,800 This points to the doctrine of the incarnation. 459 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:52,640 What the Scriptures teach is that Jesus is the eternal Son of 460 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,440 God coming into the story of God's people. 461 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,480 He is born under the Virgin Mary, born under the Law. 462 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,520 He lived a life like us. He is fulfilling the story of 463 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,240 Israel. As we'll talk about more next 464 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,520 week. He is the fulfillment of that. 465 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,800 He's also God. He is the God man. 466 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,440 He is worshipped for who he is in this text. 467 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,200 Not yet what he's done. Y'all see that one day he would 468 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,200 do a lot to be worshipped for, but the start of his life is 469 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,920 worship just for who he is because he's God. 470 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,320 You worship God in the first title given to him by somebody 471 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,920 else in the book of Matthew is king of the Jews by some wise 472 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,840 men from the east. And it's interesting because in 473 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,000 Matthew 2737 you can write that one down. 474 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,000 Many of you know that Pilate, what he writes on the cross 475 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,000 above Jesus is what king of the Jews. 476 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,520 So think about the first use of that phrase and the last use of 477 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,120 that phrase. First use some dudes from the 478 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,680 East looking at some stars. Last use a Roman political 479 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:56,680 figure who didn't know how true what he was writing. 480 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:01,080 OK, Jesus was the king born to defeat death. 481 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,120 He's called it when he's born. He's called it at his death. 482 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,760 And the irony is that he was born that man no more may die. 483 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,320 Y'all with me? They don't know how right they 484 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,440 were. So this Jesus is a king born to 485 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,080 defeat death. And it's in Bethlehem. 486 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,280 Look with me at verse 5. They told him in Bethlehem of 487 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:23,960 Judea. For so it is written by the 488 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,440 prophet. And you, O Bethlehem in the land 489 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,120 of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, For 490 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:34,920 from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. 491 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,400 Y'all, we're really excited. This is a Micah chapter 5 492 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,680 reference mixed with some Second Samuel 5. 493 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,080 It's a kind of a double pot reference, you know, mix it in 494 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,360 the pot a little bit. In the new year, mid January, 495 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,280 we're going to start a series called 12 Prophets. 496 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,720 We're going to hit a prophet every week. 497 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,680 I'm so excited to dive more into the context of the prophets, how 498 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,200 it ties to the New Testament. It's going to be dope. 499 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,760 Hope you're with us for now. What you need to know is that in 500 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,120 the prophets, things are not going well, OK, for the people 501 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,840 of God, and it's their own fault, their own sin, OK? 502 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,920 And these type prophecies like this one is a moment of comfort 503 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,760 in a backdrop of pain brought about by themselves and by 504 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,400 wicked outsiders. And he's telling the people, but 505 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,960 don't worry, something's coming. Someone is coming, OK? 506 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:28,000 And what he's saying is coming is a shepherd, which is pulling 507 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,320 in a reference from Second Samuel 5 where King David is 508 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,880 being made king of Israel. And they say you will, you will 509 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,000 be God, shepherd of us. You will rule us. 510 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,880 And here's what the prophets, the David, the link, Here's the 511 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,680 link. OK Jesus kings us by shepherding 512 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,280 us. He shepherds us by kinging us. 513 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,480 Are you with me? He rules us by caring for us. 514 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,360 He cares for us by ruling us. It should comfort us that he's 515 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,760 king. We are comforted by his 516 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:57,600 kingship. And his kingship feels like 517 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,120 being shepherded. Are you with me? 518 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,600 In contrast to a ruler, a king like Herod, who uses you to 519 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,840 build his buildings, he's going to send somebody who is going to 520 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:15,600 rule you like a shepherd. So ask it like this. 521 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,520 What were the wise men coming to worship Jesus for? 522 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,000 They are praising their shepherd. 523 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,520 They have found the King who wants to shepherd them. 524 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,480 Are you with me? To worship Jesus is to submit to 525 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,040 his reign and ask him to shepherd you. 526 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:41,320 What the Bible presents is that God longs to rule over a people. 527 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,360 The problem is nobody wants to be ruled by the Lord and our 528 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:50,480 sin, so in the person of Jesus we have the person who is 529 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,640 purchasing the people and ruling them at the same time. 530 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:58,040 Because Jesus is both sheep and shepherd, that's what makes him 531 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,160 so unique. Isaiah 53 talks about how he was 532 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:03,040 the sheep led to the like a lamb. 533 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,680 He was led to the slaughter. What the scriptures point to is 534 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:11,400 a God man, a Messiah who would step into our story as a sheep, 535 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,280 like live a sheep life, be a lamb and show us the way. 536 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,040 Be the one led by God. He's a baby, He has parents, He 537 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,280 poops, he needs things, OK, he submits. 538 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:27,200 So he lived the sheep life and that's what makes him authorized 539 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,720 once defeating death. He is the Good Shepherd, John 540 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,360 10, who lays his life down for the sheep. 541 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,520 So he is both sheep and shepherd. 542 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,040 He has defeated death. That's what he did on the cross 543 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,240 was he conquered sin and death in Satan so that he could 544 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,240 shepherd us. You know, what shepherds do is 545 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,560 they keep you safe. What shepherds do is they move 546 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,200 you when the grass is running out. 547 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,600 They do some calculations. They're like, let's get a fake 548 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,880 fake. You know, one of the ways that 549 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,120 they lead you right is they have to make you fearful of danger, 550 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,800 which is fake danger, to get you to move somewhere safe or we're 551 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:05,640 so dumb we would never move. Did you know that? 552 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:11,120 OK, So what a shepherd will do is stir you up in a Safeway, 553 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,640 make you scared to move you, or you would never move. 554 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:14,880 You would stay there till you die. 555 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,000 You'd stay in the pasture with no grass. 556 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,600 You know that, right? So they got to stir you up and 557 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,800 move you over by the waters. But we wouldn't want to move. 558 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,520 He moves you. He keeps you safe. 559 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,440 He sustains you. He looks out for you. 560 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,280 Y'all, God wants to be a shepherd. 561 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,720 We need a shepherd. We want a shepherd, y'all. 562 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,080 Here's the one application for y'all today, OK? 563 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,360 Seek Jesus Christ the Shepherd, King of the world, with all of 564 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,600 your heart. Seek Jesus, the Shepherd of your 565 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:43,800 soul. Seek him. 566 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,600 I want to hear somebody say I'm a sheep. 567 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,160 That is a fact. If you said it, If you didn't, I 568 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,320 hope you thought it. Listen, to be human is to be 569 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,560 sheep. To be sheep is to have a 570 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:57,360 shepherd. Here's what you need to hear. 571 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,120 You have a shepherd right now. It might not be Jesus. 572 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,960 You are a sheep. You have a shepherd. 573 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,120 And what we say to our shepherd in our souls consciously, 574 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:15,520 subconsciously is keep me safe, protect me, help me, lead me, do 575 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,040 for me what I can't do for myself because I know my you got 576 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:19,680 to help me get over to the green pasture. 577 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:24,840 And so let me tell you this, to be a Sinner isn't just to make 578 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,760 mistakes and break God's laws, which it is. 579 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,120 You have cosigned your own false shepherds. 580 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,920 Think about that. You have asked somebody other 581 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,840 than the Lord in your sin. You have signed the dotted line 582 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,920 of shepherd me to something that can't. 583 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,600 You've asked a relationship to shepherd you money to shepherd 584 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,800 you comfort. We have asked anything, anybody 585 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,520 other than the one true shepherd to make us safe. 586 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,440 And it can't. What's so convicting at the 587 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:58,280 Christmas season is much of the pain we find ourselves in and 588 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,760 y'all some of it is from the outside and it's other people's 589 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,040 failures and I get that. But a lot of it is self induced 590 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,720 because we signed on the dotted line of the wrong shepherds 591 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,600 where peacekeeper like we we've wanted to keep the peace will 592 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,560 make us happy. Just all of the ways that we've 593 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,200 signed anything but the Lord has LED us to a place where there's 594 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:20,400 pain and y'all bad shepherds are like Herod, they are using you. 595 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,400 Ultimately the one pulling the string back there theologically 596 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,440 is sort of kind of Satan using you. 597 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,000 Herod, His legacy was his buildings. 598 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,760 Herod's legacy is what you did for him. 599 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,920 Jesus's legacy was his blood. There is no building. 600 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,480 He built where we go. And you know, that's what's so 601 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,200 amazing about the gospel is Jesus just came to serve, not to 602 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,080 be served. So I want to give some of y'all 603 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:51,080 permission this Christmas, y'all to come to Christ is first you 604 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,200 have to agree with God that it's your own fault. 605 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,520 You've signed on the dotted line for the wrong shepherds. 606 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,160 He wants to be your shepherd. But first you got to fire the 607 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,880 wrong ones. And the person you've trusted 608 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,840 most, a shepherd you, is you. And you got to give up on that. 609 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,240 You've got to let go of the right to rule your life and 610 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,760 agree with God that you need a shepherd. 611 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,200 And Jesus is unique. He is the sheep shepherd combo. 612 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,360 He is 1 God. He is man, He is one person and 613 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,440 two natures. He's the eternal Son of God. 614 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:24,600 And he is authorized to shepherd you. 615 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,440 He knows what's best for you. He spilt his blood for you. 616 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,960 So that's the question for you this Christmas is are you 617 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,720 squelching King Jesus or are you seeking him? 618 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,520 Somebody say seek. And in light of this text with 619 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,080 dreams and stuff, you're like, what does that mean? 620 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,280 OK, which reminds it is you don't need a dream to seek 621 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:47,360 Jesus. OK. 622 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,040 You know the Scriptures teach in the book of Hebrews that at one 623 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:52,600 time the Lord LED us through prophets. 624 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,720 He led us through the Old Testament story, through 625 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,960 prophets. But in these last days He has 626 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,920 spoken to us by His Son. Let me tell you what that means. 627 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:06,120 You seek Jesus by submitting to Jesus. 628 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,719 You seek by submitting to what's been revealed about Him. 629 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,679 Think about it. They heard news and they trusted 630 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:15,440 it and followed it. OK, The news we've heard is 631 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,520 clear. We've heard the news that crisis 632 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:18,840 came. We've heard the news that he 633 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:20,840 came to shepherd us. We've heard the news that we're 634 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:23,239 a sheep. So at a real basic level, it 635 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,520 means to agree with that and then submit to it means to agree 636 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:28,679 I'm a sheep. I agree I need a shepherd. 637 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:30,440 I agree he is the shepherd and I'm not. 638 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:33,920 I agree that I want to be shepherded by him and stop 639 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,760 shepherding myself. I want to be that sheep. 640 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,639 And you probably know more and those 10 sentences I just said 641 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:41,840 then the wise men knew when they came to worship Jesus. 642 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:46,600 OK, So to seek Jesus is to agree with him and submit to him. 643 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,719 And for some of y'all, I'm praying for the first time in 644 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:55,280 your life this Christmas season, you will submit to Jesus, agree 645 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,560 with him. And for the faith family in 646 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:03,560 here, the church, the people of God, y'all, I alluded to it. 647 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,080 We just got to trust our shepherd. 648 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,360 And sometimes wolves are stirring us up and sometimes 649 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,600 he's stirring us up. But when he's moving us, he has 650 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,040 his reasons and intentions and he sees the whole, He sees it, 651 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,480 OK? Psalm 23 is one of the most 652 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,200 famous psalms of all time for a reason. 653 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:22,280 We just have to get to where the Lord is. 654 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,640 My shepherd I shall not want. There's just such trust in being 655 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:27,960 held by him. Such trust. 656 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:29,160 You are a better shepherd than me. 657 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,400 OK, so some of y'all repentance is again firing yourself from 658 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,440 being the shepherd. It's laying down the right to 659 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,240 say you've got it figured out more than him. 660 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,440 That doesn't mean you can't be sad at how it's going upset. 661 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,040 You need to mourn some things this Christmas. 662 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,360 That's OK. You need to weep some things. 663 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,360 But there is a line where it's just God. 664 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,840 You are shepherd. I am sheep. 665 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,440 I trust you, so the invitation to you this Christmas is just 666 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,320 once again. Remember, He's got your best 667 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,640 interest at heart. Goodness and mercy are following 668 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,120 you right now, even if your life feels like chaos. 669 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:08,480 OK Savior, like a shepherd. Lead us much. 670 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,840 We need Thy tender care In Thy pleasant pastures. 671 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,960 Feed us for our use. Thy folds prepare. 672 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,240 Let's pray. Our Father, we love you. 673 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:22,480 Thank you for the Christmas story. 674 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,400 It is so surprising. It is so backwards of how we 675 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,520 would write it up. It is so opposite of what we 676 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,880 would think we would read. But God, this is who you are. 677 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:32,200 Your drawing goes on the outside to yourself. 678 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,480 God, I pray even in our great city you would draw some far 679 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,080 from you who have no idea that they're going to come to Christ 680 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:40,880 this Christmas during 2026. Draw them to yourself. 681 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,600 Lord, send us out in boldness to declare your goodness. 682 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,760 And would we, your church, be the first ones to say you are a 683 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:52,120 Good Shepherd and we trust you. We love you. 684 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,480 Doesn't mean we love everything about our lives or always 685 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,560 understand every intricate detail, but we are just joyfully 686 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,200 submitted, worshipfully submitted to you being our 687 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,160 shepherd, and we will gladly be your sheep. 688 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,840 And I pray for my friends under the sound of my voice who don't 689 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,760 know you. God, may you help them lovingly 690 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,040 to see God that they are asking Herod's to rule them. 691 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,720 And God, you want to be a better king to them than they are to 692 00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:18,800 themselves. So Father, do this for your 693 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:20,520 glory. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.