Sermon # 3 Series: Matthew
Title: Lessons From The Wise Men
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Subject: The Visit of the Wise Men
Date: Tuesday Evening -- June 7, 1994
Tape: # Q-15
Introduction:
The first to take notice of and come to Christ after
his birth were the shepherds, who heard of him by the angel of the Lord (Luke
2:8-20). After that, Simeon and Anna saw him in the temple and spoke of him by
the Spirit of God, telling all who would hear who he is and what he had come to
do (Luke 2:21-40). Then, for nearly two whole years, no one else took notice of
the fact that God had come into the world in human flesh! Apparently no one in
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, or all of Judea believed the messages that Simeon and
Anna had declared on the word of Joseph and Mary concerning the Christ of God.
Then, about two years after the birth of Jesus, "wise men came from the
east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?" Let
us carefully observe the spiritual lessons conveyed to us in this inspired
record of the visit of the wise men who came to Jerusalem seeking Christ.
Proposition:
The history of these wise men and their visit to our
Savior, like everything else in Holy Scripture, is recorded for our learning
and our comfort and hope, as we seek to glorify our God in this world (Rom.
15:4).
Divisions:
Hold you Bibles open at Matthew chapter two. I want
to show you six things taught by God the Holy Spirit in these verses.
1. Every prophecy concerning the advent of the
Messiah has been precisely fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
2. Our Savior has many "hidden ones" in the
earth.
3. The least likely are often the most likely objects
of God's saving grace.
4. Many have heads full of knowledge
whose hearts are void
of grace.
5. Faith in Christ always show itself by works.
6. Our heavenly Father rules all things in providence
to accomplish his purpose.
I.
Every old Testament prophecy concerning the advent of the Messiah has been
precisely fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, in every detail.
Let anyone honestly study the Old Testament
Scriptures in which the person, advent, and accomplishments of the Messiah are
foretold and then study the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, and he will
be forced to acknowledge this fact --Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of whom
Moses and the prophets spoke (John 1:45).
Illus: Cinderella's Glass Slipper
The Old Testament tailors a garment that will fit
only one man. Find that man and you will have found the Christ of God, the
Messiah.
In this passage only one thing is mentioned in this
regard. But this one fact of fulfilled prophecy is sufficient to demonstrate
the point I am making.
A. According to the Old Testament Scriptures Messiah must be born in Bethlehem of Judea prior to the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem (Mic. 5:2).
Certainly, it is obvious that the Jews fully expected
the Messiah to be born at Bethlehem (Matt. 2:4-6; John 7:41-42).
B.
But Joseph and Mary were not residents of Bethlehem at the time she conceived
or at the time she gave birth to the Lord Jesus.
They were living in Galilee, in the city of Nazareth
at the time (Luke 2:4). Yet, the Scripture must be fulfilled. Messiah must be born at Bethlehem.
C.
So God, who directs the thoughts of the king's heart (Pro. 21:1), moved Caesar
Augustus to make a decree requiring that every man return to his hometown to
pay his taxes (Luke 2:1-4).
To my knowledge no such decree had ever been made
before and none after. It was an absurd thing to do. But the scriptures must be
fulfilled.
D.
Thus, while Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem to pay taxes the Lord Jesus, the
Messiah was born (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4-7). "Bethlehem signifies the house
of bread, and in it was born, as an ancient writer observes, the Bread which
comes down from heaven: and it may also signify the house of flesh, and to it
the allusion may be in II Tim. 3:16, "God was manifest in the
flesh". (Gill).
In the light of this one fact, only one who is a
willfully blind and willfully ignorant fool would deny that Jesus of Nazareth
is indeed the Christ of God, the Savior of the world.
Illus: The Jew's Imaginary Messiah in N.Y.
II. Our Savior has many "hidden ones" in the
earth.
We sometimes foolishly imagine that we know all that
God is doing in the world and that we either know or know about all his people
in the world. But nothing could be more absurd and further from the truth. Here
the Holy Spirit tells us of wise men who came from somewhere in the east to
worship the Son of God. We know no more about their lives than we do of
Melchizedek, Jethro, or Job. But they were the servants of God. Even so it is
today. Our God and Savior has a people scattered throughout the earth who serve
him faithfully, who are altogether unknown to us; but their names are in the
book of life. We need to constantly remind ourselves of this fact. We sometimes
think the earth is barren because our own gardens are fruitless. But it is not
so! The grace of God is not limited to certain races, tied to certain places or
restricted to certain families (Rev. 5:9). We know that God has an appointed
means of grace by which he save his elect (Rom. 10:17; I Cor. 1:23; I Pet.
1:23-25). But he does not always act obviously. He sometimes hides the means
used and only shows the result.
Illus: The Old Man converted as the result of a sermon by
Whitefield that he heard as a young boy.
Illus: The sailor in Havanna who read a message by Spurgeon that
was used to wrap a package.
Sinners, like these wise men, are sometimes born of
God in the dark places of the earth and made wise unto salvation. No doubt
there are some traveling to heaven now of whom the church and the world know
nothing. They are the Lord's "hidden ones" (Ps. 83:3). They know
Christ; and Christ knows them; and nothing else really matters!
A. We must never imagine that God has left himself
without a witness (Rom. 11:1-5). ANYWHERE!
B. We must never attempt to measure the length and
breadth of God's kingdom by our own yardstick.
C. We must never imagine that God is not working
because we do not see him work, or that our labor is in vain because we do not
see its fruit (I Cor. 15:58; Isa. 55:11).
III. The least likely are often the most likely objects of
God's saving grace.
The word here translated "wise men" would be better translated "magi". It is almost always used in a bad sense in the Scriptures. It refers to pagan astrologers, soothsayers, sorcerers, magicians, wizards, and fortune tellers. We are not told who these men were, or where they lived, or how they learned of Christ, only that they were from the east. Perhaps they had learned to expect Christ from the ten tribes who were once carried away into captivity. Maybe some prophet had passed through their land expounding the words of Isaiah, or Daniel, or David. We simply do not know. But, as Matthew Poole wrote, "These were the first fruits of the Gentiles owning Christ as King of the Jews, whilst he came among his own, and they received him not; nor do I know anything more worthy of our observation concerning them."
A. God often passes by the people who have, but
neglect, the greatest privileges and opportunities, and saves those who seem to
be beyond the reach of mercy (Luke 4:25-27).
We would have thought the scribes and Pharisees,
those men so learned in the facts of Scripture and religion, would have been
the first to go down to Bethlehem as soon as the Savior's birth was rumored.
But it was not so (John 1:11 ).
1. Those who neglect the privileges and opportunities set before them to hear the gospel and learn of God court reprobation and judgment (Pro. 1:23-33).
2. The hardest people on earth to reach with the
gospel are gospel hardened rebels (ll Cor. 2:14-16).
B. God graciously saves those who are esteemed by men
to be the least likely candidates for mercy -- He passes by self-righteous Pharisees
and self-complacent scribes, and saves some pagans from a far eastern land --
Magicians!
Illus: God's Choice of David (I Samuel
16:1-12; I Cor. 1:26-30).
IV. Many have heads full of knowledge whose hearts are
altogether void of grace.
When King Herod asked the chief priests and scribes
"Where Christ should be born," they answered him immediately,
demonstrating an accurate knowledge of the letter of the Scriptures (vv. 4-6).
They knew where Christ was to be born; but they never went to Bethlehem to seek
him! Their heads were full; but their hearts were empty. What a sad condition!
The wise intellectual foolishly imagines that if he stores the barn of his
brain with knowledge he has won God's salvation, never realizing that "The
Lord Iooketh upon the heart!" Great knowledge is good; but grace is
better. Knowledge alone saves no one. It is grace that carries men and women to
glory.
·
The
Pharisees had knowledge, but no grace.
·
Judas
had knowledge, but no grace.
·
Demas
had knowledge, but no grace.
·
Diotrephes
had knowledge, but no grace.
*Any
knowledge, no matter how accurate, that does not reach, and change, and rule
the heart with grace is useless, damning knowledge!
Illus: J. Greenleaf's Question
V. Faith in Christ always shows itself by works.
"Faith worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6).
"Faith without works is dead" (James 2:18). Faith in Christ is more
than mental assent to facts, doctrines, and propositions. Faith is a principle
of life. These wise men are set before us as striking examples of faith.
A. They believed God's word without any outward evidence to support it.
They trusted Christ, though they had never seen him.
They believed him and came to him, though the scribes and Pharisees believed
him not. They trusted Christ and worshipped him as their God, Savior, and King,
when he was a baby on Mary's knees! There was no halo over his head. There were
no signs or miracles to convince them. They had nothing but the naked word of
God and the inner witness of the Spirit. Yet, when they saw the Christ, they
fell down and worshipped him "as their Savior (v.11). *Not Mary, but Him*!
We read of no greater faith in all the Bible than this. Happy are those people
who thus believe God, who dare to take God at his word (without evidence) and
walk accordingly!
B.
Believing God's word concerning his Son, these wise men were diligent in
seeking him.
They had made up their minds that they would go to
Jerusalem to see him "that was born king of the Jews"; and
they never rested until they had seen him.
C.
When they came to worship Christ, they brought prepared gifts of worship,
praise, and gratitude to him.
Those who worship Christ consecrate their substance
to him, and worship him with sacrifices of love and gratitude. Such worship
requires faith (Pro. 3:9-10).
"These choice offerings, especially the gold,
would help Joseph and Mary to provide for the Royal Child, who was so soon to
be exiled. God brought providers from the far East to supply the needs of his
Son. Remember, Omnipotence has servants everywhere. "Before the babe
starts for Egypt, Oriental sages must pay his charges." C.H. Spurgeon
VI. Our heavenly Father rules all things in providence to
accomplish his purpose.
·
He
made a star to guide these chosen men to Christ the Savior (Rev. 1:20).
·
He
moved Caesar Augustus to make his decree concerning taxation.
·
He
prevented Herod from following these men to Bethlehem.
·
He
provided what Joseph and Mary needed to flee to Egypt.
·
He
warned these men in a dream not to return to their own country through
Jerusalem.
The thing I especially want you to see is this --
God's servants in this world are the objects of his special and unceasing care.
You are the apple of his eye. You may safely cast all your care upon him, for
"he careth for you!"
Conclusion:
These are the lessons the Holy Spirit here teaches us
by recording this brief event in the history of these wise men.
1. Every Old Testament prophecy concerning the advent
of the Messiah has been precisely fulfilled in every detail by our Lord Jesus
Christ.
2.
Our
Savior has many "hidden ones" in the earth.
3.
The
least likely are often the most likely objects of God's saving grace.
4.
Many have heads full of knowledge whose
hearts are void of grace.
5.
Faith
in Christ always shows itself by works.
6.
Our
heavenly Father rules all things in providence to accomplish his purpose (Rom.
8:28; 11:36).