Brother Gary Sunday Morning 12/15/13

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 12/15/13

Mat 2:1  Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Mat 2:2  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Jesus was born in a very dangerous time in history.  I don’t know all about Herod but from the study I did I found that Herod was a very self serving, cruel, and wicked man.  He had Herod’s temple built so that he would be able to get a hold of the manuscripts and genealogies and so that he could have control of them.   He wanted to make sure there was not a new king, the messiah, come on board while he was reigning.

He proclaimed a terrible decree that the babies be killed.  Yet when he crossed the road to Bethlehem again he did not have a change of heart in realizing that instead of desiring to destroy this king he should desire to have this king as his ‘king with the heart of a shepherd’.

Herod died not long after issuing the decree that these children be killed.  Can you imagine being in eternity with such regret.  He did not live long, fifty to fifty-five years.  He built a big empire and then left it all.

The wise men came seeking a messiah.  I wish I would have kept a journal since my first Sunday school class.  Those precious ladies, and my dear mother taught me.  It did not matter where my father was working or how many children were to be there, my mother taught vacation bible school every year of my childhood. 

When I thought I was old enough to speak up, my mother said, “School gets out Wednesday and we start vacation bible school Monday.  I asked her who the students would be.  She said, They are you and your sister Joann.  The lessons start at ten and go to twelve.” 

Thank God for a mother that was fearless and all those that helped me to know about Jesus.  May God help me to do some things to help precious children know about Jesus.

The wise men came seeking the Messiah.  There have been many wise men, even before this recording in Matthew, that sought after God. 

Sometimes people wonder if there is anyone besides themselves seeking after God.  The first that I recollected and wrote down is Adam’s grandson sought after God. 

Gen 4:26  And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

We love to read of the account of Noah, how he built a huge ark and worked for 100 years.  Noah found grace in the eyes of the lord.

When God said …, it is awesome when God speaks His word to us.  Psalms 27 I have read this psalm many times every year.  This time it came out in bold type.  When God said, “Seek ye my face:” 

Psa 27:8  When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Not just on an occasion, not just when your path crossed the road that leads to Bethlehem.  Like in the situation that we were faced with last week, God has spoken to every one of us and said, “Seek ye my face.” 

It is vital that we seek His face early on in the decision making process.  I wish I was smart enough to grasp how God prepares our hearts and souls.  My mind says this or that, the commentaries say this or that, but there is a still small voice speaking, “Seek ye my face.” 

David said, “My heart said, ‘Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”

For each age group in this audience, you don’t have to be old to seek the face of God. 

You and I know that David was anointed to be King when he was just a teenager.  Some think that he was not quite a teenager.  God spoke to me I know in my teenage years.  He will speak to everyone in this audience that are teenagers.  He will not only speak to them, He will speak to all in this audience.

We love how God brought us into a position where we began to seek after God.  There is such an advantage to seeking after God.

Malachi could see clear down past the birth of Christ and he prophesied 450 years before Jesus was born, “The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” 

We are the temple of God.  A building does not house God.  He dwells in hearts of men and women that have sought Him.  He is here if you bring Him. 

Hag 2:7  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

We are born with a certain fragrance, a certain part of us hungers after God.  Herod had this too but he wanted to serve himself more than look for the messiah, “I want him as my redeemer.”

Num 24:17  I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

There would be a star to lead them.

It is a marvelous thing this morning.  God has a way of leading us if we have a desire to be led by Him.

The wise men inquired in Jerusalem.  It is marvelous that God chose to let Herod know that these wise men were in route to Bethlehem.  They came from the east and went into Jerusalem to the very place that there was a king that already had plans to destroy the messiah when he came.  What Herod did not know is that God has a way of preserving His own.

You may be in this audience this morning in a difficult place in your life.  If you look to any other resource than God, you will be the looser.  If you go to Isaiah 31 and read through that chapter, you will find, “The lord passing over will preserve, deliver, and protect.”

Less than 10 miles away from this little baby was a king with armies.  He had chariots with scythes.  They were drawn by horses with blades that went out to the side built to mow people down.  Jesus came with a mission to fulfill.  Herod in all of His planning, preparation, and getting ready was not able to destroy the Messiah because God had sent His only begotten son into the world as His plan of salvation.

Mat 2:3  When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Mat 2:4  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

Herod knew about the Messiah.  As wicked as he was, as mean, as ugly, and as destructive as he was, he knew about Jesus.

May God challenge me, may God challenge everyone of us here this morning that in our knowing that Jesus has come, that we will not allow anything to keep you and me from having the full benefit of the prophesied messiah that has come.

Mat 2:5  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

Mat 2:6  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

In the Greek this word, governor, means a king with a heart of a shepherd.  We are so blessed to know Him and to have crowned Him king of our heart.  He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

I am a blessed man because I crossed the road to Bethlehem and realized that I needed a savior.  Because of the mercies of God I obeyed what the bible teaches and confessed, turned, and repented of my sins and was forgiven.

That road that lead to Calvary where Jesus shed His life’s blood so that not only could I be cleansed from my sin but the price was paid that we could die to self and have Jesus as the governor of our life. 

I would have made a terrible mess of my life.  I would have been a drunk, but oh, I crossed the road that led to Calvary and what it means.  I am so glad and so thankful to have him as the governor. 

You say, “I am my own man or woman.”  I don’t know what commentary you are writing, but if you study the scripture, “To whom you yield yourself servant to his servant you are.”

We are blessed this morning to have a governor of our life that is a king with the heart of a shepherd.

Mat 2:7  Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

Mat 2:8  And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

Mat 2:9  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

Mat 2:10  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Mat 2:11  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

The wise men came to the house.  They were there to see Jesus. They worshipped Him.  Every one of us needs to worship Him.  We need to bring our lives into subjection, control, and humble our heart and worship Him.

They bowed before Him and brought three gifts:  gold that was designed to make the provisions for all his material needs for whatever duration.  Frankincense is the gift to kings.  The myrrh represents that the earthly journey would end in death.

The wise men and others before chose to follow.  We were created to seek God.  We were designed to find God.  These wise men and all wise men have a deep longing to give something to God. 

After we have known God, there is something in us that desires, “God I want to give unto you.”  We have nothing to give but what we have received.  The greatest gift is to worship Him.

The journey of the wise men to worship the Messiah:  Everyone of us crosses the road that leads to Bethlehem.  We begin crossing that road that leads to Bethlehem young if we have been raised in church and Sunday school. 

We have seen those that are 80 or 90 years old that come across that road.  You will not find Jesus in the manger this morning.  There is a road that leads you to find he whose very name means, that he would save His people from their sin.

Sin is a common denominator to all that have reached the age of accountability.  “To him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.”

You can go to Revelations and read about what is sin.  You can go to Galatians and read of the lusts of the flesh, you can go to James and read about sin.  But Jesus came to bring the cure for sin.  There is no cure for sin without Jesus.

Paul told of His experience as a religious man in Romans 7.  But when he met Jesus he was no longer as Romans seven but as Romans 8, “There is now no condemnation.”

Every one of us knows what it is to do good.  We know when we do wrong.  You can try to educate or excuse your conscience but you still have a conscience.  I know what it was like to be in the horrible pit.  There are sounds of the pit. 

As you lumber-jacks know, when the weather is cold, the trees groan.  I have been told when the weather is hot in some areas you can hear the corn growing.  There are sounds in nature that I don’t know how it can be described but it is a sound. 

There are sounds form the horrible pit: people are defensive, “I don’t want to serve God.”  The sounds that they hear are sounds of despair: “Am I lost forever?”

Jesus dealt with sin: when we confess our sins, the first thing is that you feel when that burden of sin goes away.  If you are packing a bag of potatoes that weighs 50 pounds and you go a mile and Aaron comes along and offers to pack it for a while, you will know when it comes off your back.

When you look at the narrow way you realize that it is too narrow for what you were packing.  We come to Jesus Christ and look into the mirror of the Word of God and realize, “I am the one that needs a savior; I am the one that needs forgiven.”  God says, “Ok, but are you willing to forgive those that have trespassed you?” 

It is wonderful to be free from the load of sin.  That load of sin went to Calvary and Jesus said, “I will forgive.”

Not only does He forgive you, He takes our sins and casts them in the depths of the sea.  The sea goes deeper than man can go.  Jesus has never reminded me of my sin.  He took all that sin life, the rebellion, evil, and pride and He buried it when I confessed, repented, and turned never to be remembered against me again.

Isn’t that wonderful this morning?  This messiah is the Emanuel, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His kingdom there shall be no end.  If you are enjoying being free and on your way to heaven, God plans for it to increase.

There is the deep longing and desire to give something for God.  The wise men brought gold.  I want to talk to you about the gold of your life.  You already know that your life is precious to God. 

You are valuable though you may think you are old and tired.  This congregation has great respect for mothers, for grandparents, for children.  This season of your life, this season, have faith in God.  What will you do with your gold: your time, your ability?

What will I do with the frankincense of my soul that was given me at birth or when my mother was carrying me?  Frankincense is a marvelous thing.  It is an oil that is derived from Balsam trees.  It is designed for worship. 

I believe everyone in this audience was given a little frankincense to bring.  “I will hunger and I will worship.  I will worship that I might see what this star represents as “Jesus, the bright and morning star.”

That thought of being bright:  this is the morning star.  Today, you awoke and the morning star was available to you to do several things, to give you a purpose and assurance. 

There are a million distractions in your life.  That is the reason it is called life.  It is full of distractions.  God wants us to make it a priority, Jesus Christ is the morning star. 

Have the order in your life, “When I get up, I am going to recognize that the bright and morning star is going to shine on me.” 

Jesus is the source of grace.  He is the bright and the morning star to shine His light into us.  One of the meanings of grace is: to give us the divine influence on the soul.  Before I talk to Karen about anything serious, I need the bright and morning star in my life.  You need the bright and morning star in your life.

This star represents not only something that leads but also something that directs.  It is to be a scepter that says, “Child I am well pleased.”

That satisfying portion that Simeon had when he walked in and Jesus was in the building, “Mine eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord.”  Not long and Anna came in.  There were Simeon and Anna, they were waiting.  There have been thousands this morning that have found rest to their soul.

A young man visited Brother DS Warner; he had preached how good God is.  The young man said, “Let me tell you my life story.  What a fool I have been to think that I could buy satisfaction with money and try to drown my guilty conscience.  Now, with all gone, what a fool I am.”

Brother DS Warner told him, “That is your case now, but if you will seek God with all your heart you will be able to say, ‘I have found life in Jesus Christ.  I found it all.’”