Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
December 23, 2001 AM
Our Response To His Coming
Reading - Matthew 2.1-23
Our Sunday morning lessons for the month of December have been about God's LOVE... MERCY... and Grace extended to us through the coming of Jesus. God so loved the world that He gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON... So that those who would believe on Him should not perish... But have everlasting life.
- We have looked at how GREAT A LOVE God has for us...
- We've noted the demands such love has on us... How it compels us to react to His grace.
- We've memorialized His coming with a lesson on the Lord's Supper and its significance.
This morning we want to close this series by asking... How are we going to respond to God's loving Grace?... How are we going to respond to Jesus' coming?
What I want to do is just rehearse this narrative that we have read together and make some applications. I believe we find in our reading some ideas.... attitudes... and dispositions that are correct... And some that are incorrect. Many of these are the same attitudes we struggle with today... As we contemplate the Love of God... His Incarnation... and our response to it.
The Wisemen... Magi... Astrologers from the East had seen the star of the Messiah... And had come to worship Him bearing expensive gifts. Even though they were wise, they did not know everything about Jesus... Because rather than seek Him in Bethlehem... They came to Jerusalem asking His whereabouts. The Jewish officials were so indifferent and unconcerned that they had missed the star and the whole incarnation event. O yes...They knew the Scriptures.. They quoted the prophet verbatim as to where the child would be... But they made no effort to seek Him.
However... There was one who was very interested in the Christ-child... His birth... His kingly status... and his whereabouts. This was Herod. He requested that the Magi continue their quest... And report their findings to him... So that he too could go worship the King.
Access a worship bulletin and let's study together.
First... Let's examine the Jewish leaders. Notice here in the narrative that the ones we would most expect to be seeking Jesus are the very ones who are indifferent to His coming... And the ones who we would not expect to be King seekers are the ones looking for Him.
- Pagan astrologers are seeking...
- Jewish officials are indifferent... They could care less... Except that King Herod was upset..
The Jews missed Jesus because of a wrong attitude toward Scripture. Funny isn't it how that the Jewish religious leaders... And many of the Jews in general... missed the Messiah that they had been looking for... For hundreds of years. Do you know why... Because...
- They went to their Bibles proof-texting their own traditions....
- Their own private ideas and interpretations.
- They approached the scripture with a Jewish prejudice...
- They went to their Bibles with a closed mind. Don't do that!!
The Jews missed the greatest event in their history because of such an approach to scripture.
I wonder how many great blessings we miss today because we are more interested in our own tradition than in truth?
You see church... Great men of Acts...
Peter,
Paul,
Stephen,
Phillip,
Apollos,
James,
Cornelius,
the Ethiopian eunuch,
the elders of Ephesus,
and others were willing to look beyond tradition to truth...
While...
the Judeaizers,
those of the Areopagus,
Felix,
Festus,
Agrippa, and Bernice were unwilling to open their hearts, their minds to truth and as a result missed the great blessing found in Christ... Even their own salvation.
Personally... I believe we ought to study the Bible lake a spelunker... a cave explorer...Just go where the Book leads us... And not where we want it to lead us. Church... There is a world of difference in these two attitudes.
-The Jews wanted the scriptures to lead them to Jewish greatness.
-The Magi wanted the scriptures to lead them to Jesus.
Which of the two attitudes do and will we have in our studies... Both collectively, as a church, and in our private Bible study. Listen to me this morning... If we go to the Bible with an already made up mind each and every time we have a question... each time we study... We will miss many truths & blessing that God wishes to give us... Made possible by the coming of His Son.
There is another reason the Jewish leaders missed Jesus... They were unwilling to move from knowledge to acceptance... From intellectual assent to conviction. You see church... It takes more than knowledge of Scriptures to be a God worshipper. These Jewish officials could quote Micah 5.2 verbatim. They knew everything anyone needed to know about Jesus... They could even point others to Him... But they never made the trip to worship Him themselves.
Do you know how far it was from Jerusalem to Bethlehem?... Five miles!! These Magi had traveled hundreds of miles to find Jesus... But the Jews were unwilling to go five miles to worship Him. They knew all the answers... They were in Synagogue every Saturday... But they will not make the journey to worship Him. As preacher... As a religious leader... This haunts me... Am I like them... Are you?
Really the trip is not five miles... But more like 18 inches... From the head to the heart. Perhaps to be absolutely correct... The trip is only a few millimeters... From the mind... The intellect... To the heart... The seat of our convictions. Yes... We know Him intellectually... But are we a people of genuine conviction? Are we willing to make the journey?
You see... It is possible to be here in our pew three times a week and still not worship Him... Still not be genuinely convicted that He is the means of our salvation. Jesus spoke of such an attitude in John 5.39... You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Amazing isn't it how close we can be to the truth... And yet how far we can be from Jesus? God meets man in his heart.... Will we open our hearts to Him?... Will we worship Him in spirit and truth?
Next... We examine the attitudes and disposition of King Herod. Herod wanted to know where Jesus was born for a different reason than did the Magi. Herod was anxious and fearful of Jesus. He knew that if Jesus was the Messiah... King of the Jews... Then...
-His kingship...
-His rule...
-His reign...
-His political career...was close to being over. He knew that he had to get rid of Jesus, and quickly.
First... We are awe struck with Herod's self-centered nature. Herod was a vicious... hard hearted... mean man.
Church.... Selfishness.... a heart centered upon self will cause us to do a lot of evil things..
- It will cause us to gossip... And ruin the reputation of others.
- Self-centeredness causes us to rupture relationships... divide churches... It causes divorce...
and destroys friendship.
- Think about it!!... Selfishness is responsible for most of the pain and sadness in our world today.
I want you to listen to what history tells us that Herod's self-centeredness caused...
- He married nine times to strengthen his own political ties.
- He killed two of his brother-in-laws...
- He killed his own wife...
- He killed two of his own sons...
- He killed his mother...
All because... He suspected them of politically betraying him. Five days before his own death... Herod had over a thousand Jews arrested and murdered in order to make sure that there would be mourning in the city at his death.
This guy wrote the book... Humility And How I Overcame It!! You see... He was so interested in himself that he killed anybody who got in his way. So... It should not surprise us that he killed all the male children in Israel under two years old.
This brings us to some sobering questions...
- Are we what we are religiously... Because of political reasons?
- Do we look for a church where we can gain popularity... power... and prestige?
- Are we members of the church because it is good for our business or our political future?
Herod's religious self-centeredness caused a lot of sadness and heartaches in Palestine. And we must know this morning that when we seek Jesus for our own political selfishness, we too will bring a lot of sadness and heartaches upon ourselves and others. Like Herod... It causes us to be cruel... ugly... and mean spirited toward others... RIGHT?
The second attitude of Herod was his worldliness. Herod was half Jew... But his real loyalty was to Rome. You see... Herod tried to walk with one foot in the Jewish world... and one foot in the Roman world.
Satan would like to for us to be like Herod... half-breed Christians. Satan would like to see us walk with one foot in this world... and one foot in Jesus' world. Because he knows that... halfhearted Christianity is not pleasing to God. God will have no rivals... God requires all our loyalty... All our love... All our worship. Thou shall have no other God's before Me. Satan knows that if he has half of our heart... He has it all... Right?
Listen to these scriptures which affirm this truth...
Matthew 6.24... No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 10.37... Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
John writes... Love not the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Scripture tells us that there are only two options for us to choose from...
1. The straight and narrow that leads to eternal life eternal.
2. Or the broad road that leads to destruction.
We cannot walk both paths... Jesus said... You are either for Me or against Me.
Like Joshua of old, our challenge is... Choose today whom you will serve.
You see... We can't be like Herod... We can't pretend to seek Him... and worship Him. True... It was ruthless for Herod to try to kill Jesus... But... the Hebrews writer tells us that it is just as ruthless for us to crucify Him afresh when we deny Him first place in our lives... RIGHT?
Here is something else... Herod was unwilling to have Jesus on the throne. Herod knew that if Jesus was King of the Jews, He had a right to rule their lives. He knew that if Jesus was on the throne... that he... Herod...
- Could not do things he wanted to do...
- In the way He wanted to do them...
- When he wanted to do them.
How about us... Do we understand this?... We all struggle with a Herod spirit... Don't we?
- What arena... What province of our lives have we refused to enthrone Jesus?
- What area of our lives have we placed off limits to His KINGSHIP?
Here is the bottom line... If Jesus is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS... He has a right to rule and reign sovereign over ever facet... Every nuance of our lives. He has a right to rule and reign over...
- Our dreams...
- Our jobs...
- Our finances...
- Our entertainment...
- Our marriages...
- Our treatment of others...
Nothing... No attitude... No disposition is exempt from His rule... AMEN?... AMEN!!
OK... Let us examine the Magi.
We don't know their names... We don't know how many there were... We don't even know where they were from... Except from the East. But we do know TWO THINGS.... They come to...
1. Worship the Son of God...
2. And that they were ready to demonstrate their faith with expensive gifts.
We call them wisemen... They were astrologers from the East.
Church... Do you know what made them WISE??.. The same thing that makes men wise today.
- It's not education...
- It's not knowing how to make money...
- It's not politically correctness...
Folk... True wisdom is found in WHO OUR FAITH IS IN!!... WHOM WE SEEK!!! The Jewish religious leaders knew all about Jesus... but they were not wise... BECAUSE
- THEY DID NOT BELIEVE IN HIM...
- THEY WERE NOT SEEKING HIM.
What did the Old Testament wise man... Solomon say made us wise?... Fear of the Lord is the beginning of WISDOM. GOD HELP US BE WISE MEN AND WOMEN TODAY... RIGHT??
Secondly... They were wise because of the expensive gifts they brought. They were like the widow who gave her last penny to God. God is looking for those who will give Him everything. God help us to live like we sing... All to Jesus I surrender... All to Him I freely Give..
Folk... We must know this morning that God is not looking for our money... Our Gold... Frankincense... and Myrrh. He is searching... and wants our hearts... our lives as living sacrifices.
Listen to these scriptures which affirms this truth...
Matthew 6.33... Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness...
Mark 12.30... Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Romans 12.1-2... Therefore... I urge you, brothers, in view of God's LOVE... HIS MERCY... and GRACE... IN VIEW OF HIS COMING... That you offer your bodies as living sacrifices... Holy and pleasing to God... This is your spiritual act of worship.
INDEED... INDEED... The depth of our love is expressed by the expense of the gift.
God desires and deserves....
- Our changed attitudes and dispositions...
- Our realigned loyalties...
- Our converted hearts...
- Our transformed minds...
- Our changed lives... A new way of behaving.
- Our bodies washed in pure water and hearts sprinkled with His blood.
He desires and deserves us to be LIVING SACRIFICES. How will we respond to His coming?
The local elementary school was putting on a Christmas play. The manger had a 40 watt light bulb in it... Signifying the glory of God incarnate. One of the children tripped over the extension cord... Someone was heard saying... You switched off Jesus.
The question this morning is this... What will we do with Jesus... and His coming? Will we celebrate the season... and then switch Him off until next year? You see... God desires and deserves our heart and worship daily... Not just during the holidays. Don't switch Him off...
- Come to Jesus by faith... repentance and New Testament baptism.
- Come give Him your life as a living sacrifice .... as we stand and sing.
Will you come!!
