1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,440 Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church. 2 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:17,920 All right, good morning, good morning. 3 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:22,200 Listen, turn to somebody, tell them we are getting close. 4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:23,960 We are so close to Christmas. 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:24,940 Give them a high five. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:25,880 Shake their hand. 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:27,320 Tell them we are close. 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,960 The kids are all jittery. 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:31,920 They're all waiting patiently. 10 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:33,960 And I'm talking about the big kids. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:34,480 Amen. 12 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:35,120 Come on. 13 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,040 How many, how many like Christmas morning? 14 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:37,840 Open ended gifts. 15 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:38,560 Let's be honest. 16 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:38,840 All right. 17 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:39,120 Good. 18 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:39,440 Good. 19 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:41,320 It's good to have you here at Life House. 20 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:42,160 Merry Christmas. 21 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:46,360 It's been amazing all month long and we're getting up close and Christmas Eve 22 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,000 services coming, which is one of my favorites. 23 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,160 There's something about that soft candlelight service. 24 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:52,840 I don't know. 25 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,760 Just you feel God's holiness. 26 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:57,840 And you just feel that His presence. 27 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,240 So if you can be here, if not, if you're somewhere else, located somewhere else, 28 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,640 find a place to go worship and, you know, go serve God and just take a time on 29 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,200 Christmas Eve to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 30 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,000 Well, this morning I want to start this message off with a little something I read 31 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:20,280 this week and it kind of fits nicely with what I want to talk about this morning. 32 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,160 But it says this, when Jake and Kelly Levine boarded their flight, they were 33 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:29,000 hoping their five month old daughter, Romy, would be able to behave appropriately. 34 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,360 Kelly said before the flight, I was very anxious. 35 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,160 You never know if people around you are going to be bothered by a baby. 36 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:38,520 It was only Romney's second flight. 37 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:43,320 The family was returning to their home from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 38 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,520 And according to Kelly, however, Romney was transfixed for the majority of the 39 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:54,160 five hour flight by the passenger sitting next to her who was crocheting a sweater. 40 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,600 Kelly said entranced is the perfect word. 41 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,480 Romney is a very curious baby. 42 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,080 She loves to watch people and observe. 43 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,960 And Megan Rubin was Romney's seatmate and enjoyed the attention from Romney. 44 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,480 Rubin said she started staring at me so inquisitively. 45 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,720 Once Rubin finished her sweater, she looked at the curious baby and she 46 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,800 decided she had just enough time and just enough yarn to pivot to a new 47 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:23,920 project, a beanie for the baby. 48 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,840 She was hopeful she could pull it together in about an hour. 49 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:32,040 I just had to, she said, adding that she makes an effort to surprise strangers 50 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,760 with homemade gifts whenever she can. 51 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,560 A few minutes after the plane landed, Rubin turned to the couple, handed 52 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,920 them a tiny cream colored hat and declared, okay, it's done. 53 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:44,880 We were totally shocked. 54 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,360 As were the passengers around us, said Kelly, I was near tears and Kelly 55 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,160 placed a hat on Romney's head and it fit perfectly. 56 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,840 Everyone in the vicinity smiled and applauded. 57 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,360 She was sober one with joy that afterwards she shared the video on 58 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,160 TikTok where it was viewed over 7 million times. 59 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,200 Kelly said, I will make sure Romney knows for the rest of her life that 60 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,120 can't people can be nice to each other for no reason. 61 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,200 And this story inspired so many others to do the same. 62 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,480 She added that she and Rubin are staying in touch and hope to get together soon. 63 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,360 We want her to be a part of our lives forever. 64 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:26,080 I tell you this little story to let you know, there is power in a gift. 65 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:27,280 They're right. 66 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:28,200 Turning somebody right now. 67 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:29,160 Come on, give him a high five. 68 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:29,760 You didn't do it earlier. 69 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:30,720 I'm going to make you do it again. 70 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:32,160 Tell him there's power in a gift. 71 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:33,360 Come on. 72 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:34,760 There's power in a gift, right? 73 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,960 Seven million clicks on TikTok. 74 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,080 There's power in a gift. 75 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,280 People on the plane witnessed it. 76 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,040 This family was forever changed. 77 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,800 Christmas is this one time a year where we focus on giving gifts. 78 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:51,920 The perfect gift, if we can pull it off, right? 79 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:53,320 We try to nail it. 80 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:54,600 We try to get it right. 81 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,160 We try to get that thing that somebody has wanted all year long, right? 82 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,560 That thing that's been on somebody's wish list, that thing that's been in 83 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,760 the Amazon cart and the person just can't click on it to buy it from themselves. 84 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:06,120 Right. 85 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,760 They've been tempted to, but they just can't pull the trigger. 86 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,560 Trying to get the gift right. 87 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,840 Trying to get the perfect scenario. 88 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:15,800 Trying to get the presentation right. 89 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,040 Trying to wrap it right. 90 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:17,560 Amen. 91 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:18,360 That's my challenge. 92 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:18,600 Right. 93 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,040 Get it wrapped right. 94 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:26,440 And this is true for gift givers around the planet because they know the power of a gift. 95 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,240 In recent years, if you've watched around or talked to any young people who are around 96 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,840 that age where they're getting engaged, how many know giving the gift of an engagement ring? 97 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:39,800 Right. 98 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,760 You get a young man who wants to give a young lady the gift of an engagement ring. 99 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,280 How many know it has got extravagant giving that gift? 100 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:47,800 Right. 101 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,680 Back in the day, back when I used to be young a long time ago, a hundred years ago, 102 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:54,480 all right, it was a lot different. 103 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:55,800 It was simple. 104 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,600 And now, man, they rent planes and right in the sky. 105 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,440 They go to extravagant places, right? 106 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,200 They do extravagant things to give this gift of an engagement ring. 107 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,800 And there is power in that gift. 108 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,880 I epically failed at that with Dixie, by the way. 109 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,200 And fortunately for me, she said yes anyway. 110 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:16,280 I'm not sure if it was a pity. 111 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:17,880 Yes, I'll go with that. 112 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:18,440 All right. 113 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:19,440 I'm OK with that. 114 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:20,680 But she did say yes. 115 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:26,080 But when it comes to gift giving, I think that the Magi, the three kings, the three 116 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,480 wise men in scripture, they got it right. 117 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:29,680 They really did. 118 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,880 They did come to visit the king looking and they came not looking for what they could 119 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,160 get, but what they could give the king. 120 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,560 So this morning we're going to Matthew chapter two. 121 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,240 If you got your Bible, you can go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter two. 122 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,400 We're going to start off with verse one and we're going to take a look. 123 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,720 There's not a lot in scripture about these individuals, but we're going to glean what 124 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,680 we can because there's an important message tucked in these passages. 125 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,200 Matthew chapter two, verse one says this. 126 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,640 Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, 127 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,080 behold, wise men went from the east and came to Jerusalem saying, 128 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:08,000 where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 129 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,640 For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. 130 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:12,360 Let's bow our heads. 131 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,040 Lord God, we ask that this word that was just read and got the scriptures that are 132 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,360 going to be read, Lord, that they would hide in our hearts, God, that it would speak to 133 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,080 our minds. 134 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,480 God, I pray that you would guide us and direct us today and Lord God, that we would 135 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,680 look to you, God, just as a result of the word that we hear and will not fail to give 136 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,400 you praise in Jesus name. 137 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,800 And everybody said together, amen. 138 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:32,520 Amen. 139 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,200 Well, I did a little reading about these mysterious visitors who came to Jesus 140 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:43,440 following his birth and scholars tell us that these visitors were likely astrologers 141 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,200 from the area of modern day Iraq, Iran or Saudi Arabia. 142 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,520 They traveled from one of those three areas and they probably studied the stars 143 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,360 and were very aware of Jewish culture. 144 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,280 They had studied Jewish prophecy of the Messiah, they assumed, because they 145 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:04,920 were somewhat experts on Jewish tradition or Jewish prophecy. 146 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,880 Experts say they traveled for months 147 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:13,840 following a star that they labeled as his star, as Jesus star. 148 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,760 And the other thing that is assumed about these magi, these astrologers, 149 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,960 these leaders, it would have been in their community that they were very wealthy. 150 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:29,040 These educated stargazers brought extravagant gifts for the king. 151 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:33,360 A king who was not their own king, who was not from their culture and likely 152 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,520 wasn't even along the lines of their belief system. 153 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:42,920 What's even more amazing is they got to the Jesus location led by divine GPS, 154 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,800 right, a star, and they came to worship him. 155 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,320 They didn't just come to visit. 156 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:49,760 They didn't just come to see. 157 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,040 They came by divine direction by God himself. 158 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,960 And upon entering the territory where Jesus lived, they go to visit the current 159 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,920 king, they check in with the leader of that area, which is King Herod. 160 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,560 He is the current Jewish king of Judah. 161 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:10,920 And Herod tells them of and they tell them of Herod of their plans to find this new 162 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,920 king of the Jews. This doesn't sit very well with Herod. 163 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,200 Herod pretends that he's on board with this. 164 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,480 He pretends that he wants to go worship the king. 165 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,920 He pretends that that he's he's excited as they are. 166 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,840 But the reality is, is that he does not want Jesus to be the Messiah. 167 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,880 He does not want a new king coming, taking his place. 168 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,400 And he fools these gentlemen by telling them, go find out where he lives and then 169 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,840 come back and tell me. In Matthew 2, 3, it says, when Herod, 170 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,560 the king, heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. 171 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,880 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people 172 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,520 together, he inquired them where Christ was to be born. 173 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,040 So they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, 174 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,440 but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not of the least among the rulers of 175 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:02,320 Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who is who will be shepherd of my people. 176 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,560 Israel, then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them 177 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,480 what time the star appeared, and he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 178 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:13,320 go and search carefully for the young child. 179 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,400 And when you have found him, bring him back word to me that I might come 180 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,880 and worship him also. And when they heard the king, they departed. 181 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,000 And behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went before them till it came 182 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,080 and stood over where the young child was. 183 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,840 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 184 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,120 And when they had come into the house, 185 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,080 I mean, this didn't happen at the Nativity. 186 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:35,880 All right. 187 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:37,600 There wasn't a house at the Nativity. 188 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:38,640 This took place. 189 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,120 I know that's tradition a lot of times, but this actually took place. 190 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,120 Experts say probably a year or two later. 191 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,280 Right. So when they came into the house, 192 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,040 they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. 193 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,160 And when they had opened their treasures, 194 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,520 and this is the part I want you to get a hold of, they presented gifts to him. 195 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:03,240 Gold, say gold, frankincense and myrrh. 196 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:08,320 Gold, frankincense and myrrh. 197 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:13,880 These kings, these magi, these leaders did not come to see what they could receive. 198 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,440 They came to bring gifts to the king. 199 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,360 They came to offer up worship. 200 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:20,240 They came to offer up adoration. 201 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,520 They came to recognize the divinity of the king that was born in this country 202 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:25,440 that was not their own. 203 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:31,160 And they came and worshiped in front of probably what was likely a two year old 204 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,960 child in front of them, seeking out, looking for God's son. 205 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,840 And they came with the perfect gifts. 206 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:44,040 They came with gifts that were fit for a king, were fit for royalty. 207 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,320 Gold, frankincense and myrrh. 208 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,120 These were not novelty gifts. 209 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,120 These were not the latest and greatest gadget that you all went out and bought 210 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:53,280 for your two year old. Right. 211 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:54,600 Come on. I know that's out there. 212 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,720 Right. This wasn't some practical household item for a two year old. 213 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:03,600 These gifts were extremely valuable and they were significant in their meaning. 214 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:10,400 And I believe that the scripture tells the tale of these wise men coming into this 215 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,840 country, this this little snippet in Jesus life for a very distinct reason, 216 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,320 because I think it teaches us what kind of gifts we bring to the king. Right. 217 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,200 This shows us what kind of gifts we should bring to Jesus. 218 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,160 This shows us what is fit and right for royalty. 219 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:28,640 And that's who Jesus is. 220 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,000 And what I'm bringing, you know, what I'm bringing matters. 221 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,000 And we got to ask ourselves, what am I bringing to Jesus? 222 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,520 What am I bringing to the king this Christmas? 223 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:39,760 What am I bringing? 224 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:41,920 Because Jesus is no longer a child. 225 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,080 He's a risen Savior. Heard a little bit this morning. 226 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,480 Right. He's at the right hand of the Father. 227 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:47,880 He's the King of Kings. 228 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:49,040 He is the Lord of Lord. 229 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:55,240 And what constitutes the perfect gift in the perfect setting at the perfect time 230 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,520 and place for the king? 231 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,400 And I think each one of these magi, they nailed it. 232 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:06,880 Right. And I believe the first one, he got it right because he brought gold. 233 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,680 Now, how many of you know that gold is an 234 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,520 acceptable gift at any point in time? Right. 235 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,840 If any of you want to drop a pot of gold at my house, 236 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,520 I'm more willing to receive that from you. 237 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,400 OK, there is no wrong occasion to bring somebody pure gold. 238 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,960 Anyone in the house want a big old chunk of gold for Christmas? 239 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,520 Raise your hand right now. Come on. 240 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,040 Six of you? The rest of you are liars. 241 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:32,920 OK, come on. 242 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,400 Any one of us would be happy to receive some gold. 243 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,960 You know, and if I told you what gold is worth right now, 244 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,800 gold is going for about twenty seven hundred dollars an ounce. OK. 245 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,080 So somebody dropped the one pound chunk of gold in your stocking. 246 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,240 You'd have about thirty four thousand plus in a stocking stuffer. 247 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,120 How many would be rejoicing? Amen. 248 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,120 Come on. Now I got a couple more participants. 249 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,000 All right. Yeah, come on. 250 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:01,120 It would be pure gold if it was a pure ring, if it was a pure necklace, 251 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,800 pure gold necklace, pure gold something that was molded or formed for you. 252 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,640 You know, it was there or just a gold chunk. 253 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,040 Gold is always the perfect gift. 254 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,880 Gold is a standard in across the world in money. 255 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:17,440 When you talk about money, 256 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,560 gold is a gift that is fit for a king. 257 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:22,840 And if you understand ancient times, 258 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,600 when you came into the presence of a king, you didn't come in empty handed. 259 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,400 You didn't come in just offering up some of the cheapest gifts you could find. 260 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,280 Right. You didn't go find something on sale at the dollar store. 261 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:34,080 Come on. Amen. 262 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,960 I don't know if dollar stores have sales, but that's the unit. 263 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:38,840 You don't go by in there for a king. Right. 264 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,360 You didn't stop in to catch the sale. 265 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,080 You brought your best. 266 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:44,760 You brought the top. 267 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:46,160 You brought the purest. 268 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:47,840 You brought the highest quality. 269 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:48,960 You didn't just bring it. 270 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,600 You know, you brought what you could, the best of what you could afford. 271 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,520 You brought to the king. 272 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:56,200 And we see this in scripture. 273 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:01,480 If you go in scripture, you see the Queen of Sheba, who was the Queen of Ethiopia, 274 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:06,280 comes to visit King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba or the 275 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:12,480 Ethiopian Queen, she hears of Solomon's amazing wisdom, wisdom given by God, 276 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,960 wisdom that had never been seen on the face of the earth or heard of on the face 277 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,400 of the earth before. And she goes and visits King Solomon herself. 278 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:24,400 She takes an entourage of people with her and she goes and sees and listen what it 279 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,640 says in First Kings 10.1, when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, 280 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:33,040 famed to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 281 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:34,120 She wanted to come and ask. 282 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:35,320 She wanted to see his wisdom. 283 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:40,920 She came to Jerusalem with a great, a very great retinue, a big entourage of people 284 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,480 and camels with bearing spices and very much what? 285 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,160 Gold and precious stones. 286 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,720 And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 287 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,440 You don't come empty handed to the king. 288 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,560 You don't roll in and just make a bunch of demands and requests, right? 289 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,280 Come in with something of no value. 290 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,320 You don't just just pop you or something. 291 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,160 Listen, the queen, she didn't plop it. 292 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,760 She didn't just stop in to see Solomon and say, hey, I heard some things about you. 293 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,320 She didn't just plop down on a couch and say, I need you to talk to me. 294 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:15,200 She came with gifts. 295 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:16,720 She came with gold. 296 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:17,880 She came with the best. 297 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,040 This was King to Queen or Queen to King. 298 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,240 She didn't pick up a piece of gravel in the driveway and say, you know what? 299 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,640 This ought to do it. Right. 300 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:27,880 She didn't do that. 301 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,880 If you're going to approach the king, we need to bring our gold. 302 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,760 If you're going to give him a gift this Christmas, if you're going to come before 303 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,520 the Messiah, give him your gold. 304 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:41,960 Approach the king with your gold. 305 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,000 Approach him with your best. 306 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:45,600 He is the king of kings. 307 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,160 He's not even an earthly king. 308 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:48,200 He's the king of kings. 309 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:49,200 He's the Lord of lords. 310 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,600 He's the God of the universe. 311 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,960 Bring him your gold. 312 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,720 Bring him your best. 313 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,200 And if we don't bring our best to the king, right? 314 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,000 How do I know what you bring speaks a message? 315 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,680 The gift that you give speaks something to someone. 316 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,200 Right. If it's the Dollar Tree on sale item, how do we know that speaks something? 317 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,960 If we don't bring Jesus our best, if we just give him something less than our best, 318 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:15,560 we're speaking something to him. 319 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,800 Right. It shows how much I value him. 320 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:19,680 The gift. 321 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,880 It reveals my loyalty to him as king. 322 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:30,520 I show my recognition of his power and of his grace and of his position. 323 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:32,800 It shows how much I honor him. 324 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:33,600 Right. 325 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,000 The humility before his royalty. 326 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:38,200 All this. 327 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,040 My love for the king. 328 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,120 My gift to him reflects that. 329 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:49,040 And anything less than my best, anything less than my gold, 330 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,960 sends a whole different message to the king. 331 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:59,360 When I bring Jesus less than my best, I'm speaking something to him. 332 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:00,640 Right. 333 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,200 I really am. 334 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:07,520 I don't know which of the Magi doesn't tell us which of the Magi brought the gold, 335 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,600 but I think he got it right. 336 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,760 I think when he knelt down before the king of kings, his two year old, 337 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:21,160 and he laid down his gold, traveled for months just to lay the gift before him. 338 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:22,840 And I know this. 339 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,600 One day I'm going to stand before the king. 340 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,840 One day it's not going to be the Magi. 341 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:29,600 It's going to be me. 342 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,000 One day I'm going to stand before the king of kings and the Lord of lords. 343 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,920 And I don't know if he's going to ask me this question or not. 344 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,880 He might. But I'm going to have to answer. 345 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:39,480 Did I give him my gold? 346 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,320 Did I give him my very best? 347 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,720 Everything that I did when I worshiped him, right. 348 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,480 You worshiped and sang and did praise this morning. 349 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,760 When I praised him, did I give him my best? 350 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,680 When I worked in the kingdom, did I give him my best? 351 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:57,600 When I did anything that reflects God in any way, did I give him my gold? 352 00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:59,240 Or did I give him something cheap? 353 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,440 Right. Did I go for, did I give him the silver or the bronze or even worse than that? 354 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,000 Right. The rocks, the wood, the stubble. 355 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,640 What did I give him? 356 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,680 What am I bringing to the king on Christmas? 357 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,960 One of the other Magi bring something different. 358 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:15,520 They all three didn't bring gold. 359 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,120 Actually, they don't even know if it was three. 360 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:18,680 They just talks about Magi coming. 361 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,320 We don't know how many of them there were. 362 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:21,800 But another one brings something. 363 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,600 He brings frankincense. 364 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:25,320 Say frankincense. 365 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,200 Just say it because it's fun to say. Say it again. 366 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,560 Frankincense. All right. 367 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,360 Come on. He brought frankincense to the king. 368 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,360 Frankincense is the gift of worship. 369 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:35,600 It is a gift of worship. 370 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,880 What I do, what do I bring to a king? 371 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,480 I bring frankincense. 372 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:41,960 I bring a worship. 373 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,240 And believe it or not, frankincense was actually a step up beyond the gold. 374 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,000 It really was because gold is fit for a king, right? 375 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:50,920 An earthly king. 376 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:56,800 But frankincense worship is what we offer up to God or to a God. 377 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,640 This frankincense was was worship. 378 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:01,960 And Frank, again, understand something about frankincense. 379 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,440 Frankincense is a rare and it's a valuable mixture in a perfume. 380 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,440 It was used in aroma therapy. 381 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:09,600 It still is, actually. 382 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,640 It has medicinal purposes along with it. 383 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,960 And it is a high quality, sweet, woody smelling aroma. 384 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,880 And it's rare because it comes from the 385 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,440 buswell tree that grows only in a few places on the earth in the dry regions, 386 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,040 actually of India, Africa and in the Middle East. 387 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:32,800 And frankincense was traditionally used in the temple in ancient Israel. 388 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,960 It was used in the temple and it was a sweet, 389 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,920 smelling aroma that was burned and sent up to God. 390 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,600 Exodus 30 and 34 says this. 391 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,840 And the Lord said to Moses, take sweet spices, stash and a nacha and a gallum. 392 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:52,080 Sweet spices with pure frankincense, an equal part of each and make an incense 393 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:57,040 blended as by a perfumer and seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 394 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,720 And you shall beat some of it into powder and put part of it before the covenant 395 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:03,880 in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. 396 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,640 It shall be for the for you most holy. 397 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,520 And when you make the incense, according to its composition, 398 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,840 you shall not make it for yourself. 399 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,320 It shall be regarded by you as holy to the Lord. 400 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:22,920 Whoever makes any any like it to use as perfume for themselves shall be cut off 401 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:30,280 from my people in the temple, in Israel, outside of the Holy of Holies, 402 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,720 where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt in the innermost part of the temple was 403 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,000 this incense that was burned and within that was frankincense. 404 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,080 And it was a sweet, smelling aroma that went up to God. 405 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,160 It was a sweet smelling incense that went up. 406 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:49,640 And you got to understand something about worship. 407 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:55,440 Worship, a lot of times we get this mixed up, messed up definition of what worship is. 408 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,640 Right. We kind of try to say, well, it's when I praise God. 409 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,400 It's kind of when I sing, you know, and it's when I do this. 410 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:03,920 But worship is this. 411 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:09,120 Worship is anything that comes up and is sweet in the presence of God. 412 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,040 I want you to think if it's a sweet smelling thing, 413 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,680 how many of you like sweet smelling things? 414 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,920 I think about this for a minute and I thought, what if I, you know, 415 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,080 one of the favorite places I like to go in the summer into an ice cream shop? 416 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,320 Come on, breathe in deep right now. 417 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:24,760 You can smell it right now just because I said it. 418 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,720 Right. Because it smells sweet in there. 419 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,960 You'll go in and it's sweet smelling. 420 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,080 You can go into a bakery, right? 421 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,720 You know, P.A. What is that? 422 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,840 P.A. Bakery up in Camp Hill. 423 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:37,360 I just did a plug for him right there. 424 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:38,680 They need to send me a commission. 425 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:39,600 All right. 426 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,000 You know, you can go up there. 427 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,600 You can just breathe in deep. 428 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,720 And you're like, oh, that's sweet. 429 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,000 That's what it is when you worship. 430 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,840 Frankincense is when you worship God, when it comes up before God, 431 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,120 whatever you're doing, whatever you're saying, whatever you're singing, 432 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,160 however you're moving and grooving in life, when it comes up and God says, 433 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,560 hmm, that's sweet. 434 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:04,760 That's worship. 435 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:05,840 That's worship. 436 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:07,880 That's the worship that God wants. 437 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,360 This Magi, he had it right. 438 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:11,360 He got it. 439 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:12,880 He nailed it. 440 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:17,960 Authentic worship is if you want to know what authentic worship is in anything, 441 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,320 it is when it comes up before God and it is sweet smelling to him. 442 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,320 And if you don't know what that is, go into God's word and start finding out 443 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,120 what is sweet smelling to him because he declares it all through his word. 444 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,360 Right. It is what's sweet. 445 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:34,800 Whatever makes God smile, whatever makes God breathe in, he goes, oh, look at that. 446 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,240 Right. I think God does that. 447 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,320 So I'm like, look at that. 448 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:38,320 That's sweet. 449 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:39,640 Look what they're doing. 450 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,760 Right. It's worship. 451 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,600 This Magi, they had it right. 452 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:46,840 It was a perfect gift. 453 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,560 Perfect gift to a God who... 454 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,960 How many know they were given gifts to a God who has everything? 455 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,240 Do you ever try to buy from somebody that has everything? 456 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:57,840 It's really hard. 457 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,880 God has everything. 458 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,960 There's no tangible thing you're going to give to God one day and he's going to be 459 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,240 like, wow, look at that. 460 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,120 All right. He owns it all. 461 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:10,480 But listen, he wants your gold. 462 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:11,640 He wants your best. 463 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:12,840 He wants your worship. 464 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,920 He wants something that's sweet smelling to come up to him. 465 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:17,000 Amen. It's true. 466 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:18,160 What do I bring a king? 467 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:19,800 What is holy? What is pure? 468 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,680 What is sweet smelling to the king? 469 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,800 Amen. Nails it. 470 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,080 You praise him this morning. 471 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:26,360 You need to... 472 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,720 When praise is coming off your lips, it needs to be your gold. 473 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,280 Right. And it needs to be something that's sweet smelling. 474 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,600 Or don't even bother. 475 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,080 Don't even go there. 476 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:35,360 Right. 477 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:38,720 Don't throw up like something half baked before God. 478 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:40,360 Let's talk about the last Magi. 479 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:44,120 Let's talk about the last one who came and brought a gift or the third gift that came. 480 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,960 And it was Myrrh. Say Myrrh. 481 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,400 It's even funner to say. All right. 482 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,400 Myrrh. And Myrrh has several uses in Scripture. 483 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:53,200 As I started looking at this, 484 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,440 it's kind of interesting in opposing uses in Scripture. 485 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,400 And some Bible scholars talk about this gift from the Magi. 486 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,360 And Myrrh was actually used in embalming as an embalming fluid. 487 00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:05,640 I'm like, oh, that's a downer. 488 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:06,840 OK. 489 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,800 It was used in preparation of dead bodies. 490 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:11,960 And I'm like, oh, let's look at this. 491 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,720 OK. And, you know, some of the scholars, of course, they go super deep with this. 492 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,880 And they're like, well, this is the Magi 493 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,840 recognizing that Jesus was, in fact, the prophesied Messiah, which he was. 494 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,360 And that one day he would die, right, for the people's sins. 495 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,560 And he would be a leader who would come forward. 496 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,200 And they go into all this deep meaning. 497 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,480 And I'm thinking, well, yeah, but this gift, they gave it to a two year old. 498 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:33,840 Right. 499 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:35,480 And I'm thinking, embalming fluid? 500 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,960 Seriously, you know, or a bombing type of spice of some kind. 501 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,960 And I'm thinking in my head, this is just me. 502 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,240 This is not Scripture. All right. 503 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:48,680 But I'm thinking in my head, you know, an 8 BCDE or F scale with gift giving. 504 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,240 Like Myrrh is like F. 505 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:52,800 Here's some Myrrh. 506 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,800 But then I started looking at some of the other meanings of this. 507 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,920 And I found out that Myrrh is also used 508 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:02,640 in making anointing oil in the ancient Jewish culture. 509 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,080 Right. An anointing oil. 510 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:05,760 You got to understand something about anointing oil. 511 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,760 Anointing oil was used 512 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,040 in the temple. They would anoint something. 513 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:12,520 I got some anointing oil up here. 514 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,160 They would anoint something to set it apart for God. 515 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,440 When they anointed something, whether it was utensils, whether it was 516 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,480 the items they were using in the temple, or even if they were anointing people, 517 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,040 it was used and it was set apart. 518 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,080 A prophet or a priest would come in ancient Israel and they would anoint 519 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:31,600 something and it was set apart from God. 520 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,440 Exodus 30, 22 says, and the Lord spoke to Moses, 521 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:39,120 take the finest spices of liquid Myrrh, 500 shekels and of sweet smelling 522 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:46,600 cinnamon, half as much and there's 250 of the aroma it came and 500 of 523 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,360 cassia measured by the sanctuary shekel and a hint of olive oil. 524 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:56,440 And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as the perfumer 525 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:01,280 and shall be a holy, say holy, a holy anointing oil. 526 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,600 With it, you shall anoint the tent of meaning and the Ark of the Covenant 527 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,720 and the table and its utensils and the lampstand and its utensils and the altar 528 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,520 of incense and the altar of burning offering with all its utensils and basins 529 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,120 in its stands, you shall consecrate them so that they may be most holy. 530 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,520 Whatever touches them will become holy. 531 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,800 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and 532 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:29,040 consecrate them in order that they may serve me as priest. 533 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,000 Myrrh was used as a holy anointing oil. 534 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:39,600 Anything it touched was set apart for God and God alone. 535 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,440 So what do I bring a king? 536 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,040 I bring my gold. 537 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:44,360 I bring my best. 538 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:45,120 Right. 539 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:46,840 I bring frankincense. 540 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:48,120 I bring my worship. 541 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,680 I bring anything that's sweet to his smelling. 542 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:57,280 And I also bring myself because God and I've got time to unfold all this. 543 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,920 But God wants you anointed for him. 544 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,640 He wants you as he's my king. 545 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:04,160 Right. 546 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:06,040 I'm his and he's mine. 547 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:07,840 He wants you set as part. 548 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,440 He wants you in his service. 549 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:09,760 Right. 550 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,680 And I started looking at this whole meaning behind myrrh. 551 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,280 And I started thinking about it in the context even as embalming fluid. 552 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:17,680 Right. 553 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,480 And if you combine these meanings, you start to really see what 554 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,400 what's represented here with myrrh because God truly wants us in a place 555 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,600 where we come before him and the word of God tells us is that we die to ourselves. 556 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:31,080 Right. 557 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:35,440 And when we die to ourselves, that's when he can anoint us and set us apart 558 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,360 for service for him. Jesus said it in Luke 9 23. 559 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,960 He said to he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, 560 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,800 let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. 561 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,920 In Galatians 2 20 says, I've been crucified with Christ. 562 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:54,760 It's not longer no longer I who lives right, but Christ who lives in me. 563 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,240 And the life which I now live in the flesh. 564 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:02,160 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 565 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:07,480 Myrrh is about dying to you and being set apart for him. 566 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,200 It's the perfect gift. 567 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,640 You can't give God anything tangible. 568 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,760 That's going to impress him. 569 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,360 But you can give him your gold. 570 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,040 You can give him your worship. 571 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:21,400 What is sweet. 572 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:22,680 Right. 573 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,720 And you can give him your myrrh. 574 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,560 You can die to you and you can set yourself up. 575 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:29,160 Right. 576 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:31,280 Set yourself aside for him. 577 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,520 These are gifts worthy of a king. 578 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,600 I'm going to ask you to stand this morning. 579 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,640 Worship team's coming. 580 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:45,560 There's not a lot in scripture about these mysterious magi who show up. 581 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:46,360 Right. 582 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,400 Possibly a year to two years later after the Nativity. 583 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,880 But what they did speaks to us in volumes. 584 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,680 What they did is a pattern. 585 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,920 What they did, the gifts that they brought was something that we should constantly 586 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,800 look to and be relevant in what we bring a king. 587 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,200 So we're getting ready to participate in communion. 588 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,800 And as they get ready to play, 589 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,440 there's a couple of things that go along with communion. 590 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,280 One, we know this with communion. 591 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,720 And particularly around Christmas time, it's an amazing thing to do communion. 592 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:23,400 But we do this. 593 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,000 The word of God says in remembrance of Christ. 594 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,200 The word tells us that every time you 595 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,080 break bread and you drink of the vine, you remember the body that was broken. 596 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,360 You remember the blood that was shed for you. 597 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,680 Right. And we should constantly remember that. 598 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,440 And not just here when we take it together here. 599 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,040 And this is going to be amazing when we take it here. 600 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:43,320 It is every time we do it. 601 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,600 But but even when you're at home and you're with your family and you pray 602 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,360 before you eat your meal and it's part of you recognizing the king of kings 603 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,200 and the Lord of lords before you break bread and you partake. 604 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,000 Right. So that's one of the things we're going to do. 605 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,720 And the word of God says we should do this not in an unworthy manner. 606 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,400 And what that means is that you participated in this. 607 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,680 If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, that's the word what the word of God says. 608 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:07,280 It's not not that we're perfect. 609 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,520 It's not that we're 610 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,120 in any way some kind of we got to get to some kind of perfect state to take 611 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,760 communion. But the word of God says that we should know him as Lord and we should 612 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,400 know him as Savior of our life. That's what it says. 613 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,720 And and today I want you to take it a step further. 614 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,320 I want you to ask yourself the question. 615 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,560 What am I bringing the king? 616 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,600 Am I bringing him the gold? My gold. 617 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,160 Right. Am I bringing him 618 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,680 my frankincense? 619 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,840 Is what I'm doing sweet in his sight? 620 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,280 Is it sweet to his smell? 621 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,040 And am I dying to me? Right. 622 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,880 I set a port for his work. 623 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:50,960 And whatever I'm doing in life. 624 00:30:50,960 --> 00:31:13,840 So I'm going to ask you that.